Bhopal's Flowers - Byrd Of The Tree

A collective of like-minded musicians led by Lionel Pezzano and based in Montreal, Canada, Bhopal’s Flowers are inspired by both Eastern and Western influences in their soulful, sophisticated approach to songcraft. Guided by the spiritual science of Anthroposophy, the band seeks truth through beauty, with each song blending modal and harmonic systems in a dancing constellation of esoteric concepts, powered by sitar and 12-string Rickenbacker guitar and driven by catchy melodies and intricate psychedelic arrangements. The band recently released ‘Alstroemeria’ via Sugarbush Records and Kool Kat Musik. ‘Alstroemeria’ is a psychedelic concept record, mapping a 24 hours cycle, in which each song of the cycle is linked with a specific time of the day/night, slicing its journey in two distinct parts: a bright and vintage Sunshine Pop on disc 1, facing a deep and Modern Moonlight pop on disc 2. Exploring the deepest mysteries of life and drawing an esoteric vision of the soul’s materialization from upper skies to down below, ‘Alstroemeria’ tales the cosmic and earthly adventures of the human soul, surrounded by numerous guides, divinities and historical characters: Galilee, the three Magi, Jesus Christ, Ettore Majorana, Archangel Uriel, Nikola Tesla, Angels Seraph & Metatron, Rudolf Steiner, Swami Vivekananda, Paul Dirac, Napoleon Bonaparte, Yahveh Zarathustra, Virgin Mary, Adam, Christopher Columbus, St John the Evangelist, Charles Darwin, Lord Krishna.

Would you like to talk a bit about your background?

Lionel Pezzano: I learned the guitar when I was 11 years old, rocked in country music repertoire. After ten years learning, playing and recording a very large music repertoire, I had the opportunity to learn the sétâr (a Persian luth) with Koorosh Nowroosi, a master of Persian music who taught the traditional Persian repertoire, the radif. In the meantime, I became the disciple of the classical North Indian musician (sarod player) and composer, Pandit Alok Lahiri, who taught me the sitar, in its most traditional way through the tradition of Guru shishya parampara: an old form of teaching who requires to the student to live in the house of his teacher (his Guru), to give full dedication to learn Hindustani music. After decades of this Eastern music studies, I went back to rock’n roll with Bhopal’s Flowers, in which I never really included these exotic elements for personal reasons. It is only in 2016, when I bought a Rickenbacker 360/12 that the band took this psychedelic turn.

When did you decide that you wanted to start writing and performing your own music? What brought that about for you?

As my uncle was a live and studio musician, I grew up very young with this way of life model in the back of my mind. I used to join him during his rehearsals and his show that the concept of writing and performing music was naturally written in my subconscious. So, as soon as I started to learn the guitar, writing and playing my own music was part of the deal.

What does the name “Bhopal’s Flower” refer to in the context of the band name?

It refers to the Bhopal disaster that happened in 1984 in India, a chemical substance has been spread by a lack of security of an industrial company located there. As flowers are in general expressing life and hope, I did this association with the city of Bhopal, mainly because at that time, the music I wrote was fed by this antagonism: deep and sad lyrics, on easy-listening melodies. The deep meaning of the name Bhopal’s Flowers is that after the tide, there’s always a rainbow that will come, but to enjoy the rainbow, you first have to struggle through the tide.

How do you usually approach music making?

I am always seeking for melody strong enough to be played over and over. If I don’t feel hooked by the melody or, at least, the harmonic structure I wrote, I just give up the song until the next one comes to me. Melody is the holy part of the music, the one that comes from the Devachan, the place we go during our deep sleep, and when we die. Some songs are directly coming from Hindustani ragas, like ‘Hail To Her Sun’ (based on raga ‘Ahir Bhairav’) or ‘Ohm Namah Shivaya’ (based on raga ‘Paramshwari’). Then, there is no rules, I sometimes write and record the song in one shot, like I did for ‘Midnight Girl’, ‘Cosmic Reflector’ or ‘When The Sinner Becomes A Saint (Then The Devil Bleeds)’. But things can be way more complicated, like it happened with ‘Mysteries Of Love or Enjoy Your Life on Earth’: once recorded and demoed, I had to struggle and investigate so hard to bring the song where it had to go. These two different situations reflect the fact that music already pre-exists to the composer. Musician’s job is to catch songs like they would catch fish, or translate something untouchable by our senses to make it accessible to our ears. But sometimes, we can’t see the song properly at first sight. But once we get rid of the fog that blurs the perception we have of the music, the songs appear the way they are, ready to shake ears of the listeners.

I first heard your music via the Hypnotic Bridge Records 7″, which was perfect and was hoping for a full album!

Such sweet memories are popping in my heart when you talk about this single released on Hypnotic Bridge Records, mainly because I wrote and produced these two songs (as well as the design and visuals) in the same approach I did ‘Alstroemeria’: a job of investigation and readings led by a will to open an hidden door to another dimension. I don’t know how often it happens at Hypnotic Bridge Records, but my e-epistolary relationship with Stu, the man behind this company, has largely contributed to the successful result of this single.

You already self-released an album in 2018?

Indeed, ‘Lovesongs & Psychedelic Tones’ was released on our own through Bandcamp in 2018. I wrote that album in two or three months, fed by the creative power of the Rickenbacker 360-12 I just bought at that time. Surprisingly, this album has been pretty successful for an LP launched without any promotional support, label or marketing plan. Mainly I guess, because the UK magazine Shindig! has given a 5 stars review to the record. I’d love to find a label interested in a vinyl reissue of this LP, it has only been released on CD and digital, and I know for sure that a whole part of our audience would love to get that record on vinyl.

How would you describe your sound?

An anthroposophic message powered by a Rickenbacker 360-12 on a bed of tanpura buzz, ornamented by a lyrical sitar. I assume that it sounds like an ice cream advertisement on a Deli’s menu!

There aren’t many bands that successfully employ sitar in their music.

Probably because they haven’t spent enough time to learn Hindustani music tradition properly before to exploit (and sometimes spoil) it. On the other hand, those who give enough devotion to this art to have a better knowledge of the tradition, are often leaving western music on the side to give 100% of their time to Indian music. I am in between, out of the frame, as I always was in my life. Harrison stopped practicing the sitar after he realized that there will always be better sitar player than him in somewhere in India (apparently Clapton would have told him: “you should better practice your guitar than the sitar”), I know that Crispian Mills from Kula Shaker was also learning the sarod. I think that it’s important to find a middle ground, continuing to take lessons with your Guru, practice your instrument as much as you can, to one day, being able to give a humble but good rendition of Hindustani music. Nowadays and unlike the innocent wave of the 60s, no matter what kind of music you play with your sitar, you should always keep in mind that if the sitar part you play would make an Indian musician laugh or feel ashamed for you, it means that your song should remain on your PC before to be proudly shared. It may sound a bit conservative but sitar belongs to Hindustani music tradition which is intrinsically conservative.

You have a new album ready, ‘Alstroemeria: A Journey On Earth And Beyond’. It’s released via Sugarbush Records as a double vinyl. Are you excited about it?

I am really happy about that release! Finding a tasty label like Sugarbush Records, courageous enough to press a double vinyl looks like a stars alignment to me. This will actually be the first time Bhopal’s Flowers’ music will be pressed on a 33 rpm. The concept of two records based on the Sunshine Pop (dis one) and Moonlight Pop (disc 2) ecosystem has imposed itself naturally during the time we recorded that album, I feel so blessed that Sugarbush embraced that concept by pressing a double vinyl.

There’s a lot of material on it. Is it a concept album? If so, what’s the story behind it?

Indeed, ‘Alstroemeria’ is a concept album, actually, the logical following part of our single at Hypnotic Bridge Record. These two records are the two sides of the same coin, mainly because the tracks are linked with a specific time of the day / night, like it is for ragas in India. If you go to India, you’ll never hear a morning raga performed at night time. We have lost this tradition in the West, but it gives to the music its full meaning. The Gregorian chant sang with specific modes, scales and lyrics for the monk prayers marks the last tail of this tradition of music linked with time of the day / night. Since the Renaissance time, as the self of the humans grows more and more in his being (which has given the concept of composition), we have lost that track. It is now time to combine modernity: the established “self” in our entities, with and older tradition: individual entities that are part of a group entitled universe. As the album is split in two parts, Sunshine Pop (from 5 am to 6 pm on disc one) and Moonlight Pop (from 7 pm to 4 am on disc two), there is an analogy between the early hours in which the album starts and the birth of the human. As long as the songs go by, it draws not only a 24h path within a day, but also the life of a human being on Earth, we lift our souls day by day as we grow old, to final go back home to our original state, the Devachan. As we never walk on our own, the album is surrounded by numerous guides, divinities and historical characters: Galilee, the three Magi, Ettore Majorana, Lord Krishna, Archangel Uriel, Nikola Tesla, Zarathustra, Virgin Mary, Adam, Christopher Columbus, Jesus Christ, Paul Dirac, Napoleon Bonaparte, Yahveh, angels Seraph & Metatron, Rudolf Steiner, St John The Evangelist, Charles Darwin & Swami Vivakananda.

Can you share some further details on how your latest album was recorded?

There’s a lot of back and forth between my home studio in my apartment and the Mandragore Studio where I do my recordings and mixing. All the tracks have been composed and recorded on a Rickenbacker 360/12 played on an AC-30 and a janglebox-compressor through an old Midas board. When the songs are completely arranged, Jeremy Thoma played the drums at the very end of the recording process, the opposite way the band usually record an album, but I guess this is the way we do the thing in Bhopal. As said earlier, some tracks required to be arranged and re-arranged, mixed and remixed to final find the right balance. Some of them, like ‘Napoleon Candy Sweet’ have almost been composed and recorded in one shot … except that this one had to be re-recorded because I accidentally deleted the project from my computers and back up, without having at least a mix or a bounce of the track!

How pleased were you with the sound of the album?

As happy when you do the recording and mixing on your own, you always want some more, you always want to improve your playing, your takes and your mix. As an engineer, I learn so much every day, record after record, track after track. Of course, the Sunshine Pop disc on that records, sounds more vintage, so it has been a completely different approach of the recording and the mix than the Moonlight Pop disc, more modern. But I am really happy of the sound and the production, it gathers both sides of Bhopal’s Flowers’ sound, an old fashioned way to make music coupled with standard of the contemporary audio gear.

What are some future plans? How are you coping with the pandemic?

I am currently recording our forthcoming record, ‘Joy Of The 4th’. As I recently became a happy father 3 months back, I took a little break to delay the recording of the second part of the album to this summer. The track list will of course be shorter than the one of ‘Alstroemeria’, but the album will be really colourful, psychedelic, filled with tanpura, sitar and mellotron. We also have a new line up on stage, as Jeremy, our original drummer, has definitely left North America for Europe. We will release a live recording of this new live band next September.

Is there an album that has profoundly affected you more than others?

Definitely yes, classics we all love from the Byrds, The Beach Boys or The Association. ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ by Kula Shaker and ‘Healing Hands’ by Crispian Mills (only available on YouTube!) have been an album I listen over and over. But I most recently fell in love with The Seekers’ ‘Seen In Green’ and for and The Searchers’ ‘Take Me for What I’m Worth’.

Are any of you involved in any other bands or do you have any active side-projects going on at this point?

Yes, I drive another project named Youngstown, a country’s billy trio that plays bluegrass-like music on amphetamines. Our second album is recorded and on mixing process. I focused on Bhopal’s Flowers since 2017, but I have many recordings to release. I used to collaborate with the science fiction writer Maurice G. Dantec who sadly passed away in 2016. A lot of our common work has not be released and I want to finalize this project in 2021. I am also daily practicing the sitar and weekly with a tabla player named Saulo Olmedo Evans. A busy schedule that sometimes requires me to make drastic choices regarding the project I can put the focus on.

Let’s end this interview with some of your favourite albums. Have you found something new lately you would like to recommend to our readers?

I am not so much aware about new bands release, but I am waiting to receive by post the new Electric Looking Glass vinyl LP, an interesting baroque pop from L.A. I’ve been blast by the last single of The Communicant ‘She Moves The Sky’ as well as the last LP of Constantine ‘Memory Of A Summer Day’. The French organ and composer Shepard Electrosoft in Public Garden has released last year an uncommon musical phenomenon named ‘Mountains’ sadly ignored by listeners and the music industry. As said Arvo Pärt: “miracles happen in secret”.

Thank you. Last word is yours.

Always keep in mind that Love is the force that has to be integrated to our environment in this Earth incarnation, the same way wisdom has been integrated to our world during the previous incarnation of our planet. Music will play its part in this process, so thank you so much for spreading this art all over the place and to take the time to listen to it the way you do. It seems meaningless but it brings so much to mankind’s future.

From: https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2021/07/bhopals-flowers-interview-new-album-alstroemeria-a-journey-on-earth-beyond.html

Zepparella - Kashmir

Gretchen Menn grew up loving Led Zeppelin, but she never actually learned how to play one of the band’s songs until she had to – and then she had to learn a whole boatload of them, and fast. It was in 2005 when the Bay Area guitarist, then portraying Angus Young in the all-female AC/DC tribute band AC/DSHE, accepted an invitation from that group’s drummer, Clementine, to form a similarly configured Led Zeppelin cover outfit – Zepparella. Clementine even went ahead and booked shows, which meant that Menn had to immerse herself in all things Jimmy Page, with no time to spare.
“I was so green at first,” Menn says. “I think I had played the riff to Black Dog, but that was about it. I had eight weeks from the time Clementine said that I could be in the band till we had our first show. And as everybody knows, Zeppelin songs aren’t like AC/DC songs. They’re not just cool riff, guitar solo and a few parts. There’s a lot of curveballs in Zeppelin’s material. There’s so many different sounds and song structures to consider. The Lemon Song alone has so many things going on. You can’t gloss over any of it. You can’t just play something and go, ‘Oh, it’s kind of like this.’ You have to get it really right.”
Over the past decade and a half, Zepparella (which also includes singer Anna Kristina and bassist Holly West) have established themselves as one of the most popular and in-demand Zeppelin tribute acts around. Their video rendition of When the Levee Breaks has amassed a staggering 18 million views on YouTube. “That’s just remarkable,” says Menn. “We did that video to show promoters and venues what our deal was. We had no idea it would blow up like that.” For Menn, who earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in music from Smith College in Massachusetts, the experience of playing Led Zeppelin’s music night after night has brought with it the kind of musical education she couldn’t have gotten in school.
“The amount of practice that I’ve had to put into learning Jimmy Page’s parts has been very intense but also extremely rewarding,” she says. “Beyond that, Zepparella has really forced me to kind of grow up on stage. We’re a band, and we go through everything any other band experiences. We have onstage mishaps and gear meltdowns, and we’ve had to learn how not to get thrown by that stuff. You have to toughen up fast to do what we do. The audience demands a professional show, and that’s what we deliver. So being in Zepparella has prepared me for whatever might come in whatever else I might do.”
As it was for every other performing unit in the world, the Covid pandemic wiped Zepparella’s dance card clean for 2020, and it wasn’t until last summer that they could resume touring on a limited basis. The time offstage afforded Menn, who has previously released two solo albums (2011’s Hale Souls and 2016’s Abandon All Hope), the opportunity to begin work on a third album, tentatively titled Purgatory. It’s even given her some time to brush up on her technique. “Right now, I’m working on improvisation,” she says, “and what I mean by that is, I’m concentrating on authentic improvisation. So it’s not just moving my fingers through familiar patterns and knowing that it sounds OK, but I’m actually trying to construct ideas and phrases that have little of an intention behind them. Which sounds a little funny, but it’s kind of like you’re speaking and you don’t know what you’re going to say, but you know the next idea you want to convey. You’re kind of taking out the random nature of improvisation.”

Let’s talk about your playing history. When did you start on the guitar?

“I was a teenager, maybe 15 or 16, like an older teenager.”

Is it true that your dad used to be editor of Guitar Player magazine?

“No, that’s correct – he was. My parents just kind of let me decide what I wanted to do, but they were always encouraging. I didn’t really know much about what my dad did. He actually left Guitar Player years before I started playing, but when I did pick up the guitar, he was like, ‘Honey, I do know a little bit about this…’ To me, it’s a testament to how non-intrusive he was in my development, but he was certainly more than happy to take me to the right areas of the CD store when I was like, ‘I like Led Zeppelin’. He was like, ‘Well, you should check out Jeff Beck then’.”

So was Zeppelin your gateway drug into liking guitar music?

“They were, but so were other bands. I just found that I loved the energy I heard in guitar players. When I was 15, I started listening to Django Reinhardt on my dad’s recommendation. I liked Extreme and Mr Big. People who weren’t in the know thought they were ‘chick bands’ because of their ballads, but I was like, ‘Uh, have you actually heard their albums?’ I was so into the guitar playing and the solos.”

At this point, were you already seriously studying the guitar?

“I was, but as soon as I got into it – toward my junior and senior years in high school – I had to pause because I was dealing with college applications and stuff. Although I was pretty serious in my listening. I was way into Steve Morse and Steve Vai.”

As a player, were you a natural, or did you have to really labour over it?

“I had a couple teachers who told me I was really quick to get started, but I didn’t let that affect me. I kind of realised early on that, while I might have some natural ability, I had a lot of work ahead of me.”

On your solo records, you can hear influences like Steve Morse and Steve Vai, but also hear Ritchie Blackmore.

“Definitely Blackmore. I love the classical element in his playing.”

What about traditional blues? Did you get into that?

“Sure. I had the Robert Johnson box set. I always loved BB King and Robben Ford – they were big for me. Currently, I think Derek Trucks is about as untouchable as you can get.”

Even though you’re into guitarists who can shred, it doesn’t sound like you got into the ‘math rock’ guys.

“No, I didn’t get into that, really. I do write stuff in different time signatures and odd-time, but to me, the trick is that it should still sound like music. I mean, listen to Zeppelin’s The Ocean. That’s all over the place in terms of being odd. But it shouldn’t sound… cerebral. Stravinsky is one of my favourite composers, and I study the scores all the time. To me, his stuff is like prog metal.”

How did you start learning about gear – how to pair which guitar with which amp?

“To be honest, I’m lazy about that. I was lucky in that the first guitar I got was a Music Man Silhouette, which is the same guitar that I play today. I have different guitars, but I love the Music Man. When I started playing in Zepparella, it was like, ‘Well, I’m going to have to get Les Paul and a Marshall’. When I plugged in, I said, ‘Yep. That sounds the way it’s supposed to sound’.”

Being in a tribute band offers more of an immediate chance for employment than, say, being in a band that plays original music. Did you find that alluring?

“There’s certainly a lot to that, but there was also a musical part to it – getting a paid musical education. I was going to learn my favourite songs and solos, and I would play them night after night. That was true to some extent in the AC/DC tribute band. You can’t be lazy in a tribute band. People watch you and judge you very critically. The prospect of public humiliation is a real incentive to get things right.”

You guys stay pretty close to the original records – is that what fans want?

“Yeah, we try to. On the other hand, nobody took more liberties with Zeppelin than Zeppelin, so one could make a great case for making the songs completely wacky. But you know, it’s great music and we try to honour that. I’m always a fan first. At times, we improvise, and I think that’s important. Zeppelin were improvisatory, so if we didn’t uphold that tradition, we’d be missing the point. Sometimes I extend sections, and there are places in which I haven’t learned parts note for note. I weave a little of my own stuff in there, but I always try to stay within the Zeppelin universe.”

What about a song like Heartbreaker? Page’s solo is a little, shall we say, not precise.

“It’s interesting you bring that up. The Heartbreaker solo is ridiculously hard to play. It’s way easier to play anything by Ritchie Blackmore or Randy Rhoads or Eric Johnson. But with the Heartbreaker solo, it’s like you’re watching a Charlie Chaplin movie. He has those moments when he’s falling, but then he steadies himself. That takes such control and aptitude. Staying in control while looking like you’re out of control, but at the same time you seem graceful… it’s really hard.”

After playing Zeppelin’s music so much, do you ever have to “de-Page” yourself when you go back to your own music?

“It’s funny you would ask that. In fact, it can be the other way around. When I have to go into Page-land, I have to try to remember to put aside all the other stuff that doesn’t belong there. It’s easy for me to snap back to being myself. Actually, when I did my second album, Abandon All Hope, it occurred to me that it didn’t sound even remotely like I had listened to Led Zeppelin. I had to actually give myself permission to be like, ‘It’s okay to let a little bit of the Zeppelin show through’.”

No, it doesn’t sound like Zeppelin. It’s almost as if Kate Bush decided she wanted to make a guitar record.

“Oh, my god! That’s like the best compliment ever. She’s one of my favourites. I’ve studied her concept albums and picked up a lot from her.”

The last question is maybe the most important one: have you ever met any Led Zeppelin members?

“I met Robert Plant very briefly, and he was perfectly delightful. I haven’t met John Paul Jones or Jimmy Page, and honestly, I’m okay with that. My feeling is, I don’t ever need to meet my heroes. I don’t see how them meeting me could make their lives any better. Why do they need yet another person to be like, ‘Hi, you’re Jimmy Page.’ Cool! Now what? Now I can just brag to people that I’ve met him. Of course, now that I say that, if the situation ever presented itself, I would be there with bells on. [Laughs] Who am I kidding?”

From: https://guitar.com/features/interviews/zepparellas-gretchen-menn-led-zeppelin/

Permanent Clear Light - Ribes Nigrum

Permanent Clear Light is a great psychedelic rock band from Finland. They released their debut album, ‘Beyond These Things’ in 2014. After that, the group has released several singles, EPs and appeared on a number of compilation albums on the British Fruits de Mer label. After a creative break, Permanent Clear Light released its second album, ‘Cosmic Comics’ (Sulatron Records), which shows that the band has travelled a long way through the spheres since their debut.

What’s the concept behind Permanent Clear Light and when did you form this group?

Matti Laitinen: The basic idea is to make our own music the way we want to make it without anybody saying what we should do. We’re all fans of the 60s psychedelia so that is the obvious influence as well as early 70s Finnish prog rock. On the other hand, all of us have always been open to all kinds of good music from pop to jazz. We started working together in 2008, though we had known each other for a long time and even been in some bands together.

Would you like to talk a bit about your background?

I’ve been in a couple of rock bands before. Markku has played in a folk rock jazz band and Arto has played everything from rockabilly to jazz. In our civil lives I’ve worked as a teacher, Markku works at a university and Arto in informatics.

What’s the concept behind Permanent Clear Light? How would you describe your sound?

Our sound is based a lot on keyboards like the mellotron, synths etc. On the other hand, there are a lot of guitars there, too, but not in the form of long solos. We like to create sceneries, pictures, fragments of a movie. The long instrumental sequences are an essential part of our music. The songs usually have lots of layers with everything carefully planned to make an entity. We like to think that we sound like nobody else.

How do you usually approach music making? How important is improvisation for you?

We usually work independently first. Meaning that everyone develops his ideas on his own, we send our ideas to the others, they add something or suggest changes. After that we get together, typically for a week at some isolated place, jam, put everything together and record. After this all the material goes to Arto, who mixes it and adds some stuff and sends it back to us. This finally develops into the final product. We try to avoid doing, for example, the vocals over again and again. If there are mistakes or irritating details, so be it.

Can you share some further details about how your latest album ‘Cosmic Comics’ was recorded?

Most of it was recorded at Markku’s “forest studio”. Basically a log cabin by a lake in the middle of nowhere. Some tracks we made at my summer house. ‘Cosmic Comics’ was actually ready for a long time. When we finally got in contact with Dave at Sulatron records, he suggested some minor changes and we made them and then the album was out really quickly. Some of the material has actually been released by Fruits de Mer records as singles, split singles etc. By the way, a big thanks goes to Eroc for the excellent mastering.

Where did you record it? What kind of equipment did you use and who was the producer? How many hours did you spend in the studio?

As mentioned above, most of it was recorded in the two country studios. Everything is produced by our multi-instrumentalist Arto, who happens to be very good with the recording as well. Nowadays everything is recorded on a computer. It makes the process a lot easier than dealing with tapes. For the equipment we use a normal drum set, different kinds of keyboards and suitable guitars and amps from our, or mostly Markku’s, immense guitar collection. For a band with such a keyboardish sound, we have lots of guitars available. Probably more than any other band around. When we are recording, we work from dawn to dusk for several days in a row. We have found this way of working very productive. New ideas keep popping out all the time during these sessions. The sessions also involve a lot of discussing all kinds of things, drinking, going to sauna, swimming in the lake etc.

Are any of you involved in any other bands or do you have any active side-projects going on at this point?

Arto plays some jazz in his free time and he and I also have a side-band that plays more straightforward rock. Markku has recorded some tracks for his international friends. He has also been working on some avantgarde-stuff.

How would you compare it to ‘Beyond These Things’ from seven years ago? At that time you also recorded a couple of singles.

We did some singles for Fruits de Mer. I think ‘Beyond These Things’ is our favorite baby. I still like to listen to it sometimes. It has some titles like ‘Higher Than The Sun’ that are really good. Still, my favorite PCL track ’25 German Boy Scouts’ isn’t on our albums. It was released by Fruits de Mer as a single. To compare the two albums is really hard. I think that we can still do a lot better than we did on these two and we have already started working on our third album.

Were you inspired by psychoactive substances like LSD at the time of writing the album?

If we used them? No. But obviously they have influenced this kind of music a lot. Markku has been propagating the use of some substances for medical purposes, but I personally am not interested in taking any kinds of drugs.

How are you coping with the current world situation?

I am staying in Madrid, Spain at the moment. The other guys are in Finland. These are like two different worlds. In Madrid you hardly dare to go out with all the restrictions around. In Finland, where I spent the summer, everything was totally different. People living relatively normally. When it comes to politics, we noticed that for the third album we already have some really angry texts. I personally am worried about the rise of nationalism in Europe. I wish people would study the history a bit more and learn from it.

What are some future plans?

I’m moving back to Finland in the spring. I’m already staying there for a month in October-November for an operation. We will keep on putting the third album together, hopefully with a longer recording session next summer to get it out before Christmas 2021.

Let’s end this interview with some of your favourite albums. Have you found something new lately you would like to recommend to our readers?

My favorite albums are CSNY’s ‘Deja Vu’, Argent’s first album, King Crimson’s ‘In the Court of the Crimson King’, Love’s ‘Forever Changes’, Wigwam’s ‘Fairyport’, everything by the Move and some by MC5. All of it old stuff. I don’t listen to new bands a lot, but I like for example Dungen (or is that an old band already).

From: https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2020/11/permanent-clear-light-interview.html

Tulia - Marcowy

Tulia is a popular folk musical group formed in Szczecin, Poland in 2017. The band consists of three main members: Dominika Sepka, Patricia Nowicka, and Tulia Bicak – after whom the band is named. Originally, the band had a fourth member, Joanna Sinkevich, who, due to health reasons, cut ties with the group in 2019. The first, and most noticeable performances of this Polish quartet were in 2018 – only a short time after their official formation. The group performed folk-inspired covers of the Depeche Mode hit, “Enjoy the Silence” and David Podsiadlo’s song, “Nieznajomy” – both of which received a great deal of attention on YouTube. These music videos, while simple, are elegant and powerful – the quartet wear traditional, colorful Polish clothing while standing in the snow. The nearly all-white backdrop contrasts with their clothing to create an eye-catching video.
In May of 2018, Tulia released their debut album, Tulia, which included original music, as well as covers of songs by various Polish artists. In that same year, the album was the seventh best-selling album in Poland – reaching platinum status and selling over 30,000 copies. In December of the same year, the group released a cover of Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters”, which is still their most popular release to date – reaching over 13 million views on YouTube. The cover and video gives the song special meaning, as the girls sing strongly with noticeable accents about the importance of taking pride in one’s identity while wearing their unique national clothing.
In 2019, Tulia represented Poland at the Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv. The group performed the song, “Pali Się” (“It’s on Fire”), written in Polish and English. They finished in 11th place. Later that year, Joanna Sinkevich left the group – reducing the group to only three women. Today, Tulia is still performing and occasionally releasing powerful and enticing music. Although they are probably best known for their unconventional covers of popular songs, the covers often have something unique to add and are something to be admired in their own right.  From: https://popkult.org/tulia-polish-folk/

Spooky Tooth - Feelin' Bad

Considered by many to be the best and strongest of the Spooky Tooth albums, the sophomore release Spooky Two built on the momentum of the smooth psychedelic soul tendencies of the debut "It's All About" but at the same time maintained its trippy psychedelic demeanor and added the occasional heavier doses of hard rock. Likewise the keyboard sounds were better integrated into the musical mix and the band sounded like it was firing on all cylinders. Riding on the wave of a successful American tour, the five members crated a new batch of eight original tracks and left out the filler in the form of cover tunes. Primarily written by Gary Wright, Spooky Two featured a more cohesive stylistic effect than its predecessor and showcased the band's ability to emulate the soulful blues rock of Traffic but by distancing itself even further from that band's similarly styled approach.
By this time keyboardist Gary Wright had also taken control of the lead vocals and had developed quite the sophisticated range of singing styles. The band tightened up its quirky mix of psychedelic rock, blues, soul and even adding a tinge of gospel. The album features a more dynamic songwriting process and the use of the double keyboard attack with the heavy guitar heft accompanied by the psychedelic smooth soul vocal style of Wright was exactly the perfect tour de force for success. Once again the critics raved yet once again the album sales floundered despite a stellar production and engineering job by the combo powerhouse duo of Jimmy Miller and Andrew Johns. The album produced one of the band's better known singles "That Was Only Yesterday" however it failed to chart during its day. Gary Wright at this point was becoming more recognizable as the singer who crafted the huge 1975 hit "Dream Weaver."
The album deftly blends smooth softness with moments of heavier contrast. Compared to both Savoy Brown and the Yardbirds, Spooky Tooth at this point started to become it’s own with even the Traffic connections dissipating and whereas the debut was clearly influenced by the 1967 album "Mr. Fantasy," Spooky Two is a powerhouse that stands on its own with epic performances that evoke a true sense of accomplishment. In many ways Spooky Two prognosticated bluesy rock bands such as Little Feat that would find increasing popularity in the 1970s. Considered a blues rock band that didn't behave like one, Spooky Tooth found a unique intersection between blues guitar, psychedelic atmospheres, Baroque pop compositional styles and a touch of jazz rock influences.
On top of the excellent musicianship and the impeccable instrumental interplay, Wright crafted some of the catchiest pop hooks of the band's entire career with tracks like "Better By You, Better Than Me" and "Waitin' For The Wind" topping the ear worm charts. While considered by some in prog circles to have been a progenitor of the prog movement, in reality Spooky Tooth wasn't particularly progressive and considering this album emerged the very same year as King Crimson's stunning debut as well as other bands like High Tide, Spooky Tooth is actually pretty tame in that regard. The band wasn't about crafting overly complex tunes and on the contrary was about nurturing beautifully addictive melodies into a total band experience and in that regard they reached an apex on Spooky Two.
Due to disappointing album sales the band began to splinter and although several members would stick it out and release a few more albums before the final break up in 1974, the original lineup ended here and the band would never regain the momentum that Spooky Two had delivered so well. Luckily the album has been reevaluated over the ensuing decades and has become designated a classic of period psychedelic soul rock which found all the band's best qualities synergizing for this brief moment in time. This album is very much as good as any Traffic album and although Spooky Tooth didn't stick it out as long or produce as many hits, the first two albums are quite pleasing to the ears with this second offering being the most accomplished.  From: https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=27641

Mitsoura - Sat Bhayan

Mónika Miczura is the frontwoman of Mitsoura, one of the most progressive Hungarian world music productions of the 2000s. Since the nineties she has sung in the band Ando Drom, as well as on albums and concerts of other bands in Hungary and abroad, and has contributed to numerous theater and film scores. She was the voice of the invisible singer in Tony Gatlif's 1997 César Award-winning film Gadjo dilo.

You have an unmistakably unique voice. Were you trained in this special vocalization?

I never took singing lessons. I did try, but my teachers didn't recommend it either, because learning classical singing techniques would probably take away the uniqueness of my voice. Having worked with professionals continuously for 25 years, I have absorbed a lot of knowledge. Plus, I have an absolute pitch, which means that I can accurately recall pitch and tone without the aid of a reference note, which is said to be a rare talent. It's no virtue, but it comes in handy for a singer.

You started out in Gypsy folk music, then evolved into a kind of Hungarian Björk, and today you combine traditional sounds with progressive electronics. Is the Mitsoura project your most authentic musical enterprise?

Absolutely. I live in a big city, I listen to contemporary music which influences me and I like to incorporate these influences into my own productions. It would be fake and pretentious if I still sang my songs in a colorful skirt, banging on a kettle, accompanied by a mandolin. What makes something or someone authentic? How many hundreds of years must pass before something can be called authentic? For me, tradition is not a dusty remnant of a bygone era, but an opportunity for current forms of expression. In the second half of the nineties I listened to Björk, Massive Attack and Portishead a lot. That's when I had the idea of breaking away from the traditional instruments and looking for musicians who could create the floating, atmospheric sound I've always longed for.

This effectively puts you in a class of your own among Gypsy musicians.

But I'm not proud of that. I do, however, see it as a problem that according to the pundits, as a Gypsy, one can only play Gypsy music, because that's what they are authentic in. Even 20 years ago, folk, jazz and restaurant music were prioritized, and it seems that even 30 years from now, Gypsy music will still be the same. Moreover, one of the positive stereotypes attached to Gypsies is that we "have music in our blood". Which is not true, nor are any of the other stereotypes, and this can be offensive or obstructive to some people.

When did you first encounter such stereotypes?

It became very clear to me when we formed the band, Mitsoura. We hadn't been able to play at home for years, and we financed our second album's release on our own.

And before that? How was your early socialization in this respect?

The first trauma I experienced on account of being a Gypsy was when I was seven years old, at school. On the first day, during the first lesson, the teacher told the class that she would like the Gypsies to stand up. I looked around and nobody stood up, I was the only Gypsy. I stood up. It was a strange feeling. The teacher kindly thanked me, and said I could sit down. I wasn't ashamed at that moment. I only went to that school for a year, but I remember that I did well, I was always praised when I read something out loud, and I was always teased during the breaks. It was like having a stamp on my forehead. Sometimes the other kids would pretend that someone had touched me, then kicked an imaginary ball, threw it at each other and screamed. I would sit on the bench alone and cry. Then a little girl sat down next to me and said, "I know you're not a Gypsy, you're just sunburnt." I knew I was a Gypsy, but I didn't yet know what that meant. I was scared to tell her the truth because I had already figured out that I was hated, although I didn't know why, so I always tried to avoid Melinda. It felt terrible to behave like that with her, but I didn't want to deceive her. The teacher could have written that letter C (Cigány=Gypsy in Hungarian) without making me stand up. (Decades ago in some Hungarian schools the teachers put a “C” next to the name of the Gypsy students in the class grade book).

Did you even know anything about the meaning of the letter C as a child?

We didn't talk about it in the family. My first real experience relating to it had more to do with music. We had a lot of records, but until the mid-eighties there were only two Gypsy singers, Margit Bangó and Pista Horváth. I was a very sensitive child, so at the age of 7 or 8 I already noticed that there was something very wrong with Pista Horváth's lyrics, because the image of Gypsies that came through in these songs was not in harmony with what I saw around me. Pista Horváth was singing very cheerfully, with earrings in his ears, wearing colorful clothes, singing about how good the Gypsies who live in tents have it, how they pick up dead chickens to feed their little ones, plus about how the wandering life is the most beautiful in the world, and this is why Gypsies don't have permanent homes. I hated these songs, it must have been this wounded sense of self that opened something up in me. From then on, I experienced everything to do with being Gypsy through fairy tales. I still read a lot, but as a child I used to devour storybooks.

What did fairy tales give you?

I felt that they were the only ones that told me the truth. Well, not the eternal truth, but the harsh reality. I noticed, for example, that the queens and positive characters were always blonde, while the negative characters always had brown or black hair. Gypsies were portrayed positively – as good thieves who are always in the right place at the right time. Just like Sárközi, the scab-faced Gypsy from Egri Csillagok, (In English: “Eclipse of the Crescent Moon”, a novel about the Ottoman siege of Eger by Hungarian writer Géza Gárdonyi) who was also a dubious character. Even at the age of eleven, I was terribly ashamed of the fact that he was always trying to take advantage of the situation. I have since learned that this is what is known as disguised racism, which is the most despicable.

Where are we now compared to this, what is your experience?

We've had artificially controlled repressive policies for hundreds and hundreds of years. Why is it any wonder that we are still in this situation? Let me tell you something. Gypsies don't usually attach much importance to the New Year, but on New Year's Eve, at midnight, they always turn on the anthem. (Hungarian state TV traditionally plays the national anthem at that time, the first line of the lyrics being: “Oh, God, bless the Hungarians!”) And then they fall silent at that moment, standing there in mournful silence with tears in their eyes. They don't say anything, the Gypsies just stand there silently, as if waiting for God to bless them too and put an end to this hatred. Then the anthem ends and life continues as usual.

From: https://telex.hu/english/2023/03/21/the-gypsies-just-stand-there-silently-as-if-waiting-for-god-to-bless-them-too

Sam & Dave - Wrap It Up

Known as “Double Dynamite,” “The Sultans of Sweat,” and “The Dynamic Duo,” Sam & Dave have long been recognized as one of the greatest live acts of their time and one of the most successful soul duos ever. During the height of their two-decade-long career, Sam Moore (b. 1935) and Dave Prater (1937–1988) consistently delivered hit after hit on the R&B charts, while their crossover success was instrumental in introducing soul music to white audiences. Both Sam (born in Miami, FL) and Dave (from Ocilla, GA) grew up singing in church and began their careers with gospel groups. The two singers crossed paths on the gospel circuit, performing together for the first time in 1961 at Miami’s King of Hearts club. Before long, Sam & Dave had developed a high-energy live act, perfected their harmonies, and scored their first record deal.
Their initial years together spawned a handful of singles and some regional airplay, but an introduction to Atlantic Records executive Jerry Wexler changed the course of their career. At the time, Atlantic was handling the distribution of Stax, and Wexler felt that the duo’s grittier, Southern sound would be a perfect fit for the burgeoning Memphis label. There, Sam & Dave began working with one of the label’s newer songwriting duos, Isaac Hayes and David Porter, and recorded with Stax’s talented house band, Booker T. & The M.G.’s. It was a recipe for success. In 1966, the group scored their first Top Ten R&B single, “You Don’t Know Like I Know,” and kicked off an astonishing run of ten consecutive Top 20 hits on the chart.
Encouraged by Hayes and Porter to employ a call-and-response style (borrowed from their church days) the duo settled into their signature high-energy sound, as heard in their follow-up, “Hold On, I’m Comin’.” Released in March 1966, the fiery single spent 20 weeks on the R&B chart, eventually hitting the No.1 spot. It was also a Top 40 pop hit and the title track of their debut LP, which was a No.1 R&B bestseller. Sam & Dave continued to dominate the charts over the next year with “You Got Me Hummin’,” “Said I Wasn’t Gonna Tell Nobody,” and the soulful ballad, “When Something is Wrong with My Baby.” The tireless duo was playing hundreds of shows a year and had built an international fanbase, thanks to tours in Europe and the UK (their first Japanese tour followed in 1969). While Sam & Dave were at the pinnacle of their career, a song called “Soul Man” was about to secure their place in music history.
Written in the summer of 1967, the idea of “Soul Man” came to Hayes and Porter while watching coverage of Detroit’s 12th Street Riot—one of the deadliest incidents of the Civil Rights Movement. Hayes recalled seeing how buildings that had been tagged with the word “soul” (marking Black-owned businesses) were left intact. “I thought about the night of the Passover in the Bible… And I realized the word soul keeps them from burning up their establishments,” Hayes told Robert Gordon in Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion. In Rob Bowman’s Soulsville U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records, Hayes added that the song is “a story about one’s struggle to rise above his present conditions. It’s almost like boasting, ‘I’m a soul man.’ It’s a pride thing.” With its funky guitar licks and joyful horns, the single (which opened the group’s third album Soul Men) became an instantly recognizable anthem across the country. Released in September, the song flew to the top of the R&B chart. Despite the fact that racial tensions were growing in cities and towns across the US, the popularity of the song made Rolling Stone note, “When ‘Soul Man’ becomes a national number one record, it indicates that a much more earthy, low-down kind of soul is beginning to get to white America.” “Soul Man” earned Sam & Dave a Grammy Award in 1968. 51 years later, the Library of Congress added it to their National Recording Registry for its cultural significance. Over the decades since its release, the song has been covered by dozens of artists, including Paul Revere & the Raiders, Prince, and—perhaps most famously—The Blues Brothers (aka Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi).
In 1968, as Stax and Atlantic ended their partnership, the duo released their final single with the Memphis label and their final Top Ten hit (on both the R&B and pop charts), “I Thank You.” After a brief split in 1970, the reunited pair continued to be an in-demand live act, but they failed to find the same chart success as they had in the ’60s. The end of the decade offered them a career resurgence with Aykroyd and Belushi’s “Blues Brothers” sketches and subsequent film, but Sam & Dave officially parted ways in 1981. Their legacy, however, has only grown. In addition to helping pave the way for Black artists to crossover into the pop market, the duo influenced a broad selection of artists, including Phil Collins, Tom Petty, Elvis Costello, Al Green, Billy Joel, and Bruce Springsteen.  From: https://staxrecords.com/spotlight/sam-dave/

Heart - Dream Of The Archer

This week GGM is celebrating Heart’s groundbreaking third album, Little Queen, which came out on May 14, 1977. Get ready for “Kick it Out,” “Love Alive,” guitars, mandolins, chimes, outdoor effects, Nancy’s Ovation, Roger Fisher’s double neck, and, oh, that ferocious “Barracuda”.
In his 1977 Rolling Stone review of Little Queen, Billy Altman wrote: “Lord knows we need many more women in rock and roll.” Four decades later, of course, many more women are rocking, but Lord knows Heart led the way. By the time Little Queen was released, Heart was a premier live act known for their versatile stage show and Zeppelin-inspired sound. And it was just the beginning of a very long and storied career for the sisters. The album was not only an important one for the band but a milestone in music history, as well. From the full barrel charge of “Barracuda,” to the instrumental mystique of “Sylvan Song,” the band took creative license to experimentally rock.
After the success of Dreamboat Annie, the band started working on their next album for the Mushroom Label, titled Magazine. But record label and contract issues plagued its release. According to their producer at the time, Mike Flicker, from a 1999 interview with Blair Jackson, “The short version of a very long and dirty story is that we ended up in the position of losing the four songs that had been the start of the second album, and we found ourselves having to start over again, and that became the birth of the second album, Little Queen, which was on Portrait/CBS. ”
In true rock spirit, Heart and their manager broke for Seattle to record Little Queen. But there was still the issue of the legally hung-up second album. Later, the Mushroom label would release an unauthorized version of Magazine with half-finished songs and live recordings. Afterward, the courts ruled Heart could release Little Queen if they still re-record and remixed Magazine at a later date for Mushroom. Until then, the band recorded Little Queen rather quickly in 1977. The finished product would cement the band’s unconventional songwriting and melodic rock grooves. It’s success also showed their consistency as a rock powerhouse fronted by two women…a rarity for the times.
The band was really becoming masters at merging their two styles of music. Little Queen’s ten songs had the folk elements of Dreamboat Annie along with the band’s trademark hard edge. It’s a classic guitar-driven album, but one complemented with several instruments not very typically used in rock music like flute and mandolin. But it all made sense for Heart’s earthy but tough mix of ‘70s rock. The guitar work by Nancy Wilson, Roger Fisher, and Howard Leese is truly exceptional and brilliantly layered. Nancy Wilson’s acoustic playing clearly paved the way for today’s singer/songwriters, and it’s especially awesome listening to her developing her sound and style. Plus, her preference for Ovation guitars cast a spotlight on the brand for years to come.  Nancy would go on to be one of the top female guitarists in rock. Legendary guitarist Roger Fisher is one of the founding members of the band (from 1963 to 1980). His innovative electric and double neck mastery provided rich nuances and memorable solos throughout the album; his work is still duplicated by guitarists today.
Howard Leese was an important part of the band as well and would stay in Heart throughout the ‘80s. His hefty credits on the album include acoustic and electric guitars, synthesizer, piano, Moog bass, mellotron, mandolin, backing vocals, as well as orchestral arrangement on “Treat Me Well.” But no question, the heartbeat of Little Queen is “Barracuda” — a timeless rock gem for its lyrics, riff and natural harmonics. On any given day you can still hear Fisher’s open E power chord galloping over the airwaves. But the song’s known for something infamously deeper. Forty-one years ago, Ann Wilson wrote the impassioned lyrics in the wake of mounting sexism from the music industry (namely, the fallout from an unauthorized ad issued by their record company). The promo featured the bare-shouldered sisters under a headline implying they were lovers. The song also spoke to the overall inappropriate treatment the ladies experienced from men in the music industry.
It poses the question, have things really changed? Although women have permeated the music business, the respect conversation is an ongoing one. “Barracuda” is a reminder that offensive treatment has been happening for a long time, and still does; maybe not as obvious as radio station execs asking female musicians to sit on their laps, but in Hollywood (as we’ve learned) the casting couch is still part of the furniture. The upside, “Barracuda” is fuel for self-empowerment. It’s a timeless example that a positive form of art can come from strong emotions – just like Ann did when she wrote those lyrics. Everyone has a song inside them – maybe it’s “Barracuda,” “Take a Piece of My Heart” (Janis Joplin), or perhaps “Dream On” (Aerosmith). Whatever that tune is, Heart reminds us the very best art comes from human experience and self-empowerment.  From: https://guitargirlmag.com/news/music-news/revisiting-hearts-little-queen-timeless-and-telling/

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 at 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