i didn't want to buy it...

...but i did anyway. i've been flirting with the idea of one of these for a long while. not played it lapsteel style yet (i need a nut raiser) but even so it sounds very sweet.

i'm not sure if i'll ever play it at a gig but its function is more therapeutic than anything...lying on the bed while plinking meaninglessly away in open tunings is good for the soul. if not for anyone unfortunate enough to be listening...

Sonnamble on the Wire Tapper

A track from the new Sonnamble waxing is to be found stuck on the front of the August edition of The Wire. Global domination beckons. To be honest I feel quite ambivalent about the mag even though I've been reading it more or less every month since issue 2 (yes, I am fucking old). But it's a cheap way of getting the music into the cd players of a lot of people who might just like it, and that can't be sniffed at...

The new album (more on that here) is a bit leaner than the first; slightly more upfront and more focussed, perhaps. And it sort of marks the end of that phase of the 'band' - we've recently been working with just double bass and treatments, and at the weekend experimented with adding viola and percussion (a line-up that will make its live debut in Vienna in October).

More soon...

collateral damage

the ever sharp chris cutler has written a rather nice piece about free downloading for the Wire. i like the line about 'there are at least three Henry Cow fans who'd like the group to reform and record again'.

it's a good piece and worth a read.

update

some snippets from the recent past and immediate future....

1. the fourth page album is out. we'll be finishing another at the end of the month, for release on leo records (warning - this site will offend anyone with delicate graphic designer type sensibilities) in october.

2. simon hopkins (former collaborator) has put out a lovely bit of work on bandcamp. 'tis really really good. how to describe it? dark, creepy ambient improv soundscaping? that'll do. worth a listen.

3. in other news, i'm now playing with this lot. not an obvious choice you may think, but i'm rather enjoying myself. this weekend we're at the penn festival in buckinghamshire as part of an entirely baffling line-up. i am looking forward to being a long way from the stage when Dr and the Medics are on.

here we are at the Bedford last month (scroll through to 49 mins or so if you can be arsed)



4. two new-ish projects are rumbling along - one is a quartet with saxophonist julie kjaer, trombonist ian mclaughlin and drummer paul may. this is currently my favourite band in the world. or at least, my favourite one with me in. the other is a trio with paul and the stupidly talented phil somervell; we'll be playing barely recognisable standards in interesting ways every monday at the Grosvenor in SW9, starting in august. be there, or be somewhere else.

5. there's other stuff, but i'm bored writing this now. god knows how anyone reading it may feel.