Love - The Forever Changes Concert

 Love - The Forever Changes Concert - Part 1

 

Love - The Forever Changes Concert - Part 2

Can you get copies of music magazines while you’re in prison? I wonder how Arthur Lee found out while he was locked up on a weapons charge that people had rediscovered his music with the seminal 60s psychedelic band, Love. Incarcerated for nearly six years under California’s “Three Strikes and You’re Out” law, Arthur Lee was probably just itching to get out and take advantage of his celebrity status for the second time around.
Released in December of 2001, Lee immediately hired a fantastic group of backing musicians and reformed Love. Touring all over the world, particularly covering Love’s crowning achievement, 1967’s classic Forever Changes, in it’s entirety, Arthur Lee has finally found his admirers. And for now, this seems to be one of the more unique stories of rock and roll with a happy ending.
Love’s The Forever Changes Concert was recorded live in London in early 2003, and fittingly, captures Lee and company playing Forever Changes in it’s glorious, psychedelic entirety. One of the finest collections of songs recorded and played to perfection by an ensemble of expert musicians, including the standout guitar playing of one Mike Randle. This live album deviates little from the original album but sounds fuller and more explosive in several places, such as the rocking “A House Is Not A Hotel” and “Between Clark And Hilldale.” While it might be wiser to recommend catching Love live in concert, The Forever Changes Concert is a quality document that showcases Arthur Lee as an exciting live performer and one of rock and roll’s most formative legends.  From: https://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/love-forever-changes-concert

In late 2001, after spending six years in prison on gun charges that were later overturned, Love founder and frontman Arthur Lee was understandably eager to begin performing again, and with members of the band Baby Lemonade backing him up, Lee booked a European tour for early 2003 in which he was joined by a string and horn ensemble to perform the Love masterpiece, their 1967 album Forever Changes, in its entirety. The tour seemed like the sort of thing most fans would at once cherish and dread -- it's hard to imagine anyone who cared about Love not wanting to see Lee free and performing again, but would he have anything left to say, especially tied to the vehicle of an album that was all of 35 years old? The Forever Changes Concert, recorded during one of the tour's early stops at London's Royal Festival Hall, doesn't hold much in the way of surprises, but anyone who imagined Lee would just go through the motions of Forever Changes' eleven songs will be pleasantly surprised. Lee's voice is harsher than it was in 1967, but he sings these songs with genuine passion and an understanding of their emotional gravity that seems to have grown with the passage of time. The arrangements that Lee and his musicians worked up for this material obviously follow the template of the original recording, but there's a fire in the guitar work and a willingness to bounce patterns off bandmates Mike Randle and Rusty Squeezebox that keeps this material sounding fresh and alive, and the small orchestra that accompanies the group go through their paces with charming skill (and without crowding the band). Lee also sings with commendable emotional depth on the two numbers Bryan MacLean wrote for the original album. Some editions of The Forever Changes Concert also feature a second disc in which the band plays a number of other songs from the Love catalog, and it's fun to hear Lee rock out on "Seven and Seven Is" and "My Little Red Book," but what's more impressive is how focused and committed Lee is on lesser known classics like "Signed D.C." and "Orange Skies"; while the Forever Changes gambit probably brought in plenty of fans, disc two suggests that an evening drawn from Love's broader body of work could have been every bit as satisfying. Still, while this package is for committed Love fans (no one who hasn't heard Forever Changes should start with this), it's not so much an exercise in nostalgia as an evening with a vital artist who could still find new wrinkles in his back catalog.  From: https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-forever-changes-live-concert-mw0000740254#review

 

Descartes a Kant - After Destruction

The savvy sound fashioning of Mexico’s Descartes a Kant burst forth with bright magenta shades and imaginative art rock sounds on their brand-new album After Destruction. The timely themes of self-realization in the age of artificial intelligence in a push-button world that creates us as we create it, are artfully presented with tight, melodic musicianship and pleasantly processed guitars, drums, keyboards – and the waifish vocals of Sandrushka Petrova up front, narrating colorful existential tales.
A pleasant female computer voice narrates the album, between songs with a decidedly prog punk edge adding depth to the kitsch presentation. “Graceless” tells the tale of optimistic dreams thwarted by a reality, reluctantly faced. Downbeat, and with stylishly insinuating guitars by Petrova and Ana Cristina Moreno, ethereal synths by Memo Ibarra, and drums by Leo Padua, it’s a bittersweet reflection on idealism disappointed.
“The Mess We’ve Made” is a driving, mid-tempo tune about a secret rendezvous, while the new single “Raindrops Of Poison” poses existential questions about memory and trauma, in an imaginative presentation featuring ear-tricking key changes, and Petrova’s animated, dramatic vocal style. It starts off angular and jagged, only to become reflective and sweet.
“Woman Sobbing” evokes Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Jefferson Airplane in a poignant narrative describing those rabbit holes that we often find ourselves in. Guitars on this track are as brilliant as Adrian Belew, while Leo Padua and Memo Ibarra are in perfect sync on drums and bass. Petrova’s vocals excite the imagination with perfect harmony.
The title track “After Destruction” has a driving beat, and a guitar sound that avoids the trap of being too thick or grungy, instead it’s perfectly gritty and melodic. The tune, like the album, has layers and thematic changes, that keep the listener guessing as the melodic narrative progresses. There’s shades of Radiohead here for sure, in the arrangements and also in the care taken to sculpt new guitar and keyboard sounds that have never been heard before.
The album After Destruction is a thematic exploration of a computer guided future, with just the right mix of electronics, visceral guitars and vocal passion. In the world of After Destruction, there’s always an opportunity to rebuild oneself, and for that reason, it’s a guardedly optimistic set from a band that I expect to hear many more amazing sounds from in the future.  From: https://www.punkrockbeat.com/descartes-a-kant-excite-with-artful-prog-punk-future-vision-of-after-destruction/

Toadies - Possum Kingdom

Hello again, fellow watchdogs of the music world. I’d like to thank everybody who has striven to uphold morality in our songs and sent in a horrifying lyric. Together, we’re going to beat this thing. I’ve already had several prominent musicians email me begging me to stop this feature, because they’re DEVILS and they know we’re going to SEND THEM BACK TO THE FLAMES. Okay, that last part isn’t true at all. But it’s amazing to see just how twisted some of these songs are. Today’s submission of “Possum Kingdom” by the Toadies comes from Samantha Smurawa. Thanks, Samantha! If YOU know a profoundly disturbing song that requires immediate analysis, send it in to mailbag@pastemagazine.com. And as always, check out previous installments at the bottom of this post. As per usual, I won’t be looking at any backstory until I’m finished analyzing. Toadies lyrics in bold, my commentary after.

TITLE: Possum Kingdom

Usually I don’t comment too much on the title, because bands are sneaky and call their songs things like “Art Lover” just before chasing little girls around a park. But I want to take a moment to give some credit to the Toadies, because that’s a real weird title. I want no part of a Possum Kingdom, at all. I don’t want to know the king, the queen, the jesters, the serfs or anyone. (Okay, fine, I am kinda curious about the possum jester.) It feels like the kind of place where human beings are brought in strapped to piece of plywood and gnawed to death. Count me out.

(Note: I’ll be saying “the Toadies” even though the band’s name is just “Toadies,” because without “the” it just sounds weird, and all you grammar people can go straight to hell.)

Make up your mind

I ALREADY DID, I DON’T WANT TO GO TO THE POSSUM KINGDOM. Oh wait, the song started…

Decide to walk with me
Around the lake tonight
Around the lake tonight
By my side
By my side

My previous experience has taught me to distrust innocuous beginnings, but hey, maybe I was wrong this time. Maybe it’s just about two lovers strolling around a lake. We need more of that in America. Lake strolls, I mean. When’s the last time you strolled around a lake? When’s the last time you’ve seen a lake? Do we even have lakes anymore? I think lakes have gone extinct. Thanks, Obama.

I’m not gonna lie
I’ll not be a gentleman

There are two ways to take this. One, he’s going to behave like a damnable sexy rogue, which can be exciting and novel. Some people go for that. Some ladies like a bad boy. Two, he’s going to throw her in a possum pit to be chewed to death.

Behind the boathouse
I’ll show you my dark secret

The temperature is warm here in my house, but I just shivered. What is your dark secret, Toadie man? It’s the possum kingdom, isn’t it? Also, a hint: If you want to lure an unsuspecting lady to your boathouse lair, it’s probably better not to lay out your plans in song form beforehand. In real life, I imagine a woman would start to get a little suspicious that the “gentleman” line, and then start running away at “dark secret.” Nobody wants to see anyone’s dark secret. Unless that dark secret is a lake, because WHERE THE FUCK HAVE ALL THE LAKES GONE, OBAMA?!

I’m not gonna lie

And we appreciate that. Again, not great serial killer strategy, necessarily, but it’s refreshing to be warned ahead of time that a bevy of possums is about to consume us bit by bit. Okay, I just looked up the collective name for possums, and it turns out it’s “passel.” A passel of possums. Also, the animal is technically called an “opossum,” but since I already told all the grammar people to go to hell, I can’t really call the Toadies out on this one.

I want you for mine
My blushing bride

Oh good, a weird marriage fetish scenario. No good serial killing is complete without one. I’m no expert, and I’ve never killed anyone, but I strongly believe that if your victim isn’t wearing a bridal gown, you’re not doing it correctly. Either that, or dress her up like your mother. Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but to me, those are the best ways to decorate a victim before setting the passel of opossums loose.

My lover, be my lover, yeah…

I know he says “be my lover,” but I get the feeling there’s no actual sex involved here. The whole situation is a little too bizarre. Wedding dress? Yes. Possums? Definitely. A boathouse filled with screams and terror? You bet. But I’m not seeing sex entering into the equation. And you know what? That’s sort of refreshing. Week after week, we’ve seen songs about dudes being really creepy and secretive and perverse around women (along with one woman taking revenge for her entire gender). It makes you lose faith in humanity. But the Toadies? They’ve got something deeper going on. Mere sexual power dynamics don’t interest them. This is psychological horror on a brand new plane, and THIS WRITER finds it refreshing! (No, I don’t. This is awful. Somebody help me.)

Don’t be afraid
I didn’t mean to scare you

I am finding that difficult to believe, sir! On a positive note, at least there’s no disturbing religious element to this fantasy. That’s the last serial killer trope we’re missing. When you bring God into the mix, it adds that awful ritualistic feeling that really makes me panic. But we’re so far along in the song that surely we’re safe.

So help me, Jesus

Dammit.

I can promise you
You’ll stay as beautiful
With dark hair
And soft skin…forever
Forever

The one thing that always makes me laugh about serial killers is how they think they’re doing you a favor. “You’ll be perfectly preserved to the end of eternity! You should be thanking me!” Nope. I’ll just take a normal life and death without being embalmed in a wedding dress and stuffed into the wall of a boathouse, thanks. I’m not saying I don’t appreciate your aesthetic, but I really feel like this should be my choice to make.

Make up your mind
Make up your mind

Are we still talking about deciding to go for a walk around the lake? I don’t want to speak for all women, but I think that was a flat no like ten lines ago.

And I’ll promise you
I will treat you well
My sweet angel
So help me, Jesus

“Awwww…I don’t know, maybe this guy’s alright. God knows there are some awful men out there, and I can’t seem to keep a boyfriend beyond three dates. Plus, I’d get to see a lake, which God knows is rare in Obama’s America. On the other hand, the possums…”

Give it up to me
Give it up to me
Do you wanna be
My angel?
So help me!

If I have one criticism of this killer, it’s that he seems super unfocused. Is it a religious thing, where he wants to make the woman into an angel for Jesus? Does he want to preserve her eternally so she remains perfect? Does he want to dress her like a bride? And what’s up with the possums? After the title, the possums have never been mentioned again. This is what I mean by keeping it simple. So many serial killers want to complicate things today. And if you do it right, it’s great, but let’s not forget some of the old classics, like Jack the Ripper stabbing prostitutes, or Son of Sam just shooting people with a .44. We need to get back to basics. But I guess that’s not the way things work in the Obamanation, am I right?

Be my angel
Be my angel
Do you wanna die?

Also, there’s never been a serial killer who was so solicitous. “Look, I want to take a walk around a lake with you and then kill you, but hear me out while I tell you the exact plan. In the end, this has to be your choice, and I want you to be as comfortable as possible. On a different note, how do you feel about possums?”

I promise you
I will treat you well
My sweet angel
So help me, Jesus

If you play this song backward, you can hear the bass player whispering “A Passel of Opossums” over and over.

And there it is! Looking at the Wikipedia entry, it turns out that “Possum Kingdom” is the name of a lake in Texas. So all that talk of possums eating people was just a false alarm, unfortunately. I mean fortunately. Whatever. Stop looking at me. An interesting wrinkle is that footage from the music video was found by a local resident, which led to Dallas police questioning video director Thomas Mignone because they thought it was a snuff film. Finally, someone taken to task for their horrifying lyrics!

From: https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/profoundly-horrifying-song-lyrics-possum-kingdom-b

Grandma's Ashes - Cassandra

Grandma’s Ashes are a three piece Stoner Prog band from Paris, France. Their music is a blend of heavy face melting riffs, dark melodies and complex rhythms. Last month they released their debut EP ‘The Fates’ and we were able to have a chat with them about the EP, the band and their influences.

Let’s start with the basics! Tell us about the formation of the band, how did it all come together?

We met four years ago on the internet. Myriam and Eva knew each other for a year or so and were looking for a drummer so Edith came along and Grandma’s Ashes started this way. When we first met we jammed and it felt obvious that we had to play together.

Your sound is colourful and eclectic, you can hear the math rock influences with your use of odd time signatures, along with the filthy desert/stoner rock riffs mixed with some psychedelia. What are your individual influences and musical backgrounds?

Myriam: I began the guitar when I was 13, playing in different rock bands. We were mostly influenced by classic 70s rock such as Led Zeppelin, Sabbath, The Beatles, Bowie etc. I discovered the desert rock scene when I arrived in Paris, by mixing live local bands in underground venues. I was totally fascinated by the heaviness of their sound. Since I grew up in Morocco, I’ve also listened a lot to traditional african music which made me more open to odd time signatures, and I studied jazz for a year at school.

Edith: I’m really influenced by math-rock bands such as Toe, Don Caballero, and Battles for their structures and creativity. Also modern progressive metal bands like Leprous, Night Verses, and Cult of Luna for their massive sound and crazy technique. I’ve been a drummer for 11 years in different bands and I’ve attended different schools including the same jazz school as Myriam.

Eva: I discovered stoner rock with Queens of the Stone Age and Kyuss at the age of 15. It totally blew my mind as I was mostly influenced at the time by 70’s english punk bands (The Strangers, The Damned) with rich, high sound and sharp bass lines. This discovery was a revolution in my way to play bass, more encompassing, more massive (Then, late, I heard about black sabbath and type O negative and I totally loved it!) Later I discovered progressive bands such as Yes, and I switched again for more complex bass lines, keeping the heaviness I learned from stoner rock! This prog band also taught me the way to sing some psychedelic voices while keeping complex rhythms in the background. I was amazed it was possible to do both at the same time, and create such a strange, and poetic universe with dark tones!

I read somewhere that you recorded ‘The Fates’ EP live, which is super refreshing to hear and it gives a real human feel to the way it sounds. Tell us about your experience recording with this approach?

Thank you! It was quite impressive to record live in the beautiful Ferber’s A studio, we felt honored. Playing live together is what we prefer to do, we’re used to working this way, feeling each other's energy in order to create and give the best of ourselves. We tried to do what we do best except that we had amazing gear and a crazy crew guiding us toward the best results. It was a bit stressful but very exciting above all.

The guitar and bass tones are one of the defining characteristics of your music, talk us through your rigs and how you achieve such a massive sound?

Our first idea to sound massive was to tune ourselves a whole tone down and use the heaviest strings gauge we could find. It really adds texture because our strings aren’t flexible at all! Then, Myriam began to play on two Orange amps in a sort of stereo or dry/wet setup which opens up the sound and lets more room for the bass. We are still trying to sound heavier by combining Fuzz pedals and splitting signals on amps, but the main idea is to play loud and low. 

The lyrics to your single ‘Daddy Issues’ casts an interesting narrative and complements the theatrics of the heavy and menacing instrumental. What is the meaning behind the song?

This song is about the separation of Eva’s parents. It was a dark theme she wanted to keep powerful. There’s a lot of musical references in it for her, such as a famous baroque bass line during the bridge (“Music for a while” by Henry Purcell) sang by her parents a few month before their separation. It’s all emotional and we decided to name it by a ridiculous title to decrease the pathetic side of the song, and minimise what was a traumatic event to a reductive expression, to stay prude and make fun of it instead of making everyone cry *laugh*

The cover for the EP is distinctive and has a mythological quality to it, what inspired the artwork?

The artwork was inspired by a guy who came talk to us after a gig in Montreal a few years ago. He compared us to the Parcae, the female personifications of destiny who directed the lives and death of humans and gods. He said that each other had a role on stage: Eva spun the thread with her melody and rhythm foundation, Myriam unwind it with her riff and atmospheric effect, at last Edith cut it with convoluted rhythms. We liked this metaphor a lot because we were already inspired by classical art but suddenly it took a musical dimension and it felt interesting to include it in our visual universe.

Are there any bands in the local Parisian scene that you would recommend?

We would definitely recommend to listen to The Psychotic Monks, Cosse and Liquid Bear! 

Finally, what have you got planned next for Grandma’s Ashes?

We’re focusing on our first album since we don’t have gigs coming, but we hope to play live this summer or at least at the end of 2021. We plan to shoot a new videoclip and a new live session also.

From: https://www.smrgoth.com/post/interview-grandma-s-ashes

Teke-Teke - Garakuta

In order to understand the music of TEKE::TEKE, I first need to explain Eleki. Eleki is a type of Japanese surf rock that, whilst similar to Western surf rock, uses traditional instruments and the pentatonic scale. It popped up in the 1960s and has become a niche over the decades. It wasn’t something I’d come across until I discovered TEKE::TEKE and now I want to discover more.
It’s worth noting that TEKE::TEKE are not strictly an Eleki-only band. They also weave Brazilian surf rock and plenty of psychedelia into their sound. There isn’t anything quite like them out there though. On their new album ‘Hagata’, very much my starting point with the band, I was immediately blown away but the visceral explosion of sounds, cultures and rock symphonies the septet create. Opening with ‘Garakuta’ we have a kabuki dance of flutes, brass, guitars and water-filtered vocals. The guitar and bass sound like a throwback to shamisen riffs, or on tracks like ‘Gotoku Lemon’, like a Bollywood riff. It gives a sly and sensual feel to the music. The woodwind and brass are often playing melodies in unison which give a quirky comedic and secretive spin on things too. Add in some Brazilian-inspired percussion and you have a true melting pot of ideas. Am I in Turkey? Am I in Japan? Am I in India or Brazil? Nope, TEKE::TEKE is based in Montreal.
With such a buffet of sounds to choose from, the band refuses to sit still. ‘Hoppe’ eschews the traditional for a punk rock crunch. The brass arrangement really ups the ante in the bridge and choruses but the rock edge reminds me of Shiina Ringo at times. ‘Onaji Heya’ leans into that comparison more with lots of electronic and baroque elements to the track. Then we break into striving, dramatic guitar solos to break the song into segments like a classic rock tune. The palette-cleansing ethereal harp and flute interlude of ‘Me No Haya’ couldn’t feel or sound a million miles away. Yet as it spins itself into a frenzy, more of TEKE::TEKE’s rock members join in for a whirlpool of ghostly rock nods to something darker.
Taking us fully back to 1960s psychedelic folk is the superb ‘Doppelganger’. Between the sassy brass, the timeless electro-acoustic band sound and some of the cleanest vocals on the album, it is a great place to start if you are new to this style of music. The track is more of TEKE::TEKE’s hippy side rather than the rock side but if the band’s charm is ever going to win you over, it is with this song. Fast forwarding to 70s cop shows, ‘Setagaya Koya’ has guitar whammies that come with giant sideburns. It then switches to a rock interpretation of bossa nova and Latin beats, leaning into the Brazilian side of their sound. Sassy, seductive, dramatic and dangerous sounding, I feel like I’m performing espionage in 1972 Brazil.
‘Kakijyu’ is the longest and perhaps most experimental track. It is a taut and rhythmic drum pattern crammed full of whispered vocals that slowly build and build until the entire band joins in with a euphoric outro. It sounds ceremonial but may be a hard sell to start with. Drums lead the way with the chaotic kraut-rock of ‘Yurei Zanmai’. The track barrels along at huge speed and the vocals literally shatter as the guitars pile in. Hedonistic in it’s setup, this feels tribal and primal as all the instruments zipline between two chords like a ripcord. That leaves the haunting closer ‘Jinzou Maria’ to provide a Brazilian farewell. The South American flavoured ballad starts off like a Latin cowboy theme of vocal and guitar before the rest of the band join to give a psyche-folk outro.
There is a certain diaspora around TEKE::TEKE that I find fascinating. I’m sure I’ve called out incorrect cultures and influences throughout this review but it is such a magical blend of ideas, I’m sure I’ve missed about 25 countries out of the mix too. Sometimes it sounds Mexican, Turkish, Indian, Japanese, Brazilian, American and sometimes all of the above and none at the same time. TEKE::TEKE has a genuinely unique sound and I adore it. This album is a triumph in melting pot sound design that works. Sounds don’t feel isolated or fractured – everything has its place and merges superbly with the other elements. ‘Hagata’ will feature highly on my best of 2023 list.  From: https://higherplainmusic.com/2023/07/17/teketeke-hagata-review/

22 Brides - Visions of You

Libby Johnson is an American singer-songwriter. She co-founded the indie folk band 22 Brides in 1992, and released her debut solo album, Annabella, in 2006. Johnson was born on an army base in Germany. She moved around on the East Coast of the United States and moved to Nairobi, Kenya, when she was 13. She started playing piano at age 7. She and her younger sister, Carrie Johnson, started singing together when they were children. They performed in Kenya, before returning to the United States while in high school. They went to the Berklee College of Music in Boston before moving to New York City in 1983.
In 1992, the sisters formed the indie folk duo 22 Brides, and in 1993 they put out the self-released eight-song CD Selling Fruit in Cairo. The band name 22 Brides comes from an Indian folk tale they heard when they were younger. After being spotted during one of their monthly gigs at CBGB's Gallery in New York, the duo signed with indie label Zero Hour Records in 1994. On June 22, 1994, they released their self-titled debut, consisting of remixed songs from their self-released effort plus four new songs. The album was produced by Daniel Wise, with additional production from Godfrey Diamond, and features Jonathan Mover on drums and Mark Bosch on guitar.
On the year-long tour for 22 Brides, and in advance of their second album, Beaker, 22 Brides expanded into a four-member band with John Skehan (guitar, bass) and Ned Stroh (drums) joining Libby Johnson (bass, keyboards, vocals) and Carrie Johnson (guitar, vocals). Produced by Adam Lasus, the album had a more highly produced feel than the folk influences of the band's debut. Following a Zero Hour distribution deal with Universal Records, Beaker was released on Zero Hour / Universal. On September 9, 1997, Zero Hour released the 22 Brides EP Blazes of Light, which was a sampler of sorts, with songs from their first two albums, "Purified" from their upcoming third album, and a cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah".
The band's third LP, Demolition Day, was released in 1998, with a return to the more intimate sound of 22 Brides. In an effort to get back to their folk-pop harmonizing roots, the band worked again with Daniel Wise and recorded their vocal tracks live and switched to a trio formation, with Libby Johnson on bass and vocals, Carrie Johnson on guitar and vocals, and Bill Dobrow on drums. The first single from the album "Another Distant Light" debuted on WNNX out of Atlanta.
In October 1995, 22 Brides toured with Dick Dale. 22 Brides played at the 1998 Lilith Fair, and also opened for Ani DiFranco and Freedy Johnston. In 1996, Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti introduced characters based on Libby and Carrie Johnson in their comic book series Ash. They then created a four-book miniseries, 22 Brides, published by Event Comics, revolving around the characters based on the sisters. Palmiotti later created a spinoff series, Painkiller Jane.  From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libby_Johnson

Lovely Little Girls - Shadow Of Bees

Chicago's Lovely Little Girls focus on the details; that bit of flab hanging over a waistband, those ill-fitting shoes that carve deeper with each step and that slight underbite - teetering between the lovely and the repugnant.  Led by visual artist/vocalist Gregory Jacobsen and bassist Alex Perkolup (Cheer-Accident, Flying Luttenabachers, Bobby Conn), Lovely Little Girls is a nine-piece art-prog band that features the cream of the crop of Chicago's avant-rock scene. "Glistening Vivid Splash", the band's second full-length for SKiN GRAFT Records propels the ensemble's darkly humorous vision of absurd sexuality, abject failure, and unceremonious death to new heights by utilizing more space, and employing a strange sense of harmony that will strike a chord with fans of Magma, Cardiacs, Arrigo Barnabe, and early Residents. Produced by Greg Norman and mastered by Todd Rittmann (Dead Rider, US Maple), the music of Lovely Little Girls is permeated by an ominous urgency, ripening and decaying before the ears. 

The drawings and paintings of Chicago artist Gregory Jacobsen aren't exactly easy to look at: his favorite subject is body horror, and he loves to combine bright, kid-friendly colors with beautifully rendered deformities and mutilations and revolting masses of flesh and hair and membrane. Since 2001 Jacobsen has also had a band, Lovely Little Girls, and it's a total package: challenging, dissonant, ever-changing experimental rock, conceptually linked songs, and ambitious themed stage productions that often involve makeup, prosthetics, partial nudity, and large casts of players. His longtime collaborator, bassist Alex Perkolup (also of Cheer-Accident), writes most of the songs; Jacobsen animates their lyrics with his abject, frenzied singing and grotesque, even violent stage presence. - Monica Kendrick, Chicago Reader

The music of the Chicago avant-rock oddballs Lovely Little Girls is inspired by the paintings and drawings of artist/vocalist Gregory Jacobsen. It's the sort of artwork that can inspire lyrics like "Inflammation of the harelip," candy-colored grotesques that seem like carnival art intended to scare children with the threat of STDs. These characters are depicted in the band's Frith/Residents-inspired anarchic outbursts, sideshow skronk in [Henry Darger] Vivian Girls colors. The songs come mostly from the pen of Cheer-Accident bassist Alex Perkolup, who translates Jacobsen's deformed portraiture into an equally deranged sonic palette, a no-wave juggling act by turns horrifying and horrified. - Shaun Brady, Philadelphia City Paper

From: https://skingraftrecords.com/bandhtmlpages/llg.html

Polecat Creek - Midway Road

Polecat Creek features Laurelyn Dossett and Kari Sickenberger, two singer-songwriters from North Carolina who have pooled their talents, ostensibly because their wonderful harmonies bring out more in their songs than each of their own individual voices could. Although the women straddle the fence between bluegrass and old-time (leaning more toward the latter), there are also occasional echoes of Cajun music, honky-tonk, and blues. Their second album was recorded in Louisiana with Dirk Powell producing and Riley Baugus as the main accompanist (mostly on banjo and fiddle). Kevin Wimmer (fiddle), Terry Huval (lap steel and resophonic guitar), Mike Burch (drums) and Powell (a mutli-instrumentalist) make up the rest of the backing crew. The songs, written individually by either Dossett or Sickenberger, are memorable and lyrically sophisticated. “Mama”, has nothing in common with the sappy tributes to motherhood that are prevalent in some country music circles. “The Past Ain’t Over Yet”, the story of a prisoner who is haunted by a murder committed while under the influence, is a jaunty blues that includes some classic lines: “Now I can’t look ahead and I can’t forget / My future’s behind me and the past ain’t over yet.” The title track is a touching song about the collapse of a small-town industry and the inhabitants’ struggle to survive. Strong vocals, tight harmonies, compelling arrangements, and impeccable musicianship all help to bring out the best in the duo’s songs.  From: https://www.nodepression.com/album-reviews/polecat-creek-leaving-eden/

Sons Of Zöku - Sun Shines On Everyone

There is an ethereal mist surrounding Sons Of Zöku that completely sets them apart from their peers in psych pop/rock today. Could it be their Australian roots? The remoteness and the otherworldliness also found in bands like King Gizzard and Tame Impala? Who knows, and also who cares really; the important thing is that they are here, and that we can dive into their wonderful tranquil pool of soothing multi vocals, reverb, and fuzz.
Like other contemporary psychedelic indie colleagues Upupayama, Vampire Weekend or Wolf People, Sons Of Zöku have found a natural way to merge ancient folk vibes from all over the world into their mellow psych songs. From the pastoral flutes of the Irish fields to the Tuareg blues of the African desert, or the sitar song of India, Sons Of Zöku respectfully borrows, forges new connections, and morphs it into their own sound.
Another strong vibe that radiates from Endless is that it is more than just a piece of music, it presents itself as a portal or a shrine through which we might find more than just music. When they chant “meet me on the other side if you will” you feel the willingness to take their hands and transcend to a lighter state of being, leaving troubles behind, clearing the mind of clutter. Mindfulness in indie rock form, just the thing we needed in this hurried bustling world. Sounds vague? Nah, you just need to spin this album a few more times…it will come to you.

I reached out to the band and found Portuguese born Ricardo Da Silva (vocals/guitar) at the helm, willing to provide the answers to my questions. An image unfolds of a strong collective with a unified vision that will very probably take them across many seas and hopefully even to Europe. But let’s meet them first and get to know Sons Of Zöku:

Hi guys, how is Sons Of Zöku doing these days? What is the last thing you did that gave you an energy boost?

Pretty exciting to see our second album Endless getting ready to be released, looking at all the amazing art work on vinyls and things like that, it’s pretty exciting. Also getting invited to play gigs like supporting Minami Deutsch in Perth and in our hometown, things like that always give us an extra boost.

Can you introduce the band to the Weirdo Shrine?

Of course, Ric (me) on vocals, guitar and electric sitar, Ica on flute, keys, vocals and everything percussion, Jordan Buck on Bass and so much more behind the scenes, Hannah Yates on vocals, bongos, congas, electric guitar and keys, Oscar Ellery on electric guitar and sitar and Eddie Hannemann on drums.

What are your musical backgrounds?

I started playing guitar and singing with my friends in Portugal, they had a band and I used to come around and watch them play and thought was the greatest thing ever. Eventually they told me if you can learn a song then I would be in the band, I took it literally and started practicing, I still sucked but eventually they let me join because we were all best friends. When I moved to Australia that was always the idea, to create a musical family. With time and watching each other’s bands and projects the band started taking shape, first me and Ica, then Jordan, then Hannah, Oscar and Eddie. A few different members in between but I won’t bore you with that.     

Where are you based, what is the scene like, and how has it influenced your sound?

We are based in South Australia, Adelaide. The music scene is really diverse, lots of different styles and sounds. It’s a great place to live, has a bit of everything, ocean, hills, countryside, a bit of desert. 

What can you tell me about the new album and its path to enlightenment? How should we listen to it in regard to its message?

To us, Endless represents our path to enlightenment individually and as a band. We are all in our own journeys to find purpose which brings us closer to happiness I guess. This album sings a lot about that, songs like Earth Chant sing lines like ”air is all I got, my god is air” or “when here and now we eternally bound” talk about to truly live is to simple breathe and in the moment so cliché yet so hard to achieve, or a song like Hunters, “we strong enough never to drown at sea, just weak enough never to make it to shore” or “we walked and sailed for days at once to a place where all the clouds were gone, to find nothing we found everything still we try and try and try, but words got in our way” and “ many years gone by but we still try searching for something we can’t be sure”, the struggles of becoming a successful band, to find our shore. Yumi, “here we are all form enlightened, here we are the void in spite of” or simply “the arrow is your guru”, what you aim to do in life is your purpose, guides you. Kuhnoo, ”will we ever bloom to bear our own weight”, Nu Poéme, “say what you feel say what you want for once”… so many examples I could give you but at the end of the day we would like to believe that music transcends all that, and that the listener will find their own meaning out of it.

Endless is your second album, what difference in approach did you guys take when creating it?

Sun was more of a collection of songs over the years as a band, Endless is more a representation of the band at a specific moment in time, a time where we are ever-changing in our personal lives and musically. It was a more calculated effort to say what we feel and less stream of consciousness type of writing.

What can you tell me about the non-music influences that inspired you to make the album?

We truly believe art is life and living, getting ideas in terms of music and sound from other artists is a big part of music, but to turn it into art and something meaningful to us, life and how we feel is the most important thing to us. We have lived, and we are living, that is the biggest catalyst in our songwriting.

Who are some artists that you really hold dear at the moment?

Mdou Moctar, Les Filles de Illighadad, The Perks of being a wallflower soundtrack, North Americans “Going Steady” album, Air, Vashti Bunyan, also I swear I have on repeat Raly Barrionuevo “De Alberdi” song and Nicholas Britell “Little’s Theme” from Moonlight motion picture soundtrack.

What does the future look like for Sons Of Zöku? And when can we expect a European tour?

Right now the plan is to release Endless into the world and then to see how our European fans receive it, but we definitely have them in our sights and we can’t wait to meet them all soon.

What should the Weirdo Shrine reader do immediately after reading this interview?

Follow Sons of Zöku on Spotify then put your headphones, ear pods or whatever, press play on any of our songs and go do something, bike ride, the dishes, cooking, jog, lay down, meditate, whatever, just let us be the soundtrack to whatever is happening in your life. If you like it, privately share it with a friend or loved one, that’s what’s all about.

From: https://weirdoshrine.wordpress.com/2024/01/25/review-qa-sons-of-zoku-endless-2023-copperfeast-records/

Jefferson Airplane - Two Heads

Want two heads on your body
And you've got two mirrors in your hand
Priests are made of brick with gold crosses on a stick
And your nose is too small for this land
Inside your head is your town
Inside your room your jail
Inside your mouth the elephant's trunk and booze
The only key to your bail

Two heads can be put together
And you can fill both your feet with sand
No one will know you've gutted your mind
But what will you do with your bloody hands?
Your lions are fighting with chairs
Your arms are incredibly fat
Your women are tired of dying alive
If you've had any women at that

Wearing your comb like an ax in your head
And listening for signs of life
Children are sucking on stone and lead
And chasing their hoops with a knife
New breasts and jewels for the girl
Keep them polished and shining
Put a lock on her belly at night, sweet life
For no child of mine
Want two heads on your body
And you've got two mirrors in your hand

Jefferson Airplane finally finished their third LP Halloween week after two months of off-and-on recording in Los Angeles. It’s called After Bathing at Baxter’s, has a fold-out cover designed by cartoonist Ron Cobb, and, says lead singer Marty Balin, is "a whole new and different thing for the group." Recorded while the San Franscisco band lived in luxury at a Beverly Hills mansion that the Beatles rented on one American tour, the album’s very tentative release date is November 15.
As of November 1st, seven tracks, besides ‘Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil’ and ‘Two Heads’ previously released as a single, were finished. Three are Paul Kantner compositions: ‘Watch Her Ride,’ ‘Martha,’ and ‘Wild Time.’ The other members, except for Jack Casady, have contributed one track each. Grace Slick’s song is ‘Rejoyce,’ originally called ‘Ulysses,’ whose lyric is snatches of James Joyce’s novel. An oboe plays behind her voice. "It’s too powerful for Top 40," says Balin, "it has the line, ‘I’d rather my country died for me,’ and there’s a character in it named ‘Blazes Crotch’." Spence Dryden did his cut, ‘A Package of Value,’ all by himself, putting three drum tracks, a marimba track, and one on harpsichord into a ‘song sandwich’ that is the joke of the album. Jorma Kaukonen’s number, ‘Last Wall of the Castle,’ is ‘a mind-blower,’ according to the Airplane’s personal manager, Bill Thompson. ‘Young Girl Sunday Blues,’ Balin’s contribution, is over five minutes long, the album’s longest cut.
Answering criticism that the album is way behind schedule, Balin said the group had never set a date for the album’s completion. "We’ve just done it when we could." As the Airplane left the Fillmore a week ago Sunday for their last planned session in RCA’s Los Angeles studios (the same ones used by the Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead), they had no idea of what songs would complete After Bathing. "We have a few more done," Balin said, "but we don’t like them. There’ll probably be two more and they’ll be things we come up with right at the last minute. We always do that. "Man, we’re the worst people ever in a recording studio. We create our music in the ballrooms. Compared to them a recording studio is so sterile, like a hospital, that it takes us three weeks just to get used to walking through the door." This time, with complete artistic control and without the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia as ‘spiritual and musical advisor,’ the Airplane has been on its own. "No one helps us," said Balin, "I think everyone there is afraid of us. We try crazy things and no one tells us they can’t be done. Our producer is like a school teacher with a real creative class, letting the kids do what they want and just making sure they don’t smash all the erasers."
Bill Thompson says the album cover is as strange as the sounds inside. Cobb’s cartoon is a monster airplane which carries, in tiny detail, symbols of plastic American culture; beer cans, billboards, ticky-tack houses and buildings, some of which are recognizable San Francisco landmarks. The plane trails a banner inscribed with the album’s title, a name suggested by an "underground-underground group called the Night Owls," says Balin. It refers to no known place or event. Inside the fold are six pictures of the Airplane taken by photographer Allan Frappe. Thompson says they are indescribably far out, with strange color and form distortions. Balin is so impressed that he would like to do a whole book with Frappe’s photographs. If hard times in the studio have held up the works, la dolce vita back at the mansion hasn’t helped any either. The mansion, with a giant pool, sauna bath, rifle range, electronically-controlled gate, and a Japanese houseboy (all for $5,000 a month), has been "a giant toy," says Balin for the group who haven’t always had it so good. "Every night something was happening," Balin said with a fond smile. "There were parties, strange parties, and then weird parties. We just sat there and watched the world go by right inside that house."  From: https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/jefferson-airplane-after-bathing-at-baxters

Ritual - Sadly Unspoken

Ritual is a relatively new Swedish band with a very unique sound, using acoustic instruments like violin, mandolina, bouzouki, etc.. Melodic complex rhythms reminds of early Yes but with a personal and innovative touch. An excellent folk-prog production with skilled musicians.

Finally the new Ritual album has arrived. Ritual released their debut album, simply called "Ritual", in 1995. Looking back it's quite clear that their debut album was one of the best debut albums in the 90's, so it was with great excitement I started listening to their follow-up "Superb Birth". Although their music has changed a bit since the debut you can still hear the typical Ritual sound and compositions with great musicianship. Their music is a mixture between Anekdoten, The Flower Kings, Folk music, Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin and Rush. The tracks are the opening "Dinosaur Spaceship", the folky acoustic "Golden Angel", "Coming Home", "Really Something", "Lobby", the oriental "6/8" with cello, violin and viola, "Into The Heat", the Led Zeppelinish "Sadly Unspoken", the single "Did I Go Wrong", the Led Zeppelinish "Mothersong", "A Voice Of Divinity" with only a grand piano and great vocals from Patrik Lundström and the closing "Do You Want To See The Sun". Ritual have managed to record an album that almost equals their debut album, and they have had a great impact on the progressive rock of the 90's. I certainly hope that they will take their music into the new millennium so that we can have many Ritual albums in the future. Highly recommended and a superb album!

From: https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=1174

Nuha Ruby Ra - Rise

A certain degree of gracious humility might be de rigueur for a rising artist talking about their increasing successes, but when Nuha Ruby Ra says that the last twelve months have exceeded her wildest expectations, you can tell she’s not just playing for compliments. Influenced by Nick Cave’s discordant first band The Birthday Party and German experimentalists Einstürzende Neubauten, the London artist makes hypnotic, uncomfortable, hyper-sensory music that’s about as far away from an easily-quantifiable Spotify playlist category as you can get; on stage, she prowls the space performing to a live-recorded backing track, dressed in leather with a painted N slashed where a third eye might sit. An obvious choice for a mainstream audience, Nuha most certainly is not, and yet in recent months, she’s found herself on a steady stream of high-profile tours, handpicked to support the likes of Yard Act, Viagra Boys, Warmduscher and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. This month, she’ll step it up another notch, joining Self Esteem on her sold-out victory lap.
“I really would not have expected in my wildest dreams that people would connect with the music I’m doing on the current scale of things. It’s already exceeded all expectations. I thought if I was lucky I’d be some niche small, small thing, but it’s given me some genuine hope and belief in people seeing things outside of the norm,” she begins, sat next to a rail of outfit choices that include a vast array of red and black cowboy boots and coats, alongside a black bunny mask procured from a Hamburg sex shop. “Something I get from people at shows is, ‘I’ve never seen, heard or experienced anything like this before but it’s inspired me’. I think it’s a new thing for a lot of people but they seem to be into it. I think what helps is that I’m really not putting anything on. I’m very honest when I’m performing and maybe that travels through somehow. It never comes from a place of antagonism.”
Though, on a surface level, the music Nuha makes exists in an uneasy space that refutes ideas of what should be palatable - both musically and lyrically - she baulks at the notion that any part of what she does would be seen as playing a character. Instead, music is a space to let all the shadow parts come to the light, leaning into the angry, sad, sexual sides of herself and pushing them to the fore. “I’ve found a place where I can let out these parts of me and these ways of being. It’s not a persona, it’s kind of the most real me there is,” she says. “When I was younger I was exposed to pop music and bands where everything was quite ‘correct’ in terms of song structures, and people singing ‘well’ in inverted commas. Then when I came across bands [like Neubaten] I just felt like it was giving across a feeling that wasn’t about perfection, and feeling over perfection remains the most important thing to me.
“I’m lucky enough to be able to write songs and go out and perform them, and that helps shed a lot of trapped emotions,” she continues. “I scream on stage in some of the songs and those screams are a fucking godsend. There are so many times when you need to be a bit primal in life but you can’t go and scream in the street or people think you’re crazy. Recently in ‘Run Run’ I’ve started saying to the audience, ‘This is your space to scream if you want to scream’ and some of the shows people have really let rip! It’s like a little help group.”
This month, the group will receive a new text in the form of ‘Machine Like Me’ - six strangely mesmerising, sometimes jarring yet consistently playful tracks unlike anything else around, that push Nuha’s self-sufficient polymath ethos even further. Having pivoted from her punk band roots to perform with nothing on stage aside from a backing track and herself (“I found myself performing in a really different way because the connection is just between me and the people at the gig”), and having directed her own recent videos on top of designing and making her own DIY merch, now Nuha is playing almost every instrument on the record herself too.
“It’s just this massively narcissistic thing where I do everything myself!” she cackles. “No, but with every record it’s just what I feel like doing at the time. On the first EP I wanted to have the role of the singer because I’d never had that before, and then with the new one I wanted to be like, could I basically create what sounds like there’s a good band here but I’m playing everything? It’s all just play to be honest, and seeing what might be fun. So for the one after that, I really don’t know. I just tend to see what I want to do at the time and where that takes me.”  From: https://diymag.com/interview/nuha-ruby-ra-march-2023-interview

Fairport Convention - Sloth

Full House marked the consolidation of Fairport’s transition from West Coast-styled, hallucinogenics-influenced outfit - a British Jefferson Airplane, perhaps – to purveyors of rocked-up, electrified British traditional folk; a courageous move tentatively started with the inclusion of A Sailor’s Life on Unhalfbricking and triumphantly completed on Liege And Lief, perhaps the most influential and important UK rock album to appear since Sergeant Pepper. But Fairport had then lost arguably its two most important contributors, founder and direction-setter Ashley Hutchings and crystal-voiced frontwoman Sandy Denny. New bassist Dave Pegg proved a valuable acquisition with his rocky style, but the other members had to close ranks and take on the vocal chores themselves. They did so, with an initial naivete that retrospectively evinces considerable charm, Richard Thompson and Dave Swarbrick proving to have distinctively different rural vocal deliveries and Simon Nicol reluctantly airing a melodious tenor that would eventually see him become the band’s leading voice.
The other element that newly marks Full House out is the humour and looseness which its illustrious predecessor lacked. With talented but earnest female vocalist Denny no longer having to be accommodated and adulated, the boys were free to have some fun, and it comes across in these grooves, notwithstanding the doomy themes of some of the lyrics: songs about sexual exploitation, sin and death can be funky, as Doctor Of Physick, Sloth and Sir Patrick Spens show. I recall seeing this line-up play the Bath Festival Of Blues And Progressive Music at Shepton Mallet in 1970, and the high jinks on stage would not have been on display a year earlier.
Walk Awhile is a wonderfully swinging opener, with all three lead vocalists taking turns at the verses and fine, fiery harmony and octave work between Thompson’s guitar and Swarbrick’s violin. Sloth is an ominous, downbeat death march that builds to an almost unbearable tension in the lengthy instrumental break as Thompson’s edgy Strat and Swarb’s compressed, wailing fiddle duke it out in opposite stereo channels: perhaps the best instrumental work the band ever produced. The two cheerful jig medleys offer a variety of familiar and little-known traditional tunes, forefronting Swarb’s and Peggy’s dueling mandolins on Flatback Caper and all four string players on Dirty Linen. Spens is a gloriously disrespectful, steady-rollin’ take on that revered Scottish traditional ditty, while Nicol’s amplified dulcimer provides the backbone for that country’s mournful anthem for the dead, Flowers Of The Forest. The Island CD re-release offers a number of bonus tracks, including the unnecessarily lugubrious Poor Will & The Jolly Hangman that had been removed (probably wisely) from the original pressing at the last moment at the insistence of its writer, Thompson, and the brief but excellent non-album single Now Be Thankful, one of the band’s evergreens.
Full House is arguably Fairport’s last really great album, its release being followed by the departure of Thompson for a solo career and his replacement by Jerry Donohue, whose elegant Nashville style prefaced a gentle slide in the direction of country rock. Henceforth Swarbrick would take over the band’s direction as the quality gradually declined until his own departure, when Nicol as the last-standing original member would take the reins. After countless further line-up changes and albums the band remains extant and much-loved to this day, with its annual outdoor reunion at Cropredy in Oxfordshire attracting swarms of the faithful.  From: https://therisingstorm.net/fairport-convention-full-house/