Songs
From The GypsyHere's a collection of things that people have said about the band in print and online over the past few years. Listen for yourself and see what you think.
For other perspectives, you'll find a number of show reviews (and lots of miscellaneous chatter) in the Leadheads mailing list archives.
Songs
From The Gypsy
Antler
Danceindividual articles follow
January 29, 1996
Intro: Boiled In Lead, a folk/rock band based in Minneapolis has a new album called "Songs from the Gypsy." Anne Williams has this review.
Boiled In Lead has been bringing folk music to a rock audience since 1983. Through the years and several personnel changes, the group has evolved from a band which featured mostly rocked out versions of Irish music to a premeire world music band. Boiled In Lead is known for its innovation in combining rock, folk and a variety of music from around the world in one piece. Most of the material on the new album called "Songs from the Gypsy" was written by Adam Stemple and Steven Brust.
(song: The Gypsy)
This album takes the listener on a fairy tale journey. The characters were taken out of a old Hungarian folk tale and set loose through these songs in our modern world. After the songs were performed for a while in the Minneapolis area, writers Steven Brust and Megan Lindholm were inspired to write a full length novel, based on the characters in these songs. This album is the soundtrack to that novel, "The Gypsy." Raven, Owl and Dove are the three gypsy brothers.
(song: Raven, Owl, and I)
The songs introduce the listener to the characters and some plot lines. In the beginning of the novel and songs, the gypsy brother, Dove, finds himself in a snowy Ohio winter. He is faced with many challenges. He loses his memory, is accused of murder and has lost his two bothers, Raven and Owl. Other lively characters from the novel are introduced in the song cycle: a fortune teller, the police on the murder case and the gypsy's arch-enemy, ironically named "the Fair Lady."
(song: The Fair Lady)
Boiled In Lead's name may sound medieval, but their songs don't. The group cranks some of these tunes through tube driven distortion; others are completely acoustic. As in previous projects Boiled In Lead adds blues riffs and heavy metal guitar licks to the music to create a smorgasbord of sounds and feelings. True to its folk nature the band adds a Hungarian traditional tune brilliantly played by Josef Kessler.
(song: Ugros [Springtime])
Excellent musicianship and a twist on folk music makes each project that Boiled In Lead releases a full meal for listener's ears. This CD also involves the eyes since the owner can put it into an IBM or MAC computer and read along with the CD ROM version of the novel, "The Gypsy."
Boiled In Lead has given us many firsts. This multimedia, folk CD - complete with an interesting mix of graphics, text and music - maintains Boiled In Lead as one of the most innovative world beat bands today.
Anne Williams hosts a folk music show at member station WYSO, in Yellow Springs, Ohio.
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June 1995
(Producer's note: CD manufacturers have developed a hybrid
between audio CDs and CD-ROMs called the CD-Plus, which run interchangably in
audio players and CD-ROM units. Look for coverage of the growing phenomenon in
the August issue of Medio Magazine.)
By JON SINGER, Medio Magazine
Boiled In Lead "Songs from 'The Gypsy'" (Omnium Recordings)
Boiled in Lead is a vanguard Worldbeat group. "Songs from 'The Gypsy'," their fifth CD release and sixth album overall, cooks. But then, Boiled in Lead always cooks. The band has been around for twelve years, through various personnel changes, and now consists of Drew Miller (the remaining original member) on bass and dulcimer, Robin "Adnan" Anders on drums, Josef Kessler on fiddle, and Adam Stemple on guitar and vocals.
With one exception ("Ugros (Springtime)", a traditional Hungarian melody), the songs on this album are by Adam Stemple and Steven Brust. Brust is one of the authors of "The Gypsy," the book to which the album ties. (The other is Megan Lindholm, who has written a number of excellent fantasy novels, including "Wizard of the Pigeons.") Brust is no stranger to Worldbeat: he was the drummer of Cats Laughing, another Minneapolis-based band. He's no stranger to fantasy fiction, either, having written a few too many novels to list here.
"Songs from 'The Gypsy'" is not exactly a departure, but if you've heard only "From the Ladle to the Grave," you're in for at least a few surprises. Adam Stemple's vocals are sometimes smooth and sometimes gruff-and-gritty. They and his guitar work are just the right amalgam for this sound. Only some composer/performers can write songs that they themselves should perform; Stemple is clearly one who can. Josef Kessler's fiddle swoops, floats, croons, begs, demands, and screams. His dynamic range is just outstanding. Drew Miller's solid basslines and Robin Anders's astonishingly versatile percussion are the rock upon which all of this is built, the long-term guts of the group. (Anders has been with BiL almost since the beginning.)
In addition to BiL's extremely welcome sound, the CD-ROM portion of the disk includes the entire text of "The Gypsy." Every place in the book where a song is referred to, there's a pointer to a sound file, and the disk contains both QuickTime for the Mac and QTW for Windows. In all, 92 megabytes of data are here for your delectation on either major platform, to say nothing of the music. The price, by the way, does not reflect the extra material -- this album sells for a regular music-CD price.
Copyright 1995, Medio Multimedia, Inc. Portions Copyright The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved. Portions Copyright The Los Angeles Times Syndicate.
Spring 1996
Songs From the Gypsy
Performed by Boiled in Lead
First I heard the music, and it's great. I assumed, rightly or wrongly, that Boiled In Lead is a Celtic-based rock band, and I was thoroughly impressed with the total sound, aggressive and full-bodied but controlled enough to show the talent behind the energy. Some blues, some folk, and some fine rock and roll including one of the best long songs to come along in a while. That song - the title cut - is eight minutes of pure rock and roll buildup centered on some perfect Neil Young guitar stylings that provide plenty of firepower. By itself it's worth the price of admission; in combination with nine other good songs, the bargain is sealed, even if it is a soundtrack.
Weeks later I finally read the liner notes and learned that this wasn't a soundtrack after all - it is a "booktrack." These songs were written to accompany a book titled, obviously, The Gypsy. The explanation also indicated that what I assumed was Celtic is actually meant to be Hungarian; I'm okay with that. The liner notes, in the end, were interesting but not so interesting that they added significantly to the value of the disc.
But then... I noticed a little note on the back that said there was multimedia available on the disc, so I popped it into the computer, and all of a sudden I had direct access to each song, the lyrics, notes, and ... the story! It's a smooth, easy-to-use system that incorporates the lyrics into the text along with the accompanying sound clip. It's clever, it's well-implemented, and it's the first thing of its kind I've seen. To see how the lyrics tie into a story is the perfect use of the capabilities of multimedia. It's like seeing into the artist's mind and seeing all the surrounding material that goes into the creation of the tighter, more cryptic lyrics.
Music is literature when it's done well, and to combine music with a standard literary form like the novel is an exciting step. If you don't own an MPC or Macintosh computer, the dual format of "The Gypsy" won't mean much to you yet, but if you do or if you upgrade, the complete package is truly impressive. However, just as a sound disc, it's also excellent. From the sheer sonic quality of the recording itself to the quality of the songs and performances, it's a powerful piece of work. Get "The Gypsy" for the music first, but if you have a compatible computer, don't waste time booting it up on your computer screen.
Key Personnel: Josef Kessler - fiddle; Adam Stemple - guitar, vocals; Robin Anders - percussion; Drew Miller - bass, dulcimer. Produced by: Adam Stemple
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New World Music, August 7, 1995
By Cliff Furnald
Summer Shorts: The stream has been overflowing its banks, with more plastic, good, bad, and indifferent, pouring through the mail slot than any other summer in memory. Hence, I would be remiss if I didn't make room for a numbner of good records that might otherwise pass you by.
BOILED IN LEAD has always had a spilt personality, part Mustaphas worshippers, part heavy metal band, part Celt folk rockers. The group's much-awaited new album (actually an album/novel/CD-ROM) is no less confused, and no less wonderful for the confusion. Hard Balkan rock gives way to American blues, Irish jigs, and then back into the fuzz box zone. Songs From The Gypsy (Omnium, P.O. Box 7367, Minneapolis, MN 55407) is based on the novel by Steven Brust, a songwriter in his own right, and the mix here is unique. Now if they can only explain to me how to get the CD-ROM part to work!
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Louisville, KY, August 2, 1995
Music DISCussions
By Cary Stemle
Songs from the Gypsy, Boiled in Lead (Omnium). Here are the essential elements of Boiled in Lead: four white kids from Minneapolis, hard rock, world music, punk, folk. Guitars, fiddles, electric dulcumer, Egyptian instruments. Rags, reels, Bosnian folk tunes in 13/8 time. Two recent albums: the CD-i Gypsy and 1994's Antler Dance, the latter including a demonized version of "State Trooper" from Springsteen's Nebraska. The writing and playing are uniformly taut. The singer's name is Stemple, which, according to my cousin's genealogy charts, means we may be related. (So maybe you don't need to know that.) More important, BiL will attempt to achieve alchemy Aug. 8. At the Cherokee.
Issue #58 -- June/July 1995
By Michael Parrish (St. Charles, IL)
Boiled in Lead
Songs From The Gypsy
Omnium OMM2013 (1995)
Boiled in Lead are the latest Celtoid group to jump on the science fiction/fantasy book tie-in, with this set of tunes "associated with" The Gypsy, a novel by Stephen Brust and Megan Lindholm. Brust was singer-guitarist Adam Stemple's bandmate in another aggregation, Cats Laughing, and all the songs on the album save one are Stemple-Brust compositions. Compared to the Pangean venturings of previous BiL albums, The Gypsy's roots seem firmly planted in the British Isles, with a short detour into the Balkans on the fiddle instrumental, "Ugros." They sound a lot like unplugged Tull on pieces like "Raven, Owl and I" and "No Passenger," then rock with fiery intensity on "Leanan Sidhe." Stemple is a flexible and expressive (if a bit gruff) singer and a fine guitarist, whether he's playing funky blues riffs on "The Gypsy," or an electric meltdown as at the end of "Hide My Track." The album's tunes do form a song cycle of sorts, apparently about some urban outlaw of the future, but they don't entirely make sense out of the context of the novel. The project is an enjoyable BiL release, but I'd like to hear a bit more from fiddler Josef Kessler and percussionist Robin Anders (who seems to be absent on several tracks on The Gypsy) next time out.
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issue 42, june 8, 1995
REVIEWS: Recent Omnium releases
By Jon Steltenpohl
Boiled in Lead - Antler Dance and Songs from the Gypsy
When something achieves "cult" status, it's due to the fact that despite greatness, the general public hasn't had the chance to experience it. Such is certainly the case with Boiled in Lead. For over 10 years, Boiled in Lead has been one of Minneapolis's beloved live bands, but it has been hard for them to break away from their regional status. This is a shame because their mix of traditional American tunes, world rhythms, and rock anthems deserves a much larger audience.
1994's Antler Dance is an eclectic mix of "good 'ol fiddle" tunes, Bulgarian dances, and bar songs a la the Replacements. What is most impressive about Antler Dance is that no matter what style is being tackled, Boiled in Lead pulls it off as if all they played was that type of music. It takes a few listens before Antler Dance really takes ahold, but once it does, you'll know it.
Songs from The Gypsy is a CD-ROM and album in one. The CD-ROM portion is the book, The Gypsy, is a dark, mystical tale of a gypsy and a series of mysterious crimes. The album contains songs that were co-written by Boiled in Lead's lead singer, Adam Stemple and the co-author of The Gypsy, Steven Brust during the same period that the novel was written.
The album features a side of Boiled in Lead that comes close to a classic rock sound. Shades of Mason Proffit and the Allman Brothers merge with the Boiled in Lead sound in a refreshingly new style. Songs from The Gypsy is perfect for the music lover who likes classic roots rock but is tired of hearing the same old songs. Boiled in Lead animates and adds soul to every note and tune they play no matter what the style. They are a rare treasure.
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Last updated
April 26, 1996