The Luck of Eden Hall - Metropolis

Gregory Curvey, co-founder of psych-rock stars The Luck of Eden Hall has helped produce a sensational string of releases for over 20 years. Jason Barnard speaks to Curvey as he is about to embark on a pioneering tour of the UK:

You and the band have many fans over here in the UK, helped by the great support from Keith at Fruits de Mer. How does your following compare on both sides of the Atlantic?

It’s hard for me to keep track of. The only tools I have to work with are Facebook and Bandcamp, and I know there are a lot more people out there. Reverbnation had a world map of fan’s locations, but I cancelled my account when they tried to charge me money for a service I didn’t ask for. There are way too many sites out there that claim to help bands, but really don’t, and the last thing you want to do is join their Pro version and bleed more money every month. I think it’s best to put that money into more product and albums.
I’m forever in debt to Keith at Fruits de Mer. He’s really given TLoEH a lot of exposure over the past seven years. Good god, almost a decade already. Mega Dodo, Shindig and Prog magazines, radio and all of the blogs like Strange Brew have been pivotal in keeping the buzz going as well, and I thank you very much for your valuable support. It’s harder in the States, but we have some very solid support here too. Just, no label support, which makes a big difference. Not only do I work with Fruits de Mer and Mega Dodo Records in the U.K., but Headspin Records in the Netherlands is responsible for putting out those really high quality LPs and now Vincebus Eruptum in Italy will be releasing Make Way For The Mighty Machines as one side of their Psychedelic Battle Vol 4 LP this October. I wouldn’t mind getting something going in Germany too. I’ve approached a few labels in the States, but everyone’s usually already booked way into the future, or broke. It certainly would be a lot easier to tour here at home and I hope I can get the right connections to make that happen. We’ll see what the future holds.

You and the band have recorded a 23 minute epic ‘Make Way For The Mighty Machines’. Your last album ‘The Acceleration of Time’ had shorter rockier psych tracks. Is the long form a new direction for the group?

Yeah, that track was specifically composed for the Vincebus Eruptum release. Last August I moved from Chicago to Detroit, and the initial due date to submit the track was in January. I was freaking out because not only did I have to tear down and pack my studio then set it back up, but I had to get my new house ready to move in to, and it needed a lot of work just to be a livable space for my family. I also had to paint and tile a room in our new basement just to have a temporary space for recording. All of that work took a couple months, which left me four weeks to work on the track. Then my recording studio computer had a melt down and my ancient recording software refused to work anymore, which meant I had to buy a new computer and recording software a couple weeks before Christmas. Those were stressful times. Anyway, I had hummed a bunch of ideas into my phone’s recorder, but hadn’t done anything else. Since the rest of the guys were still over three hundred miles away in Chicago, and I didn’t have any time to waste, I dove in and started recording as soon as the studio was up and running, which ended up being in mid January. None of the ideas I’d hummed into the recorder blossomed, but in between all of the mental weeds I found a flower, which developed into Mighty Machines. In February Davide at Vincebus Eruptum told me the release date had been moved back and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. The track had been recorded, but the extra time gave me a chance to produce it properly. I’ve been going back to Chicago to rehearse for TLoEH’s gig at the Kaleidoscope Eye Music Festival in September and Lofgren told me he has a few songs ready for our next album. I definitely have enough songs for an album.

How many songs have you already written for the next The Luck of Eden Hall album and what sound/themes do they have?

I probably have fifteen songs, a handful of which have lyrics. One’s about a pretty girl on a motorcycle. One’s about a lady that gives candy to the neighborhood children. One’s about white trash. One’s about the struggle of making it to tomorrow. I’m a music man and lyrics are hard work, so I tend to wait until a song’s nearly finished to complete the lyrics, but those four songs are done. As for the overall sound, it’ll be more of the same sounds and production that I’ve been developing. Mellotron for certain, and I’ve climbed up another rung on the guitar playing ladder this past year, so maybe I’ll highlight some more solos, I don’t know. We’ll see where it all goes once we start laying down tracks. The Acceleration of Time is going to be hard to follow up.

What projects should we look out for you and The Luck of Eden Hall?

Keith at FdM has asked TLoEH to contribute a song for a 2018 release he has planned. I plan on submitting versions of Elected by Alice Cooper and maybe As You Said by Cream. I hope one of them will make the grade. Plus, I’m hitching up with Icarus Peel and Crystal Jaqueline for a couple of days during my stay in the U.K. and who knows, maybe we’ll get a little recording in. We recently worked on a track together that I composed titled Empyrean House. Also, I recently got my hands on and restored an old Harmonium, which has been really inspiring, and I’m thinking about doing an acoustic, electricity free project including Harmonium, Double Bass, Guitar and Drums. My friend Tom Negovan has an old Edison recorder and it would be really fun to record a track on it. I’m not sure if I can get him to come to Detroit from California, but we’ll see. Either way, the Harmonium project will happen in one form or another.
Wouldn’t it be fun to be able to set up in a park, without any amplification, and play a TLoEH set? I think about packaging waste and environmental issues a lot and hate the thought of making more landfill. I remember coming back home after spending some time in India, where people lived happily in small homes made out of cow dung with banana tree leaves for a roof, and realizing how much stuff we all have and how much of a burden it all can be. I actually sold my Marshall half stack and a bunch of guitars when I returned, and up to that point in my life, I had held on to every guitar and instrument I’d ever owned. In time we have to let go of everything, but I still really love making music and I don’t want to stop. Making music makes me happy and I’m truly honored that my music makes you happy too. 

From: https://thestrangebrew.co.uk/interviews/curvey-the-luck-of-eden-hall/

Indigo Girls - Live Foxboro, MA 1991 / Live Mountain View, CA 1994

 Indigo Girls - Live Foxboro, MA 1991

 

 Indigo Girls - Live Mountain View, CA 1994

 

Indigo Girls became the preeminent group to come out of the neo folk movement of the late 1980’s and became staples on college radio while also becoming critical darlings and having a degree of mainstream commercial success.  The years 1987-1993 are the peak years for the Indigo Girls commercial success, especially with the mainstream.  These years are also when the Indigo Girls stuck closest to the traditional folk rock framework they were so obviously inspired by, although they increasingly grew experimental within those confines even during these early years.  Another note about the list is that Indigo Girls has a pretty devoted fan base and often the “fan favorites” are not the same as the official singles released by the group, so for the purpose of this list I have chosen to exclude the official singles and use some of those fan favorites and deeper album tracks.  So, if the Indigo Girls you know best from 1987-1993 are songs like “Closer To Fine”, “Tried To Be True”, “Galileo” and “Ghost”, here are ten to hear again:

1. “Welcome Me” – From the album Nomads Indians Saints
“Welcome Me” takes the traditional folk, alt rock flourishes and beautiful vocal harmonies of their hit eponymous album and infuses it with a sense of dusty, lonely desert nights.  You can almost see the blazing stars spinning overhead as the days and years come and go as the song’s protagonist deals with the trials of life.  Whether the hardships are that of a young Native man on a rite of passage to be accepted into adulthood or a pioneer woman at the end of her life waiting for the embrace of death to ease to her burdens or some other story altogether is up to the listener, but regardless the song has a stark beauty and emotional power.

2. “Jonas & Ezekiel” – From the album Rites of Passage
“Jonas & Ezekiel” is a punky folk rocker that draws from both Biblical imagery and Native American lore to raise the question of how to right past wrongs and addresses how the ghosts of the past can inhabit the problems of the present.  The way the Indigo Girls weave together various musical and narrative influences into a unique and seamless work makes “Jonas & Ezekiel” an underrated classic.

3. “Prince of Darkness” – From the album Indigo Girls
A plea to a higher power for strength to rise above the darkness and evil of this world and a defiant declaration to be a light to others and an agent for change.  Few pop/rock groups so directly address such a positive religious sentiment.  Indigo Girls not only address it, but they seem sincere in their intentions and lack the preachiness and self-righteousness that often accompanies such attempts.  “Prince of Darkness” is a statement to the titular character that his reign over their life is over; that they will be a force for good in the world but it plays like an excellent addition to the folk rock canon.

4. “You and Me of the 10,000 Wars” – From the album Nomads Indians Saints
Gentle and intimate, Emily Saliers’ “You and Me of the 10,000 Wars” is a reflection back on all of the good and bad times experienced in a committed relationship.  The genius of the song is that it could be the relationship between lovers, a parent and child, old friends or a person and their God (which the Biblical allusions within the song seem to hint at).  However, in the end it doesn’t matter who the song is about because the message of reconciliation and commitment comes through regardless.

5. “Chickenman” – From the album Rites of Passage
If there is such a thing as folk/punk then the Amy Ray written “Chickenman” is a prime example of it.  Full of the bluster, roar and energy of her beloved Husker Dü, while having the busk and scratch of a classic barnyard stomp “Chickenman” is both unusual and great.

6. “Southland In The Springtime” – From the album Nomads Indians Saints
Hailing from Athens, Georgia, Indigo Girls have always have always had an open love affair with the beauty, culture and conflicted history of the American south and “Southland In The Springtime” is their love letter to their home.  Warm, pastoral and nostalgic, “Southland In The Springtime” is a minor gem.  I’ve always loved the line: “When God made me born a Yankee he was teasing/There’s no place like home and none more pleasing/Than the southland in the springtime”.

7. “Nashville” – From the album Rites of Passage
“Nashville” has long been a crossroad between the north and south, the east and the west; a key point for the railroads, the armies of the Civil War, and modern country music.  “Nashville” is a place where dreams are born and die, where hopes rise and fall, and the Indigo Girls capture the emotional push and pull of the city well on this warm, but slightly sad, ode to the city.

8. “I Don’t Wanna Know” – From the album Strange Fire
Indigo Girls’ Strange Fire is their actual debut album but was not given a full American release until after the success of their eponymous second album.  “I Don’t Wanna Know” is one of the standout tracks from it, written by Amy Ray with local folk and blues musician Michelle Malone; one of very few Indigo Girls songs that are not covers that have an outside songwriting credit.  “I Don’t Wanna Know” is an interesting song in that it doesn’t sound all that different from a lot of songs that Amy Ray would write for Indigo Girls on later albums, but it does have more grit and blues influence than almost anything else that is written by Amy Ray on Strange Fire.  Whether that is a coincidence or it is because of the influence of Malone is up for debate, but either way “I Don’t Wanna Know” is an early gem and a blueprint for the direction Ray would often take her songs.

9. “Secure Yourself” – From the album Indigo Girls
In a real sense Indigo Girls have spent much of their career serving as a spiritual and religious center for the liberal left, championing a love of God through a love of others that is inclusive and is shown through action.  However, this quest for improvement and rightness with a Higher Power is a real thing for them and begins within themselves.  Thus, a beautiful, searching song like “Secure Yourself” is about getting yourself right with God first.  It’s because of this understanding that changes in the world have to start within one’s self that makes the message of much of the Indigo Girls music so honest, powerful and heartfelt.  A message made more divine because of the perfect, near angelic harmonies between Ray and Saliers on this song.

10. “Kid Fears” – From the album Indigo Girls
“Kid Fears” is a brooding and meditative number about growing up and the loss of innocence.  It begins somber and understated, allowing room for the excellent interplay between the voices of Ray and Saliers.  As the song builds the tension increases, until “Kid Fears” reaches it cathartic climax when the Indigo Girls are joined by Michael Stipe of R.E.M., who provides an excellent counterpoint vocal that serves to help cut the tension and find release.  It is a subtly powerful song that shows that Indigo Girls were superb singer and songwriters almost from the beginning.

From: https://alternativealbumsblog.wordpress.com/2018/01/24/ten-to-hear-again-indigo-girls-1987-1993/

 

Gary Wright - Extraction - Side 2

01 The Wrong Time
02 Over You Now
03 Too Late To Cry
04 I've Got A Story

Gary Wright, former keyboardist/songwriter/vocalist for Spooky Tooth, released two fine albums in succession after the initial breakup of the band, with `Extraction' coming out in 1971 and `Footprint' the next year. While critically acclaimed, they were not commercial successes at the time, in spite of the quality of the material. They now get a second chance, and fans of great rock music have reason to rejoice.
Wright formed a touring band in the wake of Spooky Tooth's demise, calling it `Wright's Wonderwheel' (which featured, among others, future Tooth and Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones). Most of that band played on 'Extraction', although the name Wonderwheel was not credited (however,they did release a single called 'I Know', and recorded an unreleased album). `Extraction' differed markedly from the trademark Spooky Tooth sound; the songs were generally more up-tempo, with more focus on lead guitar than the heavy organ sound of his previous band. In addition, the production was very bright and clean, with individual instruments very discreet and well separated. It was sonically impressive on vinyl back then , and remains even more so on CD today. Featuring some truly outstanding songs such as Get on the Right Road, I Know a Place, Too Late to Cry and his own, more rocking version of The Wrong Time, which was also covered on the Wright-less Spooky Tooth Album `The Last Puff'. To me, this and `Footprint' feature Gary's most powerful vocal performances, largely devoid of the falsetto often used in Spooky Tooth recordings.  From: https://www.amazon.com/Gary-Wrights-Extraction-Wright/dp/B07VPRTRY9 

Whippersnapper - John Gaudie

Whippersnapper were a four-piece acoustic band formed by Dave Swarbrick, Chris Leslie, Kevin Dempsey, and Martin Jenkins in Northamptonshire during 1983. Although none of the others could quite compare with Swarbrick's long experience or near-legendary status, each of the others brought something substantial to the table at the outset of the group's history -- Chris Leslie was a musical instrument maker as well as an experienced violinist (who had Swarbrick's playing as a model); guitarist, singer, and percussionist Kevin Dempsey had played in Dando Shaft, and had experience with Latin music as well as Celtic and English folk repertory; and multi-instrumentalist Martin Jenkins had played with Matthews Southern Comfort and was also an ex-member of Dando Shaft, as well as a Bert Jansch alumnus. As a result, the group's work was highly anticipated by folk enthusiasts, as a unique all-acoustic supergroup. The group made its debut in January of 1984 at the Burnt Post in Coventry and subsequently played the Cambridge Folk Festival, a performance that was captured on video as well.
Their music was a deceptively complex brand of progressive folk, driven by the presence of four full-fledged virtuoso players. Whippersnapper spent most of their first year honing their sound and repertory, which started out fully formed, drawing on the songbags of all four members. As a result, their debut album, when it came time to do it -- recorded for their own Whippersnapper label -- came together very quickly. The Promises long-player was recorded in December of 1984 and in stores just about eight weeks later, and well received by fans and critics. A second LP, Tsubo, didn't appear until 1987, and it was similar in form and structure to the first. A third studio album was intended, but in the interim the quartet issued These Foolish Strings, a compilation of four years' worth of live recordings. The fourth album, Fortune, was released in early 1990, and also marked the end of Swarbrick's involvement with the group. The group continued as a trio of Leslie, Dempsey, and Jenkins, and Leslie and Dempsey recorded the LP Always with You, released in 1996. Dempsey eventually teamed up with Swarbrick anew, while Leslie joined one of the latter-day lineups of Fairport Convention.  From: https://www.parsifal.be/product/cd/world-folk/whippersnapper-promises/ 

The Be Good Tanyas - Rain And Snow

Listen to the Be Good Tanyas and you'll have a vision of three feisty angels who rely on faith to negotiate a world that breaks their hearts. Though they aren't quite British Columbia's answer to Courtney Love - the subtle bluegrass-gospel-folk hybrid they make puts paid to any screeching - theirs is a very confident, modern approach to a very traditional sound.
But tonight, Frazey Ford, Samantha Parton and Trish Klein are nervous. "Holy crap, there's lot of you here," says Ford, her soft features fixed by fear. Parton peers through her long fringe and sighs deeply into the microphone, apparently worn out before she's begun. The outbreak of jitters could be down to the length of time it's taken the band to follow their last album, Chinatown. Ford tells us their first new material for three years will appear in October. "It should have been out a long time ago, but we're lazy," she says. "Great procrastinators. Especially me." Still, she's unrepentant. "I believe you have to live life to write about life." It's the life - and searing honesty - in their songs that has taken the Be Good Tanyas from tree planting in the Kootenay Mountains to the vanguard of the new bluegrass movement. They sing about dead dogs, junkies and death with gothic sparseness, and turn traditional country songs into tales of contemporary urban despair.
Though the band is very much a three-headed hydra - backed by Mark Beaty on double bass and John Raham on drums - the personalities behind the rich harmonies are distinct. Klein is a gifted musician, but so painfully shy it almost feels wrong to watch as she plays bluesy harmonica and ekes out haunting chords from her electric guitar. Ford is the earth mother with the luminous voice, struggling with her wrongs in In Spite of All I've Done and bunching her dress at the hip as she tears through a lively version of Neil Young's For the Turnstiles.
Parton is the Robbie Williams of the band. She dances like no one is watching and is quick with an anecdote. "I've got sweaty legs," she says, reaching for a towel. "That's what I used to tell my mom when I wet the bed. 'Mom, my legs are sweaty!'" But when Parton sings Don't Fall, her fear of relationships is palpable. A new song about addiction has her swallowing back her tears. The Little Birds, from the Be Good Tanyas' classic debut, The Blue Horse, cheers her up, though she makes a mess of the lyrics. "We were walking through the lobby today," says Ford, bursting into giggles, "and we said, 'People pay money to see us?'" Intimate, chilling but always entertaining, they are the only ones who wonder why.  From: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/jul/19/popandrock

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Some of Shelly's Blues / Prodigal's Return / Rave On / Mr. Bojangles

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band began in the 1960s as a southern California folk rock band. They had limited success before temporarily disbanding in 1969. After renegotiating their contract with Liberty Records, they were given more artistic freedom, and the changes were immediately apparent in 1970’s Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy, which saw the band moving in a more country direction.
Country rock bands originating from California were nothing new, but the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band took things a step further by incorporating into their music instruments that were closely associated with bluegrass and country music, and featuring them prominently. While blending of genres is commonplace today, it was quite revolutionary in 1970. The eclectic Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy is equal parts country, bluegrass, folk, and rock. It features both original music and cover versions of other artists’ work, as well as reinterpretations of old folk songs that had long been in the public domain. At times, particularly when the band starts to harmonize, the sound is something akin to the Beach Boys with banjos. 
The Uncle Charlie referenced in the album’s title was a relative of producer Bill McEuen’s wife. He was born in Texas in 1886 and performs a brief folk song “Jesse James”, recorded in 1963, on which he plays harmonica and gets his dog Teddy to howl along. He also gives two brief interviews, which are mildly interesting on the first listen.
A number of well known names appear among the songwriting credits: Michael Nesmith of The Monkees wrote the bluegrass-flavored opening number “Some of Shelly’s Blues”, which became a minor pop hit, and “Propiniquity”, which is one of my favorites on the disc. Kenny Loggins wrote another the album’s singles, the more rock-oriented “House at Pooh’s Corner” which name-drops several of the characters from A.A. Milne’s well loved children’s stories. The album’s biggest hit and the band’s best known song to this day is their cover of Jerry Jeff Walker’s “Mr Bojangles”. It didn’t garner enough attention from mainstream country outlets to make the country charts but that may have been due to the way the record and the band in general were marketed. It certainly sounded country enough, even by 1971 standards, to have fit into the country radio format.  From: https://mykindofcountry.wordpress.com/2014/10/03/album-review-the-nitty-gritty-dirt-band-uncle-charlie-his-dog-teddy/ 

Rubber Tea - Desert Man

From a Fading World - Rubber Tea. This fantastic young German group continues to impress. On their second album, it's immediately evident that the band is willing to push their boundaries further. Their flirtation with Canterbury becomes more pronounced, and their delightful singer exudes a newfound boldness. Right from the start, the saxophone emerges, leading us into a melodic journey reminiscent of the pride Caravan would feel if they had produced it. While the group's style is labeled as neoprog, don't expect just another Marillion clone; instead, you're greeted with a remarkably mature band that effortlessly navigates styles evoking Camel, Caravan, Beardfish, Pink floyd, Big big train, Phideaux, Khan and King crimson. Attempting to describe this eclectic mix is a challenge in itself. The songs seamlessly blend together, creating a captivating flow throughout the album, prompting you to check your CD player to track your progress. Their ability to transition from tranquil subtlety to intricate complexity is admirable, never compromising the underlying melodies. The enchanting vocals complement the music flawlessly, never overshadowing the instrumental prowess. There's ample room for musical exploration, allowing each track to evolve organically. This marks yet another triumph for the burgeoning German band, deserving of wider recognition.  From: https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=11437 

The Byrds - For Free (Joni Mitchell cover)

In the past year, I accidentally picked up The Byrds' 1973 reunion album Byrds from the library. I had never heard of it before. After having enormous success as the kings of L.A.'s Sunset Strip rock clubs, The Byrds toured the U.S. and U.K. and topped charts on both sides of The Atlantic with hits such as 1965's Mr. Tambourine Man and Turn, Turn, Turn.
Before long, Gene Clark, at one point the group's main singer and songwriter, departed... Crosby also left (was fired, actually)... then Gram Parsons came, saw, and conquered, before leaving as well. By 1973, The Byrds had lost much of their mid-60's lustre. Crosby, of course, had struck gold doing harmonies with Crosby, Stills, Nash and sometimes Young. Gene Clark's solo career had failed to take off, despite some stellar efforts shortly before and after this reunion album.
There were high hopes for the reunion album, which featured all of the original Byrds - Roger McGuinn, Crosby, and Gene Clark on guitar and vocals, Chris Hillman on bass, vocals, and mandolin, and Michael Clarke on drums. Yet the album apparently came and went without much notice being paid by music critics or the general public.
Listening to it for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised. It's a great album, particularly Gene Clark's four contributions - two songs he wrote, Full Circle and Changing Heart, and two Neil Young songs he brought to the project: Cowgirl in the Sand and (See The Sky) About To Rain.
How could such an album slip through the cracks? Supposedly there were a few negative reviews - people missed the Rickenbacker and Dylan songs translated into folk-rock and three- (or sometimes four-) part harmony - and a tour supporting the album's release was cancelled. Still, I was baffled as to why such a great album wasn't appreciated at the time (or since, for that matter).
Then I found this Rolling Stone review by Jon Landau (later a producer/manager for Springsteen). It does seem unnecessarily mean-spirited, dismissive, smarmy, and cynical, even by Landau's standards. Remembering how influential Rolling Stone was at the time, pre-Interweb and such, I wondered if this review could have single-handedly sunk the fortunes of this fine album.  From: https://newmusictoday.blogspot.com/2016/03/x.html 

Leon's Creation - Until You Were Gone

San Francisco in the late 1960s. The hotbed of psychedelic and rock culture. The Dead, Joplin, Jefferson Airplane and a host of others all gaining mainstream acceptance for their acid tinged work. But the City and the surrounding Bay Area had so much more going for them. A liberal political outlook and a large African American and Latino population meant that musical and cultural reference points were wider and more easily assimilated there than (almost) anywhere else in the United States.
Two of the biggest groups to emerge from this scene were Santana and Sly and The Family Stone, with their melting pots of sound that took in jazz, soul, rock and latin influence. For a while they were two of the biggest acts in the United States and scores of local bands tried to follow in their footsteps. They were hard acts to follow and very few got to the stage of making a 45, never mind a whole LP.
One of the best to do just that were Leon’s Creation, whose debut LP “This Is The Beginning” Acid Jazz are reissuing here. A native of San Francisco, Leon Patillo, led the group, whose multi-racial line-up echoed that of his heroes on the local scene. Self contained and gigging locally they made their debut album at the tiny Studio 10 who also custom pressed the album in extremely limited numbers.
The music is a perfect blend of acid soul, mixed with hippie sentiments, that will get you dancing on the uptempo numbers such as the title track, ‘Back Roads’ with its glorious harmonies and the soaring ‘Power’. More thoughtful numbers such as ‘Until You Were Gone’ or ‘Love’ will touch your soul. So impressed was Carlos Santana that he eventually asked Leon to join his band.  From: https://www.acidjazz.co.uk/product/leons-creation-this-is-the-beginning/

Spirit - Life Has Just Begun

Many consider Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus, released in 1970, to be Spirit’s finest hour, though I still find their initial self titled album to be their crowning moment. Nevertheless, Spirit, a nearly mythical band, arrived at the apex of experimental classic rock, lacing their music with jazz, rock, folk, and bathing all of that in the waters of psychedelia.
While not well thought out, Twelve Dreams was intended to be a sort of science fiction concept album, with the twelve songs supposedly representing, or being visions drawn from twelve actual dreams, though the construct was so loosely developed that most listeners were unaware of this attribute at all. Without a doubt, the album, and for that matter, the three previous albums by Spirit were miles ahead of their time, with the band’s vision so original that there was absolutely no precedent for almost all of what the band was laying down, meaning that far too many missed out because the music didn’t click immediately, or wasn’t as cohesive as the radio friendly hits, “Animal Zoo” and the gorgeous “Nature’s Way” … both very good, yet representing only a narrow portion of Spirit’s vision. This notion was not lost on the band either, as Randy California wanted to dive into his more loose experimental aspirations, while Jay Ferguson was in favor of more commercially acceptable material, hence the far and differing presentations on this release.
One of Spirit’s most enduring features is that none of their material ever sounds dated or self indulgent, and all of it comes across crisp and clean, sounding as remarkable today as it did so long ago. If anything, Twelve Dreams was Spirit’s apotheosis, Spirit’s merger of everything they had developed and learned over the years, especially from playing live, which they did relentlessly during the 60’s, finding the key to getting inside of any musical style and almost matter of factly making it their own, and I haven’t even mentioned “Mr. Skin” yet, or the bewildering and exciting “Morning Will Come,” a song that in my opinion nearly foreshadowed the coming of glam rock.
It was Neil Young’s producer David Briggs who managed to bring this album to completion, which despite the tripped out album jacket, is a very atmospheric album … but of the atmosphere of this planet. Briggs was swept away by Spirit’s jam oriented fuzzed out psychedelia meshed with tinges of jazz, where he managed to allow guitar prodigy Randy California to soar in time with the drumming of his stepfather Ed Cassidy, and the vocals of Jay Ferguson were not stepped on, where things got streamlined, and the magic leached out due to an equality for all involved, resulting in the creation of a stunningly well rounded endeavor that will not be forgotten.
*** The Fun Facts: Referring to the album’s title, Dr. Sardonicus “Mr. Sardonicus” was a 1961 horror film relaying the story of Sardonicus, a man whose face has becomes frozen in a horrifying grin while robbing his father’s grave to obtain a winning lottery ticket, and the Doctor who is coerced into treating him. The ‘Twelve Dreams’ represents the twelve songs on this album. Risus Sardonicus, known as a rictus grin is an actual medical condition, manifesting a abnormal sustained spasm of the facial muscles that appears to produce the effects of grinning.  From: https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2018/02/from-vault-spirit-twelve-dreams-of-dr.html

High Places - Canada

High Places showed up in 2008 pegged as a Brooklyn act, but they never seemed very metropolitan. If anything, their innocent, home-recorded songs felt pastoral or coastal-- concerned more with breaking out of the city rather than toiling in it. That escapist tendency, mixed with their sonic primitivism and hopeful outlook, was refreshing. Even if their style wasn't exactly groundbreaking (we'd heard others combine global polyrhythms, hip-hop beats, and field recordings before), their approach was unique. In part because of Rob Barber's ragged production, High Places made those sounds feel roomy and lived-in.
While a good record, 2008's High Places was primarily an extension of what the band established with their singles collection 03/07 – 09/07. The sound was slightly glossier, but mostly it was vocalist Mary Pearson once again cooing over Barber's fractured arrangements. With High Places vs. Mankind, though, all that is out of the window. If you count High Places as their first true album, then their latest is a classic sophomore change-up-- a departure in both style and temperament. Far from the doe-eyed innocence and sunny bliss of their earlier work, High Places are darker and much more somber here, and their approach to recording and presentation has changed.
The biggest difference is the band's mood. High Places used to stress resiliency and optimism, but now they seem resigned to life's disappointments. On early track "On Giving Up", Pearson, who once radiated childlike hopefulness, sings solemnly of loss: "Though I have cried so many times before, it's all because I feel everything that's gone." Similar themes of heartbreak and fear exist throughout the album, and there's a notable change in the way the band sounds, too. Instead of the earlier sample-heavy style, Barber incorporates more live instrumentation, and as a result High Places feel more like a band. There are still loops and dance elements, but the focus is often more on heavy post-punk guitar-and-bass lines that enhance the overall gloomy vibe.
It's a surprising turn for the group, and whether or not you like them more as sunny optimists or somber realists is a matter of taste. The more pressing question is how this shift affects the quality of the songs. Mostly it works, but there are also songs here, especially the instrumental ones ("The Channon", "Drift Slayer") that aren't very memorable. Even a few of the more pop-focused cuts tend to skimp on melody, and it makes me think that in the band's desire to overhaul, they lost a bit of their initial spark. Still, the album is encouraging because it shows a talented young group unafraid of growth. Even if this isn't their best collection of songs, it takes nerve to try something so different.  From: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14103-high-places-vs-mankind/

Second Hand - Hangin' On An Eyelid

“Hangin‘ on an Eyelid”  is a brilliantly unique track from Death May Be Your Santa Claus (1971)  a challenging masterwork by British progressive rock band Second Hand. Second Hand were formed in 1965 by teenagers Ken Elliott, Kieran O’Connor and Bob Gibbons who went on to record three studio albums between 1968 to 1972.  Second Hand are considered by many critics to be one of the most underestimated and under appreciated progressive bands of their time. Personally I always thought they were as good as any of the prog bands around at the time.  They were experimental, complex and challenging and as it turns out, quite timeless.  From: https://tracksthatmakemarksdotcom.wordpress.com/2015/04/27/second-hand-hangin-on-an-eyelid/

Half Past Four - Shake Your Head

Half Past Four play original progressive rock. The antithesis of today's soul numbing repetitive motifs in pop music, Half Past Four offers something innovative to new music listeners and something familiar to those who have grown up loving the intricacies, driven melodies and exceptional musicianship of their influences: early Genesis, King Crimson, Frank Zappa, Mr.Bungle and many many others.
The current songwriting line up of Half Past Four was conceived in April 2005 and born in September 2005 opening for Russia's insane music star Chizh at the Opera House. They began their road to prominence playing a monthly "session" at the local pub Miguel's Club 329 (hosted by perennial music supporter Miguel who boasts a platoon of huge music star friends including Jose Feliciano and ex-roommate Joni Mitchell).
While their ground-breaking demo recording Half Past Four (2006) was collectively described by fans as "an uncanny masterpiece", Half Past Four began a career that has included scoring the Billy Zane "Zomedy" Horror Movie "The Mad", playing many cool venues with lots of great new progressive bands, and finally recording their first full album entitled Rabbit in the Vestibule which will be released early 2008 with much expected fanfare.
Despite several band line-ups imploding after many years of being part of a dynamic music scene (past band incarnations have occured since 1999), Half Past Four continues to produce constantly challenging and intriguing music with their signature approach to songwriting; complex time signatures, unusual and humorous lyrics, pronounced and magnetic keyboard and bass arrangements and pulsating guitar solos.  From: https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=3929  

Los Lobos - The Giving Tree

It was the fall of 1990. MTV was serving up the last gasp of hair metal, grunge was bubbling under the surface, and blues-rock was having a moment. Somewhere in that mix, Los Lobos quietly dropped The Neighborhood. It didn’t storm the charts but it became a hidden gem for those paying attention. This was an album that spoke to the margins, the in-between spaces of mainstream music and cultural heritage.
For many, Los Lobos meant La Bamba. Maybe you were one of those kids in the late ‘80s with the song on a cassette you recorded straight off the radio. Lou Diamond Phillips made Richie Valens a household name, and Los Lobos became Grammy regulars. But they weren’t a flash in the pan. By 1990, this East L.A. band had been honing their craft for over a decade, blending traditional Mexican folk with rock, blues, and experimental textures that defied easy categorization.
The Neighborhood wasn’t your typical blues-rock record. David Hidalgo’s voice pulls you through a landscape of sounds that’s hard to pin down. There’s Tex-Mex accordion on “The Giving Tree,” a Bo Diddley-style groove on “I Walk Alone,” and baritone sax grinding through “Georgia Slop.” Each track feels like a new chapter in a story about place, history, and identity.
The whole thing feels like a soundtrack for the American southwest—desert highways, street fairs, and smoky backrooms. You wouldn’t guess they’re from East L.A. based on the sound alone. If you’d told me they were from Texas or New Mexico, I’d believe you. Their ability to absorb and reinterpret regional styles is part of what makes this record feel so expansive.
The instrumentation deepens this sense of place. Hidalgo’s accordion riffs often tug at the edges of the song’s structure, giving moments of warmth and melancholy. Tracks like “Emily” and “Take My Hand” reveal the band’s range, seamlessly weaving in folk traditions that pull listeners beyond the boundaries of conventional rock.
Levon Helm from The Band shows up on a couple tracks, adding his unmistakable voice and mandolin to “Emily” and “Angel Dance.” John Hiatt lends harmonies that feel earthy and familiar. Meanwhile, producer Mitchell Froom creates subtle layers with atmospheric textures, balancing intimacy and depth. Even with these guest appearances, Los Lobos never loses their grounding. The sound remains cohesive and timeless, dodging the overdone reverb and sterile production common in early ’90s rock albums.  From: https://www.digmeoutpodcast.com/p/los-lobos-the-neighborhood-90s-rock 

Alabama Shakes - Don't Wanna Fight

Alabama Shakes are about to release their second album, Sound & Color, a follow-up to Boys & Girls, their irresistible 2012 debut. Boys & Girls upturned the lives of Howard, guitarist Heath Fogg, bassist Zac Cockrell and drummer Steve Johnson. Before that, they were another dressed-down rock-and-blues band in their hometown of Athens, Alabama, not above doing covers in a local venue called Yesterdays, or afternooning at old people’s homes. Then one of their songs, the brash, catchy Hold On, became an online and radio hit. Their debut LP sold a surprise half a million, all of this hauling them out of Alabama and sending them… well, everywhere else.
They gigged in front of millions on Saturday Night Live and toured the US, Europe and Australia. They were a star turn of the UK festival season in 2012 then played at the Grammys in 2013, where they were nominated in three categories. Apart from a short break last year, for Howard to write songs for the new record at her kitchen table, and for Fogg and Johnson to tend to newborn kids, Alabama Shakes have been “road-dogging” ever since their breakthrough. It’s Howard’s phrase. “Road, road, road,” she explains, “then a few days back home to sleep, then road, road, road.”
When you’ve become popular by being very definitely from a place (and Alabama Shakes are very definitely from Athens, Alabama; the music they make channels the bluesy sound that has defined the region’s output since the days of Aretha), the challenge is to carry that sense of place through all the other places that popularity takes you. How to summon some authentic “heart of Dixie” in front of lagered-up campers in Perthshire, as the band will do when they travel to T in the Park this summer? Or on stage at the White House, where they played for the Obamas two years ago? It’s something they think about a lot.
They still dress down to perform, usually wandering on stage in hoodies and home-wear, something that can be read as affectation. But it’s an honest effort, I think, to retain a sense of themselves as the underdog band they once were. Gigging at Islington Assembly Hall in February (the night before I meet them, the venue just a few turns up the canal), this quartet slunk out and picked up their instruments as if they were still jobbers who hardly expected to be listened to, not headliners for whom everyone in the room had paid £40 to see. What else? Howard has a charm-like tattoo on her arm – a thin line tracing the shape of Alabama’s borders. “So that I could die in London or Paris or wherever,” she says, “and when they’re wrapping up and cleaning my body they’re gonna know.”
We’re outside the pub again, to escape the jazzy 60s music, and so Howard can smoke. “I never thought I’d be a singer when I started this habit,” she says, frowning at her cigarette. “I was 15. Ugh.”
She is tall, bespectacled, wrapped in an oversize leather coat she calls her “Trading Places jacket. In that movie everybody was wearing shit like this. Look at the sleeves!” Back in 2012, she had lots of wild curls, but the hair, now, has been buzzed into a compact wedge. It started falling out in the studio, she says, after a botched effort at straightening it. Howard is mixed race, inheriting from her African-American father a frizz that will fight to the death against being chemically messed with.
She is stocky. Without my prompting she alludes to being on a diet more than once. I bring this up because Howard does, though I have definite reservations. Nobody ever asks Jay-Z to account for his height, Chris Martin his skinniness. Howard’s shape, like her thick-rimmed specs, like her being “the only rock’n’roll brown chick”, as she once put it, all help to make her an unusual and intriguing frontwoman. But most of her appeal, trumping even that tremendous, cig-roughened voice, lies in her habit of going absolutely bananas on stage.
Lit by devil-red spots, Howard will fold herself over her guitar, riffing, howling, as if in critical pain. “I call it ‘the spirit world’,” she says, when I ask where she goes in these moments. “Latching on to a feeling, riding it, trying not to come out of it. You stop thinking, you’re just performing – that’s the spirit world.” She isn’t much of a one for microphone patter. “Sometimes between songs I have nothing to say. It’s not because I’m not appreciative of the applause, the love. I’m just still on it, and I’m trying to keep on it.”
As a woman fronting a band, she says, “you’re expected to be a darling up there. Like, ‘Look at that sweet little thing! Singing her songs about lurve.’” Howard shoots me a look: nope. “I’m a human being,” she says.  From: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/29/alabama-shakes-interview-sound-color-festivals

Rosalie Cunningham - Crossroads Festival 2024

 Rosalie Cunningham - Crossroads Festival 2024 - Part 1

 

 Rosalie Cunningham - Crossroads Festival 2024 - Part 2

 

Rosalie Cunningham opens the third evening of the WDR Rochpalast's 2024 Crossroads Festival at Bonn's Harmonie on Friday with a performance that immediately demonstrates why she is considered one of the most exciting musicians on the current prog rock scene. With a powerful mix of retro aesthetics, psychedelic sounds, and artful songwriting, Cunningham takes the audience on a musical journey that is both captivating and diverse—and features an impressively strong band. 
With her aubergine-colored jumpsuit, flared trousers, and fringes on the arms, she would have been the party queen at any party in the 60s and 70s – even though she later called for: “Dethrone the party queen of yesteryear.” The evening begins with "Start With The Corners," an instrumental that sets the tone for the psychedelic prog rock world of the '70s. Initially quiet and introspective, the song builds to an overwhelming crescendo. The songs on her setlist, including "Ride On My Bike" and the electrifying "Dethroning Of The Party Queen," testify to an artist stylistically deeply rooted in the '60s and '70s without ever seeming antiquated.
The first songs, with their style somewhat stuck in British song tradition, fail to fully win over the audience. Anyone unfamiliar with the 34-year-old artist from Southend-on-Sea in East Anglia will indeed be somewhat lost in this blend of ballads, classic, and progressive rock, which incorporates nuances of 1960s British songwriting.  
And then comes "Donovan Ellington," a multi-part piece that perfectly reflects Cunningham's penchant for intricate compositions and narrative song structures. Here, she effortlessly combines orchestral elements with heavy guitar riffs, jazzy rhythms, and an underlying folk marbling, making the song seem like a mini-opus, vaguely reminiscent of Jethro Tull at times, and vocally also of Chrissie Hynde. The second part, "Donny Pt. Two," takes up the themes of the first but changes the tone, leading the audience through a dark, almost threatening soundscape featuring hypnotic bass lines and reverbed guitar chords. By "Return Of The Ellington," the ice between the band and the audience is finally broken. The song comes across as rockier and overall more straightforward. There is tremendous applause.
The crowd favorite, however, was "Duet," a diverse, nearly ten-minute number full of musical references, including to the Beatles, Blondie, and Jefferson Starship. In the instrumental section, all the band members demonstrate what great musicians they are. This dynamic, with its sparing, well-measured use of bass, drums, and guitars, is exactly what many bands struggle with—but not Rosalie Cunningham, who, at 34, can already draw on an incredible wealth of experience.
Her singing is as diverse as her compositions: sometimes sweet and seductive, then wild and untamed. Her voice is reminiscent of the charming excess of Grace Slick, Siouxsie Sioux, Kate Bush, and Sandy Denny. When asked about her musical role models after the concert, she simply laughed and replied, "Oh, it would take hours to list them all."
In fact, Rosalie Cunningham's style strongly reminds me of Stackridge 's blend of folk, pop, and progressive . At some point, I also think of David Bowie, whose chameleon-like ability to blend genres and constantly redefine them. Perhaps it's this ease with which she switches between styles, sometimes glam rock, sometimes prog, sometimes psychedelic.
Cunningham has a strong charisma and masters the art of sounding both seductive and mystical, while at times being explosive and unashamedly raw. The psychedelic aesthetic of the 1960s, which so strongly influenced her possibly great role model Slick, can also be found in Cunningham's music, be it in the dreamy melodies or the spiritual, often surreal lyrics. These Donovan Ellington songs, in any case, sometimes leave you perplexed when listening. She laughs when I tell her this after the concert. You have to see the character as a metaphor, she says. Her lyrics are often cryptic, yet have a literary quality. This was particularly evident in "Riddles And Games" and "Tristitia Amnesia," in which she dealt with philosophical themes such as identity, transience, and the distorted perception of reality. Her words have a fairytale quality that draws listeners into a world that is as surreal as it is profound.
I have the impression that Syd Barrett, the eccentric founder of Pink Floyd, could also be an influence that shouldn't be underestimated. Cunningham's music, especially in songs like "Rabbit Foot" and "Riddles and Games," carries the fascination with the absurd and the mysterious that pervaded Barrett's work. She has adopted Barrett's mix of psychedelia and surreal lyricism and made it one of her trademarks, challenging the listener with complex and often cryptic lyrics. "Riddles and Games" begins musically with a touch of Slade and remains almost entirely in the realm of classic rock.
Musically and technically, there are clear parallels to progressive greats like King Crimson and Jethro Tull. The complex song structures and distinctive instrumentation that characterize Cunningham's work are reminiscent of the experimental nature of these bands. Like Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, Cunningham utilizes various styles and instruments to give her songs a deeper dimension. The experimental spirit of King Crimson, evident in unconventional song structures and avant-garde elements, also flows into her work, especially in multi-part works like "Donovan Ellington."
Rosalie Cunningham masterfully captures the essence of her musical role models and transforms them in a way that is entirely unique. Her art pays homage to the pioneers of the rock and progressive music scene, yet she never remains stuck in nostalgia. Instead, she brings the legacy of her influences into the present by blending them with her own personal, distinctive style. This makes her an exceptional musician who knows how to combine tradition and innovation in a harmonious symbiosis.
Musically, Cunningham walks a fine line between rock, psychedelic, and progressive rock. Her songs flirt with classical influences, yet are imbued with a modern, idiosyncratic twist. "Chocolate Money," which closed the evening, summed this up perfectly: a playful piece that, on the one hand, is influenced by early 1970s glam rock, yet, at the same time, feels modern and biting thanks to its sophisticated arrangements and ironic lyrics. A truly powerful performance.  From: https://jazzandrock.com/starker-auftritt-von-rosalie-cunningham-mit-band-beim-crossroads-festival-in-der-harmonie-bonn/

 

Vanishing Twin - Magician's Success

Vanishing Twin’s debut album, 2016’s Choose Your Own Adventure, featured the British band’s integration of psychedelic pop à la Broadcast’s first three albums and the instrumental/textural sophistications of mid-career Stereolab, with the majority of tracks occurring as ambitious, albeit frequently imitative, reconfigurations. Their second full-length release, last year’s The Age of Immunology, affirms the band’s ties to the above-mentioned artists as well as the sub-genre of ambient pop—though with significant departures from inherited stylistics. With this project, the band displays a more consummate skill for crafting melodic hooks. Protracted instrumental segments hold the listener’s attention more consistently, the quintet navigating complex rhythms and innovative progressions. In addition, the band references and re-contextualizes 50-plus years of electro-ambience, from the primitive sounds of Kraftwerk to the refined vistas of Suso Sáiz.
“Magician’s Success” contains the project’s most mainstream melody and composition, reminiscent of Camera Obscura’s brand of indie pop, particularly various tracks from Let’s Get Out of This Country (2006) and My Maudlin Career (2009). On one of the album’s more intriguing lyrics, Lucas sings, “The noise of hope / is like a racket in my heart,” her underscoring of the notion that hope is often desire well-masked, simply “attachment” packaged in a less offensive form. These lyrics can’t help but nudge a listener to consider the role of hope in their own life, to ask: what is life without hope? How, without the balm of hope, do we successfully navigate our world, its pressing issues and unique crises? Does the release of hope facilitate a greater level of acceptance and, thereby, open new possibilities for action that may not have been previously entertained?  From: https://brooklynrail.org/2020/03/music/The-Best-Band-You-Never-Heard-Of-Vanishing-Twins-Global-Aesthetic/ 

Sopor Aeternus - A Strange Thing to Say

Could you talk about your relation with Poe’s work? Is he the poet that left the most powerful mark on you? I feel that your entire work is touched by the shadow of Poe, and that Poe’s poetry is a way for you to tell the depths of your soul…

Anna-Varney Cantodea: It's funny that you ask - well, maybe not funny, but interesting - because only a few days ago I was reminded of my very first encounter with the works of Poe. It was in third or fourth grade, so I must have been either eight or nine, and we were reading "The tell-tale Heart", in a German translation, of course, or maybe it was read to us, I cannot quite remember, I don't even know if we were actually told the name of the author... well, we probably were, but, if so, that information obviously went straight into one ear and out of the other, because even back then I had no interest in people. However, I only mention this, because, even though I didn't care who the author was, the story itself, or rather, the images that it created in my head left a deep impression on me. I was strangely attracted to the story - I felt there was an enormous power behind it - but, since I was so young, I didn't really understand the connection. I didn't know, why I felt the way I felt. The images, however, that were conjured up that day, they never left me. I still remember them.
So, flash forward a few years... at the age of twelve, when my depression started to become heavier, and I thought of suicide as an option for the first time... I gradually drew the cloak of darkness around me, if you wish, and slowly descended down into the world of shadows, and in the course of that I tried to find solace in the world of classical phantastic literature. You cannot imagine my relief, that sense of destiny, if you wish, when I discovered that someone, I had already encountered, had actually been waiting for me there all the time.

Would Poe be the perfect reflection of your soul?

AVC: You know, this may be an embarrassing thing to admit, but... honestly... you have no idea how right you are. When I began to work on Poetica, I approached the poems from the outside, if you know what I mean. I met them like old friends or acquaintances, ghosts, I had already encountered in the past but when the album was completed and that's actually the embarrassing part... I had completely forgotten that those words had originally been written by a different person. I felt like they were my own, as I had made them my own. In fact, they felt more like Sopor than Sopor did, if that makes any sense to you. I didn't just adapt them to music - I adapted them to 
myself

There is a sound, a sort of funeral whistling, that comes often in your music, especially since "Children of the Corn" (for instance on "Dreamland" or the wonderful "The Haunted Palace")… it makes me think of old horror movies. Are those movies getting a growing influence in your work?

AVC: Umm... I know what you mean. That's the old theremin. The sound is almost synonymous with old black & white science-fiction and horror movies, yes... it's the sort of instrument you literally expect to hear when you think of these films, and I cannot deny that I am actually very fond of it. I have always been. It just suits me perfectly. Aside from the eerie atmosphere it creates, it's also a lovely bridge between the coldness of the synthesizer and the warmth of the violins. It combines, it balances the extremes, and that's what I am all about.

Do you like the movie "The Oblong Box" with Vincent Price and Christopher Lee? That’s the only Poe story that you interpret and which is not a poem but a short story…
 
AVC:To be honest, I cannot remember it. I know that I have watched it, but it obviously didn't leave any impression on me. Otherwise I would remember it. Unlike Roger Corman's adaptation of The Fall of the House of Usher, also with a divine Vincent Price... in dark velvet and bleached hair... and generally divine and beautiful... and breath-taking. In fact, I would go so far as to say that this is my favourite Poe adaptation. That one definitely has left a lasting impression on me... until this very day.

Was it hard to choose the poems that you would put to music?
 
AVC: No, and yes and No. Where shall I begin? Hmm, OK... when you listen to "Harvest Moon", which is the last track on Children of the Corn, you can hear that there is a distinct Dead Lovers’ Sarabande vibe in the string section. Well, maybe you cannot hear it, because it's rather short, and there is a lot of other stuff going on, but it IS there... take my word for it. Or, actually, I can play it for you. Wait a second... [plays fabulous music] so, this is the kind of mood I was in when the album closed. When I finished it.
After I had finished Children of the Corn I had this feeling that I really needed to go and clean up my house... as in to revisit old recordings that I had never been happy with, those that still carried an importance, that were still relevant to me, those I still felt a connection with. And, naturally, the first thing that came to mind were the Poe adaptations. Most of all "Alone", from that unlistenable piece of shit Spiral Traveller album. God, I hate that thing, but that's public knowledge.  I'm allowed to say that. I did it.
You see, my initial idea was to do a mere 12" single with "The Sleeper" on side one, maybe, and "Alone" and "Dreamland" on the other. But then suddenly "Alone" had a twin brother, and on top of that my label suggested that I should do at least a 7 track mini-album instead of just a 12" single, so... pfff...  I thought 'what the hell', and re-did all of my Poe tracks.
When you are still in the early stages of an album, things tend to be vague, and you're not always sure, in what direction the albums wants to go. You're not quite certain of its purpose. But as you work on it, things always become clearer, gradually... and so, after a while, I realised that Poetica in fact wanted to be an album, and for this I needed more material. So, initially, on a conscious level, that was the only reason why I was looking for further poems to put to music, but, naturally, I couldn't just pick anything at random. There had to be a connection.
"A Dream within a Dream", of course, was an obvious choice, and the only other two poems I could think of doing were "The Haunted Palace" and "The City in the Sea". The funny thing about "The City in the Sea" was, that I had never really read it before. I mean, yes... I had read it once or twice, but only cursory, and as a consequence, I had never really understood it. Also because, in my memory, it had blended together with Jacques Tourneur's film "The City under the Sea" - also with Vincent Price - which, I guess, is why I always believed that poem describes some sort of ghostly submarine habitat. What a joke.
With "The Haunted Palace" it was similar. Even though it is actually part of my all time favourite Poe story - the masterpiece which is The Fall of the House of Usher - I was never really aware of it. Again, yes, I had read it a few times on it own, but, because of my careless reading, I actually believed that the poem was about a haunted building. I mean, how ridiculous is that?!  Can you believe it?! However, when the album was finished, "The Haunted Palace" turned out to be the one songs that actually makes me shiver - it still does - and when I listen to the album in one sitting, the very moment this song ends and the first notes of the last song begin, I start to cry. Every time. When I began working on Poetica, the poems and I were merely like friends or acquaintances, but when it was finished... we had become one.

From: https://www.soporaeternus.de/Interview_OBSKURE.html

The Jayhawks - Take Me With You When You Go

After two albums released on independent labels, The Jayhawks finally got major label backing when they signed with Rick Rubin’s Def American (now known simply as American Recordings, the label that oversaw Johnny Cash’s late-career renaissance), which was distributed by Warner Music Group. In one of the great music industry stories, the president of Twin/Tone Records (which released their sophomore album, Blue Earth) was on a phone call with Def American A&R man George Drakoulias in 1991. With Blue Earth playing in the background, Drakoulias inquired about the music he was hearing and was so enamored with their sound that he signed them later that year, also becoming their producer. The first fruit of this collaboration was Hollywood Town Hall (1992), which is where I initially discovered The Jayhawks. I loved it from the first time I heard it, and more than two decades later I get just as excited every time I play it. The core band of Olson, Louris and bassist Marc Perlman was joined by new drummer Ken Callahan, who was credited as a band member but apparently only played on two songs, while session pro Charlie Drayton handled drumming duties on the rest of the album. Other notable guests were keyboardists Benmont Tench (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) and Nicky Hopkins (Rolling Stones), who helped fill in their sound without overpowering it.  From: https://kamertunesblog.wordpress.com/2013/11/09/the-jayhawks-part-2-two-hearts-and-two-angels/ 

Orgone - Don't Push Your Luck

Los Angeles based band Orgone is many souls with a cosmic connection, a natural creative force and musicians who have played together for years. They are self schooled and continue to shape their musical voice as a solid unit of guys who hang, spin records and jam out their shared inspirations. With a rooted sense of funk, soul, afrobeat, deep rhythms and an intimate understanding of dj culture as well as each others' individual talents, Orgone seamlessly slides through multiple styles and dynamic performances. The group continuously injects whatever they play with a heavy brand of raw funk power.
At the core of the band is a rhythm section comprised of close friends who have played together for more than 10 years. Having grown artistically as a unit they function as one organic and intuitive whole. The orginal 5-member band started out by putting their own gritty takes on tunes by the likes of the JBs, the Meters, Booker T. and the MGs, Grant Green and Funkadelic among many others. They quickly gained underground respect and die hard fans. With their searing live sets and original instrumentals, Orgone soon released their debut self titled CD, "Orgone," in 2002. The result was a collection of all original down home, transcendental, tough and gritty funk instrumentals.
The band fast grew to include a powerful three-piece horn section and a fiery soul singer who all shared the same spirit and deep reverence for the music that inspired them. Singer, Fanny Franklin, joined the groups’ recordings after they were floored seeing her perform with Dakah, the 30-piece hip hop orchestra, and asked her to record with them.
Gaining worldwide recognition for their raw studio recordings and exciting live sets led to the release of "The Killion Floor" on Ubiquity records- a full length album of hard hitting afro-soul & funk from the 9 piece band. While enjoying comparisons to classic acts like Rufus, War & Mandrill, or modern funk staples like Sharon Jones or Breakestra, they’re quick to point out that Orgone is unique.
“We draw from a wide musical and production palette … it’s a reflection of the music and production aesthetics that we love.” Orgone backs this up by taking the listener on a musical journey from the sound of Los Angeles to horn and percussion driven Lagos to a New York club and to the raw sounds of New Orleans. The title of the album "The Killion Floor" is derived from the Orgone apartment/studio facility where the majority of the album was recorded.  From: https://www.playradio.one/artists/orgone-1717  

The Beatles - Dear Prudence

Over the end of the Esher demo of “Dear Prudence,” John Lennon can be heard explaining the origin of the song: “No one was to know that sooner or later she was to go completely berserk under the care of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. All the people around her were very worried about the girl because she was going insane. So we sang to her.” The girl in question was Prudence Farrow, the 19-year-old sister of American actress Mia Farrow. During the stay, Prudence had locked herself away in her hut at the ashram in Rishikesh, India, where she and her sister were studying Transcendental Meditation alongside The Beatles, Donovan, The Beach Boys’ Mike Love, and others. She was meditating far longer than anybody else, and the others were beginning to worry about her state of mind.
“Prudence Farrow got an attack of the horrors, paranoia, what you’d call these days an identity crisis, and wouldn’t come out,” Paul McCartney recalled. “We all got a bit worried about her so we went up there and knocked. ‘Hi, Prudence, we all love you. You’re wonderful!’ But nobody could persuade her out. So John wrote ‘Dear Prudence, won’t you come out and play…’”
John told Playboy magazine, “Mia Farrow’s sister, who seemed to go slightly balmy, meditating too long, wouldn’t come out of the little hut we were living in. They selected me and George to try and bring her out because she would trust us. She went completely mental. If she’d been in the West they would have put her away. We got her out of the house. She’d been locked in for three weeks and wouldn’t come out, trying to reach God quicker than anybody else.”
For “Dear Prudence,” John deployed a fingerpicking style he’d learned in India under instruction from Donovan, a skilled folk musician who had studied under the likes of Bert Jansch and Davey Graham. Donovan recalled that John was a diligent student: “It’s a difficult style that requires perseverance. When John had it down he was so pleased to find a whole new way of songwriting emerge. That’s what happens to a natural songwriter when you get a new set of performing skills. He immediately wrote ‘Dear Prudence’ and ‘Julia’.”  From: https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/dear-prudence-story-behind-song-beatles/

Health - Crack Metal

Health started life in 2005, but it may as well have been centuries ago. At the time, the then-four-piece were a traditionally untraditional noise-rock band that made scabrous, abrasive songs that sounded, as vocalist and guitarist Jake Duzsik once described, “like the rock band playing in the shitty club in the movie that was made in the ’90s about the future”. Which is to say that Health have always been both behind and ahead of the times, evolving their sound and process significantly over the years. Not only did they release counterpart remix versions of their albums with the subtitle of Disco, they also began incorporating more electronics into the mix. That started in earnest when they scored the atmospheric soundtrack to the 2012 video game Max Payne 3, which then bled – profusely – into 2015’s third record, Death Magic and 2019’s fourth, Vol. 4: Slaves Of Fear.
“When we did the Max Payne score,” remembers Jake, “we had to generate so much goddamn music that it just forced us to expand our musical palette that, in the process, there’s just an inevitable discovery that points you in other directions for where you want to take your own songs.” That essentially brought the band to where they are today. With Disco 4 Part II, however, the world has – sadly, worryingly, depressingly – pretty much become that previously only-imagined retro-future.
“Since our inception, we’ve always thought of ourselves as like a future primitive soundscape,” Jake says, “like Alien or Terminator after Skynet. It’s like there’s crazy technology. It doesn’t sound anachronistic, but it’s a shitty future. Everything is covered in grime. Everything has gone wrong, but we have made incredible technological advances and maybe one of the things we’ve gotten lucky with, unfortunately, is that now it seems we are arriving at that moment anyway. So the band seems prescient or more fitting or something, I don’t know. Even when we first started, we always thought we were making music for a post-Skynet landscape. That’s what it should sound like. That’s what it feels like. It feels like technology, but technology that’s breaking down, and that just seems to be where the world is at right now.”  From: https://www.kerrang.com/health-interview-disco-part-ii-jake-duzsik-john-famiglietti-bj-miller-cover-story

 

Joe Jackson - Real Men

Joe Jackson was one of MTV’s greatest cynics. He hated music videos. After being forced by his record company to make what he considered a “crappy” video for his song “Breaking Us in Two,” he refused to make any more videos and condemned music videos in the press. Years later, he reflected, “I mean, I’m not such a miserable bastard that I won’t admit that some videos are great fun. But I believed [in 1983] that MTV was beginning to have a negative effect on music.” He added, “I’m well aware that refusing to make videos accomplished nothing whatsoever except—how should I put this?—to make my next record less successful. It damaged my career and it never fully recovered.”
Jackson achieved his initial MTV popularity with three memorable, poignant videos promoting his 1982 Night and Day album. These were elaborate, high-budget (for the time) videos with nuanced storyline and lush photography, filmed on cinematic 35 mm rather than cheap videotape. “Stepping Out” in particular is an essential golden-age video, rich in splendor and luxurious imagery evoking upper-class urban sophistication, yet gazed at from a decidedly working class (hence relatable) perspective. It depicts a maid cleaning up an elegant penthouse apartment. She sees a glamorous dress lying on a bed, picks it up, and fantasizes about wearing it and being part of New York’s elite nightlife. The wealthy residents’ return disrupts her reverie and she politely excuses herself. It’s delightfully voyeuristic and simple. It fits the mood of the song perfectly. It’s a superb video. “Breaking Us in Two” is really not that bad. It is mawkish and sentimental, but has some beautiful cinematography.
I have no memory of seeing the third video from Night and Day, “Real Men,” on MTV. Maybe I did, once or twice, but I have no specific memory of it, unlike his other videos. “Real Men” is the most elaborate of the three videos, very cinematic in its style and execution. “Real Men” depicts a young man struggling with sexual and gender confusion. The video references gay people, issues, and culture in a sympathetic, artful manner. It provides a stinging critique of American masculinity and an insightful meditation on unspoken cultural assumptions about gender in our society. It’s also gut wrenching to watch, almost too intense for MTV.  From: https://videoclosetblog.wordpress.com/joe-jackson-real-men/