Prognosis

One of my favourite forms of music is prog rock. The likes of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Pink Floyd, Genesis and Jethro Tull to name a few. Besides their long, often instrumental songs, their album covers always caught my eye. Bright illustrations by the likes of artist Roger Dean, with spaceships, strange creatures and storybook lands, that were often used by Yes for their sleeves.

Then of course there was Hipgnosis and their amazing Pink Floyd covers. Who can forget the burning man on Wish You Were Here, or the Dark Side of the Moon Prism.

So here's my contribution to the vast prog rock catalogue, that has existed since the early 1970s, with a cover of mine for local band Pentagon Island; named after a large roundabout on the A52, near one side the outskirts of Derby.

Like most prog albums, 'Both Sides of the River' is a concept. A post apocalyptic tale of two towns on each side of a contaminated river, who see their existence in quite different ways.  One side tries to make the best of this poisoned world that they now find themselves in, while the other is more aggressive, and dystopian in outlook.

Songs like 'Torchlight', 'Visions of the Past' and the title track explain how the population of each community deal with their circumstances, the life they used to have and the one that they have now.

Rusty Metal

I had the great pleasure of seeing Beeston band The Madeline Rust perform their new album Truth and Consequences in full tonight at a gig in the city centre.

Although I have heard of the band before, I have never seen them play live, even though the three main members of the band live only a stones throw away from my house. Please don't try to prove it either guys!

 Lucy has a really powerful voice, even though she's slim and only about five feet tall. She can scream out their lyrics the same way that a sergeant major might yell out orders to his men.

It was quite a small room they played in, but it was packed, and so it soon became like a sauna. But the beer was good, and the music loud, and I got some what I like to think were some good shots.

Of course I bought the album, which comes in red vinyl and is limited to 329 copies. It isn't going to be available on CD, but the album comes with a code, so you can download the songs, so you can listen to them digitally.

Here's a WEBLINK to a video of their latest single, and highlight of the album.

Lazy Monday Afternoon

I was planning to either go to Wollaton Park, or the Brewhouse Museum today, as they both had events on that I would have liked to have seen. Wollaton had another Napoleonic battle re-enactment, while the Brewhouse had a 1940s day.

In the end, I couldn't go to either, as I had to help a dear friend out with moving, as for various reasons he had to leave the house he was renting and he was leaving some of his possessions with a neighbour. So I spent most of the day helping him to move, as he has rather a lot of stuff. And by the time we had done, there wasn't much time left for a visit.

So instead, I present one of the most unusual names for a canal boat that I have seen so far. For those of you of a certain age, or a keen interest in music, will know that this is the name of an album written by the Small Faces; a psychedelic mod band from the late 1960s.

The 1967 album featured the classic 'Lazy Sunday' and added vocals by Professor Stanley Unwin; with his gobbledygook language. Below is a image of the record sleeve that I found on Google, so you can see how well the artist has done in recreating the album sleeve.

Just Buggin'

Nottinghamshire has created a number of well known music acts down the years, such as Alvin Lee, Paper Lace and Alvin Stardust, but none has made such big impact and so quickly as Jake Bugg.

He has now become a household name in the Nottinghamshire area, and probably the rest of the country, as his debut album reached number one in the charts last week. And for a seventeen year old, that is quite an achievement. Even the wonderful Kate Bush was nineteen when The Kick Inside and the single Wuthering Heights topped the charts back in 1978.

Jake comes from Clifton, a large working class suburb of Nottingham, and while he talks with a local accent, his singing voice is attune to that of either a young Bob Dylan or Donovan. He plays the guitar too and writes his own songs.

His rise to fame has been quite meteoric, as this time last year he was hardly known. Now he has a number one album and has supported Noel Gallagher on tour. He will be playing in Nottingham in November, then embarks on a European tour early next year.

Here's the video of his latest song, which was filmed locally a couple of months ago.