8 Tangram sets in pastel colours The crowdfunding project for smalltape's Tangram album has raised over 70% of its target, and there are just three more days left to raise the other 30%. Crotchety Man has already blogged enthusiastically about Philipp Nespital's last album under the smalltape moniker, The Hungry Heart, and made his contribution…Read more Tangram
2020s
Mahrudin
A volcano erupts Mahrudin is an imagined island that was born many millennia ago when the seabed under the cold northern ocean first trembled, then shook, cracked, and finally tore itself apart. It is a land of myths and legends, set to music by Alan Kennedy, a musician and composer from Durham, UK. As befits…Read more Mahrudin
Danny Thompson
R.I.P. Danny Thompson, 1939-2025 I was saddened to hear that Danny Thompson died this week. He was 86. “Legendary acoustic bass player Danny Thompson died peacefully yesterday at his home in Rickmansworth, UK. A musician who was both beloved and admired by everybody he worked with, his body of work is unparalleled in its quality…Read more Danny Thompson
Desert Electric
'Queen Victoria' agaves in the "Desert Electric" sound & light show, Phoenix, 2018. The Jazz Club in my village withered on the vine, but a couple of residents meet for a Listening Pleasure session once a month or so. The topic this month is 'Fruit'. A few songs came to mind immediately, a few more…Read more Desert Electric
The Hungry Heart
A feast for the hungry heart. The Crotchety Blog Library contains a lot of music, and I had forgotten that Bruce Springsteen recorded a song called "Hungry Heart". Google, of course, knows better. But I wasn't looking for that today. I was searching for a picture to illustrate smalltape's excellent album, The Hungry Heart. (I…Read more The Hungry Heart
Wishing Well
Caption competition: What is that frog saying to the pretty maiden? There's always an air of mystery about a wishing well. What lurks in those dark watery depths? If I make a wish, will it come true? What's the going rate for a wish, these days, and is there a discount for a bulk order?…Read more Wishing Well
Take Me To The Pilot
I can think of two reasons why someone might say "Take me to the pilot". Either they have a gun to your head and are about to hijack the plane, or the pilot has collapsed, and they are offering to land the aircraft safely. You would have thought that Elton John and Bernie Taupin would…Read more Take Me To The Pilot
Speaking in Song
Of all the singers known to Crotchety Man, Leonard Cohen has to be the one whose songs speak loudest. But there's more than one way for musicians to get a message across. In their recent album, Speaking in Song, Musictellers dispense with words altogether. https://open.spotify.com/album/4WiGa7ZR3JnNtdutwYSodL?si=Q_qd0cWAS-ipOt4MBKoU2A Eight songs without words (1st July 2025) The band is…Read more Speaking in Song
Self Titled
Quite often, when an artist releases a new album, the reviews say "this is their most personal yet". Generally, though, you can take that with a pinch of salt. The writer may just be searching for something to say that would give you a reason to listen to it. In the case of Kae Tempest's…Read more Self Titled
Luminous Giants
GoGo Penguin's compositions often have an astronomical theme. I was drawn into their orbit in 2018 when they released their album, A Humdrum Star, and I've been floating around them ever since. When they chose to call one of their latest tracks Luminous Giants, they were almost certainly thinking of a type of red giant…Read more Luminous Giants
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