a place for older stuff, some ‘shelved’, some thought lost, some forgotten etc.
we might also place newer rehearsals + sessions here along with abandoned ideas, alternative takes + experimentation.

the meluddites
first off, up from the dark, forgotten depths of youtube here are 4 solo guitar pieces taken from ‘surf, skiffle + synaesthesia’ by ‘the meluddites’.
this project was a combination of solo guitar* going straight through a fender showman amp with the amp, the guitar and the space itself all miced up. this was then recorded (very loud) through a small analogue mixing desk into a 2 track recorder in a barn somewhere in the middle of france. subsequent 2-track processing/mastering was integral to the process but overdubbing was never employed at any stage; it is solo guitar + so it is what it is.
the accompanying minimalist ‘videos’ were added later. the diverse images + video clips include the barn in france, devastation from hurricane katrina + uphill (n. somerset).
(*) a lawsuit 70’s era ibanez ‘byrdland’ thinline jazz guitar was used on all tracks for its acoustic + electric sound. while this model fell short of having the gibson ‘byrdland’ refinements + appointments it ended up as being a replica of the famous ’50s gibson ‘350T’ (chuck berry, keith richards et al) from which the byrdland was subsequently developed as a dlx short-scale version with the help of mr billy byrd + mr hank garland (hence the name). These apparent shortcomings btw were no bad thing, in fact quite the inverse!
Fadtasia (batusi)
Estuary
Caloric Engine II
Blues for Katrina

Mo John
(aka HDA)
‘The Blind Dog Sessions’ 2010
The Blind Dog sessions are in 3 parts, all of which are available on the @twangCORP archive channel on youtube.
Please note, the timing of the somewhat critical comments provided by the offscreen dog (not ours btw) at the end of part 1 were completely fortuitous. This bit of canine heckling had nothing to do with the title of the session!
All music (c) 2010 Mo John (twangCORP).
Barking (c) the dog.
(el.bee: video + sound recording)
Blind Dog Sessions (part 1) 2010
Blind Dog Sessions (part 2) 2010
Blind Dog Sessions (part 3) 2010

MeFog
Short Wave Shack / Universe Bread (2011)
Another project thought lost to the the vagueries of new formats + filing. MeFog was not actully abandoned, merely placed in a long abeyance.
These were the initial lighthearted song demos for a proposed guitar / drum instrumental duo that went through three or four potential drummers + several rehearsals but in the end made little progress with the other, admittedly tricky, tunes.
NOTE: These two video dems do not use bass, they were simply thrown together 4 track style using a couple of guitars, vocals, drum machine + sound effects for a bit of fun. There are a few more (sound only) lurking around somewhere.
Thanks to El.Bee for the camera work using the most basic of equipment (two cheap vivitar cameras bought for twenty quid each s/h off ebay + a couple of tripods). These two lo-resolution cameras were used throughout, even for the stop motion sequences. No computer effects or camera gadgets were used, just slow but sure click-move-click-move-click-etc + rough edges.
We then cobbled it all together on some generic video program that was not ‘Final Cut’ or anything remotely like it.
PS: The best bits are accidental (in this case mainly thanks to the wind that blew for fun over the two afternoons of filming) but I guess that they always are. Take note, ‘stop motion’ outside in the wind is really not the best of ideas.