Crotchety Man doesn't make New Year resolutions. But this year I want to write more about recent releases. So, this week I've been sifting through my Release Radar, a playlist automatically created by Spotify every Friday based on my listening history. Only new releases appear on the Radar and although my taste is relatively broad I…Read more Rekt
Track
Jessica
We started the year in quiet contemplation here on the Crotchety Man blog but now it's time to shake off the torpor of the holiday season and get moving. And, you know, nothing says "let's get this show on the road" better than Jessica by The Allman Brothers Band. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TqmGptGZbM Jessica is an instrumental from the Brothers and…Read more Jessica
Peace of Mind
Let's start 2017 with a sweet, gentle instrumental - something to soothe away the excesses of the New Year's Eve party and ease the conflict and bitterness that was the hallmark of the year just gone. This is a track called Peace of Mind from the Natural Elements album by Shakti. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FSq8zCZ1hI Shakti was an east-west…Read more Peace of Mind
I Believe in Father Christmas
Christmas songs are always sweet. A few are sugar plum sickly. One yuletide song, though, can be savoured every year with no queasiness at all. It is Greg Lake's I Believe in Father Christmas. Those of you who admired Greg Lake's music will know already, I expect, that he died of cancer on 7th December, so…Read more I Believe in Father Christmas
Soothing
Here's a Track of the Week on the periphery of Crotchety Man's sphere of interest. It's a new song by Laura Marling, a singer/songwriter and musician with a background in contemporary folk music, but Soothing is a long way from conventional folk tunes of any period. The instrumentation is highly unusual. It sounds to me like a…Read more Soothing
Elusive Butterfly
It's officially winter here in the northern hemisphere but the other day, although it was chilly outside, there were fluffy white clouds hanging in a clear blue sky over the green green grass of the back garden lawn. Looking out from the cosy living room it could almost have been summer again. Suddenly my peripheral vision…Read more Elusive Butterfly
Sledgehammer
There are at least three well-known songs called Sledgehammer. Top of the Spotify list is one by Fifth Harmony, a five-piece all-female vocal group that came together when the girls entered the X Factor competition individually in 2012. As Fifth Harmony they came third and third is where Crotchety Man places their fairly ordinary pop/dance Sledgehammer. If…Read more Sledgehammer
Boo Boo Bird
"It is up to you whether you read this... my advice is just to ignore it." Ivor Cutler Ivor Cutler was the Scottish equivalent of Spike Milligan. He was an eccentric poet, songwriter and humourist. His fans included The Beatles, John Peel, KT Tunstall, John Lydon, Neil Innes and Robert Wyatt. He was the driver of…Read more Boo Boo Bird
Annie, Let’s Not Wait
There's a big difference between 'awesome' and 'awful'. And that's strange. Both words derive from 'awe', which originally just meant 'fear'. So 'awesome' should mean 'instils a certain trepidation' while 'awful' should have the more emphatic meaning, 'terrifying'. The use of 'awe' in the Bible to describe the mortal response to God's presence is thought to have…Read more Annie, Let’s Not Wait
Down Under
Australia is sometimes known as "the land down under" so it's fitting that the biggest hit by the Aussie band Men At Work should be called Down Under. It tells of an Australian who travels the world and the people he meets along the way. There's a woman on a hippy trail who makes him…Read more Down Under
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