This morning we’re bringing together a few small items of recent news that might be of interest, all with a Floyd connection! First, those in or near Brighton in the south of England, Guy Pratt is hosting a Q&A with Toby Amies about Amies’ new movie about King Crimson, In The Court Of The Crimson King. The Q&A follows a screening of the film at Brighton’s Duke Of York’s Picturehouse (which dates from 1910 and claims to be the oldest purpose-built cinema in the UK), on Saturday, April 8th at 8:30pm. Details and tickets here (https://www.picturehouses.com/movie-details/008/HO00012682/in-the-court-of-the-crimson-king-toby-amies-q-a). For those of you in Germany, the latest issue (cover date March 2023) of Eclipsed Magazine (https://www.eclipsed.de/en) has a large feature on The Dark Side Of The Moon – as hinted at with the very eye-catching cover. Their synopsis of the main feature is as follows: “50 years ago, in March 1973, the eighth album of Pink Floyd was released. At that time, no one could have guessed what traces “The Dark Side Of The Moon” would leave in the world of rock music. Today we know that it is one of the five best-selling albums of all time and crowned an entire genre. For art rock and for the band itself, a new era began with this work. Pink Floyd would become one of the most famous and influential groups ever. The album is a synthesis of music, lyrics, sound and artwork. To this day, it has lost none of its fascination. This fascination will also be kept alive by the new deluxe box of the album – including Dolby Atmos mix – which will be released on March 24.” From the cover it is clear that they also look at Alan Parsons’ work on the album, and include a classic interview with David Gilmour. Our thanks to Michael Nickel for the information on this one! Last month, the BBC’s Radio 4 broadcast a documentary about sound effects, and the incredible impact they have on story-telling and atmosphere within film, TV and radio. The hour-long programme, which is available to listen to online (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001hxs4) for the next 11 months, includes musicians and foley artists, alongside the likes of Ben Burtt who made iconic sounds for Star Wars. Ron Geesin, who worked with Pink Floyd on Atom Heart Mother, and chiefly with Roger Waters on Music From The Body (although the entire band appear uncredited on the final track of the album), also features from around the 17 minute mark. Ron explains how he got into creating his sound textures and techniques. Our thanks to Malcolm Walker for tipping us off about this fascinating radio show. Staying with the radio, last week, Paul Giblin, director of Phonic FM, an Exeter community station, dedicated his radio show to his personal celebration of 50 years of The Dark Side Of The Moon, reconstructing the album from many diverse sources in a live 2 hour mix. He started with the original Speak to Me, then explored classical, bluegrass, jazz, reggae, dub, ska, polka, dubstep, trance, soul, wild rock, country and other takes on it until concluding with the Floyd’s live Eclipse from 1974, complete with its tolling bell. Listen to the show in full here! (https://www.mixcloud.com/paulgiblin33/fsoe-show-dark-side-50-year-diversity-mix/). Finally, details of some shows covering Pink Floyd’s music. First, Primus leader Les Claypool and his Fearless Flying Frog Brigade (which includes Sean Lennon on guitar) will be touring the US this summer performing Animals in full (with co-headliners Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads and Adrian Belew on 11 dates performing Remain In Light). Dates, venues and ticket info at Ticketmaster.com (https://www.ticketmaster.com/search?q=Les+Claypool%27s+Fearless+Flying+Frog+Brigade&lang=en-us). Second, for those in Sicily, Pink’s One, the Italian Pink Floyd tribute show, are bringing back Floyd backing singer Machan Taylor, saxophonist Scott Page and percussionist Gary Wallis, for three live concerts, respectively at the Mandanici Theater in Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto on April 21st and at the Vittorio Emanuele Theater in Messina on April 22nd and 23rd 2023. Tickets and more details are available from Tickettando (https://www.tickettando.it).
