Peter's January update coincides with the release today of the first Double A-side, Digital 45 from the Scratch My Back project on ITunes . We hear from Peter about his version of 'The Book Of Love', and from the writer of that track, Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields we hear about his cover of Peter's 'Not One Of Us'.

Along the way there is also news of release dates, tour dates and a chance to be part of the project at Real World Remixed, where on a packed full moon, 'Not One Of Us' has just been made available to remixers.

We also get a snippet of 'Heroes' from the 'Scratch' project, with an update on its availability as part of a download in aid of Haiti earthquake victims.

More on the Digital 45
More on Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields
More on remixing 'Not One Of Us'
More on 'Scratch My Back'

"Songwriting is what drew me into music," Peter reveals. "The craft and the process of putting together a good song seemed both exciting and magical." And it's this magical craft that Scratch My Back salutes, a dozen covers of songs that Peter regards as among the pinnacles of songwriting endeavour. "Songwriting is what turns his crank," agrees long-standing member of his management team Mike Large, "and there's a whole bunch of songs that, when he hears them, the meter goes off the end of the scale."

There are several rather familiar songs that Peter interprets on Scratch My Back. Aside from The Boy In The Bubble, he revisits David Bowie's Heroes, Radiohead's Street Spirit (Fade Out) and Randy Newman's I Think It's Going To Rain Today. But the songbooks of artists who've only emerged in the last few years have also been drawn from, among them Arcade Fire (for My Body Is A Cage) and Bon Iver (Flume).

It's not often, in-fact, only once in a blue moon, that you'll find us making a second Full Moon Club video update in a month. Add into that mix that this is the last day of the year, the end of the first decade of the 21st Century and you've got something as unusual as a well preserved wisdom tooth from a Buff Pekin.

Along with this month's update we are also bringing you part two of our 'Scratch My Back' podcast series, that's a first chance to hear excerpts from tracks five to eight on the album - 'Listening Wind', 'The Power Of The Heart', 'My Body is a Cage' and 'The Book of Love' with introductions from Peter.

A brief update from Peter, filmed before he headed off to a meeting of The Elders. We hear news of the 'Scratch My Back' album projects which is now nearing completion and pick up on Peter's current hot tips, Portico Quartet and Charlie Winston.

Herding cats and Lighthouse Keepers' parties all get a mention. Peter's back on your screens this October with the news that whilst there has been a brief outage here, others have been hard at work- it seems some satirical fun is being poked at the Moon Club.

Other news includes a look back at WOMAD Charlton Park, where Peter aired material from the forthcoming 'Scratch My Back' project in public for the first time. There's more on that project and other new music from Speed Caravan, Portico Quartet and David Rhodes amongst others. Recollections from the amazing Polar Music Prize award ceremony where Peter was presented with his award by His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden for 'groundbreaking, outward - looking and boundary-busting artistry'. This years other award winner, the Venezuelan conductor, composer and economist José Antonio Abreu is also discussed along with a new campaign to improve the rights of musicians - The Featured Artists Coalition.

Short and sweet, it's Peter live and direct from the 'Scratch My Back' recording sessions at Air Studios.

June's Full Moon finds The Wrting Room a hive of activity around the 'Scratch My Back' project. Peter tells us that "You may be hearing it sooner than never and sooner than I normally mean when I say sooner" We also hear about a meeting of The Elders in The Atlas mountains, ideas for cooling the brain with Heath Robinson like ingenuity - does a cool head lead to quicker thinking? There's been an productive strategy meeting for Witness in London and Peter tells us that his drive to raise funds for the organization should see another live show from him in Europe this summer or later in the autumn.

We also hear news of a fantastic project to build a new arts/performance centre for the Zawose Family in Bagamoyo and Peter gets in a plug for Real World Records releases by Spiro, Dub Colossus and Dengue Fever and music from Charlie Winston on The B&W Society of Sound.

Peter talks about progress on his 'scratch my back' covers project, with Bob Ezrin and John Metcalf both in the studio to work on the project. We get a report on the success of the recent WOMAD Abu Dhabi where Robert Plant made a special guest appearance with Justin Adams and Juldeh Camera whose new Real World Records release Tell No Lies is out on May 11th.

Peter gives a mention to the many Real World Records artists are to be found playing live at venues around the world in the coming months, amongst whom is Mamer, a singer/songwriter who was raised in Xinjiang, one of ten children for whom singing and playing the two-string dombra lute was as much a part of life as sunrise.