With many thanks to Alan Freeman, the proprietor of England’s coolest prog-rock shop, Ultima Thule, and the editor of the magazine which poisoned my musical taste for the rest of my life, Audion.
Gong’s wonderful front-man has passed on to his great reward. He had been suffering for some time, but kept a brave face. Expect to see links all over social media shortly, but this news comes from his son, which is making the rounds in mailing groups. May Daevid rest well.
Mickey McGowan is a Southern California institution, and that’s saying something, considering how many top-notch record collectors live in this part of the world. Dust & Grooves, a wonderful blog covering vinyl-related topics, features Mickey’s shop, and we tie a podcast related to this article below:
Sir Terry Pratchett, fun and pragmatic despite dying from Alzheimer’s Disease to the very end, finally met his end today. He was 66, far too young to leave this mortal coil.
The best way to describe Árstíðir, at least in this gorgeous tune, is something like what a Varangian choir might have sounded like in 13th-Century Byzantium, singing in the Hagia Sophia.
As it turns out, the tune is from the 13th Century, written by Kolbeinn Tumason. No, Wuppertal isn’t quite Byzantium, especially inside of the train station, but the lads made a mundane place seem almost holy that day.
Up until today, I had no idea who Schneider Kacirek was. Thanks to Toni Dimitrov, my old friend, I got turned on to this track, and this rather incredible project. It features Stefan Schneider, who was in Kriedler and To Rococo Rot. No wonder why the beats sounded familiar!
An extremely bittersweet composition by nuevo tango master Astor Piazzolla, tied to a lot of memories, some good, many bad and tragic. The animation done by Ryan Woodward is quite touching – tasteful and appropriate for this piece.