Phoenyx - Keepers of the Flame (1990)

This album was a bit of a gamble - albeit a very cheap gamble. It lay in the Real Groovy Sale Price bins, at the kingly cost of $1 or $2. The band photo on the back makes them look like wanna-be gypsies from the mid 80s - big hair, tattered clothing in a cornucopia of styles. The cover depicts a phoenix so stylised that I only just realised it WAS a phoenix. It's pretty wicked - all celtic design. Nice gold font on the cover too - that must have cost a fair amount to print. Inside, the paper is thinner, more like an actual booklet than the glossy cd covers I'm used to, and the list of instruments is appealing - electric violin, mandolin, tambourine, bodhran, mandola, flute and something called a florlogue.  Also bagpipes and a female vocalist. Hrm, I thought - sounds like folk. Could be folk-metal, could be folk-rock or could be pure folk, either way, it's probably worth $2.

And when I put it in, I fair wooped with glee. DEFINITELY worth $2.

Phoenyx are pretty obscure. They're from San Francisco, California and labelled as "Celtic fusion rock". Googling "Heather Alexander" is interesting - because the vocalist is apparently actually Alexander James Adams - from his website:

Alec is also the appointed heir to Heather Alexander. Heather, who was actually a changeling, was called back to faerieland in November 2006; at the same time, Alexander, the child in whose place she had originally been left and who had been raised in faerieland, was released after beating the faerie queen in a fiddling contest. Thus, Alec now carries on Heather’s musical legacy.

This band just become officially even more interesting (finally reading more carefully through wikipedia I discovered he is transgender and transitioned in 2006). He also indulges in a little filk music. And he's pretty funny too. Okay, so I've got distracted and am visiting his website, where this is video of him performing "He of the Sidhe" - this is the story mentioned above (the duel with the faerie queen) - ohmigosh, that man can fiddle! Seriously, I expected to see smoke coming off the strings. He appears to be a bit of an icon in the Pacific North-West. He now lives in Oregon with his wife and many animals.

This is the only album Phoenyx released and it is (not surprisingly) out of print. But if you think it sounds interesting, there is a bunch of solo stuff available through his website both of his and Heather's.

Now, to get back on track... Inside the booklet, the lyrics are illustrated with simple line art, giving it a real storybook feel and the music, well, let's give it a listen, shall we?

"Banish Misfortune/Lark in the Morning" are two folk reels, playing back to back and inspiring a lively, frisky mood upon the listener, promises of what to expect. There's a slightly discordant edge to one of the instruments, I think Ritual make use of them.

In "Stormbringer" the vocals come in, and oh boy, does Heather have a powerful voice or what! There are definite echoes of the 80s here, with a lilt to her accent and an almost masculine depth* - when she wants it to. Not metal by a long shot, but definitely rock. The music is alive and energetic, giving quirky little trills.

"The King of Elfland's Daughter" is a duet, between male and female (Heather and Alec, now that would be weird and chronologically improbable) - there's no other vocalists listed for this track.

"Black Unicorn" has a menace to it, the music low and looming. Vocals with the lilting accent. Music evocative.

A far more lively number is "Cat and the Fiddle". Pure folk, with very little of the rock but perhaps a tiny touch of country.

"Hey diddle diddle, answer me this riddle...
Hey diddle do, tell me what you will..."

 "Marley O'Reilly"  is a reel jig, with a good rhythm to dance and spin to and some very delicate fiddling.

"The Voices of the Sea" is a haunting number, with eerie vocals drifting in a spectral fashion. Heather's voice is edged with sweetness. This is a siren song - a soft and gentle, luring tune from a mermaid to a sailor, wishing them well on their voyage.

The mysterious "Creature of the Night" gets off to a haunting start. Alexander's voice is powerful and slightly ominous. It increases in tempo and menace, as the sinister Satyr lures the innocent and ithe ignorant into the woods. The gentle music evokes the feel of the dark forest in which strange creatures lurk.

Another set of reels now - starting with the slow and melancholic, "Musical Priest" becomes more lively as it frisks and folics into "Butterfly" then dives and dips into "Swallowtail".

Something a little more aggressive now - "March of Cambreadth". It opens with some marching fiddle and violent lyrics:

"Axes flashing, broadswords swing, shining armour's piercing ring..."

Keeping in the spirit of the Celts, they even spelled "armour" the English way.

Now, something's "Up in the Loft" - something threatening and strange. The turne is dramatic and the chorus jerky and a little discordant, while the fiddles whimper and the drums and guitars thrum with tension.

"Oh but yesterday I heard it, with its haunting mournful cry..."

A jerky and strange intro leds us into the ghostly, modern and pretty intense "Concentration". Vocals on this piece are from Cat Taylor. It's not a heavy song, but the back-and-forth tribal rhythms and the whispered vocals are disturbing and creepy. Very different from everything else.

The album concludes with "Yo Ho!" A rousing nautical tune with somewhat dark lyrics that - partway through, goes into the folk song about sailors that we all know and love (but with possibly different lyrics).
Like all good folk songs at sea, it has a light and whimsical verse, then a rousing chorus that the rest of the crew can join in with.

"If you eat ship rats then you get more meat..."

Hrm, I'm in the mood for pirates now. Maybe I should skip past Q this time (it's just Queensryche again, I've nothing else) and leap into Running Wild. What do you think?

This is a charming album, folk blended with  rock and a smattering of the quirky and curious. It has a light and whimsical feel, like the band were having a bit of a lark when they created it. For something a little bit fun, with some quite entertaining lyrics and a vocalist that sounds like she stepped out of the 80s and does a bitchin' tenor**, this might well be the album for you. Of course, it's out of print, so you're out of luck - unless your local store is trying to clear it at a mega cheap price, that is!

Let's give it a 7/10.

* not surprising, really. 
** I'm trying to prove I know something about vocal scales now. I don't. So if I'm wrong, so be it.

Tempest - Turn of the Wheel (1996)

I stumbled upon this band in the metal section of the music store one day. Being a fan of the metal/folk fusion, I pounced on it. However, it's not metal, it's more just folk with a hint of progressive rock. No matter, because it is a great album, and I feel I should delve further into the folk genre.

Tempest are a Californian Celtic band. They've had a number of line-up changes, but the vocalist throughout is Lief Sorbye (he's Norwegian), who also plays the electric mandolin. Formed in 1988, they have released a number of albums and perform both traditional folk songs and original renderings based on folk tales both real and imagined. Other instruments include octave mandolas, flute, harmonica, bodhran, keyboards, violins and a pennywhistle.

The album jacket suits the music - the cover featuring a button or similar, in which 11 frowning faces encircle a dome.  Inside, the lyrics are laid out in a text with a distinctly medieval font that is, nonetheless, easy to read and interlaid with folkish lineart. The inspiration for each track is noted at the top, giving the listener opportunity to research it further, should they so desire. The lyrics are delightfully narrative and a pleasure to listen to.

The general musical style is jaunty folk, with the traditional intruments infused with keyboards and the electric mandolin. These modern instruments are used subtly, so that it never becomes over-poweringly progrock and make a unique and memmorable blend.

The album opens with "The Barrow Man", inspired by the Norwegian myth of the ancient man in the mound.

"Dunmore Lassies" is an instrumental folk dance, combining two reels from Ireland - "the Dunmore Lassies" and "Toss the Feathers". Get up and get dancing!

"The Soul Cages" tells a haunting tale about a merrow who entrances and entraps men and cages them under the sea.

Then it is into "Bogey's Bonnie Belle" which is a traditional Scottish ballad and with a neatly lilting rhythm. It tells the tale of a young man who takes up work for a farmer, Bogey, but gets involved with a farmer's daughter, Isabelle. As their relationship grows, she winds up pregnant and no amount of secrecy can hide their relationship. Bogey, needless to say, does not take this well and sends our narrator on his way - along with the baby. We end with a couple of further folk reels.

A moodier and broodier song, "The Midnight Sun" - a ale of leaving behind your homeland and making the steps into a brave new world. It is a beautifully original ballad and possibly also autobiographical - as it speaks of fjords and the midnight sun, and Sorbye was Norwegian-born. His voice certainly portrays the emotion well.

A crooked little instrumental is "Winding Road". It is recommended that you do not dance to this one. It has a tempting rhythm but is temperamental and changeable.

Then for another version of "The Farmer and the Crow". Here it is entitled "Bonden Og Kraka", the traditional Norwegian folk song followed by several Norwegian halling tunes. These hallingdans is a solo acrobatic dance performed by a man that involves a fair amount of squat-dancing and concludes with him springing in the air and kicking a hat from a stick held high by a woman.

"For Three of Us" is a haunting travelling ballad, and the sort of song that sparks feelings of being far from home, travelling across broad, open spaces with exquisite vistas and rolling hills.  It is tinted with a hint of winter and fueled by the north wind.

Then into two more Irish reels with "Nine Points of Roguery".

Until finally concluding with the bouncy "Cat in the Corner" which tells the tale of a young man's misfortunes - a rogue wanderer with an eye for the ladies and a thirst for whiskey, he is.

If you wish for an eclectic blend of folk music - performed by a band located in sunny California, then Tempest are the band for you. Their music is polished and practised, overlaid with Sorybe's voice.

Rating - 9/10