David Harbin in the UK has a problem:

>I live in a row of terraced houses and my neighbours are away on holiday.
>They left their 20 year old treasure to look after himself and he has been
>playing rap c**p to the small hours.  Walls have been shaking and furniture
>slowing moving accross the room with the loud vibrations.
>
>Can anyone recommend some more effective recordings that I could play at
>high volumes to remind him that his neighbours like to sleep at midnight?

This reminds me of some convenience stores here in the states that were
troubled by kids hanging out in the parking lot.  The solution:  pipe
classical music through the speakers.

Why not fight fire with fire David? Try Gilbert and Sulliovan patter songs.

On a more serious note, are you friendly enough with these neighbors to
try to engage the kid in conversation.  Why not offer to have him play an
example of his favorite music to you and then explain to you why he likes
it so much.  Then you could do something similar.  You would probably end
up discovering that his music "speaks" to him in ways yours can't (and vice
versa) because your lives are so different.  Perhaps at that point he would
agree that you both respect each others "space" by showing some common
courtesy.

When I was younger i moved into a row house myself.  I had a large
housewarming party and remember that the music was still rocking around
midnight.  The next day when I awoke, under my door was a handwritten
note saying:  Dear Neighbor, This is just a friendly reminder that sound
travels through these walls--especially bass sounds." Well, of course I was
chastened by this and cleaned up my act.  I'm not suggesting a 20 year old
would do the same.  In any event, the neighbor and I became friendly over
the years--and I never once complained of the fact that every time he
opened his medicine cabinet we heard it in our bedroom!

Good luck.

Ed