Behind the times

Apologies for the lapse in postage - the consequence of our usual nationwide festive tour and intermittent internet access. How the devil was your Christmas and New Year? Marvellous. Mine too! I don't suppose anyone else's present haul included a Scrabble mug, Grinderman II, Motley Crue's infamous The Dirt and a couple of packets of sunflower seeds, though?

Incidentally, of the very few bits of Christmas TV I've seen (Rock & Chips OK in a very gently mirthsome way, The Royle Family as yet unwatched, Come Fly With Me avoided like the plague, QI likewise due to the presence of Daniel Radcliffe), the most perplexing was watching Shane MacGowan performing 'Fairytale of New York' on Harry Hill's TV Burp, with Kirsty MacColl's part taken by someone dressed up as a beluga whale...

Anyway, enough of that - the point is that I'm also ridiculously behind the times in terms of writing and posting reviews on here. Here's a list of those that are outstanding, to be completed as and when I can manage it:

* Green Man (first installment here)
* ATP curated by Godspeed You! Black Emperor
* Audioscope
* Gigs by The Jim Jones Review, Stewart Lee, Low and Sonic Youth (the latter witnessed in fine fettle in Manchester on New Year's Eve Eve)
* Assorted films (The Tourist, Four Lions, Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, The Shouting Men and possibly The Damned United too)

Add to that the customarily belated year-end lists, to be posted once everything's been digested, and it's fair to say I've got my work cut out, so bear with me...

And in the meantime, happy 2011!