We all know what symmetry is, don't we? If we take this lovely picture of the dome of the Sheik Lotfollah mosque in Isfahan, Iran and flip it horizontally the resulting pattern will be indistinguishable from the original. There are several other operations we could perform that also leave the pattern unchanged - we might…Read more Symmetry
progressive rock
Fjieri
Fjieri is an Italian band. It was formed in 1997 by Stefano Panunzi and Nicola Lori. Their music falls at the soft end of prog rock, somewhere between Tim Bowness and King Crimson. They have released two albums: Endless (2009) and Words Are All We Have (2015). Both albums are superb, as you'd expect from…Read more Fjieri
Prophecy
I have seen the future. A vinyl edition of Solstice's 2013 album, Prophecy, will be released on 2nd July 2021. Or so the Burning Shed oracle tells me. The significance of this revelation, though, was obscure for, although I have seen many summers, no Solstice had ever appeared on the domestic music machines. While the…Read more Prophecy
The Princess of the Allen Keys
The Princess of the allen keys is the title of a newly released album by Noisy Diners. It is subtitled The history of Manto. To the Crotchety Team that presents a four-part puzzle: what, we wonder, is the connection between 'princess', 'Allen keys', 'noisy diners' and 'Manto'? It's a puzzle we have been unable to…Read more The Princess of the Allen Keys
11-11
At the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918 the armistice that ended the fighting of the first World War came into effect. Although, technically, the war had been neither won nor lost, effectively, it marked the defeat of the German armed forces. The peace treaty itself took another 6…Read more 11-11
Order! Order!
Looking through my recent 'likes' I see several pieces worthy of a mention in these pages. So it's time for another playlist, methinks. But how do you choose the order of the tunes? Are there any rules? Or does it just come down to personal preference? And what happens if you get them horribly out…Read more Order! Order!
It’ll All Work Out In Boomland
At the Boomland Festival It's a scary time of year. We've just had Halloween, when ghosts roam abroad and witches ride on flying broomsticks. And, in a few days time, there will be cacophonous firework displays in the UK in remembrance of Guy Fawkes' unsuccessful attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605.…Read more It’ll All Work Out In Boomland
Five Rooms
A crowded 5-room house I should say straight away that this post has nothing to do with the band called Crowded House - unless they are fans of the Norwegian prog rock outfit, Wobbler (which seems unlikely). The headline photo is just an amusing illustration of Five Rooms, which is the title of the recently…Read more Five Rooms
Versions of the Truth – Reblog
THE PINEAPPLE THIEF, Versions of the Truth (Kscope, 2020)PERSONNELBruce Soord, Vocals and GuitarSteve Skitch, KeyboardsJon Sykes, Bass & Backing vocalsGavin Harrison, Drums and Percussion […]A Third Ear for “Versions of the Truth” — CirdecSongs
The Ghosts of Pripyat
The Pripyat Post Office - then and now At 01:23:40 hrs on 26th April 1986 there was a catastrophic incident in the No. 4 reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Some of the safety systems had been disabled so that an emergency procedure could be tested. Having completed the test all that remained to…Read more The Ghosts of Pripyat
