Today we have some more new music from respected guitarist Chester Kamen. We know that a good number of you have been enjoying these songs. Amongst many other artists, Chester 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. In October, he shared his new piece of music called Take This, that runs for over 23 minutes. 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. Since then we've seen the first songs on the second side of the album: Brand New Day, Swimming, I'd Love To Turn You, Lover's Lane, Come The Revolution, and Child Of The Damned.

The new song from Chester - Stories - is now here, and as he notes on YouTube, the song is "Dedicated to the memory of my two beloved little brothers, Nick and Barry." Chester tells us that it was recorded with his trio, The Twins, comprising himself, Dale Davis (Amy Winehouse’s bass player and Musical Director) and Hugo Degenhardt on drums and backing vocals. They also had a guest on piano: Barima Asante. He also noted that "the basic track was recorded some time ago in Battersea on an eight track tape machine so it hopefully has that analog feel. The video has a cameo appearance from my old and dear friend Jon [Carin]" who you can spot toward the end of the song.

We'll update you as he progresses with the rest of the album, as we know from feedback we've had that the songs are proving popular.

First off, please join us in wishing artist extraordinaire Gerald Scarfe a very happy 85th birthday! Gerald has long been associated with Pink Floyd, first working with the band in 1974, and is principally known for his work on The Wall. He has, of course, had a long and illustrious career providing his striking illustrations for publications such as The Sunday Times and Private Eye, and worked in the fields of reportage, advertising, satire and music.

It seems apt then on this special day for Gerald, that the striking cover of his upcoming book, The Art of Pink Floyd The Wall which is due on November 4th, 2021, has now been revealed. The book, a new, 288 page hardback promises to be a superb collection of Gerald Scarfe's iconic artwork for Pink Floyd.

Details are still brief at the moment, but here's what the publishers have revealed: "The Art of Pink Floyd The Wall is a sumptuously illustrated book, collecting Gerald Scarfe's iconic work for Pink Floyd. First The Wall was an album, then it was a stage show, a film - now there will be the definitive book, which will be a work of art in its own right.

"This large, landscape-format book, presented in a stunning slipcase designed by Scarfe, is packed with photos, drawings and designs which will incorporate the iconic imagery of The Wall alongside new and previously unseen material.

"Forty years on, The Wall has lost none of its impact, and its themes are more relevant than ever. Presenting the phenomenal artwork as it has never been seen before, The Art of Pink Floyd The Wall is a must-have for any Pink Floyd fan."

We will hopefully have more information about this book soon. Gerald's previous books have all been fascinating and very well produced, and we expect the same for this one.

For those who would like to add this to their Floydian bookshelves, you can order it 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: Amazon UK, Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon France, Amazon Germany, Amazon Spain and Amazon Italy. Some stores might not yet have the book available to order (at time of writing this, Amazon.com for example, doesn't yet list the book) so please keep checking back as it should be available from all stores, soon. If your chosen store doesn't stock it, try other Amazon stores as they will ship books worldwide.

As at April 10th, the UK retailer WH Smith are also offering it, for a decent discount of 20% off the recommended retail price. This could result in Amazon matching or beating their price, as they tend to keep an eye on competitors.

This morning, Roger Waters revealed the great news that the new James Guthrie stereo and 5.1 surround mixes of Pink Floyd's 1977 album, Animals, is to get a release. This was held up due to disagreements over the sleeve notes but sounds like a way forward has been reached.

It's important to note that there's no detailed announcement yet over what the release will entail. In a video that Roger has posted talking about it, there's a cover shot which doesn't necessarily seem to be the final image (the contents sticker doesn't have any catalogue numbering on it, which you would normally expect to see). It is an atmospheric update on the classic cover image, taken from a different angle (the train sheds in the foreground are just outside Victoria station) and while the Power Station building was in the early stages of being rebuilt for the new occupants.

It is possible that the release consists of the one item: a "limited edition 4-disc package [containing] the remixed album on LP/CD/Blu-ray & DVD. Blu-ray & DVD also contain new high resolution stereo and 5.1 mixes, plus 1977 original stereo mix". It also gives the technical detail of the audio resolutions on offer: "Blu-ray - stereo (24-bit/192kHz, dts MA [Master Audio]), 5.1 (24-bit/96kHz, dts MA). DVD - Stereo (LPCM 24-bit/96kHz, dts), 5.1 (dts, Dolby Digital)". The contents sticker COULD be just a placeholder, mentioning the main confirmed elements, as we presume there might be a booklet with images as well, for example.

As to whether any of the elements will be released outside the 4-disc package, and when it is being released, will be a case of waiting for the official, detailed announcement. Once we have that we will bring you all the final detail, but we figured you'd want to know that the Animals release was happening, as it has been talked about for some time now.

A couple of weeks ago, we told you about a very rare Syd Barrett painting that was coming up for auction.

The painting, titled Orange Dahlias In A Vase, 1961 and signed R. Barrett (Roger being Syd's real first name), which was in the possession of childhood friend Phil Harden, had no problems finding a buyer on May 27th. The Cambridge based Cheffins auction house, who sold the contents of Syd Barrett's home in St Margaret's Square, Cambridge, where he had lived since 1981, after his death in 2006, were running the auction for this incredible piece.

The artwork was created by Barrett when he was just 15 years of age, and was a mix of watercolours and pastels. The auction house explained the provenance: "In 1957, Barrett began his secondary education at Cambridgeshire High School for Boys, which aimed to emulate the public-school model. As a student, Barrett was emphatically average and, to most of his teachers, remarkable only in his inability to follow the rules. To Gerald Arthur Clement Harden, the school's art teacher between 1938 and 1971, however, Barrett was a conspicuous and prodigious talent and one of the very few pupils permitted to use Harden's oil paints.

"Painted when Barrett was just 15 years old, the present lot was gifted to Harden by the artist shortly before he left the school and began studying art at Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology. Although generally perceived as an unmotivated student by most of his tutors, Harden’s support encouraged Barrett to pursue further study in painting and ignited in him a passion for art that would continue to burn until his death in 2006."

There were nine later Barrett artworks sold in the previous Cheffins auction, raising £121,000 to fund local art training. The estimated selling price for this newly revealed artwork was between £3,000 - £5,000 plus buyer's fees.

As we suspected this was a VERY conservative figure. The final hammer price was a lot higher: £22,000, plus a "buyers premium" payable to the auction house of 29.4%, giving a total paid by (we understand) an Italian of what we work out to be around £28,468, plus the cost of getting it back to Italy.