I shan’t recount the tale here in words as the BBC have done me the enormous honour of selecting it as the key submission by the general public on the matter!

If you’re in the UK, you can access the page here…

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p019b9vd

If you’re not in the UK, here is the Audioboo I submitted…

http://audioboo.fm/boos/1387392-are-friends-electric-and-how-it-changed-my-life

Enjoy!

So, now we’ve dealt with that, I’ve been spurred into action by yet another release by your friends and mine over the English Channel (or La Manche, to keep them happy over in Paris). UVI announced this afternoon the release of ‘Digital Synsations“. Having dealt with the vast majority of rare, expensive and sought after synths from the 80s, it seems they have now turned their attention to the following decade and this library covers four massive instruments from the era of the second summer of love, acid house and Brit pop! ‘Digital Synsations’ gives us a library based on the Korg M1, the Roland D50, the Yamaha SY77 and the Ensoniq VFX. Between them, these synths pretty much defined synthesis in the early 90s before the advent of physical modelling later in the decade. In particular, the M1 and D50 were so ubiquitous that they rivalled the DX7 and Fairlight in the over usage stakes! Ensoniq had forged a reputation for producing stand out instruments at superb price points and the SY77 saw Yamaha take FM synthesis a step further, beyond the DX, adding loads more algorithms and using their AWM brand of ‘sample + synthesis’ to increase the palette and breath new life into FM synthesis.

So, in a natural progression through the decades, UVI have assembled a library that exceeds 24GB and contains 501 presets made from 18,988 samples. As per usual, the UI’s follow UVI’s traditional and familiar layout whilst faithfully mimicking the instruments that this library emulates.

Now, another victim of my lack of time has been the review of their last instrument, the UVX-3P. This will be coming very soon, I hope. And I also hope to have a review of ‘Digital Synsations’ as soon as UVI grace me with a copy to review. Just as I’m sure you are, I am incredibly keen to dig into this library!

In the meantime, here is the promotional blurb as well as audio and video demos for you to enjoy. At the moment, it doesn’t seem like there is a demo version to download as there was for Vintage Legends and the UVX-3P.

Enjoy, and do check back soon for reviews of this and other instruments!

‘Digital Synsations’ retails for $199 and is available direct from UVI as a DVD or download.

A New Breed

In the late 80′s and early 90′s the synthesizer landscape began to change. A new breed of keyboards began appearing in shops, records and on stage; matte black behemoths eschewing the familiar knob arrays for uniform clusters of discrete buttons and glowing green LCD screens. They signaled more than a shift in interaction with our musical counterparts‚ they ushered in the era of the digital synth.

To those willing to forgo the immediacy and ease-of-editing of the analog synth world these keyboards offered amazing features for the time; massive polyphony, extensive on-board sequencers and pattern memory, removable storage and digital effects. In addition to the immediate benefits of digital processing some of these keyboards also dawned innovative hybrid synthesis techniques, combining sample playback with classic methods allowing synthesists and musicians the opportunity to explore new sonic territory.

4 Classics, Massive Patch Library

The possibilities with a few of these classics was more than we could bear and became the inspiration for our new project, Digital Synsations. We took 4 classic keyboards from the era and set our sound designers loose, tasking them to return with boundary-pushing sounds‚ and they did. Digital Synsations includes over 500 patches expertly programmed on a fully restored Yamaha SY77, Korg M1, Roland D50 and Ensoniq VFX‚ used by many of the greats including Depeche Mode, The Cure, Pet Shop Boys, Vangelis, Brian Eno, Toto, 808 State, Jean Michael Jarre and more.

Pristine Sound, Deeply Editable

We deeply multi-sampled these custom patches using top-shelf equipment and edited them to perfection before sending them off for professional mastering. These sonics became the foundation for our new hybrid instrument and combined with the UVI Engine give you the true character of these classic synths with all of the peculiarities and programming by products intact. Not only that but you get them in an extremely easy to use and fast to edit environment complete with all the features you expect from a modern virtual instrument.

If you’re looking for a new take on the 90′s sound or just some new classic synth inspiration then look no further.

Back then, in 2008, I wasn’t sure if the time had come and gone for multi-channel audio. Ever since I bought my first Dolby Pro Logic equipped HiFi in the 1990′s, specifically to watch Dolby Stereo encoded VHS movies on, I had wondered about the possibility and benefits of consuming music in a multi-channel way.

My first ‘experience’ of multi-channel audio was in the 70s. I say ‘experience’, in fact it was pretty much a non-experience. My father, bless him, is a man who, certainly back in the 1970s when he was a successful restauranteur, hosting Hollywood stars, top flight footballers and motorsports legends, loved to indulge in all the latest things. We were the first family in our village to have a video recorder, the Philips N1501, the first to have a video camera, some Ferguson affair, and I was the first kid at school to have a digital watch, not that I wanted one but my Dad bought it for me so that was nice. He liked his family to be adorned with visual references to his success. Anyway, criticism aside, this was how he rolled. And one day, he bought a new HiFi, a Dynatron Music Centre Model No. HFC 209…

It sat atop a cupboard in the lounge and was made of solid wood. It was rectangular and had a sloping lid which was hinged on one silver hinge that locked into place once you had lifted the lid up. Under the lid was a Garrard SP25 Mk.IV turntable and a compact cassette deck with faders for recording levels. All of this was surrounded in more solid wood. There was hardly any plastic in sight. The front fascia had the radio tuning scale across the bulk of it and there were some silver lever switches for various options and audio output selections. It had an MFX Filter, whatever one of those was, and one switch was marked “Quadraphonic Sound” and my young, imaginative mind conjured up all sorts of possibilities that lay behind this button. I soon discovered that the HiFi came with more than the two, floor standing speakers either side of it. There was a box with two smaller, satellite speakers in it, but they never came out of the box. Well, they did when Dad wasn’t home and I was brave enough to sneak them out and hook them up. But not knowing anything about anything, I could never figure out what is was all for. Of course, had the internet been invented in 1974, I could’ve easily researched it and things may have been a lot different.

The other sticking point was that Dad didn’t own any quadraphonic material, so for all those years, that unit never did what it was built to do, and this kid never found out what multi-channel audio was until much later on. So, for me, my multi-channel audio journey began much later. In the 1990s, to be precise.

After the DVD revolution, and the advent of Dolby Digital audio, many musical DVD’s were released and many of them, predominantly live concerts, used 5.1 soundtracks and were amazingly immersive. And then came SACD, a format created by the two consumer electronic giants Sony & Philips, both of whom had pioneered many other formats, including the CD, and so this new version of the 5″ shiny disc had all the right credentials to succeed, mainly because the hybrid version of it would playback in regular CD players, albeit in standard Red Book quality (16bit/44.1KHz). And then DVD-Audio came along to muddy the waters up a little bit. The advantage it had was that it could be delivered directly on a DVD disc that could play back in the millions of already installed players, and even if they weren’t DVD-A ready, there was usually a Dolby Digital or DTS 5.1 version embedded on the DVD-Video track

But neither format took off. Word has it that changes in the Sony hierarchy heralded the demise of SACD, with no support being given to producing SACD discs. Increased costs in producing 5.1 mixes with little return in sales proved another stumbling block, and a world shifting from wanting to consume music in a physical way to a virtual way via MP3 downloads saw consumers shunning another method of listening to their music that would involve further financial outlay and that wasn’t supported by their new iPods. And we mustn’t forget what could’ve been. The original specification for CD audio detailed a 4 channel option that, sadly, was never utilised.

When Sony launched the PS3 games console with SACD and Blu Ray support, I truly thought it might just happen. But then in subsequent iterations of the console, rushed out to fix other problems and complaints, SACD support was quietly dropped. Even those consoles that had SACD compatibility had it removed in subsequent firmware updates. It appeared that Sony really wanted to drown the unwanted runt of its litter.

Various attempts at a downloadable mutli-channel format fell on deaf ears. Fraunhofer came up with MP3Surround, the open FLAC standard supported 5.1 files, as did the .wav format, but a combination of huge file sizes and an internet not yet fully capable of accommodating such bandwidth comfortably meant that nothing ever fully came to fruition. And how were we expected to consume multi-channel audio on the move with our ubiquitous generic MP3 players and their stereo limitations?

And yet, here we are in 2013, with a die hard community of multi-channel audio lovers and a used market of players and discs doing healthy trade on places such as eBay and manufacturers still producing disc players capable of handling these formats, even though it does seem to be us ‘audiophiles’ that are the only ones buying them. Sadly, many discs command astronomical prices, but bargains can still be found and there seems to be a healthy “swap and trade” ethic amongst us hardy and staunch supporters.

But will we ever see the majority of consumers adopt multi-channel audio enough for artists and labels to want to produce all that they do in a corresponding format? I mean, quadraphonic sound didn’t take off and was considered a novelty, even though today there are many people still running quad systems or converting quad mixes to digital multi-channel formats, such as the amazing bootleg DVD-A of the Alan Parsons mix of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon’ or official releases such as the deluxe edition of Black Sabbath’s ‘Paranoid’ that features a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix based on the 1974 quad mix. As recently as last year, Bowers & Wilkins released a 5.1 FLAC download of Mike Oldfield’s seminal classic ‘Tubular Bells’ for £15 (£20 got you stereo FLAC/ALAC versions too) via their Society of Sound website and Steven Wilson, musician extraordinaire, front man of ‘neo-prog’ band Porcupine Tree and solo artist, released his latest solo album, “The Raven That Refused to Sing (and other stories)” in stereo, hi-res and 5.1 mixes, using DVD & Blu Ray to deliver the multi-channel audio experience. Which raises the point of Blu Ray as a potential medium. We’ve begun to see some hi-res multi-channel audio discs appearing and Blu Ray makes total sense. Its discs can handle the inherently large file sizes that a hi-res, multi-channel mix comes with. Blu Ray is showing one of the most rapid format ‘take-ups’ ever seen, mainly (and somewhat ironically) due to the proliferation of Sony PS3′s. I often lament how SACD might have suffered the same rise to acceptance had Sony stuck with it on the ubiquitous console.

But we’re still not picking up multi-channel and hi-res audio as a group of consumers. And we probably won’t all the while the labels and artists put out releases in these formats so few and far between. Whilst doing some research, it didn’t take much to unearth, via Google, a wealth of high resolution and multi-channel audio downloads which are clearly contravening some copyright laws, I am sure. Some are blatant rips of existing material, some are stereo to multi-channel conversions (I dread to think what these sound like. A bit like the effect Dolby Pro Logic gives, I guess) and some are lovingly restored quadraphonic mixes, converted into a modern day 4 or 5 channel DVD-A disc. It is these ‘bootlegs’ that I have the most empathy with. These seem to be done by genuine fans who are lucky enough to not only own a quadraphonic recording of an album, be it on vinyl, 8 track or reel-to-reel tape, but to possess the technical skills to transfer them in ways that, if rumours are to be believed, sound better than official efforts. People who own the bootleg version of Alan Parsons quad mix of Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon‘ on DVD-A say it is better than the official 5.1 SACD mix, released officially (Parsons’ quad mix has since seen the legitimate light of day on the Immersion Box Set release). The same has been said of Black Sabbath’s ‘Paranoid’ and numerous others. Some people are even clever enough to rip the multi-channel audio from such games as The Beatles Rockband and compile highly authentic 5.1 mixes of a band who surely would’ve adopted multi-channel audio had it been available back in the 1960′s.

So, the proliferation of this legally questionable material suggests there is a demand for it, but for reasons known only to them, the artists and the labels are reluctant to get behind it fully. Just imagine if the latest teen sensation released their latest teenage girl focused gusset moistening long player in 5.1 and then went on a massive promotional push. As painful as it might be to hear that detritus coming from 6 or more speakers, what effect might that have on persuading others to follow suit? Could it be a catalyst or would it be a potential flop? I have yet to meet anyone who didn’t prefer a 5.1 mix over a stereo one and so many households have basic 5.1 systems already installed. This is where Blu Ray is perfectly poised to open the floodgates. It has the capability to deliver hi-res multi-channel audio across a single, unified format. It ticks the boxes of most audiophiles and luddites in equal measure.

But with CD sales in terminal decline, Joe Public has declared that their music must be delivered in bits and bytes over the internet and not over a counter. And I have to agree that it is infinitely more convenient. But then what standard should be used? What format? And how would such multi-channel material work on regular stereo devices? And with the increased files sizes, many devices might be rendered useless, capable of only storing one or two albums, something that MP3 almost fell foul of in the early days. We now have 128GB iPad’s, so 128GB iPhone’s and 128GB iPod’s can’t be far around the corner. The 160GB iPod Classic is still in production and high capacity SD cards are getting close to similar capacities. The internet is now faster than ever before. ISP’s are removing all bandwidth restrictions at a rapid rate. Very soon, the infrastructure to support hi-res multi-channel audio will be in place. If we can ensure that a surround file format plays back in proper stereo (or better still, binaural) on our mobile devices, and proper, discrete 5.1 or better in our cars and homes, we could finally see universal adoption.

I see the universal adoption of hi-res multi-channel as looking a lot like a 4 lane motorway, with each lane representing an essential piece of the music consumption chain. In lane one, we have the internet, lane 2 is the format, lane 3 the file sizes and lane 4 the hardware. Once all of the vehicles in these lanes hit the required ‘speeds’ and draw level, then we’ll get what we’re after. We know the internet is almost there, and file sizes are improving all the time. Hardware is pretty much there too. Computers have an abundance of 5.1 speakers and sound cards, many are now 7.1. Home cinema systems are very commonplace and so all this leaves is the format.

There are two excellent audio formats that are both lossless and can support multi-channel. Firstly, there is the excellent open FLAC format. This sounds great and is open source, meaning access to its algorithms is easy and flexible. So why not use this? Well, here’s where I get contentious. It is fair to say that the global adoption of digital downloads as our preferred method of acquiring and consuming music is largely down to Apple’s iTunes. It set the benchmark, it did the deals with the labels and it became the biggest player in the world in this market. So it exerts a huge influence. And it is because of this that, in my very humble opinion, it must take the lead. Now, this is all well and good, but the iTunes application, be it on your computer or mobile device, does not support the open FLAC format. It does, however, support ALAC, the Apple Lossless Audio Codec. This is also an open format. It can also handle multi-channel. And, because if this, it is the best format to take the lead in digital,downloadable hi-res multi-channel audio. If Apple make the bold, first move, they could finally kick start the revolution. It’s often stated that Steve Jobs was a huge fan of hi-res audio, but knew that the big bucks were in regular, convenient, familiar and comfortable stereo. Maybe Apple have a plan? Us mere mortals shall never know until Apple deems it to be public knowledge. But the pieces are all there. The vehicles in my hypothetical lanes are all lining up.

For now though, people like me, and there are a lot of people like me in the multichannel, hi-res fan club, will keep plodding on, snagging what material we can. This past fortnight, I’ve managed to buy about 12 multi-channel albums, for an average price of about £8 each, many of them new and still sealed. My eBay watch list is about 7 pages long, keeping an eye out for bargains. Sadly, because of the fact that these albums aren’t produced in great numbers, some people like to take advantage of that fact and some equally sad and foolish individuals like to perpetuate their predatory practices of selling such discs at hugely over inflated prices. For example, an individual on eBay was recently asking for £110 for a copy of the Frankie Goes to Hollywood compilation “Rage Hard: The Sonic Collection” in SACD format, featuring a hi-res 5.1 mix. £110??? I had to smile when that auction ended and the item hadn’t sold. However, they re-listed it a day later at £99.99 and I am sure someone will eventually pay them this amount, therefore keeping the general asking price at ten times what it sold for at MRSP. But, conversely, I’ve managed to get four R.E.M. albums in DVD-Audio for around £10 each, and even found a Pink album in 5.1 for £2.49 the other day, although that might be more about the quality of content

I can’t predict the future, but I’m hopeful that it won’t be long until that future is being heard as clear as a bell and all around.

Courtesy of the most excellent Highgreen Dawn web site [via Steven James], where you can find other humorous musings on being a musician, failed or otherwise

Here’s the skinny…

“To celebrate the release of the Audiobus-capable version of the CMI App, Peter Vogel Instruments presents the “CMI on the Bus” competition.

Please read the Competition Terms & Conditions“

Go here to enter the contest and the very best of luck!!

Listen to what is being billed as the greatest comeback album ever by clicking here.

My opinion?

It’s nothing short of absolute fucking genius!

Steven Wilson is not a name you might hear that often, but in the world of ‘neo-prog rock’ and hi-res/multi-channel audio, he certainly is a god amongst men. I’ll save the full history for the review but suffice to say, this man is a bit of a god-like genius and this new album, his third as a solo artist, is garnering rave reviews and firmly cementing that status of his.

Engineered by the legendary Alan Parsons, ‘The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories)’ is a collection of 6 songs but running in at a shade under an hour in total, all based on tales of the supernatural. Released in multiple formats, including CD, Vinyl, DVD-V and Blu Ray and featuring stereo, 5.1 and high resolution mixes, this is already being hailed as a classic.

Take a look at the visually stunning video and enjoy the moving and melancholy title track. Watch out for the review in the next week or so

And following on from the Vintage Legends Demo, which was a first for UVI, there is a demo for the UVX-3P which clocks in at about 228MB and gives you three patches to play with and allows you to get a feel for the typically exquisite UI

Intro price is a bargain $79, rising to $99 after that offer is over.

I’m hoping to get hold of a review copy soon to deliver my usual verdict but playing with the demo, I think this has no problem in attaining the usual level of praise I dish out to the UVI product line.

COMPATIBILITY

With the free UVI Workstation 2.0.9 (required version), UVX-3P can work:
• as a stand-alone instrument, compatible with Mac & PC
• as a VST, AudioUnit, RTAS and MAS plug-in.

With MachFive 3 — make the most of all editing features included!

Crater was a first for Shikhee as she launched a hugely successful KickStarter campaign to raise capitol to fund the project, rewarding investors with copies of the album for small donations, right up to private gigs and dinner with Shikhee herself! The crowd funding raised over 300% of the total needed and the album was released in January this year.

On first listen, it is immediately obvious that this album is distinctly ambient in nature and the biggest omission is Shkihee’s vocals themselves, with less than a handful of tracks featuring her voice. The press kit describes it thus:

“A collision leaves a mark. A planet’s surface is broken; a body, a heart, or a mind is left rent and torn. But trauma is only the initiation of change. Broken earth can fill with water, become a lake, host new life. Battered hearts can mend, forgive, forget. Whether jagged hole or fractured soul, a crater is a process, not a state of being.”

There is a wealth of found sounds and electronic instrumentation and I really wanted to find out more about how the album was created and what drive Shikhee to take this path. Was it down to her move from East coast to West? Did she feel a desperate need for a change of direction? Was there more to it?

Well, there was only one way to find out and so I asked her directly!

[FM] So, this whole project has been quite a departure in a number of ways. Let’s start with the KickStarter project that you initiated to get this project off the ground. Firstly, why was there the need to seek funding in this way? And how did you find the whole crowd sourcing experience?

[AL] [I used] KickStarter because love alone can’t pay for CD manufacturing, and I am an independent artist without a label or any other financial backing. That said, the campaign definitely was a boost when I needed it. It made me feel the love from my fans.

[FM] Let me ask you about the concept behind Crater. You’ve described it as a project in two parts. Is this a first for you and why not a double album?

[AL] The concept has changed somewhat since then . It was supposed to be a ‘two part-er’ with volume 1 being more experimental and volume 2 being more song driven. But after thinking about it some more that didn’t make sense to me anymore. I am now thinking of Crater volumes as an avenue for me to experiment with different styles that fall just outside of normal Android Lust sounds.

[FM] How would you describe the two themes behind each volume?

[AL] Volume 1 is a soundscape driven collection. Minimal words, sonic solitary journey. It’s trying to scrape together pieces of one’s life, putting them together in different ways to find new meaning. You’ll find some repetitive sounds and themes. I am still working on volume 2 ideas so can’t elaborate on that yet.

[FM] Volume One features a lot of found sounds. It sounds like there are lots of field recordings from urban environments in which you’ve found or made rhythmic loops. How did you go about capturing these soundscapes, both physically and technically, and where did you find them?

[AL] I collected a lot of sounds on my walks through NYC. I carried the Zoom H4N with me and collected sounds from pretty much everywhere I went, and built up a library. I recorded here in LA too, but that library is smaller, except for all the water sounds I recorded with a hydrophone mic which are all over Crater. Precipice and Water Whispers are mostly sounds derived from the underwater mic.

[FM] There are very few instances of your vocals on Vol. 1. What was the reason for this and how hard was it to decide to do less vocals? Are you concerned about how your fans will receive it?

[AL] I felt I had nothing to say verbally. When I tried to write lyrics it felt empty so I scrapped that idea. It was a bit of a challenge at first because I am used to composing around vocals, so I took it as more of a reason to pursue this minimal vocal idea. I did wonder how people would react, but you can’t let that dictate your direction.

[FM] Could you tell me about the recording process for this album? What’s your set up? For example, what DAW, if any, do you use? What instruments feature on the album? Do you favour hardware over software?

[AL] I am a Digital Performer user. This album is mostly found sounds manipulated with Izotope’s Iris, modular synth, and voice and drum samples.I tend to focus in of 2 or 3 pieces of gear for a record. I find it forces me to break old habits and established comfort zones.

[FM] What’s your process when you compose? For example, some artists create simple demos, say, on a piano, then flesh them out. Others prefer to dive right in. Do you have the sounds in your head and then try to recreate them whilst composing? Do you flick through presets until something moves you? Do you loop things up and then layer on top? Was the inspiration behind the songs on Crater the sounds you recorded in the field?

[AL] For Crater, I generally loaded up my environmental sounds on Iris then started playing with its various parameters until I heard a groove in my head. I’d then record that bit in Digital Performer and play with some more manipulation to refine the groove. I’d then layer other sound bits as counter or supporting rhythm. Generally once a rhythm is finalized I then go to build the rest of the parts.

[FM] Do you record alone or do you collaborate? What other personnel were involved in the recording?

[AL] Unlike my last record, The Human Animal, Crater was mostly recorded solo. I had Chris [Christopher Jon] come and work with me on some modular synths tracks. He also mixed the record.

[FM] How much of the overall process are you involved in? For example, do you see the project through from composition to the mastering stage? Artwork? Marketing? Are you now fully independent?

[AL] I am fully independent. I used to be involved in everything except mastering. But while working on The Human Animal that process changed. I simply didn’t have the time to work on everything along with tour preparations. I had to hire an artist. and also let go of the reigns of mixing. In hindsight it really happened for the best. I agonize too much over minutia and bringing someone else in the process was healthy for me. So I continued along the same lines for Crater as well.

[FM] You’re using Bandcamp. Have you decided to go exclusively down the route of downloads? How do you find the whole digital marketing experience? Why Bandcamp over other routes to market?

[AL] I am not familiar with every digital service but of the ones I’ve seen I definitely prefer Bandcamp. Going forward, I am considering doing digital and vinyl only and do away with CDs all together. I thought about that while working on Crater, but since I had already run the campaign it was too late. I am really not sure there’s any point in pressing CDs anymore.

[FM] Do you feel ultimately more fulfilled by the way this project was funded and developed? If a major label wanted to pick you up, would you forego the independence?

[AL] Haha! Major labels would never want to pick Android Lust up. As for feeling more fulfilled, I’d say yes and no. I feel good in that no matter who downloads in for free now I’ve at least made my investment back, thanks to the awesome AL fans who cared enough to support me. But it was a little anti climatic because the album was released in stages. It didn’t have the same impact of a regular release the way I’ve done in the past. Still, this is the way to go for the future.

[FM] Given the nature of the first volume, will you be touring it? Do you see it as a collection that would work in a live environment? Have you considered alternative avenues for bringing this music to a live audience?

[AL] I won’t be touring this album. Last tour, barring a few highlights, was not a terribly fun experience. Also, it’s very, very expensive. I am not sure where the public notion about bands making money from live shows comes from. It certainly isn’t true for any band I know.

[FM] Given the urban soundscape of the album, did you ever consider techniques such as binaural or multichannel audio to further enhance the listening experience? If so, why, or if not, why not?

[AL] I’ve actually experimented with binaural on a track I did for my cat. You can grab it free from my SoundCloud. My mastering engineer has been pushing me to do surround mixes for a while. I haven’t because I don’t consume music that way, but it’s something I’ve been considering.

[FM] When can we expect volume 2? Will you be seeking further crowd sourced funding or did you raise enough from the initial campaign? I seem to recall you hitting somewhere in the region of 350% of your target, which must’ve been very fulfilling?

[AL] Not sure of the time frame. I’ll be seeking crowd funding for most projects that require funding to complete.

[FM] You had some really interesting and varied packages on the KickStarter campaign. I’m amazed no one took you up on the offer of dinner! If I had $1000, I’d be on that! Were you surprised by the amounts that people donated?

[AL] I was very grateful.

My deepest thanks to Shikhee for her time. Crater Vol.1 is available now via the Android Lust website.