... and Screaming Reels No, I haven't spelled that wrongly¹. My Track of the Week really is called Thight Lines and Screaming Reels. Then again, it must be a spelling mistake. Somewhere between Colin Hodgkinson's pen and the record company an extra 'h' must have crept in. Perhaps it was a communication problem between an English…Read more Thight Lines …
jazz
Moroccan Roll
Brand X are back. And how! Here's a splendid live version of Malaga Virgen from their 1977 album Moroccan Roll. This was recorded just a few months ago on the band's reunion tour of the US. https://vimeo.com/195527081 If that performance doesn't leave you panting with excitement and aghast with admiration I'll ... I'll ... errm ... I'll…Read more Moroccan Roll
Sasse
A band called Antiloops appeared on the Crotchety Radar recently. I liked what I heard and added Luna from their 2014 Electroshock album to my list of tracks to feature in these pages. Then, two days ago, I played Luna again to refresh my memory of the music and to think what I might say about it.…Read more Sasse
Rekt
Crotchety Man doesn't make New Year resolutions. But this year I want to write more about recent releases. So, this week I've been sifting through my Release Radar, a playlist automatically created by Spotify every Friday based on my listening history. Only new releases appear on the Radar and although my taste is relatively broad I…Read more Rekt
Soothing
Here's a Track of the Week on the periphery of Crotchety Man's sphere of interest. It's a new song by Laura Marling, a singer/songwriter and musician with a background in contemporary folk music, but Soothing is a long way from conventional folk tunes of any period. The instrumentation is highly unusual. It sounds to me like a…Read more Soothing
Soft Machine – Gig
Last night Soft Machine played a gig at The Flowerpot in Derby. The band has appeared in these pages twice before but, for anyone unfamiliar with them, there's an excellent biography (if a band can have a biography) on Spotify. Suffice it to say that the current Soft Machine line-up includes three guys who joined…Read more Soft Machine – Gig
Archipelago
In my last post I gave you a glimpse of ten islands strung out like opalescent pearls across a monochrome ocean, the Archipelago album by Hidden Orchestra. It was a deliberately tantalising glimpse and, before we go off to explore the rocks in that necklace, I'd like to take a moment to examine what made a simple listing of track…Read more Archipelago
Peaches En Regalia
Peaches En Regalia is the perfect radio theme tune. It's instrumental music of indeterminable genre, of unspecified length and quite undemanding of the listener. It could be the background music for a speaker introducing a programme on the fine arts, history, politics or religion. For those potentially serious subjects it would set a light-hearted tone, inviting the listeners…Read more Peaches En Regalia
Bundles
Bundles of Unpredictable Notes Define the Lasting Essence of Soft Machine For my money Soft Machine were at their best around 1975/6. It was a time when founding member Mike Ratledge was fading out¹ and Karl Jenkins was taking over the reins as band leader and main composer. They released two studio albums in this…Read more Bundles
Light Flight …
I have always felt that the five members of Pentangle were pulled together by a mysterious force. It must have been some kind of benign sorcery to be capable of making such a sublime creation. Perhaps somewhere in a small town in England a macabre ritual took place. Welcome, sisters, to the White Witch (Tewkesbury) Temple of…Read more Light Flight …
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