I'm still inputting music into Sibelius: now I've got on to some Scots song arrangements by Pietro Urbani.  We used one in The Gentle Shepherd, and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, so we'll try out some more in November.  We got another good Mungrel review, in the Independent on Sunday: eminently quotable, and now on the press page.  I shouldn't admit this, but I really didn't expect this record to get reviewed well - it's taken so long to get it released, that I've become more and more preoccupied with the bits that could be obvious targets for a churlish critic, and I've tended to forget that the good bits are easily the most distinctive things we've ever done on record.

I was talking to Olli Virtaperko in Helsinki this afternoon, and he was enthusing about his Ensemble Ambrosius's new album, still to be released.  I'm trying to get them some gigs in Scotland early next year - they play Frank Zappa on baroque instruments, and with wonderful flair.  Zappa always struck me as a musician who kept his emotions well hidden - everything was kept at an ironic distance - but played on the old instruments which breathe and have a life of their own, his music actually becomes very moving and beautiful.  Their first record 'The Zappa Album' is on BIS, and it's great.  Besides being a mean baroque cellist, Olli also sings in Finland's biggest rock band, Ultra Bra.  What more recommendation do you need?