- MacBook Pro 17″ 2.66 i7 8GB 500GB/7200 Serial No. C02D80SSDC7C. This is a customised version, not the bog standard version you get in the shops, so is more easily identified.

- Canon 550D – Serial Number 6774048839 (the serial number is embedded into every picture the camera takes). It has been modified with the Magic Lantern firmware update which will be difficult for any thief to remove traces of unless they know exactly what they are doing. Came with Canon Battery Grip (note AA battery adapter will be missing) and two Canon batteries (hand marked SA001/002) and two class 10 16GB SanDisk memory cards.

- Sigma 30mm 1.4 Lens Serial No 11766514

- Zacuto Z-finder viewfinder.

- Zoom H4N Stereo Recorder – Serial No. 195299

Needless to say, if any innocent party who has been offered these items for sale comes across this site whilst checking the details out, I would very keen to hear from you. These are all items I require to make my living and represent a significant loss to me so any opportunity to recover them, however slim, is one I would not hesitate to follow up.

I did give it a bit of a ‘polish’ courtesy of some of my recently acquired UAD plug-ins but the remix/arrangement itself is unchanged. All that remains from the original track is the vocals – the rest is me. It’s a deliberately sparse arrangment, and sound wise is a bit of a homage to early Roland gear, in particular the CR-78 drum machine and Jupiter 4 although in truth there is quite a range of synths on the final track. I wouldn’t say it’s the best thing I’ve ever done, but it rattles along nicely so hopefully some of you will enjoy it.

Download the MP3 here.

Just a quick update – the latest Party Fears Three gig takes place this Friday (12th February) at the Citrus Club in Edinburgh – for all the details, head over to www.partyfearsthree.co.uk. I tend not to update this site very often these days as most of my musical attention is now focused on the band, so if it’s a bit quiet over here, don’t forget to check out the PF3 site – that’s where it’s all happening at the moment!

Since last July’s gig supporting Monument, Don and Mike from the band and I have been talking about a collaboration and I’m pleased to announce these plans have now come finally to fruition in the form of Party Fears Three!

The idea behind the band is essentially to continue doing covers of eighties songs in a similar vein to what I’ve been doing on my own up until now but now as a full band rather than a solo act. Mike is a very experienced singer and guitarist, both areas I’ve never been strong on and that’s something the tracks will really benefit from. In addition, Don’s keyboard playing skills, coupled with the fact I’ll be freed up to play more myself, means that much more can now be played live with less reliance on backing tracks. I know that joining forces with them will work wonders for the songs and make for a much better live show.

For the time being we’ll be largely working with the catalogue of songs I’ve already built up but we’ll be adding new ones all the time. Our first gig is lined up for 14th February in Oxford and although this one is a private party, we hope to add more soon afterwards and give everyone the chance to come along and see us in action.

We’ve got a fledgling website at www.partyfearsthree.co.uk – although it’s a bit bare at the moment, we’ll be adding to it over the next few weeks and months, hopefully with news of more gigs.

Thanks to Donnie from Monument, I have currently have a lovely piece of vintage keyboard technology sitting in my flat in the form of an old Emulator II. It’s one of the later + models, with twice the memory and a hard drive and as the picture shows, it’s in absolutely pristine condition. When I first started seeing bands back in the mid eighties, everyone was using these – Depeche Mode, Ultravox, Front 242, Pet Shop Boys, you name them, they appeared on Top of the Pops with one. Even Ferris Bueller used one during his Day Off to generate coughing noises (as if – they cost $10,000!). Consequently, along with pretty much anything with Roland written on it, they made their mark on my young, impressionable mind and I’ve always wanted a shot at one, even though, technically speaking, they’ve long since been surpassed.

But there’s something extra special about this one. This one’s got history. It’s been around the world on tour with one of the biggest bands of the mid eighties. And I know this for sure, because it’s still got a whole load of sounds and sequences from the show still on the hard drive. Not only that, it’s a band I was quite into at the time and whose live album from the tour that this was used in was a favourite for quite some time (still is really). Fire this one up, press play and you get the intro to the show! It’s all still there!

I’m ‘minded’ not to the name the band here, ‘simply’ to avoid people Googling this and asking for copies of the samples – it’s something I won’t do and anyway it’s only on loan so I won’t have it for long. My point here is more the curious quirk of fate that has allowed an instrument originally used in the making of one of my favourite live albums, over 20 years ago, to be now sitting in front of me in my own home, in exactly the same condition as it was then. If someone had told me back then that something like this would happen so many years later, I’d never have believed them. As someone who’s always been fascinated with modern popular music, it’s a curiously magical feeling.

Strangely, it’s becoming an increasingly common phenomenon for the worlds of bands I used to admire as a teenager to cross with mine in later life. I’ll never forget the bizarre night I spent in Sheffield a few years back in a hotel room at 3.00 in the morning drinking with a bunch of Human League fans and an actual member of Heaven 17. I’ve met and spoken with Phil and the girls from the Human League on a number of occasions (and what charming people they are too I might add). The co-writer of my favourite ever song is one degree of separation away. I’ve been at a Depeche Mode backstage party. I spent a very pleasant afternoon recently with a chap who used to tour with Ultravox as their live sound tech. And through having the good fortune to be friends with the Dark City guys, I’ve met a number of leading luminaries from the alternative electronic scene and even lent some of my own equipment to them.

It’s really strange, when you grow up as a fan of this stuff, it seems so far away, untouchable – it’s something that exists on the telly, in an issue of Smash Hits or on a poster on your wall – but not in real life. And yet here I am now, and it turns out it isn’t really that far away after all. Funny thing, life.

A few days back, I got a chance to see Paul Haig play in Edinburgh as part of whatever it is that’s replaced T on the Fringe. It was another good set, different to the one he did last time (although still nothing from The Warp Of Pure Fun album). But what I found really disappointing was how few people turned up. I’m not sure where to lay blame for this. Part of the problem must be that Paul Haig has always kept such a low profile that it’s only going to be people in the know who are going to come to these things. On the other hand, I’m not sure how much real thought and effort went into the promotion. Being part of the Festival, I think there’s a mindset that says “all we need to do is put loads of posters up in the venue and people will just come after all it’s the Festival and that’s what people do”. But the fact of the matter is that people don’t. There’s plenty of people out on the streets drinking and cavorting but people aren’t going to hand over a tenner to wander into a random mid evening event without some sort of familiarity for what they’re going to see. All of which is a pity because Paul is a pretty darned good craftsman of electronic/guitar pop and deserves a wider audience.

It’s symptomatic of a general apathy towards live music that you can see everywhere now. The same problem has plagued my friends at Dark City Events in recent years (what a nice website that is by the way) so it was good to see them get a sell out crowd for the recent Combichrist gig at the Hive. I should give particular mention to the support band Ashbury Heights – I had heard good things about them and I’m always interested in hearing well crafted melodic alternative electro pop tunes alongside some of the more brutal industrial noise assaults you get from the likes of Combichrist. And to be fair, they were pretty good. Enough for me to buy their CDs and they’re not half bad, particularly the latest EP “Morningstar in a Black Car” which finds them settling into their stride and contains some pretty catchy stuff. But sadly it again highlights a problem – these guys, although fairly new on the scene are already headlining gigs to over 2,000 people a time over in mainland Europe but over here it’s going to be a struggle to gain any sort of foothold with the sort of numbers that put their hands in their pockets and make the effort. It simply doesn’t make financial sense for bands to even bother with the UK now.

As someone who has held a passionate interest in electronic music all his life, this apathy in the UK we see now for anything that isn’t a by product of Simon Cowell saddens me. I enjoy going out and listening to music be it live or in clubs. But I want to be able to go and hear the sort of music I like or am likely to like and it’s becoming increasingly harder to do. And it frustrates me since it’s only seems to be a problem in the UK.

A case in point. This weekend, I’ll be at Infest to witness the first UK appearance by Front 242 for quite some time. This has some meaning for me, as Front 242 are responsible for THE best live gig I’ve ever seen, way back in 1989, specifically the Front by Front tour at the London Astoria. I’ll never forget that night. Three guys, a small stage, minimal lights. It shouldn’t have been anything to write home about. But the sheer energy and imagination that went into the presentation and delivery of that show has left a lasting impression on me to this day. There was a tangible sense of drama about the whole thing. Of course the build up helped – at the time they were a pretty enigmatic lot and the advance press certainly helped (I remember the headline in the London Evening Standard that night – “The Church will Burn at tonight’s show” – and being relieved I hadn’t told my parents exactly where I was going that night). But it was one of those rare occasions where the show definitely lived up to and exceeded the hype. In a word, it was stunning.

Last year, I saw them again at Leipzig, playing to what must have been a 20,000 strong crowd. This reflects their status as THE forefathers of today’s Industrial/EBM acts, in the same way that Kraftwerk are indisputably the forefathers of electropop. They’re not prolific in terms of chart success – in fact they didn’t have any at all here, although they’re still well known enough for Headhunter get the occasional play at The Citrus Club and it always surprises me how many people dance to it AND know the words. But within their genre, they are one of most important bands there’s been. They matter.

So why is that upon what is their first visit to the UK for many many years, and possibly their last (they’re not a cheap band to put on), Infest is still not sold out (UPDATE: as of Tuesday, it has, but the point still stands – Infest is usually sold out long before now)? It’s not exactly a big venue – in fact from what I’m told it’ll be a damn sight smaller than The Astoria where I first saw them all those years ago. Now don’t get me wrong – it’ll be quite a treat to see them back in an intimate setting and I think the show will be a memorable one for that reason alone, but there is something wrong about the fact that such a legendary band are making a long awaited return to these shores and nobody seems to be noticing. Again, this is a UK only phenomenon, and I have to say I feel somewhat ashamed of my home country that having once been so highly regarded worldwide as a creative centre for alternative music, we are now so hostile to anything that isn’t 100% mainstream or gets sold in supermarkets.

Unfortunately my trip down south will mean I won’t be able to get to Retrofest this year. Whilst I’m not too bothered about this (I’ve been a few of these retro things before with the likes of Kim Wilde rehashing all their hits with a house band and to be honest it sort of passes me by – anyway, my version of Kids In America is better than hers!) it does mean I’ll be missing the Scottish debut of one of my favourite new bands in the form of Northern Kind who are headlining the new acts stage. If you like electro pop, you really do need to check these two out. There are samples on their site and if you dig deep enough there are also a few free downloads as well. Get these on your iPod, this really is excellent stuff and in all honesty it makes many of the current crop of synth bands look pretty amateur. So if you are going to Retrofest, do yourself a favour and make time to see Matt and Sarah do their thing.

For the record, the tracks I did were:

- Safety Dance (Men Without Hats)
- Wishing If I Had a Photograph of You (Flock of Seagulls)
- Images of Heaven (Peter Godwin)
- Get Set (Yazoo)
- New Song (Howard Jones)
- Mirror Man (Human League)
- The Sun Always Shines on TV (A-ha)
- Planet Earth (Duran Duran)
- Waves (Blancmange)

I was trying out a few things for the first time last night – virtually all of the songs were new ones (for me, anyway!), the light show is more complex now and I was also for the first time doing everything from one keyboard with all the sounds being changed automatically on the fly, in some cases mid song. Apart from a heart stopping moment when I stepped up on stage only to discover my keyboard had lost its power supply (easily fixed as it turned out but not exactly helpful when you’re trying to look cool), everything worked a treat – phew!

Very special thanks to Roy and Jon who travelled from London to record and film the Monument set and very kindly offered to capture my performance as well. I now have a tin chock full of DATs and video tapes sat in front of me waiting to get put onto the computer and hopefully before too long I shall be able to share some of the end results here for your viewing pleasure.

And of course a big thanks once again to the Monument boys as well – it was a real pleasure sharing the experience with you. Already looking forward to your next show.

As for me, I’m now going retire once again to my sofa to rest my weary back which is still suffering from lugging all that gear around (I really should think about getting a ground floor flat).

More details as promised about my forthcoming gig supporting Monument on July 4th. Tickets are £10 (which includes free entry to Planet Earth immediately afterwards) and are available now from Ripping Records, Tickets Scotland or direct from me. Doors open at 7.00 and the show finishes at 10.00 in order to allow time to clear the equipment away in time for the club, so if you’re wanting to catch my set, get there sharp!

I had the pleasure of being at their last gig at the Citrus and they carry a very strong recommendation from me. The Ultravox sound is a difficult one to replicate – although the strong electronic backbone to their sound is undeniable, they were still fundementally a rock band and achieving that unusual fusion of styles successfully requires a high degree of skill and musicianship, but Monument have it absolutely nailed. Sadly, despite pretty much everyone else creeping out of the woodwork and reforming to do gigs these days, it’s unlikely that Ultravox will ever do so, so this is pretty much the only way you’ll ever get to hear some of this fantastic material live. But it’s no compromise, close your eyes and I think you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between these guys and the real thing. Well worth a night out.

For my part, it’ll need to be a shorter set than usual but I plan to make up for it by hopefully doing a completely different batch of songs from last time – preparations are well underway and I’ve got one or two unusual choices in mind that some of you may find interesting to hear. Hopefully it will get the evening off to good start!

More details to follow but at this stage I can tell you that it’s likely to be an early start, probably around 7.00ish, as Planet Earth will be taking place as usual right after the gig. Also, this time it will be a ticketed event but the price does include free entry to the club afterwards which, of course, is a great way to spend any evening if you like your music eighties flavoured. Hopefully I may be in a position to sell tickets myself for those that know me, otherwise they’ll be available from a variety of local outlets as well.

Hope you can make it and I look forward to seeing you there!

Certainly a lot cheaper and less further to go than Jean Michel Jarre at the Albert Hall last Sunday, although Mr Jarre was good enough to bring along over 50 of some of the worlds rarest and desireable classic synthesisers to deliver us some of the finest vintage bleeps you’ll ever hear in one place at the same time, so we can forgive him somewhat.