Spiritbox - No Loss, No Love

 LH: You guys released the “Belcarra” music video and, along with a vocal cover that you did live. What has the response been and how did it feel to finally get that song out there, because it is powerful?


Courtney: We are so excited because we shot that music video in December and we had this song done since, god, I guess June or something like that. Yeah. So the song’s been done since June of 2018 and we shot the video in December 2018, and so we’ve just been sitting there wanting to put this song out for a long time, but we just kept pushing it back, because we just wanted to make sure it was a good release and we had all our artwork looking good, and we added our own video, so we wanted to make sure that it was looking as good as possible, right? So, it was so awesome to finally put out that really more heavy song, because we led all of our releases with a bit more of a groovy, more prog song, so it was nice. This song is a little tornado of heaviness, so I’m happy to dump this one on the world.

LH: You mentioned that you guys edit your own videos. I would like to say that, as a person that has definitely dove into you guys head first, you really take pride in the music videos. They’re edited well, they’re unique, and I sort of get a ’90s vibe in some of the music videos.


Courtney: You know what? You probably get the ’90s is probably because aesthetically, the more low fi something is, the easier it is to pull off, you know what I mean? We really lean into the fact that our stuff is very low fi visually, because we’re literally just doing it ourselves on our iPhones, except for, of course, you can see if you were to look at all of our videos, I don’t even have to say this, because it’s so obvious, but our video for “Perennial” clearly was shot by a professional. Our friend Dylan did that one and so we’re hoping that he’s… we have one more song to put out, and we’re hoping that Dylan is going to direct that one as well, so we can begin and end with Dylan doing our videos.

LH: What goes into making the videos? I’ve always been one to say that visuals are very important, and you guys seem to have an emphasis on visuals. Do you always try to make the best visual for the song, or do you make something a little different?


Courtney: Yeah. We don’t do it because we are truly talented at making visuals and stuff like that. We do it purely out of necessity, because we’re such a new band that any way that we could get more people to find out about our band and have sharable content that we can stand by is gonna help us so much rather than just putting out one song and hope people buy an EP. So, throughout the last year or so, Michael, my husband and our guitar player, we just taught ourselves how to do that and, obviously, our first and our only love is just making music and we’d rather focus on that. But, because of the necessity of needing to get people to be aware of our band, he’s really stumbled into finding that he’s actually quite good at doing music videos. But, in a perfect world, we would rather just pay the professionals to come up with, work with them to come up with something more finessed, but until that day comes, we want as many people to see us as possible, so we’re gonna continue to put out that visual aspect of our band. And it’s been really fun to learn how to do all that stuff.

LH: Now, what would you say has been your personal favorite music video to film?


Courtney: Well, obviously the one that our friend Dylan did, “Perennial,” was really cool because we got to watch a professional work, but I loved shooting… you know what? I think my favorite one was the one from our previous EP release that we put out last year. It’s a song called “The Mara Effect, Part One,” and I like that one because that was the first time that we got to make an actual performance music video. Before that, it was just more of a storyboarded video, because we didn’t have a full band to do a live performance then, and so I was so happy when I got to do that one, because it was really, really simple, because we finally got to perform a song as a band in a more traditional sense. So, that was my favorite one to do, I’d say. It’s like an all black and white video and we’re in an old warehouse. If you get time to check it out.

LH: I’d have to say that my personal favorite, I think, would have to be, I’d definitely say “The Mara Effect, Part 3” would be my favorite. I thought just the white water around your face and how you moved around, and it was appropriate for the tone of the song, as well. Just the movements that you had and I felt like, especially at the end, when you’re mixing the screams and clings together, it all meshed together so well and I just felt like it was very artistic.


Courtney: Well, that one was literally just Michael just standing above me on our bathtub and me lip syncing the song, which I couldn’t hear, because my ears were under the water and I had to just hope that I was on time. And then, we spent $10 on a couple gallons of milk and then $10 on some flour, and that’s all that, and he just shot it on his iPhone.

LH: Wait. So you were in a bathtub filled with milk?


Courtney: Yeah. You put in half water and then a couple gallons of milk and it all works out.

LH: Now, one more general question about the video. In the “Perennial” video, when you were actually in the body of water, you had this effect on your face. It was really bright and glittery. How did you guys manage to get that effect? It was really cool.


Courtney: Oh, well, I literally had glitter all over my whole body. I was covered in glitter. So, if you saw me in person, I looked crazy, but Bill, our bass player, his wife happens to be a professional makeup artist, so she was kind enough, for that video, to come and do my makeup for all the scenes. She put glitter from my whole head down to my chest and my arms and my fingers, everything, so I was covered in glitter, so it looks very, I’m so glad that you could kind of see that, because it was really subtle, but it makes me so happy because it was very uncomfortable to be covered in glitter for 10 hours, because I had to wait. She was leaving that day to go back to… we live on the island, and she was leaving that day to go back to Vancouver, and so she had to put the glitter on me before she left, but we had to wait till sunset to do that scene, so I had to just sit there all day covered with head to toe with glitter.

From: https://www.loudhailermagazine.com/interviews/interview-with-courtney-laplante-of-spiritbox/

James Gang - Walk Away - Beat-Club 1971

The James Gang didn’t start out as a power trio. Initially the band was a standard five-piece with a revolving door of members coming and going; including legendary guitarist Glenn Schwartz who would leave the band while AWOL from the Army, and move to California to form the blues rock band Pacific Gas & Electric. In 1968 the James Gang was scheduled to open for Cream at a concert in Detroit. At the last minute, guitarist Ronnie Silverman informed the band he was out. Desperate for gas money to get back to Ohio, Walsh, Jim Fox and Tom Kriss were forced to perform as a trio—just like the headlining band from London. Everyone liked what they heard, so the band remained a three-piece (with Dale Peters replacing Kriss on the second album, Rides Again) until Walsh departed for Colorado in 1971 to start Barnstorm with Kenny Passarelli and Canton, Ohio native Joe Vitale.  In addition to releasing three excellent albums in two years, Barnstorm also served as the backing band on Michael Stanley’s second album, Friends and Legends, which certainly clarifies the amazing guitar interplay that permeates that album, and a friendship that has lasted decades.
In 1970, the James Gang was assigned to support some shows on The Who’s American tour. Pete Townshend was so impressed he invited them across the pond to open for his band on their UK tour as well. Townshend and Walsh became fast friends and Pete once told Rolling Stone magazine that he thought Joe was the best American guitar player he had ever heard. Both Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton had equally complimentary things to say about him. When I finally dropped the needle on side one of Thirds and heard the opening guitar riff of “Walk Away,” I understood why Pete and the others were such enthusiastic fans. I also realized how shortsighted I'd been prejudging the band's sound and not listening to the records sooner. The James Gang with Joe Walsh at the helm was a quintessential high-powered rock n’ roll band; critically acclaimed and highly respected by fans and musicians alike. The icing on the cake was their hometown status; a source of pride that Cleveland music fans revere and rally behind to this day.  From: https://happymediumproductions.weebly.com/the-james-gang---walk-away.html

Mean Mary - Wherefore Art Thou, Jane

Banjo, fiddle, and guitar player “Mean” Mary James has quite a following on YouTube. Intrigued by this, I began listening to her music more closely. Mary has the unique ability to mix together a variety of musical styles, which can appeal to a wide audience—traditionalists, along with those who like a more progressive sound. I particularly admire the ease at which she can switch between those two poles. Mary grew up on the border of Florida and Alabama, and has been performing since she was 6 (when she recorded her first album!). Her name comes from a song she wrote when she was five, Mean Mary from Alabam. (She isn’t really mean at all.) 

Bob Piekiel: Tell us about your new album.

Mary James: “Sweet” has 14 songs, which is more than I’ve ever done before. I think I’ll go back to a 10-song album next time! This one is quite diverse. I was trying to stick more in it because I can go all over the board genre-wise, from bluegrass to rock and roll, Celtic, and so on. This one kind of took on a life of its own while recording. It has songs that I originally didn’t think were going to be on the album, songs that I’d just written, and it’s become my most diverse album of all.

BNL: How did you choose the material?

MJ: It kind of decided on its own! But I’ve written a lot of songs in the past year, and I’ve been playing songs that people would they be on an album, so I took some of those, and then added more that I thought would fit. We have a bit of a theme—a lot of the songs have that “sunshiney, happy-go-lucky” feel to them. There’s some banjo tunes, and a variety of other things. It wasn’t exactly a planned situation.

BNL: How did you get interested in the banjo, and when did you start playing?

MJ: I started with guitar, just before I turned 5. The next year I got into playing the fiddle. The banjo came along when I was about 7. My parents and I were in a pawn shop, and I pointed to a banjo and said, “I want to learn that next.” They ended up getting me an inexpensive, $50 pawn-shop banjo. I just went from there with that.

BNL: Who were your biggest influences, and how did you go about learning to play?

MJ: I’m self-taught. I learned from books, tab books. When I started on guitar, I learned how to read music, and learned songs that way. I learned how to read music before I learned how to read! My mother let me go through music books, and I had never heard the artist before, so I learned them from the sheet music, especially the songs that I thought were pretty. I would add them to my repertoire. I was influenced by many different artists and their performances. When I started with banjo books, I loved a beautiful arrangement of Blackberry Blossom by Geoff Hohwald. I thought that was just great.

BNL: Is the banjo your favorite instrument?

MJ: I like them all, but the banjo’s been good to me, especially with Youtube. For years the fiddle was my main instrument. I played fiddle with other groups, and fiddle solos, but I play multiple instruments because it gives you a lot of variety. Sometimes, an instrument you didn’t think belonged in a song all of a sudden becomes a tool. My song Bad Ol’ John had an electric guitar, and then I thought, maybe the banjo would add that special, quirky little sound to it, and something that first seemed to be straight rock-and-roll became a lot more fun!

BNL: Why do they call you “Mean” Mary?

MJ: When I was about 5, I wrote a song with my mother called Mean Mary from Alabam’. It was kind of my theme song back then. The press picked up on it, and would say things like “Mean Mary is coming to town!” That’s when I stopped performing that song! Things you did that were cute when you were 5 aren’t as cute when you’re older! (laughs) 

From: https://banjonews.com/2016-05/mean_mary_james.html

 

Joe Jackson - Live Hammersmith Odeon London 1982

01 Look Sharp
02 Cancer
03 Real Men
04 Breaking Us in Two
05 Fools in Love
06 Chinatown
07 Target
08 T.V. Age
09 It's Different for Girls
10 Tuxedo Junction
11 Steppin' Out

Joe Jackson is an English pianist, songwriter, vocalist, author, and occasional bandleader, active since the late 1970s. Emerging on London’s New Wave scene, he achieved fame with the 1979/80 albums Look Sharp!, I’m the Man, and Beat Crazy. Over the years, his music has incorporated rock, reggae, salsa, jump blues, Tin Pan Alley, big-band vocal jazz, and avant-garde classical forms.
Joe was born David Ian Jackson on August 11, 1954, in Burton upon Trent. He spent his childhood in Portsmouth and his teens in Gosport, where he learned violin and piano. From age 16, he played piano bars and won a scholarship to London’s Royal Academy of Music, where he studied musical composition alongside Annie Lennox. 
Jackson earned the nickname “Joe” when cabaret audiences noted his resemblance to Joe Cool, the piano-playing guise of Snoopy in the comic strip Peanuts. Jackson himself accepted the name as an ode to the titular teenage genius character in the Sixties ITV super-marionation series Joe 90. At age 20, he changed his legal name to Joe because he deemed David an over-given forename among his generation of Portsmouth natives.
In 1972, Jackson teamed with Gosport friends Graham Maby (bass) and Mark Andrews (guitar) in Edward Bear, a covers band named after the line “Edward Bear, coming downstairs” in English author A.A. Milne’s 1926 children’s book Winnie-the-Pooh. When a namesake Canadian soft-rock band scored a 1973 transatlantic hit with “Last Song,” Jackson shortened the name to Edward but signed as Arms and Legs to MAM, a pop-singles label that housed Irish sensation Gilbert O’Sullivan.
With the advent of new wave, Andrews formed Mark Andrews and the Gents. Jackson formed his own band, comprised of Maby, guitarist Gary Sanford, and drummer David Houghton. Meanwhile, he played piano on Portsmouth’s cabaret circuit behind the vocal duo Koffee N’ Kreme and used the earnings to fund his first demo. In 1978, American A&R talent scout David Kershenbaum spotted Jackson on London’s club circuit and secured the singer a deal with A&M.  From: https://jazzrocksoul.com/artists/joe-jackson/ 

Kate Wolf - Live - Give Yourself to Love - Selected Tracks

01 - Give Yourself To Love
02 - Desert Wind
03 - Ballad of Weaverville
04 - These Times We're Living In
05 - Medicine Wheel
06 - Pacheco - Redtail Hawk
07 - Some Kind of Love

I'm interested in your musical influences.

I have to say that it probably started with the Weavers and led into Rosemary Clooney. I started out with singers that you could hear the words. That's been the big influence. Then I got into writers. Dylan is a big influence and of course the Beatles happened and folk music was always kind of there in the background. I got interested in folk music out of the Kingston Trio stuff and the Weavers. I wanted to know more about it. Once I got interested in folk music and started going to libraries I started finding out about country music. Then I discovered the Carter Family. Then when I got into country music radio, by then I was starting to discover Merle Haggard and Lefty Frizel and people like that. I used to listen to Hank Williams as a kid. So it's kind of been a progression through honest songs and honest singers, that kind of clarity. I love Buffy St. Marie's work. I love listening to people like Stevie Winwood. I guess it's that heart that's out there.

Poets?

Poets that I read? Well, I always liked ... I never wrote poetry as a kid or anything but I used to read Whitman and then I got into Garcia Lorca when I was in my "Spanish period." I read contemporary poetry if it's the poem that gets me. I'm into imagery. I'm really a frustrated painter. It really isn't so much a question of whose work it is as what kind of pictures it paints and what kind of things it says. If you looked at my bookshelf you'd probably find things. I like Gary Snyder's work. I like Robert Bly's work. Alice Walker. Those are all pretty contemporary. Looking back over the years ... like I said there was this sort of a numb period when I wasn't really doing much except making dinner parties and sewing clothes and baking bread so I can't remember really a lot about poetry. At that time I was mostly listening to Sixties radio which was just filled with poets. Everybody and their brother practically. Probably this will all occur to me later. But as far as writing goes, the structure of how I write, I never thought about it being poetry too much. I just sort of followed the models of the folk and country stuff. I write a lot from visual imagery. I write a lot from stimulation and reading other people's things. 

From: https://www.katewolf.com/interviews 

The Rolling Stones - Let It Loose

Having just gone through a breakup, this song hits right at home. And I think that's exactly what this song is about. Mick fell for someone because he needed someone. Those 'corny lines' she said went to his head, and he fell for all of it. But at the same time, he knew all the while that it was only a matter of time before she would break his heart. It didn't matter though, because he needed someone to be there, even if it was only for a 'month or two'.
The end of the song is the equivalent of sitting in your room with your face in your hands crying. Hence the 'shut the light' and 'let it all come down'. But the line 'let it loose' is saying you need to let it go and move on. Get it all out... scream... cry... do whatever you need to do. But then let it loose and move forward. That's only my interpretation. But the great thing about a song that's sort of abstract like this is that you can interpret it in so many different ways.

This beautifully moody song is about love like a cannon ball with your name on it coming out of the blue aimed straight at your heart - you see the incoming shot but you're powerless to avoid it. A good friend sees her coming too and tries to warn you, but it's no use. You are a goner. 
Her friends think you're just a one night stand (maybe that's what she told them), but they don't know how vulnerable you are and how hard you fell for her. You tell yourself to hide your tears, act like you're cool and in control, and pretend this woman you hooked up with didn't really get to you. But she did get to you and you can't lie to yourself about that. 
God knows you were feeling needy and she was oh so willing right when you needed her to be, but that doesn't change the basic math here: you fell for the wrong person (again) and now you're emotionally bereft. How long does it take for love to fly you to the moon and back and then turn your life into an emotional train wreck? "Give her just about a month or two..." 
You're getting drunk to try and feel better but you know that's a very temporary BandAid at best. The only way out is through. You've got to stop lying to yourself about how you feel. Admit that you cared. Admit that you got played. Admit that it hurts. Let it loose, let it all come down. It's going to take some time to get beyond your current lovelorn state, but you'll live through this. And yet... The One That Got Away took a little piece of your heart with her and a lifetime won't be long enough for you to truly forget her.

From: https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/45170/ 

Unwoman - For the Killers

Erica Mulkey is a beacon in the dark for would-be DIY musicians. With seven self-produced albums out under the auspices of her Unwoman project, Mulkey’s career has blossomed to a point where the Kickstarter for her recent LP The Fires I Started more than tripled its goal based purely on the support of the devoted fanbase she’s grown via playing shows, attending Steampunk conventions and collaborating with musicians as diverse as Caustic and Voltaire. 

ID:UD: You have a background in classical music, yet you also have an element of electronic in your music. Can you comment on how you make them blend together so well?

Erica: Practice, I guess? I really think the mixing on my first two albums was pretty rough. It’s not easy to blend those aspects but I had this vision early on of cello with electronics – inspired by everything from synthpop to experimental industrial to, obviously, classical – with pop-ish vocals. I kept to more-or-less the same aim over the years and I feel I finally hit my stride on Casualties. One thing that helped was working in more organic sounds in my sequenced tracks. And having worked as a ringtone producer for a few years was really helpful for honing my production skills, too, because that medium had such strict limitations.

ID:UD: From the looks of live videos your shows sometimes include a belly dancer; how does this add to your show and compare to your shows without one?

Erica: Well, I like to think, and I’ve been told, that I can command an audience with just myself and my cello. But adding a more visual element can be very powerful especially when I’m sitting down with my cello and can’t really move around. I’ve recently started playing electric cello standing up so now most of my live sets have the vibe of solo rockstar, which is better than seated cellist, but still not as visually compelling as a full band. I love when I play local shows and dancers come to dance with me; it’s because they want to, because they really like my music, which is such a powerful connection to me, to interpret my songs into movement. And even though a lot of my songs are about physical things like sex, they’re usually a pretty analytical view of them, so it’s wonderful to bring the songs back into the body for those shows.

ID:UD: You’ve worked with some radical circles such as Graceless and had a strong tone of radical themes in your early work. How have you keep these ideals in your music?

Erica: I basically feel like I do so little to be politically active – I only participate in demonstrations every few months or so – the least I can do is speak truth to power in the voice that I feel comfortable using. My tone has changed a lot, though, since songs like “Freedom From Religion” and “In Gilead.” I took a few steps back from the brash, harsh stance – though I am still proud of those works coming from an outspoken young woman – and try to sing more from a personal perspective rather than grand overgeneralized statements. An early review once held “Freedom From Religion” up to “Strange Fruit.” Of course it didn’t compare favorably to possibly the greatest protest song ever! But I took their point – maybe I was capable of more compelling subtlety.
My biggest struggle over the last few years has been to live by what Albert Camus said: “The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” And, similarly, Orwell: “In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” So my goal is to be honest, and free, in my songs and my life. My song “For The Killers” is especially about this.

From: https://www.idieyoudie.com/2012/10/05/an-interview-with-erica-mulkey-of-unwoman/

Prince & 3rd Eye Girl - Pretzelbodylogic

Ida Nielsen: “The way it all started [in December 2012], we didn’t know we were going to be a band; we didn’t even have a name. We just went to Paisley Park and were jamming with Prince and he was teaching us all these new songs. And then all of a sudden we’re doing the Jimmy Fallon show and he’s introducing us as 3rdEyeGirl. And we’re like: ‘Oh, OK, that’s our name, then.’”

Hannah Ford Welton: “Every day is spontaneous like that for us – we all had to get used to it. But it’s especially hard to live in the moment today – everything is planned and scheduled, so when you step out of that and you create your own space where everything is up in the air, it keeps things fresh and interesting. Tomorrow we could be on the other side of the world.”

Donna Grantis: “Prince has an unbelievable work ethic that rubs off on all of us, but time exists in a different way at Paisley Park. Every day there are things to accomplish but it’s not related to the hour. It’s just: before the next resting period, we need to get this done. On one song, Another Love, there’s a giant guitar solo at the end, which we were rehearsing at four in the morning. Prince asked when I’d like to record it and I said: ‘You know what, I’ll do it tomorrow morning. I’ll think about it, work out some concepts …’ And he replied: ‘Let’s record it now.’ I had to go for it. It turned out to be a part where he and I are soloing and playing off each other and it’s really special.”

Nielsen: “We did this album old school, live, all in the same room, so if someone made a mistake everything had to be redone. That’s how it used to be in the old days: one, two, three, go! Play good! We thought we were learning new material to play live. But all of a sudden, he said: ‘Let’s make a sequence.’”

Grantis: “I was totally shocked. This was one take, play it perfectly all the way through, figure out the sounds on the spot. We had to play our parts so quickly that our musical instinct took over – the first sound or feel we thought might fit is what you’ll hear on the record. With the song Wow, we didn’t even play it all the way through before we recorded it.”

Welton: “Prince has really encouraged us to take the reins and be courageous with our playing. It’s OK to make mistakes as long as you’re trying for something, know how to recover and keep going. Either it can be fixed or it can’t and we have to redo it, but it’s OK to take chances. What’s cool is that Prince teaches us the grooves but he’s very much open to our interpretation of the parts, as long as we stay true to the feel. He’s not a stickler, like: ‘This is what I gave you, this is what you play.’ He’s really laid back – at least, he is with us. That’s what makes our sound and shows so special because you hear all of our different personalities shine through the music.”

Welton: “We all take this very seriously, so we’re all constantly challenging each other and keeping each other accountable. And sometimes that calls for what Prince says is ‘policing each other’ in rehearsals and finding weak spots in the song and drilling them. We all have to go in together and rub all the kinks out of the music so that when you come to a show it comes off flawless.”

Welton: “One thing Prince has said a few times is that with every performance, go in with the mindset that it’s being recorded, as much as we encourage people to put their phones away and bootlegging is highly discouraged – he calls bootlegs “unfinished recordings” because the sound quality is not nearly the same. He says to dress like you’re being videotaped, perform as if you’re in the studio, and nail it. Because at some point someone will be recording and they’ll probably put it online and you have to look at and hear yourself and you want to be proud of it.”

Welton: “I’ve never been in a band up until this point where I’ve seen thousands of people lining up outside a venue and down the street for a mile – and I can’t think of an artist out right now, other than us, that I would do that for. The genuine love and loyalty from the fans was really eye-opening, that they are willing to train it for hours to stand outside for hours before even getting in. People don’t do that any more. Some people got frustrated about the process of the Hit and Run tour in that tickets weren’t for presale but at the same time, we did that for the fans – we wanted them to be able to pay £10 rather than £900.”

From: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/sep/25/3rdeyegirl-on-prince-ping-pong-and-women-in-music-who-treat-their-bodies-like-meat

Susanna Hoffs - Beekeeper's Blues

Like Paul McCartney, she was the cute one, the half-pint, "front woman" for the quartet, The Bangles. Perhaps it was this uneven attention quotient that forced the members to dissolve the group. Who knows? But they were one heck of a great band. Like all great bands you'd expect the parts which are no longer the sum to shine or attempt to shine on their own. And so it was with Susanna Hoffs, the most recognizable name from the group. 
Miss Hoffs's first solo attempt When You're A Boy can be written off as the banal fluff that it was. After that flop, the pen was poised to write off Hoffs, herself. But then came the Tuesday Night Music Club to the rescue. You may remember these guys, Kevin Gilbert, David Baerwald and Brian Macleod. They sprinkled their talents throughout Sheryl Crow's smash debut. Now these musicians would have been more than enough to create incredible sounds -- but wait there's more… Matthew Sweet and Jason Falkner (Jellyfish), Jon Brion (man with the Midas Touch - Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple, Macy Gray, The Mommyheads and on and on….), Mick Fleetwood. There is so much talent; so many musicians on this album you'd figure the Too Many Cooks in The Kitchen Rule would apply. Not even! Everyone comports themselves with restraint. This result is a pleasantly consistent and solid album. 
A dusty, jangly guitar pervades the atmosphere of Susanna Hoffs. Hoffs's voice falls through the chords like pearl drops with an edge of fine grain sandpaper. The writing in strong, eloquent and personal. Many of these songs are about relationships laced with dysfunction. The first song, "Beekeeper's Blues," paves the way, the opening lines being "You only call when you want money / And when I need you you're not there."
An exception, "Eyes Of My Baby," is a moving song about a single woman meeting the man of her life. A topic that could have easily tipped the scale towards mawkishness is, instead, delivered with frankness, conveying the anxiety and bliss that accompanies such a transition in life.
"Weak With Love," a song about two people's response to the shooting death of John Lennon, is stark and poignant. It drives the loss home better than any other song I've heard on the tragedy. You will immediately relate and recall the moment you heard the distressing news. There's also an interesting cover of the Lightning Seeds' "All I Want" in which the lyrics have been altered. If you are familiar with the original you may find this a little unsettling but that's made up by Hoffs's superb vocals and the dash of rockabilly added to the arrangement.
I can't recall right now which reviewer on this panel has an allergic reaction to those secret tracks tacked on to the end of a disc. [Editor's note: Nice way not to piss off the boss, Alicia.] Usually, they are dross, not worthy of studio time. But let me tell you, the two surprise tracks at the end of Susanna Hoffs are pure gems! The first, a gorgeous cover of "To Sir With Love" rivals Lulu's version. The second, "Stuck In The Middle With You" completely out does the Steeler's Wheel original. It is downright funky! This is by far Hoffs's most mature effort. And I mean with or without the Bangles. It's a crime that this album hasn't garnered the attention it deserves.  From: http://dailyvault.com/toc.php5?review=1402

Liquid Pennies - Echolalia

You gotta love a band that describe themselves as “psychedelic explorers;” that’s exactly how St. Petersburg-based act Liquid Pennies introduce themselves… And honestly, it’s a pretty apt description. The power trio specializes in a hard-to-describe sound, combining elements of prog, psych rock, and indie with a little bit of je ne sais quoi powder sprinkled overtop. They’re proud to announce their latest offering, Fore, which explores all of the aforementioned elements in a tight-but-expansive collection of eight intriguing songs. With a laundry list of wild influences – think The Mars Volta, TV on the Radio, The Smile, and King Crimson (and anything and everything in between), it’s not hard to imagine that Liquid Pennies are here to push a few boundaries. Luckily for us listeners, they do it in an exquisitely listenable way, a challenge for some prog-ish acts, but not this talented trio.
Not for the faint of heart, “Echolalia” is an 11-minute jam that finds itself ruminating on a deep groove, rooted heavily by a droning vibe, in-the-pocket bassline, bongo slaps, and Yorke-esque falsetto. As you’ll find, it evolves/devolves into a wild, face-melting jam. Time signatures go out the window. Rhythm and melody stab together in jaunty and angular hits. And it’s all soaked by an octave-heavy distortion that sounds like grinding machinery. They even find a way to slap a phaser on the drums… While they’re certainly capable of pulling off more pop-centric songwriting, if anything, this is Liquid Pennies encapsulated – the trio operating at maximum efficiency and musicianship, jamming in pure harmony with one another.  From: https://buffablog.com/liquid-pennies-fore/ 

Suden Aika - Raudan Sinty

Suden Aika means "time of the wolves," with the wolf representing freedom, truth, and the wild for the four Finnish musicians. "We want our souls to resonate together. When you sing together and look into each other's eyes, you can experience the moment when you are in harmony with one another and when time stands still," say Suden Aika, thus describing the effect their music, deeply rooted in Finnish and Nordic tradition, has on their listeners. For Suden Aika, time truly stands still when the women's quartet celebrates its songs. The women sing a cappella or accompanied by Nordic folk instruments, such as the zither-like kantele or the key-shaped mora harp, but also by percussion and flutes. Yet they aren't a quartet in the traditional sense: "We don't have the classic division of two sopranos and two altos. We all sing both the very high and low notes, and our pieces often oscillate between quiet and explosive passages." This often results in exciting, unusual soundscapes. The ensemble has been on the road since 2003 and has gained a loyal fan base in Germany, at least since its performance at the Rudolstadt Dance & Folk Festival in 2006. "Sisaret" (Sisters) is the title of their latest studio album. In their recordings, the quartet draws on legends and poems dating back up to 1,000 years, which they have re-set to music in the tradition of runic chants and interpreted with their own musical approach. "Even if the listeners don't understand the sung texts, they quickly sense what they're about. Because ultimately, it's the music that tells the stories."  Translated from: https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/das-quartett-suden-aika-folkige-frauenpower-aus-finnland-100.html 

Journey - Opened The Door

If you can forget that this is the transition album that led the band down the road to Anway You Want It and Open Arms, what you have is a progressive leaning band at their peak, playing hook-filled, masterfully crafted songs, and recorded by a master producer who uses just about every 70's production trick in the book to sweeten the album. Sure, the songs are shorter, and the band doesn't stretch out like they did on previous albums, but if you think about it, transition albums are often the most enjoyable albums of a band's career (if not best). I love this album, and paired with Dream After Dream, it satisfies my desire to hear a world class vocalist like Steve Perry singing progressive leaning rock.  From: https://www.progarchives.com/album-reviews.asp?id=19610 

Lore - Woven

For those that like to keep up with the doings of guitar player Laur “Little Joe” Joamets—the Estonian ax slinger who set houses on fire behind Sturgill Simpson from 2015 to 2017—he’s formed a new project with Nashville-based and noted blues singer Laura Reed called “Lore.” Forged earlier this year and playing their first few shows right before the pandemic hit, the duo has just released a new song called “Surrender” that Laura Reed co-wrote with Shannon Sanders. This is the first taste of a new album coming from the duo produced by a power duo of Dave Schools and Vance Powell. 
The band formed when Laur recorded an instrumental album in 2019, and brought it to Vance Powell for mastering. Believing Joamets could benefit with working with a vocalist, Laur ended up pairing with Laura Reed off of a Facebook post, and the duo immediately hit it off as a vocal/guitar power duo.  Laura Reed was born in South Africa, but was raised in the United States where she started performing and collaborating early, including with George Clinton and PFunk. Reed has toured extensively as a vocalist with a wide array of artists from places like New Orleans and Asheville while also putting together a solo career. 
Laur Joamets came to the United States after he was introduced to Sturgill Simpson by producer Dave Cobb, who knew of Joamets through Rival Sons drummer Michael Miley, who is married to a woman from Estonia. Laur played some of Sturgill’s most memorable performances, including on Saturday Night Live, and on the Grammy Awards before leaving the band in 2017. Most Recently Joamets has been playing guitar for long-time roots rock band Drivin’ & Cryin’.  From: https://savingcountrymusic.com/laur-joamets-joins-laura-reed-in-new-project-lore/ 

Cró! - Buah

The Catalonian online record label Bestiar was set up to promote local artists who would otherwise get overlooked, and although the fledgling label initially focused on acts from the Barcelona area it has gradually started to introduce bands from other Spanish regions. One such band is Cró!, a young outfit from Vigo in the north-western region of Galicia. To be specific about the musical style of Cró! is difficult but the band's 2009 self-titled debut album immediately set out a prog manifesto of psychedelic post-rock nuanced with jazz and alt-rock. Worth pointing out is the important role that visuals play in the group's live performances; video designer Borja Bernardez is accorded equal status to the other band members and he is always credited on their albums. 
Musical and visual improvisation go hand in hand during their concerts, and their interest in free variation was manifested in the sophomore release 'Dime Que Quedó Grabado!' which comprised a collection of improvisatory live and studio recordings from the years 2007-2011. The guitar-play of Rubén Abad on the latest album 'Onkalo' (2012) propels their sound ever closer towards a lightweight King Crimson but the band's principal means of expression continues to be their fusion of musical improvisation, technology and video art.  From: https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=8136 

 

Eurythmics - It's Alright (Baby's Coming Back)

The 1980s were an incredibly productive decade for Eurythmics. After bursting on to the pop scene with the krautrock textures of 1981’s In The Garden, there was an album a year almost without fail all the way through to 1989’s We Too Are One and their first extended hiatus. Coming slap bang in the middle of everything is their fourth/fifth album Be Yourself Tonight, released on Monday 29 April 1985. Just five months earlier the duo had released what was intended as a soundtrack album (not without controversy), 1984 (For The Love Of Big Brother), for the film of the George Orwell novel and were riding a huge critical wave.
Largely recorded in the outer suburbs of Paris with additional tracking in Detroit and Los Angeles, Be Yourself Tonight continued Eurythmics’ high profile progression, but saw Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart cast off their digital iciness. According to Annie, the duo wanted to make “commercial but also very individual” music that was a concerted, commercial shift away from their trademark experimental synthetic pop to adopt a more traditional band-based rock and R&B sound.
Having said that, thanks to Lennox’s leanings, there was often a vein of ’60s rhythm and blues running underneath even the most synthesized of Eurythmics songs. Stereogum were pretty on the ball when they offered the observation that with a sweet Wrecking Crew arrangement, Here Comes The Rain Again could have been a hit for Diana Ross and the Supremes, one of Annie’s favourite groups growing up in the austere granite grey of Aberdeen.
The release of Be Yourself Tonight also coincided with a new look for the singer, who ditched the carrot-topped child of Ziggy Stardust androgyny of the previous albums and became, in biographer Lucy O’Brien’s words, “a bleach-blonde rock ‘n’ roller.”
While it does contain some genuinely exceptional songs, the record as a whole comes off a little overrated in retrospect. Be Yourself Tonight is essentially a deep soul album in white-English-geek drag. As far as exploring new song structures and broadening the sonic palette then Be Yourself is atypically conventional and perhaps unadventurous, though in terms of songwriting it’s an extremely solid piece of work.
Would I Lie To You? is a brash, uncompromising album opener and lead single, giving listeners a first hint that they’re in for a raucous ride. Everything in this deliciously defiant two-finger salute clicks: the almost disco bassline, the metallic – but nowhere near generic metallic – guitar riffs, the funky gasping-for-air brass section, and the fiery emotionalism of Annie’s soaring vocals (caterwauling, one less kind review opined at the time), all combine to make the song one of the finest examples of Eighties white rhythm and blues. Now you know how it goes: if you ain’t got a great set of lungs, you ain’t truly fit for R&B, and if you ain’t got enough vocal hook lines to back it up, your R&B is gonna stink like a skunk down a drainpipe.
Neither is a problem on Be Yourself Tonight. Annie’s singing only gets better with time, so much, in fact, that she goes toe-to-toe (and holding her own) with Aretha Franklin’s powerhouse pipes and manages to match the Queen of Soul (no mean feat, obviously) seamlessly on Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves, the bombastic gospel-inflected duet that has since become a feminist anthem, and also serves as the centrepiece and defines the album. 
Sticking with the singles, I’ve often felt It’s Alright (Baby’s Coming Back) was one of the more under-appreciated Eurythmics 45s from their first flush, but aside from the bass-heavy electronic pulses and the yearning fluttering warmth of Lennox’s vocals, the song was notable for marking the first time a Eurythmics album boasted four bona fide hits. Moreover, the duo did go on to receive an Ivor Novello Award in 1986 for the track, recognising the composition’s musical and lyrical importance.  From: https://www.stevepafford.com/beyourself/

Boogarins - Sombra Ou Dúvida

Formed by friends Fernando Almeida and Benke Ferraz when they were still in high school, tropical psychedelic rock band Boogarins filters the sunny weirdness of '60s Tropicalia pop through more modernized D.I.Y. punk and indie-psych approaches. The band started out as two friends recording songs on borrowed gear and glitchy computers in their parents' basements, but the duo grew more ambitious and refined as the project expanded into a full live band on humid, frenetic affairs like 2017 album La Vem a Morte or the stardusted jams of 2019's Sombrou D ú vida. 
Boogarins were formed in the Brazilian city of Goiania in the early 2010s. They began as an untitled, recording-only entity, and before ever playing a single show, filling out the band to include a rhythm section, or even choosing a name, Ferraz and Almeida had recorded an album's worth of material. These recordings caught the ears of music hounds and tastemakers the world over, eventually landing in the hands of Other Music Recording Co., the label offshoot of long-standing New York record shop and cultural institution Other Music. Once signed, the duo had to make haste in becoming a "real band" and quickly named themselves Boogarins after a type of jasmine flower. They titled their debut album As Plantas Que Curam, the English translation of which is "Plants That Heal." The band expanded to include drummer Hans Castro and bassist Raphael Vaz and played their first shows in April of 2013. Their album saw release in September of the same year and the group toured internationally in support.  From: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/boogarins-mn0003145352#biography

Elephant Stone - Live in Montreal 2021

 Elephant Stone - Live in Montreal 2021 - Part 1

 

 Elephant Stone - Live in Montreal 2021 - Part 2

 

Elephant Stone front man Rishi Dhir understands the importance of a live show and the emotions that are provoked with it, as he comments: “I’ve always approached recording in the studio and performing live as different mediums…performing live is pretty much flying by the seat of your pants and not knowing what’s going to happen next. And I think ES really stands out in a live environment. There’s a lot of dynamics happening on stage.”
Due to high demand from fans and the growing popularity of their latest album Ship Of Fools released via Californian-based record label Burger Records in the UK late last year, Elephant Stone have extended their UK tour to now include dates across Europe throughout May and June 2017.

Have you made any changes to the lineup since you started or is this the original lineup?

Yes. I think I’ve been through about 15 members since I started the band in 2009. However, it’s been Miles, Gab, and me since 2012. We’re pretty tight.

What do you consider to be your first real exposure to music?

Saturday Bollywood movie marathons with my parents when I was little.

When and how did you all originally meet?

The Montreal music scene is pretty incestuous… everyone knows everyone.

When did you decide that you want to start writing and performing your own music?

I was in a band, The High Dials, for about 10 years. I was the bassist / sideman / booker / manager etc… After years of touring, I was just left with an empty feeling. I did not feel as though I was giving any thing of value or meaning to the world. I was just a vehicle for the songwriter. So, in 2006, I decided to leave the band and try my hand at creating my own world… and here we are.
 
What does the name “Elephant Stone” mean or refer to in the context of the band name? Who came up with and how did you go about choosing it?

On my honeymoon to Indonesia in 2006, I picked up a sandstone statue of Ganesha—the hindu “Elephant” god of new beginnings and prosperity. So, when come up with the name, I say that as a good sign and I like the Stone Roses.

What’s the songwriting process with Elephant Stone like?

I have my morning coffee, which then sets my brain into action. From there I demo the song and work on it with Miles and Gab.

You already released four albums and we’re all excited to hear the upcoming live EP Live At The Verge. Can you share some details about Live At The Verge?

During our last Canada tour, we did live session for SiriusXM 173 The Verge. It was a pretty exhausting session as we played the night before and had a show the same night. Since the release of Ship of Fools we have toured a lot and the songs have begun to take did forms live. So, we were presenting the songs in a different setting. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much from the session… we’ve done these types of things in the past. However, when I got the first mixes, I was blown away. Yes, the performances are not perfect… but it pretty closely translates what we’re trying to accomplish on stage. So, with this upcoming tour (and not really having any new material to put out) we decided put out our first live release.

How do you usually start working on the new material?

I develop the songs at my home studio. Usually starts on acoustic with a guide vox. From there, I add a drum machine, synths, lyrics…

You’re also starting with the European tour.

Yes! Can’t wait!

Do you spend a lot of time out on the road?

I think it averages to about 12 weeks a year… nothing that crazy.

Who are some of your personal favourite bands that you’ve had a chance to play with over the past few years?

Wow. So many great bands… BJM, Black Angels, Teenage Fanclub, Soundtrack of Our Lives… the list goes on and my memory is awful.

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 just started digging into the new Slowdive.

From: https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2017/05/elephant-stone-interview.html

 

XTC - Love On A Farmboy's Wages

Andy: “Well, I'd wigged out by now and was more than sick of touring, mentally and physically. So, using some money I'd saved from bits and pieces of performing rights society money (PRS), I got a mortgage on a house in the old town of Swindon. XTC never saw a penny from any of our thousands of live shows, but that's another tale I can't tell you because I've had a gagging order slapped on me by our first manager.
“Feeling confused about my future, I'd sit in the back garden, now I had one, and just write and write. One of the last acts this manager did for us was to buy Colin and myself a Portastudio each (for which we were duly recharged). But at last, we had a four track recording facility to capture our ideas on. This was one of the first things I recorded on it. We'd never really made demo recordings much before now, only if we'd been in a studio whilst making an album or unless someone had set up a makeshift facility, eg: Swindon Town Hall. But now we had a way of demonstrating how a song might sound with more than one instrument. Better than saying in noisy rehearsals ‘gather round, I've got a new one, just give me room to stamp and strum’.
“Terry claimed that this song is the one that convinced him to leave the band, we were actually working it up when he told us he was quitting. The songs were too weird, he said, he didn't like the poofy drumming.”  From: http://chalkhills.org/reelbyreal/s_LoveOnAFarmboysWages.html

Supreme Beings of Leisure - Never the Same

Geri Soriano-Lightwood says the weirdest thing about one minute into the interview. She says that she grew up in Chicago but is wasn't until she moved to Los Angeles that she felt she could breathe. In 26 years of such natters it's the first time anybody has said something vaguely complimentary about the City of Angels. Mostly, you are there because you have to be there - unless you're an urban cowboy who only sniffs the raw scent of life when you're living on the edge. Like Andy Prieboy. But that's another story. What LA offers the singer/lyricist of the marvellous Supreme Beings Of Leisure - arguably the best electronic band to emerge from the US in the past five years, and easily the most worldly and eclectic - is peace of mind.
"The racial climate was just amazing out here compared to where I was from," she says. "Chicago is pretty segregated. I left 10 years ago and I was in the alternative scene out there. I wasn't in the 'house' scene where you see a woman of colour. It confused a lot of people. They didn't really know what to do with me. It was kind of like this weird black chick singing like a white girl. Once I got to LA it wasn't an issue."
Geri's pedigree bears repeating. Heavily involved in that Chicago scene she played with some extraordinary talent including a spell as an early member of the excellent low-fi outfit, The Aluminium Group [their guests on this year's moody, atmospheric, Pedals include Jim O'Rourke, Sean O'Hagan, Doug McCombs, Edith Frost], and used to "hang out' with Billy Corgan before he became famous.
But the real pay off was to come when she made it to LA where she eventually met Rick Torres, Kiran Shahani and Ramin Sakurai. When they came to record a rap demo fate or gut instinct took a heavy hand. Ramin had the chance to submit a song for a James Bond film so he said 'maybe we can some of these tracks have Geri sing over them and see what happens'. The first song they wrote together was Nothing Like Tomorrow (a spooky post-Portishead chillout with distinct James Barry undertones) in 1995 with the Bond movie in mind (they didn't get the nod). That was the piece that created the SBOL sound. The chemistry was obvious. The trio's smart programming and seductive grooves beautifully showcased Geri's distinctive voice and her astonishing lyrics - searching tales of longing and disillusionment. That sound - which can be heard so perfectly cut into the grooves of their self-titled debut - was almost at once: sexy, seductive, glamorous, whimsical, soulful and haunting - a global sound with an American perspective. What else could they be but the Supreme Beings Of Leisure.
That sound also mirrored their collective identity. The bloodlines running through the group stretch from India to the Dominican Republic, Iran to Japan, Puerto Rico to Ireland. The guys all grew up in LA having immigrated to the US with their families at early ages, so it's all filtered through a distinctly western view of the world. "Our sound has a lot to do with who we are and where we come from," Geri says. "We were all raised 'white, upper-middle class,' but we weren't white. We didn't fit into our respective situations and that's what has become the bond between us. We were raised with a broader cultural mindset. We come from other cultures. That mindset is what created the sponge that is the Supreme Beings Of Leisure."
That sponge has dripped perhaps the most un-American record made by an American band. Geri laughs, says that they get many similar comments. In otherwords, SBOL are confusing the hell of out of things. Excellent. It's time geography, race colour and creed stopped influencing what kind of music people listen to.  From: http://mikesori.brinkster.net/hofsori/gsori.htm 

Uni and The Urchins - DNA

A cyborg recording of analog tape, industrial drum machines and bass keytar exploring postmodern themes on genetic mutation and futurism through a goth lens. Crispr, gene drive, cosmetic surgery, eugenics, life extension, uploading consciousness to the cloud, bifurcation of those that can afford it and those that cannot...we are entering a post-flesh world. DNA is about our severance with all that makes us human and entering the next phase of evolution, molding ourselves into digital Demi Gods with perfect silicone bodies. Would you make this Faustian deal with technology, or retreat to the forest...?  From: https://unitheband.bandcamp.com/track/dna