Great anonymous music and albums from bands and artistes that deserve more of the limelight.

Mellow Candle – Swaddling Songs. What we’ve missing in the name of folk rock

Swaddling Songs by Mellow Candle

I am back with my first review in almost two years and boy am I delighted to do so. After listening to scores of new music and when I was deciding on which album to write about comes this beauty which I discovered by chance a couple of weeks ago and have been listening to it almost non-stop.

Here is another gem from the 70′s, 1972 to be exact, “Swaddling Songs” by the Irish folk and progressive rock band Mellow Candle.

The story of Mellow Candle begins way back in the early sixties when the band was formed by three teenagers, Clodagh Simonds and Alison Bools (later O’Donnell) and Maria White. Clodagh was 15 then and Maria 16. But by 1972 the line-up expanded to include William Nurry on drums, Dave Williams on guitar and Frank Boylan on bass when they released thei debut and only album “Swaddling Songs”. The third female voice Maria White wasn’t part of the band then.

The songs and music on this album are so beautiful that they give meaning to the words “Music the life giver, healing and touching the soul”. Unlike typical folk rock albums where you are impressed with the first song only to get tired of the repetitive style later, Swaddling Songs is interesting and likeable.

After ABBA and to some extent (Clannad) this is the first time I enjoying the power of dual female vocals.

You are instantly hooked to the opening number “Heaven Heath” on Side one of the LP. The Harmonium and later Hapsichord played by Clodagh starts an irresistable tune and when the female vocals in unison is heard it’s fresh and melodic. But it is when the guitar and piano piece along with the vocals that plays in between the lines that your heart truly melts. What simple but soul stirring tunes! Difficult to believe how simple tunes can take on a high!

“Sheep Season” follows and the tune of the opening line with the piano (played thrice in the song) literally stops my heart with its beauty and melancholy. I wish the opening tune had been played infinite times but that would have killed the beauty of it as well. There’s more lovely piano and guitar music on this number than vocals. Lovely number. A little flute is also used on the song.

The third song is “Silver Song“, a beautiful ballad and probably the most beautiful song on the album. British band “All about Eve” covered this song in one of their albums.

The rest of the songs can be located on YouTube. I haven’t provided links for them but the reviews follow.

4. The poet and the witch – Starts and ends with the sounds of seagulls in the background. A faster and louder song in the true tradition of folk rock. I though the singing was excellent with good and difficult arrangements. A small song. Not as melodic as the previous ones though.

5. Messenger Birds – Only one female vocal this time. Back to melody again and you’ll be impressed with the beautiful singing.

6. Dan the wing – Faster song in typical folk rock style. Lovely singing by the vocalists.

Side 2

7. Reverend Sisters – What a way to begin side 2! An incredible song with just piano and vocals and with a piano solo in the middle. A song that evokes strange and mysterious moods. Sounding like chants the vocals are arresting. Beautiful song.

8. Break your token – Another faster number in typical folk rock style. Not a boring song.

9. Buy or Beware – Another good song, good for Side 2. Male vocal can he heard for the first time. The lead guitar sounds very similar to the one used by Fleetwood Mac on their “Future Games” album.

10. Vile Excess – May sound like the continuation of the previous song or a bit repetitive but not a bad song because the band plays more music on this one.

11. Lonely man – Wow! A terrific last-but-one song for the album. A splendid and grand vocal opening for a song with lead guitar, rock piano and drums. Loved the bass on this song too.

12. Boulders on my grave – Never expected a fast number for a concluding song. Vocals sans lyrics are more frequently used.

It’s a tragedy that due to the poor response for the album and dismal sales the band had to break up soon after. It is really sad they weren’t together to make more of their music. Years and decades later the true value of this album has been realised and it has been raised to “cult” status. There was even one comment on YouTube mentioning that an LP sold for $5000 on ebay and I am not surprised. What intrigues me is this. How come an album as this was so poorly received when it was released. The 70′s were the Golden Period of rock and rock styles. Maybe “Swaddling Songs” wasn’t promoted enough because even one casual listen is enough to be moved by the melodies and music of this beautiful album.

In 1996 the album “Virgin Prophet” was released which contained unreleased earlier material from the seventies. “Virgin Prophet” and a guitar based version of ”Heaven Heath” are available on YouTube.

The lead female vocalists Clodah and Alison continue with their singing careers as solo artistes and with collaborations with other artistes and bands. Afer the re-emergence of “Swaddling Songs” they seem to be busier than before.

Clodah’s work as Fovea Hex can be accessed at this website – http://www.janetrecords.com/

There is a bio of the band with pictures of the members at http://www.janetrecords.com/mc/

Alison O’Donnel’s website is at http://www.alisonodonnell.com/

Drummer William Murray who played on this album passed away in 1998.

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year 2013

Here’s wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year 2013. I will be back very soon with my first review in almost two years.

What a hiatus!

It is sad to see no action on this site for so long. Over a year! But that will change soon. So much good music out there still waiting to be explored, waiting to be heard.

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year

I’ll be back soon with more reviews.

Budgie, one of the little-known pioneers of hard rock

Budgie's Never Turn Back On A Friend

Never turn your back on a friend by Budgie

My first encounter with Budgie was in the late 80′s while at college. My classmate knowing I was a hard core fan of the band Rush plays me a cassette full of assorted songs asking me to identify Rush. I jumped to the challenge. After a couple of songs the distinctive vocals of Geddy Lee confirmed to me it was Rush. But to my amazement I was wrong! Rush’s song was further down the list and instead I was staring at the cover of the cassette reading a song by the band Budgie. In fact on that cassette Budgie’s song sounded better than Rush’s.

Almost two decades later I am looking at Roder Dean’s artwork and I realise he also did work on several of Budgie’s albums. Our of sheer curiosity I check one of their hits, “Breadfan” and I dumbfounded with that similarity of the Geddy Lee like vocals and the sound. I dive into Budgie’s music and all I can get are gems. I am not surprised that so many heavy metal bands were covering their songs. Metallica, Van Halen, Iron Maiden, all heavy metal giants covering their songs, amazing!

Both Budgie and Rush were three member bands. In both the bands the lead vocals were offered by the bassist. In their early days members of Budgie even looked like the members of Rush. Both Geddy Lee (bassist/lead vocalist) of Rush and Burke Shelley (bassist/lead vocal) wore large rimmed glasses. However unlike Geddy Lee, Burke’s voice would eventually change over the years into a more coarser sound.

Budgie was one of the earliest of the heavy metal bands inspiring dozens of others including Metallica and The Melvins.

Released in 1973, Never turn your back on a friend was their third album. Roger Dean’s artwork on the cover of the album is impressive. Apart from Burke the other members of the band on this album are Ray Phillips on drums and Tony Bourge on lead guitar.

Now for a review of the songs.

1. Breadfan- The riff at the beginning is sure to impress you. No wonder bands such as Metallica covered it. Just do a search on YouTube for “Breadfan” and there are more Metallica videos covering this song than Budgie. Burke’s voice sounds more childish than Geddy Lee. The singing style also strongly reminded me of the ubiquitous “Venkateswara Suprabatham”, a classical piece by India’s very own M.S Subbulakshmi. You could easily fool someone this was an early Rush song.

2. Baby, please don’t go- A cover of Big Joe Williams’ original song. What incredible bass playing and lead guitar work with Ray providing all the terrific drum support he can. Again very much Geddy Lee like vocals.

3. You know I’ll always love you – Lovely acoustic number with beautiful lyrics, sung so well. A small song compared to the rest but offering a nice break in between the heavier numbers.

4. You’re the biggest thing since powdered milk – The second longest song after Parents. Starts with a brisk solo from till 1:43 min. The line “Oh it helps/hurts me when I cry….” is really moving. At 5.20 just after the lovely solo with thundering bass comes a riff like Deep Purple‘s Pictures of Home but lovely in Budgie’s own original style; incredible bass and guitar work.

5. In the grip of a tyrefitter’s hand – Great bass playing. You are reminded of a a Tony Iommi’s solo at 3 min, and at 5 min. The song has some great riffs, bass lines and again, you could easily fool someone this was Rush.

6. Riding my nightmare- Another lovely acoustic number to soothe the brain after the heavy dose of exciting stuff you heard before, sung well.

7. Parents- There are no shortage of anthems when it comes to Budgie and here’s the anthem of this album and an incredible anthem to conclude. The incredible lines, sweet and innocent lyrics and one of the best I’ve heard about school and kids since “Need no education” from Pink Floyd and “School” from Supertramp.

The lines of the song -

When I was a little boy,
They would say to me,
Don’t go in the world and play,
It’s bad company.
All the had was child and faith,
Let them grow and let them wait,
Just to find what it was to be free.

But now I’m over twenty one
Growing up I’ve had my fun
And I know it’s got to be.
Baby lying in a womb,
Are you free or in a tomb?
Let me in,I feel I want to cry.
Oh the road is there,
Oh that road is there,
Come on back,back!

Wash Your hands and up to bed,
Mind your manners or your dead,
Mind the cars cos you’ve got school on monday.
Put my trus in god
Who is he I know not what
Something mummy said to me one sunday.
Maybe love is life but life is not
something I need plenty of.

Oh I wished I’d never lived a day,
now there’s no one near me now,
tell me what to do and how.
Take me,let me sing my cares away!
Oh that road is there,
Oh that road is there,
Come on back,back!

Wash your hands and up to bed,
Mind your manners or your dead,
mind the cars cos you’ve got school on monday.

Black ik black and white is white,
Witch to choose and witch is right,
Guide me to a place where I was stay,
Wrap me up and keep me warm,
Hide myself far from the storm,
Sleep and love will keep my mind at rest.
Only now I realise why my parents had to try,
Love you all and keep you all my life.
Oh that road is there,
Oh the road is there,
Come on back,back!

The line – “come on back” is sung beautifully. Song comes with terrific solos from Tony and with the sounds of the wailing birds in the background towards the end of the song lends it a very unique creative touch.

All the songs from the album can be listened to on YouTube. Enjoy this great album!

Technorati claim post

I need to claim great-anonymous-albums.com on Technorati, the blog directory and so I am doing so by including the short code they have asked me to incude on a new post.

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Indian Ocean’s Desert Rain. My first Live Album review.

Desert Rain, the Live and Debut album from one of India's finest rock bands, Indian Ocean.

Desert Rain by Indian Ocean

This is my first live album review and it feels great that I am reviewing an album by a band from India.

Honestly the cover of the album sucks but I was in for a treat when I listened to the music. As of this writing one of the original band mates Asheem Chakravarty who used to play the Tabla, percussion and offer his vocals is no longer alive.

This is the debut album of one of India’s premier rock bands. They were fortunate to have their DAT recorder switched on while playing live on New Year’s Day 1997 at The SAHMAT concert at Mandi House, Delhi. The recording has become a record of sorts as there was no company to promote or sell the album. A company had to be formed to do so.

One gripe is the not-so-perfect quality of the recording. Another gripe is the singing which is more of the chant and bhajan type. However the singing has improved considerably over the subsequent albums. However the originality and the beauty fo the music is undeniable.

At the time of this recording the band comprised Rahul Ram on bass and vocals, Susmet Sen on guitar, Aseem Chakravarty on Tabla, percussion and vocals and Amit Kilam on drums and percussion.

Now a review of the songs -

Boll Weevil – 5.20 – Bass starts the song with tabla and guitar joining in soon. Drums join in and the song moves on beautifully. Susmet takes over and smoothly guides the guitar beautifully. At 2min.08sec vocals are heard and we are back with the music at 3.59 till its completion.

Desert rain – 5.36 – I wonder if it is the jew’s harp at the beginning or some other traditional Indian. Little singing and lyrics resembling more of chanting. Susmet does his bit on the guitar. Could have been a better song if only the singing was better with more lyrics than chants.

Euphoria – 6.02 – Till 2.35 till the vocals interrupt this is a beautiful song; some drums and percussion join in with the vocals and they go on for a while till u get sick of it; at 4.13 vocals disappear and we are back to the music. Again Susmet shines on his guitar.

From the ruins – 7.59 – Begins with a sad and dark music being played by guitar joined by bass. Susmet’s guitar playing is beautiful. At 3.49 the irritating vocals commence, this time chanting Hari Om and Sanskrit slokas; more drums heard during this time and beyond. At 6;10 vocals stops and we are back to the music with some more sloka shouting towards the end.

Going to Ito – 3.33 – Smallest of the songs but beautiful with lovely bass and guitar play and very little vocal.

Melancholic Ecstacy (7.58) - True to its name the song is a gem. The longest of the album at almost 8 minutes and Susmet lets the guitar sing and it is joy to listen to such a beautiful composition. You’ll be amazed at just what the guitar, tabla and bass can do. At 4 min the pace changes and quickens. Drums joins only sporadically but from 6 min onwards it can be heard more prominently.

Village Damsel 6.49 – Begins as a cheerful number. At 2.00 min singing starts. I think the language is Bengali (correct me if I am wrong). At 3.25 it is back to the music and vocals and then vocals gradually giving away to the music with Rahul’s bass taking the limelight. Music reminded me of Ananda Shankar’s instrumentals too.

My only complaint with the engineering behind the album is the quality of the recording which could have been made better. A little re-mastering would have bettered the recording in a long way.

You can listen to the album for free here at hummaa.

Very rarely heard music from Dire Straits

If you are a hardcore of the band, Dire Straits can you say if you have listened to all their studio albums? If you think you have, think again. Can you recall some songs like “Twisting by the pool” and ”Two young lovers”? And did you wonder where those songs came from?

Dire Straits did release an EP (Extended Play), LP record (predecessor to the cassette) called ExtendedancePlay (read that slowly). The UK release had 3 songs on it and the U.S version 4. The songs, “Twisting by the pool”, “Two Young lovers”, “Badges, Posters, T-shirts” and Stickers” and this sweet number called “If I had You”. Songs from this album were rarely played live but they appear on compilation and hits albums. Wikipedia says it is called ExtendedancEPlay. When I heard it in 1988 on a cassette tape it was an album called Twisting by the pool which according to Wikipedia was also how the album was called after the first song on the album.

Dire Straits rarely heard album ExtendedancEplay

Check out this beautiful sweet song with the usual hooks, licks and the typical sounds of the keys from Mark Knopfler and his band.

An Acoustic delight – Adrian Legg’s Guitar for Mortals

Adrian Legg's Guitar for Mortals album

“Guitar for Mortals” by Adrian Legg

Time flies. I didn’t know it would take such a long time to write another review. Anyway here it is, a review of one of the most beautiful acoustic albums I have ever listened to, Guitar for Mortals by Adrian Legg. The beauty of the album is that it sounded so refreshingly different from the acoustic albums I had listened to until then.

Those were the days, late 1997 to early 1998 at Woodlands in Singapore. I was lucky to have rented a portion of the house of Sajeev, a businessman and salesman who sold HiFi equipment for a living. What more could I ask! Though I wasn’t impressed by the array of systems at his house the YAMAHA AV amplifier was more than I could ask for to play music. He had a bunch of acoustic guitar albums and some of them can get very boring but there was this one CD that I refused to sample, Guitar for Mortals by Adrian Legg. Maybe it was because it didn’t have impressive album art like the others did or maybe because I didn’t know the guitarist, Adrian Legg.

My curiosity got the better of me and one day when I played it I was rendered speechless. I wondered why I hadn’t picked the album before. I hadn’t listened to such beautiful notes and tunes from a purely acoustic album in a very long time. The more you listen the more the album grows on you. After this first listen this would be the only CD I would choose to play for many evenings after work. Many a time I would just close my eyes and enter into another beautiful world of calm. This is a great album if you are listening alone beside the fireplace, or beside a window when it is raining outside, in the woods or in a place of calm and serenity.

Unlike my previous reviews in this review I’ll focus only on the good numbers or should I say the numbers I rate good.

This following are the songs in the playlist I would normally play each time I listen to this album.

Coging’s Glory – Nice quick opener. Sometimes I do leave this song out and go with the rest but it is a nice one.

Netsman and the Laird – A beautiful song filled with delightful tunes. The guitar is played very differently and the tunes are bright, lovely, haunting and sad at the same time. This song hooked me.

Mrs. Jack’s Last Stand – The song that blew me away. I am sure it will do the same to you too if this is the first song you listen from the album. On Amazon.com I read one lovely review where someone driving began to hear it play on the car-stereo and actually got off the road and parked the car to the side to listen to it. I am not surprised why.

Nanci - I don’t recall if this song was about a girl but Adrian has written notes on each of these songs on the CD. This is another beautiful song but I wished it could have been shorter.

After the gig - Guitar tunes sound very similar to tunes from music from India but the feeling is lovely, one of haunting and strong nostalgia. The notes and tunes are simply incredible.

Pieta - Another favourite on the album the guitar literally sings on this one with such beautiful tunes. I was happy it was a longer song. Again a sad sounding, nostalgic instrumental giving you all those lovely thoughts of yesterday.

Anu – A lovely concluder to the playlist.

Seven Year Ache and Candle in Notre Dame are slow and good songs but I rarely put them in the playlist. Of the 12 songs on the album I find myself listening to the six I have mentioned earlier. The CD is still worth buying as other reviewers have liked songs that I have left out in my review.

By the way Adrian plays an Ovation guitar on this album which is also featured on the cover of the CD. If you haven’t seen any of the Ovation guitars I must tell that they are a sight to behold. They are beautifully made.

Adrian has received praise from other guitarists notably Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, both heavy-metal guitarists and shredders. Wikipedia.org reports the following. Adrian Legg shared the stage with acclaimed guitar experts Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson and Steve Vai as part of the G3 tour. Vai called Legg “Uncle Adrian” and Satriani said of Legg’s musicianship “He’s simply the best acoustic guitar player I’ve ever heard. I don’t know anyone else who can create such a cascade of beautiful notes… Adrian plays like he’s got hammers for fingers.” How perfectly said.

If you haven’t listened to Adrian before I am sure this album is going to be come as a very sweet surprise.

The only annoying thing on the album are sharp notes that sound so sharp that they can sound a bit harsh on your ears. To solve this problem ensure you reduce the treble and increase the bass on your amplifier.

Frijid Pink and “House of the Rising Sun”

While I am still tweaking my next review I thought I could fill in the void with a review of some other rare but worthwhile and interesting music. This also happens to be my first review of a single. After I watched Frijid Pink’s version of The Animals hit, “House of the Rising Sun” I couldn’t help including it here. From Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A, Frijid Pink were a blues and hard rock band and their version of the popular song was released 5 years after the version from The Animals. It rose to No.7 and made the band instantly popular in the U.S and even more popular in Europe. The song has been done differently from what the The Animals did. It had a more heavy metal and rockier sound. Singing and lead guitar work were more on the lines of hard rock than the softer version The Animals made.

What is really interesting is that on Wikipedia it is reported Frijid Pink was so popular during this time that Led Zepplin, then, a fledging band from the remains of The Yardbirds opened for them in concert.

The original line-up soon disintegrated with vocalist Tom Beaudry and guitarist Gary Ray Thomson departing. New members joined the band but Frijid Pink never saw success like they did when they made their version ”House of the Rising Sun”. They remain a one-hit wonder.

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