It's my third year of doing Jamuary, and it's the one occasion where I really throw myself into creating synthpop on Ableton for Brian Funk's Music Production Club. It's a big priority in my heart but I don't think about creating "real" songs, I think about the compatibilities of sound: is this too much? What am I expecting to hear? What happens if I hold back? What happens if I drop away?

I've uploaded this year's Jamuary sessions for download on C&CM. They're scrappy and DIY, and I tend to prefer the lo-fi versions on my socials. I love to detect an influence seeping in, accidentally working out how to do Italo Disco, Amiga demos, or even Bloc Party. There's a kind of thrill in creating music in such an instinctive way, working towards a sense of what "feels" right.

Hacked Playtron

My videos typically feature a Playtron, which I also call "the motherboard". It's a reworked midi controller used to trigger audio samples on Arcade's Output. The motherboard needs to be ground with a silver ring, attached by an alligator clip to my finger. Of course, this is not to be confused with the "acid harp", a lyre which overwhelms everyone with its resonance.

I might show you how the scrappy DIY jams are made one day, but perhaps that's a thing for another year (or decade)...

Watch the live jams on YouTube

Listen to the 2025 jams on Soundcloud

Quite recently, I found myself completely wrecked, washed ashore, ruined. It was an accident really. The day before my birthday, I had asked my brother Andrew to get the microphone to work on my computer. I had a bunch of people coming around the next night and I had uploaded no less than 139 slop-tastic pop hits onto the freeware program, UltraStar, all in anticipation that we'd all have a bit of a wail. It's a bit like SingStar, except you can upload your own songs. Boney M. East 17. EMF. Whatever!

I came home from work and I was informed of the news: "Ugh. Your computer is broken." How? "I don't know but your operating system is not operating anymore." At the time, I took it on the chin. It was going to be OK. Sure, it meant there would be no howling karaoke shenanigans at my gathering. No Ganggagang. No Roxette. No Interpol. But I could deal with that. I suppose I can talk to my guests, if I really have to.

What followed was a severely long spell of computerlessness. It must have been a month, maybe more. I became aware of my totally crippling and unforgivably geeky addiction to my computer. It was like losing a limb, if a limb were as valuable as my hard disc. It was like my past had been deleted. Everything I loved, everything I was working on.. and perhaps everything I had envisioned myself to be. Pretty deep for a piece of hardware, don't you think?

Yet however grim that last paragraph, all was not lost. The very night of my birthday gathering, Louise carefully prepared a mixed CD simply entitled: Verses & Choruses for Eleanor's Birthday. It had been so long since I'd received a mix. I seem to recall I once found myself wrecked, washed ashore and ruined because of one. Even still, Louise's mix was so infectiously catchy, so heedlessly uplifting and so very carefully crafted. In my month of computerlessness, I listened to it endlessly and it made me feel so much better.

Andrew and my Dad bravely performed many many hours of painstaking surgery on my computer. The shonky sheisters at Microsoft even squeezed another upgrade out of us. But after all their hard work and persistence, my computer was up and running again! The programs were all scrambled, the drives were a little confused, but everything was great. I even had a new C:\ drive! Yes! You heard me! Gillions of more gigabytes to waste on mod revivalist compilations! I'd never been so grateful in all my life!


On an unrelated note: Roger Taylor at Narita Airport, 1975
My first order of business was to rip Louise's mix, Versus & Choruses. It was a breath of fresh air in the otherwise small, dingy, dusty cupboard that is my life. I thought it only appropriate, that after such a story that I would provide a linkie to that compilation. It's also appropriate because I have neither the time nor confidence to do C&CM Britpop Podcast #13. Maybe when self esteem comes in pill form?

Versus & Choruses
1. Psapp - Hi
2. Jens Lekman - Happy Birthday, Dear Friend Lisa
3. Camera Obscura - Teenager
4. Asobi Seksu - Thursday
5. Ariel Pink - The People I'm Not
6. Frida Hyvonen - Enemy Within
7. Kraked Unit - Douala Paris
8. Serge Gainsbourg - Ford Mustang
9. Yelle - A Cause Des Garcons
10. Katerine - Louxor J'adore
11. Inquiet - Middle of the World
12. Chad Vangaalen - Building a Home Like a Bee
13. Diane Cluck - Heat From Every Corner
14. Bon Iver - Blindsided
15. My Favourite - The Suburbs Are Killing Us (Remix)
16. MGMT - Of Moons, Birds & Monsters
17. Camille - Waves
18. Animal Collective - No More Runnin
19. Ladytron - Versus

Download (109 MB)

Elle leaves Freddie Mercury a message at Garden Lodge, June 2005 Because it is the anniversary of the death of one, Freddie Mercury, I decided to post some of my favourite Queen rarities. Ever since I was 8 years old, I have considered Freddie to be my first and favourite. I will always adore his dynamic personality, presence and stage performance. I will always swoon at his persistence, drive and passion.. and needless to say I will always wish for his creativity, musical skill and integrity. He's quite the benchmark to have. But unfortunately it means ma other bands miss out on ridiculous lashings of love, because quite frankly, they suck in comparison. Queen - Mad the Swine (Recorded for Queen I, 1973) (currently offline) This song was recorded (and rejected) for Queen's first album, simply entitled Queen I (1973). This song was the one of their first biblical songs, along with Jesus . Many of the band's early tracks such as My Fairy Queen, Great King Rat, Ogre Battle and The Fairy Feller's Master Stroke feature mythological scenes with lush language and imagery. The band and their producer Roy Thomas Baker couldn't agree on "the quality of percussion" so the song was consequently left off the album altogether. This later reappeared as a b-side to the single Headlong. Queen - Rock'n'Roll Medley (Live at the Hammersmith Odeon, 1975) The moment Freddie emerges in a kimono you know you're in for something so wonderfully over-the-top. The moment he disrobes you're not quite sure what to expect, but it's well worth if it you decide to uncover your eyes. Queen - The Prophet Song (Live in Osaka, 1976) (currently offline) Penned by Brian May for the epic, A Night at the Opera, The Prophet Song can broadly be described as an 8 minute biblical manifesto about Noah's Ark. This was the last song that Queen recorded that used mythological or biblical imagery. Many, including myself, consider this to be the finest composition of Brian's career, rivalling Bohemian Rhapsody in its complex production and technical brilliance. Aspects of the live performance of the Prophet Song are improvised each night, but basically The Prophet Song is promptly doused with delay and echo effects, consequently producing an atmospheric and immense Freddie choir. This particular performance, recorded nine years before my birthdate on my birthday, is nothing less than spectacular. Plus it features thousands of screaming, hysterical fangirls and nothing less than a Frère Jacques musical reference. How can you not love? Queen - You Take My Breath Away (Live at Earl's Court, 1977) Taken from their 1976 album, A Day at the Races, the live performance of You Take My Breath Away can only be described as the single most beautifully touching live moment. There is a moment when the mood is lost when there is an incidental drum crash in the middle of it. But the sentiments are not disturbed.... why do you not believe me?? Queen - It's Late (Alan Freeman Session, 1977) (currently offline) Queen's album sessions are always difficult to come by. Although more have progressively emerged thanks to sites such as Queenzone.com, I believe that we have access to only a fraction of the material recorded. Luckily, some people have looked at their own recordings of old radio shows and found a wealth of material - such as this gem from Alan Freeman's BBC Radio One Rock Show. The band chose a number of tracks from their 1977 album, News of the World such as We Will Rock You, Spread Your Wings, My Melancholy Blues and my favourite track, It's Late. They are hardly album sessions but they are the closest we are going to get.. for a while yet! So there you have it! My favourite Queen rarities, pre-moustachio years. Thanks extend to El Blog de Queen, Queenzone and Qfriends all around, who still love and miss Freddie.