"I'm fingers crossed, let this be a bag of crap then I won't have to phone the eedjit who sends out demos with no website or email to point punters at. No deal, this is abstract art in sound, not the arsey guff because microphone STAND can play, play a variety of instruments in fact and can make a coherent construct of a song that incorporates all manner of discordant interest. Now, that'll mean nowt to you, but imagine a Jamie T who can play properly, imagine a Kate Nash with something to say, imagine a singer-songwriter without an airbrush, imagine that singer-songwriter dipping into his Atari Teenage Riot influences at odd moments. Yeah, I know, you gotta hear it, right i'll call him now...ta-dah!"

"From Coalville in Leicester, the mysterious Microphone Stand have provided an experimental EP that sounds as though it's been recorded in a bedroom with distorted keyboards and a level meter thrashing crash of cymbals and electronic bass drums. 'microphone stand' , who sent in a passport picture of himself printed on a torn of strip of paper (which seems to be the instruction manual for his printer) -you can see where this is going- seems to painting himself as something of an enigma. I'd say he is one.

"Pianos & Sticks" is sort of like Frank Sidebottom, but an alternative universe Frank – where he's deadly serious wears black leather gloves and has become a gothic rock star. The EP is crammed with strange lyrics and grating effects, yet the whole plot is pretty minimalistic and pretty inventive throughout. There's even a dance bass beat on track 3 (obviously there's no tracklisting!) and everything is deliberately distorted like a badly tuned radio. It's all generally mad stuff but behind of all of this is the possibility of the odd bout of creative genius - although it can be difficult to unearth."

"I'm fingers crossed, let this be a bag of crap then I won't have to phone the eedjit who sends out demos with no website or email to point punters at. No deal, this is abstract art in sound, not the arsey guff because microphone STAND can play, play a variety of instruments in fact and can make a coherent construct of a song that incorporates all manner of discordant interest. Now, that'll mean nowt to you, but imagine a Jamie T who can play properly, imagine a Kate Nash with something to say, imagine a singer-songwriter without an airbrush, imagine that singer-songwriter dipping into his Atari Teenage Riot influences at odd moments. Yeah, I know, you gotta hear it, right i'll call him now...ta-dah!"

Microphone stand is somewhat unusual music in the EARLabs context and most of our regular readers will ponder when they first hear the material. Still, those who crave for experimentalism will have a ball.

Early May I was approached by microphone STAND. The e-mail's body text kept things short: "a up. i was just hoping you might be interested in this- microphonestand.co.uk". The curtness was intriguing so I flipped to the mentioned site. Hmm, how basic can you go? Just a list of links to mp3's and a message: "this site was constructed on behalf of microphone STAND - as they don't have or like the internet."

I downloaded the mp3's which carry titles like "piann's and sTicks" and "wHat was it agin" and started listening. And that's when things really started moving. microphone STAND seems to make music from a totally uneducated perspective. His context is singer/songwriter pub music. When he was fired and out of work he started making his own songs with very crude material, a heavy accent and a guitar.

I replied to the e-mail asking for his thoughts on his own music. He answered: "I think in simple terms my EP is just a few basic songs, with a load of other sounds chucked in! but i'm trying to develop my own experimentations not just on the music and production but on the actual songs and lyrics themselfs. A couple of years ago i got made redundant from my job in a factory- while i was on the doll i wrote most of these songs- since then i have ripped them apart, re-structured them and sometimes simplified them. I recorded the EP with the instruments i could afford to buy. I decided to steer clear of perfect timing and clear recording (as you can tell!) and i wanted to make it as "out of time " as possible - unfortunatly it didn't really work out like i hoped which is very dissapointing for me but, i did the best i could at that time (hopefully my next EP will be better - more 'out of time') - i like the way it sounds uncomfortable to listen to."

That latter remark is exactly what makes it so appealing. The result sounds distorted but in more than just the sound quality. It's really something special, a sort of naive art. It also reminded me immediately of the crudeness of the Russian composer Alexander Khvalchev, who used the most basic of electronic instruments to construct something unaffected by the delicacies of the contemporary scene. No softly softly hisses and drones, no well curved dynamic bends, but raw cuts.

Behind the rawness however there is a good set of ears attached to STAND's head, searching for an ideal balance between this 4/4 context and concrete and electronic sound experiment. His texts too, go beyond the basic lyrics of most singer songwriters. They are objective (although sung with a sad, bluesy voice) and distant observations of his surroundings and sometimes just directions for the musician ( which is none other than microphone stand himself ). I will definitely follow microphone stand's progressions and I think you definitely should as well.

Failing to submit anything other than a CD with a phone number on, whoever microphone are - they have lost their mind, a lone symbol smash with off-key vocal shouts "piano's and sticks microphones and catchy bits.

After a while it starts to make a sick sense, creepy.