In 1997, John released "Acrylic" on Optic Nerve (catalogue # OPT4.00).

This album is a somewhat different departure, and gives a clear indication of John's diverse interests and abilities; it consists of works composed to accompany exhibitions of paintings or multi-media (by the artists Moishe Moser and David Leapman) across Europe, between 1989 and 1996. As such, the tracks are all instrumental (with hardly a guitar in sight), and might be considered to be "New Age" by some. The fold-out CD booklet contains images by Moser and Leapman, which really help to put the audio experience into context. All in all, a very impressive package.

The track-listing for "Acrylic" is:

Curious; In Flagrante; Satay; At Loisitchek's; Heidegger's Garden; Codebreaker; Black Light; Glasspaint; Axum; Stolen Shouts.

We have been advised that "Acrylic" can be obtained from the following addresses:

Optic Nerve 9 Mortons Bush Wootton Northampton NN4 6BJ ENGLAND At a cost of £12, inc. P&P

PHD Ltd (plastichead@compuserve.com) Unit 15, Bushell Business Estate Hithercroft Wallingford Oxon, OX10 9DD England At a cost of £13.50 (world wide), inc. P&P

In November 1998, John released "In Rhodt" on the Voiceprint label (catalogue # SAVP101CD).

This release is the second CD of specially commissioned art gallery music, and the first of a set of five ("gallery music" numbers 1 to 5). This work is in the same vein as the previous release "Acrylic". The tracks on this album were written and recorded in 1989 for "In Rhodt", an exhibition of paintings by Moishe Moser, at Galerie Strasser, Rhodt, Germany. The booklet with the CD contains images from the exhibition.

The track-listing is:

Hortus; Curious; Dialog; In Flagrante; Judas; De Profundis.

The spring/summer of 1999 saw the release of four more "gallery music" CDs (numbers 2 to 5). Each CD contains music written for a particular exhibition and the accompanying booklet contains images from that exhibition.

"Das Geheimnis des Golem" (catalogue # SAVP102CD) contains music written (and recorded) in 1991 for an exhibition (of the same name). This exhibition featured the paintings of Moishe Moser and was held at Frank Loebsches Haus, Landau, Germany.

The track-listing is:

Breath of Bones; Satay; Pernath; Rosina; Waiter; At Loisitchek's.

The tracks on "Destination Everywhere" (catalogue # SAVP103CD) were written and recorded in 1995, again for Moishe Moser. The "Destination Everywhere" exhibition was held at Galerie Villa Rolandseck, Landau, Germany.

The track-listing is:

Down by Nature; Tortoise Lament; Simulcrum; Codebreaker; The Dark Side of Jesse James; Heidegger's Garden; Eastern Passage; Destination Everywhere; The Crossing.

"Our Internal Monologue" (catalogue # SAVP104CD) features music written in 1995 for paintings by David Leapman, shown at Villa Alkmaer, Centre for the Arts, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Interestingly, this CD features text read by Caroline Dapre, Paul Roberts, Grant Olding and John Ellis.

The track-listing is:

Masking Tape; Our Internal Monologue; Black Light; 2 Man Leap; 2 Mice; Glasspaint; Dayglo.

Gallery album #5 (the last in the series) is called "Shock of Contact" (catalogue # SAVP105CD). This music was written in 1996 for an exhibition (of the same name) of multi-media works by Moishe Moser at Galerie Margit Haupt, Karlsruhe, Germany.

The track-listing is:

Mish Mash; Baby Computer; If You Miss Me; The Creeper; Little Nemo's Eye; Stolen Shouts; Axum.

September 1999 saw the release of "Spic 'N' Span", John's "hand-made" CD. Limited to 50 copies only, each copy is numbered and signed by John. Featuring material written and produced by John (and unavailable elsewhere), the track-listing is:

The Space Between Us; Monopoly; Mumble Jumble; Wild Talents; Tune-O-Matic; Early Riding Daddy; Elevator Man; Giving up the Ghost; The Needs of the Soul; Running Through the Trees; One Way Street; Jimi Jam; Stutter Gun; The Best Part of the Cabbage.

John Ellis and Paul Roberts are currently working on a project called "Curly's Airships", with Judge Smith and Peter Hammill.

This work (consisting of a two-hour "song story") will tell the story of a 1924 plan to set up a fleet of Zeppelins, covering the entire British Empire. The plan ended when the massive R101 went down in flames in 1930.

A web site for "Curly's Airships" (from which the above graphic was kindly provided) can be found at: http://www.curlysairships.com

13 October 2000:

John Left the Stranglers in March 2000. "Map of Limbo" is John's new web page, penned following this departure. This new venture can be found at: http://www.mapoflimbo.co.uk

Release of "Curly's Airships" is due for imminent release. Full details can be found at the new webpage: http://www.curlysairships.com.

12 March 2000:

Curly's Airships is now finished. 50 promo copies, featuring extracts, plus some radio appearances with John, have been made. If any are left after their promotional distribution, these will be put up for sale. Anyone interested in acquiring a copy should drop a line to Furious Productions at:

16 Crouch Hill
London
N4 4AU

John informs us that he has almost finished "WABI", an album based on the Japanese tea ceremony. Hopefully, this will be released later this year.

John is currently doing some music for a documentary on Vampires which will go out later this year.

Look out for John's live appearances as part of the "Faith?" band, backing Paul Roberts (see the Stranglers gigs list).

2nd October 1999:

An interesting review of "In Rhodt" has been posted on the Misfit City webzine. The review appears on page 11 of the current issue.

5th September 1999:

John has provided some music for a forthcoming exhibition by a young multi-media artist called Paula Chiaia. Most of the material being used will be premiered at the show.

For those interested, the show will be called "Changing", and will be at the Changing Room Gallery, Aveling Road (Adj. LLord Park), Forest Road, Walthamstow, London E17. The show will run from 27th September to 3rd October 1999 (10am to 6pm). The gallery is open on weekends and admission is free.

5th August 1999:

"Spic 'n' Span", the new limited edition "hand made" CD by John Ellis will be available shortly. This new release is a compilation of instrumental and vocal music recorded by John over the last 20 years, and ranges from early 4-track demos, via unreleased album tracks, to pieces recorded in the last few months. All these tracks are available for the first time.

The cost of this CD is £30.00 + £1.50 p+p. Payment should be made by cheque, euro-cheque, postal order or international money order, made out in Pounds Sterling only. Copies may be ordered from: Furious Productions, 16 Crouch Hill, Islington, London, N4 4AU, England.

This album is not to be confused with the recent "Gallery Music" series released by Voiceprint Records.

21st June 1999:

Volumes 2 to 5 of John's art gallery albums are now available. See above for details.

John tells us that "Das Geheimnis des Golem" got a great review in Record Collector recently. He's also now working on "ZEN CHA", which is the next instrumental album, due for release early next year. The "GO" album (see below) will come after that.

John tells us that he's now taking last orders for the hand made (limited edition) CD. Given their limited nature (a total of 50 only), these CDs will cost £30.00 each + postage. Anyone interested in getting a copy should contact John via the following address (but please do not send money yet):

FURIOUS PRODUCTIONS
16 Crouch Hill
London N4 4AU
U.K.

11th February 1999:

John's second art gallery album (Das Geheimnis Des Golem) will be released in March. More details can be found at the Voiceprint site.

John has started work on an album project with ace guitarist GP Hall.

The hand-made CD project is in the preparation stages.

Curly's Airships will be finished by the end of the year and then Curly's Commitee will be looking for a label to release the project.

2nd December 1998:

On the recent Stranglers tour (Oct/Nov '98), John passed on the following snippets regarding his extra-strangular activities:

He is currently working on a project with Swedish singer Jeannette (more details later).

He is currently looking at two more instrumental projects (in addition to the on-going release of art-gallery material). The first is based on the Japanese game of "Go", and is intended as the soundtrack for a movie titled "New Master of Go". The second project will feature samples from old blues works, overlaid with some "interesting guitar work".

On top of all this, he is hoping to collaborate on a project with the guitarist G.P. Hall.

Here's one for the manic collectors out there: John tells us that he's going to put together a very limited edition of 50 CDs. The material on this release will be a variety of instrumentals and songs. Due to the limited nature of this release (in Johns words "each one will be more or less hand made"), the cost will be £30, on a first-come-first-served basis.

John's guitar work on "Curly's Airships" is now finished and the project is progressing towards the end of recording. The album should be available towards the end of next year.

Following the success of "Acrylic", John's remaining five albums of gallery music are set to be released on the "VoicePrint" label. The first ("In Rhodt") is now available (see above); the others are expected to appear in quick succession in a very limited edition; they will be offered to Stranglers fans first. The albums (and their respective catalogue numbers) will be: