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
classical
A Symphony of Amaranths
A symphony of colours, but probably not a natural Amaranth flower. A Symphony of Amaranths is a collection of jazz tunes composed by Neil Ardley. It's the kind of jazz that serious composers would recognise as carefully constructed, high quality music, even if they didn't warm to it themselves. It is scored for an orchestra…Read more A Symphony of Amaranths
Pictures At An Exhibition
Readers of this blog will, no doubt, have heard of Emerson Lake and Palmer's version of Mussorgsky's piano suite, Pictures At An Exhibition. And you may be wondering what Katsushika Hokusai's painting, The Great Wave, has to do with it. The answer, unsurprisingly, is not a lot. You see, the Tim Kliphuis Trio has curated…Read more Pictures At An Exhibition
Deerand
How long can a hot-air balloon stay aloft? Deerand is a Persian term that means 'duration' (of instrument's tones). It is also the title of the latest album from Quartet Diminished. https://open.spotify.com/album/4elRzwcxhHDW5swyjtlrsy?si=HdJ7yhWxTDG0nOqe0EN8pQ Quartet Diminished's latest album, released to Spotify 15th November 2024 According to Spotify, the band was formed in 2013, and it can't have…Read more Deerand
Signs of Life
Is it alive? I am going to give Signs of Life the highest accolade available to me: after one spin it was ordered for the Crotchety Collection and will soon make a small dent in the bank balance. It's a curious beast, though. More an album of poetry than music. And it sits well off-centre…Read more Signs of Life
From a Fading World
There's a programme called "I'm Sorry, I Haven't a Clue" on the BBC's Radio 4 channel. It's a comedy show, described as "the antidote to panel games". In each episode, the host (currently Jack Dee) gives the four panellists silly things to do for no other purpose than to entertain the largely intellectual audience of…Read more From a Fading World
White Buses
White is the colour of innocence and purity. It was the colour of the Red Cross ambulances that brought Scandinavian prisoners of war from Nazi concentration camps to safety in Sweden at the end of World War II. The "White Buses" humanitarian operation rescued 15,345 internees during March and April 1945, including at least 425…Read more White Buses
Songs for the Old Man
On my Release Radar this week, there was a track called Secret by an artist with the curious name of Yom. Nothing grabs the attention of Crotchety Man faster than the itch of curiosity and, tout suite, he was trawling the Internet for information on the musician. A Google search for "yom musician" produces an…Read more Songs for the Old Man
Chris Opperman
Opperman was first inspired to become a composer by hearing the music of Frank Zappa. The Chris Opperman website The Zappa influence on Chris Opperman's compositions is clear on his debut album, Oppy Music, Vol I: Purple, Crayon. But there are more strings to his bow (and his piano) than that. The solo piano pieces…Read more Chris Opperman
Alan Mearns
I first came across the name Mearns in my late twenties. Quite out of the blue, I received an email from one Pete Mearns that read simply, "Fancy a game of Dippy?", and gave details of his Diplomacy fanzine. Puzzled, I scratched my head for a connection and, eventually, it dawned on me that I…Read more Alan Mearns
Crotchety Man 