There was no sunrise here this morning. Thick black clouds covered the sky and a miserable rain fell, steadily soaking the dark streets and the gloom-shrouded gardens of our village. The mood at Crotchety Mansions was sombre. The cloud-penetrating radar screen was similarly dark other than for a few small bright specks. Yearning for light,…Read more Rising Sun
alternative
Birdwatcher – Episode 1
Fyfe Anthony Dangerfield Hutchins was born in 1980 in Mosley, a suburb of Birmingham in the heart of the UK's West Midlands conurbation. His family moved to the leafier and somewhat less cosmopolitan town of Bromsgrove when he was eight. The Crotchety Brain knows he is a classically trained pianist and avid birdwatcher but, sadly,…Read more Birdwatcher – Episode 1
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
Through the Windowpane
Sometimes it's good to wind back the tape and listen to an old favourite. Guillemots' first album, Through the Windowpane, has been mentioned, briefly, in these pages already in both Track of the Week and Band of the Year posts, but until now it hasn't featured as an Album of the Month. So let's press the…Read more Through the Windowpane
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
The Black Rock
March came in with an icy blast here in the UK. We had 10 - 20 cm of snow, much of the country's transport system ground to a halt and some unfortunate motorists got stuck on a Scottish motorway for eight hours. It was all due to "the beast from the east" - a weather…Read more The Black Rock
Off the Radar
Decisions, decisions ... What shall I choose for my Track of the Week? Well, there are several good candidates on my Release Radar today. How about Dança dos Miseráveis from the Marinheiro de Terra Firme album by Puppi, an Italian cellist based in Brazil? (The track starts at 22:54 in this YouTube video and you can ignore…Read more Off the Radar
