Dedicated to the memory of, though making no implications about stylistic/qualitative parity with, the majestic Woebot. There will not be another blogger as good as him.

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I was walking home from work the other night and had thankfully remembered the iPod, unlike the night before when I managed to get locked out of the house. I got it in 2005, so it’s a Mini and looks gigantic compared to the relative condom wrapper that is the new Nano. (I am ashamed to admit that, even though the storage is less than my current model, I covet the Nano so much. Jobs, I know you’re reading this. Get it sent.)

Obviously the only way to go is to shuffle the tracks, so that is what I did. Given that I am almost entirely done with mp3 (literally entirely when it comes to home use), I have given up on putting new – to me – music on it and have opted, Grandad style, for some old faves. I came to the realisation some months ago that the only type of music which even half-works on mp3 is of the high-energy kind, so I have gone to town. Andrew W.K., Captain Ahab, Be Your Own Pet, Converge, Coalesce et al… even semi-forgotten family favourites like NOFX and Rocket From The Crypt! Deciding that this is blatantly the way to go, I am going to fill the iPod with – as I should have done a long time ago – such music. It’ll be a proper portable jukebox, rather than an obelisk with which I attempt to get into new music. I have the turntable for that.

Anyway, the walk home was satisfying indeed as I steamed about to the favourites and some lost gems. I assume I am the only person here who remembers ‘Here and Now’ by Letters To Cleo, let alone fondly. But it came on and I loved it like the twee early nineties indie head that I really am, deep down. And on I marched til I reached the home stretch, with that odd winter-pedestrian feeling of a boiling hot core, warm headphone ears and freezing extremities. Coalesce was the current jam and it was awesome. It was the opener to their sarcastically-monikered Noisecore swansong classic 0:12 Revolution in Just Listening from 1999, ‘What Happens on the Road Always Comes Home’.

Knowing it was on shuffle, I was ruing the lack of the songs follow-up ‘cowards.com’ before the former had even finished. Nothing, I internally reasoned, could follow this. A song came on (as is bound to happen in such situations) and it was largely unfamiliar rap, though with a great beat. I decided not to skip. That voice was strangely familiar and the track compelling. That’s it, I decided. I’m going to see who this is and get their album bought on 12″.

Turns out it was Cenobites, one of Kool Keith’s many projects. Good fucking luck.