It has been a long time since we have heard from 'LM', too long in fact.
'Sun Song' may just be a mere demo, but it shows amazing progress since 2017s debut album 'Nursey Rhymes for the Apocalypse'.
Inspired by, well in LM's words "This is probably not a traditional sun or summer song in any way, shape or form. It came to me one evening at rush hour in Euston Station while waiting for a train home, but I don't think it reflects any of the bustle that surrounded me at the time."
Such a simple basic rhythm builds the tension, added to that a superb double tracking vocal, multi layered backing vocals, this is a slow and brooding example of well crafted Neo-Folk with some very dark lyrics, oh the sun may be bright yet somehow the line "Let it burn" takes on a different meaning.
I look forward to more demos and hopefully a full album in the near future.
Rating 8/10
For Fans Of: Galley Beggar, Comus, Lisa Gerrard, Alison Cotton, The Trees, Helga Pogatschar
08.Feline & Strange with Mishkin Fitzgerald –
Cassandras Twin
09.Darwin Project – Run Red Run
10.Gurdybird – Papa Zulu
11.Capt Roswell & The Lost Alien Tribe – Alien Eye
12.LM Cooke Music – Moon Song
13.Miss Von Trapp - Do Your Gears Hang Low
14.Cabaret Berlin – Beautiful Berlin
15.The Big Fibbers – Steam Tramp Blues
16.Victor Sierra – El Mundo Superior
17.The Dark Design – Haggard Rider
18.Kiss Like Ether – Heaven Can Wait
19.Montague Jacques Fromage with Victor & The Bully –
Walk A Little Lopside
20.My Wooden Leg – Cop City
21.Lies Of The Machine – Psychocircus
22.New Jacobin Club – Angel MMXIV
Trying
to review a 22 track sampler cd that you cannot buy is a bit of a bugger,
however it does act as a good guide to what the record label is offering on a
selection of Various Artists compilations you can buy as well as releases from
many of the individual acts.
I
have said this before and I will say it again, the notion of Steampunk as a
music genre is a nonstarter, there is music performed in numerous styles by
people who identify with the Steampunk culture, this can influence their
writing style and their appearance and the way they market their image.
Some
music here is clearly influenced from a different age and for any pedants
amongst you would no doubt identify some chosen genres as ‘Dieselpunk’ or even
‘Cyberpunk’, personally I prefer to take the music as I hear it regardless of
what it is or isn’t supposed to be.
That
said I will now attempt to put some of these acts into an identifiable music
genre which I hope will make the review easier to digest.
Well
just spent the best part of an hour hunting down these bands on good old Facebook,
so I think I have a bit of an idea what to expect from some of the acts, some
seem quite interesting others slightly disturbing.
Kicking off with ‘Victor
and the Bully’ a great upbeat neo rock n roll sounding song, a bit like Rocket
From The Crypt. The band also return in collaboration with American Steampunk
legend Montague Jacques Fromage, this time a completely different sound, more
poppy, upbeat and happy with Mr Fromage delivering, as ever, a superb tongue in
cheek funky rap.
The ‘Wattingers’, have a
super sleazy swamp blues vibe, defiantly one for Nick Cave fans, need to hear
some more to get an overall idea of what they about.
Not too sure what to make
of ‘The Heaven and Hell Orchestra’, I suppose if Therion had been around in the
1930’s they may have sounded a bit like this.
As ever ‘BB Blackdog’ blow
the hell out of the speakers with their strange eclectic mix of Psychedelic
rock and the bass crazed antics of Primus!
Totally stunning mix of
neo folk and hard rock comes ‘Off Limits’, great vocal style and loving the use
of violin, one for Skyclad fans.
Accordion into Celtic rock
and sung in German, I feel that we have in ‘Aeronautica’ a band who like
Turisas, Alestorm and Rammstein.
Want a totally
breath-taking four minutes? Then ’Feline & Strange with Mishkin Fitzgerald’
song “Cassandras Twin” will do just that. Amazing operatic performance with
simple piano and electronic backing, could be from the soundtrack to “Repo! The
Genetic Opera”.
Taking a complex
instrument the Hurdy Gurdy and bringing it into the 21st century
with a slight techno backing, may seem a hard thing to pull off with class, but
‘Gurdybird’ seem to do this with ease.
If you like post 1980’s
Hawkwind then ‘Capt Roswell & The Lost Alien Tribe’ with its drums n synths
backing to some Hillage inspired riffery then this is the band for you.
Dark and atmospheric Acid
Folk is on offer from ‘LM Cooke Music’ I highly recommend her album ‘Nursery
Rhymes for the Apocalypse’.
Time for some modern
interpretation of classic British music hall from ‘Miss Von Trapp’ in the style
of legends such as Lily Morris and Marie Lloyd.
From the music halls of
Britain to the clubs of Weimar era of the early 1930’s and ‘Cabaret Berlin’
bring us a perfect recreation of singer and pianist as if they had somehow time
travelled to the here and now.
‘The Big Fibbers’ with
their “Steam Tramp Blues” is an oddity almost as if John Otway & Wild Willy
Barrett were doing a version of the Stray Cats!
I have no idea what ‘Victor
Sierra’ are on, but if Rob Zombie did a slow and weird cover of a Brujeria song
it might sound like this?
‘The Dark Design’ have a
cowpunk vibe, if that’s not a term you have heard before, well back in the
early 1980’s there was a brief and strange mix of post punk and country &
western music.
Some industrial tinged
proto cyberpunk from ‘Kiss Like Ether’, very 80’s but the mix is quite thin.
‘My Wooden Leg’ great name
for a band, this is a bit quirky, touch of Primus in there and some Zappa like
guitar work.
With a song called “Psychocircus” I was expecting perhaps a cover of the Kiss song, but strangely ‘Lies Of The Machine’ have some interesting elements of Death and Black Metal, nice clean vocals and then deth growls, then throw in some symphonic vocals, needs more investigating but if you like Dimmu Borgir or Cradle Of Filth then check this band out.
Finally ‘New Jacobin Club’
with a sound that seems to blend 70’s Blondie with 90’s metalcore, again
another band I feel the need to check out.
So as you can see plenty
of different music styles to get your interest going and next time you see the
word ‘Steampunk’, well don’t be put off, there really is some stunning music
out there!
02.Helicopter
Quartet - Where Have All The Aliens Gone?
03.Thy
Last Drop – Gravedigger
04.Birthrite
- Loving You (Ain't So Easy)
05.The
Mysterious Freakshow - Hedge Witch
06.Crimson
Clocks – Red Violin
07.Montague
Jacques Fromage - Merde! Mon Dieu! (Absinthe! Sacre Bleu!)
08.Gladstone
– Night Creatures
09.Tom
Slatter - Mother's Been Talking To Ghosts Again
10.Metropolis
– Sirens
11.The
Mechanisms - Riddle of the Sphinx
Volume
II
01.The
Dark Design - Haggard Rider
02.Gurdybird
- Raggle Taggle Gypsy (video edit)
03.Venus
de Vilo - It's My Party - I'll Die If I Want To!
04.Ague -
Fifteen Leagues to Providence
05.Violent
Sky - Frances (In the Gallery of Stars)
06.The
Wattingers - Evil Driving Rain
07.Under
A Banner – Steam
08.Ghostfire
- Griminsky's Soul
09.BB
BlackDog - Steam Punk Junkie
10.New
Jacobin Club - Angel MMXVI
Volume
III
01.Kiss Like
Ether – End Game
02.Gordon
Midgley - The Tell Tale Heart
03.Victor
& the Bully - Every Fight Is A Food Fight For A Cannibal
04.Nathan
Jon Tillett – Eternaeon
05.Heathen
StrangeFellow & the VaudeVille Vagabonds – Masquerade
06.LM
Cooke – Poor Jenny
07.The
Filthy Spectacula - Flying Dutchman
08.Dark
Sinfonia - A Murderous Breath
09.Jessica
Law - The Mermaid's Revenge
10.The
Hare And The Moon - Come Unto The Corn
11.Napier's
Bones - Hand of Glory
12.Feline
& Strange - The City
13.Valentine
Wolfe – Corvidae
14.Krankschaft
- Come Fly With Us
15.Nathaniel
Johnstone - Seven Veils
What
we have here are three limited edition CD-R samplers of the Raising Steam
download albums.
Each
of these comes in a DVD box with a limited edition pin badge, only available
through one of these purchases.
For
your money you also get the code to get the entire downloadable versions
through Bandcamp, giving you access to another ten or so songs per volume.
ALL
monies raised go to the New Futures Nepal charity.
Now
you may of course be wondering what the hell is Steampunk music?
The
short answer is there is no such thing as steampunk music, not as a specific
genre anyway.
What
these samplers show is that anything is possible from classic rock to pop, dark
and twisted gothic horror, folk music and even traditional British music hall.
So why
is it called Steampunk? I hear you shout; my own opinion is that the “Alternative”
approach allows for such freedom that many talented artists are simply drawn to
something which is not locked down in a specific genre.
I
would urge you to investigate if like me you have a wide variety of interests when
it comes to music, perhaps the very name of Steampunk has made you avoid the
music, something which to its shame the wider music press has been guilty of,
thus failing to introduce their readers to some amazing classic rock music!
A few
examples:
From
Volume I, we have some horror tinged music hall comedy from Miss Von
Trapp.The Helicopter Quartet are
clearly emulating one of Karlheinz Stockhausen many experimental compositions.
The
track by Tom Slatter is quite stunning, a mix of light modern progressive rock
with a vocal delivery that seems to mix David Byrne and Syd Barrett.
Finally
Metropolis have a modern Hawkwind vibe with some Tubeway Army thrown in for
good measure.
Up
next a few from Volume II, how about Gurdybird who has mixed tribal drum
rhythms with playing an actual hurdy gurdy!
Venus
de Vilo brings a smile with her incredible dark and twisted mix of Nina Hagan
and Alannis Morrisette.
A
superb mix of seventies hard rock and proto doom Violent Sky are one of the
stand outs here.
Ghostfire
perform some fantastic female fronted acid folk, followed by some bass driven
stoner rock from BB Blackdog.
Last
one is New Jacobin Club, providing some folk tinged acoustic music with a very
powerful vocal.
What
does Volume III kick off with? Kiss Like Ether with some darkwave meets early
industrial and perfectly mixed and delivered.
Up
next is some weird space synth and then Gordon Midgley treats us to seven minutes
of mesmerizing narration of Poe’s classic tale.
Dishing
up some folk horror in the style of Marc Wilkinson (Blood On Satan’s Claw) and
Magnet (The Wicker Man) comes The Hare & The Moon.
Valentine
Wolfe are pure Symphonic Metal and keeping it heavy are Krankschaft (Hawkwind’s
Robert Calvert former backing band) blending Amon Duul II with Hawklords.
Last
up is Nathaniel Johnson whose take on folk rock is reminiscent of The Trees
meeting All About Eve.
Well I
have picked out a few, there really is much more on offer, almost every genre
is represented here.
For
more information, order details and a chance to preview the music go to the
Raising Steam Bandcamp page.
Disc 1
1. Overture
2. Chaos of Cards
3. The Oracle
4. Mirrors
5. Quest of Light
6. The Sound of Dreaming
7. Questions
8. Letter to Nowhere
9. Diamind
10. Pinch of Time
11. The Missed Dance
Disc 2
1. Desaturation Point
2. Master of Lightning
3. The Other Side of the Sky, Pt 1
4. Unfairlytale
5. Cumulonimbi
6. Dolphins
7. Electric Kisses
8. Sensosphere
9. Five Gardens
10. The Other Side of the Sky, Pt 2
11. Youtopia
Alexandra Zerner - All instruments
Guest musicians:
Angel Wolf-Black (Vivaldi Metal Project) – vocals on "Chaos of Cards", "The Oracle", "Quest of Light", "The Sound of Dreaming", "Questions", Letter to Nowhere", "Pinch of Time", "The Missed Dance", and "Master of Lightning"
Bobby Koelble (Death) – lead guitars on "Desaturation Point"
Franck Hermanny (Adagio) – bass on "Electric Kisses"
Gretchen Menn – lead guitars on "Unfairlytale"
Iavor Pachovski (Yuvigi) – lead synth on "Master of Lightning"
Ivan Ivanov (Velian) – vocals & narration on "Overture", "The Oracle", "Questions",
"Master of Lightning", and "Sensosphere"
Misha Iliev – vocals on "Dolphins"
Mistheria (Vivaldi Metal Project) – piano on "The Sound of Dreaming"
Nora Kalcheva (The Strings) – cello on "The Sound of Dreaming"
Svetlana Bliznakova (Sevi) – vocals on "The Other Side of the Sky, Pt.1 & 2"
Bulgarian prog-rock solo artist Alexandra Zerner presents "Opus 1880", the third full-length and a double CD concept album, combined with a steampunk sci-novel written by herself in collaboration with Slav Georgiev. "Opus 1880" offers an experience of two hours of colourful progressive rock and more than 100 pages of science fiction.
The album, which took about two years and a half of production time, was written, recorded, mixed, mastered, and produced by Alexandra Zerner in her own home studio, except for the guest musician parts.
A very mixed album, some neo classical piano based works act mainly as fills, then some symphonic rock that at times borders on commercial rock, tracks such as ‘Chaos Of Cards’ have ‘Heart’ like harmonies blended with sumptuous keyboard work.
‘The Oracle’ on the other hand is full on heavy metal, prog tinged of course and towards the end almost Dimmu Borgir sounding melody and spoken passage.
For vocal and piano perfection then the mournful ballad ‘The Sound Of Dreaming’ is by far one of the best examples I have heard for quite a while.
Then there are songs that are pure acid folk that just flow through the speakers, ‘Letter To Nowhere’, ‘Cumulonimbi’ & ‘The Missed Dance’ could be from an old ‘Trees’ album in 1970.
Superb jazz guitar work can be heard in the power metal, progressive, hybrid ‘Desaturation Point’.
So as I said a very mixed album, this is what can happen when you plan a double album and have so many guests, often playing very different styles of rock music.
The question is of course: does it work? The answer is “Yes”, whilst the styles range from folk and prog to power and symphonic metal, they flow in and out you don’t get a chance to get fed up with one style before a different one comes along, it’s almost like listening to a various artists compilation album, but, providing of course you like these styles, never a duff track.
Not being a great fan of the Power Metal genre, there was enough progressive influence to make this a highly listenable album.
Rating 9/10
For Fans Of: Heart, Tristania, Epica, Purson, Within Temptation, Lacuna Coil, Nightwish
Steven C Davis (Additional Vocals) On ‘(We Stand) Behind
You’ and ‘End of the World’
Say Folk Music to most people and they will instantly think
of bearded men in Arran jumpers singing traditional songs about maidens, death
and ships sailing from port never to return, with one finger in their ear and
the other hand grasping a pint of some awful warm brown liquid that may have
some vague resemblance to a drinkable ale.
But this style of music that originated in the 19th
century has also evolved into sub genres that include progressive rock and even
some styles of extreme metal.
In the late 1960’s a style known as Acid-Folk emerged with
bands such as Comus, Saturnalia and Dulcimer.
Over the last decade this style has found a new generation
to mesmerize with artists as diverse as Galley Beggar, Circulus and Blood
Ceremony.
So now we turn to LM Cooke, one time violinist/ main
songwriter in Broadarrow Jack, then singer/ songwriter with the folk-rock band
Crimson Clocks.
Not only a superb songwriter but a much respected author of dark
fantasy/ science/ mythic fiction novels and short stories.
It now seems we must add multi talented instrumentalist, music
producer, mixer and engineer, as she makes her solo debut.
While there are indeed songs of ships and traditional songs
with new arrangements, there is a wealth of totally original songs with a dark
and twisted edge that mixes the various sub genres of folk to include gothic,
horror, psychedelic and acid in her own style.
We start with ‘Poor Jenny’ a ghost-ship song based on the
story of the English schooner, the Jenny which in 1823 became frozen in an ice
barrier complete with crew. This song was originally written when Miss Cooke
was with Broadarrow Jack.
This updated and rearranged version has some haunting dual
tracked vocals over a simple but highly atmospheric backing, the use of wind
and water samples adds to the overall feel as if you were listening to it by
the seashore.
Next up is ‘Yellow Eyes’ a song about a wolf, or is it I ask
myself, “A wolf in your mind” as the lyric goes brings to mind a hint of Robert
Calvert’s musical interpretation of Hesse’s ‘Steppenwolf’.
Imagine if early Bauhaus had a female vocalist, if you can
then this would be the result, from its near proto industrial drum tracking to
gothic guitar and echo vocals this one blasts through the speakers and then
towards the end turns to pure acid folk. Stunning!
Time for a traditional murder ballad, ‘False Lamkin’, adapted
from the version from Cambridgeshire collected by Cecil Sharp. The song is
sometimes also known as False Lincoln or Long Lamkin, among other names, and
verses vary depending on the version. You may know this if you are a fan of
Steeleye Span, Shirley Collins or Fire+Ice.
Wow beautiful moody vocal over a harp like musical backing,
traditional in its execution yet the clever production makes it modern.
The interlude I shall leave to one side at the moment and
move on to ‘(We Stand) Behind You’. This is a dark and twisted nursery rhyme
warning that not everyone is who they seem. It may start off almost upbeat,
happy with cute sounding instruments but then as this song progresses it gets
darker, twisted, nightmarish, the vocal tracking becomes more unbalanced and
disturbed and the demonic laughs will make you look behind just to make sure
there is nobody standing there.
Maybe it’s just me I don’t think that the ‘Murder Song’ is
about crows, yes they are the lyrical theme but I sense a pagan witchcraft
influence with a group of girls out to lure some poor soul before the crow king
for sacrifice.
One that could be on the soundtrack of ‘Blood On Satan’s
Claw’ or even an outtake from the Comus album ‘First Utterance’, traditional in
delivery it maybe, but this has a catchy almost hypnotic vocal pattern and all
in all creates a creepy horror folk mini epic.
Following on from ‘Yellow Eyes’ is ‘I Know A Place’ it
continues that them of the inner wolf.
Showcasing an impressive vocal range and clever mixing and
production this sounds like a choral quartet, dark harmonies flow through the
speakers whilst the wolf listens intensely.
‘How Do I Know’ seems to be an anthem for the insecure, but
there is also a hidden depth here, after all what if the crazy are really the
sane ones? Is the reference to money really about money, the use of the
“Pounds, Shillings and Pence’ in the lyric could be a nod back to the mid
1960’s where bands like the Pretty Things used the £sd to refer to LSD.
The basic drum pattern follows a similar rhythmic madness of
the 1966 hit ‘They’re Coming To Take Me Away’ by Napoleon XIV. The vocals are
mad, the samples are madder and to cap it all off there is a great “Dr Phibes”
sounding organ.
‘Blackbird Pie’ is perhaps as you might expect a new take on
the 18th century nursery rhyme ‘Sing A Song Of Sixpence’. Miss Cooke
has replaced the naughty boys or the more common blackbirds’ version and then
added a beautiful element of plague and the black death! This is all wrapped up
in a rather pretty little folk tune.
Another interlude, so perhaps I shall take a moment here and
return to the first.
Thing is ‘Summer Is A Coming In’ at just under fifty five
seconds and ‘Winter Is A Coming In’ at just over one minute, for me don’t work
as separate pieces, I can’t help but feel that the opportunity to create one
entire song with the other two seasons added would have worked better with the
overall concept of the album being full songs.
Either that or the fact that both pieces have the same
rhythm, when placed together they flow perfectly.
Pure poetry, perhaps even the moonlit ghost of Jim Morrison?
“the rivers of moon light flow into lagoons
Who dares to impugn her white-faced mis-tune
No song of the spheres is more inopportune”
The ‘Moon Song’ blends classical and folk influences that
act as a perfect backdrop to, as I have already said, “Pure poetry”.
Adapted from the traditional nursery rhyme ‘The North Wind
Doth Blow’, simply titled ‘The North Wind’. Beautiful piano and violin again
give this a more classical feel and right at the end there is some
orchestration that fades away all too quickly, I could have done with another
two minutes of that before the fade out.
In 2010 Miss Cooke wrote a short story called Storm Watch A
Tale Of the Sea, this was published in ‘Tales From The Asylum’ from Last Line
Publishing House.
The song ‘Stormwatch’ is based on that story. As to be
expected this is a lyric heavy piece with a near symphonic accompaniment.
What better way to end than ‘End Of The World’ a perfect
apocalyptic tune, though I feel I should ask ‘Just wearing heels and vintage
pearls?’ but there again why not it is after all the end! With it’s overtones of Edith Piaf this
cabaret-esque finale is almost uplifting in delivery, one may almost think Miss
Cooke is quite looking forward to an impending apocalypse?
So aside from my ‘Interlude’ issue this is a brilliant
album, it draws on folk and classical influences, throws in some gothic
elements and creates an album full of atmosphere. Very well produced, clever
mixing and attention to detail a solo album of some magnitude.
01.Adam And Eve
02.Pay My Body Home
03.Empty Sky
04.Jack Orion
05.Geordie
06.Silence And Tears
07.Sanctuary Song
08.Deliver Him
Paul Dadswell (Drums/Vocals)
David Ellis (Guitar/Mandolin)
Mat Fowler (Guitar/Mandolin/Vocals)
Bill Lynn (Bass)
Celine Marshall (Violin)
Maria O’Donnell (Vocals)
Hailing from Kent and London, Galley Beggar formed circa 2009 and are a band of six musicians that grew up obsessed with an old sound from Fairport Convention to Led Zeppelin.
The name derives from an old English ghost, often reported in the North of England and mentioned as far back as 1584, in Reginald Scot's The Discovery of Witchcraft. This fearsome ghost is described as being almost without flesh and bearing its head under its arm and emitting a deathly scream. The name is derived from the word 'Gallery', meaning to terrify. This ghost is likely to be encountered on country roads and deserted lanes.
Starting with the soft acoustic 'Adam And Eve' the band quickly nail their influences to the wall for all to see, this is as perfect and authentic psychedelic/acid folk as you will ever be lucky enough to hear, from the stunning vocals to the beautiful mandolin and violin.
Up next is a 9 minute epic called 'Pay My Body Home', again its very laid back with some psychedelic guitar work in the mix, even when the pace picks up and the drums increase to match the solo it somehow remains "chilled" as if on a sunny riverbank drinking ice cold cider whilst watching the river flow by.
Phased acoustic guitar and vocal and 'Empty Sky' has a slightly more modern feel, still follows the same patterns of classic folk but this one is more "All About Eve" than "The Trees".
Highly reminiscent of "Steely Span" comes 'Jack Orion' an upbeat multi vocal song, complete with a catchy violin riff, and you dont get to say that very often.
Now 'Geordie' returns to a slightly darker sound, laid back drum beat drives this along and then comes a short guitar solo that just lifts the piece to a higher level.
The title track 'Silence & Tears' is another great acoustic workout with stunning vocals, this is followed by 'Sanctuary Song' which is more of the same only with harmony backing vocals.
The final track is 'Deliver Him' which is mainly a multi tracked vocal (reminded me a bit of Karen Carpenter) a little violin and what sounds like a bit of synth in the background, towards the end the acoustic guitar picks up the pace and then, all too soon, the album is over.
Rating 10/10
For fans Of: Circulus, The Trees, Pentangle, Led Zeppelin, All About Eve
Lars Jensen: (All Instruments/Vocals)
Olav Luksengård Mjelva (Hardanger Fiddle)
Erlend Antonsen (Bass)
Folk metal band formed in 2003 by Lars Jensen.
Vonde auer features lyrics based on folklore from Ringerike in Norway.
So the first version is really cool, great use of traditional and modern instruments, the song sounds like Rammstein jamming with Turisas!
Quite typical of folk metal but this just seems to stand out, some great timing and tempo changes as the song goes along we get little hints of death metal as well.
The Traditional version is just the fiddle and at a couple of minutes long is just about enough.
Rating 8/10
For fans of: Turisas, Tanzwut, Elvenking, Burzum
01.Crimson Circus (Live At The Circus Mix)
02.Crimson Circus
03.All Seeing Eye
04.Washer At The Ford
05.Safe Pair Of Hands
06.Hel
07.Shadow
Linzi Cooke (Vocals)
Jo Luckett (Violin/Oboe)
Colin Cooke (Bass)
Steve Jolliffe (Drums)
Steampunk is not a genre of music but a way of life for those involved, so when it comes to bands you never know what you are going to get, it could be Rap, Funk, Pop or Symphonic Metal but is often based on 80's Electro Pop/Goth and 70's Prog/Art rock.
Crimson Clocks were formed in Birmingham in the spring of 2012 by 'Steampunk' author linzi cooke and friends, they set out to create a sound based in rock but with everything else thrown in from Jazz to Reggae, thus creating their own self styled "Clock N Roll".
They released their debut EP late last year titled 'Ingeniously Evil'.
Live they are sometimes joined by a lead guitarist and are one of a number of bands playing at this years Alt-Fest in August and will also be playing at the Steampunk Doncaster weekend on saturday june 21st
Upon first listen to their latest EP the term 'Acid-Folk' comes to mind, the first 2 songs are the same except that the first has circus sounds added to the mix.
The music is delivered with a simple drum beat, almost undetectable bass playing and a solid performance on violin, the vocals are reminicent of Celia Humphris (The Trees) and Aletta Lohmeyer (Saturnalia).
'All Seeing Eye' has a faster pace and some excellent Oboe running throughout, however again the bass is very low in the mix.
The violin and drums once again are the focus with the music and the almost trad/folk style of lyric and vocal delivery could well have been from an old holyground album circa 1972.
Yay the first thing i hear is bass playing on 'Safe Pair Of Hands', this is a happy little tune that bounces along almost, yes im gonna say this, imagine a folkish rendition of 'Hey Big Spender' just has that vibe!
The longest track here is called 'Hel' i first heard this a few days ago on 'GASP RADIO' and the Oboe riff stuck with me all night, it was bugging me as i had heard it before a long time ago, i still cant work out where though may have been 'Astral Navigations' or one of those old albums.
This is a very dark song with a classic pagan/psych feel, if you have ever heard the original Black Widow demos from 1969 when Kay Garret was the vocalist or even something from Covens legendary debut from the same year.
The final song stays with the darker sound and theme, 'Shadow' also has the most going on music wise, some great bass playing, heavier drums and a violin riff that Pete Pavli (High Tide) would have been proud of.
So a great EP, would have liked to have heard more of the bass playing to help create a richer sound, i could see this band being picked up by Lee Dorrian at some point in the future, just need to except that not being catagorised may seem like a good idea but when your music is 'Acid-Folk' you should go with it because there is a huge audience out there who may be missing out.
Rating 9/10
For fans Of : Circulus, Comus, The Trees, Dando Shaft, Blood Ceremony, Chrome Hoof
01.Wake Up Sleepy Head
02.The Contract
03.Spiderwood Farm
04.Sailor's Wife's Lament
05.Leaning On A Bear
06.Tempest And The Tide
07.Mavericks And Mystics
08.Well Spoiled Machine
09.Sapphire Ward
10.Rocking Horse
11.Tragic Catastrophe
Rosalie Cunningham (Vocals/Guitar)
George Hudson (Guitar)
Samuel Shove (Organ/Mellotron/Wurlitzer)
Barnaby Maddick (Bass)
Jack Hobbs (Drums)
Rosalie Cunningham is an English singer-songwriter who started in the band Ipso Facto in 2007 who released a number of records till they split in 2009.
Cunningham has also been working with other bands such as Magazine as a backing vocalist, appearing on stage with them on tours and the BBC Electric Proms and on Later... with Jools Holland.
She also played keyboards from January to May 2010 with These New Puritans on their tours of the album, Hidden.
In 2011 she formed the self styled "Vaudeville Carny Psych" band Purson and began working on recordings and playing gigs, though she found time in 2012 to play guitar with Willy Moon, as the support act for Jack White's UK tour.
This album has presented me with a number of problems, im not usually short of things to say, but such is the complexity and damn right brilliance of this work that im not sure what else to say!
I have seen a few other reviews of this and often seen Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple mentioned, not sure why really maybe because their is an old keyboard sound or perhaps the folk element present in some of the songs?
Sure as hell isnt for any other reason, i mean here is an album released in 2013 that sounds like it was made 40 years ago, so its not so much a new album looking back but in some weird twist of time related weirdness an album from 1973 that is looking forward.
From the opening of 'Wake Up Sleepy Head' with its haunting vocals, sweet acoustic guitar and what sounds like a flute blended with organ and wurlitzer, which then leads into a Hawkwind-ish bass line for the next song 'The Contract', its all mellow and purely in that classic acid-folk genre as bands like Tudor Lodge, Comus, The Trees etc.
Heavy freak out guitarwork and keyboards greet 'Spiderwood Farm' this one rubs shoulders with Coven, Saturnailia and Savage Rose.
Then comes the whimsical 'Sailor's Wife's Lament' very reminiscent of Sandy Denny and the kind of thing All About Eve tried to achieve with their Martha's Harbour ep many years ago.
The next song is the most commercially accessible (hence the video release) called 'Leaning On A Bear' its like Shocking Blue jamming with Curved Air.
'Tempest And The Tide' rocks a folkish vibe with a degree of etheral strangeness Pentangle meets Atomic Rooster perhaps?
For 'Mavericks And Mystics' the vocal reminds me of an old King Crimson song, whilst the music could be early Tyrannosaurus Rex.The bit at the end is weird just throwing in a touch of Fifty Foot Hose.
I recognise a Doors keyboard riff running through 'Well Spoiled Machine' and some Jefferson Airplane in the songs overall concept.
'Sapphire Ward' has a funky rock feel, definately a touch of Jill Seward (Fusion Orchestra) fronting early Judas Priest.
More haunting sounds for 'Rocking Horse', great vocals and some amazing phased instrumentation.
Ending with 'Tragic Catastrophe' that occult-psych feel returns.
Perhaps more importantly the title sums up my attempts to review this with any real clarity!?
Rating 10/10
For Fans Of (Every band i have mentioned in the review) AND : The Devils Blood, Jex Thoth, Blood Ceremony
