Fred Deakin of Airside and Lemon Jelly fame has collaborated with Robin Jones (Beta Band / The Aliens) and recorded an album under the moniker Flashman. It's out this week on Deakin's Impotent Fury label...

The CD album is housed in a wonderfully tactile, gatefold, uncoated matt card sleeve produced by Think Tank with artwork designed by Airside screenprinted in white.

Oh, and depending on your preference, you can purchase the album in either a smart navy - or in a bright red colour. The contents of each package is exactly the same. I guess it comes down to whether you're a blue kind of person, or a red kind of person...

Musically, Flashman's sound has been described as "jazz-folk-techno", and the mostly instrumental tracks on To the Victor - the Spoils! were constructed from live performances recorded at the Sound Café studios in the heart of the Scottish countryside.

With Jones on drumming duty, and Deakin on electronics and various other instruments, the Flashman cause was aided by gallant guest performances from jazz piano legend Brian Kellock (courtesy of Thick Skinned Productions Ltd), clarinetist Wally Fawkes (The Humphey Lyttleton Band), and trumpet extremist Andy Diagram (James / Pale Fountains / Shack / Spaceheads).

Instead of press photos of the duo to help promote Flashman, a series of paintings were commissioned from Robert Milne, who was given a brief to create "illustrations from a nineteenth century boy's book of adventure." They're oil on canvas and have inspired an upcoming Flashman video which is due to be completed mid March.

Flashman's debut release is available to buy at Airside Play: play.airside.co.uk