I love brass band music. Not quite as much as Metal, but there are certain pieces that really create an emotional response that Metal cannot normally get anywhere near. One of these pieces is the incredibly descriptive music within Fraternity, a test piece (composed by Thierre Deleruyelle) that stirs the
So, my mammoth listen-through of Metal Hammer’s top 100 albums of 2017 begins. My ears have been subjected to 2,275 different artists, according to Last.fm, but I have not heard of any of the first ten bands. Embarrassing. Still, this is the point of doing this, so here we go.
Christmas always starts early for me. I don’t want it to, but I play in a brass band, and so I’m required to practice Yuletide tunes as early as late October some years. I am usually utterly fed up of Christmas three weeks before it actually arrives. This year has
Like a large slice of Doom Metal with a side-order of Prog? Then you’ll love King Goat. I can’t stop listening to this track. The rest of the album is very good too. Go and buy it!
I know it’s not fashionable to prefer the Phil Collin’s era of Genesis over Peter Gabriel, but there’s just something about the poppier approach. I like it. I like it a lot. My favourite Genesis track is this: This is a great track by any standards.
I don’t have much, if anything, useful to say about the death of David Bowie. I don’t own any of his music. Not sure why; I guess I was just into other bands and artists when I was growing up and I missed his most prolific and successful period, but
It’s back to band tonight! I love my Christmas break, but I do miss my brass band too. We will be rehearsing the Regionals piece I should think: Essay by Edward Gregson. It’s a lovely piece of music, full of descriptive sounds and should suit our band nicely. Here’s a
I have recently moved from playing cornet to Flugel, and I’m loving it! It’s a lovely instrument to play with a gorgeous tone (when played properly) and it’s great to be playing from a soloist’s seat again. Here’s me playing Georgia On My Mind at a recent event in Corby
Maynard Ferguson Legacy Big Band, a photo by rutty on Flickr. This weekend saw me spend 48 hours or so in the most bracing part of England – Skegness for my favourite brass band event of the year, the Butlin’s Mineworkers Championships. Thousands of brass banders managed to get there
There’s a new Iron Maiden album out next week! I’m ticking the “excited” box.
No, not the BBC/OU programme about the UK coastline but an excellent track from the wonderful Devin Townsend. I seem to have missed a few albums recently. I need to catch up – the guy is one of the Metal world’s best kept secrets
I love science and I love music. This video has mixed them up in a rather wonderful way. Visit Symphony of Science for more
