While looking for Bill Bruford CDs I was directed to the Burning Shed website. Burning Shed publishes CDs and vinyl records on behalf of a few select musicians and hosts the online shops for various artists/bands. Two things make Burning Shed admirably different: 1) the copyright of the works they publish remains with the artist and 2) it focuses on Singer-Songwriter, Progressive, Ambient/Electronica and Art Rock genres.

When I say “a few select musicians” I really mean well over 100 artists/bands including Gentle Giant, Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Phil Manzanera, Steven Wilson and, of course, the aforementioned Bill Bruford. That’s a list that warmed the cockles of Crotchety Man’s heart and prompted me to wander around the Burning Shed searching for the cool flames of innovation and creativity.

My eyes were drawn to a section labelled ‘Henry Fool’. The name appealed to me, a brief review of an EP intrigued me and a tasty ‘free download’ morsel dangled enticingly in front of me. Without hesitation I swallowed the bait. A few minutes later I had created an account on Burning Shed, downloaded the Free Henry Fool EP and was relishing a cosy blend of progressive rock, jazz and atmospheric sounds. Strongly reminiscent of Canterbury-scene bands, it was every bit as tasty as it looked.

For now the free EP is all the Henry Fool I know but I will be exploring more of their work very soon. In the meantime, I thoroughly recommend the free taster download. If you have fond memories of Caravan, Soft Machine and the unknown Axis, sign up, download the EP and enjoy my Album of the Month, September 2015.