I wish I could blame the technical faux pas on the live version of today's podcast on the fact the batteries for my mouse ran out partway through, but the fact is that I muted the music and failed to unmute my microphone way before the mouse ran out of power. In fact, running out of power is a bit of a theme on today's show. It's earlier than normal! Recorded in the middle of the afternoon. There was a power cut in central Edinburgh today, and the office building in which we work was pretty much shutdown. As a result, it was an impromptu half day that I probably should have spent Christmas shopping, but instead I thought I'd do an afternoon podcast. A special treat for those still stuck in work!

On the show, I play some tracks that aren't in the top 30 (or maybe 50) tracks of 2011 - the poll for which closed at 8am this morning on the website. I thought I'd take the opportunity to play tracks and bands that I liked, that maybe (at least judging by the votes) no-one else did!

1. Bearsuit - "A Train Wreck" (Played courtesy of Fortuna POP! / IODAPromonet)
2. Deerhoof - "The Merry Barracks" (Played courtesy of Polyvinyl Records)
3. Conveyor - "Yes, Some Things Are So Heavy" (Played courtesy of Conveyor / Released under a Creative Commons licence)
4. Uniform Motion - "An Island" (Played courtesy of Uniform Motion / Released under a Creative Commons licence)
5. Sea Birds - "Oh, Patience" (Played courtesy of Sea Birds / Released under a Creative Commons licence)
6. Ana Threat - "Gotta Be A Reason" (Played courtesy of Ana Threat / Trash Rock Productions / Released under a Creative Commons licence)
7. Alligator Indian - "Telepathic Boys" (Played courtesy of Bleeding Gold Records)
8. The Last Battle - "Ruins" (Played courtesy of The Last Battle / 17 Seconds Records)