Album cover art How many languages do you know? Although I was taught French and German at school (and a smattering of Russian), I have largely forgotten them. The odd word from other languages has taken up residence in my mental dictionary, but there has never been an entry in Slovenian. Then, a few days…Read more In the Wind of Night
art rock
Tangram
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
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
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
Black Light Syndrome
Sitting in a backwater of my CD collection, there's an album called Situation Dangerous by the 'supergroup', Bozzio Levin Stevens. I don't remember how I acquired it now, but the mental index card has it down as heavy/prog rock, and the attached sticker says, "a very pleasant surprise". Just recently, Cirdecsongs, brought to my attention…Read more Black Light Syndrome
Harm / Terms
Out of curiosity, I looked up the difference between the terms "Actual Bodily Harm" and "Grievous Bodily Harm". 'Grievous' implies injuries that are severely detrimental to the victim's health; 'actual' is the same, but less severe. I think I'd want more guidance than that if I was the judge in an assault case. Listening to…Read more Harm / Terms
Yellow Sands
Or, Eight Tales of Pixie Mischief The Fairy Feller's Masterstroke, a painting by Richard Dadd (1864) The English painter, Richard Dadd, was born in 1817. His aptitude for drawing was evident early on, and he was admitted to the Royal Academy of Arts at the age of 20. While on a tour of Eastern Europe…Read more Yellow Sands
Mordant Lake
Back in November 2022 I reviewed the Polarchoral album by Grice. In that piece, I noted that Grice is not backed by a big promoter and doesn’t do a lot of self-promotion. The implication was that this artist deserves more attention than you might think from the sparse mentions in the media. His marketing team…Read more Mordant Lake
I Inside the Old I Dying
Looking back; looking forward. Times past; times still to come. Those are the thoughts that occupy our minds as one year fades away and the tick-tocking clocks beckon another. Was '23 a good year for you? Will '24 be any better? Let's ponder this with PJ Harvey as she sings the enigmatically titled track, I…Read more I Inside the Old I Dying
The Harmony Codex
Busy, busy, busy. No time for the tools of the wordsmith's trade. But I can just squeeze in a wholehearted recommendation of Steven Wilson's latest solo album release, The Harmony Codex. https://open.spotify.com/album/0qEIPJU8WQdXpr3eIc6dHK?si=c_RzD9nZToix9Y6hXvEJ9Q Steven Wilson's seventh solo album Anyone who is at all familiar with Steven Wilson's work will find no great surprises in this codex.…Read more The Harmony Codex
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