...and just in time with this blog post. An informal New Year's Resolution was to be more consistent with the blog posts this year, at least one a month, so here it goes for January 2012.

The latest Paul E. Phonics single "The Chameleon (New Skin)" was included in a New Year Mixtape on Dark Compass and received a nice little write-up on the great music blog Schallgrenzen. And a very pleasant surprise happened this week when another flattering artlcle appeared on Klangwelt, a German music blog dedicated to electronic music. Here's a translation:

"Paul E. Phonics' The Chameleon offers a round of fine music somewhere between wave and post-punk combining electronic beats with the depth of 80s dark wave. Anyone interested in this kind of music can listen to the full stream and download it for free.

It’s always worthwhile to have a look at Schallgrenzen blog. With The Chameleon, Paul E. Phonics has conjured up a tune that will appeal to fans of dark music and synth freaks alike. This description pretty much says it all:

Post-punk with electro sounds, serrating guitars and vocals straight out of the cold chamber.

Paul McCormick is the real name behind the alias Paul E. Phonics. Through his music he expresses his passion for post-punk, electronica, progressive rock, industrial and film scores. Something for Bauhaus fans maybe?

The Canadian has been living in Berlin since 2000 where he ended his search for new inspiration. Until 2009 he could be found playing in various bands or alone with his acoustic guitar in the smaller clubs around Berlin. But in 2009 he decided to start anew and equipped with guitar, keyboards, vocals and a laptop, he started his own label. After the release of the A Fragile Peace EP, he has followed up with the new single The Chameleon as a free download."    January 26, 2012

Another great event was the long-awaited (at least for me after postponing it several times) launch of the new project "Postcards From A Past Life". This is a very different musical direction than anything else coming from 5th Estate Music but it is not at all a "new" direction. In fact it's the exact opposite, going back to my roots as a more traditional singer/songwriter and involves re-working and re-recording some of my older songs in an alternative country, folk-rock, Americana kind of style. The debut E.P. "Volume 1" was released on January 23 with 5 songs all being offered for free. There will be no active promotion for this project. Like "Union Of Resonance" it will simply be there if someone wants to find it and will be expanded as time allows. Hopefully a second E.P. will be ready by the end of the year.

And that's about it for now but stay tuned. Lots more surprises on the way very soon!