The highly respected musician and producer Phil Manzanera celebrates his 65th birthday today (Sunday, January 31st), and all of us here at Brain Damage wish him many happy returns!

Finding fame with Roxy Music, his talents have been sought in other musical areas, with production becoming a significant part of his career more recently. He has been a friend of David Gilmour for some time, and this has lead to his roles on the On An Island and Rattle That Lock albums and tours, and his work on Pink Floyd's 2014 album The Endless River brought the work to its fruition.

Last March, his latest solo album, The Sound Of Blue, came out to critical and fan acclaim, and shortly he is to resume his role in David's band for the Rattle That Lock tour, which continues in North America from March 24th.

We hope you have a great day, Phil!

Published on March 3rd by Carlton Books is 'Pink Floyd: Giants of Rock'. Written by Glenn Povey, it is an updated and expanded version of 'Treasures of Pink Floyd' which appeared in late 2012. Glenn was the creator of Brain Damage magazine (the forerunner to this website) and author of essential books such as In The Flesh and Echoes.

'Treasures...' told the band's history with words, pictures and facsimile memorabilia. The book recounted every decade of the band's existence and every album they recorded, contained profiles of all five members and discussed the significant influence they had on music and culture across the world. We saw 'Treasures...' as a great companion piece to 'Echoes', expanding on some of the more visual content that 'Echoes' has alongside the concert listings and other detail. It's also an ideal book for the Floyd novice, hungry for more information on the band and its music.

This celebration of the visual side of Pink Floyd - a band for whom the visual aspect has always been a vital element of their being - has been expanded and updated with 'Pink Floyd: Giants of Rock', which brings the story up to date. There's no pull-out memorabilia in this edition, but despite this small change, the new edition should prove a great addition to your Floydian bookshelf.

You can preorder the book now, through the following direct links: Amazon UK, Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon France, Amazon Germany, Amazon Spain and Amazon Italy.

A weekly feature on UK-based radio station Planet Rock is their 'Planet Rock Plays It In Full' – classic rock albums, played in their entirety, with no interruptions, no jingles, no presenter between the songs. Their listeners get to hear the album as it was intended by the artist.

This week, they are asking listeners and fans to choose the Pink Floyd album that the station should play in full. Voting closes on Monday morning (1st February), when they'll reveal the winning album, and at 11pm (UK time) that night, the winner will be played in full.

Cast your vote here: PlanetRock.com/on-air/planet-rock-plays-it-in-full/planet-rock-plays-it-in-full. It is your chance to expose Floyd novices out there to one of the band's classics, or alternatively, give exposure to one of their lesser known gems to a wider audience.

A bit of Floyd trivia for you whilst on the subject of Planet Rock: their presenter Bernard Doherty runs Pink Floyd's PR company! Not the most useful of facts but adds to the station's credentials as a Floyd friendly outfit.

Those in the UK can tune in to Planet Rock on DAB radio, via Sky satellite TV (channel 0110), Virgin Media digital cable (channel 924), or Freesat (channel 730). Alternatively, fans worldwide can listen in via their website: PlanetRock.com. They also have a "Listen Again" facility online but we cannot guarantee that this particular show will be available through that route - although we are fairly sure most of you will have the album which eventually triumphs, anyway!

Just over a year ago, Signal To Noise, the excellent album from twice Grammy nominated Pink Floyd engineer Andy Jackson was released. Today (January 29th) sees the release of his new album, again on the Esoteric Antenna label.

As we mentioned previously, when the album was announced, it is called 73 Days At Sea, and features guest appearances from former Van der Graaf Generator saxophonist David Jackson and Panic Room's lead singer Anne Marie Helder. Andy said of the album: "I spent some time travelling back and forth to the sea – the edge of the world - while I was working on projects for others. I noticed in myself a sense of nostalgia each time I went there, as if revisiting a childhood home. I have never lived near the sea and I've scarcely been to this particular place before. Still, the false nostalgia persisted. I resolved that I would write a suite of songs concerning the sea. It seems to occupy a pivotal place in our subconscious. Eventually it became clear that the entire album was to be the 'sea suite', albeit that direct mention was sometimes fleeting."

The CD also features a DVD with what is bound to be a stunning 5.1 Surround Sound Mix and a 96 kHz / 24-bit stereo mix. You can order it through the following direct links, all resulting in a small but vital contribution toward our site running costs:

You can also order it from Cherry Red's UK store. For more information on Andy and his music, visit AndyJacksonMusic.com.