MP3 Soundtrack of My Life . . . .

. . . at this moment in time, whilst dishing out the communist propaganda in leaflet form to the good citizens of Dunfermline:

1) The Delgados - 'Mr Blue Sky'

2) Interpol - 'C'Mere'

3) Yazoo - 'Goodbye Seventies'

4) Simple Minds - ' I Travel'

5) Human League - 'Empire State Human'

6) Cocteau Twins - 'Heaven or Las Vegas'

7) Orange Juice - 'Mud In The Eye'

8) Robert Wyatt - 'A Sunday in Madrid'

9) Altered Images - 'Don't Talk To Me About Love'

10) Belltower - 'Outshine The Sun'

11) Beth Orton - 'Best Bit'

12) Breeders - 'Cannonball'

13) The Buzzcocks - 'Just Lust'

14) The Mekons - 'The Ghosts of American Astronauts'

15) Gravy Train!!!! - 'You Made Me Gay'

16) The Dears - 'Lost In The Plot'

17) Le Tigre - 'Hot Topic'

18) Blank Students - 'Fun At The Fair'

19) Basczax - 'Karleearn Photography'

20) The Ex - 'Frenzy'

21) The Associates - 'Party Fears Two'

22) Steps - 'Stomp'

23) St Etienne - 'Like A Motorway' (Chemical Brothers Remix)

24) Super Furry Animals - Northern Lights'

25) Desireless - 'Voyage Voyage'

26) The Flowers - 'After Dark'

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A music psychologist writes:

"Eclectic selection mixing pop classics with pretentious obscurantist tracks. Obviously someone seeking both approval from mainstream society (see the choice of the Steps track), but also a hat tip from the hipsters (picking a few tracks from the 1979 Earcom compilations.)

Thinks he is being knowingly ironic in some of his more hit parade selections (again see the choice of Steps and the Desireless track), but it just belies the fact that he is a pop kid at heart. Picks mainstream artists from the eighties such as Yazoo, Human League and Simple Minds but goes for the little known tracks from their early days, claiming this was when they were interesting musically and lyrically (in the case of Human League), soulful (in the case of Yazoo) and under 250 pounds in weight (in the case of Jim Kerr of Simple Minds). He's just being pretentious again - he can't help that atavistic behaviour.

Noted that seven of the tracks are by Scottish artists - one can only speculate whether or not more or less of the tracks would have been by Scottish musicians if the subject was still holed up in Sarf Lahndun. Need to monitor this to see if his Scottishness diminishes or grows in the coming months. (It has been suggested that his 'Scottishness' will simply be replaced with the little known phenomenon of 'West of Scotland patriotism', a variant on Nationalism of the better known variety made up mostly of taking the piss out of East of Scotland accents and referring to Edinburgh as that place that is "All fur coat and no decent bookshops.")

Thirteen of the twenty-six tracks have female lead vocalists. Either a concession to self-policed political correctness, or a sub-conscious acknowledgment that he thinks that women have better voices than blokes. Cites the fact that when suitably emotional, has been known to squeeze out a tear when listening to either Patsy Cline or Ella Fitzgerald. Still think he's bluffing but that may be his way of saving face about a soundtrack drawn up to take his mind off mindless political activity.

With reference to the matter of his much-vaunted politics, asked him where the politics were on the selection. If he is soooo political, then where's the Gil Scott-Heron track, the Woody Guthrie outakes and the Dory Previn satire? Mumbles in response about something called 'The Secret Melody of the Class Struggle', claiming that it was a "brilliant compilation of political music that sold out at Glastonbury in 2003 but when he last passed a copy onto someone he was met with an indifferent response", and it knocked the political wind out of him. His two concessions to his political pop aversion was the inclusion of the Le Tigre and The Ex tracks. Who thought Dutch Anarcho-Syndicalists could record something so melodic?

Ticked the boxes alongside the usual fixation with the eighties, electro-music and bitter sweet love songs.

Noted that he has an interest in Beth Orton that goes beyond the musical.

In conclusion, a recommendation that he takes out a subscription to Filter magazine, and watches the Amp music channel rather than 'We Love the Eighties' all-weekender. Throwing in an Interpol track doesn't fool anyone. The chap is locked in the past - 1890s politics, 1980s music and 1990s dress sense only confirms that. He must also try to snap out of writing about himself in the third person. That really is fucking annoying."

*Copyright - Manny Shinwell (Labour fakir Passim)