• The Deserters

    E-Bow Heaven

    Track of the Week Mask of Deceit (excerpt) Week 8 of the grand mp3 download extravaganza. Here’s last week’s missing track… It is an EBow solo from my song ‘Mask of Deceit’ which deals with and was inspired by similar…

  • Instruments

    Moog Envy

    Being a bit of a skinflint, almost all of my musical gear is either second-hand or end-of-line stock, but I’ve got a deep hunger for the new Moog synth. It’s the last project from the legendary Dr Bob, and what…

  • Ebay Flag
    Other Stuff

    Improve your vocabulary with Chinese eBayers

    I’m beginning to think the green clarinet was merely the tip of the iceberg of silliness. I nearly fell off my chair laughing at the “new eximious rare larruping blue electric guitar” I came across today. Surely somebody’s taking the…

  • Singstar
    Other Stuff

    I Suck at Singstar

    I’m not a great singer. I’m not even a good singer. My voice isn’t BAD, but I really need to concentrate to stay in tune, and I don’t feel natural doing it. When I do concentrate and practice plenty, I…

  • Instruments

    Theremin Update #1

    I thought I’d put a little bit of blurb up here about my progress with the theremin. After a couple of months with no progress, mainly due to not being able to find somewhere suitable for it to live, I’ve…

  • Green Clarinet
    Other Stuff

    Who buys this stuff?

    I don’t want to get into the habit of posting items of weird-but-true instruments and other musical items – I’ll leave that to the experts at (the very entertaining) MusicThing and others. I have to make an exception for this,…

  • The Deserters

    White Silk

    Track of the Week White Silk Week 7 of the grand mp3 download extravaganza. From the ridiculous to the sublime. White Silk was written by me after seeing a mysterious dark-haired young lady, dressed all in white, walking towards the…

  • The Deserters

    Nee Naw

    Track of the Week Fire Engine Disco Remix (part 2) Week 6 of the grand mp3 download extravaganza. Time for a little light relief. This one goes way back to 1985 and our first album. It features the whole band…

  • Influences

    Ivor Cutler – RIP

    I’ve just learned that Ivor Cutler passed away last Friday. Quite disgusted that there was no mention of it on the news (even the local Scottish news) – unless I blinked and missed it. He was a true original, and…

  • Music

    Podcastability

    I like podcasting. I have a cheap and cheerful little mp3 player which I take with me whenever I travel. It only holds about 2 CDs’ worth of music at once, but it is near indestructible and runs for hours…