Unimaginable power! Unlimited rice pudding!

And lo! we come at last unto the final day of the working week. Verily a respite from our toils is almost within our grasp. Before the revelry can begin, we must first give up of our homage to the God of the Earworm who has sustained us through our labours.

Before us today is a man who heard my call from the wilderness and is here now to lead us in our devotions.

Ladies and gentleworms....without further ado.... allow me to present for your earworming pleasure..........

Earworms of the Week - Guest Editor #37 - Alan from Kaptain Kobold

I've never written for someone else's blog, so I'm not totally sure of the etiquette here. I suppose an introduction is in order really. For those that havan't ever visited my blog (which I would guess is most of you) I'm Alan Saunders, a forty-something IT type of person, married, two children, a few pets and into wargaming and creationist-baiting. My musical tatstes allegedly remain trapped somewhere around 1980. Swiss Toni asked for volunteers to fill this slot a few weeks ago, and I took him up on his offer. I may live to regret it.

In no particular order, here are the current tunes doing the rounds as ear-worms:

Hoppípolla - Sigur Rós

This has cropped up here before, but I blame the BBC. To be fair, though, this had been going around in my head before they started using it as trailer music, so I feel quite justified in including it here again. Judging by the number of posts asking about this piece on the BBC messageboards it would appear that Sigur Rós have managed to do a good job expanding their audience by allowing its use in the Planet Earth trailer. It's ear-worm nature has not been helped by my using it as part of a music compilation Catherine needed done for her school-stuff - the idea of Sigur Ros being used for Year 1 music and movement appeals to me.

The Current - Blue Man Group (with Gavin Rossdale)

It's now over two months since we went to see the Blue Man Group in London, and we're still enjoying their music at home. Although this tune didn't appear in their show, with it's opening guitar riff it's become a persistent ear-worm. You can see the video for it here.

I Feel Love - Blue Man Group (with venus Hum)

I'm old enough to remember this song the first time it came around. Disco lends itself well to ear-worms, and this is one of those tunes that lurks at the back of the back of the mind the whole time waiting to leap out and surprise you. Listening to this version has merely pushed it out into the open where it can strut its stuff. A favourite track at the moment, and notable for the original synthsisied arpeggios (I think that's what they are) being played on BMG's trademark vinyl tube percussion, to good effect. Video here.

Music For A Found Harmonium - The Penguin Cafe Orchestra

Quite possibly one of the catchiest tunes ever written, and an instant ear-worm. The Penguin Cafe Orchestra are a kind of acoustic Kraftwerk, and this was their only real 'hit', aside from the music to an old Orange ad (which you'd know if you heard it).

Thunderbirds Are Go! - Busted

This used to be the most played song on my iPod, partially because the chidren like it and (I confess) partially because I like it too. Although it no longer holds that dubious honour, it has popped itself into my consciousness this week because my son Has decided that he wants to learn to play it on his guitar. We've dropped the acoustic version onto a CD and given it to his music teacher, who's happy to give it a go, so this tune's going to be an ear-worm for a while yet, I guess. Download it here (MP3).

Doctor Who Theme - Various

The Doctor is back and, for the next 13 weeks, our house will be in the grip of 'Doctor Who' fever. This, of course, means that the theme is playing through my head. The reason I haven't pinpointed a specific track here is that I have rathe a lot of versions of the theme to listen to. As well as the six or seven official TV versions, I have loads of remixes from the excellent Whomix site. Indeed that last time I checked I had something like sixty versions of the theme on my iPod. It takes about 3 hours to listen to them all - I know, because Cei and I did it the other week. Whomix recommendations - for a piece linking all of the theme versions over the years try 'Regenerations'. And for something totally different try Dancing Rat's 'Toxic Adventurer'.

Something Wicked This Way Comes - The Enid

This always hangs around for a while after I listen to it, as it has a strong memory attached to it. Owing to its presence on a compilation tape I had, it was the piece of music that was playing at the precise moment my daughter was born. Thus far the title does not appear to be a prediction.

Theme from 'New Tricks' - Sung by Dennis Waterman

We like TV detective series, and 'New Tricks' is one of our favourites at the moment. Predictable BBC fare, I admit, but the cast work well together, and James Bolam and Alun Armstrong in particular are great in it. I can't say that I like the theme, though, but it is catchy. Too catchy. [ST's note: so Dennis wrote the feem toon and sings the feem toon then?]

The Baby-Eating Bishop of Bath and Wells - The Graham Parsnip Liquidiser Torture Think-tank (Project)

I got this as a free download from the band's website. Download it yourself, and make it an ear-worm all of your very own. Can anyone in this day and age hear the phrase 'Bishop of Bath and Wells' without menatally sticking the words 'Baby-Eating' in front of them?

Drive My Car - The Beatles

'Baby You Can Drive My Car' is one of the categories in this month's list on the Monthly Scavenger Hunt group on Flickr. And ever since the list was published I've had this bloody song going through my head. Needless to say this was my entry. And here are the rest.

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Sigur Ros, Thunderbirds, Dr. Who, The baby-eating bishop of Bath & Wells and a Dennis Waterman sung theme tune. I think it's the eclecticism of these lists that I love the most!

Good work Alan!

All being well, I should have another Guest Editor for you all next week.... it's almost like a regular feature, isn't it?

Have a good weekend, y'all.


[Previous Guest Editors: Flash, The Urban Fox, Lord Bargain, Retro-Boy, Statue John, Ben, OLS, Ka, Jenni, Aravis, Yoko, Bee, Charlie, Tom, Di, Spin, The Ultimate Olympian, Damo, Mike, RedOne, The NumNum, Leah, Le Moine Perdu, clm, Michael, Hyde, Adem, Alecya, bytheseashore, adamant, Earworms of the Year 2005, Delrico Bandito, Graham, Lithaborn, Phil, Mark II, Stef]