what's new pussycats

(Woah Woah Woah etc...)

FIVE CUDDLY BEASTS crept into the PHAZE 1 offices recently, perhaps destined to become the pet love of many guitarist. The five Tiger Amps, distributed by Aria, are basic and definitely budget conscious. The smallest, the TG3, is a 10-watt guitar combo sporting just one volume and one tone control. Not exactly hi-tech but it costs a paltry £49. For an extra fiver you can have the TG8, complete with treble and bass controls and a line-out socket. TG17 is a 20 watter, with master volume and overdrive features, headphone and line-out socket, and costs a very reasonable £69. Then there are a couple of endangered species — bass practise amps! The TGB15 is a 15 watter, with two inputs, volume, tone, headphone and line-out socket — yours for £79. Top of the range is the TGB30, boasting a 30 watt output and adding a "hot bass" feature — and you'll still get some change from a hundred quid. Could be a roaring success, they certainly made us paws for thought — if only in the hunt for awful jokes... aaaarghhh!

INFO: Aria (UK) Ltd, (Contact Details)

let's go shopping

SHOCK NEWS of the summer must be the announcement of the Pet Shop Boys first ever tour. After a few dates in Hong Kong and Japan, the Boys return to these shores for dates at Birmingham NEC (July 15), Glasgow SEC (July 17) and London Wembley Arena (July 19). The tickets are available from all the usual outlets, but as we go to press the tickets are disappearing as quickly as ocean liners off Bermuda! Better get in the queue hadn't you! The show, which features a troupe of dancers, will be directed by Derek Jarman, and saxophonist Courtney Pine will be among the musicians joining Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant on stage. The duo's eagerly awaited album with Liza Minnelli is now complete, and is due for release in the Autumn. Should be "interesting". But if you miss their solo gigs you can console yourself with the Pet Shop Boys new 3-track single 'It's Alright', released on June 26. Happy shopping!

pick pockets?

MORE HI-TECH toys for you techno-bores to drool over. Anatek Microcircuits have recently launched four MIDI accessories, namely Pocket Merge, Pocket Filter, Pocket Pedal and Pocket Sequencer. What do they do? Well, Pocket Merge allows you to merge two MIDI signals into one and handles any MIDI message. The units can also be combined to merge data from more than two instruments.

Pocket Filter offers control over the MIDI traffic in your set-up. Each type of data can be filtered individually, or in any combination at any point in a MIDI line.

Pocket Pedal is used in conjunction with any volume pedal to introduce MIDI control, pitch bend, modulation and portamento and more.

The Pocket Sequencer records several minutes of performance from any MIDI instrument, an LED metronome indicates the tempo, which is easily adjustable. So, it can be used as a portable composition and demonstration tool.

Finally, Pocket Billiards is not a new product but in fact a silly game the less said about the better. So...

The Pocket products are the result of two years research and development, and at £99, are already proving popular with MIDI users (it says here). Give them a try and see if you're tempted to pick Pockets.

INFO: Sound Technology plc, (Contact Details)

BMF BUMF

Virtually all of the major manufacturers are expected to be there, many of whom view the BMF as the ideal time to unveil new products. The Fair takes the form of a vast market place in which each exhibitor has a stall. It offers a unique chance for members of the public to gain actual hands on experience on almost any instrument you can imagine. Picture a shop with a vast selection of equipment, with assistants who have a genuine enthusiasm for and a thorough knowledge of what they're demonstrating, and absolutely no pressure on you, as the customer, to buy. That's the basic theory behind the BMF, and it's a theory which works splendidly. Furthermore, we at PHAZE 1 will be there, on the Music Maker Publications stand, so you can let us know what you like best and least about this and other magazines.

Such is the scale of the event that it occupies the whole of Kensington Olympia, and lasts for six days — three for the trade and three for the public. The dates for the public days are 28th/29th/30th July. You are strongly advised to attend!

check your functions

NEW FROM STUDIOMASTER comes the MA36 MIDI function analyser. No, don't go to sleep! This is really interesting! All you have to do is connect it either to the end of a MIDI cable, or inline in a cable, and it will show on its LED display precisely the information being transmitted, what MIDI channel it's on, and it will even sense errors. Although it costs just £40, it might prove an invaluable part of your set-up.

INFO: Studiomaster (UK) plc, (Contact Details).

well i'll be damned!

'TIS WITH A TEAR in their eye(liner) that truly seminal punk band The Damned call it a day this month. The original line up featuring the awesome talents of Dave Vanian, Captain Sensible, Rat Scabies and Brian James head out on a short tour (starting in Glasgow on June 30) before retiring gracefully-ish. A sad month for anyone fond of the three-chord thrash... (sob!) It's just amazing they managed 13 years really!

overlord overload

IF YOU THOUGHT techno-bores were bad, just sit down and listen to a few guitarists discussing the merits of tube amp distortion versus transistor amp distortion. Tranny amps and distortion pedals are ever more complicated and sophisticated, yet some die-hards remain unconvinced by distortion from a transistor device - "it just ain't the real thing man, and it sounds like it ain't."

For the purist, the only option is to invest in a full blown tube amp to get that lovely warm break up that is something of a sonic holy grail for many a guitarist. Until now...

Being shrewd types, the Dean Markley company have come with a genuine tube distortion effect — the gruesomely named Overlord pedal. The Overlord features a heavy duty steel casing, protecting the 12 AX7A valve inside, and the electronic switch on the effect should ensure snap, crackle and pop free switching. The five controls are volume and drive (adjusting the amount of distortion) and there are three separate controls for high, mid and low frequencies. Red and green lights indicate the status of the pedal and the recommended retail price is £99. With many transistor distortion pedals clocking in at 70 quid or so, and the Overlord featuring three band equalisation, it looks a very attractive proposition. Should start a few arguments all over again... Oh no!!

INFO: M.Hohner Ltd, (Contact Details).

welela I never

Miriam Makeba, "the Empress of African song" has a new album out now on Phonogram. Called Welela it's the latest stage in her varied and politically controversial career. Born in South Africa in 1932, she was denied entry to the country in 1960 to attend her mother's funeral. In 1963 she gave an impassioned and eloquent testimony before the United Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid, resulting in a complete ban for all Miriam Makeba records in South Africa.

Things went from bad to worse in 1968, when she was exiled again — this time from America after marrying radical Stokeley Carmichael. Concert appearances were cancelled and recording contracts dishonoured, and she relocated back in Africa, in Guinea. She addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1975 and 1976 as Guinean delegate, speaking out against apartheid and denial of basic human rights.

In 1987 she completed six months as special guest on Paul Simon's Graceland world tour, which included emotional returns to America and Zimbabwe. 1988 saw the publication of her autobiography "Makeba, My Story" and the release of a new album, Sangoma.

Welela takes up where Sangoma left off, blending African hi-life, Latin grooves, jazzy nuances and Miriam's powerful compassionate voice. It's been produced by fellow African Sipho Mabuse, and re-establishes Miriam at the forefront of international concern for the plight of black South Africans.

i want to break free

GOOD NEWS for Depeche Mode fans! Following in the footsteps and hair gel of Alan Wilder, the Mode's main songwriter, Martin Gore, has released a solo EP on Mute Records. It contains covers of six of his favourite songs from artists as diverse as Sparks, Comsat Angels and Joe Crow. Called The Counterfeit EP for some strange reason, it's available now on vinyl, CD or chrome cassette, and will be on sale at a budget price. First impressions indicate that it will become essential listening for all Depeche Mode fans, showcasing Martin's singing and instrumental dexterity.

The man himself is currently in Italy with the rest of the band recording new material to follow up the live double album 101. No release dates have yet been announced.

maxell excell

MAXELL HAVE RECENTLY announced some new cassette tapes, the XLII range. As well as the usual 46, 60 and 90 minute lengths, the XLII also comes in a C100 format created to handle compact discs, which are increasingly carrying fifty minutes of music. The cassettes feature new super smoothing guide rollers to ensure accurate tape travel and enhanced sound reproduction. With an extended frequency range on the previous XLII tapes, new XLIIs join the top of Maxell's respected cassette products. "A tape for the digital age" they say — and why not?

INFO: Maxell (UK) Ltd, (Contact Details).

OH! 'TIS READING!

AUGUST IS ON its way again so don your wellies, get your tent out the shed and head for soggy Berkshire. Now in its 28th year, the 1989 Reading festival looks like the strongest for a while after undergoing a few changes. In the past promoted by The Marquee, the festival has now been taken under the wing of London's Mean Fiddler who are promising improved security, toilet and catering facilities. Bad news for all you masochists out there but changes eagerly awaited by the rest of us. As we go to press the line-up for the three days has been confirmed, and subject to the usual eleventh-hour disasters, goes something like this:

Friday 25 August: New Order, The Sugarcubes, The House of Love, Swans, Tackhead, That Petrol Emotion, My Bloody Valentine, Spacemens, Gaye Bykers on Acid.

Saturday 26 August: The Pogues, New Model Army, Billy Bragg, Green on Red, The Men They Couldn't Hang, Les Negresses Vertes, Bhundu Boys, Something Happens!

Sunday 27 August: The Mission, The Wonderstuff, The Butthole Surfers, Pop Will Eat Itself, Voice of the Beehive, The Mighty Lemon Drops, Jesus Jones, Loop, World Domination Enterprises.

This aural feast will cost £32.50 (plus 50p booking fee) for a three-day "season" ticket, which includes camping, car parking and VAT. Admissions at the ground (if available) will cost £15 per day plus car parking and camping.

INFO: Mean Fiddler, (Contact Details).

private clinic

WAYS TO PART with your wad: part 1. Why not attend the set up course for guitarists and bass players at the Musicians Academy, London on Sunday 2 July which will feature the enigmatic "Dr" Robbie Gladwell from our sister magazine, Guitarist.

The course costs £35 for the day, including refreshments, and will give you the opportunity to learn how to adjust your guitar's truss rod, how to do a basic fret dress, set the action and intonation, correctly set up a tremolo system, what facial expressions to adopt onstage and much much more... Enrolment is strictly limited so hurry, hurry, hurry!

World-renowned widdler Frank Gambale will also be holding two clinics at the Academy on 15 July, at 2.00pm and 7.30pm. Be completely baffled for just a fiver!

INFO: Tony Muschamp, The Principal, Musicians Academy, (Contact Details).

dermot takes off with starforce

YOU CLEVER PEOPLE! When we set the Starforce competition we wondered if we were going to get a big response to a competition that required some hard work. We did, and some of you had obviously put in a lot of effort, so thanks, and well done. Sadly, there is only one winner and he is Dermot Clarke of Eastbourne. Dermot sat down one work lunchtime at the Department of Employment and started jotting down some words... and carried on... until he had over 600! Mostly completely obscure of course, but he's the lucky fellow who gets to make off with the guitar. Dermot promised us he'd be using the guitar for his next gig with "raunchy" cabaret band Hi-Rise, so the Starforce has obviously found a good home. The band, complete with those delicious matching jackets, will be "treading the boards" at the world famous Eastbourne Bandstand on June 13. Right Dermot, there's your plug. Can we go now? For another superb PHAZE 1 competition, turn to page 66.

PHAZE 1 would like to thank Barnes and Mullins for the donation of the Starforce guitar.

multitrack faxpack

THATCHED COTTAGE AUDIO are offering more help on multitrack recording to the confused young muso, in the form of their new "Faxpacks". The four Faxpacks on offer are: "PA", "Four-Track Recording", "Eight-Track Recording" and "Financial Advice". Each one provides lots of valuable advice and comparisons, and the Financial Advice Faxpack even gives details of the Thatched Cottage "Privileged Chargecard" (!) which offers £1000 instant credit and special discounts. Whassis then, the Harrods of the music biz? To get your copies of the new Faxpacks, or Thatched Cottage's regular "Foldback" magazine, just phone or write!

INFO: Thatched Cottage Audio, (Contact Details)

blah blah blah

As you've no doubt noticed (haven't you!), PHAZE 1 has been sprucing itself up in the last couple of issues, as it adapts to the wonders of modern desk-top publishing technology, confirming its position as the only magazine for the young musician (modesty aside for once). And we've a few more tricks up our collective sleeve too, so watch this space! But just to keep us on the right track we need to hear more from you, the discerning reader, with any ideas, criticisms, presents, bribes or general chat. Send all correspondence to the usual address and make it your magazine. Lets get talking!

wear your drums out

TAMA have just launched a new large format catalogue, featuring their excellent range of professional drums and hardware, including the new Artstar II-Limited (to be shown for the first time in the UK at July's British Music Fair). The catalogue is designed to compliment the existing snare drum catalogue and should make covetous reading matter for any aspiring skin-basher. For the totally addicted, you can now also get your Tama T-shirts from your local dealer or direct from FCN. So now you can wear your art on your sleeve... or chest, anyway.

INFO: FCN MUSIC, (Contact Details)

the abc gig guide

PROVING THAT local music scenes are alive and kicking is lhe Surrey based Showcase '89 concert at Guildford Civic Hall (July 15). Sponsored by ABC Music, the Showcase provides a great... er... showcase (!) for some of the best local bands and gives them the opportunity to hone their performances in a decent sized venue. The bands booked to appear are Two Extremes, Calamity Sax, Wise Child, The Ha Ha Men, Forrest and the Choppers, Bitter Sweet and Screw Loose. This is just the sort of thing that young bands need and PHAZE 1 gives a hearty "hurrah" for all those involved. But will they dare send their demos into PHAZE 1? We await with bated breath...

INFO: Guildford Civic Hall Box Office or ABC Music, (Contact Details)