Well, fan, it's been a while since I last wrote. Been very busy with Malty Media and releasing the Angry Rabbit compilation cd Apropos of Nothing.

I had a hand in three tracks: Jack Frost and Brown Lawn as Aquaboogie, and Mescaline Man as part of Malty Media. Wellington animator Oneedo created a video for us for Mescaline Man, incidentally. You can watch it. As the phrase goes, it's quite a trip.

The Aquaboogie tracks on the comp are okay, a bit over-produced in the end. The tracks' cores are quite slight, so I basically piled on effecst until it all came together. Never a good way to work.

Apart from that, there has been no Aquaboogie work this year. I can't say that's a bad thing as I find working collaboratively more enjoyable.

As for the Malty Media track on the compilation, Mescaline Man is our first foray into druggy territory. We ripped off a 1980s BBC documentary about LSD, that included footage of a BBC filmed experiment of a plummy presenter, Chris Mayhew, being administered mescaline and then later being interviewed, pretty out of it. It's sample gold.

For some reason I feel I should make it clear that neither Michael or I are druggies. More the exact opposite. This is largely because of our comparatively anxious general dispositions. That said, we have some sympathy with all those psychonauts out there, and our taste for the surreal and the downright absurd is reflected in the stuff we try to meld together when gigging. We do often try to convey a sort of aural trip, though as yet we haven't really found a venue or audience suitable for doing this properly.

What I found refreshing about the 50s drug film experiment, was that there was a genuine sense of enquiry involved. It wasn't some filthy hippies dropping tabs and listening to Grateful Dead LPs, or, even worse, squalid clubbers popping pills in the toilets. See, I'm interested in drugs as a facilitator of transcendent experiences, but I'm against drug culture, which is tedious. As for whether I'd take psychedelics myself, the answer is a regretful 'no', although I wouldn't rule it out completely. Maybe on my death bed, like Aldous Huxley.

Mescaline Man also features a trombone solo from my colleague Jonathan Harker. He came in and did his woozy accompaniment at the drop of a hat. It was really fab. Thanks, fulla!

On an even more philosophical note, I've been spending some time lately trying to reconcile our love of fishing cultural references out of the sewer of YouTube, and dropping them into the mix, against my dubiousness about the reflexive nature of modern culture. I saw Juno a few days ago and wondered if we too were pandering flagrantly to filthy hipsters.

I can't say for certain what the truth is. I suspect it falls a litle in either camp. On the plus side we do only rip stuff that means something to us, so we're not just doing it by numbers. On the not plus side, there is an element of us just pissing around and not taking ourselves seriously. It would be nice to go forth and do something bold and original. Some would doubt that there's really anything bold and original left to be done. I think there is, but I'm not sure anyone would notice.

On that slightly dreary note, I bid you adieu.