Mediæval Bæbes (hereafter referred to as the Bæbes) is a band of female singers and instrumentalists who specialize in playing medieval-inspired music. Founded in the late 1990s by Katharine Blake, the band has recorded six studio CDs, one authorized compilation (Mistletoe and Wine) and one live CD. A seventh studio CD, The Huntress, is in the works as I write this review in September 2011. The band is touring in the US right now, performing pieces from the most recent available CD, Illumination. One of my friends is such a devoted fan that he proposed to attend their shows in Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. Indeed, they are playing at venues (such as old churches) that would serve to enhance the beauty and mystery of their sound. And I understand that their live performances are quite theatrical.
Peculiar, the company that promotes the Bæbes, invited us to review Illumination and kindly sent us a copy. I’ve listened to all their earlier CDs and offered to review this one. Although Ms. Blake remains involved as both performer and music director, the lineup for the Bæbes does change from time to time. On Illumination, the other members are Esther Dee, Bev Lee Harling, Melpomeni Kermanidou, Emily Ovenden and Claire Rabbitt (who has since left the band). They accompany their silky seductive harmonies with appropriately medieval instruments, including dulcimer, cittern, oud, lute, harp, psaltery and recorders, as well as a few more modern devices such as guitar, bass guitar, keyboard and drums. The Mediæval Bloakes Choir (I kid you not) provides ballsy backup vocals on some tracks.
Illumination clocks in at just under forty-eight minutes long and consists of fourteen tracks. When I noted above that the band plays medieval-inspired music, what I meant was that some of the pieces are in fact based on medieval texts, some are derived from other more recent sources, some are originals penned by members of the band. All are arranged by members of the band, although it is safe to say that they are all so steeped in medieval consciousness that they may indeed be channelling energy from much earlier periods in time.
I always appreciate a good set of liner notes, and Illumination provides those. For each track, the notes provide a set of lyrics (if the song is sung in another language, like Latin, the notes include both the actual lyrics and an English translation). They also include information on the origin of the lyrics and give credit for melodies and arrangements. About the only complaint I have with regard to the information available is that the instruments are not listed with each track but rather appear on a totally separate page with numbers to connect them to the tracks. This doesn’t strike me as terribly easy to follow, particularly since the tracks are not numbered in the liner notes!
My favorite track is “The Blacksmiths,” which is a bit more raucous than is typical for the Bæbes. It features some interesting syncopation at the start, a lovely brief instrumental bridge, followed by a soprano solo that leads back into a rhythm that is reminiscent of flamenco, down to and including dramatic fiddle playing punctuated by castanets. It ends too quickly! I also appreciated the delicacy of “The Undivided,” with lyrics adapted from the fourth century Sanskrit text called the Mahabarata. The chorus is “For all things that live are the Divided. And that which sits apart is the Undivided.” Well! Other tracks feature lyrics from William Blake, Robert Burns, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and John Keats. Small wonder that the Bæbes are often categorized as classical performers, although I can’t quite handle that.
On Illumination, the cover photo shows the members of the band all wearing shiny red costumes that would hardly qualify as medieval. In fact, they remind me of the BeGoths figurines, which is to say they are showing a lot of skin and the skin that’s covered is nonetheless well revealed by the tightness of the fabric. They are wearing spikey heels, red lipstick, and quite a lot of jewelry. They sport interesting, decidedly contemporary, hair styles.
I think that current fans of the Bæbes will not be disappointed by Illumination. It’s quite consistent with their earlier work. And it’s probably as good a place as any for new listeners to discover the band.
(Mediæval Bæbes Ltd., 2009)
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