"What time do you call this?!" you may well be asking, as I send out what has become a yearly (or maybe even longer than that) mailout. Sometimes things take a while because life constantly gets in the way and other times you watch The Sparks Brothers, develop an unhealthy obsession with two men who are old enough to be your dad and crank out an EP as a sort of aural shrine to the kind of stamina, confidence and creativity you wish you had.

Previously I've gone with scattered gems and a scary man holding a pint-sized telly for the artwork, but this time I'm hoping to have a more audacious (for me, anyway) cover, which I'll reveal in due course (as I find people making vague statements like “announcement soon” or “big news coming” to be quite irritating). Anyway, there will be a disco track on it and some mild booing on the opening track, in case you'd like to join in. For now though, there's a less outlandish song about floundering around, rather appropriately. You can listen and pre-order, if so inclined, over at Bandcamp and my website. 

Also, I'm facing the slow typer/introvert's dilemma of whether to do a listening party on Bandcamp - thoughts on a digital postcard (you can reply to this email).

There's now 42 EP and album folders of music on my computer from spending the majority of the year writing. If all that unheard music sounds totally unacceptable to you and you want to give me a giant kick up the arse, you can join the Neighbourhood and make your boot and your dissatisfaction known. I've also recorded some music from video games I've enjoyed. That might pop up at some point. Immediate plans are the two tracks from last year's Dark Outside event that need mixing, a longstanding collaborative track and two albums, one of which I need to redo a bunch of vocals for. For folks already part of the Neighbourhood, don't forget to log in and have a look from time to time! There's a lot of new photos, music and book recommendations and interesting things I've found from yore that have been recently added. Desktop viewing is recommended for the full effect of the lyric sheets and rocks with faces.

And what do we have here? It's another culture crop from the web. 

• A bit of Alan Watts.
• A brief compendium of non-human graveyards.
• A who's who of Doctor Who themes. Both here and here.
• An interview with Paul Williams about The Rainbow Connection. Those with sensitive tear ducts, be warned. It'll do you in. See also: the comments section.
• AI, the grid and the Funky Drummer.
• Herbie Hancock demonstrates electronic sounds on Sesame Street. Double the Street treats today.
• Hyper Light Drifter's soundtrack is like a more intense Blade Runner. I really want to play the game now (even if I'm very late to the party).
• Jim Golden's photographs of interesting collections.

• One of the most beautiful places in Poland.
• Recent design disguised as old design. Check out the main gallery too for an Art Deco PC monitor.
• Recreating DEVO.
• Some more Sparks stuff (via an incredible fanzine from the Netherlands). Now that I have no Twitter, I pretty much live permanently on my website and their forum. I do have a Mastodon account too, but I don't really feel smart enough to be there. Anyway...

All the best folks do a test card.

• Taiwan's beautiful window grills, including this notation-themed one.
• The Dark Outside has a catalogue.