At number 17 in our festive countdown lies Am I Dead Yet? The band is the new musical project from Pop Will Eat Itself & Gaye Bykers On Acid frontman Mary Byker and Apollo440 founder-member, Magazine guitarist & long-time collaborator, Noko. Their soundscape is wide-screen retro-cinematic. The mood is distinctly glass-half-empty, with songs lamenting the failure of technology to save us from ourselves. Mary steps up to the microphone. Noko makes the noises. Vocals are delivered over a lush Lynchian laptop orchestra, replete with the sweet vocal harmonies of Noko and the sumptuous twang of his vintage Gretsch White Falcon buried deep in a canyon of spring reverb. Am I Dead Yet?‘s self titled debut ia available via Wire-Sound Records here