Roots by Vincent Van Gogh Many years ago now there was a regular light entertainment program on the radio†. It included a series of comedy sketches, one of which purported to answer listeners' questions on just about any subject relevant to contemporary living. There might be questions on important issues in art or politics, for…Read more Roots
Album
Danger Money
Out of curiosity I looked up the most dangerous occupations in the UK. There are several lists based on fatality statistics. They vary considerably but most include some or all of the following professions: Seafarers, especially fishermenConstruction workersFarmers and other agricultural workersLorry drivers Some of the most dangerous jobs don't employ that many people: oil…Read more Danger Money
Isolation
Fed up with Covid restrictions? Longing to get back to the old normal? Well, here's an album that will put a spring in your step and banish those isolation blues to the musty pages of the history books. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_laIbzhC50SwNk5dui0F639xGE9D0jpy2c The Backstage is a band born in adversity. When Steve Hackett's U.S. tour was cancelled last…Read more Isolation
Flown
Burning Shed is inviting pre-orders for CD and vinyl versions of Flown, the debut album by the Norwegian trio, Dim Gray. They list the band as "art rockers" and describe the album thus: The music on Flown combines strings-infused chamber pop, dark indie folk and grandiose art rock. An ambitious musical statement [...] in the vein of…Read more Flown
Symmetry
We all know what symmetry is, don't we? If we take this lovely picture of the dome of the Sheik Lotfollah mosque in Isfahan, Iran and flip it horizontally the resulting pattern will be indistinguishable from the original. There are several other operations we could perform that also leave the pattern unchanged - we might…Read more Symmetry
Prophecy
I have seen the future. A vinyl edition of Solstice's 2013 album, Prophecy, will be released on 2nd July 2021. Or so the Burning Shed oracle tells me. The significance of this revelation, though, was obscure for, although I have seen many summers, no Solstice had ever appeared on the domestic music machines. While the…Read more Prophecy
Spice, Gold and Tales Untold
Undeciphered eyes of amber ... A few days ago an email dropped into my inbox from Ana Patan offering a free download of her recently released album, Spice, Gold and Tales Untold. There was no mention of that artist in the Crotchety Vaults and she offered no description of her music, just the briefest of…Read more Spice, Gold and Tales Untold
Ocelot of Salvation
2021 has started on a high note. This blog has already mentioned three artists who were new to me until this year (Siv Jacobsen, The Staves and Noisy Diners). This week's Release Radar has continued the trend, introducing the Old Man to two more (Lau, Yasmin Williams), while Burning Shed has added Lifesigns to the…Read more Ocelot of Salvation
The Princess of the Allen Keys
The Princess of the allen keys is the title of a newly released album by Noisy Diners. It is subtitled The history of Manto. To the Crotchety Team that presents a four-part puzzle: what, we wonder, is the connection between 'princess', 'Allen keys', 'noisy diners' and 'Manto'? It's a puzzle we have been unable to…Read more The Princess of the Allen Keys
A Temporary Soothing
Siv Jakobsen is a Norwegian mystery. She has no page on Wikipedia. Her Facebook page is uninformative. Even Google struggles to find much information about the singer/songwriter who recorded her latest album, A Temporary Soothing, in the rugged beauty of Devon, UK as 2018 marched on into 2019. But a little perseverance at the Crotchety…Read more A Temporary Soothing
