Oops, forgot to mention - we have page on Popwire and we're currently featured on the front page! Check out our page in the Links.

We're still waiting for the Yamaha SW1000XG to arrive... we've been told it'll be delivered on Friday...

We now have a page on 'deo' - check it out in the Links.

We're upgrading the old Yamaha SW60XG card for a Yamaha SW1000XG card... but we're still waiting delivery. We should be able to get some nice sounds out of it... when it eventually arrives...

We've finished 'The More I Drink' - you can listen to a sample in the Music area!

We're now busy working on a new song - only two or three left to go before the new album is ready!

We now have a page on Sonic Fish, available from the Links.

We've almost finished our new song, working title 'The More I Drink'. It's very addictive and sometimes I can't get the song out of my head! - Derek

You can now freely download 'I'm Someone Else', in high quality stereo MP3 format from the Music area.

We're well into our next song, and it's kinda got this American grunge feel and breakbeat stuff going... Well, anyway, it's very uplifting and energetic, and we're very excited about it right now...

We've got some new pages on Music Builder.com, AMPCAST.COM, Station MP3 and ZeBOX - check 'em out! Thanks to Gaz Reynolds for pointing them out to us.

Music Unsigned are promoting some of our tracks. Here's what they say about us:

"Twisted Pear blend a vast three decades cross section of dance music and culture by drawing on wholesome influences from late 80’s classic house to 90’s techno and 70’s funk roots.
At times there are industrial elements, at others Ian Brown-esque vocal breaks. All told they offer a dirty lo-fi alternative to mainstream dance; mixing Utah Saints style techno sonic styles with Bentley Rhythm Ace playability straight from the Skint school of cool.
This is timeless stuff prepared to make the stiffest bodies shuffle. Twisted Pear rock da’ house."

There's a link to Music Unsigned on the Links page.

We've started on some new songs, both of them different to the kind of stuff you've heard from us before. We're very excited about them and will keep you posted.

We're also involved in another project that's a bit hush-hush... watch this space.

We've now got a new page on Riffage. Check it out via our Links.

Besonic.com are now hosting the full-length MP3 files featured in the Music area. You can download several of our tracks completely free!

As we've finished uploading our MP3 files it's time to start work on some hot new tunes!

We've got some more music for your delight! 'Monkey Boy' and 'Solitary Confinement' are both freely available to download as high quality stereo mp3 files! Go swiftly to the Music area and check 'em out.

We've been going through the painstaking task of uploading full size mp3 files to several web sites. See in the Links for yourself. It's almost done, then we can get back to the serious task of writing kick-ass tunes!
The Radio One Club Demos page which featured 'Greenfruit' is sadly no more. Ah well...

You can now download the entire track 'Been a Dream' as a high quality stereo mp3 file... completely free! Check out the link in the Music area. More to come over the next few days... watch this space!

There's a new link on the Links page to Iuma, who will be hosting some our latest tracks within the coming weeks. In the meantime they've got some exclusive band photos.

We've finished our new track, "Solitary Confinement"... and it rocks! There's a link to the demo in the Music area.

As we're feeling generous we're giving away three complete tracks from the forthcoming Album... free! You will soon be able to download 'Been a Dream', 'Monkey Boy' and 'Solitary Confinement' in high-quality stereo MP3 format! We're going to upload them to several sites within the next few days. Watch this space!

After all the hassle we've had upgrading to Windows 2000... we've gone back to Windows 98 as a platform for writing music. Much of the music functionality and flexibility we previously had with Windows 98 was not possible with Win2K. We are still using Windows 2000 for other stuff, e.g. web work, email, PR, etc.

We are currently working hard on a (very) hot new track with the working title "Solitary Confinement". It's a dance track with commercial appeal and definitely one for the clubs. The core of the song is down and we're working on a catchy hook that will seal the track watertight. Needless to say, we're very excited about it.

At last we've finished 'Monkey Boy'! We've put an MP3 and Real Audio sample in the Music area for you to listen to. Check out our hard work and let us know what you think by emailing us or leaving a message in our Guest Book. It's always great to hear from you.

We've got some hot ideas for some new tracks now we've completed the unfinished ones. Everything from now on is fresher than the freshest of fruits!

At last an MPU401 Windows 2000 driver capable of handling our SW60XG MIDI card was posted onto Yamaha's site. There's still a bit of tweaking left to do but we're back on track with the music creation.

We've been polishing 'Monkey Boy', it's almost ready for you to listen to. We need to sound check it as usual and drive around town listening to it at top volume etc. but we'll stick it in the Music area soooooon!

Well, where do I begin? You may have noticed that it's been some time since we updated the web page. It's been one thing after another. First of all I caught the dreaded flu virus and spent three weeks away from work suffering like ... a suffering thing suffering horrendously. Anyway, I could hardly move without feeling sick... so I didn't really fancy sitting in front of a computer screen. It was hard enough paying attention to crap daytime TV. Alan stayed well away from the plague pit.
And then... I eventually managed to gain the will to return from the dead and the strength to drag myself in front of the computer in order to check the email and update the web page. I hadn't been using the computer long when there was a power surge followed by power cut...
When the light returned over an hour later I realised my modem had been cooked and would have to be replaced. Much thanks and respect(!) to Powergen for destroying our computer equipment.
So we had to wait another week before we could buy another modem and get on-line...

So with 7 days to kill, we thought, "Why don't we upgrade to Windows 2000? Nothing could possibly go wrong." And to be honest, it did go rather smoothly (nice one Bill!)... except... Microsoft Windows 2000 currently has no support for the Yamaha SW60XG card... in fact, it refuses to acknowlege we even have a MIDI card... The drivers that came with the card are Windows 3.1/9x (yeah, somewhat old).
Sometime later we managed to buy another modem and get on-line. Yamaha's web site has no mention of Windows 2000 drivers or workarounds; there was a Windows NT 4 workaround for the card but it doesn't work under Windows 2000.
Everyone we came across on the Internet with the SW60XG card and Windows 2000 are screaming for a solution. Doesn't look good, does it...
So we emailed Yamaha.. and got conflicting replies.

"a new inf file will soon be uploaded to our whats new section in xg home, this will cover the sw60xg installer under win2k"

"The SW60XG is now obsolete. We will not have drivers for win 2000."

So now we wait...

Oh, we did get some music done. We've put some live guitar work into 'Monkey Boy' - it's almost finished... almost.

We discovered today that we have a mention at Listen.com. Check it out. We've added the link to the Links page.
Also we've been working on 'Monkey Boy' (still?!) and getting together lyrics for new tracks.

We've finished sound-checking 'Been a Dream' and at last you can listen to it in the Music area! We've got some interesting new ideas for some new tracks, which we'll get stuck into once we've finished 'Monkey Boy'.

We've now got some free tracks on Vitaminic - there are links to most of the official Twisted Pear featured sites in the Links.

We've finished 'Been a Dream'! As soon as we've finished sound-checking it on as many systems as we can, we'll stick it in the Music area for you to listen to.

Check out some of our tracks - now on DJ Mixes - and don't forget to rate our music!

We're just doing the final touches to 'Been a Dream' - you know, tweaking the levels 'n stuff. Should have something for you very soon.

We've almost finished 'Been a Dream' - and it's sounding sweeeeeeeeet! Can't wait for you to hear it! Keep your ear to the ground of the Music area.

The web site that hosted our very own 'Stupid Adventure', "The Quest for the Golden etc." has shut down, so we've moved all 191 pages of it here. Check it out in the Software area and see what you think.

Check out some of our hot new tracks ('Make a Move', 'Feelings', 'Saints & Sinners') in the Music area! We will continue to post new tracks when they're finished.

Shhhhh! We have started work on a secret project to be revealed later... sorry we can't tell you more... but watch this space!

Happy New Year!

We'd just like to thank everyone who wrote to us last year (and indeed this year). Your comments are always welcome, it's always encouraging to get feedback (although not necessarily from the microphone in the recording studio) and we like to hear from you.
You can now download the entire track 'Journey' from Tucows as well.
We're hoping to get samples of some of our new songs onto the web site before too long. So keep an eye in the Music area! That is, once we've shaken off the dreaded flu virus (for some reason we can't get our virus-checker to detect it).

RAM Computers have redeemed themselves in our book with a 48 hour turn-around with our knackered 15GB hard drive. We now have a decent backup server (almost; we're installing the software as I speak). We've joined another web ring and DeadMan has been doing some PR work for us (DeadMan would like everyone to know that in the medical world, PR doesn't stand for Public Relations - it stands for Per Rectum - which means 'up the arse' - yeah, thanks a lot for that 'nice' thought...!)

We've been having some trouble with a 15GB hard drive we bought for our server from RAM Computers. It was dead on arrival and they won't replace it. Maybe we can send it back to IBM...

We re-recorded the lyrics to 'Monkey Boy' on Saturday. And we've been working on 'Been a Dream'.

We've got some hot new lyrics from Kris for 'Been a Dream'. Some disturbed emails arrived (you know who you are!) and... well, the usual - working on the latest tracks, Internet stuff, etc., etc... Hum, excuse me, it's been one of those days and I'm struggling to stay awa...k..

Zzzzzzzzzzz...

At last you can download the 'Level' remix in its entirety (high quality stereo MP3 file) from MP3.COM. There's a link in the Music area.
It's all hands on-deck at the moment as we build our new fileserver. The studio's full of computer components and looks like a computer graveyard. Empty cases and old motherboards litter the floor. Hopefully we'll get it all sorted by Saturday when Kris, our singer, will be recording the lyrics to 'Been a Dream'.

Heard today from MP3.COM about the problem with 'Level' not yet being verified on their site - apparently we're now on their priority list and it'll get sorted within 24 hours. It's an exclusive remix and we'll let you know as soon as it's there.
Thanks to John 'Java' Davies for sorting out our Site Map.

'Journey' remix ('To Journey Again') and 'Feelings' have been level tested and have passed. They're all set for the new album, alongside three other bonus tracks.
We've been working with our latest singer, Kris, on 'Been a Dream'. She's come up with some nice lyrics - can't wait to finish recording.
Still no news from MP3.COM about the 'Level' remix we uploaded. Must be a problem. It's been two weeks. We emailed them about it today... and we wait... Oh, don't forget you can download 'Greenfruit' in its entirety (high quality stereo MP3 file). There's a link in the Music area.

Well, we've mixed down two tracks; 'Feelings' and 'Journey' remix. We've put them onto CD in order to test levels on various stereos.
We've uploaded the 'Level' remix onto MP3.COM but we're still waiting for them to certify it... There's no reason why there should be a problem with this track so hopefully it's just a matter of time before you can download it from there.

We've been tweaking our latest songs - drums on 'Make a Move', arranging the 'Journey' remix (nearly finished now - and sounding sweeeet). 'Cops & Musicians' was rejected from MP3.COM because of the use of a certain sample (personally we think they're just being petty) - we'll upload the 'Level' remix instead, and let you know! We've also been tweaking 'Been a Dream' - and 'Feelings' is almost finished!

We've been hard at work (Liar - We've been watching 'Walking With Dinosaurs' on BBC1 - Alan) ... well, we've been hard at work except for the time we spent watching TV. We're put a really cool intro to 'Make a Move', been remixing Journey for the new album, tweaked the site map, sent a CD to Radio 101 in Croatia (as requested), Alan did a massive long burp, and we're in the process of uploading the remix of 'Cops & Musicians' to MP3.COM. We'll let you know when it's there.

Hey, we've been been tweaking the menu system - what d'ya think?

Well, we've had another busy week... We've got a page on MP3.COM - and from there you can download the entire 'Greenfruit' track in CD quality stereo!

We've also been decorating again - The Cloakroom now houses our Guest Book, and we've put some links to other web sites in the Guest Room. If you get confused you can always check out the Site Map.

We've been remixing some of the tracks from 'Peeled' - these appear on a limited edition CD called 'Peeled and Pipped' and will available on specialist sites (and hopefully the odd radio station - keep your ears 'peeled'!)

Well, it's cold outside, and 'Greenfruit' is featured on the Radio One web site in their dance demo page! You can download the entire song in Real Audio format - here's the URL:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/club/club_demos.shtml

We now have our very own domain! You can also find us at www.thepear.co.uk

We've been working on the remix to 'Journey' - it's different and it's got attitude - and female vocals. We've ditched the sound effects featured in the original and it's probably going to be track 11 on the upcoming album.
Still working on 'Been a Dream' - added some sweet organ bits (of course) - yep, this one's gonna rule.

Oh, and we haven't forgotten 'Monkey Boy', 'Feelings', 'Make a Move' or (working title) 'KA'.

We've been working on the new song - TUUUNE! It's called "Been a Dream" and it's so groovy it hurts!

;-)

As you will have noticed, we have now got a front page (I dunno - call it 'The Porch' or something - whatever).

We've got the Internet connectivity problem sorted out (touch wood). After buying some more hardware and ditching BT we are now on a different network.

Alan's just spilled my can of [a certain fizzy drink that I'm not going to mention] all over the studio floor and into the air conditioning unit. Nice one Alan. - Derek

We now have a digital camera to play with. We'll get some piccies up when we've taken some! Maybe we'll build a gallery and you can see for yourself.. Tony Hart eat your... well, your heart... out. Err.

A new song is being created alongside 'Monkey Boy'. We haven't got a name for it yet but it really kicks ass.

You may have wondering what we've been up to recently. Firstly we've moved into our new studio and experienced a few technical problems with one of our computers. It hates its sound card (or the sound card hates the computer, we haven't figured out which one it is yet). It's a Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! and appears to corrupt the computer's registry on a regular basis - getting the latest versions of all drivers known to humankind didn't seem to solve it (how many times can you reinstall Windows 98 in a single week?)

Also we've been having real problems with the BT phone line into the studio - trying to connect to the Internet is a long and frustrating progress when the line is so bad you can only get connections under 19,000 bps. We've contacted BT on several occasions about the bad line and after their engineers failed to make any improvements we eventually received a letter stating that "BT only guarantees it's Public Service Telephone Network for speech transmission". Well, thanks a lot. As you can see we are feeling a little bitter...

Anyway - we've managed to get the verses of 'Monkey Boy' recorded and now we can (hopefully) get some work done without crashing computers and crappy phone lines.

Well, we're in this month's top-selling UK magazine Future Music. 'Greenfruit' is featured on the cover CD and it's reviewed in the magazine:
"You'll be forgiven if you find the name of this band slightly familiar. It somehow sneaked into our CD Central CD reviews back in FM83. When we found it in the demos box we were tempted to chuck it out - they'd already had their moment of FM fame - but seeing as our man Graeme Savage had given the album a glowing review and 10/10, we thought you deserved to hear more about them. This probably says quite a lot about their potential.
The opening track Greenfruit is a cheeky, funky and bouncy number. It begins with the sound of a radio and drops straight into a funky beat, coupled with the grooviest of basslines. Combine this with a catchy organ hook, harmonica, sax and guest vocals by Clare Peaty, and you've got a track that will immediately put a smile on your face.
Both production and arrangement on the track are excellent and after listening to it you can see how it managed to creep into FM83 along with the professional bands. Twisted Pear appear to have mastered their craft admirably and can hold their own with the rest of them. To me this says it all and Twisted Pear need signing immediately; I will be very surprised if they're not..
Cops N Musicians is the next track on the demo. Opening with some wah wah guitars, it follows in the same vein as Greenfruit. With Blues Brothers' samples and Hammond organs aplenty, the funk factor is at an all-time high.
Entertaining, uplifting and enjoyable and very very cool."

Anyway - check it out in the Information area.

We've finished redecorating the Links and moved the contents of the Study to the Hallway while we redecorate. Please feel free to sign our Guest Book (in the Links, obviously) so we can keep you in the picture.

Getting verse lyrics together and added cool 'acid' bass to 'Monkey Boy'.

We are currently in the process of moving to a new studio - it's gonna be a few weeks until we can get in there as it's still being fitted. Gotta get our hands on an air-conditioning unit first!

Added vocal chorus 'n stuff to 'Monkey Boy'.

Added funky monkey samples to 'Monkey Boy' - now kicks ass even harder than before!