Synth South West @ Shaftsbury Theatre ft Peter James-Stephen, Paul Harriman (aka Edison Rex), Mike (Dr Mike) Metlay (aka Mr Spiral), Ty Unwin, Gaz Williams and Steve Davis (!) – Saturday March 21st 2026

Seemingly a product of lockdown, Synth South West is a collective of synth aficionados who happily twiddle with their knobs at home (steady now) creating all sorts of weird and wonderful music and sounds. This evening’s event celebrated all this with a diverse line up that culminated in a couple of improvised modular synth sets from Gaz Williams and Steve Davis. Yes, six time world snooker champion Steve Davis. 

The whole evening was great fun, from Peter James-Stephen’s poignant opening set featuring a tribute to his son who passed away last year through to Paul Harriman and…all the way from Colarado…Mike Metlay blissed out jam and on to TV soundtrack supremo (see Living With Dinosaurs) Ty Unwin’s in only his third live show in three decades) improv challenge, in which he flung out frisbees at audience members and asked them for chords and tempos that he used to compose, on the spot, a brand new piece of music. Not having a musical bone in my body I couldn’t tell whether he hit the brief, but it sounded convincing to me. 

Last up Gaz Williams and Steve Davis jammed two psych-tinged sets against a swirly backdrop that ever so slightly melted my brain (what’s left of it). The clip above (taken from another show) gives a fair idea of what you can expect if they ever hit your local town. Brilliantly bonkers. 

Firestarter - The Prodigy (Andy C Remix)

It takes something to inject more even energy into this track than the original, but I reckon Andy C pulled it off. How the hell can this be 30 years old though? Imagine the old folks homes in a few years time blasting this one out... 

I Wanna Go Where The People Go - The Wildhearts

Sad to read about Ginger Wildheart's cancer diagnosis this week but I admire his decision to carry on living life to the full, even though this means not accepting any treatment (which can often be pretty brutal at the best of times). There's no right or wrong answer here but perhaps more of us may want to consider accepting our natural 'use by date'? See also the current debate on having a good death (or assisted suicide as its opponents call it). Imagine the outcry there'd be if vets suddenly started refusing to put much loved pets to sleep if they were suffering eh? And animals can't express their preference, so why the hell can't we be given the choice? Of course there must be strict rules and regulations in place and it has to be the individual's choice but, as Ginger's shown, I reckon we're pretty capable of making this when the time comes. 

Begging for Change - Pulp

Heard this for the first time this morning and it's yet another great new track from the revitalised Pulp. Amazing to think that the band's just a couple of years' shy of hitting its half century, although it took most of us almost a decade and a half to cotton on to 'em. 

The Man Who Seeks Pleasure - Madra Salach

Irish music seems to be going through a bit of a golden patch at the moment and here's another example courtesy of Madra Salach. One to listen to in the dark with a nice drop of something and a roaring log fire crackling away... 

Hey Big Brother - Rare Earth

Amongst the frankly ridiculous amount of CDs I picked up at the record fair over the weekend was a best of Rare Earth. If you've not listened to their stuff before here's the kind of insanely great funky. psychy, rocky tracks that they put out back in the 60s and 70s.  

Fabienk - Angine de Poitrine (Live on KEXP)

Ever so slightly bonkers math rock from mysterious Canadians Angine de Poitrine, currently getting some much deserved coverage on 6Music. If this video doesn't give you nightmares you're not right in the head.