Art Rocker Jan Linton unleashed a new single on the 1st of February but my lack of a lunch hour [hint – it’s not likely to end any time soon] has meant that we haven’t written about it until today. Mea Culpa! The backstory for “Can I Feel Your Love?” had some strong resonance for this Ultravox fan. Regular readers may remember a post on the Chris Cross auction of musical instruments and personal effects. At the time I was eyeing the iconic Casio VLT-1 and a potential way to have a bit of Chris’ legacy in my Record Cell. But I am not a musician. There were plenty of musicians who were as big a fan of Ultravox as I was, and that included Jan Linton.
Linton was aiming for the MIDI guitar but got outbid and ended up setting his sights on the Arturia Minibrute. The compact 2-octave analog keyboard had kicked off the return of monosynths in a memorable way about a decade ago. There is something direct and tangible with a monosynth. Sometimes chords just muddy the waters. Despite the £80-120 estimate, Linton ended up paying £320 for the privilege. But as fate would have it, he got more than just a new piece of hardware. The synth also came with Cross’ patch notation sheets and with them came the possibility of a kind of collaboration across the ether!
Jan Linton: Can I Feel Your Love – HK – DL [2025]
- Can I Feel Your Love? 4:30
The bass synth pulse of the Minibrute was contrasted by the aerosol polyphony of the patch standing in for strings for that always welcome “I’m Not In Love” vibe. The song is 100% Linton on, well, everything, and he splits an octave higher than his normal range for the backing vocals in a surprising and exciting way. Though Linton normally hits a suave note vocally, the sense of vulnerability he projected here served the song exceptionally well.
As the chord sequence transition built into the chorus, we got treated to the spectacle of Linton singing call and response on the song’s chorus. The second time the verses led into the chorus, that chord ascension got substantially more glorious and on the second pass, Linton’s trademark eBow guitar provided a golden singularity of sound like a shaft of sunlight. Next, the almost hymnal middle eight dropped out all of the rhythm, BVs, and synths except for one soft pad providing the accompaniment to Linton.
Gradually the rest of the accompaniment returned as Mr. Linton gave us a transcendent guitar solo; the Minibrute pulsating relentlessly under that guitar arcing overhead to take us to the euphoric climax to the song as it all reduced down to a single sustained note. Why not listen below?
We call Linton an Art Rocker because he is, but there’s an equally strong thread in his body of work for a Pop sensibility, as this song reminds us. The single will set you back a puny US dollar but remember that the ghost in the machine [via Chris Cross] gave us two artists for the price of one on this single, and up the ante accordingly. The only thing less than fully glorious here was the [sigh] AI cover art. DJ hit that button.
-30-
![Want List: Visage DLX RM […finally!]](https://i0.wp.com/postpunkmonk.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/visage-dlxrmuscda.jpeg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1)
Post-Punk Monk 
I was lucky enough to get the MicroBrute (for £200) along with some of Chris’s card settings, a fretless neck (£95), some t-shirts that my dog bought (never let your dog near the keyboard on a ‘one click commit’ auction site and this little baby . . . . for slightly more money…..
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alonewithstrangers – ¡Holy frijolés! That £3400.00 buys a lot of chips and salsa!
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The wife still isn’t happy about it.
The bass has been cleaned, re-strung and paintwork stabilised. It isn’t going to be restored – something Midge, Lynne (Chris’ wife) and I all agree on. But, I’m hoping to somehow use it to commemorate Chris and have a few ideas about how to do that – just need the time to do so.
I’m also looking at recreating how the bass would have looked, felt and sounded when he received it in 1982. I’ll be working on a ‘Proof Of Concept’ once the weather is a bit warmer & drier to see if it will work. If so, I’ll be on the lookout for an old 81/82 Ibanez BL700 or BL800 bass to strip & rebuild – hopefully one that isn’t silly money and/or costs a fortune to import to the UK
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Are there any programs still inside the MIcrobrute by Chris? Any notes?
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No, unfortunately. I haven’t had much of a chance to do anything except make sure it’s working. All of the knobs and sliders have perished massively and leave quite a nasty residue on everything, including my hands. I don’t know if the same is true of the MiniBrute but I need to replace them all before I really use it and….I don’t have time for one project at the moment, let alone three.
I have, however, fitted the fretless neck to my son’s Candy Apple Red precision bass. That was a job and a half because the neck was too broad, the body join off the level and the low E tuner bore in the wrong place meaning much sanding, reaming and reverse-shimming to make it work, not to mention slipping and knackering some of the body paintwork with the neck. 😞
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alonewithstrangers – Never mind the money… where do you find the time for projects this involving?!!
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At the moment I don’t. I haven’t had time to refurbish guitars, play guitars or even listen to the last year’s worth of music purchases due to work pressures.
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alonewithstrangers – You are preaching to the choir. I still have the Heaven 17 BSOG of “Play To Win” unheard in how many years now? I’m cowed by the last two Ultraboxes which I feel I’ve not had the sufficient time to listen to hence the slacking on getting deep dives on the “Quartet” and “Lament” boxes posted here! The only record I bought last year which I made the time to digitize was the [amazing] Wilson Lament Remixes RSD disc. The other 6-8 records [which do not have a CD counterpart] mock me from the Record Cell racks!
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Well, at least I got to listen to the UV stuff pre-launch but, otherwise, have about 70-80 records and blu rays to get around to……
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alonewithstrangers – I rarely bite, but when I do those Blu-Rays also mock me. I’m passing on the “Avalon,” but if they do “Flesh + Blood” I’ll have to crumple.
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Avalon is my least favourite Roxy album but I have still ordered. Will be good to compare against the Japanese SACDs
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alonewithstrangers – My least favorite is “Siren.” It should have been a single.
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The Ghost of Bowie (and of course Ultravox) shows up at moments across this single. In moments, you can almost imagine The Thin White Duke going synthpop.
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