Portishead - Live Roseland, NYC 1998

 Portishead - Live Roseland, NYC 1998 - Part 1

 Portishead - Live Roseland, NYC 1998 - Part 2

 

About a year ago, I had a chance to see Portishead when they performed in Chicago on their too-brief U.S. tour. Being the prudent one, I decided to forgo seeing them in lieu of “dead week” (that last-ditch effort professors take to increase your study load before finals week). In hindsight, I could’ve gone and not missed anything. In a way, this album is a purgatory of sorts. It reminds me of what I might have experienced had I thrown caution to the wind and embarked to the Windy City. In case you were living in a cave, Portishead released one of the best albums of 1997 with their self-titled sophomore effort. Delving with great relish into their world of noir beats, spy movie soundtracks, and femme fatale chanteuses, Portishead made everyone who had used the label “trip-hop” eat their words. It was a chilling effort that gave you goosebumps and made your spine shiver at the same time.
Live: Roseland NYC reveals a band that not only puts out great albums, but puts on one heckuva live show. And it certainly doesn’t hurt that they’re backed up by a full orchestra, adding a certain elegance and swank to their gloomy textures. It also reveals a band that, if there was any justice in this world, would have been written a James Bond theme by now (but I guess that would be a little too perfect). Beth Gibbons has been one of my favorite vocalists, and Live: Roseland NYC shows her at her peak. Although her voice falters here and there, she pulls off a stunning performance, especially on the sneering “All Mine” and haunting, tender “Roads.” All of the performances are spot on, especially on material from their debut Dummy. Earlier material is reworked and redone, to quite a nice effect. Geoff Barrow (the main man behind the music) puts his turntable skills to nice use, spinning samples that the band themselves wrote just for use as source material and adding a gritty urban edge.
The entire band gives a solid performance throughout the album, and truly shows that this concert was one to be at. Buy the album and see why Portishead is so critically-acclaimed (especially by this “critic”). Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be in the other room kicking myself for not going to Chicago. Note: While you’re buying this album, try and get the video as well. It features some tracks not on the album. The intro, a video montage of driving to the English town of Portishead with all of the songs mixed and spun together, is quite a nice treat.  From: https://opus.ing/reviews/live-roseland-nyc-portishead-1998-go-beat-london-records

 

Santana - Live Tanglewood 1970

 Santana - Live Tanglewood 1970 - Part 1

 Santana - Live Tanglewood 1970 - Part 2

 

Sometimes I have a specific topic in mind when I start writing a post for this blog. Other times. . . well, not so much. I had just finished reading “Live At The Fillmore East and West” by John Glatt which told the story of Bill Graham’s Fillmore East And West through the careers of Graham, Janis Joplin, The Jefferson Airplane and Carlos Santana. The book talked about the series of concerts that Bill Graham presented at Tanglewood, the classical music venue located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts and the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Then I realized that the last of these shows occurred forty six years ago today. Presto! New post topic!
At the time, the idea of presenting rock music in a classical venue was a radical idea. The idea that rock music was anything but “low brow” was new and the thought that rock music had any artistic component was far from the accepted norm. Tanglewood had just begun to experiment with staging contemporary concerts on their grounds. Staging a rock concert in a classical venue had yet to be done, so of course the concept of doing so excited Graham. Graham was also very aware of the plans for the upcoming Woodstock festival which he did not think very highly of, as well as feeling it could be a threat to his business interests. So only a few days before the Woodstock Festival, Graham staged the first of several concerts billed as “The Fillmore at Tanglewood.”  He brought the full-scale Fillmore East production team in, including the Joshua Light Show, and booked a great lineup. This first concert featured B.B King, Jefferson Airplane and The Who, and drew the largest crowd that Tanglewood had ever seen by far. Buoyed by the event’s success, Tanglewood and Graham agreed to stage three similar dates in 1970. It was the last of these shows, with Santana headlining a bill with The Voices of East Harlem and the legendary Miles Davis, that happened forty six years ago today.
It was just about one year after their career making performance at Woodstock. They were enjoying the success of their debut album with three hit songs, had a new Top 10 hit with a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Black Magic Woman” and were about to release their second album, Abraxas. This is the classic lineup of Santana, before a young Neal Schon joined the band and shows them in what I consider to be their prime.  From: https://roymusicusa.com/2016/08/18/it-was-forty-six-years-ago-today-santana-at-tanglewood-ma-1970-08-18/

 

 

Eurythmics - Live From Heaven

 Eurythmics - Live From Heaven - Part 1

 

 Eurythmics - Live From Heaven - Part 2

 

The story of Eurythmics—the British musical duo of Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox—is a rarity in pop music when it comes to personal relationships. Having been in the band the Tourists during the late 1970s, Stewart and Lennox had been a romantic couple but then split up as Eurythmics were emerging. Yet rather than going in opposite directions, they continued to work on music together–a professional partnership that resulted in hit albums and singles and memorable live performances.
“I suppose Sonny and Cher did it in reverse: they became really famous and then broke up,” says Stewart, 70, recently. “Well, Annie and I were a couple who lived together, broke up and then became strapped to a rocket. And we remained very respectful. Most couples who break up would find it hard working together. I'm not saying that all of it was easy. One thing that's amazing about Annie and I is that we never fought through 45 years. We never argued. We've had disagreements: one person wants to do this one thing, and the other person doesn't want to do it. When you imagine couples or people suddenly having screaming arguments or sniping matches–we've never had that. We just agree to disagree.”
A byproduct of the duo’s friendship and undeniable musical chemistry is Eurythmics' second studio album, Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This). Originally released 40 years ago today, the record catapulted Eurythmics to fame thanks to the iconic title track (which went to number one on Billboard) and its eye-catching music video. Both the song and the album properly kicked off a legendary career for Lennox and Stewart that earned them a place in the Rock Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
“When somebody says ‘“Sweet Dreams” is 40 years old,’ you go, ‘Blimey,’” Stewart recalled about the song from an earlier interview last year. “So much fun, so little time. And if I get in a car, somehow every third car ride, Eurythmics comes on the radio. Or I'm in a coffee shop or wherever, it's around all the time 40 years later. I think it has a lot to do with the person, the duo or the band, but I really do believe it's the power of the song...The song is king, really.”
Success for Eurythmics didn't happen overnight. Following the less-than-stellar showing of their 1981 debut record In the Garden, Stewart and Lennox employed a do-it-yourself approach in making the Sweet Dreams album. First, they got a bank loan to finance the project. Stewart remembers: “Annie was sort of a bit trepidatious about it: ‘I don't think the bank would take us seriously because we looked kind of odd.’ We were going to ask them for something that's quite oblique for a bank manager to understand. I was talking about, ‘We need to buy this kind of desk, this 8-track tape machine, and this synthesizer, we need this we need that.’ And he listened to it all. He was like, 'Oh, I see.'”
When they secured the loan, the duo set up their own eight-track recording studio in a warehouse space above a picture-framing factory in London's Chalk Hill district (the sessions later moved to the Church studios in North London). In contrast to In the Garden, which featured a cast of guest players, Sweet Dreams mainly consisted of just Lennox and Stewart. “There was a chap [Adam Williams], a bass player from the band called the Selecter,” Stewart recalls. “He knew the things we needed to get and also how to put it together. So he was really helpful and he co-produced some of the tracks on there.
“Once I understood how the whole thing worked, I was like a demon,” Stewart continues. “I was up all night and I'd be on my own sometimes. It was spooky because it was above a picture framing factory...I just got so obsessed with the art of producing and recording, that I would do experiments with other people totally unknown–it could’ve been a busker or anybody. I’d be there until 2 in the morning making strange electronic sounds.”
Using what was state-of-the-art technology at the time in recording their second album, Eurythmics created synthpop music that showcased Stewart's impeccable production, Lennox's signature soulful singing, and the duo's songwriting. “It was really the beginning of the DIY in your bedroom,” Stewart once said. “You had something that could record eight tracks and drum machines were starting to become something that you could use as a tool. We thought, 'Oh, we can make everything with the two of us.’ Fortunately, Annie and I covered a lot of areas from classical music all the way through to R&B to psychedelic music. We experimented and came up with an interesting thing.”
Stewart mentions an audio effects unit called the Space Echo when talking about the recording sessions for the album. “If you listen to a lot of dub music or reggae music that's been remixed with lots of delays–I was doing that but on pop music,” he explains. “So like the song “I've Got an Angel,” the drums got delays (imitates noises), and then Annie comes, “I've got an angel…” – that really is what you're talking about: weird pop music experimental strangeness. “The Walk,” for instance, is kind of like a soul song—it has a synthesizer bass line of 'boom boom boom, boom boom boom.' It sets up something that would almost be like “I Heard It On the Grapevine,” but it's got these weird synthesizer chords. And then the chorus—we had real brass players—jumbled up with synthesizers. So it was a mixture of organic sounds and technology.”
Also out of that experimentation came the classic title track, a cynical and bittersweet song that seemed to perfectly encapsulate the mindset of the 1980s. Stewart recalls the creation of “Sweet Dreams” the song: “It was at a point where Annie was getting sort of exasperated, and also we had broken up as a couple. So there was a melancholy kind of mood. Annie was lying down on the floor in the studio, and I was messing with this weird drum computer [MkI Movement Systems MCS]. Adam and I had been on the floor at the place of the guy who was building it. It wasn't like any drum computer at the time. And I got that thing going on, that sort of drum beat–boom!
“And where I got the drum on the first beat, it was like a tom-tom that I tuned all the way down to almost the point of the bass drum but still got that tone in it. Then I was playing this other little thing called an SH-01, a monophonic synthesizer. It would make this weird amazing sound that was very loud—Annie sort of leapt up and started playing another synthesizer and just switched it on. We were both going, ‘Bloody hell, this sounds amazing!’ It was only on three tracks.
“Then Annie started to sing ‘Sweet dreams are made of this…,’” he continues. “Fifteen minutes later it was done, apart from there wasn't a middle. It was going round and round and that's when I said, 'Hang on, there should be a section.' It's kind of a dystopian song, and [I said], 'Why don’t you sing 'Hold your head up, keep your head up'— like a not-the-end-of-the-world kind of thing?'”
Other highlights from the Sweet Dreams recording sessions included an electropop cover of Sam and Dave's classic “Wrap It Up,” the haunting-sounding “Jennifer,” and the hypnotic “Love Is a Stranger,” which, like “Sweet Dreams,” became another hit in Eurythmics’ song catalog. “That was released before “Sweet Dreams” in Britain,” Stewart says of that track. ““Love Is a Stranger” is a very weird mixture of sounds because it sounds like synthesizers but a lot of it was me on the guitar going through very strange pedals. One was called a tremodillo—it's a bit like a tremolo but weirder.”
The Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) album came out on January 4, 1983, via RCA Records; its first three singles—“This Is the House,” “The Walk” and “Love Is a Stranger”—didn't burn up the U.K. chart. But it was the release of the title track as the fourth single that opened, in Stewart's words, “the floodgates.” “England was different from America. Sometimes the tracks got released at different times. We had tracks like “This Is the House” and “Love Is a Stranger” and that was all being put out in Britain and building up to “Sweet Dreams.” Whereas in America, “Sweet Dreams,” because some radio DJ was playing it, it suddenly was blowing up without us even knowing.”
The popularity of Eurythmics and the “Sweet Dreams” single was further cemented by the song’s famous music video that showed Lennox sporting a memorable androgynous look and Stewart playing on a keyboard surrounded by a cow. '''What's going on? These are very weird people,’” Stewart conjectures today about what viewers probably thought when they first saw the clip in 1983. “We knew what we were doing in interpreting stuff visually as well as musically. I think that caught the attention of a lot of people—that we weren't just, ‘Here's our song, so we'll be filmed playing it for a video.’ We were like, 'Alright, how do we interpret this not literally but in a very surrealistic kind of way?'”
“And then MTV came along and put “Sweet Dreams” on their playlist,” he also says. “All of a sudden, it was everywhere. So when we arrived to tour in America—I think it was the Touch tour—it was just everywhere that we went—they were just blasting “Sweet Dreams.”” The emergence of Eurythmics and “Sweet Dreams” coincided with the British synthpop explosion that would briefly overtake America and resulted in a productive period for the duo before they disbanded in the early 1990s. “After the Sweet Dreams album, all the songs just came tumbling out: “Here Comes the Rain Again,” “Would I Lie to You,” “Missionary Man,” “Thorn in My Side”—it was like one after the other. At the time, you're going so fast in making records in three weeks or whatever, then you go on tour, and then you do this and you do that.”  From: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidchiu/2023/01/04/eurythmics-dave-stewart-on-sweet-dreams-the-album-and-song-turning-40/

 

Miss Lava - Another Beast Is Born

Portugal's Premier Stoner Rock/Metal Band - Miss Lava - will be releasing their stunning new album Doom Machine on January 15th via Small Stone Recordings and Kozmik Artifactz. This will be the bands 4th album and sees the band playing a more personal style of music compared to their previous records. The band went through some tough times before making this album and you can feel that when listening to the album. I wanted to interview Miss Lava for a very long time and I finally had the chance to speak to Johnny (Vocals) and Raffah (Guitars) about the making of the album and the evolution of the band itself. Read on for a cool interview from a truly great band.

Hi Miss Lava. Thanks for doing this interview. How are things with you today.

Johnny - We’re doing fine amidst all of this, thanks. Everyone’s healthy and still has their jobs.
 
For people not in the know. Can you give a brief history of how the band came together and where it is today.

Johnny - I guess you can call us a heavy rock stoner outfit from Lisbon, Portugal. We started in 2005, just jamming and making songs. Then, from 2007 onwards we just played as many shows as we could. Since then, we’ve been at festivals like Desert Fest London, Stoned From The Underground, Ressurrection Fest, Stonefest, Moledo, Super Bock Super Rock, Rock In Rio Lisboa, Reverence Valada, Vagos Open Air, Barroselas Metal Fest and Faro Bike Meeting.

The band have gone slightly heavier for this record especially compared to the last record. Was that the original idea and intent for this record.

Raffah - It’s funny you mention that, I have many friends who say we did the opposite! But what I can say is that it was not intended. Before we start making this record, we talked about doing things in a different manner. We were promoting our previous record and each one of us had babies coming up in different times, so we were always on and off rehearsals in periods of time. So, Ricardo came up with idea of just going in rehearsal and start jamming whatever we felt like. We recorded lots of jams. Nothing was subject to “we need to do this type of thing” or that… it was just what our hearts needed to put out. I guess the jams that we liked the most turned to be the music that is on the record. It was like a natural selection of sorts – some stuff evolved into songs, some did not. And when it came to lay it down in the studio, we decided to record it live. We had never done this before. And it was great. We used our own gear and just banged it out like we do in a rehearsal or a show. I guess all of this creates the overall vibe for the record.

The PR blurb that I received for the album advised that “The record is loosely focused on the tragic death of guitarist K. Raffah’s baby son and the other members’ children born during the creative process.” Rafa – Firstly, I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your son. I hope you and your family are doing well. How was the overall experience for you when recording the album for yourself personally. Was this the hardest record you’ve ever been involved with.

Raffah - Thanks for your words Steve. We must say that we are doing very well. I am fortunate to have the strongest woman by my side and three awesome girls, Antonio’s sisters. It is very difficult to talk about it, of course, but very therapeutic as well. The experience of recording the album was actually gratifying and very light. I guess that, for me, it was a homage to my son. And when I feel him, I feel warmth and love. I channelled him as much as I could during the process. And now, when I hear the record I honestly can hear and feel him each time. And this feels so good to me. But this was the experience of recording the album. Making the album was different. Garcia had been a dad again right after Sonic Debris came out (my beautiful god-daughter Carolina). Besides the shows, his time was more limited during that period. Johnny started traveling more and more to Africa for his creative work. So whenever we could get together, we would jam and jam but with no specific goal in mind. Then Antonio was born and he was in the hospital for a month and a half. In the next month, Ricardo’s second baby girl was born in the same hospital as Antonio.  It was great and awkward at the same time being in the hospital at 11pm with Antonio and Ricardo going in with his girlfriend to have a beautiful healthy baby girl. We texted and got together for a coffee at the hospital while he waited. And then I went back to my kid. Two days after they were out of the hospital. And we were still there. Anyway, when he died, as anyone can imagine, it was shocking to everyone around us. Me and my family… we just had to take our time, center on ourselves and forget the world. Then, there was a time, I can’t recall exactly when, when I felt the need to be with them in the rehearsal room and create music together. It all felt natural. We got back to some of the jams we had developed earlier, we invented new stuff and then sometime in the beginning of 2019 we felt it was time to record. Going to back to the process of recording the album – we went for something new, recording the instrumental parts live, me, Garcia and Ricardo in the same room. What a vibe. Just like when we jammed at rehearsals and when we jam live. I believe that, in the production of this record, I have the best memories from any of our records. As for the other guys, I can’t imagine the impact it all had and still has on their relation with the record. They were all there in his last days at the hospital with me. They were all there when we buried him. These experiences are so complex and so intense that I can’t even understand them still or make any sense on how it reflects on our relationship or their relationship with me and the band.

For the other members – Your experience was perhaps quite different to Rafa’s. What did you all experience from this making his album.

Johnny - It’s not easy for me to talk about it, but looking back, for me it was the ultimate proof that love is the most important thing in life and it is what makes us Human. The way Raffah’s family carry Antonio on their hearts humbles me everyday, and still makes me try to value the good things in life. And with that in mind, the lyrics on Doom Machine are in a way to remind us what we’re doing with our lives.

The new album – Doom Machine – is perhaps you best album to date. Well in my humble opinion. Why did you call the album Doom Machine and what can people expect from the record compared to your previous releases.

Johnny – Wow, thanks! We decided to call it Doom Machine because I think we’re all part of a big machine of self-destruction, where hate, ego, greed and profit are the main fuel for that engine. I know it’s a cliché but I think we all know where we’re heading. We’re still making the same choices and the same mistakes and our planet and our humanity are threatened like never before. We’re out of control, we’re driving ourselves at full speed to our doomsday or to end life as we know it.

Comparing this record with the previous releases, I think is a more mature album, with more diversity. All songs are very different.

We explore new song structures, we add some interludes, that allows us to breathe and relax between some intense songs and because we recorded it live, it has a different vibe and reflects more accurately what we are as a Live band.

I ultimately enjoyed the new aspects of music you’ve written for this album. It’s heavier which I’ve said earlier but it’s more soulful and quite progressive in places. Did you want to try something different for your 4th album.

Raffah - We always set out to try something different in each record. This time around it was the jamming process for the creation of the songs. In that type of approach, we try not to have any borders or to pre-conceive any structure. I guess we were able to channel a more raw and dense emotional realm this time. Not only because of everything that happened in our lives but also because of the jamming process. That’s where I think the “more soulful and quite progressive” comes from. The music naturally developed that way in the jams.

Has it surprised you the amount of praise your music has received from the Doom/Stoner Rock community. Or do you not take much notice of things like that.

Raffah - It is great to feel like we’re part of the community in the first place. Then, it is obviously very rewarding when we release an album, read a review and think “wow, this journalist really understood what we’re doing here”. But it really really feels great when we play a live show and people come to talk to us, drink a beer and talk about music or life in general. We have made many friends on the road. And this is the best thing in being part of the community.

What comes first for you when recording new music. Lyrics or Music.

Johnny - Usually Music. But there are songs in which the opposite happened, such as “I’m the asteroid” on Sonic Debris.

You’ve signed to Small Stone Recordings for this album again. How did you hook-up with that great label.

Johnny - I believe they’re always with their antennas on wherever you are in the world. We released our first record and sent it them. I believe they started following us at that time. When we put out “Red Supergiant” (it came out first through Raging Planet Records in Portugal) they wrote to us saying they’d like to put it out with a new mix and master. And we started our relationship there.

Now you have Kozmik Artifactz handling Vinyl Duties. Same question again. How did this collaboration came about.

Johnny - The collaboration came together between labels. They seem to make a good team and it will be great to have an European support from a label that is very into the stoner scene and that values the record as a work of art.

The album cover for the upcoming new album is excellent. Who designed the cover and how much input did you have into the overall design of the cover.

Raffah - http://josemendes.me/ has designed our cover art since the first EP! He’s a very dear friend and I believe he is like our fifth element when we finish our recording process. We talk about the concept of the album, what our creative process was like and he interprets everything through his unique approach. I won’t get into specifics, but I can see the rise of a doom machine and its’ overwhelming transformation when I look at the cover. His first inspiration came from the French artist Philippe Caza. And then I think that all those colours and overall movement really represent the energy of the record.

You guys are from Lisbon, Portugal. Before Covid-19 hit. What was the local scene like for you guys. Was it easy to get gigs and on a regular basis.

Raffah - There are some clubs around Lisbon where we can play on a more regular basis. But many of the clubs that welcome our style had been closing even before Covid. In the last years, we have been playing mainly small local festivals around the country. Let’s see how we all come back after this. Right now, the club owners are some of the people who have been hit the most hard. Many won’t open their establishments again.

Can you advise any other great bands to checkout from your home-town that our readers may not be aware of.

Johnny - You must check out The Quartet of Woah!, Dollar Llama and Earth Drive from Lisbon. And Black Bombaim and The Black Wizards from the north of Portugal.

From: https://outlawsofthesun.blogspot.com/2021/01/an-interview-with-miss-lava.html

Steeleye Span - London

Rocket Cottage is the ninth studio album by British folk rock band Steeleye Span. It was released in 1976 by Chrysalis Records. Produced by Mike Batt, it was hoped that the album would cement the band's popular and commercial success, building on their breakthrough into the UK Top 10 with their previous album All Around My Hat and its title track, which reached #5 on the UK singles chart. By the time it was released, the sudden explosion of the British Punk scene saw audience tastes in the UK rapidly shift away from formerly popular genres like folk rock and progressive rock, and groups that had previously been critical favourites, like Steeleye Span and Yes, soon found themselves being derided as "dinosaurs". Rocket Cottage did not reach the Top 40, and it was the last album recorded by the "classic" mid-seventies lineup of the group, with Peter Knight and Bob Johnson both subsequently leaving the group.
The album is perhaps the band's most rock-influenced album, with very prominent guitars and a strong rhythm section. Some fans consider this one of the band's best efforts, pointing to strong tracks like "London", "Fighting for Strangers", "Sir James the Rose", and "Orfeo/Nathan's Reel", the first three of which became classics of the band and fan favorites. Others, however, find the album erratic, complaining that the band's rhythm section tends to overwhelm the vocals, particularly on "Orfeo", "The Twelve Witches", and (to a lesser extent) "The Brown Girl". Oddly for an instrumental piece, "Nathan's Reel" simply fades out. The most peculiar decision was the inclusion of an unrehearsed version of "Camptown Races"; years later Maddy Prior remarked, "I can't think what we were thinking of with that." This was the band's ninth album in five years, and many feel that their exhaustion is evident.
Peter Knight has said that the band was being pressured to write and adapt music for the commercial market, which led to considerable dissatisfaction among the band members. Both he and Bob Johnson were seriously considering leaving the band, particularly because they wanted to work on a musical version of The King of Elfland's Daughter, Chrysalis Records agreed to allow them to record that album if they agreed to record 'Rocket'. Lacking any interest in the album that Knight and Johnson produced, Chrysalis made little effort to promote the album, and Knight and Johnson chose to depart the band after 'Rocket' was released.  From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_Cottage  

 

Leda - Marocco Speed

I had discovered the group Leda with guilty delay, but for them it was love at first sight, or rather, at first listen. The technical times for an "official" review were now exceeded but I still felt the need to dedicate some space to them on my personal blog, where music often reigns supreme. After all, in an era in which the adage seems to be something like: "there is a lack of guitars, rock groups", they were keen to demonstrate the opposite, creating powerful, evocative songs, with a strong rock imprint, of nineties origin, but with a very current sound system.
In their music it seemed to flow the blood of bands that I love viscerally, starting with Scisma and Marlene Kuntz, but everything grafted into a personal formula, with the combination of words/sounds that especially in some tracks was perfect. Since then I have not lost sight of them and I admit that I was very curious to listen to their sophomore, who had the task of not only confirming the excellent intuitions of the debut "Memorie dal futuro" but possibly of expanding their artistic baggage.
With a lineup now established with the entry of Giorgio Baioni on bass, Leda lays its foundations on the talent and personality of its frontwoman Serena Abrami, on the undoubted technical qualities of guitarist Enrico Vitali and on the expressive power of drummer Fabrizio Baioni (who with Giorgio creates a strong and engaging rhythm section), and it is known that when all the ingredients know how to blend in the best way, something exciting can result. With these premises, the wait to listen to the new work had been felt and it must be admitted that the sensations aroused by the evocative single of the same name had already been good, being a song that is musically solid and evocative in the right way in terms of imagery.
The musical structure reiterates certain rock coordinates but the addition of spice is given by a use, never invasive but certainly more prominent, of electronics, which pervades the album at an atmospheric level, connoting it with dark-wave implications, thus putting darkness in the foreground more than colors. However, we should not interpret this album as pessimistic or negative, because the energy is always notable, as is the propulsive thrust of the opening track "Il politicante". The lyrics are perhaps the most direct ever produced by Abrami and at the same time moves a pressing music, where each instrument prepares the ground for the explosive refrain in a sort of emotional climax.
The mood changes considerably as we continue in the tracklist, and it is a very pleasant surprise that we encounter at the height of "Niente è lo medesimo": the pressing spoken/recited by Serena, accompanied by the rhythmic pace causes a sensation of total envelopment. We could venture an unusual comparison with Massimo Volume but everything then explodes, after the initial storm, in an immediate chorus full of pathos.
The third track is a bit disconcerting for its unprecedented initial power, with a grunge flavour, while it glides into apparently softer territories with “Insonnia”, whose messages actually seem cryptic, not to say sinister. It is here that dark electronics come into play more, and it is natural to also include Depeche Mode among the influences of the quartet from the Marche. We continue without a hitch until the end, happily also coming across a real gem, which sees the singer-songwriter Paolo Benvegnù as the protagonist together with our guys, almost as if to underline the affinities – found especially in the debut album – with his Scisma.
“Tu mi bruci” has a mysterious aura, it exudes charm and intrigues with its refined musical solutions, as if to make us understand that in the strings of Leda, in the background of its protagonists, there is also room for authorial music. A further clue in this sense comes to our aid with the poignant “Quasi ombra” which closes the album relying on soft and dreamy tones. The test of the second album is therefore passed with flying colors, with a formula that has consolidated by inserting different elements.
Musically, the group, if we want, appears more cohesive, even though in reality it has shown more versatility and heterogeneity, while on the voice, what else is there to add? I think Abrami's is one of the most beautiful around in terms of expressiveness, intonation and ability to capture you from the first notes. And his writing is also particularly interesting, very evocative, which translates into incisive lyrics but without disdaining some poetic touches, strong in a metric that can recall the style dear to a certain Giovanni Lindo Ferretti.
Italian rock seems to be able to look to the future with renewed confidence, and if a new renaissance is really possible we will owe it to those new bands that have been able to bring it back into fashion, taking example from the greats of the past but at the same time proposing a new mix. And in this sense, alongside the often (rightly) mentioned names of Gomma and Post Nebbia, from now on it will also be necessary to add that of Leda.  Translated from: https://www.indieforbunnies.com/2022/06/22/leda-marocco-speed/  

Hawkins & Moulay - Knots - Gentle Giant Cover

All in all each man in all men
All men in each man.
He can see she can't, she can see she can
See whatever, whatever.

You may know what I don't know, but not that
I don't know it and I can't tell you
So you will.
To tell me all man in all men
All men in each man.
He can see she can't, she can see she can
See whatever, whatever.

You may know what I don't know, but not that
I don't know it and I can't tell you
So you will have to tell me all.

It hurts him to think that she is
Hurting her by him being hurt to think
That she thinks he is hurt by making her
Feel guilty at hurting him by her thinking
She wants him to want her. Her wants her to
Want him to get him to want him to get
Him to want her she pretends.

He tries to make her afraid by not
Being afraid. (permutations)
You may know what I don't know, but not
That I don't know it and I can't
Tell you so you will have to tell
Me all.

I get what I deserve.
I deserve what I get.
I have it so I deserve it.
I deserve it for I have it.
I get what I deserve.
What I deserve, what I deserve what I get.

I have it so I deserve.
He tries to make her afraid by not
Being afraid.

Daisy House - Languages

A week ago, I didn’t know Daisy House existed. Then my friend Jim saw them mentioned on Mary Lou Lord’s Facebook page and told me they’d be right up my alley. Boy, was he ever right. This wonderful Long Beach folk rock band formed in December 2011, and consists of multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Doug Hammond, his daughter Tatiana (Angel) Hammond on vocals, and his long time friend Christ Stiles on cittern (an ancient, lute-like instrument). From the first listen, I was riveted by their deep grounding in British folk, most especially the late 60’s variety done so well by Fairport Convention. That is only a starting point, for it’s clear Daisy House have ingested a whole host of influences ranging from The Byrds to Donovan. I contacted Doug (DH) about an interview and he readily agreed to entertain my queries.

I have been a fan of Sandy Denny and Fairport Convention for over 30 years. When I first heard your work the other day, I was astonished. Many have tried and failed to capture the excitement of that long ago era, and yet the three of you have nailed it. How did you accomplish this?

DH: Fairport….Chris and I hooked up again, Christmas 2011, after a 30 year pause. We’d bonded originally over New Wave stuff and he played bass in our 1st originals “band” when we were Tatiana’s age. Shortly after that, he went into a self-described “English Folk Frenzy”, buying up everything he could find while I was digging into The Smiths, The Cocteau Twins, and REM. I did a couple shows with Chris’s folk band though that were very, uh, “Holy”. It left an impression on me, the intimacy and purity of it. When we reconnected, Chris’ electric cittern had literally rusted in its case, though the brass fittings had corroded like some sunken treasure. We jammed a bit with his acoustic cittern, and I suggested we do some folky songs with Angel and I singing, Donovan and Fairport in the back of my mind. As it progressed, I started seeing the possibilities more and more and the strange central hook of this singing blonde folk girl, flanked by these two elder dudes. Beauty and the Beasts, lol. Everybody loves her, little girls, college girls (except the mean ones). and their moms, who are reminded of their younger selves when they see her. So Chris had known about Fairport Convention back in the day, but I’d only known about Sandy through “Battle Of Evermore” like everybody else, and I didn’t didn’t realize she had this amazing body of work apart from that until around 2001. I heard “Blackwaterside” on KCRW (public radio), and after that just fell heart first into them. Fairport incorporated the depth of time into their music. The English writer Colin Wilson used to refer to the expansive psychological power and allure that “other places, other times” have on people’s imaginations. Fairport hit me like that, they just had it all, they were large, they were intimate, they were psychedelic, and they were grounded. They were “human-scaled”, in performance and improvisation, yet otherworldly in their themes. Sandy’s expressive voice and Richard’s playing, they were new to me, like a box of gold. The only thing that’s hit me as hard that way is discovering Elliott Smith. I don’t know of anyone else who’s attempted that Fairport dynamic except the folks in the original UK folk-rock music scene like Steeleye Span and Pentangle. That was part of the appeal of using Fairport as a template; it felt fertile and abandoned by the world, at the same time, and it seemed to fit the global economic moment. Handmade music for a world that may or may not find itself using hand tools again. So, I guess Tatiana’s “Sandy”. I’m Richard Thompson, and Chris is the guy with the citterns. They are a big part of the “sound” of us. That, “what is that thing?” thing. Another thing that helps us get closer to the expansiveness and intimacy of Fairport I believe, is the dynamic of a 50-year-old’s thoughts being channelled by a 20-year-old girl. It makes for an interesting frisson; experience and innocence in one pretty package, “skater boy” it’s not.

What artists have influenced you the most? And why is it that so much of today’s modern music is missing that critical element that makes it stand out?

DH: Most influential artists? Beatles. Beatles and the Beatles. 60’s pop music in general. The untouchably best decade for pop/rock/soul music that will ever be. Fairport, The Byrds, Beach Boys, Velvet Underground, Nick Drake, Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Donovan, Dylan, Zeppelin, Left Banke, Emitt Rhodes, Traffic, the Who, garage rock, The Kinks, The Association, Jefferson Airplane, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Animals, Mamas and Papas, Doors, The Monkees, Small Faces, Zombies, Simon & Garfunkel, Walker Brothers, Nilsson, Jimmy Webb, Fleetwood Mac (both iterations). So much foment in such a tight time span. Like that song “Deep Blue” by Arcade Fire, my first memories of life are the songs of the 60’s coming out of car speakers when my older teenage half-brother had to babysit. He liked to go cruising in the suburbs with me in the back seat. I love Elliott Smith,The Smiths, REM, My Bloody Valentine. I just started digging into Richard Thompson; I love his lyrics, voice and guitar work. People kept saying, “You sound a bit like The National“, now I like The National. There’s The Black Keys, White Stripes, Radiohead, and Sharon Van Etten. Chrissy likes Gregorian chants, lute music, Bert Jansch, Martin Carthy, deep catalog UK folk artists, madrigals, and rounds. A lot of the “ancient” things I throw into Daisy House are a nod to Chrissy’s taste. Tatiana (I call her “Angel”) likes what I like. She never had a chance, poor kid. Hip hop is mocked in our house, singalongs are mandatory. She grew up with aphorisms like, “if singing is the most generous thing the human voice can do, what is rapping?” There’s really good stuff out there today in indie land, but there’s also a “dark side” to the “underground”. It can be lyrically obtuse, spiritually empty, and abstracted to death. Folk music hits more directly, usually with a bitchin’ story attached, if it’s done right. The mainstream as far as I can see (I don’t pay much attention) is still being culturally choked to death by what remains of the corporate music infrastructure. In rap, it’s been an endless parade of scowling clowns traipsing up to the mic over the last twenty years to rhyme “Bitch” with “Rich”, “Nigga” with “Trigga”. That’s corporatism at work, that “guaranteed revenue stream”. For pop music, the “career path” of any pop diva in America today seems to be innocent Disney chanteuse to pole dancing, cooch flashing “vixen”, that’s corporatism as well. Country? Pixel perfect approximations of the legacy of guys like George Jones and Johnny Cash, who used to sing about death among other non-pop subjects (end “old man rant”). A lot of modern American cultural offerings leave one cold I believe because they are not human scaled anymore. They’ve been engorged and “perfected” and offered up to a species that will never be perfected. There’s your disconnect right there, it’s the flaws that make a song adoptable and human in my opinion. I’m encouraged though, by the success of Adele (she’s got soul), The Black Keys (they’ve got funk on ‘em), Mumford and Sons (we have better songs though), and Arcade Fire. Makes me think that people may adopt us as well.

How long has the band existed, and what are your touring plans?

DH: We’ve been together a year and a half and initial touring plans are contingent on Chris and Angel. She got a 4 year scholarship to a college in PA, and has 1 1/2 to 2 years to go. Any touring or shows would have to be wedged into the summer or winter breaks. Chris teaches college history and has similar constraints.

It sounds like a host of musicians have joined you for your debut album. Is that the case, or are you all multi-instrumentalists?

DH: I played everything on the record except half the cittern parts (Emitt Rhodes is the patron saint of home recordists everywhere).

When did Tatiana start singing? Has she had voice lessons, or is her magical voice the result of good genes and a lot of practice?

DH: Angel began singing when she was 4. Her first song was, “Daddy wants some food. Mommy wants some food” (busted-lol). Actually, apart from the listening aspect of it, I never forced music down my 2 kids’ throats. Angel only really started picking up my guitar and singing around 13, when she sang “Ode to Billie Joe” at a middle school talent show. She sings like anyone would sing, in the car, with headphones on, nothing too intense (unless we’re recording), but she’s got this amazing quality to her voice. I hate to say it, but it’s better than mine. It’s a voice raised on classic rock chicks, and apart from all the useless coloratura of modern commercial divas; though she does know the indie divas, Regina Spektor, Feist, Sharon Van Etten (we love her). She’s more Sandy, Joni, Mary Hopkins, Marianne Faithful, and Grace Slick. She’s only beginning; as she gains more control over her voice, she could become even more amazing. We’ll just have to wait and see.

How does the band approach songwriting?

DH: I write all the songs. Chrissy provides me with “starter yeast”, and hips me to Celtic feedstock. The idea was to have anglo “folk” as the overarching theme of it all, while trying not to become too stifled by the conventions of folk music. For example, it could be a shoegaze tune as long as it got “folked up” lol. I’ve been perusing the Child ballads for the same reason, as jumping off points for Daisy House songs. For instance, I’ve got a new one called “Why Do You Dive So Deep in Beauty”, which is loosely based around a 17th century English folk song called “Tarry Trousers”. It’s striking how much the melody snippet sounds like something Elliott Smith would have busted out, and its over 300 years old! I also do historical research for some of the songs. There’s another new one, working title, “Plague Song”, where I ended up reading about the black plague for 3 days looking for imagery to use.  For the bulk of the 1st album, for Angel’s songs, sometimes I would imagine that Sandy was still alive and that I was writing songs for Sandy to sing on Fairport’s next album, but Anglo folk is always the parameter: no banjos, no harmonicas, it’s lutes and shit for daisy House ;)

Do you have favorite covers you like to perform, because I can totally see you covering Fairport, Steeleye Span, or The Pentangle? Maybe even Incredible String Band.

DH: Covers? We started working up a cover of “Blown A Wish” by My Bloody Valentine I’d like to do. Otherwise, there’s too many other songs of our own I’d like to flesh out right now.

Do you favor any particular equipment?

DH: The citterns. Chris has an acoustic Sobell cittern (octave mandolin) he bought back in the 70’s that’s worth about ten freaking thousand dollars now (I’d love to have one of those myself). It sounds like a grinding hurdy-gurdy-esque baritone mandolin, and is a big part of our sound. He also has the aforementioned electric cittern by Manson that sounds like a capoed 12 string guitar. Just awesome instruments. I have an old F’ed up Harmony Rocket that has more “flawed” mojo than any other electric I’ve ever played. I also like Strats, Rickenbackers and Les Pauls.

Finally, what are your future plans for the band? With your daughter in college, I imagine that might hamstring touring a bit.

DH: Our future plans are to crush the pop world, make it bend to our will and install Tatiana as the new un-spoilable, folk-rock, high priestess of pop. She could do it too. She’s pretty, she’s smart, she’s nice, she has a voice like an angel, and she’s cool! Failing that, I will continue to write “wicker man” songs about woodsmen, witches, leeches, love and death that will bring joy to hundreds! The next batch of songs is shaping up to be as good or better than the last.

From: https://bigtakeover.com/interviews/an-interview-with-doug-hammond-of-daisy-house

Genesis - Ripples

I’ve completed the Genesis Mark 1.5 three album catalogue with a purchase of Trick of the Tail. I have to say on only the first or second listening I can tell this is going to be pushing for my favourite Genesis album of all (currently The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway). It’s got it all and frankly I’m amazed to be hearing me say that after I first pondered the merits (or otherwise) of post Gabriel Genesis. I was clearly making unfounded assumptions without researching the facts. Sorry readers. The mix is tremendous (I don’t know if this is the result of the remaster — this is the 1994 edition) — clear, sharp and powerful. The bass is really deep, the guitar thick, and Collin’s vocals are a revelation. Apparently it was his rendition of Squonk that convinced the rest of the band he could step out from behind the drum kit and into Gabriel’s mighty shoes. I wonder what Gabriel must have made of this record when he first heard it. Do you think he was delighted for them, or was there a feeling of regret?

“The whole concept of The Lamb was darker, longer, and it was a real uphill battle to finish. That’s why A Trick of the Tail was easier to make. It was lighter, Phil was singing, and we had a whole new scenario with a breath of fresh air.” -Tony Banks

Unlike some of the earlier albums there are no instrumental fillers where a member of this group of egos are granted a solo piece which ill fits the whole concept. For example Hackett’s poor Bach imitation Horizons from Foxtrot, {Ed. Can you say that a bit quieter?} This is perhaps unfair on Hackett, probably the most modest member of the band. As the late joining guitarist it seems that his playing was generally so side-lined by the overwhelming keyboards of the dominant Tony Banks that he was merely and reluctantly granted the odd instrumental instead.

“I was getting tired of bringing ideas into the group, which I felt they weren’t going to do.” -Steve Hackett

Furthermore Banks has been at pains to recall that it was himself who wrote and played the guitar introduction to Supper’s Ready suggesting further that Hackett’s input was not that crucial. That series of Genesis album reissue interviews on youtube is so revealing. Fans would disagree and many argue the Genesis sound suffered more after the departure of Hackett than it did even with Gabriel. This sort of behaviour represented the worse excesses of prog rock when it became more important to demonstrate the technical skill of each musician rather than create great music itself. It’s almost as if the musicians have to demonstrate that although they are playing rock and pop music they are very serious musicians and were actually originally classically trained. The trouble is the real classical musicians see (or hear) through this. Yes were also most guilty of this where many of their albums have a solo Steve Howe or Rick Wakeman piece shoehorned in amongst the prog epics. More kudos to Robert Fripp (a guitarist to whom Hackett is sometimes compared) — a classical guitarist originally who said that hearing one chord of Jimi Hendrix meant more to him than the entire classical repertoire. He also says Wimborne in Dorset is the centre of the universe. Anyway, pleasingly it’s not such an issue on A Trick of the Tail where a balance and equilibrium between the individual musicians and the overall music is achieved throughout the album.

From: https://medium.com/6-album-sunday/genesis-a-trick-of-the-tail-8a3deec2a3c1

Birdeatsbaby - Painkiller

Normally in The Music Spotlight, I’ll pick five songs that I think are the perfect entry-level for anyone interested in exploring whichever artist or band I’ve chosen to focus on that week and then give you links to the videos on YouTube, along with my opinion on what makes these tunes so special. It’s a simple formula and one that I like, but today’s column is going to be different. Last week I was lucky enough to sit down and have a chat with Mishkin Fitzgerald. She’s the vocalist, lyricist, pianist, and all-around driving force behind one of the most underrated bands in existence today, Birdeatsbaby. She’s also a very complex person with some very interesting, and very dark, stories to tell.

Who are Birdeatsbaby?

Mishkin Fitzgerald: Birdeatsbaby has been going since 2009 (officially) but 2006 was actually our first gig. The name comes from a long bout of insomnia I had in my teens—I was on a lot of sleep medication and having strange and lucid nightmares. The first record was born out of this.

Neil Gray: So you had a dream where a bird ate a baby I take it?

MF: Kind of. I always used to see this bird-like creature on the ceiling; it was pretty creepy.

NG: Yeah, I bet it was. But from this nightmare, one of the best bands from the Dark Cabaret era was born. Did you mind being put into that niche when it happened? You’ve obviously grown from that point but that was where I found you at the time.

MF: No, we didn’t mind. It was nice to find a genre that could describe what we were doing and we ran with it, it gained us our first fanbase and we were able to find other artists to tour with through this. Yes, we’ve changed a lot but we don’t forget our roots and sometimes the cabaret sound pops up again in newer sounds, just for a moment and it’s a nod to the old sound.

NG: As you’re my guest this week, let’s start with one of your choices. “Mary”. To me, and please correct me if I’m wrong, but “Mary” strikes me as the ultimate middle finger towards organized religion.

MF: Yeah [laughs]. Well, I guess it’s not the ultimate middle finger, but it does point towards the Catholic Church. I chose the Hail Mary because it’s supposed to be a prayer towards the feminine symbol of God, the mother of God, etc., but it’s just a joke because the Catholic Church has repeatedly used its power to oppress and control women and their bodies. So I turned the Hail Mary into a poem about how the church uses a male figure to press down on women and keep them in place. Recently the Catholic Church in South America has been arresting women who miscarried or had life-saving abortions as a crime against God. Women were waking up on hospital beds in handcuffs. I get very angry about religion because I think it’s caused so much unnecessary damage to the world, avoided scientific evidence, and in this day and age people are still using it to control each other. It’s just bollocks.

NG: I totally agree with you here, it’s always struck me as weird that a male virgin in white robes has so much power over the lives and actions of millions of people worldwide and we’re all just supposed to go with it and be “Oh, him yeah, that’s cool”. The problem with religion, as expressed so well in this song, is that it makes you blind to reality.

MF: Yeah, it’s just so sad. The world would be a better place if religion could only move with the times and accept science, instead of always wanting to keep people in the dark. I’m not against religion if it helps people and they’re getting something positive out of it, but the minute it contradicts what we know to be fact in a damaging way then it should be put down. It just baffles me that most of the population still believe in a floaty-sky-man who sends you to hell if you’re naughty.

NG: On the subject of the video to Mary, shot in an actual church or?

MF: Yeah.

NG: Really? How did you manage to swing that?

MF: The pastor was very kind to let us use the space—I don’t think he knew much about the song though [laughs]. One of my student’s parents helps out there. It was funny cos he was like “Okay, I’ll leave you to it then”. Then when he came back I was dressed as a vicar with black eye contacts and my manager was like, “Hide! I’ll distract him!” and just talked his ear off while we continued the shoot. It was a fun day.

NG: Next up, I want to talk about my first choice, “The Trouble”. This was the song that clued me into Birdeatsbaby and it’s true that you can never forget your first love. To me, even to this day, it stands the test of time, but the subject matter is something I’ve always been curious about. It strikes me as almost Bowie-esque in the way the lyrics are written, not really saying anything, cut up to a degree, but at the same time getting across a feeling that people can relate to, rather than a message. Was this intentional?

MF: It’s a pretty dark subject matter. You might want to brace yourself [laughs]. When I was 19 I was assaulted by ex-boyfriend at a house party in Brighton. The experience was fairly traumatic and shaped my 20s. I can’t even walk past that place in Brighton without still feeling a sense of panic. The guy then moved in down my street, just a stone’s throw away from my house, that’s when I wrote, “Through Ten Walls”. Many of my songs are based around experience, I couldn’t help but use it at a subject matter as that kind of trauma can consume you and if you don’t get it out, then it can destroy you.

NG: I kind of feel bad for liking the song so much now.

MF: Don’t feel bad! I fuckin’ love that song! I was able to turn it into something that changed other people’s lives; otherwise, it would’ve killed me.

NG: That is a subject that seems to appear throughout your work, and as a failed poet I understand how cathartic that expressing your emotions through words can be, which leads me onto the next video “My Arms Will Open Wide”. Is this as cut and dried as it seems? Is it your goodbye to the world? Thankfully, you haven’t but was it that note?

MF: Yeah, I wrote that song as a suicide letter. I had really given up on my music, it felt like it was going nowhere and what was the point, I was really ill and had completely lost my faith which was a good thing, but at the time it felt very empty without it. When we made the video I was standing on the bridge and I was like, fuck, I really don’t want to fall. It was a good feeling to not want to die. It turns out I had more albums to write and a lot more music to give the world. Yeah, as long as I can write it, I’ll stick around. That’s my favorite video though. I’ve never felt a video could sum up my words so clearly, I was really happy with it and the shoes were nice too [laughs]. You can see them in “Tenterhooks” too.

NG: I have a story about this tune. In a previous life I used to work as a chef for a rather large chain of “If we can cook it, you can eat it” type business. Now, I used to take music in with me to get me through the grind of the day and one of the myriads of songs on the cd’s, yes they had a cd player, was “Deathbed Confession”. Thanks to Forbes production on that I used to get a bollocking every time I played it as it was so much louder than anything else I’d play. To the point, they’d have to send someone in from the front of house to ask me to turn it down because it was annoying the customers as they tried to listen to Frank Sinatra.

MF: [laughs] Brilliant! You make us proud.

NG: I love this song, with a passion and feel that it’s the perfect example of how you grew from that band I first heard in “The Trouble” into one of the most ass-kicking rock acts of all time.

MF: It’s actually a really old BEB song too. I wrote it in 2010, and it was just too heavy to go on the early stuff, so I kept it until the time was right. Forbes was definitely the right drummer for that album.

NG: So what finally brought it to the light?

MF: The line-up was perfect and we had freedom in the studio for the first time, plus Garry was playing more guitars which were what it needed too.

NG: That is very true. Garry’s guitar work on that song is sensational. The pure noise that he wrings from each note is something I hadn’t heard in a long time, not since my days of listening to the likes of Sonic Youth and The Pixies and the way that Forbes assaults the skins would get him arrested in 90% of countries. And when you add in your vocals, which are on point, and Hana, well, just being Hana, which is always a good thing, then there isn’t a bad note in the entire thing. There seems to be an underlying thought in your lyrics as well, is this another pretty fucking awful relationship one as well?

MF: No that’s not about anyone, it’s about politics, human nature and probably religion again too but this time how it’s used as a reason to go to war.

NG: Ah, so I’ve been approaching the song from the wrong angle all this time, at least from a lyrical standpoint, musically it’s the fucking boss.

MF: [laughs] Cool, thank you.

NG: I can understand why The Flock loves this video so much, the song is just downright nasty and is driven by the kind of groove that wouldn’t be out of place in an Iggy and The Stooges record.

MF: Yeah it’s hard not to like, we were listening to a lot of QOTSA that record and I had the chorus in my head while we were touring Europe, going around and around—Hana was helping me write the lyrics. It was very fun—the band grew a lot over that record.

NG: So, as I’m a sucker for your lyrics, it’s interesting to me to hear that this was a collaborative effort between you and Miss Piranha.

MF: She’s really good at lyrics, better than me. I take forever to write one line and it usually makes little sense. Hana is amazing at creating a picture and constantly referencing it again and again in new ways, the Heiress project we’re doing together now is her brilliant lyrics. I’m better at chord progressions and structure and she’s great at melodies and lyrics—we make a good team.

NG: As for the video, it seems to keep the simplicity of the song, except for your face paint. What inspired that?

MF: I think I wanted to make myself look truly evil [laughs]—the make-up was necessary to remove myself from the fragile/vulnerable Mishkin and become something empowering and seductive. I really wanted to grow as a person through that song and music video and it was definitely a turning point for me. I remember feeling like it was a risk—I mean you do open yourself up to people’s nonsense when you choose to express yourself as a sexual person, especially as a woman, but at the same time I always follow the Birdeatsbaby rule—“do what you want”. We used to announce the song on stage by saying “a good song should make you want to fight someone, fuck someone or kill yourself”. I stand by that—I don’t think there’s a single BEB song that doesn’t apply to. Also, it was a bit of fun. Being “naughty” is always so appealing and that video is just utter filth. The afterparty was… legendary.

It is very rare in this line of work that you meet someone so open and willing to discuss the demons that have driven their creative process. Normally, artists will skirt around the issue, which is understandable, as no-one wants to relive their traumatic past any longer than they have to. Mishkin Fitzgerald is not that kind of person. She is a raw nerve exposed to the elements, a musician and lyricist who has had to fight against some truly horrific experiences just so her art can see the light of day. But what she isn’t, is a victim. She has taken what life has thrown at her and turned it into some of the most powerful, beautiful, and sometimes downright nasty music you’ll ever hear. There have been close calls along the way, which she has openly admitted, but as she said; I love growing up, I feel more like the person I want to be with every year, hitting 30 was like realising who I am and making the big changes I needed to.” Even if I hadn’t had a chance to sit down and talk with her, I would’ve recommended Birdeatsbaby to you and anyone else who would listen, just because I love the band that much, but having spent a couple of hours in her company and getting just a small taste of how passionate she is about her craft, then I cannot think of a single reason that Birdeatsbaby doesn’t find their way into your playlist. Music should touch you, lyrics should speak to you and in Birdeatsbaby you have the perfect combination of both.

From: https://tvobsessive.com/2020/01/28/the-music-spotlight-birdeatsbaby/

The Hanging Stars - (I've Seen) The Summer in Her Eyes

An unexpected development: it turns out that both of my early 2024 country-adjacent favorite records come from England. These standouts achieve their success in different ways, though - Brown Horse’s Reservoir focuses on gritty bar band country-rock, while The Hanging Stars’ opt for a much lighter and airier approach. Said approach isn’t a major transformation for this London band. They’ve been in the “Cosmic Americana” lane for a while, with my first experience with them being the 2022 effort Hollow Heart, an effortlessly pleasant listen with solid replay value, even if the songs themselves didn’t particularly stand out as memorable. With follow-up On a Golden Shore, the group doesn’t drift far away from familiar territory, but their execution is flawless enough to consider the latest result a notable step up.
For those readers still wondering what The Hanging Stars sound like, it seems evident that the band have been wearing out their Gram Parsons records, alongside albums like The Byrds’ Sweetheart of the Rodeo, The Grateful Dead’s American Beauty, and The Jayhawks’ Tomorrow the Green Grass, with those kind of earthy yet transcendently beautiful influences felt in abundance on this release. The Hanging Stars have melded that sound with a couple styles more clearly associated with their homeland - a bevy of psychedelic touches and a hint of jangle pop, in particular. There’s definitely a Beatlesque tinge in places (particularly clear on “Happiness is a Bird”, and not solely because the track’s title sounds like a “Happiness is a Warm Gun”/”And Your Bird Can Sing” mashup). In addition, fans of fellow Englishman Honey Harper will probably find a lot to like here, with echoes of Starmaker’s shimmery melancholy clearly present.
The eleven songs collected in On a Golden Shore are easy-going and full of warmth, absolute ear candy from start to finish. The music is blissful, remaining ethereal while also possessing abundant pop sensibility. The biggest improvement here for The Hanging Stars is that the melodies are richer this time around, playing a key role in revealing some vital highlight tracks - “Sweet Light” is a total earworm, and “Disbelieving” is one of the most gorgeous country-ish jams I’ve heard in a while. Meanwhile, closer “Heart in a Box” is so subdued as to approach ambient, feeling like a sunset dream and leaving the listener to bask in the fading glow.
Lyrically, On a Golden Shore tends to hew towards heartbroken tales of woe, fitting for the genre tradition, but nonetheless this album remains an absolute joy to listen to. It might be a classic case of a band doing the simple things right and leaning upon a near-perfect fusion of sound and vibe, but if you understand the basic purpose of music as being about playing tunes which sound great and make the listener feel things, well, then, The Hanging Stars seem to have it all figured out. If you’re looking for me, I’ll be across the pond, rollin’ down that lost highway.  From: https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/88310/The-Hanging-Stars-On-A-Golden-Shore/

New Riders of the Purple Sage - Dirty Business

In the summer of 1969, John Dawson was looking to showcase his songs while Jerry Garcia  was looking to practice his brand new pedal steel guitar. The two played in coffeehouses and small clubs initially, and the music they made became the nucleus for a band—the New Riders of the Purple Sage. That same year, David Nelson, expert in both country and rock guitar, joined the group on electric lead guitar. Filling out the rhythm section in those early days were Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart and engineer Bob Matthews on bass, who was later replaced by Phil Lesh. In 1970, Dave Torbert took over on bass and the New Riders played every chance they got. Soon enough, smoky clubs all over the San Francisco bay area were filling up with whooping, foot-stomping crowds as their music got tighter and more dynamic. They began to tour extensively with the Dead, and in December of 1970, Spencer Dryden, who had previously showed his impeccable drumming style with the Jefferson Airplane, had stepped in on drums.
One of the many gigs with the Dead included the Trans-Canadian Festival Express with Janis Joplin, The Band, and other American and Canadian artists like Ian and Sylvia, who had with them a brilliant, innovative pedal steel player named Buddy Cage. When Garcia’s busy schedule made it increasingly difficult for him to play with the New Riders, the talented Cage was the perfect choice to fill the pedal steel spot. He moved from Toronto where he had been working in Anne Murray’s band, to California in the spring of 1971 to join the New Riders. With the addition of Cage, the New Riders emerged as a fully independent unit. An excitingly creative band with a special brand of music—sweet country harmonies mixed with pulsing rock rhythms.
The New Riders were signed to Columbia Records in 1971 by Clive Davis and their eponymous first album, New Riders of the Purple Sage, was released in September of that year to widespread acclaim. In December, 1971 they played a live radio broadcast with the Dead over WNEW-FM in New York to an audience of millions. In 1972 the pattern of their success continued to grow, with their first European tour followed in June by the release of their second album, Powerglide. They toured the United States extensively in response to increasing demand, and in November, 1972 released their third album Gypsy Cowboy.
In May of 1973, the New Riders appeared on ABC-TV’s “In Concert” program to a nationwide audience. Working hard on the road for much of the year, including gigs with the Dead at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco and R.F.K. Stadium in Washington, DC, they took a brief time out to go into the Record Plant in Sausalito with producer Norbert Putnam. The result was The Adventures of Panama Red, released in September of 1973 and with Peter Rowan’s title track, this became an FM radio staple and the first gold record for the band. In November they embarked on an east coast tour that included them setting the box office record at New York City’s Academy of Music. This tour was recorded for the group’s first live album, Home, Home on the Road, which was produced by Jerry Garcia.
Early 1974 found bassist Dave Torbert wanting to pursue a more rock and roll direction as he left the New Riders to form Kingfish with old friends Matthew Kelly and Bob Weir. Skip Battin, formerly with the Byrds, joined the band on bass as they kept to their solid touring schedule which had become one of the band’s trademarks. In August, 1974, the New Riders gave a free thank you concert in Central Park on a Tuesday afternoon to 50,000 New York fans. Their sixth album, entitled Brujo, was released in October, 1974 and found their recorded sound getting crisper with delicate harmonies and more original songs.
Searching for expanded musical horizons, the New Riders hooked up with producer Bob Johnston, known for his work with Bob Dylan, in 1975. Letting Johnston take them down uncharted terrain, the resulting Oh, What A Mighty Time found the band hooking up with Sly Stone and a bevy of female background singers. Mighty Time also features Jerry Garcia’s electric guitar leads on “Take A Letter Maria.” Just about this time, the music business was entering another era and the New Riders ended their relationship with Columbia Records. The subsequent release of the Best of the New Riders of the Purple Sage, with its infamous cover, fulfilled their obligation to Columbia and the band then signed with MCA Records in 1976.  From: https://thenewriders.com/bio/history/

The Wyld Olde Souls - Ferris Wheel

Ensoulment, the first full length CD by the Wyld Olde Souls, serves up an intoxicating mix of psychedelic folk spiced with both Indian music and medieval love songs. The band consists of Ivy Vale (on seductive mahogany-rich vocals, guitar, and hand percussion), Rick Reil (vocals, bouzouki, and guitars), Melissa Davis (vocals, hand percussion), Kristin Pinell Reil (vocals, flute, guitar, mandolin), and Naren Budhakar (tablas). Both Reils are also long time members of legendary power pop band The Grip Weeds. Budhakar studied with tabla maestro Samir Chatterjee and has performed with a number of eastern and western artists.
The 14-song CD release has been widely praised -- "It's good to see that someone is still exploring folk and psychedelia and doing it so well" (Tom Rapp, founder of legendary '60s band Pearls Before Swine); "haunting ethereal mystical folk music led by female chant-song as atmospheric as a moth caught under a flickering gaslight on a stormy night and simply resonating with psychedelic Celtic harmony" (The Ptolemaic Terrascope); "... their use of folk and rock instruments can't be denied, but that's where the typical is left behind. It's left far in the background as you're lifted into a wonderful realm of the ethereal, the music and sincere Pagan lyrics opening up vistas of ancient sunlight, woodlands and calming nature... a rich serenade of transcendence" (Chaos Realm).
The Wyld Olde Souls were recently nominated by The Indie Music Channel for Best Folk Group, and have also been nominated for a Hollywood Music in Media Award for their live video of Led Zeppelin classic "Gallows Pole." The Hollywood Music in Media Awards take place in November -- now in its fifth year, heralding the start of awards season. The band has also released a new video for the album's first single "Leave Her" which, like the song itself, takes one on a magical journey in a verdant green forest setting with dappled sunlight. Dreamy, trippy, with a lyrical guitar solo, lush orchestral arrangements and Vale's stunning alto, "Leave Her" begins where Lee Hazlewood's "Some Velvet Morning" left off.  From: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-wyld-olde-souls_b_1868748

Gingerpig - Undefined Call

The title of the new Gingerpig album, Ghost On The Highway, wasn’t chosen randomly. It is a reference to the musical journey of Gingerpig, to the passion and the urge that has pushed them forward to three albums now. Founder and frontman of Gingerpig, Boudewijn Bonebakker, is clear about it: ”Music is my way to stay ahead of my personal ghost on the highway.” Ghost On The Highway is not just the result of years of perfecting the sound of Gingerpig. That sound is not the goal for Gingerpig, it’s the vehicle with which the story is being told. More than anything else it is the almost haunted intensity and conviction behind the songs that impresses and pulls you in. Five years ago Gingerpig’s journey started with the preparations for their first album. The grand experiment The Ways of the Gingerpig was built on the conviction that the listener can’t be fooled. Bonebakker and his associates opened up their suitcases and started off with lots of musical luggage and even more ideas and with their first they delivered a loving mix of seventies rock, blues, fusion and (post-) metal. The band had set just one single limit for themselves: making music. During the course of their search and their wanderings, the musical focus of Gingerpig sharpened. The identity and style of the band ripened fast and the eclectic character of their music matured. This culminated on the album Hidden from View, on which the organic sound and the sincere approach came more to the forefront. This development has continued on Ghost on the Highway but clearly the boys haven’t found their calm yet. Sure, Gingerpig sounds more weathered, more intense and louder than ever, a very distinct and recognisable loud that works in clear unity with the lyrical content, but the restlessness stays. Haunted, mean & lean by their musical travels, Gingerpig dispose most of their garnish and fringe on Ghost on the Highway and deliver not only musically but also lyrically a surprising resolute and thunderous rock album.  From: http://www.mig-music.de/en/releases/gingerpig-4/

Divahn - Ya'alah Ya’alah

Divahn is an all-woman Mizrahi/Sephardi ensemble which began dazzling audiences with its Middle Eastern grooves. Infusing traditional and original Jewish songs with sophisticated harmonies and entrancing improvisations. Divahn has engendered an international following, performing in venues ranging from top concert halls in Poland to the most prestigious clubs in NYC.
The group's thrilling live shows include lush string arrangements, eclectic Indian, Middle Eastern, and Latin percussion, and vocals spanning Hebrew, Judeo-Spanish, Persian, Arabic, and Aramaic.  Dardashti's diverse background performing Persian and Arab classical music, Ashkenazi cantorial music, Western classical music and jazz enhance Divahn's unique and innovative sound.
The group has appeared at music festivals and live television and radio shows internationally and has shared the stage with some of the world's most renowned master musicians. As one of the few groups performing Mizrahi and Judeo-Arab music in the US, Divahn welcomes its audiences to a beautiful sphere of shared Jewish and Muslim culture.  From: https://www.galeetdardashti.com/divahn