In the summer of 1971 a group of school-leavers embarked on a trip to Russia. The 19-year-old Crotchety Man was one of the party. In those days, a political Iron Curtain separated Europe from the U.S.S.R. and we were warned to behave ourselves. High jinks and selling our Westerner's jeans to the locals could lead…Read more Ukraine
metal
Stranger in Paradise
A post on Hubzilla this week had me searching the wetware memory banks for a song from the sixties. The tune was familiar, but the title escaped me for a while. In the end it came to me in the shower - it was called Stranger in Paradise, and it was sung by one of…Read more Stranger in Paradise
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Right, pin back your lugholes, listeners, because I've got a real treat for you this week. Set aside the next 45 minutes and press Play on this video of Rodrigo y Gabriela in Seattle, 11th May 2014. But, first, turn off the phone, send the wife out shopping, gag the kids and muzzle the mutt.…Read more Rodrigo y Gabriela
Soften the Glare
A Couple of Unrelated Things Before We Start ... Robert Fripp posted a very moving tribute to Bill Rieflin on his Facebook page this week. Bill was a drummer and keyboard player who became part of the wider King Crimson family. He succumbed to cancer on Tuesday. Burning Shed is offering a free download of…Read more Soften the Glare
Burning Shed Free EP
Back in March 2017, in my Album of the Month post on Moroccan Roll by Brand X, I opined that the latest incarnation of the band had fully rekindled the energy and enthusiasm of their early albums. As evidence I cited a live version of Malaga Virgen recorded on their reunion tour just a few…Read more Burning Shed Free EP
Something Different
Crotchety Man lives in two parallel worlds. There's the real world of solid objects like houses, apples and people. Then there's the insubstantial world of the imagination. The other day, at the click of a mouse button, a bubble of the imagined world burst into the mundanity of real life. My computer screen had given a link into a province of La La land…Read more Something Different
Crotchety Man 