When I bought my first tonne of wood, back in September, I thought that was a lot of wood. Four more tonnes later and I realise that it's not. I'm obsessed with wood (never thought I'd write that). Everywhere I go I'm constantly thinking 'ooh that would burn well' whenever I see a fallen branch or long stick. I can be found, staring at a pile of timber, working out in my head how I can get it home. I've travelled miles for it, through inches of snow. I have pallets delivered to the house and when I saw council workers lopping branches outside my house, it may aswell have been a naked contortionist troupe, the way I reacted. Wood is good (whole other meaning for any Yanks that might be reading this).

It's down to the cold and the fact that we've had a bloody cold winter. Out here, on the edge, it gets really really cold. There's no neighbouring houses, seeping warmth for a start. It's cosey in suburbia, or in a terrace. Loads of residual heat floating about. In the sticks, you've got to make your own heat. Hence the obsession with wood of any kind. Cold stone floors sting like they're hot first thing in the morning and after five months of winter the cold is in your bones and you feel like you'll never get warm again. I've never really noticed heating before, it's just a switch and something to do with a boiler. It's a lot more immediate when it involves hacking stuff up before you can feel warm.

That said - I've got a big fucking axe, so that's a plus

Chelley - 'Took The Night (Grum Vocal Mix)'

Wiley - 'Never Be Your Woman (Herve Re-Work)

Actual Phantom - 'Toy'

Gorrilaz - 'Stylo (Yuksek Remix)'

Great remix for you today. We've never hidden our admiration for Ellie Goulding and now that everyones jumping all over her (so to speak) we can't just abandon her. Here at SS we just hope that some marketing 'genius' doesn't get hold of her and try and change her image - sex her up and fuck it up. Leave her and her drum alone, eh. This is hot from the guys at Neon Gold, a remix of 'Starry Eyed' that goes bonkers with the house piano and is genuinely uplifting. This is obviously going to be huge

Ellie Goulding - 'Starry Eyed (Russ Chimes Rmx)

Buddhists have a term 'being in the moment', to describe when we are fully aware of our experience, rather than robotically feeling stuff though habit. We often live life in the past or racing into the future, but rarely experience the now.

I had a now moment today. driving a half ton of wood home, through snow covered hills. Deadmau5 'Soma' was on the stereo, there was mist hanging to the hills, as evening fell and I realised that this was one of those moments that would look great in the Movie of my Life. Perfect sound track, perfect scene and of course a handsome mother fucker in the lead role.

Of course, once I realised that I was in the now, pow!, I wasn't anymore. That's the thing with Buddhism, it's very frustrating. I gave up on Enlightenment when I found that not only did I have to give up desire, but wanting to give up desire was in fact a desire...Taking the piss a bit there I reckon

News comes to us of a new club opening in Manchestah. New Order's Peter Hook and Ben Kelly, who designed the original Hacienda, plan to start up the Factory Club (or Fac251 as I heard on Radio 6) in the old Factory offices. Speaking on Radio 6 Hook said that he wanted to open the club to give himself something to do 'in his dotage' and that they chose the Factory office 'because it's full of some lovely memories'. The building has previously been the venue for Paradise Factory and until recently the Warehouse Project. Hook plans to use all three floors of the venue, with the middle level hosting a club and the lower level used as a 'gigging venue' with a capacity of 350. There's a provisional plan to open the clubs doors on Jan 29th, with Hook himself playing live, along side a guest band.

More news as we get it

Happy New Year

So the Noughties are almost over. What's the next decade going to be called, do you think? Answers on a postcard to some other fucker please.

What's this year brought? Good and bad, like every other year I've experienced, I suppose. Generally more good than bad, so that's a big plus. I've always had a problem remembering much past what happened last week, so I'm going to let 2009 just pour out and we'll see what I recall.

Arctic Monkeys third album, good - slow burner, but ace. Same for Kasabian. Jamie T was great, best so far, by far. Fukkk Off was wonderful, as was Fuck Buttons. Best album of the year was Phoenix 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix', which leaked for what seemed like a decade, so I heard and enjoyed it in bits for ages. The Hurt Locker wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be, Star Trek was brilliant (best line 'Get out of the chair!), Monsters versus Aliens was funny enough, kids loved it. Fear of Tigers did one of the best remixes of the year, with Sound of Arrows and then released one of the best albums, for free - sweet. Boys Noize finally got the recognition he deserved and 'Waves', with Erol was one of the best tunes of the year. Inglorious Bastards was weirdly great and like no war film I've seen before, or maybe it's a cross between The Dirty Dozen, Kelly's Heroes and Catch 22, but nastier. Viva Tarantino! The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassuss was my film of the year and also the one whose title I could never remember, Two Door Cinema Club and Crystal Fighters restored my faith in Kitsune (not that I actually lost faith in them, I just wanted them to do something). Ellie Goulding is just the female voice from my dreams (sorry Sarah Cracknell). Ed Banger did nothing (did they? apart from Mehdi), Poney Poney Run Run, Exit Calm, White Belt Yellow Tag, 3oH3! Acid Girls! Acid Girls were just brilliant - the video for 'Numbers' is one of the best videos of the year, only pipped by the Spike Jonze video for Unkle 'Heaven', because I can watch it again and again. I didn't see enough films this year. The Wire was the best thing I've EVER seen on television and I don't know why. DeadWood is the second best thing I've seen. Peep Show is consistently the best show on UK telly. Loved that RATM was Christmas number 1, just because it shows that with enough organisation we can turn back the tide of shit that sometimes threatens to swamp us. Politicians are fucking awful greedy bastards, but we have to vote for one of them, or stupid racist wankers like Nick Griffin will get more power. We don't want that to happen. Bankers royally fucked us and didn't even 'give us a reacha round' and we'll be paying for that for years. Twats. Grasshopper died (weirdly), as did Jacko. John Hughes died, Karl Malden died, Molly Sugden dead. Obama became president, which was a fucking brilliant (and I still owe Stu fifty quid, betting him that it would never happen), John Stewart the Daily Show is still good. Iyaz 'shorty like a melody in my head' was officially the catchiest tune of the year. As was 'shorty on the dancefloor' by Sean Kingston (a sharty theme?) Deadmau5 album was good ('Ghosts and Stuff', top), Joaquim wasn't that good. Vitalic delivered after four years, some misses on there, but mainly heeeets and beats. The Macabbees album was superb. Metric album, great. SMD 'Audacity of Huge', haven't given the album a proper listen yet. I've been busy!!

Christ I'm going to forget loads here...

Frankmusik...

Jay-Z 'Empire State of Mind' - never been to NYC, but when I do I want this playing in my headphones when I leave the airport. Hurts are going to be big, if the number of hits the video of 'Wonderful Life' has got is anything to go by. The Arthur Baker remix of 'Wonderful..' was triffic. Chester French and Erik Hassle were good. Renaissance Man, Laidback Luke, Burns, Riton, Primary 1, Run Riot, Brodinski, Soulwax, Felix da Housecat, Japanese Popstars, Designer Drugs, Fake Blood, Miike Snow 'Black & Blue', Echo & The Bunnymen, Kings Of Leon 'Sex on Fire' (sorry, but it's a sexy mother of a tune), Big Pink 'Dominoes'..fuck it was quite a year, all in all.

This post may well be a work in progress. I'll be crawling on line at 3am to add - Yuksek! Dada Life, D.I.M 'Lyposuct', Dizzee 'Bonkers', Calvin Harris on X-Factor, Don Rimini, Ian Brown album, ace. Prodigy killed it live, haven't danced so much in years. Tiga's album was ok, the SW stuff being the best. Van She album, was that this year? Oh I don't know - ha!

Have a great 2010. If someone could keep notes from now on, that might make things easier for me this time next year.

X

Right, so we've got mice. As usual I'm approaching the problem, as I have every problem I've encountered since moving to the country, with extreme violence. I've brought rat traps, because frankly mouse traps didn't cut it. We laid mouse traps all around the house to start with, but the crafty little rodents managed to snaffle the bait, without setting the traps off. I had to marvel at their ingenuity. How do they eat a lump of peanut butter without tripping the trap? If I walked passed it a little heavily, it snapped shut. My admiration quickly waned though, after another broken nights sleep, listening to them partying in the loft, so I went out and bought the biggest mother fucking trap I could find. It's a monster. If you mess up setting it, it will take off the top of your finger.

Anyway, we're getting a mouse a day with one trap. One day we got two, which was impressive and though everytime I place their little broken body into a plastic bag and lob it in the bin, I wonder if there might not be a more humane way to do the job, I remind myself that rodents carry germs and that if we just leave them to their own devices they will BREED. I don't need that kind of shit in my life. We've now got three traps, so expect lots of DeadMice ( I wish I had a tune by the rodent headed one to post now. That would give the story a point at least)

What I do have is Ponyrex, from Mexico, who have some great hooks and a love of synths. I gather this sound is known as dream wave. Whatever it is, I like it - it's good. See if you can spot the Paul Young homage in 'Hologram'.

Ponyrex - 'Hologram'

Ponyrex - 'Freq'

Technicolor Fabrics - 'Render (Ponyrex Remix)'