Not too long ago on here I announced the fact that one of the things I missed most about doing any sort of music journalism - well, one thing amongst many in fact - was the arrival of demo tapes and CDs by the dozens through my letterbox. There were few more first-thing-in-the-morning sounds more satisfying than the metallic clang of the letterbox flap, followed the plasticky thuds of CDs and tapes hitting the doormat one by one. True, I always used to get up out of bed to fetch the items in the hope that one was Pulp's new single, and it was usually more likely to be a tape from local whacky metal band The Tommy Tits or something, but there was almost always something good lurking in the pile, often from people I'd never heard of.

Those days are long gone, so I really should give great thanks to two people for sending me CDs apropos of nothing. The first contributors, The Henry Road, almost certainly only did so because they caught me praising them to the skies on this very blog, but all the same it was a very nice gesture. If every band I praised on here sent me their entire back catalogue, I'd never need to go record shopping again (and no, that's not a hint). I'm pleased to report that their CDs aren't in any way a let-down, and they've been nothing if not prolific in their time together, so much so that they're now nestling in the top ten of my Last FM "most listened to" chart. http://www.myspace.com/thehenryroad is the place to look if you want to hear more things of a very angular, psychedelic ilk, and again, I can't emphasise enough how great "Jeff Lynne is Five" is.

The second contributor to doorstep related joy was my cousin Steven who, through his Dirter record label, has released a live box set by Faust entitled "In Autumn". Unlike many live box sets, this one has been very lovingly packaged, and the sound quality is actually brilliant, managing to give effective impressions of the knife-edge spontaneity the band often have live. It also comes with a large booklet with band contributions detailing the ups and downs of the tour of the UK, and a DVD. Given the sheer scope of the project I actually haven't managed to listen to all of it in-depth yet, but so far it sounds like the next-best thing to actually being there and seeing them for yourself. Steven is also the first person ever to send me a box set in the post free of charge. That's what families are for, I suppose.

Great stuff, then! I suppose I have to be thankful that the Walthamstow Postie/ Post Office sorting staff didn't nick them both, as they are won't to do.