Sit up straight and pay attention, everyone, because if you don't what follows will be terribly confusing. For this Album of the Month piece I'm going to review two albums by Bill Bruford's Earthworks. Yes, Smithers minor, this is cheating but it provides a partial solution to a difficult problem. You see, I am very…Read more Earthworks/All Heaven …
jazz
Tears in Heaven
While idly browsing the Web the other day, with my Release Radar playing in the background, my thoughts were hijacked by a bluesy bass solo. I knew immediately that it was something by Colin Hodgkinson. It had to be him because nobody plays bass like Colin Hodgkinson. Switching to the Spotify window I saw the…Read more Tears in Heaven
Corner Painter
Q: What's small, female, Australian and brilliant? A: Tal Wilkenfeld. No, it's not a joke. It's what I asked Mrs. Crotchety the other day after reading a blog post by CirdecSongs. The article was a personal appreciation of Jeff Beck and it just happened to mention Beck's bass player on his Live At Ronnie Scott's…Read more Corner Painter
Bolek i Lolek
Nearly a year ago now Crotchety Man got very excited about a band/project called Hidden Orchestra. Regular readers will remember my review of the album Archipelago in which I introduced the term "orchestral beats" to describe the music of Joe Acheson and his collaborators. Since then there has been one other post in these pages…Read more Bolek i Lolek
Living, Breathing
The winner of the Mercury Music Prize for 2017 was announced in a live BBC TV broadcast on Thursday evening. At Crotchety Mansions the TV was tuned in and the Crotchety Couple watched with a mixture of hope and trepidation. The shortlist was promising, with a high proportion of deserving acts, but last year the…Read more Living, Breathing
Tea Time
There are some funny names out there. In my Release Radar playlist this week there was a single called by a band called . I did listen to it and it's OK but not up to Crotchety blogging standard. (For the incurably curious it's on Spotify here.) Curiosity then seized the helm of the mental ship and took…Read more Tea Time
Finale
A new album by Pentangle was released last year. Given that the band had split up shortly after I saw them in Oxford back in 1973¹ and, more pertinently, that two of them have died, it couldn't be a new recording. But it's not just another compilation, either. The original line-up reformed in 2008 and…Read more Finale
Love Rat
I first heard Sally Barker some time around 1990 when she was touring in support of her second album, This Rhythm Is Mine. Guest musicians on that album included Mary MacMaster¹ and Patsy Seddon, harpists from Scotland, who subsequently joined Sally and accordionist Karen Tweed to form the all-woman folk band The Poozies. If my memory…Read more Love Rat
Zamzama
The third track on my Release Radar playlist this week was called Zamzama, which is obviously a made-up word and gives no clue to its musical style. It's by Avi Avital, Omer Avital, Yonathan Avishai and Itamar Doari, names which suggest foreign influences but which throw no further light on what might be in store…Read more Zamzama
Men Singing
Back in September 2015 the Crotchety Man blog carried a brief review of the Free Henry Fool EP. At the time I said I would be exploring more of their work "very soon". Being an honest, upright citizen and a man of my word I did, indeed, do a little research and added their 2001…Read more Men Singing
Crotchety Man 