Fiona Apple - Sessions at West 54th 1997

I don’t know where to start or stop with Fiona Apple. I mention her a lot; to date there are 10 review articles in which she is mentioned by name, but then she is the #1 female singer songwriter of the last 30 years in my opinion and if I make any reference to her you can be sure that is a huge endorsement of the artist I’m comparing to her. But I’ll wager there are some folk reading this article that have never heard of her, owing to her latter day isolation. A semi-recluse in her Venice Beach home, she hasn’t toured for years that I know of, once cancelled a tour of Latin America because her dog was sick and didn’t reinstate the tour later, and hasn’t been to Europe for close to 20 years. (I did read that she has a fear of flying, which might count as an excuse). I know of several organisations that have tried consistently to attract her, the Manchester International Festival being just one of them, but without any success. And her track record at releasing studio albums isn’t great either. On average one every 4.8 years from 1996 to 2020 or every 5.6 years until now. And the gap is getting bigger. The one between albums three and four was seven years and between four and five it was eight. Apple argues that she writes only when she feels like it, which isn’t very often but when she does she becomes obsessed with the project and wholly driven until it is completed to perfection… She doesn’t do anything to order, by record labels or anyone else. And you might well feel that’s the way it should be.
That degree of obsession possibly dates back to her third album, ‘Extraordinary Machine’ (2005), the first she recorded, as a New Yorker, in her new Los Angeles home and the one that introduced her to me. It was famously delayed because her label, Epic, held it back for two years, seemingly because they were concerned about a lack of ‘commercial appeal’. That led to a highly publicised fan-led ‘Free Fiona’ campaign and the re-recording of the album which was eventually released more than three years after the original recording sessions began.
There is a lot about Apple that I could talk about, such as her Melungeon ancestry (descendants from northern or central Europeans and sub-Saharan Africans, who mainly live in the Appalachian mountains – she gets her given name Apple from her grandmother), the Broadway showbiz background of her parents, her cabaret singer sister Amber, aka Maude Maggart, her Grammy Awards (she’s a three-time winner), her remarkable and career defining “the world is bullshit” outburst at the MTV Awards in 1997, her various physical and mental ailments that have troubled her for years (but which now seem to be under control) and what at the very least probably contributed to them; the brutal rape she experienced as a 12-year girl right outside her apartment door on her way home from school.
I’m astonished there is no biography of Apple but then again I don’t think she is the type that would want one anyway. Her songs are invariably about relationships that failed and often (but not always) written vengefully, belittling the ex-partner. If Los Angeles is ‘100 suburbs in search of a city’ as it was once described then its most lovelorn inhabitant is ‘100 dates in search of a love affair.’
The first video is of a performance of ‘Never is a promise’, from her debut album ‘Tidal’ in 1996. She long ago gave up on performing this song live; it clearly has an extremely emotional effect on her. This is taken from the West 54th Street Sessions, a popular TV show at the time. I have never seen a more genuinely emotional and passionate delivery of a song by ANY musician that can top this performance. It is breathtaking from start to finish and Apple lives it rather than sings it. Pass the tissues please. Watch for the way she uses facial expressions. (And there is an even more dramatic and impassioned live performance than this on YouTube but I declined to post it in case it frightened the kids).
She bares her soul like no-one else I know. And almost chokes on the emotion. Bear in mind that Apple was 14 or 15 when she wrote it and is 18 or 19 here. In fact it is one of three songs on a demo tape passed on by a babysitter friend to the child’s mother, a music publicist, who ensured it was passed on to Sony. That’s how she got her break. And tell me how a 14-year old writes lyrics like,

“You’ll never see the courage I know/Its colours’ richness won’t appear within your view
I’ll never glow the way that you glow/Your presence dominates the judgments made on you.”
And that’s just the opening verse. Later,
“But as the scenery grows, I see in different lights/The shades and shadows undulate in my perception
My feelings swell and stretch I see from greater heights/I understand what I am still too proud to mention… to you”

What?? 14? One aspect of Apple’s talent that is rarely mentioned strangely is her piano playing. She began learning aged six and by the time she was eight was composing her own songs and transposing guitar tablature into piano notation. Just think about that. The weird instrument being played in support by the way is a Chamberlin, a sort of early mellotron which you rarely hear these days but which remains one of her favourites.
For the second performance we move on to circa 2014. I said earlier that she doesn’t perform live much these days, the exception being in some of her favourite Los Angeles clubs including this one, Largo. Once again the lyrics, this time in the song ‘I know’, the final track on her second album, ‘When the pawn…’ are awesome. I can’t think of anyone who can surpass her. In this case Apple is in her rare gentler, forgiving mode, at least until the end. Try this:

“And you can use my skin to bury secrets in
And I will settle you down
And at my own suggestion
I will ask no questions
While I do my thing in the background”
And the coup de grâce:
“While you try to find
The lines to speak your mind
And pry it open, hoping for an encore
And if it gets too late, for me to wait
For you to find you love me, and tell me so
It’s okay, don’t need to say it…”

She spits out the “for you to find you love me” like a woman scorned a thousand times by indecision in the face of her obvious love for him, then immediately collapses into the heartrending pathos of “and tell me so”. And for all the complexity of those lines, “And if it gets too late, for me to wait, For you to find you love me, and tell me so” it trips off the tongue. And the brilliance of those lyrics is capped by the two words that everyone is expecting to be delivered right at the end but which never are, the title line, “I know”. She doesn’t have to say it because she knows so many women hanging on every word she says know it, too. That’s pure genius.
There’s more drama in this five minute video than in most of the movies made today but that is what Apple is all about, the impromptu live performance from an unpredictable artist. She’s left audiences begging for more but she’s also just walked off stage two songs in, because she didn’t ‘feel right.’ To any younger performers and especially female singer-songwriters reading this, Fiona Apple is the Gold Standard, and this is the level you should aspire to. The passion Apple brings to just about any song she performs is off the scale. I would pay whatever it took to see one of her mesmeric performances live, anywhere. And she is still very much a contemporary artist, aged only 47, even if she rarely gets out of first gear these days.  From: https://www.nordicmusiccentral.com/weekend-intermission-greatest-live-performances-ever-fiona-apple-never-is-a-promise-and-i-know/

The Lickerish Quartet - Lighthouse Spaceship

Sometimes there’s just no other way. You don’t want to do it, but all roads are traveling in that one direction. You go there or you don’t go at all. I imagine that’s the feeling the members of the band The Lickerish Quartet feel. The Quartet, which is actually a trio named after an Italian erotic film, consists of Roger Joseph Manning Jr., Eric Dover, and Tim Smith. They dropped their E.P., Threesome Vol. 1, last month. Crucially, all three members of this band were previously connected to the cult power-pop band Jellyfish, and unfortunately that is how the E.P. is being marketed, as a quasi-reunion.
I get it. In the years after the dissolution of Jellyfish, the group moved from a beloved and legitimately wronged band with a small but devoted fan base to something akin to a legend. A tiny legend – let’s keep things in proportion – but in a specific genre subsection, Jellyfish is godhead. Post-Jellyfish, The Lickerish Quartet’s members hadn’t become megastars. In Manning’s case, he did quite well as a session musician, backing up Beck and others, but his solo releases stayed low-profile, and not necessarily because he wanted it that way. His E.P. Glamping from a couple years back is a shockingly solid effort, worthy of praise and attention, not getting much of either.
So you are in this reunion effort, but here’s the problem. It doesn’t sound much like the top marquee band the reunion proposes to capitalize upon. Threesome Vol. 1 is not the second coming of Jellyfish, and it darn well shouldn’t be. The four tracks on the release are a piece with the stylistic tropes the previous group was known for, being ’60s influenced psych-pop, glistening AM radio confections, the occasional glam rock slap in the face, and a black streak of subversion throughout. Their second album, Spilt Milk, while appearing as all gorgeous with carnival lights and primary colors on the outside is at heart a concept record critical of organized religion.
Threesome Vol. 1‘s first single, “Lighthouse Spaceship,” comes closest to the identifying DNA. “Fadoodle” is a breezy fiddle-about on the the subject of…wanting to fadoodle. If I need to explain the euphemism to you, consider yourself hopeless and go watch some NC-17 content on Netflix.”There Is A Magic Number” and “Bluebird’s Blues” are also keepers, offering a solid effort from top to bottom. On the whole, I don’t think the marketing does the material justice. This is a terrific little mini-album and can stand on its own, but the industry does not work that way. You gotta have branding.
Since this is self-released by the band, they realize it too and have to do everything they can to give this new venture a fighting chance (especially since a certain Mr. Covid has bashed all musicians across the kneecaps). Is that fair? Most certainly not, so I would advise you give Threesome Vol. 1 a fair shot in spite of, not because of, the heritage. And I cannot stress this enough: the reasons why Manning, Smith and Dover did it are perfectly legitimate, and I guarantee that it was somewhat a sacrifice to lean on those connections. If you enjoy the recording as much as I did and that translates into sales and some excitement, one hopes that a Volume 2 will emerge and have the mojo it needs to stand alone.  From: https://musictap.com/2020/07/23/music-review-the-lickerish-quartet-threesome-vol-1/

Lysa Gora - Ripni Kalinke

It’s been a while since we’ve reviewed a Łysa Góra (meaning ‘bald mountain’) album. Łysa Góra is a five-member band whose past albums have been folk-forward and acoustic. This album is unique in its electric guitar and bass magic, and sadly, it’s extra special because it’s the last with violinist Sylwia Biernat who’s parting ways with the band.
The title track was released before the album as a single, and I strongly recommend listening to it. It tidily sums up the band’s sound and the spirit of the album. For those not listening, the lead singer Dorota has a simply amazing voice. There are some high-energy plaintive vocals, but most of the singing is somber and melancholy. There are guitars, bass, and drums that play nicely throughout the album. In such a vocally-driven performance, there’s really no room for showy guitar riffs or drum segments, but the “Oj Dolo” (“Oh, fate”) does feature some exceptional bass playing. On the folk end, the violinist also stands out and brings soul and spirit into each song.
Speaking of songs, each one is a meandering journey. No refrains, but quite a few memorable motifs and repeated phrases, almost exclusively in minor keys. The melodies are, like Łysa Góra’s other ventures, distinctly Slavic and eastern European, and even the guitar tones have a familiar sound to other bands in Poland and heading east. A few songs throw some sound effects into the mix. “Wdowa” (“Widow”), appropriately, has a church organ and some heavy drumming that’s evened out by the violin, and “Wolność” (“Freedom”), my personal favorite, starts with a dialogue and a woman crying. It’s a little heavy handed and not ideal for repeated listening, but the song is the strongest on the album. This is the strongest album Łysa Góra’s created to date. Together, they capture the true embodiment of Slavic folk metal. They have a full tour schedule of both acoustic and electric shows. They’re highly recommended and worth checking out.  From: https://www.folk-metal.nl/2023/04/lysa-gora-w-ogniu-swiat-2023/

Moving Oos - Minister Of Love

Since upper Norway in early February remains dark both at night and during most of the day, it is impossible for a visitor with only three days in the country to assess time with any accuracy. Add alcohol, plus sleep deprivation to the already extant sensory deprivation, and the task becomes laughable. The vague occasion was the after-party to what had previously seemed the after-party, on the day after the last night of Trondheim's by:Larm festival, and thus it could have been nearly any time in the early or even late morning that we emerged out of a cluster of warehouses and, ducking the wind off the snow and the nearby fjord, ascended the steps up into the third or fifth venue of the evening.
Though we had been told otherwise, we did not expect the "biker bar" to which we had been referred to contain American-style bikers, to boast mounted Death Valley cow skulls and wall-to-wall worn-out leather jackets. And we did not expect the Moving Oos, which we knew as a side-project to the New Violators and were our last stop before the airport, to have much to do with "classic rock"-- somewhere, somebody sketchily said, between the Faces and MC5. We expected them to sound like the New Violators: gauzy not bluesy, early 1980s not early 70s, good clothes and a dignified affect, not blue jeans and jean jackets.
OK, that's not quite right. We knew their singer had worked as a truck driver and knew that Per Borten, the gifted music mimic, singer, and songwriter behind New Violators, wrote the Moving Oos' songs too. And we knew that the New Violators' occasional backup singer/siren was one of the two "oos" in that band's three-person vocal front (the two bands also share a drummer and keyboardist). Two of us had even seen the Oos the night before. But who could believe the same people carrying off such a brilliant American/English 80s pop resurrection could be doing the same thing later that evening for a completely different decade, the 1970s??
Anybody who's heard Zeppelin or the Rolling Stones or the Black Crowes or AC/DC-- everybody-- will know what's coming in this music minutes before it actually happens, making Peace and Love a brain-teaser of a good record. How can we still enjoy this stuff: the bluesy lick, guitar or keys; the tambourine hits on the eights; the gesture skyward cued by women saying "ooh"; the multi-tracked, song-title-based chorus? The motorcycle revs on "Natural Man", the "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" interpolation on "Turn Back Time", the "Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" intro on not one but two songs, "Prisoner" and "Promised Land"?
One answer is that Peace and Love is less homage than pretty close to the real thing, right place/wrong time, maybe, but right songs. What makes Peace and Love more than a joke or side-project or late night drunken escapism is something perhaps old fashioned or unfashionable, but it has to do with everyone in the band knowing how to sing, how to play their instruments, everyone knowing the exact moment on "Romancer" to get out of the way and let the two women deliver the second chorus by themselves, a shivery and sharp moment of clarity that says, just maybe, these guys know what they're about. It's easy to be taken by bands you see this way-- foreign place, foreign time, perfect for the exact moment they're stepping out into-- but the Moving Oos have no trouble pulling that space up by themselves, without help. Skeptics beware.  From: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/10037-peace-and-love/

High Places - She's A Wild Horse

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 an 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/

Macroscream - The Flying Giampy

Macroscream represents the flowering of bassist/vocalist Alessandro Patierno's long-term vision to create a seventies-style progressive rock band. His idea took root in 2001 but it was seven years before the group's line-up was completed with the arrival of drummer Marco Pallotti in 2008. Like their fellow band members, Davide Cirone (keyboards) and Tonino Politano (guitar) have backgrounds in the music schools and academies. However it was violinist Gianpaolo Saracino's involvement in a number of folk music projects that largely shaped the band's musical development. And their style has been further honed through a productive live activity since 2010; last year they supported Italian jazz ensemble Ibrido Hot Six at a concert in Rome that also featured guest appearances by Gary Green and Malcolm Mortimore of Gentle Giant.
The band's self-produced debut album 'Sisyphus' (2011) is a mature musical work that combines a strong Italian folk sensibility, courtesy of Saracino's violin arrangements, with a devotion to 1970s symphonic prog. The ambition of the music is matched by English-language lyrics that are derived from philosophy and classical mythology - the album is inspired by Albert Camus' reading of the legendary trickster Sisyphus who was condemned to eternal punishment by the gods. In spite of Patierno's highly distinctive vocals, which often sound at odds with the music, the band generally manages to exploit the opposing but balanced qualities of harshness and sophistication. Sisyphus' travails were dedicated to an eternity of accomplishing nothing but his namesake album has the potential to establish Macroscream as a major new RPI band in the near future.  From: https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=7335

Frequency Drift - 6:16 am Deceit

Frequency Drift was formed by classically trained keyboard player and multi-instrumentalist Andreas Hack in 2006 - the band subsequently releasing their debut, 'Personal Effects Pt. 1' in 2008 via Musea. This conceptual work, based around the tragic tale of two sisters in a futuristic setting, was inspired by films like 'Bladerunner', 'Ghost in a Shell' etc, and told the story of a girl named River living in 2046 and having problems with an imaginary association named 'Diomedeidae'.
Katja Hubner was the impressive female vocalist on this first album, and the follow-up album, 'Personal Effects Pt. 2' was released by Cyclops in 2010, the new album once again showcasing Frequency Drift's talent for powerful, soulful melodies and atmosphere. The album continued River's story, with new melodic, atmospheric songs - including a wider range of instruments - and female vocal contributions this time from Nicole Scharnagl, Kerstin Leidner and Christine Mettner.
For the band's 2011 album 'Ghosts', Antje Auer had joined them permanently on vocals, and this release saw the first notable appearance of later band member Nerissa Schwarz (electric harp) as guest composer and musician, as well as an evolution towards an enthralling, melancholic mixture of art rock, ambient, folk and metal. Martin Fox was now the band's permanent drummer, with original drummer Wolfgang Ostermann also performing as a guest on several tracks, and several other guest musicians being involved in the making of the album.
'Laid to Rest' (2012, Gentle Art of Music) continued this path, with world music influences and an even more varied instrumentation - featuring gemshorn, flute and clarinet alongside the harp and violin. There was a another change of drummer for this album (Jasper Joris) - with his partner Barbara Joris being responsible for the gemshorn and various other medieval instruments - and Martin Schnella of Seven Steps to the Green Door and Flaming Row fame guesting on acoustic & electric guitars on the album's final track.
The international success of their albums earned Frequency Drift an invitation to play live at the 2012 "Night of the Prog" festival on the famous Loreley open-air stage, a performance called one of the highlights in 9 years of NOTP by the festival's manager in the German magazine 'Eclipsed'. Frequency Drift's 5th album 'Over' (2014, Gentle Art of Music / Soulfood) established a writing collaboration between Andreas and Nerissa, and was marked by further experimentation with electric harp soundscapes and keyboard textures.
An ambitious and eclectic work, 'Over' offers a unique mixture of old school progressive rock, post rock, pop, classical and world music. Isa Fallembacher and guest singer Agathe Labus shared the vocals, and Martin Schnella again guested on acoustic & electric guitars along with Kalle Wallner (RPWL, Blind Ego) on bass. The band had no permanent drummer for this particular album, the role being fulfilled by another guest musician in Phil Paul Rissettio.
In the same year, Frequency Drift released 'Summer', a wistful collection of previously unreleased songs, and was re-joined by their original permanent drummer Wolfgang Ostermann, a move which brought fresh rhythmic drive to the music. In the months that followed, the band performed live at renowned international festivals, including Summer's End (UK) and Progdreams (NL), and as main act at the live club De Pul (NL).
February 2016 saw the release of the band's 6th album 'Last'. Stranger and darker than its predecessors, yet still highly melodic, with stunning artwork and evocative lyrics, it was Frequency Drift's most cohesive and cinematic work to date, with Martin Schnella now a full band member on electric & acoustic guitars, and Melanie Mau also joining the band on vocals.
Although they have an obvious love for album titles suggesting death and finality, Frequency Drift are still alive and kicking as of 2018 - despite their continuing line-up changes over the years - and their latest album 'Letters to Maro', featuring new singer and lyricist Irini Alexia, was released on 13th April 2018 via Gentle Art of Music / Soulfood.  From: https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=3907