Seeing as how it's a time for giving etc., there's a load of new {and old} tracks available for download @ the mp3 page. AllWords and I Can't Sleep are new - although the mixes aren't 100% 'set in stone' yet. I Can't Sleep has a lot more guitar to it than the live version {which has a lot more accordion}. Accordion based rock anyone?

And a messy ChristMas to one and all!

"Christ knew that he must die. It had been decided thus beforehand. He knew it and his disciples knew it. And each one knew what part he had to play. But at the same time they wanted to establish a permanent link with Christ. And for this purpose he gave them his blood to drink and his flesh to eat. It was not bread and wine at all, but real flesh and real blood... All this has been long forgotten and everything has been given quite a different meaning. The words have remained but their meaning has long been lost." G.I. Gurdjieff [from P.D. Ouspensky's 'In Search of the Miraculous']

Thanks to all who came to see us act up at the Marlb.

We hadn't played there before. The venue isn't really set up for bands so it was an interesting experience. A few people compared it to "like something out of Twin Peaks". We are really into the idea of playing abnormal venues. It's a weird situation: being too pop to be experimental, not overtly dance enough to be dance, too electronic to be rock.

Really sorry I didn't get chance to speak to people much. One bad thing about being a duo is having to dismantle all your kit and attempt to get it home at the end of the night. Thanks go to Lewis, Nige, Miss Plums, Paul and Mr. Evergreen for help with 'parts'. If I seemed weird it's because I am, and was very distracted by having to sort out all the kit after four beers. Didn't seem to get a chance to just sit down and enjoy the evening.

I had a great time but the PA was so quiet that I couldn't help but try to keep quiet myself. When the sound of your own hands hitting a guitar, or even your own voice in the air or feet on the floor are louder than the speakers it doesn't do much for your confidence. Apparently the stage monitor was louder than the PA speakers. But I think Beth revealed herself to be a total pro and made me realize it didn't matter.

I'm really chuffed that we came across as I think we really are - moody but amused, happily chaotic - rather than moody, sardonic and 'cyber'.

All in all I think things went smoothly considering it was our first gig as a duo. The random loops / location recordings running on tape recorders worked surprisingly well - some nice accidental synchronicities.

Fenris Wolf were a revelation. Two Dirte' avant-pop bands for less than the price of one. Bargain.

I didn't realize how much it would bug me having to spend so much time setting up and packing away. On one level we don't use amps or live drums anymore so that cuts down on the amount of baggage, but we still have so many cables and fx that you very quickly find yourself in the middle of an electronic snake-pit.

I guess bands still get stick for using sequencers etc. and that's fair enough, but it's not like we're taking the easy option: we could just put everything on a minidisk and play along to that but we need to be able to have the loops happening live because the dynamic, the structure, the vibe of each song depends on us and where we take them live: sometimes we want to be quiet and chilled, sometimes we want to be noisey and rant.

We've got massively long delays that act as live samplers - and they can be quite unpredictable [which is always a good thing]. And in terms of vocals and guitar parts, nothing is ever set in stone so we can be as free-form or as tight as we feel in the moment.

It wouldn't be fair on the musicians we know to rope them in just to be told what to play and how to play it - because we're taking care of the embellishments and the rest is a question of sticking to a groove. So for the moment we're stuck with using a laptop as a drum machine, with a load of drones, loops, location recordings and random nonsense playing along on dictaphones etc. to create a bit of unpredictability.

Using the laptop the way we do, it's a very different thing than just playing along to a sampler / drum machine because I spend literally days working on the beats and the basslines - and while most of our songs are essentially grooves, there are a lot of subtle shifts going on in the background to keep things as fresh and organic as possible. We can also use the laptop's internal reverb and delay to 'live sample' bits and throw them back later on in a track.

While we still hope that we'll have 'guest musos' now and then, I think it was important for us to do this one as a duo, just to show that we can still do it! I'd be interested to have a live bassist along [as it's pretty much impossible for me to play bass and do anything else at the same time] but it would largely be a case of 'this is the bassline, play it like this' although I think there are one or two pieces where said bassist would have room to play around in.

No one has fallen out or been sacked - it's much more a case of everyone has gone away and got their own thing going - and I really like that - because you know you can 'talk shop' with people without becoming a 'scene' - everyone is doing really diverse stuff [as you'll find out if you have a look at some of the links over there on the left].

Working as a duo simply means it's easier to stick to your guns. We've always worked with people that have really diverse influences, and while it was great to 'atomize' what I thought the mekano set would be, I think it's time to be honest about what music I want to make - and that might well be a lot more simpler, unadventurous, conventional and pop than a lot of things I like listening to . But that's the way it is.