Living wild. Old Man Crotchety is in a sentimental mood today. Sentimental, but not at all gloomy. Outside, it's sunny, and the air is autumn fresh. It is a bit breezy, though. So, here's a version of Wild Is The Wind by the wonderful blues-rock singer and guitarist, Joanne Shaw Taylor. https://open.spotify.com/track/3PWcYUrHSwfFubOB2NLdMH?si=8a5ec2f3f750418f A track from…Read more Wild Is The Wind
2010s
My Halo at Half-Light
An angel's halo shines brightly at all times, but a saint's is only faintly visible in the half-light of dusk or dawn. Perhaps that is why snakefarm's recordings have gone largely unnoticed since it was formed in 1999. Or perhaps Anna Domino and Michel Delory are only kidding when they use the title of their…Read more My Halo at Half-Light
Masters of Fog
It's been chilly, damp and foggy in most of the UK for the past few days. What more appropriate choice of topic for this week's blog, then, than an album called Masters of Fog? https://open.spotify.com/album/5RAZAzKGlhdLrwmV0p97UY?si=iafK0LIuQBWhBd89Iy-_gQ The 6th album by Tonbruket, released 27th September 2019 According to Discogs, Tonbruket is a Swedish music project whose sound…Read more Masters of Fog
The Trees and I
As a child, an oak tree grew outside my bedroom window. Its leaves were a rich dark green, and it produced a copious crop of acorns every year. On the next street corner, there was a sycamore tree whose seeds twirled like helicopter blades as they fell in the autumn. In the park that my…Read more The Trees and I
Wrapped Up
On Friday (1st Dec), The Guardian carried an article about the Spotify Wrapped personalised listening summary, which is delivered to Spotify subscribers as an animated video every year. In the announcement email, Alex Petridis wrote: "The annual summary of your listening habits has become a phenomenon – but aside from being a marketing wheeze, Wrapped…Read more Wrapped Up
Breathing
Thank you for dropping in at the Crotchety Man blog. ... We are currently experiencing a very high number of visitors. ... All of our customer service agents are busy right now. ... The answers to most of the questions you might have can be found on our website. ... Your visit is important to…Read more Breathing
Songs for the Old Man
On my Release Radar this week, there was a track called Secret by an artist with the curious name of Yom. Nothing grabs the attention of Crotchety Man faster than the itch of curiosity and, tout suite, he was trawling the Internet for information on the musician. A Google search for "yom musician" produces an…Read more Songs for the Old Man
Ezra Collective
Last night, the missus and I watched a film that had been languishing on the video recorder, waiting for us to find a free 2½ hour slot in our evening schedules. It was called Hidden Figures, and it was about three African-American women working as 'computers' assigned to NASA's Mercury space program in the early…Read more Ezra Collective
The Fusion Syndicate
Inside the tokamak There are no prizes for guessing why I have chosen this 2012 album to grace the pages of the Crotchety Man blog. Just look at this partial list of artists: Billy Cobham Mel Collins Larry Coryell Colin Edwin John Etheridge Jerry Goodman Gavin Harrison Percy Jones Theo Travis Rick Wakeman And that's…Read more The Fusion Syndicate
People
Nat Ural and Art I. Ficial The older I get, the more I worry about the human race. We are supposed to be a rational species, but I hear people making absurd statements and claiming they are undeniable truths all the time these days. Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity. And…Read more People
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