BASS DIARY

It may be that this page is for the really big 3lb BASS fans only as here we will bring you reports of the weekly band practice sessions. It will focus more closely on the music than the NEWS section. Hopefully each week a different member of the band or their retinue will write this bit of info. you will also note that this diary is typically nonconformist in its structure, i.e. it doesn't appear to read in any sort of chronological order. This is intentional, and the effect was achieved using a time travel device created using the tried and tested* water, metal, wormhole system.**

*Is it possible to create a tried and tested time traveling machine? What if you time travel to before it was tried? or even tested?

**. for more information on time travel please talk to Major Ken, the 3lb Bass adviser on the subject.

Lenny speaking. So here we are, another version of the site. I am handing control of the website uploading to Rodger from hereon in as he won;t stop whinging about how slow I upload stuff, but as he writes the stuff, how can this be so?

Join us on Thursday at the Archer in Whitfield please, it maybe be Chesterfield King's last gig for a bit as Gaz is leaving, so you best be their to witness the legend before it fades.

Weekly sessions are currently sporadic due to precious little time between room availability, gigs (watching) and stuff (happening). Also the dreaded work commitments thing keeps rearing an ugly head, why do we all have to have proper jobs? Think I might try to give the guitar building professionally thing a go... though I have to say when we do get together we're still sounding nice and tight, and this is in no small part thanks to the excellent Bass rhythm section I reckon, and so does Cam. There is currently much buzz about new material, Iaino has written 2,159.316 songs so far, Rodger 256 and Matt, Cam and Len 0 (so far). Really it is an excuse to get back in the studio as we all caught the recording bug last time and want to push our production values and imagination a bit further, wanna see how far we can push it really, how many of you will stay with us when we're doing prog rock-art noise?

Finally, on behalf of 3lb Bass and all of their entourage may I offer our joint condolences to Matt, who has lost a close family member very recently. Let it be a tribute to the lad's dedication and strength that he is strong enough to perform on Thursday. Best regards.

In addition to which we cant use our normal place for practice as it is being used for its primary role of saving peoples sins.

First an explanation, as to why updates to this website are so random and we haven't had a diary entry since May.

2. Rodger is lazy too and is often struck down with head pains because of his many sins. He is the person most likely to write stuff.

3. Iain and Matt arn't lazy, but most of their free time is spent dealing with their football teams or at the pub.

4. Cam is too young to understand and cant get access to much web content due to the Parental controls Jimi has put on the swingtime PC.

Anyway, gigs are good but arranging them around people rota's has been a pain in the bum.

The set lists can normally be found in the NEWS section of the website. We will try to do regular diary entry's more often. As we said, blame Frank.

We have a P.A. (No Ana not a lady who writes stuff and rings people, but that would be nice)

We have a lighting rig and smoke machina (which has wires going in, and wires comming out in vast amounts)

I cant believe the Mill Inn has only one power supply, this is crazy, cant they borrow some from the pier cafe?

Thought I would write a diary entry, seeing as its been a while since I last wrote. Hope you are enjoying the updated website, think Lenny would have strangled me with electrical tape if I badgered him any more about getting it done! World domination is getting closer, with the arrival of the PA system which is currently waiting in our music/office/wash room/sports store room. Now Mark is back from the USAiii, we can get out and about and play, if after a month of no practise we can remember the songs!

As you might have read, Matt and I are currently living in a house called Swingtime. So far it has been brilliant; close to town and kebab shops (currently we have 13 Deal Kebab fridge magnets!). The fridge is stocked with Royal Dutch beer, only cost 4 euros for 20 cans so it must be good. We have two TVs in the living room, one for Championship manager and one for Spanish football on Sky. Matt and Jimmy say there isn’t a ranking system for Champ Manager, but consider the following,

Jimmy- Currently leading Oxford to Champions league glory after starting in Division 3. This is his 8^th game he has started since he bought the Xbox last month

Living with Matt is also good because of all the cheap food he brings home that is out of date the next day, and because he supplies me with fruit and French bread. Only bad thing is some of the smells that have been left in the toilet, especially when I have just got up and stumble into bathroom only to hit a brick wall of smell!

LAURA from PFIZER– Sad to see you leave Pfizer, Tea Train won’t be the same without you!

NOEL WHELAN form ABERDEEN FC – Keep banging in the goals big guy, good to see you hit some form

I am taking on the role, it seems, of chief supplyer of gear outside frank, (i mean, you woundn't want to be inside him would you?).

In the last 2 weeks i have purchased a p.a. systemo, many cymbals, and have been put in charge of building a lighting rig. I was going to put the wiring diagrammes up here but then i would not be able to patent it and earn 20 billion pounds off the rights. This is my plan. If Ioni shall be king i shall be king tut ( and his wah-wah hut ).

So it looks like gigs may actually be imminent. And it will give us a chance to flog our so-called fanbase a record (those on the mailing list, you know who you are). Wanna join the list? Email here: mail@3lbbass.co.uk and tell me.

And i have just bought a d.a.b radio and finally got radio6 so you won;t hear from me for ages. Not that you will hear much anyways becasue roger's just buggered off to the u.s. for 3 weeks (inland revenue please note).

My brother Mattyboy is supposed to be supplying us with a list of venues he has played with his little not-long-departed band SugarMilk. As opposed to supplying other people with lots of other stuff.

Long time no write. This is mainly cause we have had lots of time off over Christmas and I deleted the web page from my hard drive by mistake.

Practice is going good guns and we now have a great set which we can play with our eyes shut.

Arguments about weather and if we should do covers continue apace, with Matt and Lenny saying yes and me and Iain saying no. Me and Iain theirfore win as Lenny doesn't hold enough weight yet (being only 7stone 21 ounces), and although Matt more than compensates for this he is too lazy to form an argument. Plus Me and Iain are always right, and if we actually agree on something then it is clearly canon.

Its some thing like that anyway, SPLITSCREEN is in their somewhere, and The Maelstrom turns up sometimes.

I'm a bit worried about the pacing if i'm honest, and i think we have to be carefull we dont get bog downed in too many mid tempo songs.

We also have 2 new songs that we are doing, one is about Iain becoming King and the other is a very happy song. March is traditionaly when we bring out the new songs and i reckon i will have another 6 contenders by then, Iain will have 361 and even Len is writing stuff. This all bodes well.

We are waiting for Iain to get us a good deal on a PA off E-bay, which will make us free to do any gigs anytime. That will be great as we are going mad playing to ourselves.

Yo Yo, TT here. As the worlds enlightened now know the new album is out. It sounds great and I thought I would share my feelings why

World domination plans are starting a little later and slower then first hoped. Looks like many of the places we wanted to play are booked, and trying to get your CD on to a website involves signing your life away. Hopefully we will get a place mid-end November to ‘officially’ launch the album, and in this time to have played a few gigs.

In other news it was my birthday the other night! To celebrate me becoming ‘twenteen’ the band bought me a variety of wonderful presents. Rodger bought me some lime marmalade (parts of which ended up thrown over a girl that very night…it’s a long story). Billy Webb from Goldie Looking Chain* got me SeaAngler which came with the ultimate Bass guide and a Big wallet, Matt got me a card, an origami set and a dart board (which has ruined one side of my bedroom wall as I am crap at darts) and Len got me some Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh, as he has the combined wisdom of 3 wise men.

We finally got the album back from the printers today and the artwork and the disc all look fantastic!!

Obviously the music is all great too, but its worth buying for the sleeve alone.

We managed to cram all the copies into Iains returned car, along with me, Cam and Len. Just about.

We are gonna send lots off to promoters and things and hope to make a little profit this time which we can use to get better stuff and equipment.

The albums done and has been sent away for printing, we are getting quite a lot of copies. Details of the price we are going to charge are sketchy, its gotta be as cheep as possible, while allowing us to make a little profit.

We are really good at practice now and are looking forward to doing this charity gig thing, we also hope to hire out the Astor Theatre for a show, that would be cool.

We are thinking about some kind of 'image' for when we play live, but we dont want a gimmick. We are going to get a remote control 'Sapporro (Fridgeous Eatious) for Matt to Control.

Just to let you know that we've cracked OH YEAH at last. Both in the studio and live, this is class and Im sure its gonna soon be sitting alongside Leningrad Pier as an all time classic. The down side of this is that Ive blown me amp up achieving this.

Yo Cameron here hope everyone reading this is well. Just finished another practise, unfourtunately without Iain. The night started off well, with Rodger reverting back to Bass and me slotting into lead guitar. This was a good point to show off my guitar skills Iain taught as a young pup, so wanted to make most of it. Somehow sounded good until I tried the do-do-dooo part, at which point we realised we were being stupid and went back to our respective instruments. Still was fun for the 3:16 minutes it lasted. Anyway we sounded good again, but night was ruined by Rodger mooning me while I was in my car. Turning away in disgust I looked out of my side window to see it was daylight. I was sadly mistaken though as it was just the glare of the moon shining off Matts white arse as he was mooning me. Sped away in horror.

Anyway thought it was time you knew a bit about me and how I came to join the mighty 3lb bass as a BASS guitarist. I am a resident of Walmer, the posh end of Deal, but live so close to Deal I can throw a stone into it, which I often do. I live quite close to Iainonin and at night if there’s no noise I can hear his cats planning to take over the world, using faulty items from eBay. Little do they realise the irony in this as Ian in fact bought half of the cats from eBay, along with 20 pairs of boxers and half a toothbrush. I work for Pfizer as a lab monkey, and play cricket, squash and football, all to a very bad standard.

I first heard of the Bass when there was a quiz at the cricket club. Ian, Rodger and Matt were all in a team and I asked why their team name was 3lb bass. They said it was the name of their band, and then they went back to eating their 15 portions of fish and chips. Fast forward a few years and word of the (now old) 3lb bass website reached me. Listening to Edward why have you got green hair? was the highlight of GCSE IT for me and Pencil. 3lb bass also made waves in Essex, when a rained off cricket match led to a visit to a fete (incidentally opened by Terry Waite). A bloke was walking around with a microphone, and he approached the coconut stall which we were at…

Again fast forward a few years, and I decided to purchase an acoustic guitar off one of my mates. Ian offers to teach me for two pints an hour, which I gladly accept. However Ian has to work hard for his money as I am crap. Really crap. Things don’t improve even when I buy an electric guitar. Roll on summer 2003, and me and a few friends decide to start a band at school. I thought I would give BASS a go, and I liked it. However the band soon collapses as practises degenerate into playing on Bradys computer, going to get Kentucky then watching Family Guy for a the rest of the time. I mention to Ian that I am playing BASS now, and he mentions Frank has gone to London. After a few weeks I am offered the part as 3lb Bass ‘live’ bassist, which I gladly accept. The first time I played was well nervous, but I knew Matt, Iain and Rodger, but didn’t know drummer Len. But as it turns out Len is very cool, and everything is good.

Hello. Its 00:10 as I write this, and its just about April fools day... Which is good. Because of this it would be easy for me to make up lots of stuff, and then at the very end go HAHA you big hoookie, that was a very clever April fools ruse, but I wont. Instead im gonna give you an in-depth guide to the brand new 3lb BASS album, because its great. So, do what im doing; turn off windows media player which is blasting out Joy Divisions 'Transmissio...' no scratch that, ive just been out of the room and its now the Stones 'Sympathy for the Devil', whatever... turn it off, put in your copy of the album sit back and enjoy!

Very 'poppy' this one, with little guitar plinky bit by Iain (Don't tell him that it sounds like Hank Marvin he will get angry very quickly) which sounds like a piano. Cool bass line too, even if I say so my self. Seeing Matt record the vocal harmonies to this was the highlight of the recording for me, he just prated about and tried everything. This was the day he had 'sausage' (an uncooked sausage) in the booth with him. Bless Matt, he is wonderful. Lennys drumming is great too, and the structure of Verse Chorus Middle 8 Verse Chorus is inspired. I like the loud bit too, it catches you by surprise, and the mad noises which join in, in fact I like all of it, which is good. Hamster.

The word is 'Fokker' ok. Its a waltz, which is mad. It sounds like it has mandolins, and a harpsichord too. They are all guitars, we are just very clever. This reminds me of St Peppers era Beatles sometimes, othertimes it doesn't.

Flat out and silly, this is Franks baby. Obviously when he wrote it it didn't sound like this, it didn't have 3 guitar solos at once either. Class Ben drumming. Bugga to mix. Bat. Thanks have to go to Brian and Lenny as we all argued about how high the drums should be and how they should sound. I think its about right now, The drums are clear enough while the song still sounds nice and dark and raw.

Wow! Its a ballad Daddy! Odd timing though. Matts harmonies are really nice, we told him to imagine that Sausage was dying. We had trouble mixing this, then we sussed that Iains guitars were all out of tune. Easy mistake to make, we just did em again. I don't know how / why Brian puts up with us.

First epic of the album, again its in mad timing which is class. This is the first time ive heard this on headphones and its really good. Listen out for the timpani drums, and a double guitar solo from Ionoin which weaves in and out of itself. Matt has a certain fragile quality in his voice where he sounds like he's struggling against the track, which is great, its like he's trying to convince himself. All the guitars manage to end on the same note, but they all get their on their own accord.

Bouncy pick up of the pace, If we sold singles, this might be one. I like the contrast in the Main Rift / Chorus guitars. Big wide screen into nasty mucky. The solo on the end is Lenny, he plays guitar in quite a different way to me and Inoonon which keeps it interesting.

This is mad. The guitars all build and build out of this great intro of iainnis acoustics, by the time they climax there are lots and lots of lines going all over the place, really simple and also really complex. Then it all backs right off. Lenny plays just behind the beat in the middle which creates this hard tension, and all the way through Matt is fighting against being swallowed up by it all, he really does sound like he swimming to keep afloat. Note the patent 'Maelstrom' guitar feedback thing growing out of the middle into the second loudbit. Created by Frank, Enriched by Rodger, and played with Iinian on guitar and Rodger on Effect Peddles. The guitar outro to this is the greatest thing since 'Pok ham' which was the greatest thing before bread came sliced.

Another massive epic designed to send shivers up and down your spine. The guitars are just brilliant and do sound like the Western front, Played by Iain mixed by Brian. Thank you both. The middle has a lovely little melody of Iains, while I twat about making noises designed to not sound a guitar. The second loud bit includes an extra 'Ghost' guitar line which noone remembers playing! Matt also sings the longest note in history here. On the outro listen really hard and you can hear the voices of the Dresden Choir buried deep in the mix. The link between this and books is also inspired.

Probably the obvious choice for a single if we made them this is brilliant, anyone who disagrees gets a pidgeon in the eye. From the intro, to the little picked solo, to the second solo which just sits so, so well, to the big solo at the end which sounds like liquorice everything musically is there. I would like to tell Matt that I love him for the vocal on the last verse alone, but a) I love him for much more than that b) he might hug/kill me c) I might sound a bit gay. The Lyrics are some of the best recorded ever too. ITS JUST GREAT OK. the drums are ok too.

I would really like to sit down with someone who is hearing this for the first time and see what the make of it. It starts on nice and poppy and a bit tongue in cheek but with what I are really dark lyrics. Then the guitar comes chugging in, its me and I sound pissed off with all the fannying about, I am. Iaoins does all the keyboards and while the chords are great the solos are just inspired!! More and more guitars join in the fray until it all goes out of focus and you find yourself in this big soundscapethats inhabited by what sound like the outakes from 'Darkside of The Moon' and 'Tomorow neverknows'. Listen! it that a Jimi Page playing that chord? A helicopter? A heart Beat? A Japanese Language Student? Does this bit show that the whole album is a concept piece about time travel and Mans aim to live for ever by creating a legacy that will endure for ever? like a Pyramid? or an Album? Oh shit the guitars are back. Listen top the drum fill on the outro. good.

Listening back to this it reminds me a lot of The Unforgettable Fire album Brian Eno produced for U2 (especially the quieter moments like 'promenade). Its all about texture, echoes and fog and boats. Can you tell we live by the sea? It all sounds so floaty, and (I think I can type this)... its just beautifu.. (No,I cant). Its melancholy. Its just dawning on me that I really like this record, and that if I wasn't in this band then I would like to be a big fan of this band.

Elements of this song (i.e. the drums in the loop) are nearly 10 years old. That's really scary, we have been doing this nonsense for 10 years. Maybe this is the ideal song to realise that. Its like old school 3lb BASS of 3 prats in the school common room trying to fill their lunch hour with something to do, meet 3 prats with lots of help from a few mates, trying to make something real and tangible that sounds like the music we wanted to hear in our heads all along. Hopefully it will make a few peoples lives just that little bit better.

We hoped to have the new album out by now, but we haven't. This is a pain, but at least we are getting it right. The initial mix of the album is being reworked and the results are much better, the music sounding more like it does when we play live. Brian has been brilliant in allowing us to be a pain in the arse and taking up many hours of his time. It should only take a few days to remix the remaining tracks, the only trouble is finding days when we can get time off work together to do it. OK part 1 in particular is proving to be a pain to mix.

Brian and some of his mates in the 'industry' are very excited about us and our music which is really nice. A mini tour is likely in the autumn so we have started to make plans for stage set ups, lights and things. We want to try and use a projector to show little films we will make for all the songs, this will be cool. Matt is considering wearing a suit on stage, Ben is likely to go naked and me and Iain have a sweatband each.

Thursday night practice sessions have been hard for a few weeks as we took a big break over Christmas and we have forgotten how to play, but this last week we seem to have regained some sort of form. TT Camara is now playing Bass which is good, he has fitted in without shaking up the group dynamics.

Last week we used foldbacks for the first time, why we haven't done this before is beyond me, its so much easier if you can hear each other. We got so excited that by the end of the evening we were even to 'harmony's' This is another example of us making this all up as we go along.

Work has been continuing apace with the new album. This has mostly involved Iain writing on beer mats while we are down the pub. Fortunately this has been reasonably productive, we have decided on the album cover and a basis for the running order. Debate has mainly been centered around the pros and cons of including an intro to the album and what form, (if any) this should take. We have managed to agree that we all like chili nuts from the Admiral Penn, but the advantage of eating pistachios instead is that the shells allow Matt and Iain to compare football formations more easily. Iain explains that with a formation of...

...he was once able to win 5-1. I believe that this was with Michael Ballack controlling the game from the center of midfield, and with Raul Playing just off the front striker, (Iain can correct me on this later).

In the studio all of the recording has taken place but the mixing is proving much more complex than it was for T:16, which is class but also means we are taking ages to get the album out. If it appears in time for Christmas it will be great.

Matt has raised his game a lot on this album, In particular his work on 'BOOKS' has been quite awesome, and seeing Matt record his harmonies for 'SOMEHOWTHEYKNOWWHOIAMTHATDAYDISCOSONG' while he danced with an uncooked sausage in a plastic bag has been the most fun I have had in the studio so far.

While the mixing has been going on we have been trying to work out a way to play these songs live. This has involved me going back to playing guitar with Iain while Cameron has been helping out by playing bass. We are all happy with this as he is easy to get on with and has previous experience of being in a room with Matt and Iain. All we need to do know is find out if we can persuade him to play regularly.

In the mean time Iain has discovered the wonder that is E-Bay on the internet. From here he has purchased A Flying-V guitar (which looks and sounds brilliant), Tickets for Radiohead and about 10 foot peddles, all for about £3. Yesterday Ionon, Frank and me went to see our old mate Webby and his acquaintance 'Man-with-a moustache-who-plays-guitar'. From him Iniain brought two big '2 by 12'' speaker cabs'. These are made by Sound City, which apparently is very good and gives a great tone. Me and Ioni know bugger all about that, but we do know that they are gonna be very loud.

We also had to buy a knew drum skin from Jesus Ozzimandius who works at Mark-One Music. Ozz is gonna be a big rock star soon and is an excellent musician, you can get his bands CD from HMV and Amazon if you type in the name of the band, which I have forgotten. (Cubic Space Division) Ozz is cool and one day we will let them have a support slot to us when we play Olyimpic Stadium in Berlin.

Our Producer Brian is continuing to spread the word amongst his music contacts which is great, this include Howie Worth who used to play in The Audience and who was once asked to join The Doors. Howie has heard the unmixed versions of some songs and seems interested. His favorite track is METAPHOR, which was written by Frank, which is a touch worrying.

Brian also thinks that when we are on stage Matt should wear a suit, and possibly a bowler hat and little glasses to add to our appeal. Me and Iaon know bugger all about that and will continue to wear standard issue Addidas bottoms and abusive T-shirts. I might wear Iains glasses for a laugh to see if he falls down the stairs in Brians bassment.

The Song 'UN1' has been renamed 'THE MAELSTROM', while we have decided to leave 'HOUSE' with that title.

Last but not least, we have recorded a version of the ESKIMO SONG, which is likely to be added as a bonus track to the New Album. The song is built around samples taken from our early recordings in the common room mobile at school.

Hello, this is Rodger here again. Because we are in and out the study we haven't had a practice for quite a few weeks now. As a result I will give you an update on how the songs for the new album are going. They are all great, and you can be safely assured that this is gonna be the greatest thing you have ever heard.

This is the nearest we have made to a strait pop song in ages, in fact you have to wait until half way through for the guitars to do the loud bit. Before that it bubbles along on a great groove, with splendid little bits by Iain which sound like a keyboard. The structure of this song is great too, it goes Verse, Chorus, Verse, Middle 8, Verse, Chorus. As ever, we are at the for front of innovation. this is being muted as the first single, and will probably begin the album. Old fans will notice how Bens introduction on drums has helped us improve our 'groove factor'.

So called because it follows 8 minutes in the narrators life, obviously this takes us only 2 minutes to tell. Musically this is covered in guitars and things which sound like harpsichords. At this point I'm not at liberty to divulge how this noises were made, but be safe in the knowledge that it all adds up to a lovely little tune which can only be described as sounding very medieval. Listen out for the argie drumming away like a possessed Keith Moon, My favorite piece of drumming I think.

As Brian puts it... 'What's a meta-for'. Very good. Excellent. Sounding like the Ramones playing in the underwater future of the year 3000, Lots of guitars and with everyone playing a solo at the same time during the break, this is loud, scary and includes a story about a giant bat. Obviously it is also very good.

I think its fair to say that we are all very pleased with the way this song is going, what started of as a little melancholy tune has become a bit of an epic, with layers of feedback and guitars building up to an emotional peak with great guitar work by Mr Oliver.

Talking of epics his is one to send a shiver down your spine. Beginning with the sound of a German Stukka diving to attack (or is it another guitar?), it then builds the tension as Matt conveys the story, or love, war and personal daemons before... POW! U remember how Leningrad Pier jumps out at you again after the break, well its like that but with bigger guns and 16 times more impressive. Its as if Iain recorded this after drinking Stella.

Originally when we were practicing this Frank thought that it sounded like a new metal sound, obviously he was wrong, but I know what he ment. It also had that quiet, LOUD, quite structure like a Pixies, or Nirvana by numbers type of way. Since then it has developed musical a great deal as we have experimented with the structure. What it is now heading for is a much more interested, and brooding sound. Its more like Acrobat from Achtung Baby, or Undertow from New Adventures.. What Im trying to get at is that it sounds really moody and dirty and 'nasty', which is great, its all feedback and grumbling guitars which sound like wounded elephants (Its actually Iain playing the guitar, while I hit it with stuff, like bottles and screwdrivers.. If we get this right its gonna be realy, realy good. We are also after a name for this song if you can help.

Probably the most 'pleasant' sounding song on the album it has one of Matts really great melodys, at this point in the recording process this song still has the most to be done, so its difficult to comment. Also please note that I'm not commenting on Matt much, cause all his vocals are still only ghost tracks, and need to be done properly. In my head this will end up sounding like Grandaddy, so it probably wont. Maybe it will end up sounding like my Nan instead, which will be odd.

I know that this is one of Iains favorites, Its a big bad rock song in a weird time signature. This may well have the most guitars on it of any track, well into double figures. It also has Ben playing Timpani drums on it, which is cool. Long time fans will also notice some classic I.M.S. flange deep in the mix. Hopefully that and some other odd bits will keep Webby busy for many hours trying to work out how they were made.

A lovely little instrumental song with infectious keyboard by Matt. On paper this could sound like a little doodle, but its actually really smart. Matts notes are dead catchy and well complemented by Iains little guitar tune. Under all this the bass and drums cook up a great groove, which rolls along, then suddenly picks up and changes the tone of the piece into something more urgent, before deciding it cant be bothered with all that and reverting to its laid back self again. Its a bit like Moby, but not, a better analogy would be Matt.

I think I may have said before that Frank says this sounds like Jeff Buckley, and U2. I think thats cause of the chiming guitars. Matt likes dancing to this one, and it would be good if we can capture that on record. Its an upbeat rhythm with a melancholy lyric about loosing faith, and a guitar solo / outro thing by Ben the drummer. Again we need a better title for this, so send us your ideas.

Certainly the maddest and most complex 'thing' we have ever attempted to record. It all starts off being based around an infectious Keyboard loop of Iains, which is joined by guitars before going off at a right angle into an atmospheric 'middle' section, which is then swamped by a loop of Iain playing drums (recorded back in the common room in about 1997). The listener then gets a moments peace to attempt to take in what the heck is going on before it all goes punk and everyone jumps up and down on their guitars.

Brian thinks this sounds like the Queen Mary coming in to dock in thick fog. Which is actually about right. Its like the cousin of 7:21, in that it has a similar feel, its more blurred though, and more sonically interesting, and though I played them myself, it has the best bass noises in the world. Which is kinda appropriate.

This features me, Iain & Ben playing the same keyboard at once. Franks gonna hate this but me and Oli know that this is really special. Brian Eno will get this.

That's 13 songs right, I thought their were more than that. How odd. Take note that not the finalized running order, that's just the way I remembered them, based on the order we would practice them in.

This is gonna be seriously good album I can promise. We have been able to take a lot more time over things this time, and been able to go away and come back with ideas. Hopefully we can finish it before I turn it turns into a sort of 'Second Comming'.

Before the release of KID A, Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brian began to publish a diary on their website chronicling the progress of their yet untitled album.

This is an account of an epic in the making, the next 3lb BASS album just beginning to breathe its first gasps...

What you are about to read will be held up as the most important serial since the Nativity, any, since the beginning of the universe, more insightful than Isaac Newton, more important than your bank manager;- featuring the greatest musical talent since Bach and the bet engineering since Brunel! Yeh!

Its dark outside. We enter the studio to find it deserted. Fumbling for the lights, Iain falls and twists his ankle. On lights-up, our producer to be is found lying slumped over the desk - dead./ Examination reveals his foreskin stuck to the reel-to-reel, he couldn't free himself up to summon help, and though he had hacksaw, he didn't have the nerve.

We remove him with a sticky-slap-sound and look through the yellow pages. We summon Radiohead (and others producer) producer John Leckie.

He arrives a few days later, realizes he has the wrong studio, and leaves. An hour later John La Qui arrives, realizes we had dialed the wrong number, and leaves. Von Hudson goes out for a slash and we take a vote that he should be our engineer.

We begin to set up our stuff. Five hours pass before I look up from my kit and find the band ready to go (well, they would be if they weren't asleep). So! Track one, take one, I count in - one, two, three, four and -pWham!- the lights go out, and none of us has 50p for the meter.

At the moment with Frank in London much of the time I'm playing BASS, which I don't mind actually. Bens fitting in really well on drums and he doesn't mind us playing lots of our songs and lots of new ones. He's also a good guitarist, and is willing to make suggestions about songs without being irritating, its hard for him because we are a close nit bunch but its going great at the moment. Frank turns up and listens when he can which is great cause he goes out and gets us food. Frank had also written some songs before he went which we are using. Iain comes up with 16 new chord sequences a week and I've added a few more.

Here is a big list of songs that we are working on. Bear in mind ("GRRRRrrrr" "AHHHH GET OUT!") that a lot of these are very young songs, and they will change a lot by the time many of you hear them.

Already a classic, this song bounces along on a fat groove, Frank likes this one.

Mad intro that goes on for hours if we can be bothered. Short poppy and thrashy.

Slow thoughtful number with a lovely melody, could be an album closer. Matt is having fun with a delay peddle on this.

Builds up and fades, 'Like the Sea' Iain says. Mad guitar solo all the way through. Could end up 2 minutes or 2 hours long! Matt added a very strange shouting bit at the end this week, I think this is the 'moment' the song needs to take off.

Frank says this sounds like a love song, I think it sounds angry. We haven't played it all the way through yet so we probably don't really know.

Isn't the Ash song. Big dramatic dynamic shifts make this fun to play. Sounds like Metalica playing a Radiohead song, which is interesting.

Even more dramatic than OH YEAH this one builds and builds and builds. Frank says it sounds like NewMetal. It doesnt, but it is loud.

This is class, soft guitars and drums with a lovely lyric. Mad sub bass throbs you can feel in your soul.

Really bad name for a song. Bens drumming is bang on and gives a real sense of momentum on this.

The newest of the songs this one goes through 'melancholy-bouncy-melancholy' shift.

I make that 12 songs already, which is enough for an album. I also have a few more worked out, and Iano has hundreds of chord patterns tucked up his chin. What's nice is that these songs have a different feel to those on T:16, but also share similarities. In fact I think many of these songs are better than the ones on T:16. This means that anyone who liked our first album is going to love the new one, but its not just a T:17, or T:16.2. Do you see?

All we have to do is decide whether to play some gigs or record another album. We will do that next week.