Here’s a couple of the most unique and impressive gifts I was given this year:

I Am Plastic. A great coffee table book about the designer toy explosion. A really cool gift bought for me by my ever-loving wife! Check out kidrobot for more of the same.

Zounds. Given to us by Ben & Sam, this is an amazing toy/tool/instrument thing that loops samples when you place the shaped pieces onto one of the 3 glowing dots. It’s the kind of technology that 60’s sci-fi ‘B’-Movies promised us in the future and then never happened (kind of like the Ice Crystals in Superman’s Fortress Of Solitude).

With 3 sounds for each of the 6 shapes and a cube that you can record your own sample to, there are a great number of musical combinations. Add in the tempo, reverb and echo controls and you get a wide variety of sounds from ambient chill-out through to hardcore techno and acid jazz! Totally bizarre and wildly addictive, get one now!!

Oh, and we ordered our new kitchen today!