Very glad to see this one published; started at the tail end of COVID, and there's been all kinds of things to deal with (which means it's a year or so later than I thought). Not sure you're supposed to have fun writing something academic, but I sure as hell had fun with this.

I've collected many CDs over the years for teaching & research ... and pleasure. I've decided to start digging through these - here's Nouvelle Vague 3 with covers of 80s punk, post punk and synth pop - features original performers such as Terry Hall and Martin Gore. Most enjoyable 😎

Afternoon tunes - I've always thought the Cocteaus peaked with Blue Bell Knoll, but revising my opinion to some extent - saw them at Brixton Academy touring this, and there are some great moments on this album 😎

BREAKING: US to withdraw from the International Court of Poetic Justice.

Evening listening - not certain I've actually listened to this vinyl copy before ... Jon Brooks - Shapwick on Clay Pipe Music from 2013 😎

I first saw the Cocteaus live in May 1983 supporting OMD at the Manchester Apollo - they literally had a massive impact on me with their taped drums vibrating through my chest - this album was released 5 months later and was a real leap forward from their earlier skeletal, visceral sound.

The soundtrack to my first semester studying in Leeds in Autumn 1984 😎

Just arrived - issue 27 of Blitzed magazine with our (Nostalgia Deathstar) interview 😎 Wonder if this would have been acknowledged as 'research impact' back in the bad old academic days 😀

Just rediscovered how good this is 😎

After completing work on mine and David Pattie's Kraftwerk book @ 15 years ago I hardly listen to their music anymore. The exception is the original Radio-Activity album. The cover is in the worst condition of any album I own - the vinyl is pretty much perfect, as is the music 😎

Obsolete media

Listening to another 40 year old LP - 1986 was a good year 😎

Ending the day with more ACR - The Old & The New 1978-85. Think I got this dirt cheap from Vibes in Bury around 1987. Nice 7" with Shack Up and Thin Boys too 😎

ACR on A&M - I bought this from a shifty looking person at a car boot sale in Bury the day after it was released - it's a kind of pop version of the Force album. Around this time I heard 'Good Together' being played by a daytime Radio 1 DJ who said it was from 'a new Manchester band' 😄

Finishing the day with my favourite ACR album - also 40 years old (November 1986). Recorded at Yellow 2 studios, Stockport where I was working when this was released 😎

Been slightly disappointed digging through my neglected shelves of vinyl, lots of stuff seemed missing - but then I remembered I sold half of my collection in 1989 to buy a synth, 4 track, mic and FX unit ... in the long run it was the right decision. Anyway, current listening ...

Morning vinyl - bought in Lyon 40 years ago about now ...

Listening to music on the original releases you bought 40 years or so ago is qualitatively different from streaming or listening to later CD releases, remastered and otherwise - a physical presence wiping out those years between. Here's one to end today's listening 😎

... and now my favourite Cocteau Twins album ...

This morning's vinyl - 40 years old - still sounding fresh on a summer morning 😎

Decided this story from my updated Pistols at the LFTH 4th June 1976 study deserved its own post on my new 'Words from the Ether' Substack. On prog/punk entanglements - Sex Pistols, Gryphon and the Gig That Never Happened.

Sex Pistols, Gryphon & the Gig That Never Happened

Didsbury College, Manchester - 1st October 1976

wordsfromtheether.substack.com

Just seen the wonderful Blitzed Magazine review of our new Nostalgia Deathstar album 'The Burnout Society' 😎

This is my first post on my new Substack publication 'Words from the Ether' that focuses on my research beyond early electronic music in 'Song of the Atom'. If you want to know what a soap factory worker from Warrington had to do with a work from the 1960s literary underground then have a look!

Michael Leigh & The Velvet Underground

The Author, the Book and the Obscenity Trial [1912-1965]

wordsfromtheether.substack.com

Here's the second and concluding part of my survey of Leon Theremin's appearances on the German stage from August-December 1927.

Leon Theremin in Germany [2]

Rediscovering Theremin's Performances on the German Stage [August-December 1927]

songoftheatom.substack.com

I've been researching Leon Theremin's performances in Germany in 1927 for a while - here's part 1 of what I've found, including extracts from press reports and a cameo by Soviet musical visionary Arseny Abraamov

Leon Theremin in Germany [Part 1]

Rediscovering Theremin's Performances on the German Stage [August-December 1927]

open.substack.com

New Substack post on Eda Emilie Kassel: Forgotten Pioneer of Electronic Music

One of the most enjoyable things I've found when researching early electronic music is that I continually get to rewrite history - e.g. Evgeny Henkin performed on the Theremin in Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil in 1930 well before the Thereminist who is usually given the credit - Max Wolfson.

I had some time yesterday to put this together - an explainer on the Berlin School of Electrical Music [1928-1930] - little known but fundamental to the spread of electronic music performance across Europe from 1928-1930. Further posts exploring these performances will follow.

After some tweaking my 3-part overview of Martin Taubmann's important role in bringing electronic music to British audiences from Germany in the 1930s is now available on Substack.

'Gobsmacked' is an album created using our original demo & live recordings to digitally produce versions of our songs for 2026. This has been fun, eye-opening & 'gobsmacking' - we hope you like this 'what if?' version of our album of originals out today on Bandcamp - all proceeds to MIND

Gobsmacked

open.spotify.com