The urbane Mr Palmer talks to Hank Bordowitz about crossing over from cult status to general acceptance.

The move from fashion model to pop starlet is many a young girl's dream but Lizzie Tear is already over halfway there. David Bradwell counts the remixes.

building your own recording haven

Guitarcheck

French, Japanese, Dave B takes them all on

Multireviews.

West 3 Studios

Rebuilding a studio control room is not a task for the feint of heart, as Dave Buckley of West 3 Studios in West London reveals in this amusing case study...

ROCK WEEK

preposterous pop

Duran man Andy Taylor gives Chris Maillard a Station announcement

The Compact Disc

Brian’s younger brother talks to Tim Goodyer about Erik Satie, the state of pop, and being related to somebody more famous than you are.

Justifiably unwilling to be written off as just another funk act, Loose Ends talk tactics, technique and technology into Tim Goodyer's Walkman mic.

SPK began by hammering away at anything from the scrapyard but now generate their metal beat on the Fairlight. We investigate the method in the mayhem.

Guitars For £150

Begin with a Bargain — reckon a new guitar for less than £150? We show you how

His idiosyncratic style of fretless bass playing inspired a generation, but now the ex-Japan man is playing sessions, writing his own music, and programming his own synths.

We meet the trio of men behind the Frank Chickens.

This month David Mellor presents a guided tour of Steinberg's ubiquitous sequencer program.

Build this versatile LED PPM/VU meter project.

The final disc in the Zero-G Datafile series joins Coldcut's Kleptomania in the growing library of sample CDs - Tim Goodyer checks them out, while Andy Neve loads The Sound Foundation's programming efforts into his Roland MKS70 in this month's Patchwork.

Software for the Atari ST

Meanwhile, at the other extreme of ST sequencing, Steinberg's Cubase program gains a real-time MIDI Manager and a large-format monitor. Nigel Lord touches a new base.

The Mixing Console (2)

Part 6: The mixing console. David Mellor continues his close examination of the recording studio's most complex and expensive piece of equipment.

Guitars Go Avant Garde

The best-known instrumentalists aren't necessarily the ones with the most to say. We chat to American avant garde guitar player Steve Tibbetts via the postal service, and find he's got a lot of views worth hearing.

Part two of our countrywide survey of all the Best in Brit luthiery — Manson to Zemaitis.

Why the Thompson Twins, Genesis and Tears For Fears have plumped for plastic.