Giving up music for Lent seemed like a interesting thing to try, but as the days countdown to the start on Ash Wednesday, I’ve become to realise how difficult and inconvenient this is going to be. I did a silent retreat a couple of years ago as part of my research for Sonic Wonderland, but that involved going away to a Buddhist centre where intrusion could be avoid. My fasting from music is going to have to take place while I carry on my normal life as best as possible.

I will be presenting a BBC Radio 4 documentary about my experiences that will be broadcast on the 16th of March. I will be exploring how ubiquitous music has become in modern society and investigating what effects this widespread consumption of music has on us. As part of planning the programme, my producer Nick has sent me a list of places where I…