I've had to disable blog posts whilst I figure out how to stop spammers wreaking havoc on the site. It turns out that my simple captcha system only fooled them for so long, and now even bots know how to answer the simple maths questions I stuck on the bottom of forms.

A warning: I may also have to password-protect the photos, so as to minimise bandwidth usage by errant bot browsing. We'll see how the rest of this week pans out.

I don't want to have to put this in mile high letters, but just so we're clear: the views expressed on this site are those of the individuals posting them, and have no connection to any other company or individual.

Phew. Now for some more unabashed Daily Mail bashing (contains bad language - sorry, mum).

Hybrid have sustained a following since the release of 1999's highly acclaimed Wide Angle, which combined heavy breakbeat with orchestral string arrangements in a way that had only been poorly alluded to by one hit wonders from the trance world. Their follow-up, 2003's Morning Sci-Fi, was much darker, the strings almost non-existent in a fug of heavy bass, house-like drumming and piercing vocal efforts. I said at the time that this move was brave - effectively sidestepping the "stringy dance" label and image as a gimmick band. Problem was, no-one else saw it that way, and the result was a mixed bag of reviews for the pair.

With the second album - the hurdle that a lot of bands stumble at - out of the way, the third album promised a more relaxed affair. It's taken three more years, but the result, I Choose Noise sees a return to orchestral arrangements, whilst retaining the darker moments of the second album. Gone are the quasi-band members Kirsty Hawkshaw and Adam Taylor, replaced by Perry Farrell, Judy Tzuke and John Graham. Yet if this was proof that the sound of the band is about what is going on underneath all the singing, this...