TOBY AMIES IS the current host of Rough Guide on Channel 5, Artland USA on Sky Arts and presenter of The Man Whose Mind Exploded on BBC Radio 4. Here, the 40 year old Brighton resident picks his favourite songs of the moment.

1. Jimmy Gordon - Buzzzzz

“I go to the excellent Brighton Rumble rockabilly night, though I think technically, to the quiffed cognoscenti, it’s a “rocking” night. They have this great bit where they play tracks for the ladies to dance to - there is rock and roll poetry in watching 20 women doing the Madison to The Sonic’s Shot Down, but last time I went they played this and I freaked. It’s exactly the kind of thing I want my band The Mantiques to sound like. Rockabilly culture in its way quite conservative, and I do feel a bit of a pussy there liking the girls’ songs the most. I want to learn the Madison though.”

2. Danny Kaye - I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts
“Danny Kaye was a genius. His English accent is shit, but there’s something about it that makes a fella want to sing in it.”

3. Maskinen - Alla som inte dansar är våldtäktman
“Apparently it contains the line “Everyone who’s not dancing is a rapist”. If you refuse to resort to dropping “Rock Your Body” or “Dancing Queen” when deejaying, sometimes the only way to get those bodies movin’ and those booties shakin’ is to insult the fuck out of your audience. Whilst I by no means condone Maskinen’s terminology I have to endorse their very contemporary beats.”

4. Johnny Nash - Love Ain’t Nothin’
“”I love this for it’s lightfootedness. It’s quite a bitter song but one that feels uplifting. I have listened to a lot of Northern Soul, but so much of it, no matter the fuss made, is a bit limp and samey. Johnny Nash was cool too, he was one of the first American artists to record in Jamaica with local musicians or maybe he was one of the first to exploit them?” love-aint-nothin

5. Devendra Banhart - Freely

“He’s making a two backed beast with Natalie Portman apparently, which I think is a good match. They’re both forces for good in the world. A while ago, when I’d split with my partner, my friend suggested we go see DB play, not only because he’s great but also because of his legendary powers of woman magnetism - my pal thought I’d be sure to find the future Mrs. Amies there. I got into him through this GREAT but slightly anal recording magazine called Tape Op, where they were listing all the really crazy things they were doing during the making of Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon, in the Topanga Canyon part of LA - a neighbourhood that is sort of like Hampstead crossed with Haye on Wye. Just the process of making the record made me want to hear it, and sonically it’s sophisticated but home made too. Lovely.”