However much I try to pretend I can work with speech radio on, I can’t. It’s just got too many words in it. I need radio to fill in the bits of my brain that would otherwise dance around thinking about the London Zine Symposium and spring cleaning the kitchen cupboards and the dietary habits of cats. But it shouldn’t fill in the bits of my brain that are supposed to be working.

So, since I started writing at the beginning of January, I’ve been trying out lots of different ‘background’ radio.

In the past I used to listen to the birdsong on DAB, but it went off-air last year when Amazing Radio launched. I finally got round to trying out birdsongradio.com the other day and it’s a real disappointment.

They’re selling the recording as an mp3 and a CD, so I shouldn’t be surprised that the free streamed version is crap. But still, there’s nothing like having a peaceful outdoor scene interrupted by a woman telling you to “discover relaxation during your day” over and over again to make you want to punch someone, preferably that woman.

Dan got me started on Radio 3, which is great for working to at home, as long as you switch off before you get caught up in some bellyaching 2-hour German opera marathon. It’s not loud enough to block out other stuff happening in the office though.

Clare Teal is pretty good on iPlayer – I like big band music but rarely know the words, so the lyrics aren’t distracting. The problem is, it’s just one hour a week, so by the time you’ve dragged yourself away from Facebook, it’s practically time to put something else on.

My favourite background radio is easily Bobby Friction on the Asian Network. 12 hours a week of loud, inoffensive music, often in a language I can’t understand, with a DJ who doesn’t sound like an arse. Brilliant!