Tolkien's good guys The Lord of the Rings: You've probably seen the films. You may have read the books. But, unless you were quick off the mark, you won't have listened to Dave Brons' musical interpretation of J. R. R. Tolkien's epic story. The first instalment of his Celtic prog rock trilogy was only released…Read more The Fellowship
2020s
Born from Ashes
Fawkes, the phoenix, is born again At the very end of the sixties the Genesis band completed a journey From Genesis to Revelation. Starting from the same place in 2026, Alberto Rigoni, Michael Manring and Stuart Hamm took a different route, and ended up in the much darker realm of Dystopia. Along the way, they…Read more Born from Ashes
Topography of Mind
The Lost Map of the Mind Wanderers My friends have organised an exotic Camel ride so that we can explore the Topography of Mind, and I hope you will join us. We will be following in the footsteps of recent prog rock explorers and guided by a map supplied by the Israeli band, Telegraph. They…Read more Topography of Mind
Sitting with the Fish
At The Deep, a famous tourist attraction in Kingston Upon Hull, UK. The biggest fish tank I have ever seen is the one pictured above. It's the size of a small church, and there's a glass tunnel that runs through it. All kinds of fish swim beside you and above you, as you walk through.…Read more Sitting with the Fish
Longing
Longing for ... what?, I wonder. It's been exceptionally wet in some parts of the UK for the past couple of months. Many of us here have been longing for the rain to stop. But Lis Wessberg is from Denmark. I have no idea what the weather has been like over there, but the chances…Read more Longing
Fish’s Corner
The fishmonger's corner shop If everything went according to plan, the man who came to fame as Marillion's singer and lyricist retired to one of the smaller Scottish islands last year. Although born Derek William Dick, readers of this blog will, no doubt, know him by his stage name of Fish. The track I have…Read more Fish’s Corner
Holy Books and Credit Cards
Holy Moses, Batman! I'm on a credit card!! It seems you can have any picture you like on your credit card ... if you own the card company. So, I suppose you could have a picture of holy books, if you wanted. But I don't think Also Eden had that in mind when they made…Read more Holy Books and Credit Cards
I Remember William
William Shakespere, The Bard of Avon How many 'William's have I known? In truth, not many. In fact, I don't remember actually meeting anyone calling themselves William. History gives us William the Conqueror, literature proffers William Shakespeare, and the first in line for the throne here in the UK is our Prince William. But time…Read more I Remember William
Dream Machine
The dreamer's roundabout and his untethered hot-air balloon The time has come, the blogger said, to write of many tunes ...Of songs and gongs and streaming sites. Of roundabouts and moons.And why the sand is shocking pink, and what's beneath those dunes.With apologies to Lewis Carroll Zoungla is a progressive psychedelic rock project led by…Read more Dream Machine
Fundamental Values
The human touch Spotify searches on the topic of "core values" threw up several pleasing tracks: Justice's Groove by Stanley Clarke, Compassion by the Dalai Lama, and Fundamental Values by Nils Frahm were particularly enjoyable. I could have chosen any of those for this blog post, but (as you can see) I plumped for the…Read more Fundamental Values
Crotchety Man 