During the year I’ve been so desperately thrashing about, trying not to get behind with this blog, that I’ve never really had a worry about what to write about next, apart from choosing between the dozen or so things fluttering about in my head at the time.

I’ve never seriously suffered from writer’s block, and I’m not suffering from it now exactly, but I don’t actually have anything to write about today. Habits form quickly, and I have not blogged for almost two weeks over the Christmas period and am squarely out of the habit of writing. I suppose that during the year I was always thinking about posts, even if not writing them, and for the last few days I’ve not been thinking about posts at all. So here I sit at the computer to write one and there just isn’t one there.

Which, in a way, is refreshing. That’s what a holiday is for, and I have a bulging inbox of new things, some of which are presumably going to be at least half decent – including an email from someone in Pakistan which I am looking forward to – so there’ll be no shortage of new stuff coming up I shouldn’t think.

Also, there are new releases by The Magnetic Fields, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, The Mountain Goats, Cat Power and Honeytrap to look forward to over the first few months of 2008, so things are looking good. Honeytrap in particular is one I’m looking forward to. There’s also a new Destroyer record and an apparently folkier album by Goldfrapp on the horizon as well, which should be interesting. I love Alison Goldfrapp’s voice, but there’s only so much disco I am really up for, so this new project sounds interesting.

So we set sail for 2008 on the Good Ship Toad and all, it would appear, looks rather rosy. Here are some old American folk songs, which is an area I think I might just explore a little more in the year ahead, along with some contemporary versions of the same songs.

Carlton Rees – 99½ Won’t Do
The Detroit Cobras – 99½ Won’t Do
Doc Watson – John Henry
Bruce Springsteen – John Henry
Burl Ives – Wayfaring Stranger
Blanche – Wayfaring Stranger