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
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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
Photograph
There has been an outbreak of man flu at Crotchety Mansions. In the interests of public safety Crotchety Man has cancelled all public engagements for the time being. A number of restrictions have been put in place on current activities, too. This Track of the Week was chosen simply because it was the stand-out track…Read more Photograph
August & September
Donning his pith helmet and carrying his elephant gun Crotchety Man went out hunting for tracks on the theme of autumn. It proved to be a disappointing expedition. To my mind autumn is a gloriously uplifting time of year and yet all the songs relating to the third quarter of the calendar seem to…Read more August & September
The Brief and Neverending Blur
One entry in my Release Radar this week stopped me in my woozle tracks. The ears pricked up automatically when I heard something very much like the soft call of a Hidden Orchestra. The eyes opened a little wider when I saw the contrary title, The Brief and Neverending Blur. When I saw Richard Reed…Read more The Brief and Neverending Blur
Purinjiti
Today Crotchety Man is venturing off the beaten tracks, out into the trackless wastes of the Australian desert. He is the dark-skinned messenger carrying news of a recent performance of an atmospheric piece by the British composer David Warin Solomons. The message is both verbal and symbolic. As he walks barefoot over the sun-baked earth…Read more Purinjiti
Weeping Willow
A few days ago the Crotchety ears were tuned to their favourite radio station. The brain between the ears was only half listening when an unfamiliar but rather pleasant song came on. It turned out to be something called Weeping Willow by The Verve. That reminded me that I'd heard a few Verve songs in…Read more Weeping Willow
I Promise
Radiohead have always had many influences. A band that tips its hat to Pink Floyd, Siouxie and the Banshees, The Smiths, Miles Davis, Aphex Twin, krautrock bands and 20th century classical music (among others) is bound to have developed a somewhat idiosyncratic style. And they are always experimenting. That gives their album catalogue something of a…Read more I Promise
Oczy Mlody
The title of this post is not quite gibberish. The words are Polish. Individually they mean 'eyes' and 'young'. Unfortunately, 'oczy' is feminine plural and 'mlody' is masculine singular. And, to make matters worse, the words are in the wrong order for the phrase 'young eyes'. Not that this bothers The Flaming Lips who chose…Read more Oczy Mlody
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