June Rich - Wait It's U

WXPN will welcome June Rich to the Ardmore Music Hall on June 20th. The folk rock band was integral in the local music scene of the nineties, releasing two records and performing at the opening night of the Electric Factory in 1996.
The band’s list of accolades continued with a Philadelphia Magazine Best Band in Philadelphia award, a Folk Fest main stage slot (the only local band to fill that position in 1996), a performance on Mountain Stage and numerous other festival appearances. In anticipation of this reunion, which marks the 20th anniversary of their self-titled debut LP, bassist Garry Lee, singer/guitarist Vanida Gail and guitarist Allen James looked back on the beginning of their career:
“Back in 1994-95, there was a burgeoning music scene that was centered around Manayunk and specifically the Grape Street Pub,” said Lee. “It was the center for a lot of up-and-coming singer-songwriters and for bands at the time.”
“Who can really say why anything catches fire? I have no idea,” added Gail. “I just know we were having a blast onstage, just singing together. The band was sounding great. We were all just having fun and maybe the audience felt that.” As for the idea of reuniting, James said “I’m totally looking forward to it” and added, “as far as I understand, there are going to be a couple of new tunes and it’s always good to have something new.”  From: https://xpn.org/2015/04/28/june-rich-reunion/

Crypt Trip - To Be Whole

For some in the music world, the sixties never really ended and this is especially true with Crypt Trip’s Haze Country. Both a throwback and refreshing, Haze Country (Heavy Psych Sounds) lets us sit back and relive the good old days of psychedelics, marijuana and hippie Shenanigans. Even from the album cover: the aesthetic and nostalgic tinged photograph of the band mounted on motorbikes, it really does feel like this record was lost in time and it’s only just been rediscovered in your Dad’s cupboard of old LPs.
What separates Crypt Trip from other nostalgia-tinged acts such as Greta Van Fleet is that Crypt Trip aren’t purely imitating past successful acts and hoping it sells today due to the listening publics forgetfulness of musical history: everything on Haze Country is genuine and, although clearly influenced by that era, it’s not a rip off by any stretch of the imagination.
With long sixties improvisational-inspired instrumental passages, timeless-sounding riffs, gruff raw vocals and genuine musicality, Crypt Trip are the real deal. Combining Southern Rock characteristics with a psychedelic-infused mentality, songs like ‘Hard Times’, ‘Free Rain’ and ‘Wordshot’, Haze Country balances between being Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Beatles at the same time which a dream-like combination especially when put together in such a unique package.
’16 Ounce Blues’ and ‘Pastures’ sound like they should be playing in an old western saloon perched in the middle of the desert as the sun slowly sets on the barren plains surrounding them. It’s idyllic, to say the least, and the band’s time machine is fully captivating especially within these two songs.
So, if you find yourself in an open top car in the middle of southern USA and you’re looking to have a soundtrack to your escape from your small town, let Crypt Trip’s Haze Country jump in the wagon, drive for hours and never look back.  From: https://ghostcultmag.com/album-review-crypt-trip-haze-country-heavy-psych-sounds/

Beausoleil - Austin City Limits 1990

 Beausoleil - Austin City Limits 1990 - Part 1

 

 Beausoleil - Austin City Limits 1990 - Part 2

 

Michael Doucet is a fiddle master. Doucet formed BeauSoleil in 1975. Michael recently wrote in to discuss how he became interested in playing the fiddle, his favorite Jazz Fest memories and his passion for Cajun music and culture.

Did you cone from a musical family? Were your parents musical?


All of my dad’s sisters sang but from my aunt Lena I learned many
 Cajun French ballads… from my uncle Ti Will Knight, I learned how to 
play fiddle (his fiddle is in the LA State Museum in Baton Rouge) from
 my mom’s side I learned to read music and play jazz.

How did you become interested in playing fiddle?


My uncle (above) played and took the time to show me a few songs. I 
wanted a guitar but the fiddle was so strange and intriguing to me; 
the way you had to use your hands were so different; bow arm and
fingering…I loved the diverse sounds you could make and the way it
 felt holding it….there were too many kid relatives so I never had a
 fiddle of my own until I was 21.

How did BeauSoleil first come together?


Just some friends from around Scott, LA who were interested in the the
 vanishing old Acadian French style of our heritage.  Kenneth Richard,
 Bessyl Duhon and I were the core of BeauSolel.  I was asked to perform 
for two weeks in France in 1976 and was asked for a group name.
 Remembering my childhood family reunion visits at BeauSoleil (the
house of Armand Broussard, Joeseph (BeauSoleil’s son) left a lasting 
impression of the continuing lineage of my Acadian roots.  While we
were in Paris, we were given the opportunity to record our first
 album, “BeauSoleil… la Nuit” for EMI, Pathe Marconi.  We’ve been touring, recording and teaching group of musicians ever since then.

You have played many classic sets at Jazz Fest. What do you love about
Jazz Fest?


In the 1970s, I loved the openness of the festival…..how you could 
walk to different stages, get a good seat, listen for a while then
 move on to something else.  I’ve always enjoyed playing there with
 BeauSoleil for the past thrity-six years as well as the Savoy-Doucet
 Cajun band and others. I also like the Heritage and the musician 
camaraderie aspect… seeing/meeting the greats like Dennis McGee, 
James Booker, Thelonius Monk, the Meters, traditional New Orleans Jazz
bands, Gospel, Doug Kershaw etc.

What have been some of your favorite memories of Jazz Fest?

Too many of those really… I’d say playing both weekends with
 Coteau in 1976, performing with Freeman Fontenot & Bois Sec Ardoin in
1980, having Richard Thompson and Sonny Landreth joining us in 2001,
 sitting in with Tab Benoit, Dr John etc and the Wetlands All stars a 
few years ago, playing the RayBand stage and getting free sunglasses,
 running into and chatting with David Hildago, Allen Toussaint, John 
Fogarty, hearing Sun Ra, Dr. Michael White, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell,
 and the list goes on…

What inspires you lyrically?


Silly puns.

How do you go about creating music?


I pick up an instrument and try to play what I’m hearing/feeling and 
inspired to say.


What are your hobbies outside of music?


Meditating, walking and enjoying the ever changing wonder of life.

You are passionate about spreading Cajun music and culture to as many
people as possible. What do you love about Cajun music and culture?


I love the fact that I grew up speaking French and being of Acadian 
decent from both sides of my family.  I grew up in the countryside on
a farm and had many friends and relatives nearby making my childhood 
ideal.  When at LSU in 1969, I found Irene Whitfield’s 1939
 dissertation on Acadian and Creole music which led me to do more 
research, making a lasting friendship with Irene, and fueling my 
desire to discover more and more the roots, power and creativity of
our music.  I was lucky to be around to learn from the Master
musicians who were born in the 1890s and were among the first Acadian 
artists to record in the 1920’s and 30’s. The Acadian story is quite 
unique and amazing and being a part of such a unique group and part of
 the world allows me to both follow my ancestors yet seek artistic 
development in the moment.

You’ve some a lot of research into the history of Cajun music and
studied with many of the great masters of Cajun music, such as Dennis
McGee. What do you feel is the most important advice you’ve learned
from these masters?


Simply, to be who you are…

Do you have a favorite quote or motto that you live by?


On vas les embéter! (We’re going to irritate them).

What do you feel is your place in music history?


I think I’ll wait until I’m dead to even approach that one… not quite
 dead yet! I was in the right place at the right time with the right intention to 
learn, document and share the origins of French Music in Louisiana

From: https://mcclainjohnson.com/michael-doucet-interview/

 

Teke-Teke - Gotoku Lemon

So many bands and artists are currently going for a blend of genres, very often those that seemingly don't go together. If such blends don't work out, you get a mish mash of disparate sounds that somehow don’t mesh. On the other hand, when such combinations work, you get a musical kaleidoscope that brings something new and fresh. Yet, for such a “musical trick”, if you will, to work, such a band or artist really have to know the genres they are combining down to a pat and truly want to involve themselves in the music they are creating.
TEKE::TEKE, Montreal's seven piece collective, are definitely a band (in true sense of that word) that have been trying to combine many genres together, often in a single song, since its inception (two albums and two singles ago), something that they bring to heady heights on Hagata, their latest. So, what have we got here? With their solid base in all forms of Japanese music - folk, quite felt in the opener “Garakuta,” to J-pop (“Onaji Heya”) and J-funky jazz (“Hoppe”). Throughout though, they garner their music with heavy doses of all forms of psych, garage, and surf, to brass rock and prog (“Me No Heya”).
Such a combination also requires some hefty, precise musicianship and Sei Nakauchi Pelletier (guitar, synth, percussion, additional vocals), Hidetaka Yoneyama (guitar, backing vocals), Mishka Stein (bass, synth, percussion, guitar, backing vocals), Ian Lettre (drums, percussion, synth, piano, backing vocals), Etienne Lebel (trombone, gaida, percussion, backing vocals), Yuki Isami (flute, shinobue, taisho koto, synth, backing vocals), Maya Kuroki (vocals, guitar) are at their best here. Kuroki's vocals lead the way, particularly prominent on the excellent title track/lead single. The sound TEKE::TEKE create on Hagata will take them everywhere.  From: http://post-trash.com/news/2023/6/8/teketeke-hagata-album-review

Nephila - Growing Down

Describe your sound – If you had to describe it, what’s your style, ethos or sound like? 


Intriguing, intricate… forest-rock?

How did you get together as a band?


That is a long and unfortunately not very cool or exciting story.

What are your career highlights so far?


Definitely the time we played at Hamnfesten. It’s a quite large Swedish festival, and even though we performed at the “small stage” it still felt huge. Our stage show is a perfect fit for that type of space, and it just felt right…also, we got some really great food and drinks and we’re NOT used to that type of luxury.

How has your sound evolved?


It’s more rock n’ roll now, it used to be even more psychedelic I would say.

What are your plans for 2021-22? Any live shows coming up?


Yeah, we actually do have a gig here in Sweden (Linköping, 4/8). Other than that, we’re mostly focusing on writing new music.

Do you have any band or individual preparations before you go on stage, to psych you up or get you in the zone? 


For me, makeup is quite a big thing. It’s not that I love makeup very much, most of the time it’s just an inconvenience to me. But when you’re about to step on stage it’s different because it helps with character. Nephila is a whole show you know? I couldn’t imagine pulling it off without that moment of sitting down and having a chat with Josephine while we transform into something else.

How do you energise the audience in a live show?


The work starts long before you actually start performing. You gotta (try to) make sure that your material has the nerve and the dynamic it takes to keep the audience on their toes I think. Not only the music; things such as lighting, props, setlist and talks play a part as well. A common misconception I think, is that a good musician has the talent to pull anything of at any time – creating magic without even thinking about it. But that’s not necessarily true. A lot of musicians are perfectionists and what might look natural and spontaneous on stage may actually be made possible by a lot of rehearsing, rethinking and practicing. The reward is that sweet sensation of being mentally kidnapped by a moment, along with the audience. Everything flows without distraction, and the excitement never fades.

How does the writing process work as a band? Is it a joint venture? Or does one person tend to do most of the writing? Is it lyrics first or music first? 


Music first most of the time. Usually, someone comes up with a riff or presents a basic idea that we try to make use of. Anyone is welcome to get involved and people contribute in their own way. But after a while, we usually split up so that me and Josephine can focus on lyrics and harmonies while the guys focus on developing and perfecting the song. We actually write quite a lot of lyrics together since we think alike in many ways.

How do you make sure you all feel comfortable with a new track?


We don’t go forth with stuff that a person doesn’t feel like they’re able to pull off. Sometimes we find a way around it and also, a lot of times people challenge themselves because they want to.

What inspires you most in writing music and/or lyrics?


I can’t speak for all of us, but I think Josephine and I are inspired by everything that feels important to us. It’s a lot easier writing lyrics when it’s something you really care about, because you know what it is that you want to say.

There are a lot of you, how would you describe your relationships within the band?


Quite Swedish. That’s up to you to interpret any way you like. Also, we joke around a whole lot. We all seem to have a shared sense of humour.

What role did music play in your childhood/ growing up?


A big part, as it does for all kids. Music is such a natural part of being a human I think, and kids are like the most “human” humans that you’ll ever meet.

Who do you most admire on the scene at the moment, and why?


I’ll be honest with you I’m not very good at name dropping… BUT, I do know that a beloved band amongst several of us is Rival Sons.

What advice would you give to someone just starting their own band?


You’re never gonna find people who think and act exactly like you. Let go of your ego, the important thing is not where you end up – it’s creating something of substance along the way.

Which decade had the best music? Do you all agree or is it mixed?


I bet it’s mixed, but I like everything 70’s and 80’s.

How do you balance the band, recording, touring and practice, with things like work and family? 

It’s all about being realistic and prioritizing I think. Sometimes you sacrifice something to focus on the band, sometimes it’s the opposite – and that’s fine. There’s no need to try and be some kind of superhuman, most of the time it just makes you annoying. There is a saying, I don’t remember the origin but it’s quite funny to me: “If you work as hard as you possibly can, and never give up – there are no limits as to how much you can exhaust yourself!”

From: https://mmhradio.co.uk/interview-with-nephila/

Tomorrow - My White Bicycle

"My White Bicycle" is a song written by Keith West and Ken Burgess. It was Tomorrow's debut single. According to Tomorrow drummer John 'Twink' Alder, the song was inspired by the Dutch Provos, an anarchist group in Amsterdam which instituted a bicycle-sharing system: "They had white bicycles in Amsterdam and they used to leave them around the town. And if you were going somewhere and you needed to use a bike, you'd just take the bike and you'd go somewhere and just leave it. Whoever needed the bikes would take them and leave them when they were done." The group recorded "My White Bicycle" in Abbey Road studio 1, at the same time as The Beatles were recording Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in studio 2, and John Lennon entered the studio while Tomorrow were recording. Lennon wrote in the British international music magazine Melody Maker that he considered the song to be the "psychedelic anthem", and the song subsequently became an underground hit. For the whistle on the track, the band went out into the street in front of Abbey Road Studios and asked a policeman to come in and blow his whistle into the microphone, despite the fact that the band members were all smoking illegal drugs during the session.  From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_White_Bicycle

Iris DeMent - Let The Mystery Be

Singer/Songwriter Iris DeMent’s song, “Let The Mystery Be” was recorded on her 1992 album “Infamous Angel.” The song, eerily enough, almost perfectly portrays the plot of the 2014 HBO drama “The Leftovers.” The TV show “The Leftovers” is based on the sudden disappearance of 2% of the world’s population, on October 14th, 2011. The following 3 seasons are based around how the remainder of the world adapts to living after 140 million people unexplainably disappeared. Since nobody can seem to figure out the true answer as to why the disappearances took place, it’d probably better that they just let the mystery be. The irony is the reason the producers of “The Leftovers” decided to make “Let The Mystery Be” the shows theme song for the second season.  From: https://genius.com/Iris-dement-let-the-mystery-be-lyrics

Born in Arkansas and raised in Los Angeles, Iris DeMent has a voice with a vibrato-infused twang that purrs and bucks, and her songcraft has always remained full of heart and earthly spirituality. This song, which opened her outstanding 1993 debut, Infamous Angel, is an object lesson, weighing ideas about heaven, purgatory, and the afterlife, then sensibly throwing up her hands: “No one knows for certain and so it’s all the same to me/I think I’ll just let the mystery be.” It launched a marvelously unconventional career that’s veered from gospel standards to protest songs to an LP inspired by Russian poet Anna Akhmatova (The Trackless Woods). “Let the Mystery Be” would become a standard of its own; one recent cover was delivered by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy on his Starship Casual Substack. From:  https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/the-200-greatest-country-songs-of-all-time-60414/luke-combs-beer-never-broke-my-heart-60427/

Fairport Convention - Polly On The Shore

Fairport Convention - Nine: This is actually one of Fairport's more "progressive" albums. The lineup included a really good singer, Trevor Lucas, whose mellow baritone is most suitable. The lineup also included American guitar whiz Jerry Donahue (later of the Hellecasters, not Hellacopters), who lays down some mind-blowing licks. Three tracks are proggy highlights: "Polly on the Shore", which contains a wicked wah wah violin solo, "Bring 'Em Down", a long original which has a very atmospheric extended middle section, and "To Althea From Prison" which is based on a historical letter and is a nice ballad which would not be out of place on any 70s prog album. The rest of the album contains the usual jiggy instrumentals, traditional songs, and an upbeat 50s-style rocker in "Possibly Parsons Green". Only "Big William" seems like a holdover from the horribly jaunty "Rosie" album. It's one of of the band's least folky albums, but one of their more stylistically experimental and definitely one of the best in a rather spotty, if always entertaining discography.  From: https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=10094

Cocteau Twins - Lorelei

The former members of Cocteau Twins have been on their own longer than the prolific sixteen years they were together as a band. They went from being scrappy teenage runaways from small-town Scotland to heavy rotation on the BBC’s coveted John Peel Show in mere months. Within a few years they were among the most beloved post-punk indie bands in the UK, with a growing international following and a music press that couldn’t quite find the words, and really never did. The twist was they could barely pin it down themselves, much to the frustration of just about every journalist who tried to interview them. They never claimed to be waiting for a muse to inspire them, and disavowed any idea of a grand design, concept, or intention behind their music. Questions of relevance seemed lost on them, too. Relevance, as far as Cocteau Twins’ music goes, is truly in the ear of the beholder: It’s what the listener makes of it, whatever the time or place. In most ways, their music remains unmoored from such things — as if they’d lived sealed off from the rest of the world, sending out the occasional musical missive. They existed in a category by themselves — one they created.
Others have tried to reproduce or capture their sound, with limited success. The few artists who have succeeded sound mostly unlike them, but have managed to convey an essence: inspiration without imitation (think Beach House, Goldfrapp, Sigur Rós, or even M83). Cocteau Twins were a foundational influence for whole categories of music, notably dream-pop and shoegaze — forms that have themselves found new 21st-century audiences. Given their association with 4AD’s early crop of bands like The Birthday Party and Bauhaus (and the comparisons to Siouxsie & the Banshees), they also became and continue to be a staple of goth, though they mostly eschewed goth’s trappings.
Years later, in a world exploding with musical creativity, output, and listening sources, the Cocteaus’ music brings its own kind of relevance — again, if that means anything anymore — as they are rediscovered by people, mostly of a younger generation, yearning for something seminal or transcendent. (The song “Pearly-Dewdrops’ Drops” played an important role in the novel and young adult film, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” as recently as 2012; in 2020 Heaven or Las Vegas was ranked among the most important albums of all time by more than one media outlet.) It is a testament to the timelessness of their sound and production quality that many new fans don’t even know that the story actually started in 1979, or that the trio formerly known as Cocteau Twins long ago moved on to new endeavours. Even now, younger fans enquire regularly about “the next album” or “upcoming live shows.”  From: https://cocteautwins.com/introduction.html

Wolf People - Night Witch

AD 2016 and England is in flux. This bastard island is divided, shot through with doubt and self-loathing, ruled by the feverish egos of passing power hungry dilettantes, two-bit aristocrats and smiling psychopaths. Swathes of the country have been sold off, paved over, neon-lit. England is at war with itself and this time the enemy is in the mirror. The people require a new narrative. A new soundtrack. They need to feel the pull of history and navigate a new path through the morass of misinformation. Emerging from the woodlands, river-banks and the dales like the grizzled ‘green men’ resistance fighters of the post-Norman invasions, the spirit-raising purveyors of pagan folk psyche prog Wolf People return to provide exactly just that.
Ruins is their new album, and its over-riding theme is that of nature reclaiming the land. The transcendence of life over politics, plants over people. It asks: where are we going and what comes next? If culture is history’s narration, then Wolf People are custodians and conduits; electrified sages, if you will. Through them runs a time-line of a nation rising from bloody glory to existentialist confusion. Yet within Ruins, their album proper, lies a spirit of hope too, it is a reminder that society is no match for the mighty power of music and nature working in perfect symbiosis. Wolf People are time travelers, their tools mythology, history, hauntology, big riffs, bigger beats, electricity.
“It’s not a concept album, but a lot of the songs consider what the world might be like without humans,” says singer/guitarist Jack Sharp. “The title refers to the ruins of civilisation. I suppose like many people – especially now – we’re constantly veering towards complete frustration with the human race one moment, and celebrating all the positive things about humanity the next. The aim was to try and portray that without sounding too trite or preachy.”
Lyrically Ruins imagines how the planet might appear when society has finally fallen to dust and ash, and the creeping vines and nettles have reclaimed the land. It is the product of letting go of conceit, contrivance and, indeed, a career plan. For following the release of 2013’s acclaimed Fain, and a tough year for all concerned, frontman Jack Sharp considered giving up. Out of this doubt came a wellspring of new ideas that could only be recorded by Wolf People. The universe had spoken. It was written in the runes.  From: https://jagjaguwar.com/artist/wolfpeople/ 

Jefferson Airplane - Wally Heider Studios 1970

Jefferson Airplane - Wally Heider Studios 1970 - Part 1

 

 Jefferson Airplane - Wally Heider Studios 1970 - Part 2

Today (October 30), marks the legendary Grace Slick’s 80th birthday. While she is best known for her work as a vocalist in the seminal San Francisco psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane, Grace got her start in Bay Area group The Great Society in 1965. Somewhat frustrated with the lack of direction in The Great Society, Slick would soon replace singer Signe Toly Anderson in Jefferson Airplane.
Jefferson Airplane would go on to score two Top 10 hits with songs that Slick originally penned while she was in The Great Society: “White Rabbit” and “Someone To Love.” These songs and others made Grace’s powerful mezzo-soprano voice iconic in rock history. Slick and the Airplane were also involved in the socio-political activism of the time and their 1969 album, Volunteers, showcased their revolutionary spirit.
Renowned sound engineer Wally Heider, who was integral in capturing the sound of a number of late ’60s San Francisco bands, recorded Volunteers at his state-of-the-art studio. Among guests appearing on the album are Jerry Garcia, Stephen Stills, David Crosby and famed session pianist Nicky Hopkins (The Rolling Stones).
After the album’s release in November of 1969, Airplane returned to Heider’s studio in early 1970 to capture a number of the songs from Volunteers live on film including “We Can Be Together,” the title track and the Paul Kantner/ Crosby/Stills co-write “Wooden Ships.” The live performance includes classics like “Somebody To Love,” “Plastic Fantastic Lover” and more. The band also chats about the heady times they found themselves in.  From: https://www.jambase.com/article/jefferson-airplane-wally-heiders-studio-1970

 

The Rolling Stones - Hide Your Love

Hide Your Love: Mick Jagger was playing piano between sessions when engineer Andy Johns encouraged him to record what he was working on, and that became the basic track. The Stones recorded the song in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, at De Doelen, a concert hall rather than a studio proper. Jagger's voice bleeds through from when he was singing on the piano track. You can hear it with headphones. The album this song is from, Goat's Head Soup, is considered by some fans to be the very last album of the Stones' "golden age." While most critics liked it, the immortal Lester Bangs spoke of the sadness that hung about the Stones, coming from when you "measure not just one album, but the whole sense they're putting across now against what they once meant." It was also the first album the Stones had recorded with only all-new original material in six years.  From: https://www.songfacts.com/facts/the-rolling-stones/hide-your-love

Kontiki Suite - Bring Our Empire Down

At a time when music is marketed as merely something to be consumed, like tins of beans, it seems that great songs, played and recorded with warmth and emotion are overlooked. So it is great to see the many very positive reviews, in the UK and internationally, that Kontiki Suite’s On Sunset Lake has gathered. My enjoyment of the CD led me to the bands website, where the experience is enhanced by the visual impact of the videos which impeccably reflect and enhance the songs.
I was determined to find out more about the Kontiki Suite and how they created this musical gem. Happily for me Craig [Craig Bright – keyboards & percussion] and Jonny [Jonny Singh – guitars, lap steel & backing vocals] from the band gave me some of their time to chat about the creation of the CD and how they achieved a warmth and clarity that is both vintage and modern. Something not often heard in contemporary recordings.

Firstly, I want to say how much I enjoyed the album.

Jonny: Thanks for the kind words. We’ve been absolutely blown away by the response we’ve had. It’s weird, we really never knew how folks would respond to it, but it really seems to have been embraced by like-minded music lovers.

My particular favourite song is Magic Carpet Ride, both the original and remix versions are great. It achieves that rare feat of being both familiar and new at the same time. There is some great guitar on Magic Carpet Ride. However, it is the longest track on the album. What was the reason for choosing it as the single? Hollywood, for example, struck me as being a more likely candidate for a single and may have wider appeal.

Jonny: We’ve been ending our live sets with Carpet Ride since, pretty much, the beginning and it quickly became a live favourite. It was usually the track that most people would be buzzing about after gigs. I think its crossover potential helped us out on occasion too if we were playing showcase type gigs to a varied audience. I think the track has got longer and longer over the years. I’m sure we’ve even clocked in a 20 minute version on occasion but managed to restrain ourselves to under 9 minutes for the album.
I don’t recall there ever being a discussion about singles, as I’m not really sure if we ever planned to release one as such. If there was then this was made easy for us anyway as Richard Norris had produced a great remix of it and kindly released it as a double A side on his 5D record label.

Craig: Jonny is right, in that there was no conscious decision to release a single, let alone for it to be Magic Carpet Ride. I guess I understood that in order to make any waves in a music world increasingly awash with all types of self-released music, good and bad, we had to make a statement from the get go. To do so, asking a well-respected DJ in Richard Norris to put his stamp on our 9 minute set closer was an obvious choice. As contrary to the norm as that is.
Richard, as one half of Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve with Erol Alkan, had given me some memorable nights at Glastonbury spinning their take on 60s psych and garage tunes as well as great re-edits of more recent folkier stuff by Midlake and Findlay Brown. The decision to release it as a double AA side 12″ was, again, the obvious thing to do because we wanted DJs out there to pick up on the ‘dancier’ mix by Richard and be able to play it at its best, on vinyl.

I felt that Magic Carpet Ride had a bit of a Madchester vibe going on. How did you come to write it?

Jonny: I wrote the track when I was living in Manchester and back when I was only really a part-time member of the band, if I recall correctly. I’d only recently finished producing the first Kontiki demos, so it must have been 2007. I think even from the moment of strumming the chords on the acoustic, I knew what sound I wanted from it. It came from an appreciation of what Ben [Ben Singh lead vocals and guitar] had already been writing for the band and our more obvious 60s influences. It also came from our, or really ‘my’, less obvious influences from early 90s shoegaze bands like Ride, Swervedriver and My Bloody Valentine. I’d also been spinning Notorious Byrd Brothers heavily at the time, which all helped the trippy swirling grooves and harmonies of Carpet Ride just fall into place, even in the first demo I put together of it. In fact, that demo is probably more psychedelic than the proper version.

Where and how did you record the album? Was it a local studio and if so do you think familiar surroundings contributed to the warm feel of the album? The production is very supportive of the songs. Did you get involved or if a producer was used, were they known to you before recording? 
 
Jonny: We recorded the album ourselves between our rehearsal room and my basement studio, so really recording technique decisions were kind of made easy by what equipment I had. The number of available mics and inputs was usually the main factor. Having our own studio was a huge benefit to achieving the right sound. It allowed us to take our time to get it all just how we wanted it. Although, sometimes this luxury can lead to too much time being taken.

Did you record any of the songs as a band, with overdubs as required or did you all lay down your parts individually? I feel some of the warmth that comes through in the songs is not just the recording techniques but also to do with closeness of the band.

Jonny: Initial tracking was generally performed as a 3 or 4 piece to get the drums down at the right tempo and groove. Everything else was then tracked individually to get the best performances down. We are generally a well-rehearsed band anyway so I think that adds to capturing that “closeness” sound that you mention. A lot of recording techniques went into it too. I experimented with “vintage” mic’ing techniques, for want of a better description, such as only mic’ing up the kit in mono with 3 mics, which I think adds a lot to the sound of the album.

From: https://thestrangebrew.co.uk/interviews/kontiki-suite-the-north-west-coast-sound/

Snake River Conspiracy - Act Your Age

Every sound made by Tobey Torres, lead singer of Snake River Conspiracy captivates the essence of the powerful emotions boldly portrayed on this extremely impressive debut. The versatility of the band shines through as every track demonstrates a different aspect of their own personas and indeed, the music scene. From the aggressive metal tracks 'Vulcan' and 'Oh Well' to the sweet, nearing pop tune 'You and Your friend', Sonic Jihad covers many diverse musical genres, linking them together and trade-marking them with a heavy dose of very edgy industrial experimental sound, and an occasional mockery of American idealism.
The complex layers of digital effects pile sound upon sound until they have a thick wall of it, which, teamed with the sultry, sometimes irate sounding vocals of femme fatale Ms. Torres, makes for a very emotive musical explosion. With such a huge amount of emotional force and excitement, Sonic Jihad is evocative of a sea, whisking you into its mystifying world incorporating rage, lust and violence, with a pace varying from raging thunderstorms 'Breed' and 'Strangled', to nearing calm waters 'Act Your Age' and 'Causality' plus a few scattered somewhere in the middle to hold it all together. Throw in a few extremely credible covers by bands such as The Cure and The Smiths for good measure and Snake River Conspiracy are already nearing perfection. More than just a straight nu-metal collection, Sonic Jihad is a journey, lyrically and musically, through human emotions and represents, to me at least, the triumph of passion over technology... and no one told you that you had to see them live. It's not about their stage presence - it's about the music.  From: https://drownedinsound.com/releases/2792/reviews/2633-#:~:text=Every%20sound%20made%20by%20Tobey%20Torres%2C%20lead,boldly%20portrayed%20on%20this%20extremely%20impressive%20debut.

Bhopal's Flowers - I Feel Free (Cream cover)

Something has been nagging me about the various jangle pop bands growing in popularity today, and I think that I have finally put my finger on it. While these bands are enamored with the Rickenbacker sound — and who isn’t? — there is something lacking in the results. They have captured the 60s / 70s West Coast LA psych vibe, but not the essence. Back in that era there was an edge to the music: the Vietnam war was raging, and the anger felt by many young bands found its way into their music, augmented by hallucinogenic stimulants. There was an urgency to the music and lyrics, which were foremost. And that is what I find missing with contemporary jangle pop. The songs are mellow, all rounded corners, nothing that bites into you and grabs your attention. Now, having said all that, Canadian neo-psych group Bhopal’s Flowers straddles this gap. Bhopal’s Flowers first came to my attention via Fruits de Mer. Their song “H.I.G.H.W.A.Y.S.” appeared on The Half-Time Orange freebie compliation and their raga rock cover of Cream’s “I Feel Free” on FdM’s massive compilation A Band for All Seasons. I was impressed and eagerly awaited the release of their double vinyl LP Alstroemeria - A Journey on Earth & Beyond. The double album roughly follows a day in the life, with the first LP, subtitled Sunshine Pop, running from 5 AM to 6 PM, and the second LP, subtitled Moonlight Pop, running from 7 PM to 4 AM, completing the 24 hour cycle. When Bhopal’s Flowers blends Eastern and Western music, they excel. The combination of the signature Rickenbacker sound with sitar, tamboura, and tabla is magical. Following the 24 hour day, these magical moments occur in the wee hours of the morning on Sunshine Pop and the pre-dawn hours on Moonlight Pop: “Enjoy Your Life on Earth [5 am],” “Napoleon Candy Sweet [7 am],” “Hail to Her Sun! [9 am],” “A Night at the Devachan [1 am],” ‘“Moon - Earth - Jupiter [2 am],” “Eastern Star [3 am],” and “I Feel Free [4 am].” Sandwiched in between are a set of gentle neo-jangle pop songs that just don’t connect with me, except for perhaps “When the Sinner Becomes a Saint (Then the Devil Bleeds) [1 pm]” and “1221 Jasmin Street [3 pm].” My wish is that Bhopal’s Flowers would focus more on their unique blending of musical cultures, perhaps covering more late 60s tunes, rather than strictly psych pop.  From: http://expose.org/index.php/articles/display/bhopals-flowers-alstromeria-a-journey-on-earth-beyond-6.html  

Sally Rogers & Claudia Schmidt - Going By

Old friends Sally Rogers and Claudia Schmidt, each with productive and storied solo careers, relish joining forces to make glorious music. Between them, they have over 30 fine recordings, but only three as a duo, most recently Evidence of Happiness in 2012. Radio stations across the country voted their 1987 collaboration, Closing the Distance, in the top 10 most popular albums of the year. Their separate home bases (Rogers in Connecticut, Schmidt in Minnesota) and full teaching, composing, and touring schedules make it challenging to converge. This Ithaca concert is a rare chance to hear them create magic together, with the synergy that comes from shared musicality and a gift for lyrics, instinctive harmonies, passion for social justice, education, and the environment, and radiant joy in the “Tree of Life.” These are energetic, powerful women who revitalize their audiences with a mix of humor, poignancy, and fire. Both drew attention decades back as regulars on A Prairie Home Companion, and have traveled far and wide since then.

Free-ranging and unclassifiable, Claudia Schmidt is fluent in folk, jazz, blues, and world music styles, a prolific composer and great wordsmith, and a soulful player of 12-string guitar and mountain dulcimer. In addition to taking the stage at festivals, big arenas, and house concerts across North America and Europe, she writes and performs in film, television, and theater. She’s an inimitable force. “When Claudia sings a song, it stays sung,” declares Garrison Keillor. A reviewer in the San Francisco Bay Guardian wrote, “Schmidt’s shows are a lot like falling in love. You never know what’s going to happen next, chances are it’s going to be wonderful, every moment is burned into your memory, and you know you’ll never be the same again.”

Sally Rogers is firmly grounded in traditional folk, old-timey, and children’s music, graced with a pure voice and accomplished playing of guitar, banjo, and dulcimer. In her hands, songs, whether original, contemporary, or hundreds of years old, have a timeless quality. Once heard, audiences remember them and take them home to sing in the kitchen, car, or at gatherings. As a born, and now professional, teacher, Sally Rogers’ successful mission is to set the world singing. When she’s not in a schoolroom, she’s likely to be touring across the States, Europe, or China, recording, creating books and videos for children, composing songs for Unitarian and Quaker hymnals, and quilting. She has won numerous awards, including Best Folk Album of 1982 (Circle of the Sun), Parents’ Choice Gold of 1990 (Piggyback Planet: Songs for a Whole Earth), Best Children’s Recording in 1993 (What Can One Little Person Do?) and in 1994 (At Quiet O’Clock). Her eagerly awaited recording for adults, We’ll Pass Them On, was recently released on Red House Records. She can tackle serious subjects in a way that uplifts rather than numbs. Writes Peggy Seeger, “Sally Rogers has a clear, fluid, and remarkably agile voice, a keen sense of drama, and a most refreshing sense of fun.”

From: http://canaaninstitute.org/mikesmusicblog/sally-rogers-and-claudia-schmidt-in-concert/

BoDeans - Stay On

Life throws you all kinds of curveballs. Case in point: Go Slow Down was a really strange album for the BoDeans to break through to the mainstream with. It would be a bit of a stretch to call this an album of love songs… more like an album of songs about love… or, in some cases, the act of love. Okay, let's face it -- in at least two instances, this disc sounds like an attempt to write a soundtrack album for The Joy Of Sex… not that there's anything wrong with that.
Ironically, this earthy, somewhat anti-commercial fifth disc from the Wisconson, roots-rocking band built around singer-songwriter duo Kurt Neumann and Sam Llanas also contains their one smash hit single, the buoyant rocker "Closer To Free." In a twist of fate worthy of the Rembrandts, the producers of one-time uber-youth-soap  Party Of Five decided "CTF" sounded like great opening-credits music. Well, yeah. It cooks along like a born classic, fueled by Michael Ramos's soaring organ and accordion work and the heavy backbeat laid down by bassist Bob Griffin and guest drummer Kenny Aaronoff.
Truth be told, there are some very sweet and thoughtful tunes here, full of a kind of weary optimism, and decorated brightly with Llanas and Neumann's fine acoustic/electric guitar and mandolin work. "Idaho" is a (by turns) lyrical and philosophical little rocker about perspective. The upbeat "Save A Little" is equally appealing, and "Cold Winter's Day" is masterful in capturing a more somber mood, a vibrant mixture of nostalgia and camaraderie. Another number of note, "Stay On," is a kind of self-directed inspirational speech for struggling musicians.
But the title track… man, oh man. It's really funny to me what's considered obscene these days, because "Go Slow Down" and "Feed The Fire" are a thousand times sexier than anything you may or may not have seen on last year's Super Bowl halftime show, and there's not a parental advisory in sight. No expletives, nothing graphic -- just the essence of lusty sensuality, captured in words and music. Listen to these songs with someone you love.
Go Slow Down marked the commercial high-water mark of the BoDeans' career to date. Since the follow-up to Go Slow Down, 1996's fine Blend, they've recorded and toured intermittently. They're one of those low-profile bands who deserve more attention, but have never craved it enough to compromise their musical integrity. And Go Slow Down is an excellent album precisely because it's uncompromising -- honest, raw and beautiful, it's my pick for their best.  From: https://dailyvault.com/toc.php5?review=2652

Gaate - Hamløypar

Even if Gåte dates back its inception to 1999, would you mind recalling to our readers how this musical adventure started?

It all started with my brother Sveinung and me singing and playing music together. We grew up with parents who were deeply interested in Norwegian folk music which became a natural part of our musical upbringing. Our parents taught us traditional fiddle playing, and gradually I started to learn to kvede (a traditional Norwegian way of singing.)
During his teens, Sveinung become interested in modern music and started to play with synthesizers and musical programming. One time the Swedish folk rock band Garmarna asked me to warm up for them, I brought Sveinung with me. And we had the first performance where we did a fusion of traditional folk songs, musical programming, and synth. That was a performance with some key people in the hall, who soon became very important for Gåte‘s future. Their presence would help Gåte become a band with a clear path. A band that would tour and rapidly grasp the attention of a broad audience.

Your EP “Til Nord” dates back to 2021; that followed the full-length “Nord” released in December via Indie Recordings. What can you share about the production of “Til Nord?” And which is the connection that the EP shares with “Nord?”

We never planned to do an entire album within this more acoustic soundscape. Our original plan was to set up a series of acoustic concerts featuring cleaner and simpler versions of some of our songs. With the full-scale Gåte, we need a big production around us to make the concerts possible. For this occasion, our idea was to scale things down. And make it easier for us to travel with small-scale production. By giving us the freedom to play more shows and deliver more intimate performances. We should have gone on tour with this setup in spring 2020. But we only managed to do one concert before the pandemic hit. We had to cancel the entire tour.
Luckily, this acoustic production was a corona-friendly concert; it allowed us to perform several gigs. Initially, it was intended as a small side-project. Then it got a life of its own with a much longer lifespan than we had ever planned. The project allowed us to delve further into and explore our acoustic possibilities. And we soon became happier and happier doing these concerts. The reception of our down-scaled version of Gåte was also positive, which motivated us to make a record. The exploring process of their live potential before recording them was also a very positive one. And I believe it has put it’s mark on the record.

Indeed, “Nord”‘s release was at the beginning of December. It concludes an era for the band; what do you mean by that and why?

As previously mentioned, “Nord” was meant just as a side-project for us and not the beginning of something new. However, when Nord was released, we felt the album release finalized the project and marked a natural end. But Nord being Nord, it keeps on living a life of its own. And our statement might not be as conclusive as we felt it back in December. Its acoustic soundscape made an impact, and it will continue to be part of Gåte in some way or another. In addition to all the other aspects of our music that we seek to explore and develop.

From what I recall, the last full-length “Svevn” dates back to 2017. If compared with “Nord”, what your previous album is different from?

Gåte is deeply rooted in folk music and folklore. It is in our DNA and has paved the way for all our musical outputs. We call ourselves folklorists and see ourselves as vanguards of folklore. Gåte‘s goal is to convey and further this often-forgotten folk tradition. And showcase the beauty and strength hidden in its stories, songs, ballads, legends, myths, etc. Our music has always been innovative, groundbreaking, and different. It is rooted in cultural heritage and our musical tradition, without following the traditional rules and formulas. With “Nord”, Gåte became a creator in this tradition.
Together with the acoustic expression and through a cleaner and simpler soundscape, we have tried to create something we hope seems even more authentic. And beckoning people to join us in this journey back to the very roots of the vast Nordic folk tradition. Through this approach, Gåte also opened new doors and helped us see the music from a different stance. We felt we got even closer to defining our musical DNA and dared to expose ourselves and our instruments. Gåte has always been a force – using all means possible, maximizing the esthetics, and exaggerating everything. For this occasion, we wanted to peel everything down to the core. And see what lay beneath all the extravagance: “Nord” is the result of this process.

Every record produced and released brings a lesson learned. Musically and personally, what is the most fundamental life lesson Gåte has gained from “Nord?”

It has been a great learning experience. We have learned that we can afford to be more open to the music and the directions it takes us. Our essence and DNA will prevail and shine through regardless of which path our music leads to. Or what genre we choose to explore.

One of Gåte‘s traditions is to lyrically dive into the vast traditional Norwegian musical repertoire by offering captivating and emotional recondition. What can you tell me about the lyrics featured on “Nord”?

Most of Gåte’s songs are our take on traditional Norwegian folk songs; this is also the case with “Nord”. The themes vary, but some of them we often find is the agony of forbidden and lost love, life and death, and old myths and legends. The album booklet also features a text about each song – a little gift to all our fans who buy physical products.

Despite the pandemic, what is in the pipeline? Which is the thing that you are looking forward to? And which are your plans?

We are hoping to do tours and concerts outside of Norway again. And looking forward to working with new music and towards a new album.

From: https://www.femmemetalwebzine.net/interviews/gate-an-interview-with-gunnhild-sundli/

2 Foot Yard - Seven Houses

The San Francisco-based trio 2 Foot Yard is known for its daring and pioneering way with classical sounds: when violinist/vocalist Carla Kihlstedt, percussionist/guitarist Shahzad Ismaily, and cellist/vocalist Marika Hughes are not fusing them with visceral, pounding rock or energetic pop, they're exploring compositional boundaries by hitching e.e. cummings poems or other unorthodox works to their brief avant-garde pieces. Kihlstedt is the most visible member of the outfit for her prior collaborations with the equally fearless John Zorn and her part in another San Francisco outfit, the all-acoustic Tin Hat Trio. But the résumés of Hughes and Ismaily don't skimp on notable credits, either. Hughes plays in the art-funk trio Red Pocket and sings in the a cappella trio Charming Hostess, both of which have released discs on Zorn's respected Tzadik label, and Ismaily, an American of Pakistani descent, has composed for film and live theater and worked with Laurie Anderson. Together, their music in 2 Foot Yard -- the name is a nod to an organic gardening plot within city confines -- is swaggering and adventurous, artful but rarely inaccessible.  From: https://www.iheart.com/artist/2-foot-yard-41753932/

Planxty - Live Dublin 1972 / Come West Along the Road 1973 / Live on Aisling Ghael Special 1979

 Planxty - Live Dublin 1972

 

 Planxty - Come West Along the Road 1973

 

 Planxty - Live on Aisling Ghael Special 1979

 

Planxty’s rebirth was a dream come true for band and fans alike – and the good news is that there’s more to come. Earlier this year trad/folk legends Planxty reconvened for a series of sell-out concerts at Dublin’s Vicar Street. It was first time that the original line-up of Christy Moore, Donal Lunny, Andy Irvine and Liam O’Flynn had appeared on a stage together in over 20 years (apart from a low-key appearance in Ennis the previous October.) The success of the shows exceeded all expectations and then some, with over 10,000 people attending. For those lucky enough to be there it was an unforgettable musical experience and a long overdue reminder of the debt owed to Planxty for the current healthy state of Irish music For those who missed out on the shows, all is not lost as they were recorded and filmed and are now available on CD and DVD while more gigs are planned in December.

Three-quarters of the band are on-hand here to discuss the whole experience. So how does it really feel to be a going concern again after all these years?

Donal Lunny: “Unbelievable. It’s far better than any one of us had expected. Our main misgiving before we got back together was, ‘Will the spark be there like it used to be?’ It turned out it was. We met up for rehearsals last October and did that tiny gig in Clare but that was just a toe in water to see how things would work out. We didn’t realise just how good Vicar Street would be.

“We proved that we could still capture that energy which is so much a part of being in a young band,” says Liam O’Flynn. “Not once during the twelve gigs did it feel like we were going through the motions or on automatic pilot. What worried me initially was the thought that we might be playing to an audience of people of our own age because when you think about it, you’d need to be over 50 to have seen the band in their early days”, says Andy Irvine. “But it wasn’t like that at all. Leagues O’Toole’s documentary had put us in context for a younger generation so there was a good cross section of all ages at the shows.”

The band appeared to be extremely well rehearsed and stuck to a fairly rigid set-list for most of the shows. Clearly they had done a lot of preparation leading up to the gigs?

Donal Lunny: “Probably even more so than when we started. Christy complimented me on my punctuality, which wasn’t my best quality in the early days. Actually, if anybody drove the notion of us getting back together and doing it properly it was Christy.”

Andy Irvine: “We’d rehearsed quite a bit but you can rehearse until you’re blue in the face – when you get up on a stage it’s a different matter. The venue helped hugely – Vicar Street is the best gig of that size in town. I remember the first night before we went on and Christy was looking through the curtains at the audience and he said ‘Jaysus it’s like a big folk club out there.”

Liam O’Flynn: “It’s a lovely cross between a concert hall and a club. The welcome we got when we got out onstage just blew me away. It was unbelievable. I think it’s great that a band can play music and get an audience like that.”

The audience reaction was overwhelmingly positive, as was the press coverage. Were they surprised at how much they seemed to be missed by everyone?

Donal Lunny: “The thing is the early audiences spanned every generation – there were kids, old aged pensioners, hippies, rockers but they were all lovely to us. The new audience was the same with people of all ages out there.”

Liam O’Flynn: “I think I heard one woman saying she’d die happy. People had come from Australia, America, and all over Europe specifically for the shows. We certainly didn’t expect that.”

Andy Irvine: “I thought a lot of the reviews didn’t reflect the audience reaction – one journalist called us four grumpy old men. But there was a man who was encountered in the toilet who wiped his eyes and said ‘Jesus Christ I’ll have to emigrate again!”

Donal Lunny: “Davy Hammond, that great man from Belfast, said to me ‘You’re putting people back in touch with their lives’. Part of it is nostalgia. The times that we were in existence before are like islands to people and music is one of the things that evokes memories.

Was it always the intention to record and film the reunion shows for subsequent release?

Donal Lunny: “I don’t remember there being any great urgency about recording them in the early stages. It probably would’ve made us too nervous knowing that we were taping the shows. But it made sense in the end. And we knew we were in good hands with Philip King. When it comes to filming something like this he is the best there is. He just knows how to record music without disturbing what’s happening onstage. In fact we didn’t even notice the cameras in the venue. It was all set up and we just got out there and did the gig.”

Andy Irvine: “There were cameras there? I don’t remember seeing any cameras at all.”

Others have been involved in Planxty over the years, including people like Bill Whelan or Paul Brady. Was there any suggestion that they would join them onstage for some of the shows?

Donal Lunny: “No, that never came up. It was the simplest thing to do it with just the four of us. There were practicalities of us getting back together and we didn’t want to bite off more than we could chew. What made it easier was the fact that the four of us got together on a social basis once a year for the last six or seven years, just to meet up and have the craic. It was out of that, that the notion of doing something came together.”

Liam O’Flynn: “I feel that most people regard the original Planxty line-up as the best. I know I do myself.”

What about the future? Are there any more gigs planned and is there a chance Planxty might record some new material?

Donal Lunny: “We have time set aside at the end of the year and the door is open but we’re not going to put ourselves under pressure.”

Liam O’Flynn: “It’s so easy to find yourself under pressure. If you open the door it comes flying through and a lot of people want a piece of you. Then suddenly other things take over and that’s the end of it.”

Andy Irvine: “We’ve no plans for an album but we’re not totally dismissing it. The whole attitude of the band is to take one step at a time. December is the next step. And we’ve put in motion the rehearsal of new material by then. A couple of the pieces are from the Planxty repertoire – things we haven’t recorded and there might be something new – who knows?”

From: https://andyirvinenews.wordpress.com/2017/07/13/archive-2004-hotpress-interview-with-planxty/