Description
2 x CD set by the multi talented Maple Bee ( aka Mel Garside) achieved the following accolades : won ‘Album of the Year’ on the popular ‘Morpheus’ web site as well as picking up ‘Best Album Cover’ design. 3 stars in Q magazine , 4 stars in the Independent on Sunday,
- Maple also recorded and toured, as bassist, with her sister‘s notorious band Queen Adreena and co wrote the indie hit single “Medicine Jar” ,”The Butcher & the Butterfly” taken from the album and has passionate support from the Queen Adreena fan base .
- Under her real name of Melanie Garside, Mel recorded a solo album with Echo Records and toured Europe and the Far East where the album was very successful and charted domestically. Prior to that Mel had a band Tabatha Zu who were a favourite on the London club scene in the mid 90’s.
- Maple is a current member of the internationally successful Mediaeval Baebes and again has written the latest single and has the Baebes fan base among her supporters
- Xie Recordings have secured the rights to Maple Bee’ s back catalogue which will be re issuing during the year
Disc One
- Bell Song
- Moth Touch
- Turn in
- Hello Eve
- Around for eva
- Sun on Snow
- The Messenger
- Perhaps Perhaps
- Sadness Landed
- City in a belly
- Fit in
- The Messenger – Video
Disc Two
- Rare Colours
- Old Ties
- Alright (Build me a house)
- This Time
- Something
- What’s coming next
- State of Waiting
- Got her way
- Cocooner
- The Wing
tom wilkinson (verified owner) –
Right… first things first. If you’ve read the other reviews, you’ll know by now that this is NOT LIKE QUEEN ADREENA. This is important, so it is written in capitals. What it does sound like is… different. Maplebee’s voice sounds kinda (sorta) like a cross between her sister and Bjork, with some vocal bits (particularly on disc one) sounding rather Debut-ish. In a very good way.
Most of the songs are fairly slow, quite subdued, and flow along very nicely, thank you. It’s quite surprising how easily you can be absorbed by the music and suddenly realise several hours have passed and you’ve listened to the whole album through multiple times.
My one problem with the album is that the ‘Perhaps, Perhaps’ cover sounds a little out of place compared with the rest of the songs, but I’ll let that go because it’s one of the best songs I’ve heard all year. Seems fair.
If you’re even slightly interested in hearing more, buy this album. It’s the most deserving 5* review I’ve ever written. Not that I’ve written that many. I’m not like that. Hm.
MR Amz (verified owner) –
If you’ve never heard the more mellow side of Maple Bee, then you’re in for a pleasant surprise. This is a double album of superbly crafted songs fusing acoustic and electronic instrumentation to create a complex atmospheric mix, featuring a voice of incredible range and beauty. For a quick and easy reference point think of an English Bjork. The heavily electronic cover of Doris Day classic Perhaps Perhaps could easily have come from an album like Homogenic.
Anyone new to Maple’s music will find plenty of tunes to fall in love with here. And those long-time fans who remember her as Melanie Garside will be pleased to find three classic songs from the era of her 1996 album "Fossil".
mark c (seattle) (verified owner) –
Maple takes you on a music trip that keeps getting better and better -finally shattering my concentration on other things to listen with AWE to the song SOMETHING(?) the one with the Middle Eastern feel
That one song is a tour de force-its sweeping grandeur is a joy
This girl knows about writing composing and arranging some mean music;
I previously knew little about her other than she was in MEDIAEVAL BAEBES, and now I guess, HUSKI
Dammit! more people should know about Maple Bee and get this CD;
daibh rothach (verified owner) –
t’s been said and I’m saying it again. You no doubt got here through Queen Adreena. Ofcourse you did. Don’t lie.
But this, said also many times before, is not Queen Adreena. Katies sis’ got her own little world going on, and this album invites you to join her there.
It is a very open record. Very heartfelt and honest. The girl obviously loves sound, that’s for sure, for its more a collection of atmospheres than songs…even though the tunes will stick in your head for hours!
I’m not sure what prevents me from giving it the full five-star treatment. Maybe it’s the fact that I find the album too long? I expect Maplebee’s follow up will come complete with that extra star.