Many of you will know the respected guitarist Chester Kamen. Amongst many other artists, he has toured with Roger Waters, joining his band in 2002 and playing on subsequent tours, and with David Gilmour on his 2016 Rattle That Lock tour. He first played with David back in 1985 during the Live Aid show - David and Chester were both part of Bryan Ferry's band for that show (as was Jon Carin!).

Chester has, like many musicians, kept himself busy whilst lockdowns and restrictions due to Covid-19 have called a halt to many things - in particular, live performance. He's recently finished a great new piece of music called Take This, that runs for over 23 minutes. The video for the piece is an intriguing accompaniment that keeps your attention throughout. Chester told us that Take This is the first side of an album he is currently working on - following, or inspired by, the old Floyd blueprint of one long piece and several songs on the flip side.

Here's Take This, and we'll update you as he progresses with the rest of the album:

Just when you thought the three Record Store Days this year kept you busy with checking out what releases were coming out on the different days (or "drops"), another RSD is on its way on 27th November.

The normal RSD was split, of course, due to Covid-19 (something that has affected pretty much all aspects of life). Releases this year have included the 12" single from Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets, the 7" from Pink Floyd, and the 1990 Roger Waters Berlin gig on clear vinyl.

Occasionally there's what is normally a second RSD for Black Friday (the final Friday in November), and this has now been confirmed. Whilst exact details of everything to be included are still to be confirmed, one thing that IS included, is a 7" vinyl release from Sony Legacy of "Yes, I Have Ghosts", the first new song from David Gilmour in five years which features his daughter Romany on harp and vocals. The inspiration for the track was Polly Samson's novel A Theatre for Dreamers, a Sunday Times bestseller about an idyllic poet/musician/artist community in 1960s Greece.

As with the other RSD 2020 releases, it is a limited edition: generally the RSD releases are pressed up as just a couple of thousand or so worldwide. We understand that there are going to be 5,000 of David's single available to snap up on the day.

And, as we've mentioned previously, go to RecordStoreDay.com for more details of participating stores near you. A reminder that it will ONLY be these stores selling these releases; the stores themselves can't sell them online - the record will become available for customers coming through the door of the store from the morning of the 27th (and not before), in limited quantities - first come, first served, and only one copy per customer. If copies remain (this year, normally after 6pm on the day), they may put them for sale online (and of course, there'll also be copies on eBay inevitably...).

Those of you fortunate enough to have the Floyd's Later Years box set will already know just how good the 2020 version (Restored. Re-Edited. Remixed.) of Delicate Sound of Thunder is. This was a result of going directly to the more than 100 cans of original 35mm negatives, painstakingly restoring and transferring the footage to 4K. It was then completely re-edited by Benny Trickett under the creative direction of Aubrey Powell/Hipgnosis. Similarly, the sound was completely remixed from the original multitrack tapes by longtime Floyd engineer Andy Jackson with David Gilmour, assisted by Damon Iddins. Suffice it to say that in the home setting, the quality is quite incredible and the new edit is great! The visual softness of the original VHS release is long gone, thank goodness, and this is as sharp and detailed as you could ever want, with vibrant colours, really showing off the visual aspect of the presentation.

Those who HAVEN'T got the box set, get ready for November 20th, 2020, when a stand-alone release of Delicate Sound will be made available, in some very nice sounding editions.

You'll be able to get hold of this on Blu-ray, DVD, 2CD, 3-disc 180-gram heavyweight vinyl and as a deluxe 4-disc edition with bonus tracks. All editions feature 24-page photo booklets, with the 4-disc box edition including a 40-page photo booklet, tour poster and postcards. The 3LP 180-gram vinyl set includes 9 songs not included on the 1988 release of the album, while the 2CD includes 8 tracks more than its original release.

It is bound to be a popular release for many, and pre-orders are now open for the various editions. You can order them through the following links, taking advantage of Amazon's free pre-order price guarantee - should their asking price drop at any point between you ordering it, and release, they will automatically charge you the lowest price during that period! Ordering through our links also helps with BD's ongoing running costs, and we really appreciate it:

If your chosen retailer is yet to have the order ready to place (with a non-clickable link above), please try again later as we will update this news item as they make the pages live with all the details. Ordering now will also mean you will benefit from Amazon's Pre-order Price Guarantee, meaning you will automatically pay the lowest price they have charged between the time of your order, and the release date.

As we head toward the final part of 2020, a year that no-one could have predicted would turn out like it has, it's the time to try and forget all that, and focus on the future with the Official Pink Floyd 2021 Calendar.

It's a perennial Floyd fan favourite - particularly as a gift at Christmas time. An item which has been produced for many years now, and designed for use on walls, the standardised format is roughly the same size as a vinyl album - roughly 12" (or 30cm) square, with the calendar opening up to have a double page spread per month.

The calendar this year is a celebration of the band in its later years, via various images, record sleeves, and suchlike, many of which were either newly created for The Later Years box set, or have been unearthed as previously unused. The images to the left show all twelve monthly images, along with what the double-page layout looks like on a typical month.

The calendar each year is often squirrelled away as a collectable for the years to come, and earlier examples are now quite sought after.

ORDERING INFO:
Ordering any item after entering Amazon through our links helps with BD's ongoing running costs, and we really appreciate it: Amazon UK, Amazon France, Amazon Germany, Amazon Spain and Amazon Italy. At present, the US and Canadian Amazon stores aren't listing this, but if in either country, and wanting the calendar, you CAN order from other Amazon stores as they will ship this worldwide.