in the Dark (2008). Solo work Cole’s solo music has always been experimental, and has involved work as a performer as well as a writer, arranger, mixer and producer. His first solo album was The New Hovering Dog (1972), issued shortly after the breakup of Cochise. The album was remastered and re-released in 2013. In the 1980s – alongside his session and live performances, and also work as a music journalist – Cole became increasingly interested in ambient and classical music, and the way in which this could be adapted for the pedal steel guitar. A project undertaken with Guy Jackson resulted in Transparent Music (Hannibal/Rykodisc, 1989), including pieces by Erik Satie and others. This was followed by Heart of the Moment (Resurgence, 1995), Lushlife, with Roger Beaujolais and Simon Thorpe (United Artists, 2009), and Transparent Music 2, featuring Guy Jackson, Arve Henriksen and Davy Spillane (United Artists, 2012). In the late 1990s, a desire to work with a DJ drew Cole to Luke Vibert, the result of their collaboration being Stop the Panic (Cooking Vinyl/Astralwerks, 2000), an electronica album inspired by their shared passion for exotica and drum ‘n’ bass. A similar theme runs through Cole's Trouble in Paradise (Cooking Vinyl, 2004). Instruments Cole initially learned on a six-string Dallas Rangemaster lap steel, before buying his first pedal steel – a double eight-string Fender 1000 – in about 1966. He continued to use this until 1971, when he switched to a black single-neck ten-string Emmons pedal steel; this was the instrument that he played on the final Cochise album and on sessions including ‘Tiny Dancer’. In 1975, Cole bought a twelve-string Emmons pedal steel, and then in 1982, while in America, he acquired a new twelve-string instrument made by Joe Kline. This has remained his principal pedal steel until very recently. Cole is now using a twelve-string pedal steel made for him by Bill Rudolph of the Williams Guitar Co. He also plays a dobro custom-made for him by his father, John Cole. Selected discography Solo and collaborative The New Hovering Dog (1972) Transparent Music (1989) Heart of the Moment (1995) Stop the Panic (2000; with Luke Vibert) Trouble in Paradise (2004) Transparent Music 2 (2012) Apollo (2012; with Icebreaker) With Cochise Cochise (1970) Swallow Tales (1971) So Far (1972) Featured artist Humble Pie, Humble Pie (1970) Humble Pie, Rock On (1971) Dave Edmunds, Rockpile (1972) Trapeze, You Are