Steeleye Span - Parcel of Rogues - Full album

01- One Misty Moisty Morning
02- Alison Gross
03- The Bold Poachers
04- The Ups And Downs
05- Robbery With Violins
06- The Wee Wee Man
07- The Weaver And The Factory Maid
08- Rogues In A Nation
09- Cam Ye O'er Frae France
10- Hares On The Mountain

As I am deeply concerned about the mental health of my readers given the hyper-charged political climates in the US and UK, I have chosen to avoid politically-charged music for the foreseeable future. Though Parcel of Rogues doesn’t quite qualify as apolitical due to two songs involving political intrigue in the early 18th century, I’m pretty confident that there are no Jacobites in my audience and that comments made in response to this post will not ignite a heated debate over the restoration of Bonnie Prince Charlie.
Parcel of Rogues represented an important step in Steeleye Span’s development with its extensive use of electric guitar and overdubbing (they would soon add a full-time drummer to further strengthen the connections to rock). The impetus for introducing more rock sensibilities to the music was spearheaded by Bob Johnson, a dogged researcher of folk tradition who identified and arranged many of Steeleye Span’s most memorable takes on traditional folk songs. With a multi-talented cast of accomplished musicians, Steeleye Span would develop a sound more attuned to modern tastes while remaining firmly entrenched in folk traditions.
If you knew nothing about Steeleye Span or Parcel of Rogues and popped on over to Amazon to read the user reviews to see what all the hoo-hah was about, you would likely form the conclusion that the album’s main attraction is Maddy Prior’s voice. One of the strongest pieces of evidence in support of that assertion is found on the opening track, “One Misty Moisty Morning.” The song is based on the traditional “The Wilshire Wedding (Between Daniel Do-well and Doll the Dairy Maid with the Consent of her Old Father Leather-Coat, and her dear and tender Mother Plodwell)”. The lyrics used here are closer to the Bodleian take, though Steeleye Span wisely eliminated several of the more tedious verses where Daniel meets and gains the approval of the parents.
Maddy assumes the role of Daniel, who while strolling along “one misty moisty morning” bumps into “an old man a-clothed all in leather.” The old man responds enthusiastically to Daniel’s greeting, “Singing how d’ya do and how d’ya do and how d’ya do again” (the phrase that serves as the song’s chorus). Daniel refers to the old man as a rustic, implying that he (Daniel) is an educated city fella. We learn that the old man is a thresher, which means he earned his keep by using a device called a flail to break the seed heads on oat and wheat stalks while waiting for the Industrial Revolution to come along and make him obsolete.
Historical Aside: Thanks to the murderous ingenuity of homo sapiens, the flail was also transformed into a weapon by adding metal spikes to the club, giving the warrior a handy-dandy device for splattering an opponent’s brains all over the battleground.
But I digress. Daniel continues his jaunt and happens upon a milkmaid named Dolly who tells him she’s going “a-milking, Sir” a quaint phrase that Daniel finds charming. Falling in love at first sight (and likely horny as hell), Daniel then describes how he gave Dolly “many kind embraces” and that he “stroked her double chin,” causing Dolly’s heart to go all a-flutter (to say nothing of the excitement she felt in another part of her anatomy). Having thereby overcome all resistance, Daniel claims his bride, gets the parents to sign off and marries her straightaway. A celebration follows where caps are flung and all join together in a round of “how d’ya do and how d’ya do and how d’ya do and how d’ya do again,” after which I’m sure Daniel immediately escorted Dolly to a conveniently-located copse and banged her to the complete satisfaction of both parties.
A story is only as good as its storyteller, and Maddy Prior is a marvelous tale-spinner. The clever introductory passage features a trio of guitars set to contrasting textures ranging from clean to distorted, building to a close marked by a wah-wah peddle on distortion that ends on a rising note. As the final note fades, we hear the more natural sound of Peter Knight picking a jaunty phrase on mandolin as Maddy approaches the microphone, stepping into the empty space created by the disappearance of the guitars.
That space intensifies the crystal clarity of her voice, a voice of stunning beauty that defines the word “riveting.” Her delivery is unforced; the syllables roll off her tongue as naturally as conversational speech. Her phrasing is perfectly clear, her breath timing remarkably unnoticeable. The first two verses feature only Maddy supported by Peter, a wise choice that strengthens the position of story and storyteller, allowing the listener to revel in the beauty of the voice and the language.
The wah-wah reappears on the second chorus, assuming a position in the channel opposite the mandolin, leaving Maddy to dominate the center. As she spins the tale, you notice subtle adjustments in her phrasing that add diversity to the mix and color to the story—when she comes to the point in the song where Daniel attempts to mimic Dolly’s vernacular—“‘a-milkins’, Sir,’ she said”—you hear the polite deference in her voice and can easily visualize her making a curtsy as she says it. The arrangement continues to build in the background as the story progresses; on the third chorus, Rick Kemp makes his first appearance on the bass while Bob Johnson and Tim Hart join Maddy on the vocals. The fourth verse introduces the surprise plot twist where after spending oh, about ten minutes with this broad, Daniel announces in an aside to the listening audience “And straight I fell a-courting her in hopes her love to win.” As the sudden news takes some time to absorb, Bob Johnson decided it was a good time for an instrumental break, a wise decision that prolongs the suspense.
Maddy continues the tale in verse five over an arrangement similar to verse four, but as the sixth verse depicts the marriage proposal, the band tones it down to sweet-and-sacred by repeating the pattern of the opening passage, substituting tinkly piano for one of the guitars—another brilliant move. The arrangement expands in verse seven to incorporate the mandolin, followed by the full band on the wah-wah-enhanced chorus. That power shift presages the goose-bump-generating final verse, where the band plays at full power and Maddy adjusts her breathing to achieve full diaphragm-driven oomph starting with the phrase “to celebrate the day,” leading the band into a perfectly constructed coda marked by a stirring finish. If I ever decide to create best-of-lists, I am 100% positive that “One Misty Moisty Morning” would easily earn a place in the category of Best Opening Number, All Genres.  From: https://altrockchick.com/2020/11/10/steeleye-span-parcel-of-rogues-classic-music-review/

Rainbow - Rising - Full album

01 Tarot Woman
02 Run With The Wolf
03 Starstruck
04 Do You Close Your Eyes
05 Stargazer
06 Light In The Black 

 

Rainbow’s debut album, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, was released on 4 August 1975 to modest success. Reviewers praised aspects of the record but often criticised its lack of energy, comparing it with Stormbringer, Deep Purple’s then-most recent album, a work English band leader and guitarist Ritchie Blackmore despised for its funk and soul leanings.
The album featured guest vocals from Blackmore’s girlfriend, Shoshana Feinstein, though their intense relationship ended abruptly in May 1975. Distraught, Blackmore retreated to his new home in Hollywood, immersing himself in alcohol and parties. With his life increasingly based in California, it was natural for the band to relocate from New York City to Los Angeles to rehearse for their upcoming tour. Management booked a rehearsal space at Pirate Sound Studios in Los Angeles, but Blackmore soon grew dissatisfied with the musicians, members of Ronnie James Dio’s former band Elf, criticising their sound and stage presence. Dio alone earned his full respect, thanks to his vocal power, creativity, and shared interests in classical music, medieval lore, and the occult.
Bassist Craig Gruber was the first to go, quickly replaced by Jimmy Bain of the unsigned Scottish band Harlot, whom Blackmore and Dio had seen performing at The Marquee in London. Soon after Bain's arrival, drummer Gary Driscoll was dismissed and keyboardist Mickey Lee Soule departed voluntarily. Dio, though regretful about the purge of his former bandmates, accepted its necessity and assisted in recruiting replacements. Auditions in Los Angeles took the form of extended jam sessions designed to test stamina and chemistry with Blackmore. The English drummer Cozy Powell, who was the thirteenth to audition, proved exceptional and was immediately hired. Renowned for his work with the Jeff Beck Group and Bedlam, as well as two UK hit singles, Powell had been considering a career shift to professional motor racing in Europe when Blackmore called. Despite inevitable clashes, his forceful personality and a similar sense of humour allowed him to coexist with the mercurial guitarist for five years. Several keyboardists were considered, including Eddie Jobson of Curved Air and Roxy Music, but the spot ultimately went to the young American Tony Carey. Bain had discovered him in a nearby studio, and during his audition, Carey impressed everyone by trading note for note with Blackmore, earning an immediate place in the band.
With the line-up complete, Rainbow returned to Pirate Sound to rehearse and write new material. In the same facility, Deep Purple were preparing their US tour with new guitarist Tommy Bolin, forcing the manager to schedule sessions carefully to avoid Blackmore’s meeting with his former bandmates. Visitors included members of Bad Company, as well as Robert Plant and John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, who occasionally joined the jams. Rainbow made their live debut on 10 November 1975 in Montreal, Canada, followed by a twelve-date US tour featuring songs from their debut and new compositions "Do You Close Your Eyes", "Stargazer", and "A Light in the Black". On stage, the centrepiece was a vast, 40-foot illuminated rainbow, powered by 3,000 lightbulbs. Though visually striking, it often interfered with the guitars and amplifiers, causing frequent disruptions.

Blackmore and Dio began collaborating when Elf supported Deep Purple on the Stormbringer tour. Blackmore found the partnership "refreshing" and natural, as both shared an interest in classical and folk music. Dio could seamlessly weave his vocal melodies and lyrics into Blackmore’s riffs, some of which originated in the guitarist’s live improvisations with Deep Purple. Together they wrote all the material for Rainbow’s debut, presenting the finished songs to the other Elf members only at the recording stage. The guitarist's original intention for the music of Rainbow was "to carry on and expand upon the essence of Deep Purple – aggressiveness – and at the same time add a kind of medieval feel to it."
For Rainbow’s second album, Blackmore’s mood and listening habits deeply shaped the music. During his California retreat, he immersed himself in classical and medieval works and even learnt cello from his friend Hugh McDowell of the Electric Light Orchestra, an instrument he felt mirrored his lonely, melancholic state. Blackmore was also stung by critics who claimed the debut lacked intensity and set out to prove his point to the press and his former bandmates.
When rehearsals with the new line-up began in September 1975, Blackmore and Dio already had ideas, but unlike the debut, they encouraged the musicians to improvise in extended jam sessions. This freer process birthed the album’s centerpiece, the "Kashmir"-inspired "Stargazer". Originating from a cello riff by Blackmore and expanded with Dio’s vocal melody, the track evolved into a sprawling arrangement featuring Arabic scales and an extended slide guitar solo. However, despite the contributions of all the musicians involved, official credit for all the album's songs remained with Blackmore and Dio alone. In December 1975, Rainbow relocated for two weeks to a farmhouse in Fürstenfeldbruck near Munich, West Germany to develop more material. Working with minimal equipment, they relied again on jams sparked by riffs or phrases, while Dio withdrew to craft lyrics. These sessions not only produced the songs for Rising, but also "Kill the King", which Rainbow played as the opener of their live shows in the 1976 tour, and "Long Live Rock ’n’ Roll". Both songs were recorded in the studio for the following album Long Live Rock 'n' Roll of 1978.
Dio penned all the lyrics, indulging his fascination with fantasy and ancient history. "Tarot Woman", at Blackmore’s request, depicts a fortune-teller; "Run with the Wolf" explores werewolf lore; while "Stargazer" and "A Light in the Black" form an epic tale about the downfall of a wizard and the liberation of his slaves in ancient Egypt. More grounded were the love song "Do You Close Your Eyes" and "Starstruck", about a persistent female fan who had stalked Blackmore.
Rising features no ballads, instead offering fast, heavy tracks, powered by Powell's drumming, Carey's sweeping keyboards, and Dio's "ferocious" vocal delivery. Critics praised Blackmore’s guitar work as some of his finest, noting how successfully he fused classical influences with hard rock in a band that was both dynamic and cohesive. Carey later called this line-up a "hard rock progressive blues band" and reviewers described the sound as spanning hard rock to early heavy metal. Ian Christe in his book Sound of the Beast even listed Rainbow among the proto-metal pioneers who shaped the next generation of musicians, while modern critics highlight Rising as a blueprint for the power metal subgenre, with its rapid tempos, classical flourishes and mythic themes.  From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rising_(Rainbow_album)

Nusantara Beat - Ke Masa Lalu

Looking in from the outside, I can't help but wonder what the added value is of singing in Indonesian (bahasa Indonesia) for a band from The Netherlands releasing its debut album in 2025. Listening to the album, I can only state how beautiful the album is and that the language barrier simply disappears after a few minutes.
Nusantara Beat is a relatively new band but can be called a Dutch supergroup, as all members play or have played in other bands. All members are, at least in past of Indonesian descent and have been playing together for a few years. It is their Indonesian heritage they are honouring with Nusantara Beat. Nusantara means unity and was the name of Indonesia in a long ago era, when several kings tried to make the many islands and kingdoms into one nation.
The beat stands for the history of "Indorock" and krontjong bands, made up of youngster who had emigrated from the new Indonesian state to the former colonist country circa 1950. Expecting to leave soon, but that never happened for most. This is for a different kind of blog, one on history. With ex-EUT singer Megan de Klerk the band has enlisted a singer with a dreamy voice, bringing in a dreampop influence to the whole. She dared to sing in a language she didn't master at the time. With her, the band was complete. All these influences from the past were blended by the band with indie, alternative pop and rock from this century. The result is the album Nusantara Beat and it's very convincing.
The band further consists of guitarist Jordy Sanger, guitarist/keyboardist Rouzy Portier, drummer Sonny Groeneveld, percussionist Gino Groeneveld and bassist Michael Joshua. The latter is the only one born in Indonesia. Together they produce music that is extremely slick, there's no other word for it. From there the band is able to show its teeth in the right places, so that when it bites, it has the effect like running into a tiger in the jungle.
My experience with Indonesian music does not go much further than the singles my late aunt had of Anneke Grönloh full of nostalgia for the emerald isles (and some gamalan music). And yet, there are faint resemblances in the way Megan de Klerk constructed her vocal melodies. I'm not saying there is a direct link between songs like 'Paradiso' or 'Soerabaja' and Nusantara Beat's. What connects them is a feeling and a kind of longing for things not here. Guitarist Jordy Sanger brings out a twangy surf sound to the mix, what will be the link to the indorock that I'm simply too young for, believe it or not.  From: https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2025/11/nusantara-beat-nusantara-beat.html

 

Psychic TV - The Orchids / Ancient Lights

The prettiest song Genesis P-Orridge ever wrote was “The Orchids,” a simple, pastoral folky gem from Psychic TV’s 1983 album Dreams Less Sweet. It’s a far cry from the noisy electronic bastards that his previous band, Throbbing Gristle, so masterfully twisted into horrific shapes. And while TG certainly had their share of more melodic moments (“Hot on the Heels of Love” comes to mind), “The Orchids” is something different altogether, a gorgeously upbeat and, frankly normal, song, not to mention one whose very gorgeous intricacy seemed very much of another time. Not that it was ever released as a single, or promoted as such. Califone somewhat famously covered it on their 2006 album Roots and Crowns, but by then it was still something of an obscure, underground classic. Still, it’s a classic all the same.
The album it comes from, Dreams Less Sweet, is a bit more experimental and difficult on the whole. It’s not Throbbing Gristle difficult — that’s a level of audio antagonism that few artists can continue to muster over time, let alone one of the band’s original players. But P-Orridge, along with former bandmate Peter Christopherson, carved a similar path with Psychic TV, albeit one with a considerably different approach. That approach is a confusing and complicated, yet continually intriguing one on Dreams Less Sweet, an album that puts industrial pieces alongside a cappella chants, found sound, audio collage and the occasional true pop song.
Dreams Less Sweet, then, isn’t a wholly inaccurate title. It does contain moments of sweetness, such as the glorious “The Orchids,” and the playful lullaby, “White Nights.” Yet by and large, it’s more nightmarish overall. Barking dogs and gunshots erupt in “Finale.” Clatters and stomps are met with unsettling drones in the 41-second “Botanica.” And distant sounds of chanting sidle up against ping-pong percussion and bassy piano in “Ancient Lights.” Let there be no question about it — this album is bizarre.
Then again, it’s very much part of P-Orridge’s M.O. H/er life has been spent as a provocateur, and Dreams Less Sweet accomplishes that handily, even more so because he does allow h/erself unexpected moments of beauty and simplicity. Yet the most unsettling moments on the album are those that are just musical enough to be alluring, but still somewhat terrifying in spite of it. Take “Eden 1,” whose introduction is a collage of ringing telephones, which give way to a plodding dirge and hissing, squealing sonics beneath P-Orridge’s narration. And “In the Nursery” is by far the moment in which Psychic TV most closely resembles Throbbing Gristle, howls and screeches creating a house of horrors while P-Orridge maintains a characteristically unhinged performance.  From: https://www.treblezine.com/psychic-tv-dreams-less-sweet-review/

 

Heart - Sing Child

Let’s talk about Heart. In retrospect it seems that you and Ann were the first women to achieve success fronting a hard rock band without sacrificing some of your femininity. Do you agree?

Nancy Wilson: I do. I think maybe it’s because we came from a sort of romantic, “rose colored glasses” background, but also from a family that was strong and capable, a military family. Plus there were two of us—two women—in the front-and-center role, in a big live rock band, with men and women playing together. That was the difference between us and a lot of other female rock acts. We weren’t afraid to be romantic gypsies. We were also coming from a kind of folk-rock ethic, not unlike what Led Zeppelin did, except with two women in front. That was our ideology. I think a lot of girls felt they had to try to put the toughest appearance forward in order to sing and play rock guitar. We just had this other place we came from, where we didn’t go into it feeling like we had to compete in the world of men. We started in folk music and made our way to rock.

Was there a point where you recognized that you were blazing a trail, that besides making great music you were also carrying a banner?

People would say that to us all the time: “You’re pioneers for women in rock!” We were like, “Uh, okay.” We just did what we wanted to do. But we also happened to have a strong mother in our lives. She was a fiercely independent, self-educated woman from a military background. Both my parents were pretty enlightened. They encouraged us to follow our bliss, as they used to put it. They gave us permission to get out there and do that, without a lot of gender specifics. But [being a woman] did make it harder on many levels. It was harder to be taken seriously. “See, I actually play the guitar—it’s not a prop. I’m actually doing this for real. We’re not just ornamental up there—we’re the creators and the front people.” It was interesting to see how shocking we appeared to everyone else, when we were just doing what felt natural for us.

There are so many classic Heart songs. Do you have a sense of what makes a song endure?

I’m really happy about that, happy that in addition to maintaining this great thing we call Heart, the songs themselves have floated as well. One of the reasons is that we were steeped in the music of the late ’60s and early ’70s—the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, so many amazing bands and writers. We felt that was our territory, to also try to write about things that weren’t just shallow, girl-boy relationship stuff, but things that were more poetic, that touched people on a human level. “Dog and Butterfly,” for instance, offers sort of a Zen lesson. And “Barracuda” addresses how much you want to call out somebody when they’re an asshole sometimes. People can certainly relate to that. And of course there’s the music. The music and the words need to describe each other.

Some bands that emerged in the ’70s have essentially become “oldies” acts. How has Heart avoided that?

We love putting together new material, and continuing to update. It’s like being in a marriage where you want to renew your vows every five years or so. It’s also about remembering what you started out trying to do, instead of just resting on your laurels and letting the songs be a cash cow. A “jukebox” situation is not where the band wants to be, and it’s not where I want us to be. Keeping things fresh is definitely tough, especially when you’re on tour as much as we are. But that’s okay—it works.

You and Ann saw the Beatles perform live when you were just young schoolgirls. What was that experience like?

It was transformative, really cool just to be in the same room. We were already fanatical about the Beatles. In 1966 they came to the Seattle Coliseum and played live for about 30 minutes. You could almost hear them. (laughs) Even prior to that performance, we already had a band, with four girls. Our mom made us costumes that looked like the Beatles’ costumes, except with skirts instead of slacks. We took our binoculars to the show, and we weren’t screaming. We were really trying to see and hear them. We didn’t want to marry them—we wanted to be them. And in a way, we sort of got to do that.

People still talk about the performance of “Stairway to Heaven” at the Kennedy Center Honors. Were you surprised by the attention that performance received?

At the time, as we actually performed it, we couldn’t tell how it was going over. We were super nervous—after all, it’s only “Stairway to “Heaven,” in front of the president and Led Zeppelin and everybody else who was there. No pressure, right? There were really big butterflies, right up until the moment we stepped out there. Ann and I took a deep breath, looked at each other, bumped our skull rings and walked out onstage. We were thinking, “Try not to be nervous, get through it, play it deliberately and carefully and well.” I felt we did a good job, but we didn’t realize [how special it was] until we saw how it had been put together—saw how Led Zeppelin reacted, and saw how beautifully it played, with all the various reveals that came throughout the song. Not to mention that Jason Bonham was the drummer. I’m sure that was a factor in why it was so emotional for Led Zeppelin to see that performance played out in front of them.

From: https://bestclassicbands.com/nancy-wilson-heart-interview-4-21-17/ 

 

Mod Lang - Try Your Love

We all know what mods are, but what’s Mod Lang, I couldn’t find anything on the internet

Beej: Didn’t do the homework! [everyone laughs]

I tried to!

Ava: If you have to ask, you’ll never know. 

Antonio: Directly, it’s a Big Star song off the album Radio City, but Mod Lang is also short for modern language

Alex: It was a class that Chris Bell was taking at community college and thought would be a cool name for a song. 

Antonio: I think it’s a great song, but the aspect of modern language is also cool, because Mod Lang was a new step for me in life and in music. 

Ava: It was almost Kanga Roo.

Antonio: Yeah, Ava and I were looking through song names, because we were like “so many cool bands are secretly named after song names,” so we went through albums and albums like “oh that’s cool, is that used?”

Ava: We were at Kyle and Shelby’s house [of 208] and there was a book and Kyle was like “open the book and the first thing that you point to,” and we flipped it open and it was Kang a Roo and there’s a Big Star song called “Kangaroo” that rocks, but then Antonio was like “what about Mod Lang?”

There’s something in the ether right now with what I guess you’d call  a ’60s revival. Do you think there’s a reason for that? 

Antonio: I think all of us have always been obsessed with ’60s stuff, but speaking for me personally, it was always like simple, garage, kind of meathead hard rock shit. But as I’ve gotten older, I’d see more bands that were poppier, like Shadow Show [one of Ava’s other bands] or Secondary Colors [Alex’s other project that Antonio joined] and that inspired me a lot. I discovered a lot more ’60s pop from there. All the songs that did the garage rock stuff had the pop hooks, and I just never paid attention to any of that. 

Alex: Pop music is awesome and its progression is really cool. I was just listening to Wire yesterday and I forgot how good they are. And it’s super poppy. There’s so much pop that I’ve neglected, until the last couple years, that extends past 1975. 

Antonio: Yeah I hated the Flamin’ Groovies, I know that doesn’t make sense.

Ava: Off the record, off the record! [everyone laughs]

Antonio: When I was younger, I was like, “Why is this so clean? This is so lame.” Like I said before, I was so into the fuckin’ [meathead voice] meathead shit. 

Ava: On top of being interested in the music, you’re learning how to play songs that other people have made and you just go from there learning to play the songs that you listen to. And now we can listen to songs from all decades: the deep cuts, the nuggets, where it’s cool to post a YouTube link on your Facebook ten years ago—the song no one knew about. Things that weren’t brought to the masses are now accessible in a different way, so I feel like that’s why people are able to feel inspired by stuff. 

It’s like that Tages song you guys had on your Instagram once.

Ava: “I Read You Like an Open Book”? I love that song. Aren’t they from Sweden?

Yeah, we’d have never heard that!

Ava: [sings] “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” It’s like the Turtles.

The Turtles are the other band I was thinking of a lot while listening to you guys. That Battle of the Bands record. 

Ava: That record is so good! “Buzzsaw,” now that’s a meat-head song. 

That record is like listening to Ween. 

Antonio: Dude, Ween are so good, I love them

Beej: I was literally thinking about giving Ween a chance the other day and I told TY [another band he drums for] and they were just like, “No.”

From: https://see-saw.fun/mod-lang-make-pop-rock-for-mothers-and-meatheads-alike/ 

Mitsoura - Kurjah

At the Paris Festival of Music 2006, technicians are hurrying to erect a temporary stage in front of the Church of Saint-Sulpice, whilst black clouds loom threateningly overhead, buffeted by a cold wind. A few streets along, in a corner of the Hungarian Institute, a petite woman smokes cigarette after cigarette. In an hour’s time, Mónika Miczura will be on stage. Whilst waiting, the slender silhouette nibbles on a cheese canapé. When I cross the threshold of her improvised home, she leaps to her feet and comes over to me, her black eyes fixing mine. Although she knows no English, her look alone speaks volumes. With her jet-black hair, metallic laugh and clinking bracelets, she is terribly, irresistibly, gypsy.
However, Mitsou, as she is nicknamed, views labels like the plague. “I’ve never claimed to be a folk singer,” she says. “What I sing is what I am and no-one can tell me how to behave.” The tone is set. Listening to her, I notice that the pitch of her voice continuously changes, moving from childlike chatter to a husky, never-ending flow of exotic words.
Before breaking into the world of music, Miczura grew up in “a Hungarian village in a family where music and dance were part of daily life”. Used to performing in local traditional shows, she then took formal theatre classes. At 16, her parents moved to Budapest and Miczura had to withdraw from the capital’s drama school. “My marks were too bad, particularly in French,” she says, with a mischievous wink.
Later, whilst taking part in a summer workshop for young gypsies, she was spotted by Jen Zsigól, the producer of ‘Ando Drom’ (On the Road), a Hungarian group particularly popular in the eighties. “At the time, gypsy music was really developing and was in a state of renaissance,” Miczura says. “There were groups like ‘Kaly Jag’ (Black Fire) or ‘Ando Drom’, who helped to bring Romany songs into the public eye. This was how gypsy music became a form of artistic expression.”
A fortnight after meeting Zsigol, Mitsou became the voice of Ando Drom. “Everything moved quickly and they became like my family.” The adventure lasted for 8 years, with nearly a dozen concerts and festivals in a 100% gypsy environment. Then came the breakdown. Discreetly, Mitsou talks about “a difference of opinion, on a personal as well as an artistic level” with the members of the group. She then decided to give it all up. “For three years, I didn’t sing at all and it was very difficult. I was waiting to be ready to make my own music. I only accepted proposals that I felt at ease with, like Tony Gatlif’s films.” After playing Nora Luca, the singer with the unsettling voice who is desperately searching for Romain Duris in ‘Gadjo Dilo’ (1998), she performed on the original soundtrack to ‘Swing’ (2004).
In 2003, she started her own group, ‘Mitsoura’, giving her creativity free rein. Following a tradition straight from Rajasthan, she adds cutting edge audio techniques to her voice, and improves her performances using hypnotic visual effects. “The songs that we perform come from different Romany traditions, melodies from holidays or funerals, sung by my mother or old gypsies whose talent I will never come close to.” Punctuated by electronic chords and rock, jazz and classical notes, her music sings the virtues of mixed races and the colours of India with Balkan cymbals.
The sound is both original and cutting edge. Is it a form of recycling marketing? “I don’t think I’m betraying anything,” she says in a flash, fixing her black eyes on me. “What we understand by Romany music ends up being false and simplistic. Music is, first and foremost, a whole range of influences and each instrument brings its own particular atmosphere”. Miczura is well aware that her bold mixing “can lead to some people being disappointed” but wants to carry on her experiments in her own way – following her instinct.  From: https://cafebabel.com/en/article/monika-miczura-a-21st-century-gypsy-5ae0063bf723b35a145e06c0/index.html

The Asylum Choir - Sweet Home Chicago / Salty Candy

In the late 1960s, Leon teamed up with guitarist Marc Benno to form The Asylum Choir. The two went on to record a pair of albums that, while never commercial successes, became critical darlings and blueprints for the kind of musical trailblazer Leon would become over the course of his career. Rolling Stone magazine called the duo's debut album, "Vital, Freaky, and Exciting," and went on to name the album one of its 20 Albums Rolling Stone Loved in the Sixties That You've Never Heard
After their 1968 initial release on Smash records, the two would go their separate ways, with Leon going on to pursue solo work and Benno adding to his resume as a session guitarist with performances on The Doors "L.A. Woman" album. Their second recording was released in 1972, a few years after their disbanding.  From: https://www.leonrussell.com/asylum-choir

The Glare feat. The Begonias - Advice

The Glare’s albums are lush, gorgeous arrangements of folky, sunshine pop.
Their live performances are powerful and often hilarious examples of acoustic minimalism. They play Lonely Guy Rock just for you and all your friends. 
The Glare play folk-rock. They sing songs about panda bears, lonely people, cults, and the end of the world. Unexpectedly funny stuff. The songs combine sunshine pop, 1960s Elektra Records weirdness, 1980s college rock, and film noir.  From: https://theglare1.bandcamp.com/ 

The Lovin' Spoonful - She Is Still A Mystery / Rain On The Roof / Coconut Grove / Summer In The City

The Lovin’ Spoonful was formed by John B. Sebastian with former guitarist of The Mugwumps, Zal Yanovsky. Drummer Joe Butler and bassist Steve Boone would join, cementing the quartet’s official lineup. While they were a band that blossomed from the Manhattan folk scene in the 1960s, the group’s name took inspiration from the blues. According to an artist biography of Sebastian’s, the name was suggested to the band by a fellow musician described as a washtub virtuoso, Fritz Richmond.
“I told him our sound was kind of like Chuck Berry meets Mississippi John Hurt,” Sebastian recalled, “and he immediately chimed in, ‘Why not call it the Lovin’ Spoonful?’ So, we were named after a John Hurt song.”
That song was Mississippi John Hurt’s “Coffee Blues,” a rollicking song that supposedly had a deeper, more suggestive meaning if listened to close enough. Sebastian himself, who once played with Hurt, explained it was a song about cunnilingus.
“It was always a big crowd pleaser because of his particularly innocent delivery and his guileless way of presenting it,” Sebastian said. “His audience was frequently filled with beautiful college women–he always had appeal for the women in the audience.
“He would usually start by taking a sip from a coffee cup that was onstage. It was usually on a little stool by his chair, and he’d sip from the cup and say, ‘I always have my cup of Maxwell House coffee, ’cause it’s good to the very last drop.’ And then resume playing, and with great innocence play this song that would go, ‘I love my baby by the lovin’ spoonful.’ And as he began to sing about it, by the third or fourth time, when he’d come to the words ‘the lovin’ spoonful,’ everybody would know what he was referring to. It was a set piece for him, and that’s why it was memorable.”  From: https://americansongwriter.com/behind-the-band-name-the-lovin-spoonful/

K's Choice - To This Day

K's Choice is a Belgian rock band from Antwerp, formed in the mid-1990s. The band's core members are siblings Sarah Bettens (lead vocals, guitar) and Gert Bettens (guitar, keyboard, vocals). They are joined by Bart Van Lierde (bass), Tom Lodewyckx (lead guitar), Reinout Swinnen (keys) and Wim Van Der Westen (drums). The band has produced gold and platinum albums.
In the early 1990s, Sarah and Gert played in an amateur band, The Basement Plugs. This led to the discovery of Sarah, who was offered a chance by a label; mainly because of her smoky, enigmatic voice. Under a more English name, Sarah Beth, she appeared on several movie soundtracks with covers including "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" (originally by Hank Williams) for the movie Vrouwen Willen Trouwen (Women Want To Marry) and a duet with Frankie Miller, "Why Don't You Try Me", (originally by Ry Cooder) for the movie Ad Fundum. She was offered a contract and formed a band with her brother Gert. The band was named The Choice and in 1994 they recorded their debut album The Great Subconscious Club.
In 1993, the band had five more or less permanent members: Sarah and Gert Bettens, Jan van Sichem, Jr. (guitar), Bart Van Der Zeeuw (drums) and Erik Verheyden (bass). These five toured Germany and the United States in support of the Indigo Girls. When they learned of another group in the U.S. named The Choice, they changed their name in order to avoid legal problems; they decided upon "K's Choice" by going through the alphabet to see which letter would sound best in front of the word choice. Since they thought they needed a story behind the new name, they previously claimed that the K referred to Joseph K. from Kafka's the Trial, but later the band revealed the arbitrariness of choosing the "K".
In 1995, they released Paradise in Me. "Not an Addict", the first single taken from this album, was successful and brought international fame. This single was their most popular hit, and even 10 years later in 2006 received fairly good airplay in major markets. For the next year (1996–1997) they toured supporting Alanis Morissette, who heard the band playing on a European festival and handpicked them as her support band.  From: https://ultimatepopculture.fandom.com/wiki/K%27s_Choice

 

Queen - Spread Your Wings / Get Down, Make Love / It's Late

Released on Oct. 28, 1977, News of the World heralded a radical shift in direction for Queen, while launching two of the most important songs of their career. By the time the group went into the studio to record News of the World, they had already developed a signature sound that encompassed hard rock, pop, classical and even vaudeville, featuring elaborate instrumental arrangements and ambitious vocal arrangements.
Even though previous albums A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races – which featured highly crafted studio recordings like "Bohemian Rhapsody," "The Prophet's Song" and "Somebody to Love" – were successful, Queen were ready to move in a different direction with their next album. The songs the group wrote for News of the World were shorter and more to the point, and when the musicians went into the studio to record the album they produced the new tracks in sparser, more straightforward arrangements that de-emphasized the lavish overdubbing of past efforts and focused on the essential elements of each song.
Frontman Freddie Mercury and guitarist Brian May had mostly dominated previous albums as writers, though bassist John Deacon had written one of Queen's biggest hits, "You're My Best Friend," for A Night at the Opera. With News of the World, Deacon and drummer Roger Taylor both made significant contributions as songwriters. Deacon wrote "Spread Your Wings," which became one of the album's singles, and "Who Needs You," which was the closest thing to a throwback to early Queen with its vaudeville influence. Taylor wrote "Sheer Heart Attack" – on which he played rhythm guitar and bass as well as drums – and "Fight From the Inside," on which he also sang, played drums, bass and guitar, making it a virtual solo track with the exception of May's additional guitar.
May contributed "It's Late," which he conceived as a three-act play, and "Sleeping on the Sidewalk," a blues tune inspired by his interest in ZZ Top. The backing track for that song was laid in one take – a very different approach than Queen's penchant for huge productions.
Mercury wrote extremely different styles of songs for News of the World, Get Down, Make Love" was a hard rock tune that was among the most overtly sexual Queen ever recorded, providing a context for a Brian May guitar solo that became a centerpiece of subsequent live shows, while "My Melancholy Blues" was a piano ballad that featured no backing vocals or guitars at all.
Both May and Mercury made by far their most important contributions to the album practically by accident. May wrote "We Will Rock You" in a deliberately simple manner in an attempt to engage fans more in the group's live gigs, while Mercury's "We Are the Champions" was a rumination on fame that dated back to 1975.
The two songs had little to do with each other, but they were bonded together on the album, and consequently released as a double a-side single, charting all over the world and becoming two of the most recognizable songs in the Queen catalog.
News of the World was a hit all over the world, and its radical shift in direction saved Queen from the fate of a number of other British bands like Yes, Jethro Tull and Emerson, Lake and Palmer, whose brand of progressive rock was pushed aside by the emergence of punk. Queen would prove one of the most flexible and adaptable of the '70s superstar groups, eventually essaying disco, rockabilly and New Wave among other styles before returning to the roots of the group for it final release before Mercury's death, Innuendo.  From: https://ultimateclassicrock.com/queen-releases-news-of-the-world/

Half Past Four - I Am Lion

 Canadian band Half Past Four was formed back in 1999, although it wasn’t until 2005 that the unit started to take the form of the band it is today. They released their debut album back in 2008, which was well received back then. Come 2013 and the Canadians are back with their sophomore production “Good Things”, self-released just like their debut album.
Half Past Four is among those bands that appears to really dedicate themselves into exploring the progressive part of progressive rock. Even after two albums and repeated listens to their material I have yet to find an accurate manner in which to describe their specific style. There’s just way too many details floating around, too many nuances, too much variety.
A recurring feature is the band’s tendency to include jazz-oriented details. Bass and drums in particular tends to perform their respective motifs in a fairly jazz-inspired manner. The drummer does know when to settle back into a nice and steady routine and when to utilize the more sophisticated or perhaps even partially improvised jazz oriented delivery, while the bassist is just as skilled delivering subtle masked motifs when needed and more upfront textures when appropriate. The wandering piano motifs, almost just as much of a feature, share many of the same tendencies. Gently wandering and melodic when needed, more adventurous to the point of improvisational when the composition allows for such features.
The guitar follows suit with the descriptions given to the other instruments, more or less. Gently wandering light toned motifs are applied with the same ease as dark, gritty and brooding riffs, sometimes even explosive at that. Occasionally erupting into a majestic combination with the organ, the aforementioned piano is replaced from time to time with alternative keyboard textures just to mention that aspect to, up to and including organ and some marvelous synth soloing. Returning to the guitars again, this is also a band that appears to enjoy incorporating a fair few Frippian details into their compositions. Odd tonal ranges, what might be described as angular guitar motifs I guess, eerie harmonies and subtle dissonances. Both when exploring a more jazzoriented territory and when the movement in question is of a more regular variety.
In a totality which also has ample room for whimsical compositions, Wolf a perfect example of just that, the sheer totality of it all does become fairly challenging to sort into a specific box. The music is challenging and consists of a plethora of details and contrasts indeed. A certain taste for jazz or fusion is probably needed to enjoy all the antics of this band aye, but it isn’t strictly required. Because amongst all of the details mentioned as well as all of the aspects not mentioned or overlooked, this is also a band that has a fairly strict focus on melody. Movements light in tone and strong in melody are key features, many of the darker toned, contrasting passages are more straight forward in nature with a certain emphasis to them being a contrast to the less intense and more detailed constructions. A description that does come with a fair few exceptions, just to make matters a bit…interesting.
The strong, accessible and distinct melodies is still a key feature, and emphasizing that aspect of the material we have vocalist Kyree Vibrant. Her last name, if not an artistic one, provides a fairly accurate description on her voice and her impact for this band. Vibrant indeed. Smoothly going from jazz-oriented and whimsical to powerful and emotional, always emphasizing the key melody of the composition. A key elements that makes Half Past Four’s eclectic but accessible amalgam of progressive rock work as well as it does.
While Half Past Four is a quality act and their album “Good Things” is an aptly named production, I have a hard time describing a potential key audience for this band. A slight taste for jazzrock and a general taste for melodies is required, as is a taste for music that warrants a description as both challenging, detailed and accessible. Those who enjoy the likes of District 97 will probably love this band, and I wouldn’t be all that surprised if fans of early 80’s King Crimson would enjoy this band quite a lot too, even if drastically different in style.  From: https://houseofprog.com/half-past-four-good-things-2013/

Emigrah - Live at Sea You Music Showcase 2025

 Emigrah is a Tricity-based band composed of artists united by a fascination with world music. They present intercultural dialogue using pieces collected during their travels around the world. Through music, they strive to explore cultures while simultaneously discovering their identity and roots. The group presents music as an element that transcends the laws of time and geographical divisions, combining what may seem incompatible with a wide range of possibilities. Their music proves that there are no barriers between faiths, regions, and languages. The group comprises six members utilizing a diverse array of instruments. One of the hallmarks of their music is traditional singing interwoven with the sounds of instruments of various origins. A wide variety of rhythms can also be heard in their work – from the tripartite rhythms characteristic of Polish traditional music, through the odd-numbered Balkan rhythms, to inspirations from the Arabic makam and the Indian konnakol. The group explores new sounds through a unique combination of instruments from around the world, presenting traditional music in their own arrangements. The group is an ambassador for both Slavic and Eastern music. In 2020 and 2021, the band performed a concert at the invitation of the Archaeological Museum in Gdańsk as part of the "Traces of the Past" event. In October 2021, the band performed at the Gdańsk Biographies festival at the Miniatura Theatre.  Translated from: http://teatr.grudziadz.pl/wydarzenie/lnsm-emigrah-folk-muzyka-swiata/

a.P.A.t.T. - Cigarettes & Margarine

a.P.A.t.T. is quite an off-the-wall project that has been releasing albums and EPs since the turn of the decade. No one really knows what their exact purpose is, but in 2013, they came close to exposing that purpose by performing a piece of music that was composed and played by following the positions of bird droppings (substituting them for notation) on pieces of music manuscript paper. This ended up being a 20 minute performance at the Tate Liverpool art gallery and was called Bird Sheet Music. Are you starting to get the idea?
According to the band's website, "a.P.A.t.T. wears white, but the music is colorful. Redefining notions of success and failure. A restless, relentless take on 21st century music and performance involving deconstruction, reconstruction and ever evolving values." Does that even confuse you more? Then the best thing to do is to just listen to their avant-garde style, which also includes an album of new music composed for the film "Nosferatu". They have also collaborated with other eclectic and avant- rock bands like Secret Chiefs 3, Acid Mothers Temple, and The Sun Ra Arkestra, just to name a few.  From: https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=7239

Buffalo Daughter - Times (V-edit)

Buffalo Daughter‘s 2021 album, We Are the Times, is a good time capsule of what was happening in the band’s lives, and all our lives, in the middle of a pandemic. The band declared that we had had adapt to the times we were in or be stuck in them forever.
“Music is the vitamin to live under. Too much pressure in quarantine,” they say at the beginning of the album on “Music.” Synth-bloops and heavy electro-bass pep us up for the times to come. In fact, “Times” is the next track, and it’s bumping dance track about adapting to circumstances beyond your control – so why worry about them? They state the obvious on “Global Warming Kills Us All,” and they state it with robotic voices, possibly to emulate our eventual A.I. overlords that take over the planet to save it from us.
“Life is long, life is short. I’m not sure what time we’re in. Should I stay, or should I go?” Whatever you do, “Don’t Punk Out,” they warn on this cool post-punk jam with sharp guitars and bright synths. “Loop” lands somewhere between electro and industrial. “ET (Densha)” brings in dubstep bass, but plays it slow to create a sense of dread and danger. On “Jazz,” they encourage us to open our hearts and minds in these weird times. People might need us as much as we need them. The album ends with the quirky “Everything Valley,” which encourages us to hold onto hope.  From: https://www.7thlevelmusic.com/?p=10284

Bhopal's Flowers - Diamond Queen

A collective of like-minded musicians led by Lionel Pezzano and based in Montreal, Canada, Bhopal's Flowers are inspired by both Eastern and Western influences in their soulful, sophisticated approach to songcraft. Inspired by the spiritual science of Anthroposophy, the band seeks truth through beauty, with each song blending modal and harmonic systems in a dancing constellation of esoteric concepts, powered by sitar and 12-string Rickenbacker guitar and driven by catchy melodies and intricate psychedelic arrangements.  From: https://www.soundflat.de/format_en/magazine-buecher-1/bhopals-flowers-diamond-queen-the-majestic-purple-sky-7