I’m swamped by media. I’m not sure what to do about it. Was it Dr Johnson or Robert Burton who was supposed to have read every book ever written? Sit poor old Burton down in front of a BitTorrent site, and he’d probably burst into tears, or at least start working on the Anatomy Of Melancholy: The Sequel. I tell you what pushed me over the edge: a copy of TV & Satellite Week, 17th-23rd March 2007. It’s got Hugh Laurie on the front cover, and an advert for the repulsively sentimental Pawprints Gold Locket on the back cover, but in between are full details of around 25,000 hours of TV and radio. I remember, about 15 years ago, I might get out a biro and circle the programmes I want to watch on terrestrial telly in the back of Time Out. Those 15 years have seen my biro upgraded to a green flourescent marker pen – I’m glad I’ve achieved something in that time, eh – but I gave up on TV & Satellite Week very quickly, because I knew that even if I recorded all this stuff, I’d never get around to watching it. So when it comes to choosing shows to blog about for the Radio Times starting next week, I have a problem. There’s too much stuff to choose from.

On the second page I can already see “Douglas Chew Cooks Asia” – an ambitious claim by Sky Three; “Borneo’s Pygmy Elephants” with Engelbert Dausip on the Animal Planet channel; and “The Erotic Adventures Of The Invisible Man” – presumably a soft-porn fiasco where a woman gyrates on a bed, giving a convincing impression that she’s been ravaged by a see-through bloke. I mean, forget work, I actually wouldn’t mind sitting down and watching this stuff. But I’d never get anything done. I’ve already got a hard drive full of Cold War and IRA documentaries, old Top Of The Pops episodes and various cricketing highlights; should I archive them to DVD, give the DVD a number and sit back, content in the knowledge that I have a library of entertainment that I’m never going to get around to watching? Why do I scour UKNova every few days, to see if there’s a few shows I can add to the enormous queue of stuff I’ll never see? I’ve got about 40 Danny Baker shows here which I’d love to hear, but unless I listen to 5 a week. I’m going to get further and further behind. It feels like an insurmountable challenge. Having something of a collector’s mentality, I can’t bear the idea that there are episodes of things that I like that I’ll never, ever, see or hear. I find it stressful. But clearly, I’ve just got to let it go.

So for now, I’m discarding TV & Satellite Week, because it makes my head hurt. If anyone has seen any fantastic or bizarre shows or personalities on cable or satellite that I should be paying attention to, maybe you can let me know. Personally, I’m becoming slightly obsessed with Chris, who is a presenter on Roulette TV. But I’m stopping short of recording the shows, not least because my bet on Red 19 would be entered well after the wheel had finished spinning. Is that a metaphor? No.

There is, however, some media that cannot be ignored – probably because it’s not listed in TV & Satellite Week. Friend and father of two Kev Hopper – aka spoombung – has just unleashed a freebie download bonanza of all his solo work. I’m proud to have helped out on the Saurus album (oh, man, listen to this) but it’s all a completely wonderful amalgam of samples, electronica, musical saw and, on the earlier records, astounding bass playing. Just click on the image and help yourself.