Mellotronists

The debut Ambrosia is fantastic. Glad there are still enough copies 
of the LP floating around in the crap racks and dollar bin for cheap.
It seems keyboardist Christopher North around four or five years ago 
called me regarding some solo projects, and we got into the 
conversation about what happened with Ambrosia's Chamberlin. At that 
time, he said it was water damaged, that they still had it, and 
didn't know what to do with it. I didn't make any solid offers to buy 
it anyway. I guess I just sort of was haunted by the mud-drenched 
Mellotron MkII on Dave Kean's website that was the victim of 
flooding; with the caption under the photo stating something akin 
to "where to go for an afternoon of Mellotron repair fun".

Anyone catch the new !Firewater! CD "The Man On The Burning 
Tightrope" (Jetset Records TWA54CD U.S.A.) Strange connecting circus 
act concept recording with massive keyboards like calliope and 
Wurlitzers (plenty of 'Tron too) and a layout similar to the artwork 
in Mike Penn's "Free For All". 

Still wondering on how Mars Volta is going to take off. More bizarre 
flute and string Mellotrons. Universal Records must really believe in 
these guys, as they have flooded media with plenty of teasers, 
followed up with duplicate promos of the full-length. Their message 
board is hyperactive from fans worldwide, if that is any indication. 
They aren't the most immediate band in the world--shifting gears on a 
dime and sounding disconnected upon first listen all the way through, 
but the subtleties drop once it sinks in...