It's not often that you find multiple genres on a single album (outside of loose compilations, of course). And it's even rarer for two bands with contrasting styles to each provide one half of an album. But that's what the Norwegian bands, Jordsjø and Breidablik, give us with Kontraster. And to challenge prospective listeners even…Read more Kontraster
Month: April 2025
A Symphony of Amaranths
A symphony of colours, but probably not a natural Amaranth flower. A Symphony of Amaranths is a collection of jazz tunes composed by Neil Ardley. It's the kind of jazz that serious composers would recognise as carefully constructed, high quality music, even if they didn't warm to it themselves. It is scored for an orchestra…Read more A Symphony of Amaranths
Phantom Limb
If a ghost loses an arm or a leg, would he still feel the pain of a phantom limb? That's a tongue-in-cheek rhetorical question - I don't believe in ghosts - but perhaps the Swedish band, Hooffoot, would like to tell us why they chose to call their latest album, Phantom Limb. That probably does…Read more Phantom Limb
Emergent
Who's emerging from the Gordian Knot? Emergent is the second album by Gordian Knot, a band with a fluid line-up assembled by Sean Malone in 1998. Malone was an exceptionally accomplished multi-instrumentalist, proficient on bass guitar (fretted and fretless), Chapman Stick, guitar and keyboards. He was the American equivalent of the UK's Steven Wilson. As…Read more Emergent
Newsflash
Several upcoming gigs in Nottingham caught my eye recently: Zopp, 10th April at Billy Bootleggers The Ks, 8th May at Rock City Fyfe Dangerfield, 10th May at The Grove These are all highly recommended by the Crotchety Music Preview Panel. Further information on these artists can be found in these earlier Crotchety Man blog posts:…Read more Newsflash
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