Luminous Orange - Braque's Bird

Not so much a band as the musical project of Yokohama-based musician Takeuchi Rie, Luminous Orange have been through more than 30 members and support members since being formed in 1992, including Nakau Kentarou and Inazawa Ahito from indie punk band Number Girl and Ian Masters of the Pale Saints. The influence of 1980s American alternative rock bands such as Sonic Youth and the Pixies, and particularly British shoegazer bands such as My Bloody Valentine, is a constant throughout Luminous Orange's career, although early releases tended toward a more melodic, less distorted guitar sound reminiscent of Teenage Fanclub or early Primal Scream, a sound clearly evident on their first full album, 1996's Vivid Short Trip. Released in 1997, Waiting for the Summer saw Luminous Orange edging toward a more effects-based guitar sound as well as more eclectic songwriting, influenced by Tokyo's "Shibuya-kei" sound, which came to the fore more strongly in the following year's Puppy Dog Mail EP, released on Ian Masters' Friendly Science label. Issued in 1998, Sugarcoated, the group's first true shoegazer album, made its sonic intentions clear with a cover version of Ride's "Chelsea Girl," and featured a greater reliance on distortion and a more layered sound. Luminousorangesuperplastic pushed further in this direction in 1999, and after a brief flirtation with Cornelius' Trattoria label, the band produced the well-received Drop You Vivid Colours, featuring the richest, most multi-layered musical textures and melodies yet, as well as some of the most sonically abrasive sounds. In 2004 Cream Cone Records put out a heavily augmented re-release of Luminous Orange's debut under the title Vivid Short Trip (7 Stops Farther), but apart from that, the band released no new output until the 2007 mini-album Sakura Swirl on U.S. label Music Related, although ever-shifting lineups of the band continued to tour intermittently throughout this period, playing the CMJ Music Marathon in 2004 and South by Southwest in 2006 and 2007.  From: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/luminous-orange-mn0000470488#biography 

Otis Redding - My Girl / Shake / I've Been Loving You Too Long - Live 1967

The first thing that stands out in the first segment of Otis Redding: Respect Live 1967 is Redding’s sheer size. At 6’1”, he seems to tower over Booker T & the MG’s guitarist Steve Cropper and bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn on the tiny Oslo stage. No matter that Redding and Cropper are actually the same height, Redding looks a clear half foot taller.
It may seem an odd first reaction, but it’s an indication of the amazing physicality of Redding’s performances. On record, it’s fairly apparent Redding is a muscular vocalist; if Sam Cooke’s style is defined by a sort of grace and smoothness, Redding’s feels more like that of a great force held in check, and even on ballads, Redding’s voice threatens to break loose. In performance, that restraint is thrown aside, perfect pitch sacrificed in service of an all-out frenzy.
The DVD contains footage of two shows: one from the Stax-Volt tour of Europe in the Spring of 1967 and the other from the Monterey Pop Festival that same year; both were shot by DA Pennebacker within the last year of Redding’s life. Pennebacker’s ability to get astoundingly close to his subjects without attracting their attention, evidenced in Don’t Look Back and Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, is on display here as well. The footage has an intimacy that concert films like Scorcese’s recent Shine a Light could only dream of: the viewer has the feeling not so much of being in the audience as being virtually inside the bass drum.
The Stax-Volt footage, shot in crisp black and white, is the lesser-seen of the two performances. After watching Booker T & the MG’s define cool with their performance of “Green Onions”, followed by two Sam & Dave songs that showcase the duo’s playfulness and deftness in interacting with both the band (while a perspiration-drenched Sam Moore lays down the verse for “When Something is Wrong with My Baby”, Dave Prater, with his back to the audience, is getting laughs out of Donald “Duck” Dunn) and the audience, feeding off one another, Redding’s performance of “Satisfaction” comes on like a juggernaut.
Stamping his feet like a man possessed, Redding urges the band to a breakneck speed, locked down by Al Jackson’s drumming, with the pure insistence of his voice. The follow up of “Try a Little Tenderness” begins as a sweet ballad only to speed into the same level of panic, bringing the audience surging to the stage as Redding makes his exit.
After a photo montage set to “Sittin’ On the Dock of a Bay,” we’re treated to Redding’s storied performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967, just six months before his death. Again, the intimacy of the shooting is amazing: chills come as much from Redding’s performance as the condensation of his breath caught in the stage lights. The intensity of the lights gives Redding’s bright green suit a brilliant shine and the camera gives enough time to the backing band to remind the viewer that, along with Motown’s Funk Brothers and Mussel Shoals’ Swampers, Booker T & the MG’s are some of the most important players in the history of American pop music.  From: https://www.popmatters.com/69630-otis-redding-respect-live-1967-2496067813.html

The Breeders - Cannonball

Before “Cannonball,” The Breeders were known as Kim Deal’s side project, overshadowed by her first band, Pixies. However, by 1993, Pixies singer/songwriter Black Francis had broken up the band by fax, so The Breeders were no longer a side project. Deal was in San Francisco recording Last Splash when her twin sister Kelley told her the Pixies had broken up. Pixies were responsible for alt-rock’s biggest bands, and The Breeders enjoyed the commercial fruits of that labor.
Many musicians work hard to be cool, but Dayton, Ohio’s Kim Deal is carelessly cool. Her indie-aloofness inspired The Dandy Warhols to write a song about her in which singer Courtney Taylor-Taylor pleaded for a girl as “Cool as Kim Deal.” Moreover, the combination of “whatever” and meticulousness makes Last Splash imperishably special. But, on “Cannonball,” what are the Deal twins singing about?
In 1996, Deal told Phoenix New Times that Marquis de Sade inspired “Cannonball.” Said Deal, “The message of the song as a whole was making fun of Sade and his libertarian views that if he was better off than someone, then they were just fodder for him. Playthings. It was saying, ‘Come on, life’s not a contest.’”
The intro voices (“Ah-hoo-oh”) are the Deals’ nod to the Oompa Loompa song from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. And “Cannonball” was originally called “Grunggae” because of its mixture of ’90s alt-rock and island sounds. (The “Grunggae” demo appeared on the 20th-anniversary edition of Last Splash.)
Deal opens the song, checking a distorted harmonica microphone as it squeals before the song breaks for its iconic bassline. However, the memorable bass part was the result of a mistake. A timid entrance that’s one fret off the correct note is repeated twice before the band begins and the right note is played.
Kim Gordon and Spike Jonze directed the music video for “Cannonball.” The Breeders perform the song in a garage, and the video cuts to scenes of Deal singing underwater. Throughout the video, a cannonball rolls down the streets of Los Angeles.
In 1990, Deal formed The Breeders with Tanya Donelly from Throwing Muses. Pixies had opened for Throwing Muses in the ’80s, and Deal and Donelly were hanging out in Boston while both bands were on a break.
Ivo Watts-Russell, co-founder of 4AD, signed The Breeders and released their debut Pod in 1990. (4AD was also home to Pixies and Throwing Muses).
Deal told Marc Maron the name “Breeders” came from a slur that some LGBTQ+ people used against heterosexuals. She also said the 1979 horror film The Brood inspired the name.
Producer Steve Albini recorded Pod, which also featured drummer Britt Walford (from Slint) and British musician Josephine Wiggs (from The Perfect Disaster), who plays bass on “Cannonball.” Kelley Deal joined the band on the Safari EP (1992), and Donelly eventually left the group to form Belly.
Producer Gary Smith said about the Pixies’ legacy, “I’ve heard it said about The Velvet Underground that while not a lot of people bought their albums, everyone who did started a band. I think this is largely true about the Pixies as well. Charles’ [Black Francis] secret weapon turned out to be not so secret, and, sooner or later, all sorts of bands were exploiting the same strategy of wide dynamics.”
He continued, “It became a kind of new pop formula and, within a short while, ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ was charging up the charts, and even the members of Nirvana said later that it sounded for all the world like a Pixies song.”  From: https://americansongwriter.com/the-meaning-behind-cannonball-by-the-breeders-and-the-french-libertine-who-inspired-it/

XTC - Senses Working Overtime

Released in 1982 as the lead single from their album English Settlement, "Senses Working Overtime" was XTC's highest charting song in the UK. In the US, the video for "Senses" was regularly played on the fledgling MTV cable channel.
The song incorporates a catchy melody, intricate harmonies, and a complex arrangement with a hook inspired by Manfred Mann's "5-4-3-2-1."
"It's like a little prog operetta," frontman Andy Partridge told Prog. "The verses sound like medieval reggae, before it opens up like The Who and the chorus is almost The Strawbs-meets-Manfred Mann. Then it goes sideways into something else for the middle section. I'm notorious for sticking bits together. You can only be the f---ing sum total of how you mash up all your influences. There's no such thing as originality."
"Senses Working Overtime" paints a sonic kaleidoscope of vision, hearing, taste, touch and smell pushing themselves to the limit. This sensory overload mirrors the internal struggle – the fight between good and bad. 
"I worked on this kind of stomping, idiot pattern, thinking about the five senses," Partridge recalled to Todd Bernhardt. "Then I thought, 'Well, everyone has five senses, what's great about that? Well, they're not just working, they're going crazy! They're working overtime! They're taking all of life in, and it's too much!' Because life is just too much. It's amazing, you know."
The song's music video, filmed at double speed and then slowed down, adds to the song's quirky and surreal atmosphere. Director Brian Grant shot it in Shepperton Studios while XTC were rehearsing for the English Settlement tour.
XTC's playful antics before their Top Of The Pops performance ruffled feathers in the BBC, ultimately leading to a ban from the iconic music show. 
"We were rehearsing 'Senses Working Overtime' on Top of the Pops and the cameramen were just not getting their camera angles correct – you know a shaved chimp could do it," Andy Partridge recalled to Uncut magazine. "We were getting bored running through this song dozens of times, so as young fellas do when they are bored, we started mucking about to entertain ourselves, avoiding the microphone and miming badly. Suddenly I heard this door slamming up on the gantry, and bang, bang, bang coming down this metal stairway. This cameraman said, 'Oh, you're for it now – it's the producer, and I think he's been for a relaxing lunch.' 
An extremely red-faced man appeared: 'you punkers are all the same! I'm sick of it, dicking about, f---ing ruining everything, you f---ing punkers! Right, we're going to get this done, and then I'm gonna personally make sure you never come on this show ever again.' He really did make sure we were never invited on again. People would see me in the pub, you've got a new single out, Andy, why is it not on Top of the Pops? I'd explain and they'd think I was pulling their leg."  From: https://www.songfacts.com/facts/xtc/senses-working-overtime

Throwing Muses - Live Bizarre Festival 1991

This isn't what I expected. I'd come over to Providence with Tanya Donelly, Kristin's half-sister and former guitarist with Throwing Muses, searching for the story behind her (and bassist Fred Abong's) recent departure from the band she's played with for pretty much all her adult life and I'm greeted with stories of jacked-off ostriches, the latest grisly murders, "lobster boils," and how David nearly got brainwashed on a recent trip to New York. No recriminations, no harsh words whatsoever.
It almost seems as though the split (which occurred just before February's "The Real Ramona" album and tour, but was kept quiet on both sides, so as not to affect sales) was completely amicable, and this fact-finding trip is a waste of time: as far as meeting three such delightful, talented folk could ever be considered a waste of time.
The last ever Tanya Donelly / Throwing Muses interview takes place in a fish restaurant 10 minutes drive from Kristin's house. They aren't upset or maudlin or sentimental. They're precisely the opposite, in fact, excited at seeing one another again.

Does it feel weird without Tanya in the Muses anymore?

"Nothing feels weird about the Muses anymore," Kristin replies. "Throwing Muses seems to be a name for music now, instead of a name for a number of people. So much horrible stuff has happened to us, that none of us wanted to be in this band anymore. We all wanted to start afresh, but to give up the name Throwing Muses had earned for itself seemed almost self-indulgent."

(The horrible stuff Kristin's referring to is both business and personal: their old manager, her "bi-polarity," a former lover who was suing her for both money and custody of their son, and so on. Tanya also split from a long-term boyfriend earlier this year.)

Did you feel that the Donelly incarnation of the Muses had naturally run its course?

"Mmm," replies Tanya affirmatively.

"Yeah," reply David and Kristin simultaneously.

"It's not even musical differences," explains Tanya. "It's not even that dramatic. It's more like, direction. I want to do my own songs, but Throwing Muses is Kristin's band. In the beginning, that wasn't a problem. I'd write four songs a year as opposed to Kristin's 28, but now she's come down in quantity and I've gone up a little, so we're kinda equal."

What made you decide to finally leave, Tanya? Did you wake up one morning and think, "That's it. I'm no longer a Muse?" Did Kristin's solo dates (towards the end of last year) have anything to do with your decision?

"No," she replies. "It had been coming for a while. The decision was made before 'Ramona,' but I love that record and didn't want to sabotage it in any way. It was the kind of thing where you can't figure out what's wrong and then you realize it's because you want to do your own stuff."

And The Breeders is Kim Deal's thing, right?

"Yeah," the guitarist replies. "I always end up getting involved with strong women, and of course people like that are attracted to each other. But then it turns into a mini-struggle, and it's too bad it happens, but it's unavoidable really."

Was Kristin expecting it?

"I think so," Tanya replies, "She was great. Of everybody, she was the most understanding. Me and Kristin grew up together, we've been through familial upheavals that are far worse than this. My friendship with her and my sisterhood with her are far more important than this. We were fine about it; it was everybody else who got all emotional."

Does it feel strange, no longer being a Muse?

"No," she says. "If I'd quit at the end of the tour, then it might have done, because it would have been such an amputated experience. This way, we all had time to get over it. And the tour was amazing, because we knew it was our swan-song, and it was fun because it was our secret."

What was the high point of the Muses for you all?

"Probably the final year," Tanya replies. "It was so chaotic and so emotionally-charged, but it was also the most fun I had in the band. I'm a complete believer in change now, so much that I could see myself going overboard in that respect. There's something that's so freeing about it, and I've always been a person petrified of it."

Do you feel "Ramona" was your best album?

"No," replies Kristin. "It's very realized, and that's a great thing. But I really like 'House Tornado' for that reason too: it had very appropriate production, the songs are very realized and stylistically, they're very intricate."

From: https://eyesore.no/tfdi/tm/mm1191.html 

If - Waterfall - Side 1

01. Waterfall
02. The Light Still Shines
03. Sector 17

Unlike the band's first three albums, "If 4" was not released in North America, reportedly due to management and contractual issues. Later the same year though (1972), "Waterfall" appeared in its place in those territories. As can be seen from the track listing, no less than four of the tracks on this album also appeared on "If 4" with two ("You in your small corner" and "Svenska Soma") being replaced by "Paint your pictures" and "Cast no shadows". The track order too is completely different, with "Sector 17", which seems to have been pruned back a bit, losing its headline spot to this album's title song. The two new tracks were recorded by a a slightly different line up with a new rhythm section and without John Mealing.
The re-ordering of the tracks means that the album gets off to a much more satisfactory start, with two in your face slices of jazz rock ("Waterfall" and "The light still shines") providing a tight, brass fuelled, attention grabbing first 10 minutes or so. "Sector 17" retains the extended guitar noodling of "If 4", but the sax excesses are kept in check.
"Paint your pictures" is one of the two tracks unique to this album. The song leans on the blues side of the band, the simple backing rhythm supporting an extended lead guitar break and some fine brass. From the keyboards work, it sound like John Mealing may in fact still have been around for this recording. "Cast No Shadows" has a distinctly The Who feel to it in the Roger Daltrey like vocals. The track otherwise has more in common with Chicago than BS&T, being reminiscent of "Does anybody really know what time it is" (to these ears at least!). The album closes with "Throw Myself to the Wind", a straightforward jazz rock number with a toe-tapping rhythm.  From: https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=15873

Sterbus - Alfriston Two Four Five

Black And Gold is the latest album from Sterbus, an Italian band based around multi-instrumentalists and singers Emanuele Sterbini and Dominique D'Avanzo along with associated guests who are used on different tracks depending on the need. The last album I reviewed by these guys was 'Real Estate/Fake Inferno' which was their homage to Cardiacs, and this is very different indeed. If I was to try and describe it then I would guess it would be psychedelia mixed with art rock and 'Sgt Pepper'-era Beatles, and that nothing on the album was written or recorded after 1972.
Okay, so that is obviously not right, but that is exactly how the music makes me feel. Strangely, this album also deals with mental illness, the second time I have reviewed a concept album with that topic this week, but whereas The Reticent are dealing with depression from a very personal viewpoint, here we are looking at the story of Virginia Wolfe who suffered from the time she was a teenager (today's experts believe she had bipolar disorder). This feels much lighter in its approach, at times drifting happily into folk prog, and at others into crossover, with melody and thoughtfulness at the heart of the story. There is a great deal of space here, and the pace can be quite languid as we drift along with none of the urgency and desperation prevalent in 'Please'.
Consequently this is actually a much easier album to listen to and enjoy. The lyrics are important to the story, and I am glad the decision was made to perform in English as it allows for a much wider appreciation of the work. It feels like a very mature album, and although it was somewhat unexpected given how different this to the other release of theirs I have heard, it is incredibly enjoyable. There is a lot to take in, and the more it is played the more there is to be discovered, yet it is also immediate, and it scream "class" from beginning to end.  From: https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=11432

Molassess - Through The Hollow

In 2006, siblings Selim and Farida Lemouchi started a psychedelic occult rock band called The Devil’s Blood. In 2013, it collapsed. During its existence, the band drew a loyal following in underground music. Its music balanced retro occult and innovative psych rock. Selim, guitar player and spiritual heart of the band, was uncompromising in his vision, resulting in shows that were as much Satanic rituals as they were concerts, including buckets of pig blood and candles all over the place. In 2014, after struggling with depression for much of his existence, Selim requested permission to die from his mother and sister shortly before taking his own life. 5 years later, Roadburn overlord Walter Hoeijmakers asked the former members of The Devil’s Blood whether they would be interested in creating a commissioned piece of music. Molassess was born.
And I was there for that first performance at Roadburn, though at the time I was unaware of the story behind the band or its previous incarnation. Nonetheless, I highly enjoyed the show, and with good reason. Molassess have a sound difficult to compare to anything else. It’s psychedelic rock at its core, that much is clear. The compositions feel organic, the guitars and bass loose and jangly as if the strings barely remain attached to the instruments. It sounds organic, too, owing to the fantastic production job, with its warm and vital master and balanced mix. The bass has a playful punch and the drums are the definition of unhurried; you won’t find a double bass kick here, and the pacing rarely creeps above leisurely, with only “Death Is” and “Get Out From Under” pushing the tempo, at which point an almost jazzy quality overtakes the drums, a not unwelcome bit of variation that keeps the music feeling lively.
At the center of it all, Farida Lemouchi pours her heart into the vocals, and the emotion cuts like a knife. Her wavery mid-range, wide vibrato and huskily aged timbre will not be everyone’s cup of tea; certainly, from a technical standpoint, she is often too unsteady and cannot sustain her notes accurately for long. From a performative perspective, however, she is a force to be reckoned with. Though the music is far from light despite its relaxed nature, Farida turns it into a pitch black soundscape. The jangling riffs, courtesy of Death Alley frontman Oeds Beydals, come to life like skeletons under her necromancing spells. There’s a haunting despair underlying such tracks as the evocatively titled “I Am No Longer” or long-winded closer “The Devil Lives,” of which the latter feels the most like a direct tribute to Selim. But the strongest track on Through the Hollow is “Get Out From Under.” Farida is evocative like a maddened oracle, particularly in the serrated chorus; the drums rise and crash; and the main riff, which is held through much of the song, is instantly memorable and wonderfully dark.  From: https://www.angrymetalguy.com/molassess-through-the-hollow-review/

Tamburlaine - The Flame of Thoriman

This collection of both Tamburlaine soft-rock/folk-rock albums dates from the time of flares, aviator shades, lyrics like “a whiter shade of pale” (yes, they appropriate that here) and when a woman was “a lady”. Strange days? Indeed. This period – the early Seventies – saw the flourishing of post-Crosby Still and Nash acoustic bands and artists which were long on earnestness and sensitive lyrics, and sometimes hugely popular.
Tamburlaine – the trio of Simon Morris, Steve Robinson and Denis Leong for their debut album Say No More – followed no carved path but rather drew from a few styles: the CSN harmonies (they cover solo Stills' Do for the Others), the romantic folk-medieval narrative tradition which harked back to Anglofolk (Morris' serious The Raven and the Nightingale which heads into bluegrass hoedown territory with cheery fiddle and mandolin), Morris' Saffron Lady (there are lot of “lady” figures here) is pure CSN but has a real sense of tension, and piano, violin and flute colour Leong's quietly delightful Rainy City Memories.
The interesting vagary in all this is the 10 minute-plus prog-folk, quasi-mystical The Flame of Thoriman at the end which pointed in a psychedelic folk direction. It might not have aged well in its lyrical content (although to be fair a lot of people are obsessed by that Tolkien guy, right? *) but is a fine piece of musical muscle-stretching which manages to be pop and rock without compromising their folk ethos. And really soars in its closing overs.  From: https://www.elsewhere.co.nz/music/8841/tamburlaine-say-no-more-rebirth-kiwi-pacific/ 

Jonatha Brooke - Secrets And Lies / Ten Cent Wings / The Choice

This first solo album is a departure from the sound of her albums with The Story and as Jonatha Brooke & The Story. I know I'm in the minority here, but I prefer these studio recordings of these songs to the ones that appeared on the live album that followed. Her complex melodies and unusual chords work better in pop songs than in folk music. It's easy to see why long time fans from her folk audience shook their heads when this album came out ("Do I hear an electric piano? A synth? An electronic beat?"), but for me this is where Jonatha Brooke's career really took off.
The pop production style hides the unusual chords and makes the melodies sound more easy. This was released by a major label. If enough people had heard this album Jonatha Brooke could have easily become as big as Shawn Colvin. "Secrets and lies", "Because I told you so" and "Last innocent year" should have been big hits. But unfortunately MCA didn't promote the album and with her folk audience being disappointed as well the album sank without a trace.
But for the more open minded listener who likes more than just folk and who doesn't mind a bit of modern production techniques this is an excellent collection. Jonatha Brooke writes lovely, catchy melodies with good lyrics and the songs are well produced. There's the aforementioned pop songs, acoustic folk given a pop sound on "Because I told you so" and "Blood from a stone", the more experimental "Glass half empty" is a fine tribute to the late Kevin Gilbert, the title track is a great piano ballad, "Annie" ends the album with acoustic folk. Even when the songwriting lets her down on songs such as "The choice" and "Shame on us" her lovely voice is there to keep things interesting. 
If only more people would have heard of this amazing artist. Intelligent pop music like this with such lovely melodies, influences from a lot of different styles sung by a female vocalist of course leads to comparisons with the late great Kirsty MacColl. I know there will never be another Kirsty MacColl, but if there's somebody in the world who comes close it's Jonatha Brooke.  From: https://rateyourmusic.com/music-review/mdekoning/jonatha-brooke/10c-wings/2087624 

Silly Wizard - The Queen of Argyll / The Ramblin' Rover / The Blackbird / Donald McGillavry

When friends, acquaintances or even perfect strangers ask my advice on starting a Celtic CD collection, there is invariably one album I will recommend buying first: Silly Wizard's Live Wizardry.
A decade since its release and nearly a decade since I first heard it, Live Wizardry remains on the pinnacle of traditional Celtic releases. Originally issued as two live albums, Live in America and Golden, Golden, in 1985, Live Wizardry was released by Green Linnet Records in 1988 as a compilation of the two. The musicians, the tunes and the energy combine to make it an album which should hold a favored place in every music collection. The album features the sonorous tenor vocals of Andy M. Stewart, the blistering fiddle work of
Johnny Cunningham and the amazing Phil Cunningham on accordion, whistles, mandola and keyboards. With Gordon Jones on guitar and bodhran and Martin Hadden on bass and guitar rounding out the band, it's about as good a set as you're ever going to find.
Add to that the energy of a live performance in front of an enthusiastic audience in Cambridge, Mass., and you have an album which cannot be beat. Silly Wizard, from Scotland, put out several excellent albums during their all-too-brief tenure together, but none has this kind of staying power ... likely because any good Celtic band feeds on the excitement of a live performance and grows stronger because of it.
On it, you'll find a host of instant classics, tunes which today are Celtic folk standards but got their start right here on the Sanders Theatre stage. How often have you heard a lusty rendition of "Ramblin' Rover" at a packed pub or Renaissance faire? It's a Silly Wizard original. So, too, is "The Queen of Argyll," still one of the best songs of unrequited, but still cheerful, love. Prefer your love requited? Another of Stewart's songs, "Golden, Golden," is a soothing, flowing anthem to romance.
Mix these and other originals with a solid core of traditionals arranged by these musical Wizards and you'll have an album worth playing 'til the laser burns through the disc and you have to buy another one. (I'm pretty sure that's what happened to my first copy.) Traditional tunes include the lively and silly "The Parish of Dunkeld," the melancholy "The Banks of the Lee," the martial "Donald McGillavry" and the sizzling set led off by "The Humors of Tulla" and "Toss the Feathers."
Stewart fronts the band with strong vocals, at times soulful and at times bursting with humor. Behind him, the band mixes up skillful harmonies and arrangements which accent, but never overshadow, the songs. Then turn the band loose on an instrumental number like "Scarce o' Tatties," "The Curlew," "Saint Anne's Reel" or "Jean's Reel" -- all cunningly blended into some very lively sets -- and step back and be amazed. The Cunningham brothers in particular put out some dazzling sounds, especially in "The Humors of Tulla" set, that must be heard to be believed.  From: https://www.rambles.net/silly_wizard_live.html

Pool Kids - Conscious Uncoupling

-Yuuki Takita: We are a media outlet that values artists’ roots, the background behind their music, and the music, culture, and art that influenced them. Since this is our first interview together, let me start by asking about the band’s formation. You’re a four-piece band from Tallahassee, Florida, right? How did these four members meet and come to form the band?

Christine :Yes, we are a four-piece band and we claim Tallahassee as our hometown as that is where we formed and first started playing shows. We were all raised in different parts of Florida: I (Christine) am from Tampa, Nicolette is from Gainesville, Caden is from Vero Beach, and Andy is from Miami. Caden, Nicolette, and myself all moved to Tallahassee for college, and met through the music scene there.
The band started out with just Caden and I as a two-piece, and I would book us shows in my backyard with touring DIY bands that were passing through. We wanted to eventually find a permanent bassist and second guitarist, but took our time finding the right people. I eventually met Nicolette through the college radio station that we both DJ’ed at, WVFS Tallahassee, and asked her to be in the band after she had played a few good shows filling in for my other band at the time Cough Drop, and Caden’s other band at the time Faking Jazz. Andy came along after we had been struggling to find a guitarist that was able to tour as frequently as we wanted to. We knew of him from his involvement with so many other Florida bands over the years, but didn’t think to ask if he’d be interested in playing with us until two of our mutual friends suggested it. Lon Beshiri, who recorded our debut LP, and my now boyfriend Nick Nottebaum, were both good friends with Andy dating back to high school, so when they told us that he might be interested, we asked right away. It’s been just the four of us ever since!

-Yuuki Takita: What was the band’s initial direction or what kind of music did you want to make when you first formed?

When Caden and I first started writing our debut record, I was very inspired by the local Tallahassee bands that were playing in the house show scene at the time, particularly the band (now inactive) Echo Base. More than anything, I loved the energy in their crowds and I loved their interesting guitar parts, so I really wanted to make something similar. Writing songs with interesting guitar parts and vocal parts that I could picture people singing along to at house shows was my main goal with that record. Now, we are a fully formed band and have grown into something very different, but that was the band’s “initial” direction.
Band Attitude and Influence

-Yuuki Takita: In materials introducing you, it mentions that you promote messages like “anyone can do what Pool Kids does,” “anyone can start a band,” “anyone can make an album,” and “everyone has the right to chase their dreams.” Could you tell me more about this? I’d like to know specifically what feelings drive you to convey these messages and what motivates your activities.

I’ve been playing guitar since the day I turned 10, but it never once occurred to me that I could start a band myself until I was about 21 years old and saw other women doing it around me. I don’t know why representation works that way, but sometimes you really do just need to see someone that reminds you of yourself doing the thing you want in order for it to feel attainable. I really wish someone had shaken me years earlier and said “you should start a band!”, so we try to be that push for other people. Sometimes we say it at our shows, and women will come up to us afterwards telling us how that was the one thing they needed to hear before doing it.. so it must be working!

-Yuuki Takita: I understand that this album contains many descriptions of Florida landscapes and very specific scenes you witnessed during tours. So I’m curious—what kind of place is Florida from your perspective? I’m interested in the environment, people, and music scene.

I mean, more than anything, Florida just feels like home. It’s a very hot, sticky, humid place infested with roaches and mosquitoes, but the sun is literally always shining so bright and I’ve come to really appreciate that after touring so much of the rest of the world and seeing how rare that is. The political landscape is nightmare-ish, but there are still good people here that stick together. The music scene is very different in every city, but I do feel like there is a strong sense of community across the entire state. Bands from Florida really support each other.

-Yuuki Takita: You’ve also shared the stage with bands like The Mountain Goats, PUP, Beach Bunny, La Dispute, and Sunny Day Real Estate. How were those collaborations? I’d like to know your impressions and if you received any inspiration from them.

Every single one of those tours were a wonderful experience for us. We have been so, so lucky with the bands that have taken us on tour. Each and every one of them was inspiring in a different way, but we always leave tours feeling in some way inspired or motivated by whoever we were opening for.
Origin of Band Name

-Yuuki Takita: Please also tell me about your band name. Why did you choose the name “Pool Kids”? Could you also explain the meaning behind the band name “Pool Kids”?

There isn’t really a deeper meaning behind the name Pool Kids. Caden and I had been practicing for months with no band name when we started back in 2017, and we finally had our first show coming up so we NEEDED to decide on a name to add it to the flyer. I posted on facebook asking for people to send me their notes app lists of band name ideas. They were all horrible suggestions, but Pool Kids seemed the least egregious of the suggestions, so that’s what we’ve been rolling with. To this day I am still not crazy about it.

-Yuuki Takita: Hayley Williams from Paramore has publicly stated she’s a fan of yours. Could you tell me about three albums that influenced your music? Also, please explain what aspects influenced you and any related episodes for each album. If that’s difficult, please share each member’s favorite music album and related episodes.

Great Grandpa – Four of Arrows
This record is a favorite amongst the band, and is ultimately what inspired us to work with Mike Vernon Davis, who produced both our self-titled record as well as ‘Easier Said Than Done’.

Andy Shauf – The Neon Skyline
The songwriting on this album inspired me because even though it feels so specific and personal to someone else’s life, it was still able to get an emotional reaction out of me and felt addicting. It made me less afraid to get really specific and personal with my lyrics.

Charli XCX – how i’m feeling now
This feels like the gateway album that got me fully into pop music. Ever since then I have really prioritized making things “catchy”, trying to write hooks, and playing with rhythm and melody in a way that is pleasing to the ear rather than just impressive to other musicians, etc.

From: https://a-indie.com/pool-kids-interview/ 

The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love 1

Alright, I’ve been putting this off long enough. The Hazards of Love is easily the most formidable recording in The Decemberists‘ discography, and to be truthful, it’s not one that I expected to like nearly as much as I did when I revisited their first five albums during my 2000s binge last year. Framed as a continuous story that plays out over the course of 17 tracks and just shy of an hour, with several voices acting as distinct characters in the tale being woven, this album is The Decemberists at their most ambitious, their most melodramatic, and at times, their most macabre. The Crane Wife in 2006 is regarded by many (myself included) as the band’s magnum opus, but it took real gusto to even attempt to follow it up with something more complex than what was already a fairly progressive song cycle with a satisfying block of hook-driven singles in its center. On Hazards, it’s debatable at times whether there are even distinct songs, considering how seamlessly almost every track segues into the next, with the divisions between them (no doubt made for the sake of listeners’ convenience so that we didn’t end up in a Jethro Tull sort of situation) often seeming a bit arbitrary. This is a formidable record to approach, let alone to write about. But since I updated my “Best of the Ought Nots” list at the beginning of 2021, and over the course of the year, I set about filling in the gaps where I hadn’t yet reviewed some of the new entries yet, eventually I was gonna have to get to this one, even if in all honesty I was kind of scared to do it. It’s October, and Halloween is right around the corner, so I can’t think of a better time to recap such a fantastical and nightmarish story, and to stare my fear right in the eye.
The backstory on this album is basically that lead singer Colin Meloy, who is a fan of folk singer Anne Briggs, heard her 1963 EP The Hazards of Love and thought “Hey, isn’t it weird that she didn’t actually put a song with that title on the EP?” So he set about writing a song with that title, and pretty soon it became like 4 songs with that title, and eventually the whole thing snowballed into a series of songs all haphazardly (see what I did there?) crashing into one another in the process of circling back to that central theme. I guess it’s a good thing that his bandmates were on board back when he decided to lead off their very first album with “Lesley Anne Levine”, a song written from the point of view of a stillborn infant, or when they put together the sickening yet perversely satisfying “The Mariner’s Revenge Song” to serve as the apex of their third album Picaresque, featuring a young man so hell-bent on getting payback that he’ll follow the guy he intends to torture to death into the belly of a freaking whale. Imagine a band without that history looking at some of the dark lyrics Meloy came up with for Hazards – they probably would have doubted his mental stability. Meloy’s tendency to pull fascinating bits of characterization out of the most macabre of premises, while I found it rather distasteful when I was first exposed to the band, is something I’ve grown to respect them for over the years. With that said, the results can still be downright disturbing if you’re not in the right mood, and there’s a specific character on this album who is directly responsible for a few of those stomach-turning moments. That’s part of the reason it took me so long to get back around to Hazards, even after declaring it one of my favorite records of the decade it came out. It’s a record that I always find fascinating when I pull it out after having left it alone for a while, but I can only handle so many listens in rapid succession before I need to put it away again. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – if this thing was a movie, I’m not sure I’d be able to watch it all the way through. But I’d probably still respect it for how effectively and viscerally it evokes feelings of sympathy for its heroes, and pure hatred for its villains.  From: https://murlough23.wordpress.com/2021/10/30/the-decemberists-the-hazards-of-love-tis-better-to-have-loved-and-lost/

Paula Cole - Happy Home / I Am So Ordinary / Watch The Woman's Hands / Bethlehem / Garden Of Eden

Paula Cole's 1994 debut album seems largely forgotten these days (many seem to be under the impression that This Fire was her debut), but it is one of the finest singer-songwriter albums of the period. Paula had toured successfully with Peter Gabriel and brought her unique and beautiful vocals to his live Secret World show. She wasn't just a backing singer, but a featured performer in his show getting her moment to shine on the 'Don't Give Up' duet. Her performance on that tour was stunning and a great taste of what was to come. 
On Harbinger, she shows that she wasn't just an exceptionally gifted singer with amazing nuance and control in her voice. She was a great writer too. The songs on this album are emblematic of the sensitivity and sincerity of the women's movement of the '90s--a musical movement more dear to me than any other. On songs like I Am So Ordinary and Bethlehem, Paula writes with vivid detail, bringing the lives of young women into focus. For young women (like myself when I first began listening to her), this music is incredibly emotional, relatable and invigorating. It isn't just that she understands what it is to be a young woman. It is that she is so gifted at communicating that, with both poetic nuance and almost journalistic integrity and honesty.  From: https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/paula-cole/harbinger/ 

The Trews - The Bloody Light

Three words we’d use to describe us are… Meaty, beaty, big and bouncy  (sorry, i could only do it in four)

The story/meaning behind our name The Trews is… When we started in high school as a cover band playing dance halls and variety shows we went under the, admittedly immature, moniker One I’d Trouser. A few years went by before we dropped the front end and simply went by Trouser. On the eve of the release of our first EP we got a cease and desist order from another band out of Mississauga going by that name. With very little time to make the decision on a new name someone threw out the idea of  the Trews which means roughly the same thing. Trews are traditional Scottish pants. We thought it sounded cool and went with it… it stuck. Russell Brand recently stole the name for his “True News” (tr-ews, get it?) wedcast. NOT cool Russell.

We met each other… I met my brother Colin when I was born. Jack has been a friend since early childhood. We’ve had a revolving cast of drummer (don’t all bands?) But things really took shape for us when my cousin Sean Dalton joined the band in 2001 and we started our recording career.

We’re currently listening to… I’ve been doing a lot of producing on the side so I’m gonna throw in a plug for some bands that I’ve worked with. Check out the Glorious Sons, Autumns Cannon, Molly Thomason and Time Giant.

We find inspiration from… Everyday life. Our relationships, our loved ones, the music we listen to and the things we see on our travels… There’s always plenty to write about if you’re paying attention…

Or latest record, The Trews, is different from our previous releases because… It’s self titled! JK. It’s not all that different to be honest. We try to put our best songs forward and deliver them in a fresh and energetic way every time out.

Our craziest or most memorable gig was… For me it’s a toss up between opening for the Rolling Stones at a small venue in Toronto and opening for Bruce Springsteen at Magentic Hill in New Brunswick where he brought us up to play with him during his encore. Both insanely epic moments in the history of our band.

From: https://kryptonitemusic.com/2015/03/29/the-trews/

Light In Babylon - Si Verias a la Rana

I read that you were once described as ‘ambassadors of peace’. How do compliments like that sit with you?

To be called ‘ambassadors of peace’ it is indeed a big compliment for us, I believe it is even describing one of the reason we do music and the way we observe people and the world.
We have fans from all kind of countries, from different religious and cultures, many time people are asking us, how is it even possible..?  But for us it is very clear, we always call our music , world music , we see our-self as the people of the world , and our message is that before all nationally, culture , religion, language. We are all first of all humans, when we will remember that we will remember to respect each other. 

Your first stage as, described by you, was the street, busking to the eclectic masses of Istanbul. It’s quite an apprenticeship to have started with. What do you recall most about those early days? Do you have any fond memories?

We performed in Istiklal street in our first years as a band, I must say that Istiklal street is not just a street, not like any street but a very special place. In that time (2012) it was a place where people who passed by there where searching for something. Something to happen, some music or art. It was a place of diversity, different people, different cultures, religion, and opinions, all passing there and listening to our music and feeling something.  The reaction of the people was amazing, they wanted to get close, they cry, or smile, or dance. To put something like our music in the middle of someone day, just like that, live with no boundaries, create a strong impact and touch deeply the listeners, but not only them, also us, we learn a lot from it, how to understand people, how to respect people, and how to be modest and humble, now that we become more famous and we play in all kind of big stages. We still remember what we learned from our time in Istiklal street.
 
Do you still love playing for passersby in Istanbul?

Of course we do not play anymore in Istiklal (or any) street, we did it for some time and it gave us so much but since then we moved forward to the next step. Just passing by Istiklal street today takes lots of attention from peoples who ask photos (which we always happy to meet). Having a performance there will be a mess and also in general many things changes in this place since our time performing there, we were hoping to inspire new young group to continue this culture and go out there and share their music.

What is the mood like when you play at International festivals across Europe? Are people still quite welcoming?

Yes! We must say that we feel ourselves very lucky to have such an amazing people listening to our music. After each of our concert we always give time and invite the audience to meet us for some photos, signatures and cd’s and it gives us the time to see our audience in the eyes, even if it is crowded and takes long time , we always stay till the last person because for me it is the best part of the concert. It gives me lots of hope to meet so many people with open heart and open mind, people who still believe in people and have hope and spark in the eyes like me. It doesn’t matter if it in Europe or in other place, people who listen to our music always react the same and the warm part of them comes out. 

What is it about your music that people find so infectious?

We believe that music is not only entertainment, not only for pass the time, music has a meaning and impact on our life. Light in Babylon brings not only music but also emotion, in a world where peoples need more and more to hide their emotion, where television become more cynical and the pop music more artificial. People are hungry for something real, they want not only to hear music but also to feel it! The music we make say something, there is something honest in it, full of hope. 

Listening to your music has made me realise how much I have come to appreciate music from around the world. What I’d like to know Michal is who influenced you and why did you choose to make your ‘brand’ of music?

Many things influenced me, not necessary one specific type of music but a mix of music, cultures and ideas. I grow up in a home that women power is something very important and I think you can feel this in my way of singing and voice. I come from a Persian home (both of my parent were born and grow up in Iran) so the culture and the music from home affected me as well. Our band was formed in Istanbul, Istanbul is a very special place for us, and always will be, it is a city with a lot of intense feelings, there is something old with something new, some sadness with a beauty within, some joy with energy and people and lots of movement, in a way, we can describe our music like we just described Istanbul. 

You once said that although your band is made up of different members from different regions, who all speak different languages, the thing that unites you all is your shared existence and love of music. That’s quite beautiful and poetic. What else can we all learn about music and its universal appeal?

Yes, music can do many thing and can connect many people but I believe that music carries within some energy and it is very important where the music come from, for what purpose. When you open the radio and hear a commercial there is also music in the commercial, it can be very nice music, but the purpose of that one is to manipulate you to buy something. When we all met each other in the band, music connected us all but for this to be happening we had to have something clean inside, something naïve, we needed to want to be connected and to communicate. Only because of it we could create something like our music that will help others connect and feel too. 

Your music covers a range of issues, which include love, loss, life and death, and in some sense existential themes. The world we live in today has undoubtedly shaped who you are. Is that a fair assessment?

Yes, our music reflect the way we see the world and the way we change with the world according to the places and the people we meet, and according to the thing that happened in our lives and our dreams. We always say we are a dreamers ( we even did our own version for the song “Imagine” of John Lennon) , in our music there are many messages but we are not telling people what to do or how to live but we are sharing our own story and dreams and we let them to travel among many people far beyond us. For example, I am Israeli, I write my songs mostly in Hebrew. I have an Israeli passport so there are many countries I am not allowed to enter (Tunisia, Bangladesh, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Malesia, Saudi Arabia and more.) my physical body cannot be there, but my voice… my voice fly far away to every place, people listening to our music and writing me from many country I cannot visit, writing me how much power it gave them, that our music helped them to come through difficult time, or helped them to understand many things. Music can travel, music has no borders.

From: https://the-rearview-mirror.com/2018/03/07/music-can-travel-music-has-no-borders-interview-with-michal-elia-kamal-of-light-in-babylon/ 

Nebula Sun - Master Healer

Could you tell us how the band formed and how you developed your unique sound that combines Heavy Rock, Jazz, and Psychedelic influences?

“The band was formed in 2014 by brothers Tommy (vocals and guitar) and Azzy (drums) when they met Dave (sax) and started jamming together with their first bassist Alex. Paul joined later when Alex moved away. At this point the band was called King Kiwanda and was very afrobeat influenced but with a mix of jazz, folk and dub. The band as it is today was completed in late 2017 when they met Rob who had moved back to Norwich after having studied jazz in London. He added a second sax to create an unusual two-tenor horn section and brought more jazz influence to the band. We changed our name shortly afterwards because no one could spell King Kiwanda and became Nebula Sun. If anyone is interested they can hear how we sounded around then on our first EP, Through the Surface. We sort of stumbled into the psychedelic aspect – as Tommy started using pedals more we started adding a few psychedelic sections into some tracks, for example at the end of our single The Start of Time, and realised we really enjoyed that sound.“

Your upcoming album, Breathe Into Form, features seven very diverse tracks. How did you work on creating cohesion across the album, and what message do you want to convey through this collection?

“Although the tracks may be diverse they represent various aspects of a collective sound that we arrived at over many years, and so hopefully whatever genre we approach there is some kind of indefinable band sound that ties it to everything else.“

“Master Healer” opens the album with Psychedelic and Jazz sounds. How did you decide to blend these different genres into a single track?

“Having our two saxophonists coming from a jazz oriented background, there has always been that influence and is kind of inherent in the sound. However this song was more influenced by gnawa music from north southern and western morocco. Music from that region has a strong psychedelic aspect to it so it just felt completely natural bringing these genres together.“

In “Into Form,” you explore a more delicate and refined sound with soulful influences and rich saxophone textures. What were the inspirations behind this track?

“During the early years of the band we were strongly influenced by neo-soul and world-jazz bands like Nubiyan Twist and Ezra Collective. Although we eventually moved away from these styles and got a lot heavier, an occasional song emerges that carries aspects from that period. I think this was one of them.“

“Oceans” has a more Indie/Alternative Rock atmosphere with subtle Grunge hints. How did you approach this style, and what does this song represent for you?

“This song represents not forgetting where you came from. Oceans was one of the songs that followed lockdown. We were reunited and keen to expand on the sprinkles of the heavier sound which had begun pre covid. We have a love for heavier music from our own formative musical tastes and bands so it felt natural to play. We approached the writing in a fairly
typical way with saxes layering over the established groove. It’s a while ago now but I don’t recall us aiming for an alt rock or grunge feel. I remember the snare was turned off and quite loose initially which perhaps put us in that 90s slacker vibe and the big guitars were something we were becoming interested in using more. It felt right so we didn’t question it
any more than that. The grunge with sax tag is funny and came after we began playing it live and with the extra edge that you get from the live performance.“

“Reflections” showcases a more complex and Avant-Prog side of the band. Can you talk about the challenges involved in composing such intricate pieces?

“Over the years one of the most consistently challenging and interesting parts of the writing process has been finding ways to write structurally complex music which has a coherence and flow to it. That’s one reason we write very slowly – every song brings new challenges and we really have to listen to our instincts and find what works. Reflections is unusual in that most of it was written by Azzy apart from the final section, which we jammed out together and then Rob came up with the bebop-inspired fast horn line. “Sonar” seamlessly blends jazz and Psychedelic Rock with references to the ’70s era.“

How do you manage to bring vintage atmospheres into a modern context?

“This is probably down to the fact that music never really leaves you. If you’re a musician and you really love something, especially if it’s music that was played to you by your parents when you were growing up, it’s always going to be a part of you. Many times people have told us that we remind them of bands from this era and mostly I’d say that it’s not intentional. As a band we play what comes naturally to us from the styles we love (new and old). It’s taken a long time to develop our song writing process in a way that allows us to blend together everything we enjoy in music, but after countless jams, many disagreements and now lots of success in writing songs we love love, this happens much more spontaneously.“

From: https://progrockjournal.com/interview-exclusive-interview-with-uk-progressive-rock-band-nebula-sun/ 

 

Letters To Cleo - Big Star / I See / Here & Now

Letters to Cleo‘s first full-length CD leaves you distracted. A little confused. And yet, it remains comfortable, accessible. Hanley’s vocals travel from innocent, child-like tenderness to raw rage and back again without missing a beat. And then there’s the hard-hitting, rapid-fire delivery of “Here and Now” and “I See.”
Somehow, the ten songs on Aurora Gory Alice flow through the ever-changing vocal elements as well as variations between serious funk, folk, a poppy dance groove, psychedelia, Nirvanaesque distortion, and even a sort of twangy hoedown thang. And lately, they’ve mixed in a heavier, border-line metal sound, which is on display most notably in the song “Rim Shak.” Through it all – all the style changes, all the overlapping – LTC maintains a rare sort of anti-commercial grace. “It’s the mix of the band,” Eisenstein has said. “There is not a preconceived sound; it’s different.”
It’s this distinct sound that transcends categorization by incorporating so many different styles at once that has made LTC such a popular live act over the past year or so. It’s this and Hanley’s supremely confident stage presence, which, once again, is rife with juxtaposition. She romps around stages with a nonchalant air that suggests she’s not quite sure just how she got there, and meanwhile, delivers the most honest and heartfelt lyrics in a voice technically superior to most in Boston. In addition, the appealing contradictory nature of LTC isn’t hurt by the fact that a petite, and yet immensely powerful woman, is fronting an otherwise all male band.  From: https://lollipopmagazine.com/1993/12/letters-to-cleo-aurora-gory-alice-review/

BoDeans - Paradise / Any Given Day / Do I Do

Despite the critical success and cult following generated by their first three albums, the band had yet to score a high-charting single and was prompted by their record label to work with a more mainstream producer. After taking a more stripped-down approach to Home, the band was ready to try a new direction and recruited David Z., best known for his work with Prince and Fine Young Cannibals, to produce their next record. In 1990, they traveled to Prince's Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, MN to begin tracking live on the soundstage. Rafael "Danny" Gayol, their session drummer on the Home tour, provided drums on the album and subsequently became a full member of the band. The resulting album was more synthesized and accessible than their previous releases, though it did not chart as high as expected. Nonetheless, it received mostly positive reviews and "Good Things", "True Devotion", "Paradise", and "Naked" all became staples in their live set. At the time of its release, "Good Things" received significant radio airplay and remains one of their most popular songs.  From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_and_White_(BoDeans_album) 

Ibeyi - Oya

If you can’t imagine an Elysian future where multiple cultures, diverse ideas, and a myriad of human and celestial energies have found harmony, then take some time to listen to the music of Ibeyi. Born and raised in Paris, with stints in Cuba, Ibeyi is 23-year-old fraternal twins Lisa Kaindé and Naomi Diaz. In Santeria, the Afro-Cuban, Yoruban religion they practice, Ibeyi are divine twins who bring joy to their followers. The word comes from the Lacumí pidgin dialect of the West African Yoruba language that arrived in Cuba with the slave trade starting in the 16th century. It is a name reflective of not only their literal reality, but also the importance of tradition, spiritual belief, and family that runs deep through their musical history.
These sisters weave musical traditions of Europe, West Africa, Latin America, and the US into a sacred blanket of sounds that is spiritual and danceable. We spoke with the twins through email about their goals for their sound: “We want our music to be 100 percent us,” they emphasized. “When we’re making and recording our songs, we live in between two cultures and four languages. We have family all over the world, and we both listen to different things. So, Ibeyi is a mix of all our influences. It’s about finding the balance between electronic sounds and organic sounds; the old Yoruban chants and the music we love today. Between Europe and the Caribbean. Between both our desires and inspirations.”
The drums are to thank for this musical pair. At age 18 their mother, Maya Dagnino, a French-Venezuelan singer and composer, began to study conga and learn the batá chants of Yoruban music prevalent in Cuba. This musical path led Dagnino from France to Cuba and thus to the man who would become the father of her children. He was the late Miguel “Angá” Diaz, a world-renowned, Grammy-winning, Cuban percussionist who gained huge recognition as part of the Buena Vista Social Club. “Our earliest memories of the drums are of the batás and congas that our father had at home,” they reminisce. “There are pictures of us around those drums throughout our early years. Everybody thinks the drumming and the love for Yoruba chants were only inherited from our father, but it was actually because of [our parents] that we got in touch with that part of our Afro-Cuban culture.”
Both sisters began studying music at the conservatory at age seven. “Lisa was studying classical piano, and I was studying classical percussion, marimba, and snare drums,” says Naomi. “My sister, mother, and grandmother told me that the day after my father died, at some point, I sat on one of his cajones [at age 11], and for the first time in my life, I started playing it. They told me that nobody moved and [they just] stared at me for a while. They felt it seemed as if our dad had been there with me. But sadly, I don’t remember anything.”
Meanwhile at age 14, Lisa’s first song came to her through the advice of their mother. “I felt miserable, because Naomi was at a party, and I was not invited,” Lisa explains. “I did many things I would usually do, like finishing my homework, reading, making rings and necklaces with beads. Luckily, I had no computer at the time, because after doing all that, I still went to see my mom to tell her I was really bored and frustrated. She answered that I should write a song. I discovered then that finding melodies and eventually putting words on top of these melodies made me very happy. It became my way to create some beauty out of anything that I felt, witnessed, or thought. It became my way to feel alive and useful. Nothing compares to the joy of making a song.”
With the encouragement of their mother, Lisa would continue to write songs throughout her teenage years. At 17, the twins started talking about making a band. “I met my teacher, the great Peruvian cajon master, Miguel Ballumbrosio,” says Naomi. “I started to love the cajon as my own instrument. When Lisa was asked to do an EP, I told her she couldn’t possibly do it without me.”
When a YouTube video of the duo performing their song “Mama Says” came to the attention of Richard Russell, head of label XL Recordings, he quickly sought them out and brought them to London to record. Around this same time, Ibeyi faced another tragedy when their older sister Yanira passed away due to a brain aneurysm. The culmination of this artistic success mixed with personal loss resulted in the career-launching sounds and lyrics that made up their eponymous debut LP. Upon their arrival at SXSW 2015, they were one of the most buzzed about groups of the festival where they not only lived up to but surpassed all of the hype surrounding them.  From: https://tomtommag.com/2018/09/ibeyi_issue33/