“Cos my sorrows did not drown my friend, they always learned to swim…”

I’ve been taking a lot of early baths – in the middle of the night when the electricity is cheaper, and I created a playlist for that – over 300 tracks. As I was lying there I thought ‘this would make a good podcast’ and here we are – recorded in my bathroom!

Paradoxically that’s where I used to record my podcasts not to disturb John, annoyed by the ever-present echo – now it’s a stylistic choice.

Talking of John – he’s famous! He’s featured in a book about Switchboard (formerly Lesbian and Gay Switchboard) as he was one of the co-founders. One of the many things he did…and I am so proud. Halfway through reading it, and the book is great – but also you can also hear his voice on famous The Log Books podcast – Series 4, episode 1.

Hearing his voice again was wonderful but also bittersweet. Ugly-cried when it came on.

So I’ve done readings across the podcast from a few bits of the book around him. It has nothing to do with baths, but given it’s his bath in a weird olive/grey shade (which made recently fixing a hole in it with Milliput easy actually, it’s that sort of weird grey/green!) and we used to have baths together when I was lot thinner.

I talk about that, the music, the state of the world (Iran So Far Away) and how I am glad that John doesn’t get to see the rise of the Fourth Reich, Icy Dumb and Dumber edition.

• Readings from ‘The Log Books’ by Tash Walker and Adam Zmith
• Patt Stanton Gjonola – My Bathroom (American-Standard, 1969)
• Hannah Williams & The Affirmations – The Only Way out Is Through
• ††† – Goodbye Horses
• Röyksopp – I Had This Thing (featuring Jamie Irrepressible)
• Pet Shop Boys – I Want To Wake Up (Breakdown Mix)
• Easy Star All-Stars – Five Years
• Beverly Glenn-Copeland – Durocher
• Instamatic – How To Lose Control Completely (Ane Brun vs Teddy Swims)
• Nils Frahm – Kaleidoscope
• Jon Hopkins – Recovery
• Christopher O’Riley – Not Half Right
• Fleetwood Mac – Never Make Me Cry
• Lotte Kestner – Somebody
• Lone – Stands Tidal Waves
• Nils Frahm – #2
• Röyksopp – You Know I Have to Go (feat. Jamie Irrepressible)
• The Unthanks – Bird in the Blue
• Low – Just Make It Stop
• ANOHNI – Landslide
• Daniel Avery – First Light
• The Unthanks – Night Is My Friend
• Psyche – Goodbye Horses (Immortality Mix)
• Hannah Peel – Palace
• Beverly Glenn‐Copeland – Ever New (At Hotel2Tango)
• Beck – Lost Cause (Union Chapel BBC 4 Session)
• Ane Brun – Stay
• Jon Hopkins & Hayden Thorpe – Goodbye Horses

A surprise not-totally-festive edition of Radio Clash, where I talk about a bird I think about a lot (the lost Kauaʻi ʻōʻō bird – apologies for the transliteration but those special symbols will likely gum up the works in the feed and tags) and what Christmas means to me now…

I play some new and old mashups and original music – some of which is my favourites of the year, but mostly older since I don’t listen to music in the same way anymore. Loving the new Saint Etienne and Lily Allen albums though, and K-Pop Demon Hunters (DERPY 4EVAH!) and new-ish music from B. Dolan, Hallmighty and Lankum.

Buckingham Nicks album gets a timely re-release (are they talking again?) so talk about that and the legendary Coffee Plant demos – and visit Aidan Moffat and RM Hubbert’s Christmas Ghost Stories album…and play the last of my choices from Tom Rasmussen’s amazing Body Building album.

And some festive? festering? tracks that have been on ice stuck at the North Pole since Xmas two years ago. Joy to the world and all that, there’s a theme about wanting 2026 to be a lot less shit…but not that hopeful, concentrating on what Xmas is supposed to be about, rather than all the capitalism, food and tradition. Peace on earth for all would be a nice place to start?

Forgot to explain why I played Nomad/Candlebright though. John used to light a candle for me to guide me in when I visited on Tuesdays. “You’re my candlebright in the window”. I mentioned this in a 2012 episode with an image of that candle burning in the window.

Even back then this demo was important to me, it expressed the weird on/off yet constant nature of our relationship, but that candle was like a lighthouse, guiding me back to him from my travels.

And that’s why I light a candle for him now, to guide him back to me every Friday. And yes ‘The story has a strange ending’ indeed.

• Captain Obvious – What Believing Sounds Like (Huntr/x vs Journey)
• Bill McClintock – Sleigh Bitch –Explicit– (Carpenters and Buckcherry)
• B Dolan – Fight Naked
• Lambrini Girls – God’s Country
• Problem Patterns – Christmas Number One
• Obscurest Vinyl – The Secrets Your Asshole Keeps
• Instamatic – Cranes In The Waterfall (Solange vs Stone Roses)
• Saint Etienne – Sweet Melodies
• Lewis Scarole – Moonlight Banquet (Mike Oldfield & Maggie Reilly vs Bloc Party)
• Lankum – Ghost Town
• Xinon – Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (One Gameboy Remix)
• Mike Anthony – Why Can’t We Live Together
• Tom Rasmussen – Joy
• Aidan Moffat and RM Hubbert – Weihnachtsstimmung
• HallMighty – Drive Home Alone For Christmas (The Cars vs. Chris Rea ft Olivia Rodrigo)
• Jenny Stardust – My Arms Are Just Fuckin’ Stuck Like This
• Piers Faccini , Ballaké Sissoko – One Half Of A Dream
• One True Pairing – The World Said No [Domino Recording Co]
• Black Box Recorder – Do You Believe in God?
• Ben Folds – Still (Reprise)
• Lindsey Buckingham & Stevie Nicks – Crystal
• Minor Arth – This Used To Be My Playgound Love (Air vs Madonna)
• Aidan Moffat and RM Hubbert – Ode to Plastic Mistletoe
• Buckingham Nicks – Nomad (aka Candelbright)
• David Gilmour – Between Two Points (with Romany Gilmour)
• Tom Rasmussen – This Is How We Walk on the Moon
• SOPHIE & Hannah Diamond – Always and Forever
• Lily Allen – Fruityloop
• tbc aka Instamatic – Happy Novacaine Year (Green Day vs ABBA)
• tbc aka Instamatic – Chasing Epilogues (Snow Patrol vs Daft Punk)

For Paul.

• Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gormé – Black Hole Sun
• pomDeter – Through The Fire And The Heatwave (Dragonforce vs Martha And The Vandellas)
• Soviet Dolls – Cruel Summer (Bananarama cover)
• G Flip – It’s Raining Them
• Mila Jam – It’s Raining Them
• Corook – They!
• Lambrini Girls – No Homo
• Bob Vylan – Ring The Alarm
• DJ Schmolli – American Generation (Green Day vs. The Who)
• Mixomatosis – America Don’t Give A… (Green Day vs. Peaches vs. Joan Jett)
• The Urban Guerillas – Here Come The Americans
• Marc Johnce – Dancing Fat Bottomed Girls (Queen vs Scissor Sisters)
• Dunproofin’ – Acid Comes Quickly (Pet Shop Boys vs A Guy Called Gerald)
• Jamie xx – Still Summer
• Everything But The Girl – Missing (Cosmic Dawn 2024 Remix)
• Tom Rasmussen – Street Violence
• The Blessed Madonna – Mercy (feat. Jacob Lusk)
• Lissie – Night Moves
• JamiePR – Bluey In The Summertime (Bluey vs Mungo Jerry)
• Peggy_P – Blue Champagne Under The Stars (Bluey x Oasis)
• Degs, Nu:Tone, Duskee – Can We Talk?
• Charla Green – Livin In Sunshine
• Makoto feat. Karina Ramage – Wind of Change
• DJ Kal – Cruel Summer of Broken Dreams (Green Day vs. Taylor Swift)
• Peggy_P – Crossed Rings (Ariana Grande vs Art of Noise)
• LeeDM101 – LA Roads (Lana’s Version) (Lana Del Rey vs. The Midnight)
• Run the Jewels – 2100 (feat BOOTS)
• Hildegard von Blingin – Summertime Sadness (Bardcore)
• Hannah Cohen – Mountain
• Kill_mR_DJ – Wait, They Don’t Love You Like I Love You (Moby + Yeah Yeah Yeahs)
• DSP – Throwing Myself (Genesis vs Depeche Mode)
• Sufjan Stevens – A Little Lost
• Black Box Recorder – Wonderful Life (2023 Remaster)
• ANOHNI and the Johnsons – Another World
• tbc aka Instamatic – Always Tears Go By On My Mind (Pet Shop Boys vs The Rolling Stones)
• Lewis Scarole – Falling Once More (Carpenters VS Twin Peaks)