Fernando was a veteran of the Mexican-American War of 1846 - 1848. At the start of the war Mexico was considerably larger than it is today. The present day U.S. states of California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Texas then came within Mexico's borders. When Texas seceded in 1836 to become an independent republic…Read more Fernando
2010s
Let the Cards Fall
Fate is fickle, they say. On another day her pointing finger may have selected the indie pop of A Trick of the Light by The Villagers or the classical/folk guitar work of Impossible Air by Nathan Salsburg. But, today, she has guided Crotchety Man to a new single release by The Breath called Let the…Read more Let the Cards Fall
As I Roved Out
I've always thought of oak trees as being quintessentially English. Robin Hood is supposed to have sheltered under the Major Oak in Sherwood forest, King Charles II hid from his enemies in the Royal Oak and the indomitable English navy was built from the wood of that noble tree until the 19th century. But, apparently,…Read more As I Roved Out
Curse of the Contemporary
Today is Father's Day and there's a most appropriate track on LUMP's eponymous first album; it's a song called Hand Hold Hero. I was tempted to bring him along as my Track of the Week but he slipped from my grasp when the intelligent lyrics and fluid singing faded out to leave an unappealing exercise in…Read more Curse of the Contemporary
Paper Earth
Crotchety Man has nothing to say this week. No words of his could possibly do justice to this spine-tingling performance by Bent Knee and the Boston Conservatory Percussion Ensemble. Just watch this video and be transported to a happier place for the next 30 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1834&v=LGNZePMJ8XM BENT KNEE - Paper Earth (Live 2018 / Full…Read more Paper Earth
Juniper
Newsflash Elbow's Magnificent (She Says) wins the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. Crotchety Man commented, "I told you it was destined to be a classic". And in Other News Continuing the Welsh theme, for this Track of the Week I have chosen Juniper by the Cardiff jazz and trip hop band, Slowly…Read more Juniper
Future Strings
Crotchety Man has been bingeing on prog rock recently so I thought it was time for something rather different. As luck would have it my Release Radar this week included an enchanting track called Listen to the Grass Grow by Catrin Finch and Seckou Keita. Now, I used a photo of Catrin Finch in an…Read more Future Strings
Far Skies Deep Time
When you look up into a clear night sky the more distant the star the farther back in time you are seeing it. This is a simple consequence of the finite speed of light but it has profound implications for astronomy. By studying far away galaxies we can look back almost to the dawn of…Read more Far Skies Deep Time
The Road of Bones
The lowest recorded temperature (-67.7 °C) in any permanently inhabited place on Earth was recorded at Oymyakon (Оймяко́н) in 1933 in eastern Siberia. In December and January the average daily temperature there is around -45 °C and the village lies deep within the permafrost region. Building roads in this frozen and mountainous part of the…Read more The Road of Bones
Manic Moonlight
On Friday Crotchety Man took his camera to the Crich Tramway Village in picturesque Derbyshire. He spent several hours the following day sifting through the photos, cropping them, straightening them and adjusting them for exposure and contrast. A selection was then published as an album on the photo hosting website, flickr. In doing so the photographer…Read more Manic Moonlight
Crotchety Man 