RICHARD FALK's REVIEWS
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Hobbit House Collective (UK): The Hobbit House Collective (Regal Crabomophone winkle 45, CDR, with mini sleeve, 2022)
Psychedelic
Jacqueline Bourne
Bringing together various stakeholders from the Honey Pot/Crystal Jacqueline, this received broader release as a double single featuring superb covers of Led Zeppelin’s ‘The Battle Of Evermore’ and ‘Ramble On’, a heavy acid-rock jam based around Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’ and one original jam ‘Wolfgang Does The Nurburgring’. However, a CDR adding five bonus alternative versions of the tracks was sold at a Honey Pot gig in London in January 2022. Whilst my grade may seem generous for what amounts to an odds-and-sods collection, this is perhaps the best album to emerge from this collective of musicians – which is saying quite something. GRADE: B.
Hobbits (USA): Down To Middle Earth (Decca DL 74920, 1967)
Pop/Psychedelic
A top-notch psychedelic pop LP, with the emphasis (unusually) as much on the psych as the pop part of the equation. The harder-edged, fuzz guitar-driven ‘Treats’ is the best thing on offer, but nearly every song has a great tune and a strong period arrangement. GRADE: C+.
Hobbits (USA): Men And Doors (Decca DL 5009 / 75009, 1968)
Pop/Psychedelic
Gini Eastwood
Their second is a much softer affair: big production ballads and pop with rich harmony vocals, sweeping orchestrations and few psychedelic elements. Whilst it’s a decent LP of its type, it’s mostly not a patch on their first, despite some unusual twists and turns (including the singer seeming to weep on the melodramatic ‘Feeling’). The highpoint this time is the trippy ‘Strawberry Children’, driven by sitar and bongos. The band later returned as the New Hobbits with an all-male line-up. GRADE: C.
Joanne Hogg (UK): Looking Into Light (Alliance Music 1901182, CD, 1999)
Folk/Rock
Joanne Hogg (lead vocals, piano)
The Iona singer’s solo debut is fairly MOR, including adaptations of a number of hymns, but the swirling keyboards and rich orchestrations create a suitably lush and ethereal mood. Not unlike the parent band without the rock and progressive elements, it’s a consistently sweet and satisfying LP but not a particularly memorable one. GRADE: C+.
Margaret Becker, Máire Brennan & Joanne Hogg (USA/Ireland/UK): In Christ Alone – New Hymns Of Prayer And Worship
(Worship Together 7243 8 20376/WTD 20376, CD, UK, 2001)
Margaret Becker (joint lead vocals), Máire Brennan (joint lead vocals), Joanne Hogg (joint lead vocals)
Folk/Rock
Uniting Hogg with her biggest influence Máire Brennan plus Margaret Becker (apparently an American Christian singer/songwriter), this collaboration features all-original material composed with pianist, arranger and producer Keith Getty. With most of Iona providing the backing, plus a host of other musicians, this unsurprisingly sounds like a more MOR hybrid of Iona and Clannad, featuring some attractive songs but also a fair degree of filler. GRADE: C.
Margaret Becker, Joanne Hogg & Kristyn Lennox (USA/UK): New Irish Hymns #2 – Father, Son And Holy Spirit (Kingsway Music KMCD2490, CD, UK, 2003)
Pop/MOR
Margaret Becker (joint lead vocals), Joanne Hogg (joint lead vocals), Kristyn Lennox (joint lead vocals)
With Máire Brennan gone, as well as the backing musicians from Iona, volume two of the New Irish Hymns series oddly drops all the Celtic elements. Instead this is straightforward CCM, offering a selection of polished, melodic orchestrated pop songs that are tuneful, well executed and consistently bland and uninteresting. GRADE: C–.
Margaret Becker, Kristyn Getty & Joanne Hogg (USA/UK): New Irish Hymns #3 – Incarnation (Kingsway Music KMCD2564, CD, with slipcase, UK, 2004)
Folk/Rock
Margaret Becker (joint lead vocals), Kristyn Getty (joint lead vocals), Joanne Hogg (joint lead vocals)
After the deeply underwhelming #2, it’s surprising to report that this contains some really excellent cuts, notably the dramatic ‘Prologue’ (which makes you think they’ve turned prog) and the stunning orchestrated ballad ‘Fullness Of Grace’. Some of the rest is a touch cheesy, with the whole set seeming to have a Christmas theme, but it’s well composed, beautifully arranged and impeccably produced, placing it in a different league to the previous two outings. As a bonus, it’s very attractively packaged, with a spot-varnished booklet and slipcase. GRADE: C+.
Margaret Becker, Kristyn Getty & Joanne Hogg (USA/UK): New Irish Hymns #4 – Hymns For The Life Of The Church (Kingsway Music KMCD2650, CD, UK, 2005)
Singer/Songwriter/Pop
Margaret Becker (joint lead vocals), Kristyn Getty (joint lead vocals), Joanne Hogg (joint lead vocals)
The fourth and final instalment of New Irish Hymns marks a return to the style of #2 – not as twee or as MOR, but all fairly laid-back and inconsequential. In fact, the best thing by far is the long closing string instrumental. GRADE: C.
Joanne Hogg & Frank van Essen (UK/Holland): Raphael’s Journey (Download, 2008)
Singer/Songwriter/Folk/Rock/Progressive
Joanne Hogg (lead vocals, piano)
Hogg’s second solo album outside the New Irish Hymns franchise, recorded with Iona drummer and multi-instrumentalist Frank van Essen, is an appealing mix of dreamy songs and almost ambient moments – once again not a million miles from the parent band. Two years later, the set was released on CD (No label, with minisleeve). GRADE: C+.
Joanne Hogg (UK): Personal (Kingsway Music KMCD3120, CD, 2008)
Singer/Songwriter/Folk/Rock
Joanne Hogg (lead vocals, piano)
Like its predecessor, this is rather lovely, bearing a strong resemblance to her songwriting contributions to Iona. Polished, melodic and superbly crafted, it’s probably the best release from her solo discography. GRADE: C+.
Joanne Hogg (UK): Uncountable Stars (No label, CD, with digipak and booklet, 2013)
Singer/Songwriter
Joanne Hogg (lead vocals, keyboards)
Another solid solo set from Hogg: perhaps a bit more uptempo and energetic than usual, but still firmly in a singer/songwriter vein. This isn’t the most striking or memorable of records, but it contains some good tunes and some appealingly mellow moods. GRADE: C+.
See also Dave Bainbridge, Iona
Hogweed & The Aderyn (Turkey): I (Wounded Wolf Press, CDR, with minisleeve and obi, UK, 2012)
Folk/Psychedelic
Gözde Omay
With four tracks totalling around 14½ minutes, this EP offers dreamy, lo-fi acid-folk with a few slight ethnic touches befitting their origins. The results are gentle, charming and beatific, though given the format this is inevitably a rather slight release. GRADE: C+.
Hogweed & The Aderyn (Turkey): II (Wounded Wolf Press wound13, CDR, with minisleeve, UK, 2012)
Folk/Psychedelic
Gözde Omay
Nearly twice as long as its predecessor, this maintains the same trippy, dreamy, cosmic style, with ethereal vocals buried under layers of echoing, shimmering instrumentation. Again it all feels a little inconsequential, but this should have appeal for fans of everyone from the Cocteau Twins to the Incredible String Band or Fit & Limo. As a footnote, both EPs were combined onto a single, self-titled CDR (Reverb Worship RW 214, UK, 2013). GRADE: C+.
Hölderlin (West Germany/Holland): Hölderlin’s Träum (Pilz 20 21314-5, West Germany, 1972)
Folk/Rock/Psychedelic/Progressive
Nanny de Ruig (principal vocals)
The opening ‘Waren Wir’ is maybe the best piece of Krautfolk ever: a magnificently rich, spacy tapestry of haunting singing, organ, Mellotron, flute and viola over hypnotic hand percussion. Aside from the extended closer ‘Träum’, the remaining cuts aren’t in the same league, but this is a fine album of trippy folk/rock with notable similarities to Bröselmaschine. The resemblance perhaps isn’t all that surprising, since the two bands shared a label, producer (the ubiquitous Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser) and engineer (the even more ubiquitous Dieter Dierks), and two members of Bröselmaschine guest on one cut. GRADE: B.
Hoelderlin (Germany/Finland): 8 (EMI 00946 85385 2 3, CD, Germany, 2007)
Progressive
Ann-Vi Eötvös (principal vocals, violin)
Following the release of Hölderlin’s Träum, Hölderlin mutated into Hoelderlin, releasing a string of more mainstream progressive rock albums with an all-male line-up before reuniting decades later with a new Finnish singer. With only the drummer remaining from Träum, this is radically different, being mellow, atmospheric soft rock and progressive with folkish and symphonic edges. GRADE: C+.
Hoelderlin (Germany/Finland): Live At Rockpalast 2005 (MIG MIG90122, CD plus DVD, Germany, 2021, recorded 2005)
Progressive
Ann-Yi Ëotvös (lead vocals)
Hoelderlin’s comeback album 8 made little impression on me, but a bootleg of their appearance at the Burz Herzberg festival in 2006 was impressive – a solid B–. This live DVD lives up to its promise: the first two tracks (an instrumental and a supremely trippy reworking of ‘Waren Wir’ from Hölderlin’s Traum) are nothing short of stunning, with inventive lighting adding to the spectacle. Nothing else quite lives up to that opening, but this is outstanding throughout, with exceptional musicianship (particularly from violinist Markus Wienstroer), suggesting the kind of music that a band like It’s A Beautiful Day could have made in a parallel universe. GRADE: B–.
Kay Hoffmann (West Germany): Floret Silva (Belle Antique 8502, with booklet, 1985)
Classical/Folk/Progressive
Jacqueline Darby (principal vocals), Kay Hoffmann (keyboards, percussion, backing vocals)
With both Jacqueline Darby and Gaio Chiocchio on board, this could in some ways be regarded as the third Pierrot Lunaire album, although virtually everything was composed by German keyboardist Kay Hoffmann. Recorded in 1977 and 1978 but unreleased until 1985, Floret Silva blends mediaeval classical music (complete with Latin lyrics) with contemporary folk styles and occasional hints of jazz and rock. With 17 short vignettes – some acapella, some instrumental, only one with full rock band backing – this is an unusual and intriguing album that steps forward from Pierrot Lunaire’s avant-classical prog whilst pursuing somewhat different territory. As a footnote, Hoffmann went on to issue a number of albums in a quite different bossa nova-cum-world music vein. GRADE: B–.
See also Pierrot Lunaire
Hole In The Wall (Norway): Hole In The Wall (Sonet SLP-1420, with insert, 1972)
Folk/Rock
Anne Bolstad (violin, backing vocals), Elisabeth Braarvig (cello)
This rare album offers quite varied mellow folk/rock, with a definite hippie feel and occasional psychedelic edges, though it never recaptures the drama of the frenetic opener ‘Restless Man’. It’s a charming period piece, with a solid set of material and a very evocative mood. As a footnote, Anne Bolstad went on to become a successful classical soprano singer. GRADE: C+.
Hole In The Wall (Norway): Rose Of Barcelona (Mercury 9114 209, 1978)
Folk/Rock
Carmen de la Nuez (percussion, backing vocals)
The band’s long-delayed second and final album isn’t quite as good as their first, as it’s rather more whimsical, with several songs influenced by country, skiffle and busking music. That’s a shame, as when they take things more seriously (as on ‘Remnants Of Paradise’) they can be sublime. Fans of Pearls Before Swine (whom they often resemble) should love this, but it’s baffling to think that a major label could have released something like this in 1978 with any expectation of it selling. GRADE: C.
Hollenthon (Austria): Domus Mundi (Napalm NPR 067, CD, 1999)
Metal/Progressive
Elena Schirenc (occasional vocals)
The obvious reference point here is Therion’s Vovin, though this is harsher and more metallic; the big difference is the inclusion of world music elements, from Latin chanting to Arabic, North African and Celtic elements (and even a bagpipe solo). The husband-and-wife team of Martin (who contributes the music, nearly all the vocals, guitars, bass and keyboards) and Elena Schirenc (who provides the lyrics but barely appears, except for the closing cut) managed a fascinating fusion of extreme metal, classical and world music that constantly surprises and challenges. In fact, had this included a couple more long songs where the band stretched out, it would easily have been a B. GRADE: B–.
Hollenthon (Austria): With Vilest Of Worms To Dwell (Napalm NPR 091, CD, 2001)
Metal/Progressive
Elena Schirenc (occasional vocals)
Once again, this sounds like a harder, more low-budget and slightly more experimental Therion. They’ve considerably reduced the ethnic influences, however, and increased the classical element (including some snatches of actual classical music). The result is another powerful, diverse and dramatic record that’s full of intriguing twists and turns. GRADE: B–.
Hollenthon (Austria): Opus Magnum (Napalm NPR 242, CD, with digipak and booklet, 2008)
Metal/Progressive
Elena Schirenc (occasional vocals)
I wouldn’t call this their magnum opus, but it’s certainly the equal of the two albums that preceded it. They’ve expanded to a five-piece here, but the sound is pretty much as before: perhaps a bit tougher and slightly less classical, though still with the Latin elements and ethnic touches that make them such an interesting outfit. GRADE: B–.
Holy Angels (Japan): Metaphysics Meditation (Prescription 6, with insert, UK, 1998)
Psychedelic
Mineko Itakura (lead vocals, organ), Mako (guitar), Pee (bass), Non (drums)
Limited to 99 copies, this rare album by an all-female Japanese band (with the ubiquitous Asahito Nanjo helping out on electric sitar) features two side-long jams. ‘Holy Trip’ is excellent stuff, and if side two’s title track had been equally good I would probably have graded this B–, but the latter number is a touch more ponderous (though still very listenable). Since the members are listed by first names only, it is not entirely certain that ‘Mineko’ is indeed Mineko Itakura of the bands mentioned below, though some sources clearly assert this.
GRADE: C+.
See also Angel’In Heavy Syrup, Seventh Seal, Slap Happy Humphrey
Holy Mackerel (USA): Holy Mackerel (Reprise 6311, 1968)
Folk/Rock
Cynthia Ann Fitzpatrick (flute, backing vocals)
A mixture of sophisticated singer/songwriter and folk/rock elements, this covers a wide range of territory. Styles include trippy psychedelia with sitar, tablas and treated vocals (the excellent ‘Wildflowers’) and popsike with lyrics mixing Edward Lear and the Reverend Spooner (‘Prinderella’) through to throwaway country/rock (‘The Somewhere In Arizona At 4.30am Restaurant Song’). Most of it is fairly mainstream late sixties pop/rock, though, and very well executed, with the more psychedelic tracks definitely being the standouts. GRADE: C+.
Homestead & Wolfe (USA): Our Times (Topo TOPO HB-100, 1975)
Folk/Rock
Janice Gundy (joint lead vocals), JoAnne Avery (joint lead vocals, keyboards, tambourine)
This is an album of odd contrasts: it’s an obscure private pressing but features a superb recording and top session men (Hal Blaine, Ben Benay, Jay Dee Maness and others) and it was recorded in the mid-seventies but sounds more like 1967 (despite the frequent use of pedal steel guitar). Musically it’s charming folk/rock, with some excellent original songs, with the only drawback being the rather generic feel. The CD reissue (Anopheles 008, 2004) adds several fine bonus tracks, including the heavy and psychedelic ‘Beat Of The Drum’ and the dreamy, trippy ‘Mary Jane’. GRADE: C+.
Homínido (Chile): Estirpe Lítica (No label, CD, with digipak and booklet, 2014)
Progressive/Metal
Eliana Valenzuela Hernández (lead vocals)
According to the band’s promotional blurb, this is a ‘conceptual album [that] shows through music the ancestral relationship of humans with stones’. If that makes you expect something new agey, think again: this may start in an ethnic-cum-post rock vein, but mostly it’s song-based heavy progressive with a few modern jazz and ethnic touches, all with a typically understated South American style. The best cut by far is the instrumental ‘Etermo Retorno’, which is the only place where the band really cuts loose. GRADE: C+.
Honalee (West Germany): Fisherman’s Wife (Honalee LP 919081, 1978?)
Folk
Gila Schneikart (joint lead vocals, guitar, harmonium, whistle)
This very obscure private pressing offers some lovely traditional folk/rock, focusing on a well-chosen selection of Irish and English songs. A beautiful version of Ewan MacColl’s title song is the highpoint, but there are no really weak moments. GRADE: C+.
Honey Ltd (USA): Honey Ltd (LHI 12002, 1968)
Pop/Psychedelic
Laura Polkinghorne Creamer, Marsha Jo Temmer, Joan Sliwin, Sandy Sliwin
This is one of the rarest late sixties American albums to appear on a ‘real’ label. Since it contains just eight tracks, totalling twenty-two minutes, and all in mono, it may well have been a tax-loss project, though there’s a full colour, factory-finished sleeve. Musically, it’s exquisite psychedelic pop with stunning harmony vocals and mostly self-penned songs. After cutting this lost classic, the band renamed itself Eve and released a second album on LHI. GRADE: B–.
See also Eve
Honey Pot (UK): To The Edge Of The World (Psychedandy PSY 92, CD, 2012)
Psychedelic
Jacqueline Bourne
Jacqueline Bourne and Icarus Peel’s band pursues much the same furrow as her parallel solo career as Crystal Jacqueline. In fact, the main two differences are that Peel takes most of the lead vocals whilst – less predictably – Bourne co-writes everything whereas Peel writes almost all her solo material. The music? Great psychedelic pop and psychedelic folk/rock, of course, with a more Swingin’ London and less West Coast feel than Crystal Jacqueline, partly due to Peel’s wide-boy (and wide-eyed) vocals. GRADE: B–.
Honey Pot (UK): Ascending Scales (Regal Crabomophone winkle 25, quadruple CD, with minisleeves, inserts, postcards, poster, box, envelope and seeds, 2016)
Psychedelic
Jacqueline Bourne (joint lead vocals, keyboards), Judy Dyble (occasional vocals), Britt Ronnholm (occasional vocals), Cary Grace (occasional vocals, synthesiser, Theremin)
This gargantuan set – 24 tracks in nearly two and a half hours – sees the Honey Pot collaborating with a wide range of psychedelic luminaries, both old and new. Among others, Anton Barbeau, Tony Durant, Judy Dyble, Leo O’ Kelly & Sonny Condell, Cary Grace, Dick Taylor, Nick Saloman and Britt Ronnholm put in appearances as they tackle both covers and originals. The result? Two hours 26 minutes of trippy bliss, wandering all over the psychedelic, garage rock and acid-folk map. GRADE: B–.
Honey Pot (UK): Inside The Whale (Mega Dodo DODOCD14-1/3, triple CD, with mini sleeves, fish and autographed tin, 2016)
Psychedelic
Jacqueline Bourne
The sublime eight-minute title track, with its hazy washes of flute and hypnotic organ, is as trippy and beatific as the multicoloured cover. Actually, come to that, the whole album is quite the trip. Initial copies came with a bonus EP featuring several tracks from singles plus the live album Live In London. GRADE: B–.
Honey Pot (UK): Bewildered Jane (Mega Dodo DODOLP 33, LP, white and black vinyl, plus CD, with minisleeve, insert and download card, 2019)
Psychedelic
Jacqueline Bourne (joint lead vocals, keyboards)
The Honey Pot’s greatest strength in their diversity: they don’t sound like Jefferson Airplane or Pink Floyd or Hawkweed or a Swingin’ London or sunshine pop act but can sound like any of them if they choose. Of course, it helps that they can write great songs in any of those idioms. The first pressing came with a very enjoyable bonus CD Live At The Onboard The Craft Festival, which focuses on the garage end of the band’s repertoire. GRADE: B–.
Honey Pot (UK): The Secret (Billywitch B1004CD, CDR, with book sleeve, 2021)
Psychedelic
Jacqueline Bourne (joint lead vocals, keyboards)
A picture of Jefferson Airplane, a quote from Robert Crumb about the Grateful Dead and a still from ‘A Clockwork Orange’ indicate the Honey Pot’s secret: they take psychedelic inspiration from anything and everything, rather than slavishly adhering to any particular style. Of course, many modern bands play eclectic psychedelia, so the real issue is whether or not they have innate trippiness. The Honey Pot have it. GRADE: B–.
Honey Pot (UK): The Happiness Explosion (Billywitch B1020, double, 2024)
Psychedelic
Jacqueline Bourne (joint lead vocals, keyboards)
The Honey Pot’s first album in three years is quite the epic, offering 17 songs totalling nearly 83 minutes. However, don’t expect any kind of high-blown concept album, as I’m struggling to identify any overarching or collective identity. Nonetheless, as with everything this band has released, there’s plenty of good music on offer. GRADE: B–.
Honey Pot Collective (UK): The Outskirts Of Your Mind – Live 2022-23 (No label, DVDR, with digipak, 2024)
Psychedelic
Jacqueline Bourne (joint lead vocals, keyboards)
Limited to 50 copies, this live DVD features seven songs by the Honey Pot, two by Crystal Jacqueline and four by Icarus Peel’s Acid Reign, all shot on mobile phones. The video and audio quality is rather better than that description might suggest, though none of this is of broadcast quality. Ultimately, this feels a touch superfluous as all three bands are pretty static onstage, though the music remains impressive. GRADE: B–.
Honey Pot (UK): Live At The New Avalon Ballroom (Mega Dodo DODOLP38, purple vinyl, 2025)
Psychedelic
Jacqueline Bourne (joint lead vocals, keyboards)
Mixing old and new material, this live set is customarily excellent, boasting the winning combination of acid guitar and trebly organ – the building blocks of many favourite albums in my collection. GRADE: B–.
Honeybee Ridge (USA): Honeybee Ridge (Beaver Creek Revolution LPS 1001, 1979)
Country
Sandra Kline (joint lead vocals, piano, percussion, autoharp), Jennifer Kline (occasional vocals)
Doubtless I bought this as ‘country/rock’, but it’s basically straightforward country-and-western. Also doubtless it’s a good example of the style, but this simply isn’t one of my preferred genres. On the plus side, ‘Blessing’ is an unusual piece of ethnic music, ‘Whipoorwill’ is a haunting folk song and the closing ‘Cat Paw’, sung by two band members’ children, could pass for an outtake from an above-average school project LP. GRADE: C–.
Honeydew (UK): The Honeydew (Argo ZFB 15, 1971)
Folk/Pop/Psychedelic
Barbara Yates (joint lead vocals)
Argo released a seemingly endless supply of obscure albums: this one, cut by the band that went on to become Saraband, is among the scarcest. The disc opens promisingly with the excellent ‘Part Of This Game’, which, with its childlike popsike vibe, strongly resembles Trader Horne, particularly in Barbara Yates’s vocals. The first side contains several other fine pop/folk songs, with lots of ornate embellishments recalling the Sunforest LP, but the second is mediocre, with a procession of lightweight and twee numbers. The album, which sounds a couple of years earlier than its release date, accurately reflects its cover, depicting the band in a forest dressed in Swingin’ London finery. GRADE: C+.
See also Saraband
Honeymoon Killers (Belgium): Les Tueurs De La Lune De Miel (Crammed Discs CRAM 013, with insert, 1981)
New Wave
Véronique Vincent (joint lead vocals)
This parallel band to Aksak Maboul offers experimental funky new wave-ish pop, comparable to Les I and with hints of more mainstream outfits like the Slits or Talking Heads. It’s nice, playful stuff with a very Gallic feel, but this certainly isn’t the most substantial album in the world. GRADE: C+.
See also Aksak Maboul
Hookey Band (UK): Making A Song And A Dance About It (Woodworm WR 004, 1983)
Folk/Rock
Sheena Powell (joint lead vocals, guitar)
Released on Fairport Convention’s vanity label Woodworm Records, this unsurprisingly sounds like a cross between Fairport and the Albion Dance Band. The disc mixes traditional and self-penned numbers with covers of material by (unsurprisingly) Richard Thompson, Sandy Denny and John Tams, and offers a pleasant mixture of folk/rock songs and electrified morris tunes. There’s nothing at all original here and they don’t have any distinctive style of their own, but anyone liking electric folk is bound to enjoy this. GRADE: C+.
Hooknorton (UK): In For A Penny… (Groan 10001, 1977)
Folk/Singer/Songwriter
Caroline Ritson (joint lead vocals, guitar), Barbara Duggan (joint lead vocals, piano, violin, pipes)
At its best – as on ‘Hour After Hour’ and ‘High And Dry’, this extremely rare album offers beautiful and haunting singer/songwriter material, with delicate acoustic backing. Elsewhere it can be a touch insubstantial or whimsical, with its close harmonies and slight jazz and MOR influences, but overall it’s a pleasant if rather inconsequential set. GRADE: C+.
See also Jumpleads
Hootch (USA): Hootch (Pro-Gress PRS 4844, 1974)
Psychedelic
Laura Schaefer
This college project album consists mainly of guitar-led instrumental jams, interspersed with a couple of actual songs. I’ve seen it compared to the Grateful Dead, but the vibe is completely different, and with its echoey, forlorn mood and slightly hesitant playing it reminds me more of the heavier tracks on the Collective Tools LP. GRADE: B–.
Hopper S Klossner (UK): Different (Blueprint BP303CD, CD, 1998)
Jazz/Rock/Progressive
Lisa S Klossner (lead vocals)
This collaboration between singer Lisa S Klossner and famed Canterbury bassist Hugh Hopper is unusual in that the latter provides most of the musical backing using the Cubase software system. Conventional instruments are added to most tracks, but only sparsely, so for the most part this features Klossner’s voice accompanied by Hopper’s programmed keyboards and drums. I’m generally not keen on such thin-sounding records, but this is a good one, with a succession of well-crafted, melodic, subtly weird songs that come closer to RIO than Canterbury and sometimes recall Annette Peacock. GRADE: C+.
Hopper S Klossner (UK): Cryptids (Blueprint BP 337 CD, CD, 2000)
Jazz/Rock/Progressive/Avant-Garde
Lisa S Klossner (lead vocals)
The duo’s second and final album is slightly different, having considerably weirder songs featuring greater use of real instruments (including Frances Knight on piano, Pip Pyle on drums and Elton Dean on saxophone). Despite Klossner’s very different singing style, the end result rather resembles a cross between Dagmar Krause and B-Shops For The Poor, offering some excellent RIO. GRADE: B–.
Horizon (UK): Horizon In Concert (MJB AD SLP 1398, 1973)
Folk
Glenda Dando (joint lead vocals), Beryl Milsom (joint lead vocals)
More a document of a folk club event than a true band album, this LP (as usual for this sort of thing) is mediocre in parts, but includes some lovely female vocal material in others. On the downside, several would-be comedy numbers on side two are about as amusing as syphilis. GRADE: C–.
Horncastle Fayre (UK): Horncastle Fayre (Guildhall/Boston Sound Hunters GHS9, 1973)
Folk
Christine Scott (joint lead vocals, percussion, psaltery), Angela Kitchen (joint lead vocals, viola)
In one of the more outrageous examples of dealer hyping, a copy of the Horncastle Fayre LP was offered for £700 and compared to Caedmon. The two bands could not be less alike: Horncastle Fayre was an all-acoustic medieval folk outfit, similar to Brighthelmstones, City Waites or My Lord Sheriffe’s Complainte. GRADE: C+.
See also At The Signe Of The Bull
Hos Anna (Denmark): Hos Anna (Charlatan CGM 177, with inner, 1977)
Rock
Hanne Rømer (joint lead vocals, guitar, saxophone), Lotte Rømer (joint lead vocals, bass, violin), Irene Becker (joint lead vocals, piano), Karen Mortensen (joint lead vocals, drums)
A friend described this as ’a pleasant surprise’ and ’the Danes channelling It’s A Beautiful Day’ but to me this all-female band’s debut is merely pleasant, mildly jazzy soft rock. They went on to cut several other albums, which I haven’t encountered. GRADE: C+.
Höstsonaten (Italy): Springsong (Sublime 1-122001, CD, with gatefold minisleeve, inner and inserts, 2001)
Progressive
Francesca Biagini (flute)
The label name is apt: this is indeed a sublime album, and it’s hard to believe that Höstsonaten morphed out of the distinctly underwhelming Finisterre. It’s also hard to believe that this is the same band that issued the patchy, disjointed Mirrorgames, which embodied many of the worst elements of modern Italian prog. All-instrumental, this sumptuous suite fringes pastoral classical and easy listening, but there are rock elements too and there’s plenty of variety and invention here. The stunning packaging – a textured card gatefold, printed inner and ten inserts – is the icing on the cake. GRADE: B–.
Höstsonaten (Italy): Autumnsymphony (Ams AMS168CD, CD, with gatefold minisleeve and booklet, 2009)
Progressive
Simona Angiolini (occasional vocals)
This wasn’t the direct follow-up to Springsong; an album cut by an all-male line-up, Winterthrough, was released in 2008. However, it’s very much its spiritual successor, offering another accomplished suite of instrumental music that starts out in a rock vein, flirts with jazz and ends in a pastoral classical mood with Simona Angiolini providing some beautiful wordless vocals. If anything, this may be even better than Springsong, with greater dynamics and energy plus a few truly stunning moments. GRADE: B.
Höstonaten (Italy): Summereve (Ams AMS 194 CD, CD, with gatefold minisleeve and booklet, 2011)
Progressive
Sylvia Trabucco (violin), Joanne Roan (flute)
This isn’t quite the equal of its predecessor, with a more modern (and unfortunately, more neoprogressive) feel. Nonetheless it’s a more than decent suite of instrumental music, with the folkier and more classical sections, based around flute, oboe and strings, generally being the best. GRADE: B–.
Höstonaten (Italy): The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner (Ams AMS 208 CD, CD, with gatefold minisleeve and booklet, 2011)
Progressive
Simona Angiolini (occasional vocals), Sylvia Trabucco (violin), Joanne Roan (flute)
Abandoning their instrumental format, this adaptation of Gerard Manley Hopkins’s work steers close to rock opera, with different vocalists on each segment. Thankfully it never crosses that line, and has some nice seventies-sounding keyboards and plenty of folky violin, but it’s still a bit portentous for my tastes and a huge step down from their earlier work. GRADE: C+.
Höstonaten (Italy): Alive In Theatre – The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, Chapter One (Ams AMS 227 CD, DVD plus CD, with gatefold minisleeve and booklet, 2011)
Progressive
Simona Angiolini (occasional vocals), Sylvia Trabucco (violin), Joanne Roan (flute)
‘Theatre’ is about right: this is a full-blown spectacle, not just a gig, complete with a plethora of dancers and actors. It’s very impressive too, and must have been a wonderful show to attend, but I still find the accompanying music good rather than great. GRADE: B–.
Höstonaten (Italy): Symphony N. 1 – Cupid And Psyche (Ams AMS 258 CD, CD, with gatefold minisleeve and booklet, 2016)
Progressive
Laura Marsano (guitar)
Returning to an instrumental format (with a slightly different line-up, now with Sylvia Trabucco and Joanne Roan reduced to the status of guests), Höstsonaten also return to form with this impressive set. More varied and more rocking than their previous suites, Symphony N. 1 covers everything from jazzy territory (complete with a horn section) to baroque classical – and does it with aplomb. GRADE: B–.
See also Aries, Finisterre
Hot Breath (Sweden): Hot Breath (The Sign SQR028, CD, with digipak, 2019)
Rock/Metal
Jennifer Israelson (lead vocals, guitar)
As seventies-style hard rock goes, this EP is pretty good, offering six snappy songs in 21 minutes. This isn’t a genre in which boundaries get pushed, and Hot Breath don’t do anything you won’t have heard before, but they do it very well and there’s some great music here.
GRADE: C+.
Hot Breath (Sweden): Rubbery Lips (The Sign, CD, with digipak, 2021)
Rock/Metal
Jennifer Israelson (lead vocals, guitar)
They might have rubbery lips, but there’s nothing blubbery about their album proper: this is all-killer and no-filler, offering 10 songs in 34 minutes. Heavier and more assertive than their debut, this often resembles a harder, meaner Pretenders – and whilst it’s still far from ambitious, it succeeds admirably on its own uncompromising terms. GRADE: B–.
See also Honeymoon Disease
Hot Fur (Israel): Hot Fur (No label, CD, 1998)
Jazz/Rock/Progressive
Yael Kraus (principal vocals), Noa Frenkel (occasional vocals)
On the opening ‘Adventure In Space’ and a couple of other cuts, the band sound like Cos reborn, with Yael Kraus’s vocals a dead ringer for Pascale Son’s and exactly the same kind of playful but complex jazz/rock backing. Elsewhere, they forge their own identity but still remain firmly within the Canterbury sphere, with some well-used avant-garde touches. This is certainly one of the better jazz/rock releases of the last couple of decades. The band went on to cut a further studio album and a live set with an all-male line-up. GRADE: B–.
Hot Poop (USA): Does Their Own Stuff (No label HPS-3702, 1971)
Garage/Psychedelic/‘Incredibly Strange Music’
Lisa Hebbard (keyboards)
This oddball private pressing is probably best known for its cover: the front depicts a band member defecating whilst another mainlines heroin, whilst the rear features the group nude with switched genitals (so the female member has an, er, male member). Musically it’s odd garage rock with lots of trebly organ and one foot apiece in surf music and psychedelic jamming, with some tracks featuring weird, stoned falsetto vocals. It’s all fairly slight but it’s pretty good and generally underrated by critics; apart from anything else, the disc sounds years ahead of its time, as numerous post-punk neo-psychedelic outfits pursued a similar sound and trash aesthetic in the eighties. GRADE: C+.
House On The Corner (UK): The House On The Corner (No label CDR 1003, 1973?)
Classical/Folk
Sue Jones (occasional vocals)
Strictly speaking a ‘various artists’ album, this is a sort of audio documentary of a church hall, with musical tracks linked by narration and sound effects in a style similar to A Fleeting Glance (although this isn’t a concept album and isn’t musically comparable). For the most part the disc features school choirs, classical piano and organ passages and the likes, but there are two pleasant folk songs fronted by Sue Jones, ‘Little Babe’ (which she wrote herself) and ‘When I Survey The Wondrous Cross’. Apart from those tracks, there’s nothing here to interest folk or rock fans, although this hasn’t stopped the album selling for big money. GRADE: C–.
Catherine Howe (UK): What A Beautiful Place (Reflection REFL 11, 1971)
Singer/Songwriter
Catherine How (lead vocals, piano)
Catherine Howe’s debut sharply divides opinion, partly because of its rarity and huge price-tag (with copies regularly selling for well into four figures). Many collectors find it too sedate and twee, with its lush orchestrations, delicate woodwinds and slightly arch spoken word interludes. Nonetheless it’s a lovely album, though the title track (where she drops the orchestration and ups the tempo to sound a little like Véronique Sanson) lifts the mood enormously. GRADE: C+.
Catherine Howe (UK): Harry (RCA SF 8407, 1975)
Singer/Songwriter
Catherine Howe (lead vocals, keyboards)
Howe’s second album (which, unlike her first, would struggle to fetch a tenner) is in parts both more commercial and more uptempo than her debut. In fact, ‘Hot Night’ flirts with disco music, complete with funky rhythms, sweeping strings and staccato horns. For the most part, however, this is delicate and beautiful singer/songwriter music, again demonstrating her high level of talent. GRADE: C+.
Catherine Howe (UK): Silent Mother Nature (RCA RS 1041, 1976)
Singer/Songwriter
Catherine Howe (lead vocals, keyboards)
Like its predecessor, this is well-crafted singer/songwriter music, ranging from gentle piano ballads to uptempo soft rockers. However, with punk breaking through, this was exactly the sort of music people didn’t want to hear in 1976 and if Sandy Denny couldn’t shift the far superior Rendezvous in any quantity, Catherine Howe stood no chance. GRADE: C+.
Catherine Howe (UK): Dragonfly Days (Ariola ARL 5013, with insert, 1979)
Singer/Songwriter
Catherine Howe (lead vocals, keyboards)
The slight disco elements evident on earlier albums become more prominent here (perhaps not surprising with Richard Hewson producing and Les Hurdle on bass); she even attempts a reggae number. However, these commercial comprises didn’t work and Howe did not issue another album for more than 25 years GRADE: C+.
Catherine Howe (UK): Princelet Street (No label HO41229423, CD, 2005)
Singer/Songwriter
Catherine Howe (lead vocals, keyboards)
How many people were actually awaiting Howe’s return, I have no idea, but this is actually her best album. Ranging from acapella settings to Latin jazz, orchestrations and more traditional singer/songwriter backing, it’s a lovely set – and there’s not a disco beat in sight.
GRADE: C+.
Catherine Howe & Vo Fletcher (UK): English Tale (Proper Music Distribution VOCA1, CD, with digipak and booklet, 2010)
Folk
Catherine Howe (principal vocals)
Quite different from her previous album, this mostly sets Howe’s lovely voice against Vo Fletcher’s delicate classically-tinged guitar work. Although everything is self-penned, the feel is authentically traditional, particularly on the stunning ‘Nothing Love Does Surprises Me’. GRADE: C+.
Catherine Howe, Vo Fletcher, Ric Sanders & Michael Gregory (UK): Because It Would Be Beautiful (Talking Elephant TECD306,
CD, 2015)
Folk
Catherine Howe (principal vocals)
With Graeme Taylor co-producing (though sadly not playing), Howe has quite the all-star backing band. That said, about half the cuts are just her and Fletcher playing delicate acoustic folk, with Sanders and Gregory participating on some more uptempo and jazzy numbers. With an impressive eleven-minute prog-tinged closer, this is another tasteful and very well executed album. GRADE: C+.
Howth Castle (Italy): Rust Of Keys (Inisheer IN 1207, with inner, 1990)
Folk/Psychedelic/Avant-Garde
Marinella Ollino (joint lead vocals)
Like the members’ other project Environs, Howth Castle take their name from ‘Finnegans Wake’; but musically they’re more similar to (yet another) parallel entity Orsi Lucille, offering acoustic folk interspersed with sound effects and avant-garde elements. There’s a lot more to it than that, though: there’s everything here from apocalyptic industrial folk (‘They Came’) to weird mutant electropop (‘Song For Nico’) to an excellent number that starts as a haunting piano ballad before becoming a catchy Velvet Underground-like garage rocker (‘Lady Of Moon, Man Of Sun’). It all adds up to Ollino and Giaccone’s best piece of work to date. GRADE: B–.
Howth Castle (Italy): Concerto Benefit X Luna Nera (No label, cassette, 1993)
Folk
Marinella Ollino (principal vocals)
Lacking the psychedelic edges and variety of their studio set, this is straightforward and pleasant folk, plus a little acoustic blues.
GRADE: C+.
Howth Castle (Italy): Good Morning, Mr Nobody! (Blu Bus BB26, CD, 1994)
Folk/Psychedelic
Marinella Ollino (joint lead vocals)
The first few songs are rather underwhelming, mixing mournful acoustic folk with tapes of Native American singing and sound effects, but the album improves radically from their cover of Free’s ‘Child’ onwards. Bringing in a wider range of instruments and some excellent electric guitar, it offers several lovely compositions plus a gentle acoustic version of the Grateful Dead’s ‘Stella Blue’. As a result, this isn’t a flawless album, and it’s perhaps just a notch below Rust Of Keys, but there is still plenty to enjoy here. GRADE: B–.
Howth Castle (Italy): The Lee Tide (Inisheer INCD07, CD, 1996)
Folk/Rock/Psychedelic
Marinella Ollino (joint lead vocals, guitar)
Like its predecessor, this opens with a couple of rather average songs, before offering some beautiful and haunting psychedelic folk, including excellent covers of material by Tom Rapp, John Cale and Tim Buckley. There’s also an instrumental jam dedicated to Jerry Garcia, which doesn’t remind me of the Dead in any way but is still rather impressive. GRADE: B–.
See also Franti, Environs, Ishi, Lalli, Orsi Lucille, Yuan Ye
Linda Hoyle (UK): Pieces Of Me (Vertigo 6360 060, 1971)
Rock
Linda Hoyle (lead vocals)
This comes as quite a disappointment after the majesty of the Affinity LP. Eschewing progressive rock and jazz/rock altogether, here Hoyle mainly offers a mixture of slightly cloying ballads and mildly funky early seventies rock with a few sixties pop traces. However, she also manages forays into traditional blues (‘Barrel House Music’), blues/rock (‘Backlash Blues’) and hard rock with insane, squealing fuzz guitar (the title track). The latter two cuts are by some margin the most interesting things on offer. GRADE: C.
Linda Hoyle (UK): The Fetch (Angel Air SJPCD, CD, 2015)
Jazz
Linda Hoyle (lead vocals)
Hoyle’s first recordings in 44 years could have been in almost any musical style. In fact, they’re smooth, slightly funky modern jazz, providing effective settings for the delicate upper register of her voice. It’s all beautifully done and her singing is outstanding, but with relatively little variety in the mood and the rock elements toned down significantly there’s little here for fans of Affinity-style prog.
GRADE: C+.
See also Affinity
