Sally Rogers & Claudia Schmidt - Some Fathers Have Gone To Glory

 #Sally Rogers #Claudia Schmidt #folk #traditional #Americana #singer-songwriter #contemporary folk #a capella

A version of this Appalachian spiritual,  titled "Some Mothers Have Gone to Glory," was sung by Jean Ritchie in 1951 and recorded by Alan Lomax.

Pioneering the use of stereo recording in the field, Alan Lomax made his “Southern Journey” in 1959–60, returning to the rural South (after 10 years abroad) and rediscovering its still-vital traditions. He traveled from the Appalachians to the Georgia Sea Islands, from the Ozarks to the Mississippi Delta, recording blues, ballads, breakdowns, hymns, shouts, chanteys, and work songs. When they were released by Atlantic Records (1960) and Prestige Records (1962), these recordings served as inspiration and guide to a new generation of musicians passionately interested in the heritage this music represents.  From: https://www.culturalequity.org/rounder-records/southern-journey

 Alan Lomax was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a musician himself, as well as a folklorist, archivist, writer, scholar, political activist, oral historian, and film-maker. Lomax produced recordings, concerts, and radio shows in the US and in England, which played an important role in preserving folk music traditions in both countries, and helped start both the American and British folk revivals of the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s. He collected material first with his father, folklorist and collector John Lomax, and later alone and with others, Lomax recorded thousands of songs and interviews for the Archive of American Folk Song, of which he was the director, at the Library of Congress on aluminum and acetate discs.  From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Lomax

 

Jean Ritchie

Fairport Convention - It's Alright Ma, It's Only Witchcraft

 #Fairport Convention #Ian Matthews #Ashley Hutchings #Richard Thompson #folk rock #British folk rock #electric folk #British folk #1960s

It could be said that Fairport Convention was the first true second-generation folk-rock band, in that its initial repertoire and model came not from folk songs, but from imported folk-rock records. In our days of worldwide simultaneous releases and block-long music megastores, it can be easy to forget that in 1967, even LPs on Vanguard and Elektra could be hard to come by in England. To learn songs by Love, Richard & Mimi Fariña, and Jim & Jean commanded the same kind of obscurist archivism that American teenagers of the late 1950s and early 1960s needed to locate Alan Lomax field recordings, Library of Congress LPs, and Folkways releases. This is what Fairport Convention, formed in North London by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol and bassist Ashley Hutchings, did to master a repertoire that likely was unduplicated anywhere in the British Isles in 1967. Over the next few months the lineup was filled out by drummer Martin Lamble, singer Judy Dyble, and singer Ian Matthews. Except for Hutchings, all were still in their teens (Nicol was only 16), and, except for Matthews, who'd been on a 1967 pop-rock single by the Pyramid, none of them had played on any records.
"When I received the invitation to check out Fairport I knew absolutely nothing about them," recalls Matthews. "All I knew was that they were beginning to establish themselves as an underground favorite, by playing regularly at the UFO club in Covent Garden. But the crowd I was running with at the time were listening to a completely different genre of music. The day I met the band for the first time they had gathered in a small studio in south London called Sound Techniques, to record their first single. I was between homes at the time and I walked in with my suitcase and a dozen albums under my arm: Tim Hardin, Richie Havens, Tim Buckley, The Byrds, David Ackles etc. I believe these albums got me the job, because it was coincidentally exactly what they were all listening to, plus Dylan, Joni and Richard Farina, of course.
"At the time no one in the band was writing with any seriousness, so we dug deep into that type of approach for inspiration and for stage material. I don't think anyone apart from possibly Joe Boyd had any vision of where the band was headed, or what we might become. We were developing something and placed no boundaries on it. At the back of our minds American folk-rock was the happening thing, both musically and inspirationally. We loved the Airplane, and the two lead vocalist approach appealed to us. Because of our name and our scruffy onstage presence, lots of people around that time thought we were American, and considering the possible rewards, we were not about to attempt to dispel that presumption."
"Wherever Fairport played when we started in '67, there were groups playing improvisational music to a large extent," says Hutchings. "They'd start out on a chord formation and maybe sing a few words, and that would just be the vehicle to go off and paint colors instrumentally, for long stretches. There was really almost no one else tackling the best singer-songwriters and what one might loosely call contemporary folk music. Eclection were the only band I can think of right now touring England at that time who impinged on our territory. Why that is, I don't know. It's just how it was. "And I'm glad it was, really, because we wouldn't have stood out. And we did stand out as a band. In the early days, we weren't that good. But we stood out because we played these short, intelligent, rather lovely songs, and no one else was doing them. Pentangle came from a whole different area. We didn't consider that we were anything like Pentangle. They played acoustic instruments, but also they came largely from the jazz side. They swung the folk. We rocked the folk."
The band's first album, 1968's Fairport Convention, is often dismissed as an irrelevant curiosity due to its dissimilarity to the group's later, more British folk-fueled efforts. To the contrary, it is a highly credible and enjoyable, if derivative, West Coast-styled folk-rock album, owing much to the early Byrds and (particularly in the male-female vocal harmonies and vocal solo tradeoffs) Jefferson Airplane. The songs they covered would have been obscure to almost anyone on either side of the Atlantic: Joni Mitchell's "I Don't Know Where I Stand" and "Chelsea Morning" (both of which she had yet to release), Jim & Jean's "One Sure Thing," the Merry-Go-Round's "Time Will Show the Wiser," and Ben Carruthers's "Jack o' Diamonds," the last of which is a true affidavit to their record-collecting prowess, as it's doubtful the original 45 could have sold more than a few copies. More importantly, the band showed itself capable of writing strong original material in the same mold.  From: http://www.richieunterberger.com/fairport.html 

Haight-Ashbury - Sepia Song

 #Haight-Ashbury #psychedelic rock #psychedelic folk #folk rock #acid folk #neo-psychedelia #flower power #retro-San Francisco sound #sunshine pop #Scottish

Without getting hairy and naked and giving out LSD-drenched bandanas and Timothy Leary pamphlets at every gig, Haight-Ashbury couldn’t wear their influences more clearly on their kaftan sleeves. Though Jen Thomson and siblings Kirsty and Scott Reid hail from Glasgow, they pine for San Francisco 1968 and pay faithful homage to the era with their melodic, psychedelic folk rock - complete with more sitars and tambourines than a Hare Krishna recruitment drive - that’s been liberally dunked in more modern psych stews. Think Fairport Convention, Harrison’s solo work or The Incredible String Band having a love-in with The Jesus & Mary Chain, Mazzy Star, Kyuss and MGMT. On acid? Obviously. Duh. Their previous two albums - 2010’s Here In The Golden Rays and 2012’s Haight-Ashbury 2: The Ashburys - have been so authentic as to lose their grip on their pop edge and drift into the odd indulgent cosmic meander at points. But the comforting fuzz-hugs of their third retain a firm melodic focus, recalling more modern waft-pop acts like Haim and School Of Seven Bells, through the Dear Prudence chug of Family, the gang chanting Velvets pastiche Kicks and the Fleetwood Maharishi pop of Blow Your Mind. Their dark psychedelia just got all the more enthralling. Be sure to wear some hogweed in your hair.  From: https://www.loudersound.com/reviews/haight-ashbury-perhaps

Imperial Drag - Boy Or A Girl

 #Imperial Drag #power pop #glam rock #alternative rock #pop rock #retro-1970s #ex-Jellyfish #1990s

Just like 2 Live Crew before them, Imperial Drag has experienced problems in Florida. Radio station WXTB in Tampa says they pulled the band's single "Boy or A Girl" after complaints came in from listeners who were uncomfortable with the song's lyrical content. "I didn't think it was such a button pusher," says Imperial Drag singer/guitarist Eric Dover of the banned song he wrote about talk show exploitation and sexual paranoia. "It's about coming to grips with certain tendencies. I guess some people got upset because it addresses an alternative side of someone's sexuality. But what I think is strange is the way an alternative radio station folded under pressure. How alternative is that? Some might bypass any alternative tag for the band and simply stick Imperial Drag in with the retro-lo-fi-polyester trend that's been around for the past couple years. The band's Beatles-meet-T. Rex glam-pop sound obviously draws plenty from the past. "We get a retro tag because our influences just show up too damn well," says keyboardist Roger Manning, ex-Jellyfish founder and recent Moog Cookbook chef. "I could write an AC/DC or Queen song in five minutes. I guess that's a blessing and a curse. But for the fans of this music the tag is not an issue. Besides, people are always digging up childhood memorabilia. It's always fascinating that anything from the 70s gets a negative tag, but ska and punk were around years ago too and today it's seen as something new. But I guess people are going to like what they like for whatever reasons.  From: https://www.mtv.com/news/5cjntm/dont-call-imperial-drag-retro

Lisa Loeb - Gypsies, Tramps And Thieves

 #Lisa Loeb #alternative rock #pop rock #folk rock #singer-songwriter #1990s #Cher cover

Q: You’ve had some interesting covers, such as Cher’s hit, “Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves.” Did you record the song because you like it or did someone bring it to you?

Lisa Loeb: That was one of my favorite songs from when I was growing up. There was a guy named Bob Kulich who puts together a lot of cover albums and he usually calls on heavy metal guitar players to do them.  A long time ago when I was dating Dweezil Zappa, he asked Dweezil to be a part of an Ozzy Osbourne covers album.  We both suggested that I sing “Goodbye To Romance,” which is an Ozzy Osbourne song. After a little bit of a fight Bob thought it was a good idea and I did this song with all these other great musicians playing on the track.  It was a really interesting experience and added variety to the album.  So Bob called on me to do some other covers.  When the Cher covers album came up, “Gypsies, Tramps And Thieves” was always one of my favorites.  It’s so mysterious sounding and dramatic, definitely not something I wouldn’t do myself, I don’t think.  I was so excited to have the opportunity to sing that song.

From: https://news.pollstar.com/2014/04/18/a-few-minutes-with-lisa-loeb/

Portishead - Mourning Air

 #Portishead #trip-hop #alternative rock #electronica #downtempo #acid house #1990s

Portishead may not have invented trip-hop, but they were among the first to popularize it, particularly in America. Taking their cue from the slow, elastic beats that dominated Massive Attack's Blue Lines and adding elements of cool jazz, acid house, and soundtrack music, Portishead created an atmospheric, alluringly dark sound. The group wasn't as avant-garde as Tricky, nor as tied to dance traditions as Massive Attack; instead, it wrote evocative pseudo-cabaret pop songs that subverted their conventional structures with experimental productions and rhythms of trip-hop. As a result, Portishead appealed to a broad audience - not just electronic dance and alternative rock fans, but thirtysomethings who found techno, trip-hop, and dance as exotic as worldbeat. Before Portishead released their debut album, Dummy, in 1994, trip-hop's broad appeal wasn't apparent, but the record became an unexpected success in Britain, topping most year-end critics polls and earning the prestigious Mercury Music Prize; in America, it also became an underground hit. Following the success of Dummy, legions of imitators appeared over the next two years.  From: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/portishead-mn0000301619/biography

Twenty-five years ago, during the summer of Blur’s Parklife and Oasis’s Definitely Maybe, a darker, stranger record was released that would soon become huge. Its title and mood was inspired by a 1970s TV drama of the same name, about a young deaf woman in Yorkshire who becomes a prostitute. The lyrics spoke of emotional extremes, sung in an extraordinary, rural-tinged, English blues by the Devon-born Beth Gibbons, of “the blackness, the darkness, forever” in Wandering Star, or of the feeling that “nobody loves me, it’s true, not like you do” in Sour Times. It’s sound, woven together by Geoff Barrow and Adrian Utley, helped define what is known today in music as hauntology, the sampling of older, spectral sounds to evoke deeper cultural memories (Boards of Canada’s TV-sampling electronica, Burial’s dubstep, and the Ghost Box label’s folk horror soundworlds would follow their lead). But despite its starkness, Dummy became a triple-platinum seller and a Mercury prizewinner, perhaps because it struck a nerve in what Barrow calls our “sonic unconscious - when sounds can merge with other sounds from somewhere else, and ultimately create emotion”.  From: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/aug/24/portishead-dummy-wasnt-a-chillout-album-25th-anniversary-geoff-barrow-adrian-utley-beth-gibbons

Toadies - Backslider

 #Toadies #alternative rock #punk #post-grunge #hard rock #punk metal #indie rock #1990s

25+ years. That’s a long time to maintain relevance, especially in the music community. But that’s exactly what Rubberneck has done. Released during the height of the grunge era, it’s mistakenly labeled a grunge record. But it’s not, not by a long shot. Described as “the Pixies meets Metallica”, the Toadies had their feet firmly ensconced in indie, alternative, punk and (near) metal to forge a sound truly all their own. 11 songs without a wasted stroke, from the first strum of the instrumental “Mexican Hairless” announcing the arrival of Rubberneck to the heavy, near post-punk feel of the closer “I Burn,” the Toadies wasted nary a note, beat or word, 36 minutes of pure original Texas sonic-boogie bliss, this was an album that could only be forged by Texans, attempting to reclaim the rock world from Seattle’s grungy little fist. Not being grunge, punk or metal, Interscope originally went with the latter, placing the Toadies on hair metal showcases and festivals with the likes of Dokken and Great White. Therefore, their eponymous debut album was not met with the overnight success many people might believe. 2 singles and videos (“Mr. Love,” “Backslider”) had already come and gone in the time between late August and Christmas, and it certainly wasn’t a hit. Small tours with Samiam, The Goats, and Big Chief had done little to dent the band in the public eye, all the while turning them into a four-headed rock machine. 4 months of constant touring will do that to an already tight band, and they roared into 1995 as a juggernaut. With only a few thousand copies sold, they had one last chance to impress, and that came in the form of a ghost story centered on a North Texas lake called “Possum Kingdom.” One creepy video and a slot opening for British upstarts Bush later, people were finally taking notice and Rubberneck started picking up steam. Of all places to break first for them, Florida jumped right on board. Subsequent tours with All and a very young Sugar Ray only tightened the band as it headed into summer, with one of the most endearing singles of the year on their hands. “Possum Kingdom” was inescapable during that summer, and neither were the Toadies.   From: https://thetoadies.com/bio/

The Velvet Underground - Rock & Roll

#The Velvet Underground #Lou Reed #John Cale #experimental rock #art rock #avant-garde #proto-punk #1960s

Though there are many themes that keep reappearing throughout the history of music, few make for better songs than that of the "innocent" child hearing "great" music for the first time. In nearly every genre, some form of this song has been recorded, and while the details change, the spirit behind the song is always one that remind people of the great power of music. With a majority of these songs, the lyrics seem quite autobiographical in nature, while they can simultaneously be applied to nearly anyone, and this is often the reason that the songs become so legendary. While it is truly a countless amount of songs that are created in this manner, there are few that can compare, both musically and lyrically to the mood and power of The Velvet Underground's classic tune, "Rock and Roll." As an integral part of their legendary 1970 record, Loaded, the song perfectly captures these feelings, and yet it is easily one of the most joyous and inspiring songs ever recorded. Powered by the early punk sound of the band, along with the stunning vocal work of Lou Reed, the song instantly grabs the listener and the true genius behind the song remains in the fact that no matter how many times one hears the song, it still has the same level of impact. From the core riff to the iconic lyrics, there are truly very few songs that can compare to the sheer magnificence of the often imitated, but never even remotely duplicated, "Rock and Roll."
Truth be told, the song was actually recorded on the tail end of the bands' previous, self-titled record a year earlier, but it did not make the cut and was left "on the shelf" while the group changed record labels. In retrospect, this was a very good thing, as "Rock and Roll" fits far better with the songs on Loaded than with those of their 1969 effort. The song itself is driven by a brilliantly simple three-chord progression, making it a song that even the most novice guitar player could easily master. This uncomplicated musical approach is certainly one of the keys to the songs' appeal, and yet it also reflects the universal nature of the music which is being referred to in the lyrics. However, "Rock and Roll" also features The Velvet Underground's signature gritty, stripped down sound, and it provided a very stark musical contrast to nearly everything else that was being released at the time. While both Lou Reed and Sterling Morrison provide stunning guitar work throughout the song, one of the key aspects that sets both the song and album apart from the rest of the bands' work is the fact that drummer Maureen Tucker is not present. At this point, Tucker was gone from the band due to having a child, and throughout Loaded, the percussion is handled by a number of different people. Regardless, "Rock and Roll" presents an absolutely amazing groove, and it remains one of the most irresistible rock anthems ever recorded.  From: http://thedailyguru.blogspot.com/2010/03/march-4-velvet-underground-rock-and.html

Bent Knee - Catch Light

 #Bent Knee #progressive rock #art rock #industrial #baroque pop #avant-garde #music video

Bent Knee was formed at Boston's Berklee College of Music by Courtney Swain (Vocals), Ben Levin (Guitar) and Vince Welch (Production and Sound Design) out of a love of the epic and grand and has influences of Psych, Baroque Pop and Avant-Jazz. Their eponymous debut CD was released in 2011 and is mostly a study of Courtney Swain’s sultry voice, which sounds like an angry Shirley Manson (Garbage), fighting for attention from Ben Levin’s occasionally crunchy and frequently sporadic guitar. Their second album, 'Shiny Eyed Babies', released in 2014 was more of a full band effort with the addition of, Chris Baum (Violin), Jessica Kion (Bass) and Gavin Wallace-Ailsworth (Drums) and has a more diverse feel to it with jazzier moments, alternating with the starker sound of the first album. Fans of Tori Amos may enjoy Bent Knee as would fans of distinctive female driven, stark music.  From: https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=9175

When you think of a band made up of musicians who met at a prestigious music school, a certain image may come to mind. A group of highly skilled artists, hunched over their respective instruments in utter concentration, spooling out complex notes and unorthodox time signatures, producing music of tremendous difficulty and seriousness.
In the case of Bent Knee, you can put your preconceived notions to rest. Yes, all six members of the Boston-based band met while studying at the Berklee College of Music. Yes, they’re all tremendously talented musicians. But while their music may contain a multitude of music theory complexity, it can also be accessible, funky, tender, vulnerable, head-banging, and heavy on guilty-pleasure pop/rock tropes. Bent Knee’s latest album, You Know What They Mean, weaves together everything that made their four previous albums equal parts jaw-dropping and, dare I say, fun. For a band so good at smashing boundaries, they’ve managed to find a few more to tear down this time around.
Produced by their multi-instrumentalist/sound designer Vince Welch, the album is a typical Bent Knee stew of styles and dynamics. What they managed to achieve this time around is a remarkable sense of coherence between all the songs. Despite the music’s range, the songs literally flow together with little to no space between the tracks. It results in something of a throwback to the days of progressive rock concept albums. Labelling Bent Knee as prog rock, incidentally, is not entirely off the mark. They get a good deal of press in prog publications. But there are also plenty of avant-garde touches, art rock, bits and pieces of jazz (they’re Berklee grads, after all), as well as good old-fashioned metal, thanks in part to the pummeling riffs of guitarist Ben Levin.  From: https://www.popmatters.com/bent-knee-you-know-what-2640907574.html

Rosalie Cunningham - Ride On My Bike

 #Rosalie Cunningham #ex-Purson #psychedelic rock #art rock #neo-psychedelia #hard rock #singer-songwriter #music video

Rosalie Cunningham: The Soundtrack Of My Life

Singer-songwriter Rosalie Cunningham picks her records, artists and gigs of lasting significance, and reveals why Stackridge might be better than Genesis.

Having started out as a teenager with Ipso Facto in the late noughties, singer-songwriter Rosalie Cunningham emerged as the guiding force of Purson. The band’s billowy psych-prog sustained itself for two essential studio albums before Cunningham called time in 2017. She’s since embarked on a grippingly eclectic solo career. Her latest album, Two Piece Puzzle, is rich, dark, playful and wonderfully adventurous. We really wouldn’t expect anything less.

The first music I Remember hearing

I was exposed to a lot of cool music growing up, because my dad was a musician. But the first song I remember, when I was about three or four, was Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Grows) by Edison Lighthouse. I don’t know if it’s because the character in the song had a similar name to me, but something just sort of stuck.

The first song I performed live

My first proper gig was an underage rock night when I was thirteen. We did a short set, mostly covers, and a couple of very primitive songs that I’d tried to write. We opened with 20th Century Boy by T. Rex. The guys in the band were quite a bit older than me and were into punk, so we also played Ever Fallen In Love by Buzzcocks and something by The Misfits.

The singer

Different styles mean different favourites for me. As a frontman and singer, Freddie Mercury was just the best. When it comes to rock/soul, I’d say Steve Marriott. And for female vocalists it has to be Sandy Denny. She’s got such a rich voice, but I also love the vulnerability of it.

The songwriter

Lennon and McCartney are way above everyone else on the top tier, then it’s Bowie. He was so idiosyncratic and wrote so many great classics. He’s definitely a massive influence on me. Even if you strip him right back to just an acoustic guitar and vocal, the songs are still just as good.

The guitar hero

Mick Ronson’s signature sound had so much attitude, it was so badass. I think it’s just the best guitar sound there is. Musically, as an arranger, he was ridiculously intelligent too, which a lot of lead guitarists aren’t really known for. He was incredibly humble and understated in that sense. But when you listen to anything he was involved with, it’s quite clear he was a genius.

The greatest album of all time

My favourite Beatles album changes quite regularly, but I think Abbey Road, as a sort of final statement, is a masterpiece. It stands separate from the others. It’s so far ahead of its time, but it’s also completely timeless. My dad used to do music journalism for the live industry, and I actually met Paul McCartney backstage on his American tour in 2004, when I was fourteen. I freaked the fuck out, I couldn’t speak at all. I sat next to him eating lunch, for about an hour.

The best record I've made

I’m proud of all the Purson stuff and my first solo album, but I have to say the new one [Two Piece Puzzle], don’t I? The best is always the latest.

The worst record I've made

Ipso Facto was my first sort of proper professional band. We never actually did an album, though, just a bunch of singles. And none of them were very good. It’s charming in a way, but it’s like having an old diary from when you were a teenager out on display on the internet. It’s so embarrassing. I was far too young to be in the public eye.

The most underrated band ever

Stackridge made some incredible albums in the seventies, particularly The Man In The Bowler Hat, which was produced by George Martin. If you like theatrical, psychedelic prog, it’s genius. I’d rate it above a lot of Genesis’s stuff. I had absolutely no idea that Stackridge were uncool, so maybe that’s why they’re underrated.

The best live album

In terms of heavy rock bands, I love Deep Purple the most, probably because of the organ sound. They were really on fire with Made In Japan. That noise coming out of the speakers is like going on a ride. It blows your head off. It’s just kind of outrageous.

My guilty pleasure

I have a soft spot for musicals. I’ll stick on the Grease soundtrack and sing along with all the different parts, which drives Rosco [Wilson, her partner] absolutely mad, because he hates it.

My Saturday night party song

Rosco and I haven’t been going out much lately, but we stay in and have party nights indoors. We always put on Down In Mexico by The Coasters and that’s when the party starts. It gets us dancing around the living room.

The song that makes me cry

Howlin’ Rain’s Strange Thunder is a really moving song. The subject matter is about suicide anyway, but it’s actually the way that the song progresses, musically, that causes this tidal wave of emotion by the end. It gets me every time. There’s also an Elvis one, If I Can Dream, that really moves me whenever I hear it.

The song I want played at my funeral

I’d have to go for Gotta Get Up by Harry Nilsson, because the lyrics – taken in that context against a sort of upbeat melody – would be a nice little black comedy moment to end on.

From: https://www.loudersound.com/features/rosalie-cunningham-the-soundtrack-of-my-life

Bad Keys of the Mountain - As It Is

 #Bad Keys of the Mountain #country rock #alt-country #Southern rock #blues rock #Americana #animated music video

The shuffling boogie and Southern-fried licks in the opening title track of “Together and Alone” are an indicator that there’s plenty of good old-fashioned American, down-home rock in the new album from Bad Keys of the Mountain. But it’s not long before it becomes apparent how deep the influences of this West Virginia trio get, as Beatlesque melodies wind their way into the song. “I am you, and you are me / All in all is all we’ll be forever,” vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter David McGuire sings. “Laughing as we pass the time / ‘til we can be together and alone.” True to the album’s title, Together and Alone was recorded in quarantine during the summer of 2020. The band, which also feature bassist Joey Lafferty and drummer Joey Reese, holed up in a studio in their hometown of Charleston, West Virginia. “As the Covid pandemic hit early in the year and brought all things music to a halt, we decided to put all of our creative energies into making a record that we feel is both timeless and of the times, and that both looks inward and outward,” says McGuire in the album’s press materials. “Capturing the sounds of rock ‘n’ roll ranging from the 1960s to the indie wave of the early 2000s, this record is the best example yet of who we are as a collection of musicians.”  From: https://www.popmatters.com/bad-keys-mountain-together-alone

Little Big - Hateful Love

 #Little Big #techno #EDM #rave #pop punk #satirical #surreal #Russian #music video

Little Big are a Russian rave band founded in Saint Petersburg in 2013. The band currently consists of Ilya "Ilich" Prusikin and Sonya Tayurskaya. Their first full-length album, With Russia from Love, was released in March of 2014. The group has released a total of four albums and nine singles. The band is currently based out of Los Angeles, California, following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The team calls itself a satirical art collaboration, which relies on the music, visuals, and the show. Little Big mocks various national stereotypes about Russia. All the videos are filmed by co-founder Alina Pasok. The band shoots and produces all of their music videos. Since the first concert took place as the opening act for Die Antwoord, the band was dubbed "The Russian Die Antwoord", and is often compared with this band. Vice also called Little Big "a Russian mental patient's answer to Die Antwoord". Other critics point out that while Little Big has an identity of its own, it also exposes the listener to Russian folk songs and Russian culture. The band was influenced by a variety of musicians from Cannibal Corpse, NOFX, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rammstein, and The Prodigy to Mozart and Vivaldi.  From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Big_(band)

 His songs are fabulously popular, known for their furious dance beats, absurd lyrics and tongue-in-cheek videos that poke fun at Russian stereotypes, pop culture and trappings of wealth. But in just four months, Ilya Prusikin’s life has turned upside down — he is in self-imposed exile for expressing his horror at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He lives in fear that he will never again see his home. “They are depriving me of a right to say that I don’t agree with murder,” said Prusikin, the lead singer for the Russian band Little Big, speaking via Zoom from an apartment in Los Angeles. As Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine in late February, Little Big posted a “No War” message on its social media channels in Russian and English. Less than a week later, Prusikin, 37, along with the band’s female vocalist Sonya Tayurskaya, 31, left their home in Moscow for the U.S. They faced the stark choice that many Russians opposing the war have confronted amid an unprecedented crackdown on free speech by President Vladimir Putin’s government. For most Russians who don’t agree with the war, new draconian legislation threatening jail time for any criticism of the armed forces has meant a choice between speaking out and leaving their homeland, or staying put and facing probable arrest and imprisonment. This intensifying repression, reminiscent of the Soviet era, clashes with the Western-influenced music scene that gave birth to Little Big, a self-described “punk-pop-rave band.” The four-person band’s viral hit “Skibidi” spawned a dance craze in Russia and around the world in 2018, and has nearly 620 million views on YouTube.  From: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-ukraine-little-big-ilya-prusikin-punk-rock-music-rcna36648

Gothic Voices - Verbum Patris Umanatur

 #Gothic Voices #medieval music #early music #Renaissance music #vocal group #Gregorian chant #a capella #ars nova #ars antiqua

A Feather on the Breath of God… This wonderfully evocative phrase of Abbess Hildegard of Bingen – chosen as the title of Gothic Voices’ groundbreaking and award-winning first recording – is a fine description of the sound world that the ensemble inhabits. For more than thirty years Gothic Voices has been world-renowned for the excellence, refinement and spirituality of its performances of medieval music and has appeared throughout Europe and in the Americas. Originally founded in 1980 by the scholar and musician Christopher Page, Gothic Voices has gone on to record twenty-three CDs for the Hyperion and Avie labels, three of which won the coveted Gramophone Magazine Early Music Award. Gothic Voices is committed to bringing medieval music into the mainstream. Their imaginative programmes use their voices in varying combinations to produce authoritative performances of great beauty which have won the appreciation of audiences all over the world. The ensemble also enjoys performing contemporary music, particularly pieces with medieval associations. Many of today’s composers are influenced by the medieval repertoire and its often experimental nature. Gothic Voices plans to give a renewed emphasis to the combination of old and new alongside its more traditional programmes.  From: https://gothicvoices.co.uk/biography/

Some aspects of being human must be "transhistorical," according to Christopher Page; sustained exposure to the music of the past opens a window onto how past humans experienced that music. Page has devoted a prolific corner of his life to using music to bridge the historical gap between human beings: Gothic Voices, the vocal ensemble he has directed since its founding in 1980. The group, clearly one of the world's leaders in the performance of medieval music, gives concerts quite frequently in England, as well as continental Europe, America, and Canada; their close relationship with Hyperion Records has resulted in nearly twenty critically-acclaimed recordings. Spanning musics from Hildegard of Bingen to the turn of the sixteenth century, they consistently present music of outstanding quality, with the highest standards of performance. Their vocal sound is a conscious blend of "scrupulously accurate" tuning, sensitive phrasing, careful rhythmic articulation, and a bright and clear vocal production.  From: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gothic-voices-mn0000501365/biography

Janis Joplin with Big Brother & The Holding Company - I Need a Man to Love

 #Janis Joplin #Big Brother & The Holding Company #blues rock #acid rock #psychedelic rock #West coast sound #1960s

Janis Joplin has the ain't-got-no-man blues in this psychedelic rock tune she co-wrote with Big Brother & The Holding Company's lead guitarist, Sam Andrew. He recalled to Goldmine in 1998: "'I Need A Man To Love' we wrote in about five minutes, backstage on a tuning amplifier. And that was a real sort of 'mission statement' from Janis, lyrically. And for me, it just popped out - it was a real kind of common riff, except for the bridge. We played it in A minor, and then it goes to the bridge, which is in F sharp minor. And there's a lot of chromaticism in there, so for me it was a departure that way. In a 1998 Gadfly interview, Andrew said the intro was based on Albert King's guitar riff from the blues song "Born Under A Bad Sign."
Joplin found it difficult to put her pain on display for an indifferent crowd, especially in her early days. She explained: "I had a couple of shows where I played the whole show really into it, completely giving all I had, and I was doing a freeform thing, talking, bring it all out, let it all go. Just talked about Janis and all the men that hurt her, and all the men that maybe she let down, and everything that you got to say; all of a sudden it starts coming out of your mouth, and you didn't even intend it to, and all of a sudden I heard them speak, I heard them talkin' in the middle of my fuckin' shit, man, and I stopped and I waited to see if they'd quit. They didn't quit, and I grabbed the microphone and said, I ain't cryin' my ass off for you! I put the microphone down and walked off the stage. I blew my contract and all that shit, but fuck that, man, I ain't gonna get out there and cry my soul out for people that are talking about 'How's your brother, did you get laid on Thursday, that's a cute dress.' I'm up there talking about my pain, fuck you!” (source: International Times, 1972)
This was possibly inspired by Joplin's breakup with singer Country Joe McDonald, her live-in boyfriend who left her the year before to marry another woman. McDonald wrote the song "Janis" for her. Joplin found love with both men and women. Aside from McDonald, she was romantically linked to Kris Kristofferson, and Peggy Caserta (author of the 1975 book Going Down With Janis, which she has since disowned), among others. At the time of her death in 1970, she was engaged to novelist Seth Morgan.  From: https://www.songfacts.com/facts/big-brother-the-holding-company/i-need-a-man-to-love

Disappear Fear - Is There Anybody Here

 #Disappear Fear #folk rock #folk pop #alternative folk #indie folk #power pop #worldbeat #singer-songwriter #1980s #1990s

Beneath Disappear Fear’s veneer of catchy tunes, poppish folk rhythms, and the sophisticated harmonies of blood sisters Sonia Rutstein and Cindy Frank, beats a heart of hardcore social feminist consciousness. Born and raised in Baltimore, the sisters formed Disappear Fear in 1987. As the name implies, they call for unity and an end to injustice, and seek to break down the prejudicial barriers that keep people apart. Rutstein composes most of the songs and her compositions have been compared to those of Phil Ochs, Joni Mitchell, and Bob Dylan. Their harmonies and approach are reminiscent of the Indigo Girls. After three critically acclaimed self-released albums and an EP, the duo signed to Philo Records. In 1995, their self-titled album for Philo Records received a Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation award for Outstanding Album. In June 1996, they released Seed in the Sahara. That same year, Sonia also began pursuing a solo career, returning to Disappear Fear only for occasional guest appearances for almost a decade.  From: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/disappear-fear-mn0000154744/biography

Dada - Bob, The Drummer

 #Dada #alternative rock #psychedelic rock #power pop #pop rock #1990s

Dada is no one-hit wonder. It had four solid albums in the 1990s and several great songs, one of which attained worldwide acclaim. The band broke with a unique sound at the time with Joie Calio (bass/co-lead vocals) and Michael Gurley (guitar/co-lead vocals) singing harmonies over catchy hooks boosted by Gurley’s supreme guitar playing. Calio calls it Jimi Hendrix meets Simon & Garfunkel. As a rock band in the early 1990s, dada was painted in the broad swath called alternative rock. “That meant you didn’t sound like Guns 'N' Roses or heavy metal of the ‘80s,” Calio said. Dada took a cerebral path to success. “It was never just a garage band,” Calio said. “It was serious. It was a life change when we made the move to start Dada.” Calio and Gurley were friends in high school and separately they landed in Los Angeles where they played in various bands. Coincidentally, they lived within walking distance of each other. “It was so easy,” Calio said. “We just got together every day or night after work or whatever and worked on music. Only a few weeks into it, we started realizing this was a really good idea. Before we’d maybe write 10 songs in a year and one of them was OK. Now we’re starting to write 10 songs every two weeks.” The epiphany was to stop working on being in bands and just work on songwriting. After about a year, a musical peer, Louis Gutierrez of Mary’s Danish, listened to one of their sessions and told them they needed to perform. The duo argued that they didn’t have a band, but Gutierrez insisted, “You guys are going to open for us” at an upcoming show. The duo played about a half-dozen songs before receiving a standing ovation. “I will never forget that moment because as we walked offstage, I said, ‘Maybe Louis was right. We don’t need a band for right now.’ Then Louis comes over and said, ‘Hey, you guys. Just stay on the tour.’ And so we went up the coast with them and it was it was great.” Calio had a most appropriate day job, working in the mail room at Geffen Records. “It was like going to college,” he said. “I learned the ins and outs of the music business, and after we made demos, I knew who to take them to rather than blanket the entire industry.” The band broke out right away after it added drummer Phil Leavitt. Dada was boosted by a dream.
In the early 1990s, television viewers saw exuberant Super Bowl and World Series winners exclaim they were going to Disneyland and then news reports of the Gulf War and the L.A. Riots. The juxtaposition weaved into Calio’s subconscious. “I woke up about 5:00 in the morning,” Calio said. “All I remember about the dream right now is a big bus went in front of me that had the word Disneyland on it and I heard the melody.” Before going back to sleep, Calio jotted down about 20 verses, such as, “I shot my gun into the night, now I’m going to Dizz Knee Land. I just flipped off President George, I’m going to Dizz Knee Land.” At noon he called Gurley, the two met and put the song together. “I had the peanut butter, he had the chocolate,” Calio said.  From: https://www.tahoeonstage.com/reviews/dada/

Brewer & Shipley - Don't Want to Die in Georgia

 #Brewer & Shipley #folk #folk rock #country rock #singer-songwriter #1960s #1970s

Michael Brewer & Tom Shipley began their careers as solo folk artists on the coffee house circuit in the early 1960s. Both native mid-westerns (Oklahoman and Ohioan respective to their billing), they first met in 1964 at the Blind Owl coffee house in Kent, Ohio.  It would be three more years before they would team up, and during those three years the two crossed paths at clubs on the folk circuit, and each tried their hand in other musical collaborations that didn’t pan out.
In 1965 Michael Brewer migrated to Los Angeles following the emerging west coast music scene. His initial duo Mastin & Brewer signed a record deal with Columbia Records but the group imploded before finishing their record. Brewer eventually accepted a job as a staff songwriter at Good Sam Music, a publishing offshoot of the newly formed A&M Records. Around this time, Tom Shipley arrived in L.A. and looked up his acquaintance from the folk circuit. Tom rented a house around the corner from Michael’s house, and soon they began writing songs together.  When Shipley was subsequently hired as staff writer for A&M in 1967, their partnership began as a songwriting collaboration.
As staff songwriters, their early songs were recorded by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Glen Yarborough, H.P. Lovecraft, The Poor, Noel Harrison, and Bobby Rydell. A&M Records soon recognized that Michael & Tom’s demo recordings exhibited a unique sound and style of their own, so they green lighted them to record an album. A&M brought in the best musicians in L.A. to play on the album. But even with a soon to be released debut album and mutual friends who were starting to make it big in bands such as The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, and The Association, Michael and Tom so disliked their life in L.A. that they decided to move back to the Midwest as soon as the record was recorded.
In the last decade-plus, the duo has witnessed rejuvenated interest in their music, beginning with BMG's purchase of their Kama Sutra catalog and subsequent re-issue of the critically acclaimed Tarkio release in 1996. This was soon followed by the inclusion of "One Toke Over The Line" on the Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas motion picture soundtrack. A live record of classic performances from 1973, Archive Alive, was released in 1997, the same year they released an album of new material Heartland on their own One Toke Productions label.  From: http://www.brewerandshipley.com/bios&liners/bio_b&s.htm

Vibravoid - Om Gang Ganpataye Namah (Mushroom Mantras)

 #Vibravoid #psychedelic rock #space rock #progressive rock #acid rock #krautrock #heavy psych #1960s retro #German #music video

Vibravoid play psychedelic rock influenced by the early Pink Floyd. Their repertoire also includes some cover versions of Pink Floyd songs. The band describes itself as "Europe's number one psychedelic and acid rock band". In an interview with the magazine Eclipsed, singer and guitarist Christian Koch explained that there is no longer a psychedelic scene: "Everything that now calls itself psychedelic is mostly cheap, uninspired hard rock, stoner or heavy metal." Vibravoid's self-assessment as the leading psychedelic rock band is widely shared by the media. In addition to Pink Floyd, The Who and other bands from the late 1960s and early 1970s are also mentioned as comparisons.  From: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibravoid

Here is my latest discovery in the world of psychedelic and German inspired rock music (I really dislike using the term Krautrock, not wanting to offend anyone). The band Vibravoid hails from Dusseldorf, Germany and released their debut album in 2000 and have released fifteen studio albums thus far. As far as I can tell the band is heavily influenced by late ‘60s to early ‘70s psychedelia in the vein of early Pink Floyd. Being as Pink Floyd is my favourite band, who am I to complain?
“Mushroom Mantras” is all about retro psych, which they do very well, starting with the first track “Om Gang Ganpataye Namah”. Chistian Koch (vocals, guitars) has a mellow and calm vocal delivery when he sings, “all you need to blow your mind you will find if you just look around”. Yes, the lyrics match the music perfectly invoking the spirit of the ‘60s. It’s catchy, melodic and trippy, with a nice groove and whirling guitar and keyboards. A bit heavier is “The Legend Of Doctor Robert”; another fine example of retro psych with its biting guitar tones and weird echo effects on the vocals. “Echoes Of Time” is a cool space rock groove with cosmic sounding synths and deadpan vocals. I could imagine teenagers in the ‘60s listening to music like this while in a drug-induced haze. Although the songs do not change a great deal from one to the next there are enough subtle differences to make this album highly enjoyable and what this threesome do they do very well. “The Orange Coat” at almost twenty minutes has the band developing a great groove after a trippy intro of sitar and effects. It’s a laid back affair but the guitar still has plenty of razor-like bite. At the end of the disc you also get three bonus tracks that were recovered from a tape that was presumed lost. The band’s spacey synths and other-worldly sounds are at the core of these quite experimental tracks. More Pink Floyd influence can be heard, especially in the weird effects and synths. Very cool indeed.
From: https://www.seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=21784

Transylvania Stud - Burn the Witch

 #Transylvania Stud #Andrew Godfrey #stoner metal #stoner rock #doom metal #desert rock #one man band #The By Gods #Queens of the Stone Age cover

Originally a side-project, Andrew Godfrey has made Transylvania Stud his primary outlet for all things rock n’ roll. With the renaissance of classic heavy metal coming to a boil, there isn’t much room for hooks or pop sensibilities. But this is where Transylvania Stud blows the competitions’ doors in.  On this surprise release, Godfrey has teamed up with Nashville’s finest, The By Gods, for a blistering cover of the 2006 would-be classic from Queens Of The Stone Age, “Burn The Witch.” While the original had it’s roots firmly planted in gnarly blues-rock thanks to ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, Godfrey and co. kick it up a notch, with an overall emphasis on groove and tension.  The music video for “Burn The Witch” is like a 1960s psychedelic reel of avant-garde horror imagery including (but not limited to) cemeteries, snake handlers, ominous cloaked figures, exorcisms, and of course, a witch!  From: https://www.50thirdand3rd.com/transylvania-stud-burn-the-witch-music-video/ 

 

Pink Floyd - Matilda Mother

 #Pink Floyd #Syd Barrett #Roger Waters #psychedelic rock #British psychedelia #progressive rock #art rock #space rock #experimental rock #blues rock #1960s

The original members of Pink Floyd met in an architectural college. The band started as a blues band. Later, under Syd Barrett's leadership, they played music that was psychedelic in style. After Barrett left the band, they started to play longer and more complicated songs, and to play at a lot of colleges and universities. Soon, they were famous as studio musicians who loved to experiment with music. On the album Atom Heart Mother, from 1970, they used a brass band and a choir. They used a lot of things to make their concerts interesting to watch. They had a round movie screen on the stage. They would show videos on the screen when they played. They also used lighting and lasers in a much fancier way than many bands do. They also had big balloon puppets. The most famous is in the shape of a pig, which first appeared on the cover for their album, Animals. The pig has since become a symbol of Pink Floyd. Another symbol that reminds people of Pink Floyd is a prism with light shining through it. This was on the cover of Dark Side of the Moon, one of their most popular albums.  From: https://kids.kiddle.co/Pink_Floyd

By the spring of 1967, Pink Floyd was at the forefront of the psychedelic rock movement that was pushing its way into mainstream popular culture. Fronted by lead guitarist and songwriter Syd Barrett, and including bassist Roger Waters, drummer Nick Mason and organist Richard Wright, the band cracked the Top 20 in the United Kingdom with their catchy debut single, "Arnold Layne." In May 1967, they made an indelible impression with the Games for May concert at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, featuring a quadraphonic sound system, dazzling light show and bubble-generating machine. The band was fueled by the creativity of its frontman, known for his cryptic lyrics that mixed mysticism and wordplay, and an experimental guitar style that made use of echo machines and other distortions. Sadly, the same forces that drove Barrett to artistic breakthroughs also led him down the path of self-destruction, leaving him exiled from the group shortly after they arrived on the charts and rendering him a cautionary tale as Pink Floyd became one of the biggest bands in the world.  From: https://www.biography.com/news/syd-barrett-pink-floyd