Tony Reed talks to Somerville and Coles, the Morecambe and Wise of agit-Pop

Torch Song; aspiring musical and studio entrepreneurs

808 State Live

Difford and Tillbrook

squeezed out

Talking about improvisation and The Moody Blues

Over The Tracks With The Big Express

making The Big Express and strumming guitars

funk and hi-tech facilities

Tangerine Dream's rhythm man describes his sequencer set-up

the great acoustic guitar revival

Dave Stewart in a room of his own

why the beatmasters make a mess with their lunch

The Ghost of Japan?

The members of Japan have come together once more, as Rain Tree Crow, after a 9-year hiatus. Nigel Humberstone talks to David Sylvian, Steve Jansen and Richard Barbieri about the biggest reunification since Germany.

A prolific American synthesist interviewed

gear-speak from all the band's men

Dave Hutchins compares the traditional and modern methods of recording.

Stephen Duffy & Stephen Street

cocksure ex-tintin ex-duran talks tech

Richard Elen's fact-extraction mission with engineer Phill Brown reaches its conclusion.

Feel Every Beat

Are Electronic, mutant offspring of New Order, The Smiths and the Pet Shop Boys, the first electro-supergroup? Does it matter? Mark J. Prendergast ignores the hype, sidesteps trivial speculation, and talks technical to Bernard Sumner.

Ralph Denyer gets gizmological with Kevin 'n' L

Initially, the consequences of RD's actions could be Kevin or L — there'LL be L to K. (2 down).

bemusing bostoners head for the mainstream

Sold on the 3-Minute Song

Erasure's fifth album sees the duo of Vince Clarke and Andy Bell going from strength to strength, delivering electro-pop at its finest. But the doyens of synthesizer pop recorded Chorus with almost no MIDI instruments at all. Vince Clarke tells Paul Ireson how he made a hit album with 10-year old technology.

Exclusive words and pics

William Tells all to Philip Bashe

The techno punk duo on U2, sampling theft, virtual reality, CDI, and getting the machines to rock.