At the top of the Widget is Drought - the latest of the four pieces made so far from material Gilbert provided last weekend. Today I sent him a couple of mixes of a new piece exploring what can be done with the arppegiators.

This week Andrew very kindly sent me a copy of his new 'classical' album, Unquiet Earth. I have listened to it a fair amount - it is very approachable. I particularly like the string 4tet that starts the CD and the solo violin looping - not at all the usual effects obtained with this technology. I also watched his video about Bells of Heaven which seemed to me like a good route into that album.

I went to the Vodafone shop today and they showed me how to link the BB up to the internet. This has made a big difference to what can be done with the BB. I have linked to Grooveshark and the first track I played was Fade Into You by Mazzy Star.

I have been listening to Suzanne Vega's reworking of her songs in the Close-Up series of albums. I listened to most of the first one and recognised many of the songs. I read a bio which explained that at the time that she got her first recording contract in the 1980s nobody expected a singer-songwriter to sell well and her first two albums exceeded expectations by a wide mention. This opened the door for many more singer-songwriters. She is touring at the moment in New England. I first got interested in her when I heard her perform with her bass player at the Warwick Arts Centre. I think she is developing her career in unmarked territory.