Rocktober’s been a great month for new purchases for me. The highlight? It’d have to be a toss-up between Lindsey Buckingham’s new album Gift of Screws (more-or-less completing the trilogy that began with Fleetwood Mac’s Say You Will and continued with his solo album Under the Skin) and David Gilmour’s mammoth set Live in Gdansk.

Buckingham’s album, his fifth studio solo outing, is quite possibly his strongest yet. Get it now!!!

Gilmour’s is an unintentionally fitting tribute to fellow Pink Floyd member Rick Wright, who only recently passed away. Their performance here of “Echoes” is one for the ages. Too bad the rhythm section of Mason/Waters weren’t present (and what were the chances of the latter?) but when you’ve got Phil Manzanera on guitar, who cares? As long as Gilmour’s around, the Floyd spirit lives on…

A nice treat was the new Kate Miller-Heidke album, Curiouser. I’ll be seeing her live next month.

But first… less than a week ’til Def Leppard and Cheap Trick. Full report soon…

Apparently Rick Wright, the keyboardist for (and co-founder of) Pink Floyd, has just died of cancer.

Wright, who was unceremoniously dumped from the band by Roger Waters during sessions for The Wall, wrote and performed that classic track, “The Great Gig in the Sky”, for example, as well as providing vocals on tracks like “Time” and “Echoes”.

He rejoined the band following the departure of Waters, and if you want to see some of his more recent appearances, check out David Gilmour’s excellent live DVD, Remember That Night.

Folks, cancer sucks. Too many people in my life have been taken by cancer, and I bet anyone reading this has had similar experiences. Really, whether it’s slow or quick, it’s still a bastard.

Anyway, there goes any hope for a Pink Floyd reunion (unless they finally want to tour in support of The Final Cut…).