FIND ME

This may turn out to be Happy Rhodes swansong. Begun in 2001, this one wasn't completed until 2007 and now she has moved on to other things. If it is, it is a nice ending to her discography. The songs are quite personal and indeed, she even did the album artwork herself. Perhaps getting rid of some personal "demons" by incorporating them into song.

At the beginning of her discography you have just her, her guitar, and a few other instruments. On this one she has brought in a nice array of musicians, including Hansford Rowe of Gong and Gongzilla fame on bass for most of the tracks. Bon Lozaga and Trey Gunn also show up on a track each. I'm not famlilar with the rest of the crew, but they make for a really rich listening experience.

Of course the lyrics and her voice are what make the album really intense. One And Many, inner conflicts. Little Brother, a sibling who died young. Find Me, metaphorically. She Won't Go, another person inside her head. Here And Hereafter, not parting with someone special even after death. Carlie, a guy with "issues" who kills himself and she sees aspects of his personality in her self. Can't Let Go "Of my old place, of my old face, of my old things". Queen, the ego or egomaniac. Treehouse, it's mine "And only those who like me are going to be invited in". The Chosen One, seeing marriages and mulling over being passed over for one. The album wraps up beautifully with Fall, death as falling into sleep.

Why Happy Rhodes is not huge, especially within these pages, is beyond me. After all you can read pages about half less talented Prog wannabees simply repeating the basic formula established by the great 70's ancestors. True that Rhodes had often been comfined to a mere Kate Bush copycat. Oh! So untrue! I mean, Kate's helium inflated voice period is only ONE of her many vocals assets. As (few) other reviewers had mentioned, listening to a typical Happy's song is sometimes like having Bush and Eurythmics' Annie Lennox duetting but exchanging lines often on a dime. And she does it live as well in case some would talk about studio trickery...

Happy Rhodes had a career of one woman shows, selling her self recorded k7's, then after a chance meeting with one Kevin Bartlett, having her work reproduced/re-recorded on a tiny label. One shot at big time with 1998's Many Worlds Are Born Tonight, still nowadays one of my short list's Desert Island. And she still front time to time the Porcaro's Security Project, nailing all the Peter Gabriel repertoire. Now you have a clue: She inhabits not only the voices of both Bush and Gabriel, but their universes and creativities as well. Yet she has a world all of her own, able to produce a one woman recorded work, or show for that matter. Texts very personal often on the verge of sanity. But still, that voice! One ought to hear her "Yes medley", not so actually that a mix within which you have an incredible, out of this world version of "Soon". You could swear you hear both Anderson high tones and Squire's bass frequencies at a glance.

As I'm writing this, as other of my most recent posts, more a tribute to unsung heroes than actual review, "Find Me" from 2007 is her last record out. Maybe tired of singing in the desert but for a dedicated following (look for "the Ectophiles"...), if it has to be her swan song, she came out with a bang. Pretty much in keeping with the contemporary Gabriel's sound, she is, for once, pretty well supported by an uncommon cast of guests. Notables are Hansford Rowe, longtime Moerlen's version of Gong, as for Bon Lozaga also of Brand X's relation. Type her name on any You Tube session, be stunned and go for her Bandcamp page. It's never too late.