Ask a Linux user to play some records, and he'll start coding a cross-fader

This post by Brazilian blogger Nicolau Werneck seems to illustrate everything that is right and wrong and right about folks who use Linux for music (in this case, DJing at his brother's birthday party). Here's the bit where he reinvents the crossfader: "I couldn't find a proper simple JACK mixer program, so first I made my own. It has a scrollbar to select the mixing level, and a bunch of radiobuttons to change the mixing style between linear, fixed-then-linear, sudden and quadratic. The jack part just outputs the weighted sum of the two inputs."

Nice NAMM 2008 roundup from Wire To The Ear

The splendid and stylish new gear blog Wire To The Ear have a nice roundup of NAMM bits, including Akai's bizarre preset MPC, the XR20 and Alesis' SR-18, an upgrade - 18 years on - to the ubiquitous SR-16, every busker's favourite drum machine.

Roland C-30 Digital Harpsichord comes with stained glass end panels

The new C-30 Digital Harpsichord comes with all the expected bells and whistles (various baroque tunings, meantone temprament), plus MIDI out (would make a great master keyboard, if you got used to the clicky action), and a really over-the top collection of optional extras ("decoration panel" and "picture board"). However, it can't really match the late '90s chic of the C-80 Digital Harpsichord with it's reverse keyboard and three legs.
However, out-cooling all of these by a very long way is eBay item #110215197038 - an RMI electric harpsichord from the early '70s, which has no soundboard, but electric pickups. It must sound great through a good guitar amp...

Akai MPC5000 - the big, black, $3,500 groovebox

So here's the new thing from Akai - the MPC5000 (That's the official site). It's the usual MPC sample/sequencer stuff, with a built in VA synth & arpeggiator, lots of effects and outs. Meanwhile, JJ, the mysterious programmer re-writing the operating system for the bottom-of-the-range MPC1000 - is going from strength to strength. Having refined and finessed the normal MPC functions as far as he could, he's announced JJOS2, a completely new system adding endless bonkers new features. I read the JJ forum every day and I can't keep up.

The Anarchy Cowbwell for really angry drummers whose mums just don't understand

Pearl have a small range of extreme percussion, presumably for early-teen drummers in metal bands who are worried that traditional percussion is a bit gay. Above is the Avril Lavigne inspired Anarchy Cowbell: "Power flange for saving your sticks, metal spikes, and the blood red Anarchy symbol completes the ferocity of this eye-catching and ear splitting percussion instrument." At Namm, they're launching the Anarchy Block: "an all black, spike-riddled, ear-splitting synthetic wood block". I'm looking forward to the Anarchy Chromatic Windchimes next.

The Fucking Fucker: Metasonix's insane $5,000 guitar amp

Metasonix' Eric Barbour is one of the cleverest, most original people I've come across since starting Music Thing. He knows everything there is to know about tubes. Now, finally, instead of making absurd things like four-voice polyphonic all-tube synths, he's made the Fucking Fucker, a two-channel guitar amp stuffed with things like "remote-cutoff pentodes". It's hideous, it's yellow, it will be pixellated every time a rich rockstar puts one in his video, and I'm sure it sounds incredible. Now that most tube amps are built on Chinese production lines, this is a truly wonderful thing.

Moog Voyager OS - the retro synth to end all retro synths

This is (if the rumours are to be believed) the new Moog Voyager OS, with OS presumably standing for Old School. It's an all analog synth with no patch storage, no MIDI and no display - essentially a refreshed version of the 37 year-old Minimoog design. Presumably it will be cheaper than a Voyager, more expensive than a Little Phatty. I like the idea of a synth as a simple instrument like an electric guitar, something you plug in, tweak a bit and play. This could be perfect for (well-off) keyboard players in guitar bands who want to look cool and make cool noises, but are never going to need to connnect it to anything else. Also, if every single person who's ever gone onto a synth forum and said "yeah, I don't want all that modern crap, I just want a totally pure analog synth" buys one, then Moog will be rich beyond their wildest dreams.
UPDATE: Here's the official page , with a price: $2595 - $500 less than the full Voyager, $1,200 more than the Phatty...