When we talk about a string trio we usually mean violin, viola and cello: acoustic instruments playing chamber music in a broadly classical style. But substitute a guitar for the viola and a double bass for the cello and you get a stringy creature with a rather different complexion. Then, if you electrify the violin…Read more The Rite of Strings
Album
Versions of the Truth – Reblog
THE PINEAPPLE THIEF, Versions of the Truth (Kscope, 2020)PERSONNELBruce Soord, Vocals and GuitarSteve Skitch, KeyboardsJon Sykes, Bass & Backing vocalsGavin Harrison, Drums and Percussion […]A Third Ear for “Versions of the Truth” — CirdecSongs
Antiphon
Arguing with Antiphon History records Antiphon of Rhamnus as an orator in ancient Greece. He was, in fact, a professional ghostwriter, writing speeches for disputants in the courts, and was regarded as perhaps the finest exponent of rhetoric in Athens at the time. Curiously, though, he only addressed the public directly once, when he was…Read more Antiphon
The Ghosts of Pripyat
The Pripyat Post Office - then and now At 01:23:40 hrs on 26th April 1986 there was a catastrophic incident in the No. 4 reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Some of the safety systems had been disabled so that an emergency procedure could be tested. Having completed the test all that remained to…Read more The Ghosts of Pripyat
Vimana
It seems to me that progressive rock and its close cousin, jazz-rock fusion, have undergone a welcome renaissance over the past two decades or so. Or is it just that modern technology has made it so much easier to find art that rises above the bland, the mediocre and the ugly? It's hard to be…Read more Vimana
The Clockwork Fable
I love a good story. And The Clockwork Fable is a splendid story. It concerns the subterranean city of Cogtopolis, founded 200 years or more ago. There is no natural light there. The citizens have legends of a sun that once shone above the surface but its rays were extinguished by clouds of choking, burning…Read more The Clockwork Fable
Rain Tree Crow
Occasionally we come across a band, an album and a track that all share the same name. If my memory serves me correctly, the Vinyl Connection blog site gave a technical term for this nominal trinity a few months back, but I have been unable to track it down. So please forgive me if this…Read more Rain Tree Crow
An Outcast of the Islands
Or, Finding Colin This week Burning Shed is inviting pre-orders for an album called Still. This new release appears to be by a fish called Colin (Bass) and a pen called Daniel (Biro). Crotchety Man recognised the pen as a writer of ambient aural pieces but the fish was hidden in the aquatic weeds of…Read more An Outcast of the Islands
Another Language
I enjoy a challenge. Persuading a computer to do what you want is always challenging, but it can be immensely rewarding, too. That's why I chose a career in programming. When I retired after nearly 40 years of writing software I assumed I'd continue to do a bit of coding for fun to fill the…Read more Another Language
Noise In Your Eye
Some people, it seems, can hear their eyes move. Whether this is a terrible affliction or simply a benign curiosity I can not say. What is certain, though, is that Noise In Your Eye is a very appropriate title for a music project by a pair of musicians steeped in the visual arts. Daniel Pennie’s…Read more Noise In Your Eye
