Mam-Maz

Mama Guitar (Japan): Introducing… (Captain Trip CTCD-196. CD, with obi, 1999)
Pop/Garage/Psychedelic
Jun (joint lead vocals, guitar), Iris (joint lead vocals, bass), Yoko (drums, backing vocals)
Refracting early-to-mid-sixties pop styles – beat, surf, garage, incipient psychedelia – through a Nippon prism, this often sounds authentic enough that one could imagine it was extracted from EPs issued at the time in Singapore or Hong Kong. The results are energetic, enertaining, a mite inconsequential above all just plain good fun. GRADE: C+.
Mama Guitar (Japan): In Mama Guitar Style (Captain Trip CTCD-283. CD, with obi, 2000)
Pop/Garage/Psychedelic
Jun (joint lead vocals, guitar), Iris (joint lead vocals, bass), Yoko (drums, backing vocals)
They do it in style indeed: this is as good a pastiche or sixties girl group and Far Eastern beat styles as anyone could want. Of course, you may not want a pastiche of sixties girl group and Far Eastern beat styles, but this sort of stuff makes a delightful palate cleanser after a diet of experimental prog and avant-garde metal. GRADE: C+.
Mama Guitar (Japan): Mama Guitar’s Holiday (Raindrop RR-1001, 7", 2002)
Pop/Garage/Psychedelic
Jun (joint lead vocals, guitar), Iris (joint lead vocals, bass), Yoko (drums, backing vocals)
This short EP is a marginal case for inclusion and is here solely because the CD reissue (Beatball BEAT-18, South Korea, 2005) adds three bonus tracks that take its playing time up to nearly 15 minutes. Musically, this is more sophisticated than their earlier work, in terms of both arrangements and production, and sees the band breaking some new ground with aplomb. GRADE: C+.
Mama Guitar (Japan): Mama Guitar In Germany (Raindrop 45-0145, 10", 2006)
Pop/Garage/Psychedelic
Jun (joint lead vocals, guitar), Iris (joint lead vocals, bass), Yoko (drums, backing vocals)
Whilst this short live album doesn’t really add anything to the impression created by their studio work, that’s missing the point. In many ways Mama Guitar are one-trick ponies – but then the same could be said of any band that chooses to operate within clearly defined parameters. The main thing is that they execute that trick very well and, as always, they’re a fun group and don’t take themselves too seriously. GRADE: C+.

Mamaguitar (Japan): Mamaguitar Sings Mamaguitar (Zelone zel-004, CD, with obi, 2012)
Pop/Garage/Psychedelic
Jun (joint lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion), Yoko (joint lead vocals, drums)
This may be their first album in a few years and they may be down to a duo, but in Mamaguitar world it’s perpetually 1965. That’s no bad thing – the Nippon ladies do one thing and do it very well, though they also do it rather predictably, raising the questoon of how much Mamaguitar one needs in one’s life. Then again, the same could be said of favourites like Therion or Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard or… well, most bands really. GRADE: C+.

Mama Lion (USA): Mama Lion (Family Productions FPS 2702, 1972)
Blues/Rock
Lynn Carey (lead vocals)
This is best-remembered for its cover photograph of Lynn Carey suckling a lion cub, but musically it’s solid hard rock and blues/rock, with progressive edges. Parts of the album are very good, but others (the straighter blues/rock bits) plod somewhat, indicating the lack of really first-rate material. GRADE: C.
Mama Lion (USA): Give It Everything I’ve Got (Family Productions FPS 2713, 1973)
Blues/Rock
Lynn Carey (lead vocals)
The first side of their second and final album is in a straighter blues/rock vein, again with good guitar work and mostly original songs. Side two is a little more progressive, and the most interesting cut by some margin is the uncharacteristic, synthesiser-led ballad ‘Dark Garden’, which bears a passing resemblance to contemporaneous Curved Air. GRADE: C.
See also CK Strong, Ivar Avenue Reunion, Merryweather & Carey

Mamas & The Papas (USA): If You Can Believe Your Eyes And Ears (Dunhill 50006, 1966)
Folk/Pop
Michelle Phillips (joint lead vocals), Cass Elliot (joint lead vocals)
Their debut album immediately establishes their strengths (magnificent harmonies, crystalline folk/rock backing, excellent period production, some wonderfully bittersweet atmospheres) and contains some brilliant original songs (especially the seminal ‘California Dreamin’’ and ‘Monday Monday’). But, as on all subsequent LPs, they don’t really bring much to the cover versions, making you wish they’d written everything. Bizarrely, the first pressing was quickly withdrawn and replaced, as the image of a toilet on the cover was considered obscene – personally, I’m more offended by the bizarre punctuation (Mama’s & The Papa’s, indeed!). GRADE: B–.
Mamas & The Papas (USA): The Mamas And The Papas (Dunhill 50010, 1966)
Folk/Pop
Michelle Phillips (occasional vocals), Cass Elliot (occasional vocals), Jill Gibson (occasional vocals)
Only two cover versions this time round is a plus, but the songwriting is nowhere near as good as on their debut. Nonetheless, I do like the haunting, psychedelic ‘Strange Young Girls’ and the eerie ‘Dancing Bear’, which combines Spanish and baroque influences – come to that, I like almost the whole album, as the harmonies and performances are as good as ever. GRADE: C+.
Mamas & The Papas (USA): Deliver (Dunhill 50014, 1967)
Folk/Pop
Michelle Phillips (joint lead vocals), Cass Elliot (joint lead vocals)
This has four covers, and three are pretty inessential (though I do like their version of ‘Dedicated To The One I Love’, which gave them a hit single). But, as on their first LP, some fine original compositions more than make up for them. As a footnote, the album was originally titled Springboard, and press ads appeared for it as such. GRADE: C+.
Mamas & The Papas (USA): The Papas And The Mamas (Dunhill 50031, 1968)
Folk/Pop
Michelle Phillips (joint lead vocals), Cass Elliot (joint lead vocals)
Why they chose to open the disc with a brief version of Shirley Temple’s ‘The Right Somebody To Love’ is beyond me, but this is otherwise their finest album. They cover a wider range of moods than usual, with quite a bit of complexity and invention, from the dreamy, slightly eerie ‘Mansions’ (easily the best track) to the harder-edged, more psychedelic ‘Gemini Childe’. GRADE: B–.
Mamas & The Papas (USA): Historic Performances At The Monterey International Pop Festival (ABC/Dunhill DSX 50100, 1970, recorded 1967)
Folk/Pop
Michelle Phillips (joint lead vocals), Cass Elliot (joint lead vocals)
Historic these performances may be, but they’re certainly far from essential, thanks to ragged singing and playing and sound quality that’s marginally above a bootleg but far below anything you’d expect from a major label. The track listing is attractive, including all their major hits, and it’s interesting to hear them in a stripped-down, raw live setting, but ultimately this sounds like the stopgap cash-in it so clearly was. GRADE: C.
Mamas & The Papas (USA): People Like Us (ABC/Dunhill 50106, with insert, 1971)
Pop
Michelle Phillips (occasional vocals), Cass Elliot (backing vocals)
Recorded long after the band had broken up in order to fulfil a contractual obligation and avoid legal action, People Like Us bears no resemblance to their other work. Their original folk/rock style was already sounding dated by 1968, and would have seemed laughably anachronistic three years on; hence the band substituted a more contemporary West Coast soft rock sound. For those who like their earlier recordings, this is probably the least of their albums, but it’s extremely well done and could send soft rock fans into raptures. As a footnote, this is their only LP not to include any cover versions, and the earliest I’ve ever heard to include a song with clear disco elements (‘Shooting Star’). GRADE: C+.
See also Big 3, Cass Ellliot, Mugwumps, John Phillips. Michelle Phillips

Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard (UK): Nachthexen (Tape Worship TWR004, cassette, with poster, sticker, patch and box, Germany, 2015)
Metal/Progressive
Jessica Ball (lead vocals, bass)
Limited to 100 copies, this lavishly packaged release essentially consists of a single 30-minute jam that progresses through various movements – some relaxed and minimalist, others crushingly heavy. It’s all very understated and almost entirely instrumental, with the emphasis on powerful repeated riffs and atmosphere rather than instrumental virtuosity, so some may find it too repetitive or too unambitious, To my ears, it’s hugely successful, though I’d like to hear them stretch out with future releases. GRADE: B–.

Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard (UK): Noeth Ac Anoeth (New Heavy Sounds NHSLP018, clear vinyl LP plus CD, with inner and minisleeve, 2015)
Metal/Progressive
Jessica Ball (lead vocals, bass)
This isn’t the band’s second album but their first, as the centrepiece is ‘Nachthexen’, joined here by two even more formless and sludgy pieces of around 10 minutes apiece. This raw and uncompromising yet carefully constructed set certainly won’t appeal to everyone, but I love it. GRADE: B–.

Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard (UK): Y Proffwyd Dwyll (New Heavy Sounds NHSCD019, CD, with digipak, 2016)
Metal/Progressive
Jessica Ball (lead vocals, bass, Mellotron, cello)
This is slightly different from their earlier work – they’re now fleshing out their sound with (sampled) Mellotron as well as synthesiser – but at heart it’s their usual sludgy stoner doom, with Jessica Ball’s spacy, ethereal vocals providing unusual counterpoint. Overall it doesn’t add much to the impression created by their earlier releases, but it’s nonetheless a highly enjoyable set. GRADE: B–.

Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard (UK): Totems (Black Bow BBOW19, red or green vinyl, 2018)
Metal/Progressive
Jessica Ball
This is a split album, with Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard offering two excellent extended progressive doom numbers on the first side, setting Jessica Ball’s ethereal vocals against über-heavy riffing. The all-male Slomatics, who occupy the second side, are no slouches in the doomy prog department either, and a stunning gatefold sleeve is the icing on the cake. GRADE: B–.

Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard (UK): Yn Ol I Annwn (New Heavy Sounds NHSCD026, CD, with digipak and booklet, 2019)
Metal/Progressive
Jessica Ball (lead vocals, synthesiser, cello)
A quick glance at the credits – four out of five band members credited with synthesiser and two out of five with glockenspiel – confirms that this isn’t going to be your typical doom metal album. Indeed this is often as close to space-rock as metal, though bone-crunching riffs are never in short supply, and the band’s predilection for jamming consistently delights. GRADE: B–.

Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard (UK): The Harvest (New Heavy Sounds NHSCD033, with digipak and booklet, 2022)
Metal/Progressive
Jessica Ball (lead vocals, keyboards, cello, effects)
There’s only so much you can do with MWWB’s formula – sepulchral vocals, sludgy riffs and whooshing synthesisers – and this doesn’t feel like it breaks any new ground for them. However, their doom/space rock crossover certainly works very well, so whilst this isn’t an album you necessarily need it could be well be a disc you love. GRADE: B–.

Man On Fire (USA): Chrysalis (10t 10T100052, CD, with digipak and booklet, 2011)
Progressive
Cameron Harder Handle (trumpet), Jenny Hugh (violin), Elise Testone (backing vocals)
This song-based progressive rock album has a rather funky musical base, but is also quite inventive, with more than a hint of latterday King Crimson and some unusual production touches borrowing from trip-hop. Steadily improving as it progresses, the album climaxes with a majestic instrumental. The band had previously cut three albums with an all-male line-up. GRADE: B–.

Manchester Grammar School Christian Music Group & Heather Jones (UK): Young Folk In Worship (BBC REC 75S, 1971)
Heather Jones (joint lead vocals), Susan Burnett (joint lead vocals)
This album was actually largely the handiwork of the Manchester Grammar School Christian Music Group, with Heather Jones guesting as lead vocalist on six of the sixteen tracks. The Jones-fronted cuts are mainly delicate acoustic pieces in the vein of her early solo EPs, whilst the tracks sung by the group themselves have fuller band accompaniment. These ten tracks are split between twee singalongs (fairly standard for this type of record) and more inventive electric pieces, with a breezy, jazzy feel. Overall, this is worth hearing. GRADE: C+.
See also Heather Jones, Red Brass

Manderley (West Germany): Fliegt Gedanken, Fliegt… (Pläne S 17 F 700, with insert, 1976)
Folk
Helga Schmölter (joint lead vocals)
This mainly acoustic contemporary folk album shows clear influences from Crosby, Stills & Nash, who provide the opening number, though the closest comparison in the German-speaking world might be Austrian band Milestones. The songwriting here is nowhere near as good as Milestones at their best, but this does have subtle charms, with a mildly psychedelic edge on a couple of tracks. For most people, the clear highlight will be their cover of ‘All Along The Watchtower’, clearly influenced by Jimi Hendrix’s version and covered in acid guitar, making it a real pity they didn’t go electric elsewhere. GRADE: C+.

Mandrágora (Peru): Steel Metal Attack (Inkas Noize INR002, CD, with digipak, badge and postcard, Germany, 2015)
Metal
Fátima Natthammer (lead vocals)
The title says it all really: this is old-school eighties-style metal, compiling their six-song 2010 demo tape, two-song 2014 EP and a few video clips. The EP has pretty good sound quality, the demo inevitably a little less so and the video clips even less; it all adds up to a nice overview of a decent, if unambitious, band. GRADE: C+.

Manifest Destiny (USA): Evening All Day (Rittenhouse Custom Recording RCR 1011S, 1969)
Folk/Pop
Elaine Warfel (joint lead vocals)
Despite the rather trippy band name, this isn’t psychedelia: this college band offer gentle folk/rock with hints of Peter, Paul & Mary and to a lesser extent the Mamas & The Papas. The hand percussion keeps it from getting too square, and there are some genuinely lovely moments, including a harpsichord and cello-led instrumental version of ‘Love Is Blue’. Elaine Warfel went to the slightly better known Rebirth.

GRADE: C+.
See also Rebirth

Mannin Folk (Isle of Man): King Of The Sea (Kelly MAN 2, with booklet, 1976)
Folk
Marlene Hendy (joint lead vocals, violin)
Hailing from my home nation, the Isle of Man, this long-running band offer some pleasant Celtic folk sounds on their locally-released debut. They also had some tracks on the compilation The Wonderful World Of Mann, and released an even scarcer EP, Sing, which features slightly more electric instrumentation. GRADE: C+.

Mantis (Canada): Mantis (Sweet Plum MA 952, 1973)
Rock/Progressive
Christine Williams
Housed in a stunning textured silver foil sleeve depicting a praying mantis and a sarcophagus, this Canadian band’s rare album operates in two basic styles. For the most part it’s West Coast-influenced guitar rock, typical of the period and enjoyable without being particularly distinctive (although the opening ‘I Don’t Ever Want To Get Married’ is as good as anything in the style). But for the last track on each side they offer lengthy, complex progressive rock excursions with lots of invention and electronics. Genre fans are advised to seek out the LP for these cuts, plus the beautiful symphonic ballad ‘What Does It Take?’. GRADE: C+.

Karen Mantler (USA): My Cat Arnold (XtraWatt XTRAWATT/3, CD, 1989)
Jazz/Pop
Karen Mantler (principal vocals, keyboards, harmonica)
She may have copied mother Carla Bley’s hairstyle to a tee, and the sense of humour and weird jazzy edges are similar too, but otherwise Karen Mantler is very much her own woman. For a start, she’s a songwriter rather than a composer, with a quirky pop tinge replacing the avant-garde and progressive rock elements. Secondly, mum would never use vocals this heavily, or incorporate occasional elements of Sly Stone-like psych/funk. But with her quirky, deadpan songs (spanning topics from the death of a loved one to her passion for her cat, all delivered with the same flippancy), this is just as likely to divide opinion and annoy purists as anything Carla ever committed to vinyl.

GRADE: C+.
Karen Mantler (USA): Farewell (XtraWatt XTRWATT/8, CD, 1996)
Jazz/Pop
Karen Mantler (principal vocals, keyboards, harmonica)
The cover depicts Mantler in widow’s weeds, and the dear departed is presumably Arnold, since one song ponders sadly on the moggie’s demise. Consequently, this is very much more downbeat than its predecessor, with more instrumental passages and a much closer resemblance to both her mother and Annette Peacock. But the wry humour is never far away, and the quality is equally high. GRADE: C+.

Michael Mantler with Jack Bruce, Carla Bley & Don Cherry (USA/UK): No Answer (Watt WATT/2, 1974)
Jazz/Avant-Garde
Carla Bley (keyboards)
Whilst Mantler composes the music and co-produces (along with Carla Bley), he doesn’t appear on his own album: for the most part this consists of Jack Bruce (on vocals and occasional bass) and Bley on keyboards, with a few interjections from Don Cherry’s trumpet. With lyrics adapted from Samuel Beckett, this is weird, austere and minimalist, with the electronic treatments on the vocals on the opening cut adding a futuristic edge. Whilst it won’t be for everyone, this is certainly challenging and intriguing stuff. GRADE: B–.
Michael Mantler with Robert Wyatt, Carla Bley, Steve Swallow, Jack DeJohnette & Terje Rypdal (USA/UK/Norway): The Hapless Child And Other Inscrutable Stories (Watt WATT/4, 1976)
Jazz/Rock/Psychedelic/Progressive
Carla Bley (keyboards)
Quite different from No Answer, this is acidic rock recalling the heavier moments of Bley’s Escalator Over The Hill or the RIO movement. It’s good stuff: powerful, dynamic and exciting, but there are two drawbacks. First, whilst Edward Gorey’s words are fascinating, there’s too many of them, leaving little room for the music to breathe. Secondly, everything is sung by Robert Wyatt, whom I find tolerable in small doses, but here he’s in industrial quantities. Oddly, Mantler himself neither performs nor produces this time around. GRADE: C+.

Michael Mantler with Carla Bley, Robert Wyatt, Kevin Coyne, Chris Spedding & Ron McClure (USA/UK): Silence (Watt WATT/5, 1977)
Jazz/Rock/Psychedelic/Progressive
Carla Bley (joint lead vocals, keyboards)
Like its predecessor, this is as much rock as jazz, with plenty of acidic guitar lending a psychedelic edge. Also like its predecessor, it’s absolutely packed with lyrics, this time taken from the work of Harold Pinter – again sung by Robert Wyatt (in the right channel) though also by Kevin Coyne (in the left) and Carla Bley (in the centre). This again represents its downfall – Wyatt and Coyne are acquired tastes and although she’s less grating than either of them, there’s a reason that Bley rarely sang on her own albums. Nonetheless, the music – a little straighter, slinkier and mellower than last time – is pretty good, and a few more instrumental breaks would have lifted this considerably. GRADE: C+.
Michael Mantler with Larry Coryell, Carla Bley, Steve Swallow & Tony Williams (USA/UK): Movies (Watt WATT/7, 1978)
Jazz/Rock
Carla Bley (keyboards)
Returning to an instrumental format, Mantler offers eight short vignettes presumably intended for use in films. This is solid enough jazz/rock – well-arranged, tuneful and listenable, but lacking in anything really memorable. Once again, Carla Bley produces as well as playing keyboards. GRADE: C+.
Michael Mantler with Philip Catherine, Gary Windo, Carla Bley, Steve Swallow & D Sharpe (USA/UK): More Movies (Watt WATT/10, 1980)
Jazz/Rock
Carla Bley (keyboards)
As the title suggests, this is more of the same – but I find the music more varied, more atmospheric and more catchy this time around. It’s better recorded too, but enjoyable as it is never crosses the line from good into great. GRADE: C+.
Michael Mantler (USA): Something There (Watt WATT/13, 1983)
Jazz/Rock/Progressive
Carla Bley (piano)
After several albums that were nearly-but-not-quite excellent, Mantler returns to top form here. This is powerful, assertive jazz/rock, with some fine ostentatious guitar from Mike Stern, solid drumming from Nick Mason, and Mantler’s own trumpet stabs adding something of a mid-eighties Art Zoyd vibe. Although it’s credited only to Mantler, Bley once again produces as well as playing piano. GRADE: B–.

Michael Mantler with Himiko Paganotti & the Max Brand Ensemble (USA/France/Austria): Comment C’est (ECM 2537, CD,

Germany, 2017)
Jazz/Classical/Progressive
Himiko Paganotti (lead vocals)
Mantler’s first album in decades with a significant female collaborator once again puts me in mind of Art Zoyd. However, whereas Art Zoyd would have topped the minimalist, repetitious orchestral backing with synthesisers and electronic percussion, here we have Himiko Paganotti’s dramatic French vocals, hinting towards Catherine Ribeiro et al. If this has a failing, it’s all very much of a piece, sounding more like a tone poem than a collection of individual pieces, but it’s all effectively mournful, atmospheric and wintry. GRADE: B–.

Mantra Vega (UK/USA): The Illusion’s Reckoning (Black Sand CDBSAND3, CD, UK, 2015)
Rock
Heather Findlay (principal vocals, percussion, whistle)
Five years after leaving Mostly Autumn, Heather Findlay finally comes up with a full-length studio album of entirely new material. Despite rave reviews elsewhere, it's debatable whether this was worth the wait. Despite an epic production, this is pretty straightforward folkish rock that’s mildly atmospheric without being trippy, mildly anthemic without being catchy and mildly progressive without being adventurous – not dissimilar, then, to Mostly Autumn's more mediocre output. On the title track and the coda of the otherwise undistinguished ‘Veil Of Ghosts’ the band briefly catch fire, but elsewhere this is something of a damp squib. Five years on, the CD was reissued as a deluxe expanded hi-res download, and most of the outtakes turned out to be superior to the album proper, especially the gorgeous instrumental 'Lakes', which would have lifted it enormously. GRADE: C+.
See also Heather Findlay, Mostly Autumn, Odin’s Dragonfly

Many Bright Things (USA): Birds Of Impossible Colors… (Aether AELLP-006, with inserts and sparkles, 1999)
Psychedelic
Richelle Toombs (joint lead vocals), Lisa Swanson (occasional vocals)
Many Bright Things cut three albums, but so far as I’m aware this was their only release with female members. They’re closely linked to In The Summer Of The Mushroom Honey, but the music is much more electric here, being heavy jamming acid-rock. There are a few folky moments too, so the album cover a fair amount of ground, adding up to an enjoyable homage to their late sixties influences. The ‘sparkles’, incidentally, were sequins included in the outer plastic wrap holding the sleeve. GRADE: C+.
See also In The Summer Of The Mushroom Honey, Tombstone Valentine