In a move that should come as no surprise to anyone, due to the current Coronavirus restrictions and potential new waves of infection being experienced in some places, the upcoming Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets European tour is being postponed. On their official social media channels, the band said: Whilst really disappointing, the current Covid-19 situation sadly means we’re having to delay the European #SaucerfulOfSecrets shows again. Please bear with us as we work on getting new dates for all the shows; hopefully we will have the revised dates for your diary very shortly! The tour was due to start on May 19th – less than two months away – and despite the start of the vaccine rollout – it would have clearly been too early for a tour to start. Restrictions in place at the time might have meant that only partial capacities would be permitted, and with the majority of tickets sold, how would a venue or promoter decide who would be the lucky ones still able to attend, and who would miss out? Obviously the bad (if expected) news was tempered with the great news that revised dates are being worked on. It must be incredibly difficult to come up with a multi-country tour schedule which works logistically, particularly with the number of artists who will be undergoing the same exercise. Once we have the revised dates, we will let you all know.
Dutch electronic, nu-soul loving, pop inclined quartet Dragonfruit share the brilliant new single ‘Honeymoon Phase’, the title track from their upcoming EP due April 17th. Built around a rich, pulsing electronic soundscape of crunching, swinging beats, swelling analogue synths and warming vinyl crackle, ‘Honeymoon Phase’ captures an fluorescent vibrancy and a intoxicating depth to it’s …
Published by Omnibus Books in February in Europe, and May in North America, is The Lyrics of Syd Barrett. Featuring 52 songs and a foreword by Pink Floyd’s first manager, Peter Jenner, and an introduction by Rob Chapman (author of Syd Barrett: A Very Irregular Head), this beautifully illustrated and official 96-page book compiles Syd’s extraordinary lyrics together for the very first time. David Gilmour has been a key person behind this book, working his way through Syd lyrics checking them for accuracy before the book went to the printers. A good friend of Brain Damage is Dr Kevin De Ornellas, a Lecturer in English Literature at Ulster University, and he has taken a detailed look at this new book… In an era of gargantuan coffee-table books, bloated CD and DVD box sets and cumbersome multi-disc vinyl re-releases, it is it refreshing to enjoy a relatively simple and affordable artefact: a small, easily handled book. This book, an apparently official provision of what is claimed to be Syd Barrett’s complete lyrics, is beautifully designed by Lora Findlay. It comes in a tactile, attractive cloth cover: on the front, a well-known Michael Ochs portrait of Syd Barrett is encased within an elaborate psychedelic border that is tasteful because it is all done with only two colours â white and a sort of mauve-lilac colour. The endpapers are particularly lovely â they feature repeated, wallpaper-like reproductions of Syd Barrett’s renowned Tortoise. Half of the tortoises have the head facing upwards â the other half are rotated 180 degrees. There are 168 tortoises in total. It is both a bit whacky and a bit poignant â and very much in the spirit of Barrettâs later music. A fuller, page-high reproduction of Barrettâs original, subtly-coloured 1963 Tortoise work is provided inside (page 18). The book is petite and thin but the high-quality cloth, the firm binding and the crisp texture of the pages makes the book feel sturdy: it is a keeper that will weather well. The lyrics are all laid out in a clear, readable font on either one or two self-contained pages and there are many splendid illustrations and photographs: if I counted correctly there are 18 monochrome images and 8 colour ones. Every one is reproduced perfectly: most feature posed or in-performance photographs of Syd Barrett with or without Pink Floyd; some reproduce Barrett’s art works. It might have been better to have more of Barrett’s art and less of Rick Wright’s cigarette and less of Roger Waters’ understated scowl. But the text of the book is what matters â here, there is much promise but the odd problem too.
Some great news for those who haven’t yet seen the excellent documentary film, Have You Got It Yet? The Story of Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd – it is getting a UK television broadcast on the Sky Arts channel next Saturday (April 27th). They also note that there will be an Italian TV screening at some point soon. In their post about it, those behind the documentary reveal that Blu-ray and DVD masters have been approved, and the discs are in the process of being pressed up now. Hopefully there will be an announcement of the physical release of this unmissable look at Syd and the Floyd, soon. Here’s a quick taster of the film:
