assembling the studio

A quick update on initial progress...
I've started setting up the studio again so it should be easier to work once we're good and ready. I've been buying new MIDI cables and audio looms etc, and sorting out things like USB hubs to connect all the outboard gear to the MacBook Pro so we can have a single sold workstation.
Software - well, not entirely sure where we stand on that. Garageband, although it presents itself as 'for anybody' is actually a hellishly professional and well-featured piece of kit. Otherwise it's likely that we'll be working with Logic 8.
I spent last night sorting out my old PowerBook and locating and transferring old Cubase files across. I'll be doing some follow-up work on these to do MIDI exports.

We won't be using the old Akai sampler anymore as it was just a bit unwieldy and unreliable, and instead we'll probably be redoing all sampled work within Logic's own software sampler, or looking at a similar solution.
And we won't be using Cubase either because we don't believe in being forced to have USB 'licence activation' dongles stuck in our hardware whenever we want to use something we've already paid for (fuck off Steinberg, you useless cunts).

As for the level of work, well I pulled over 300 files from the PowerBook - thankfully already pared down into various 'revised' and 'rough' folders so we can get to work on the most developed ideas first.
More progress as it happens.

from the archive: 'melt' review

MELT :: Reviewed by Andy Panos, Teletext, December 1999

Take a walk on the dark side as Smallcreep welcome in the new millennium with a mysterious journey through the bleak underbelly of trip-hop.
Their exploration of a seemy, perverted and strung-out style makes Massive Attack sound like Aqua but there's no shortage of intrigue, even warped charm in their industrial landscapes.
It jumps and jars but just when you think it's wholly listenable it dives off into fascinating new waters.

from the archive: 'machine sex' review

MACHINE SEX :: reviewed by Tim Joseph, Hull Daily Mail, 21/10/97


I don't know how many of you heard the Scott Walker album "Tilt" when it came out, but if you have, you'll know that there's a really really scary bit right in the middle of the second track. This CD is a bit like that, but for a full 45 minutes.

"Machine Sex" is probably a first for Hull in two ways: not only is it the first Industrial release from the city that I can think of, but also definitely the first to feature a "parental guidance" warning on the cover! If you listen to the lyrics you can see why, even if (as I suspect) the warning is a little tongue-in-cheek.
Easy listening it isn't, but it is challenging, and the pair have done well to get it together. If I have any criticism, it's that the vocals on almost every track give them a slightly samey feel; the almost-instrumental ''Belong'' came as some relief. The band are strong instrumentally, and I would have liked to have heard more of that featured.

Nevertheless, "Machine Sex" is a strong debut, perhaps nearer to Nine Inch Nails than anything, but far enough away to have created something very much of its own. Volume 2 should be a killer.