Hello Toadlings. I thought I might as well bung up a page on what Song, by Toad is going to be all about, just in case you are even remotely interested.

MP3s - I post a lot of mp3s - as often as I can in fact. I think most people are quite lazy and probably won’t fish around looking for things like we bloggers. The easier I make it to listen to your music, the more likely they are to do so. If you want something removed I will always do so - just write and ask and it should be gone before the day is up. I’ll normally only ever post two songs from an album because, contrary to the beliefs of the RIAA, I genuinely do want people to buy the album.

I remove things after a couple of weeks for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I couldn’t afford the bandwidth to keep everything up forever, and secondly, I don’t want to become an on-line resource for downloadable mp3s. That, again, would stop people buying the records, which really isn’t the point of the site.

General Content - I’ll try and keep a mix between big groups and the smaller, more unknown ones. There are two reasons for this. Big groups, like it or not, bring in the hits, so without the traffic they generate the smaller groups I write about wouldn’t get nearly as much exposure. And secondly, I love big famous groups as much as small ones. It may not be as satisfying an interaction, but don’t tell me the first Killers album wasn’t a great big indie pop gem, just because it was commercially successful and they’ve done nothing much since.

That said, I do personally prefer writing about smaller groups because I feel like I’m helping them in my own small way. They send me emails saying thanks, and it’s just way nicer to be involved with small, ambitious, excited bands and labels than massive corporate behemoths.

Duplications - I will treat this as if it’s the only music blog you ever read. I know this isn’t true, but it’s nice for me to have a full record of my musical musings as well, so even if The Arcade Fire have been hyped to death everywhere else, I’m still going to stick in my tuppeny’s worth. This means you should always find something here if I’m into it, which I think is also helpful.

Also, if I like something on someone else’s blog, I’ll often re-post it here. I always try and do this with due credit given, but sometimes I forget where I get things from. If I’ve pinched your material and it’s making you cross, just get in touch and I’ll always acknowledge your contribution. It’s rare that I really ever ‘discover’ anything for myself, and I don’t pretend to, so it’s all usually pinched from somewhere or other.

Criticism - I will often dish out a lot of fairly harsh criticism. I try not to lay into small bands, because I don’t think that’s fair. Once you’ve been in the NME a few times though, I reckon you’re probably big enough that one lone blogger shooting off his mouth is probably no big deal for you, so I’ll consider you fair game. And once you’re Chris Martin, you’ve really got no chance. But then, once you’re Chris Martin do you really give a fuck what anyone says anyway? Honestly though, please don’t take any of it too seriously. Most of it really is quite tongue-in-cheek, or at the very least deliberately exaggerated, so don’t get worked up too much, I’m just taking the piss really. If I particularly irritate you though, do get in touch. Comedy ranting aside, you’ll find I’m surprisingly reasonable, and will happily print someone else’s side of the argument. And always remember, if I had the skills, I’d far rather be writing music than writing about music. Even if I don’t like what you’ve done, I’d still rather be in your shoes.

Personal and off-topic content - I am going to talk a fair bit about my life and random things in the press that interest me and so on. I feel no need to maintain any sort of ‘journalistic integrity’ or ‘professionalism’ unlike some bloggers because, obviously enough, I am neither a journalist, nor do I make any money out of this. Also, music is a personal thing, and I like the personal stories about why people like certain things. I’m guessing there are enough slick, professional sites out there for you if you want something like that. If you want scruffy enthusiasm, this is where you belong.

That’s about it - I think so, anyway. So lots of music chatter, and lots of random nonsense. Get in touch and have your say, it’s more fun like that. Cheers, all - hope you enjoy it.

Swearing - oh yes, forgot this one. If you don’t like the swearing and the inappropriate sexual content… honestly, just fuck off and try pulling that gherkin out of your arse and relaxing a little. Look, it’s all just language, it’s not exactly dangerous. If you really think that any one word in the English language is so traumatising that it is in some way damaging to hear or to read it then honestly, it’s about time someone stuck their dick in your ear and tried to fuck some sense into you. Using the language well, and with wit and enjoyment and passion is a fine thing, and why the flaming bollocks should that preclude a small list of a dozen or so words that you find just that little bit too gauche to be fit for public consumption. Shit piss tits fuck bastard minge flaps cunt arse bollocks and a ratty old growler. Actually, I think ratty old growler might be my favourite naughty euphemism for ladybits in the whole world. *Snigger*