FAD GADGETS

Rhodri Marsden on three of the latest must-have gizmos currently putting the prog in progress.

COMMODORDION

Over the years, few might have looked at the keys on an accordion and considered their similarity to a computer keyboard. One person, however, held that thought, got hold of two Commodore 64 computers and assembled an 8-bit musical instrument that looks like an accordion and sounds like 80s game Zak McKracken And The Alien Mindbenders. His name is Linus Åkesson, and the online outpouring of admiration and affection since he revealed the Commodordion on YouTube is entirely proportionate and correct. His version of The Blue Danube is possibly the best ever recorded, apologies to the Vienna Philharmonic. www.linusakesson.net

ROLAND 50TH ANNIVERSARY CONCEPT MODEL PIANO

This year marks the 50th birthday of Japanese gear-wizards Roland, creators of such world-beating instruments as the TR-808 drum machine, the Juno 106 and the Jupiter 8. They’ve marked the occasion with the construction of an extraordinary take on a grand piano, a swirling, curving oak frame housing an 88-key, touch sensitive keyboard and an electronic panel from which the player can choose some of Roland’s most iconic piano sounds. You can’t buy one, sadly. But sometimes the fact that something exists at all is worth celebrating. www.roland.com

TEENAGE ENGINEERING CHOIR

We only featured Teenage Engineering in the last issue, but rather like buses, two amazing products have come along at once. This is a set of eight dolls, made from solid beech, which are controlled via MIDI and perform choral classics. You, the choir master, can turn each doll’s volume up and down by tilting it to the left or right. Each doll is £249 each, so that’s £1,992 for the whole set, so it might actually be cheaper to hire an actual choir. Not as cute, though. www.teenage.engineering