Felonious Bosch: New Dark Ages

Sing Out! The Folk Song Magazine, Wntr, 2007 by Ken Roseman

FELONIOUS BOSCH New Dark Ages Omnium 2042

New Dark Ages indeed. Just a modicum of awareness about the world around us will tell you that's an apt label of the times we're living in: environmental destruction, war and our democracy being eroded daily by a government that veers much too closely to authoritarianism.

Felonious Bosch may not be overtly political, but their fusion of early music/ medieval styled melodies with speeded up folk dance rhythms and neo psychedelic rock is indeed music of and for the "new dark ages."

Yep, this is fairly complex stuff with often odd rhythms, but you can still dance to it--Felonious Bosch brings the beating heart of American rock 'n' roll to graceful European traditions in a way that's really quite distinctive--I've heard a lot of "early music"/rock fusions, but no one else has done it quite like this. Bassist Drew Miller and drummer Renee Bracchi provide a steady, energetic bottom underneath Katy Thomasberg's powerful singing and Nemo's dynamic rifting on bouzoukis, cittern and guitar. Thomasberg's vocal style has the force of rock singers like Grace Slick (Jefferson Airplane) and Deborah Harry (Blondie) coupled with the grace of folk divas like Maddy Prior (Steeleye Span).

Thomasberg not only sings all the lead parts but writes the lyrics for Felonious Bosch's original songs. Those lyrics tend to be dark and sardonic, in keeping with the mood created by the music itself.

This is an "enhanced" disc, so all you computer experts out there can view and hear additional material, such as a live video recording of a new FB piece "Baladi." Very different from the rest of the material on New Dark Ages; this is an acoustic piece with a strong Middle Eastern flavor.