First published on MySpace blog - 07/12/09
This Year Oi'A'Bin Moostly Lis'nin' To...
NEW ALBUMS
Judy Dyble - "Talking With Strangers" (Brilliant/FiXiT CD)
THE First Lady of Psychedelic Folk-Rock returns! And, by all accounts, there's plenty more where this came from! Full review here on the blog.
Porcupine Tree - "The Incident" (Roadrunner 2CD)
I have to confess I'm a bit of a latecomer to all things Tree (or "The Porkies", as their legions of fans almost certainly don't call them). I've been aware of their work in small doses over the years, but only recently have I started buying their reccerds. I'm still not sure if I understand what it's about, but I know I like it!
Crimson Jazz Trio - "King Crimson Songbook Volume 2" (Inner Knot CD)
Another confession; as a start-to-finish Sunday morning listen, I actually prefer Volume 1 of the series. This one has a couple of those troublesome 'hit the skip button' drum solos that spoil the mood (No disrespect for the late great Ian Wallace intended - I just think that very few drum solos bear repeat listening). But it's still ruddy good stuff. And anyway, I bought them both at the same time...
RE-ISSUES & BACK CATALOGUE
Jakko M Jakszyk - "The Bruised Romantic Glee Club" (Panegyric 2CD)
Given its troubled release history, I wasn't sure if this counts as a new album or a re-issue?! But for argument's sake... Full review here on the blog
Of course, I don't have the equipment (or enough ears) to know if the 5-channel Surround-O-Rama remixes are as good as folks say they are. But the stereo masters alone are a ten-fold improvement on previous editions, and thus worth the price of admission. And dig those crazy videos!
Tony Banks - "A Curious Feeling" (Esoteric CD)
At last, a proper release for the first and - let's be honest! - the ONLY really essential solo album from Anthony George. This album is as least as good as anything that the post-Gabriel Genesis produced on their own albums. If you liked the band when they had proper drums instead of Roland beatboxes, decent keyboard solos and fewer songs about divorce, then this is a must-have.
LIVE & GIGGING
Gryphon - Queen Elizabeth Hall, London 06/06/09
Weeeell, there was no contest for THIS category this year... because this was the ONLY gig I attended (unless you count the freeby-in-the-park that was Portsmouth's Multi-cultural shindig. Which I evidently didn't.) Now that WOMAD is no longer a viable option as a short, concentrated burst of live eventing, and TicketMaster have taken the previously simple process of buying a ticket to astronomical heights of kerfufflitude (yes, you should read the fun I went through to get a ticket to this one!), "I DON'T GET OUT MUCH THESE DAYS...". Still, I wouldn't have missed THIS little function for the world. Read all about it here (page down to the 'review' link under "Gryphon Re-Union Gig") and in my own diary here
Now then... Let us look at what my friend SHELFY has been up to lately:
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