In these burdened days of climate change and political upheaval, the divisions between us grow ever deeper. Misogyny and racism fuel social media; armed conflicts break out around the world. Death and devastation spread across the globe. And, in the midst of it all, the voice of truce is but a whisper in the deep…Read more Truce ❤
Album
Happy the Man
The four faces of Happy the Man (in 2024) The American prog rock band, Happy the Man, released their self-titled debut album in 1977. It has always been regarded as a particularly fine example of the genre, and it was re-released in 2024 as Starborne. https://open.spotify.com/album/6twLF4q0KEZGdp1CC5iFGA?si=hgkXNkaYSHKGB7fkthoS7w The debut album of Happy the Man. This band…Read more Happy the Man
Kontraster
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
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
I Advance Masked
Long before Covid appeared on the scene in late 2019, Andy Summers (The Police) and Robert Fripp (King Crimson) stashed away a stock of masks - sonic masks that hid what they were up to in their more famous bands. You might say, they were ahead of their time. They certainly pushed the boundaries of…Read more I Advance Masked
Sanju
Celebrating Holika Dahan, the Hindu festival of fire and renewal. The Anglo-Irish folk band, Flook, have just released a new album. Its title is Sanju, which seems to be the name of a Hindu priest, an Indian cricketer, or a film about a Bollywood actor. The connection between Irish folk music and the Indian subcontinent,…Read more Sanju
Curious Ruminant
Pondering the big questions in life? Jethro Tull released their 24th studio album on Friday. It's a collection of ruminations on life and the human condition, told with Iain Anderson's characteristic wry humour. What more appropriate title, then, than Curious Ruminant? https://open.spotify.com/album/1m5tTXkBOzJEiwDz1TyPIG?si=BOxHlIXaSSajWSMKMrgoDw The band was formed in 1967. They released one album a year from…Read more Curious Ruminant
Pictures At An Exhibition
Readers of this blog will, no doubt, have heard of Emerson Lake and Palmer's version of Mussorgsky's piano suite, Pictures At An Exhibition. And you may be wondering what Katsushika Hokusai's painting, The Great Wave, has to do with it. The answer, unsurprisingly, is not a lot. You see, the Tim Kliphuis Trio has curated…Read more Pictures At An Exhibition
Crotchety Man 