Festive 50 '04 ? Not so festive really. What with there being no Peel, I barely managed to force myself to make a recording. In fact I only seem to have nos. 20-1, but seeing as how it's not True Peel, no-one will mind that I've edited out the chatter, whereafter it fits very neatly onto a single CD - and there are some stonking good tracks on it too, which somehow manages to at least lend it the feel of the Festive 50.
You've got to feel sorry for Rob Da Bank, because Peel was, and still is, an impossible act to follow; I guess you just have to enjoy the massive kudos of being allowed to attempt such a task, and accept that no-one will ever truly love you because you're just not Peel.
Tech note; this year I tried to record the FF directly from my newly aquired digi box, on the assumption that as it is in effect DAB, the quality should be top notch - I coupled it directly to my DAT via SPDIF, so it should have sounded pretty damn shit hot; sadly however, there is a subtle but annoying little digital 'pop' every few seconds throughout the recording, which, other than going down to sample level and individually drawing out every damn one of them (and I am not quite that sad), cannot be shifted. Technology, eh ?

Festive Fifty 04 20-1 pt.1

Festive Fifty 04 20-1 pt.2