I am deeply saddened to read of the passing of Tim Smith from Cardiacs today. Even though Tim had been ill for many years, it's still hard for me to think of him as gone, as his music made such a big impression on me, and continues to do so. He had one of the few truly unique sounds and musical personalities you could ever hope to hear, it was almost impossible to understand where his music came from and what his influences might have been. In that respect he was a true original, and like many other true originals he paid the price of being a cult artist, relatively under the radar for most of his career. But for those that 'got' Cardiacs they almost without exception went on to become their favourite band.