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Written by Matt
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Saturday, 18 September 2021 |
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 On November 19th, 2021, a new, paperback edition of the book we called "a fantastic read . . . witty and incredibly detailed" is published. Ron Geesin's 'The Flaming Cow: The Making of Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother' is an in-depth look at the creation of the title track of the album, reviewed here when published in 2013 as a hardback, that offers a rare insight into the brilliant but often fraught collaboration between Pink Floyd and composer Geesin, the resultof which became known as Atom Heart Mother - the Floyd's first UK number one album.
From the time drummer Nick Mason visited Geesin's damp basement flat in Notting Hill, to the most recent performances of the piece in France, this book is an unflinching account about how one of Pink Floyd's most celebrated compositions came to life. Alongside unpublished photographs from the Abbey Road recording sessions (the only ones taken) and the subsequent performances in London and Paris, Geesin goes on to describe how the title was chosen, why he was not credited on the record, how he left Hyde Park in tears, and why the group did not much
like the work. The Flaming Cow also explores its recent performances, and its new-found cult status that has led to it being studied for the French Baccalaureat.
The book - with a foreword by Nick Mason - really is a fantastic read, coupled with the wonderful, evocative black and white shots of the band, and hired players and choir, in the midst of work at Abbey Road. Most of these have not been seen before, and these along could be argued as worth the price of admission. Setting the tone perfectly is the foreword by Nick Mason. Typically self-effacing, it acknowledges the book for what it is: "a fascinating in-depth study of one particular work", an epic piece which Nick states "we remain fond of, proud of, and in my case slightly bemused by". It also has one of the funniest excuses I've ever heard a member of the Floyd use!
You can place your order for the new paperback edition - complete with an updated cover image - right now through these direct links:
Amazon UK, Amazon France, Amazon Germany, Amazon Espana and Amazon Italy. Using our links helps support the costs of running this website, won't cost you a penny/cent more, and we really appreciate it. At present it isn't being listed on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca but they DO list the previous, hardback edition.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 18 September 2021 )
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Written by Matt
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Friday, 17 September 2021 |
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Just opened (on September 11th) at the Museum for Architectural Drawing, Berlin, Germany, is a new exhibition - Mark Fisher: Drawing Entertainment - which runs until January 16th 2022.
If the name isn't familiar, his work certainly will be. Fisher (1947–2013) was the greatest entertainment architect of rock sets and spectaculars. He created dazzling and innovative shows for the tours of the most famous singers and groups of our time including Elton John, The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Pink Floyd, Lady Gaga, Janet Jackson and Jean-Michel Jarre, as well as creating outdoor extravaganzas for Walt Disney World and Cirque du Soleil.
Before Fisher, audiences watched bands play on a bare stage with a few flashing lights and perhaps a bit of film flickering behind them. After Fisher, audiences participated in wild electronic sensory theatrical experiences. In Germany, and for the world, Mark Fisher is celebrated as the designer of that great historical moment watched live by nearly half a million people, and millions more on global television, where nine months after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, amidst the ruins of the former no-man’s land between Potsdamer Platz and Pariser Platz, he constructed the legendary The Wall – Live in Berlin concert for Roger Waters and guest artists.
Mark Fisher’s drawings rock. He was an exquisite and beautiful draughtsman. Trained at the Architectural Association school of architecture in London in the 1960s, Fisher was taught by members of the famously influential Archigram Group who revolutionised futuristic design through their drawings of a high-tech world. Fisher started to explore the new pop architecture, and especially lightweight pneumatic structures which legendarily he put into practice with the giant articulated inflatable characters in his Pink Floyd and The Wall shows. As a stage designer, his drawings could be technical as well as dazzling: swirling rich pastels of radiant psychedelic light effects streaking across the night sky of velvet black paper. He was also of the generation who transitioned to computer-aided design (CAD) while never leaving behind his sense of drawing brilliance.
The exhibition on Mark Fisher will explore his career as an entertainment architect through nearly one hundred of his drawings, as well as sketchbooks, photographs and videos of his live concerts. Since the exhibition takes place in Berlin, one of the focal points that they highlight is the Roger Waters 'Live In Berlin 1990' show staging.
A catalogue accompanies the exhibition, which can be bought online, and ships worldwide. More information about the exhibition and venue can be found at tchoban-foundation.de and www.museumsportal-berlin.de. It is open Monday - Friday each week, between 2pm - 7pm, with Saturday - Sunday hours being 1pm - 5pm. Admission is an extremely reasonable €5 (or €3 for concessions).
Our thanks to good friend Martin Geyer for the information and picture of this exhibition.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 17 September 2021 )
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Written by Matt
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Monday, 06 September 2021 |
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 The combined wishes of all of us on the Brain Damage team, along no doubt with many of you reading this, go to Roger Waters, who celebrates his 78th birthday today!
Roger was born in Great Bookham, Surrey, in 1943, moving to Cambridge when he was two years old. It was there that he met, and became childhood friends with, a number of key people in the story of Pink Floyd.
Of course, Roger has been extremely busy over the last few years, having successfully taken Dark Side Of The Moon on tour in 2006, through to 2008. On completing that, he immediately started work on a new version of The Wall - which finally opened in September 2010. That tour was spectacularly successful, wrapping up in Paris for show number 217 in September 2013. Recordings of that tour turned into the film, shown in cinemas and released on DVD/Blu-ray and as part of a mammoth, Super Deluxe Edition.
More recently, he performed his highly acclaimed Us + Them world tour, which was filmed and was shown in cinemas worldwide, with the home release of it on Blu-ray, 2CD, 3LP vinyl and DVD that followed (more details and ordering links here). He also released his latest solo album, Is This The Life We Really Want? as well as overseeing the release of the late Nick Sedgwick's book about the band, and in particular, the 1974 tour of The Dark Side of the Moon.
Plans were in place (and tickets went on sale for) a 2020 North American tour, called This Is Not A Drill, with the stage presentation being "In The Round". Of course, because of Covid-19 the shows were postponed, and delayed until next year, with the tour (potentially Roger's final tour, going by comments he's made in interviews) starting in July 2022. Should be another impactful presentation that will prove to be another "must see"!
We hope you have a great day, Roger. Many happy returns!
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Written by Matt
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Thursday, 02 September 2021 |
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 Just announced is the release of Pink Floyd's A Momentary Lapse Of Reason - Remixed & Updated on physical and digital formats (including some unusual ones) in October 2021.
Remixed and updated from the original 1987 master tapes for ‘The Later Years’ by Andy Jackson with David Gilmour, assisted by Damon Iddins, the album on Pink Floyd Records (PFR37) will be available from 29 October on 2LP heavyweight 180g vinyl (cut at 45rpm for enhanced sound quality), CD, CD & DVD, CD & Blu-ray and digitally with stereo and 5.1 mixes. In addition, for the first time, and from 19 October 2021, the album will be presented in 360 Reality Audio, a new immersive music experience that closely mimics the omni-directional soundscape of live musical performance for the listener using Sony’s object-based 360 Spatial Sound technologies. This new edition of AMLOR will also be released in Dolby Audio and UHD in addition to 360 Reality Audio, all of which will continue with other Pink Floyd releases.
The release of The Later Years project in 2019 gave an opportunity for a fresh overview of A Momentary Lapse Of Reason, originally released in 1987. By returning to some of Richard Wright's original keyboard takes, and by re-recording new drum tracks with Nick Mason, producers David Gilmour and Bob Ezrin have restored a better creative balance between the three Pink Floyd members. Nick and David explain:
David Gilmour said: "Some years after we had recorded the album, we came to the conclusion that we should update it to make it more timeless, featuring more of the traditional instruments that we liked and that we were more used to playing. This was something we thought it would benefit from. We also looked for and found some previously unused keyboard parts of Rick’s which helped us to come up with a new vibe, a new feeling for the album.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 02 September 2021 )
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