BARKING DOGMA

"Barking Dogma"

M&E 318 (C60, 1995)

Ah, sunshine and sea, California, Kevyn Dymond and his loyal band of merry... er... mostly women. You know Kevyn maybe better known, of late, for his releases under the banner of The Folkoffs, not infrequent visitors to our best sellers charts. Well, Stateside see's Kevyn's newer band on CD now, and he's sneaked us some inlays (ssshhh!) so we can bring yas the tape version. This does have some things in common with The Folkoffs, the fine musicianship for example, and occasional hints of that west coast sound. Let's work through it... the album opens with a type of modern American folk, Ricki Lee Jones with bollocks, and Peggy Martinez's voice is lovely and warm and expressive. Sax, guitar, bass and drums leads us on into bubblegum land, kinda kitsche, shades of Martha & The Muffins. Then cruise through James Brown funk and Blondie rapping, a hint of Fleetwood Mac, like all mellow and growed up. Yes, we're all growed up here. Snigger. Oh, you get some male vocals too, including a nice bittersweet duet, just in case you were wondering. Peggy's back... who does she remind me of, great voice, really sounds like... er... Joni Mitchell... um... Linda Ronstadt... er... Suzanne Vega. So it's like modern American folk rock that goes off on tangents sometimes and always holds a bit of humour in there too, sharp lyrics, and you get one track that's 15½ minutes long and is varied enough to be an album on its own. We like!

Reprinted from "Music & Elsewhere: The Newszine"

 (Fall 1995)

   Barking Dogma - This Is Fiction (15:35)

And finally, to the exceptional musical talents of the man solo, his brilliant take on a popular classic, on which he plays all the parts, as released on the compilation, "M&E Audiozine No. 4" (M&E 434, 1998). Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats for the pièce de résistance...

THE FOLKOFFS

"Godzilla Meets The Housemaid"

M&E 034 (C60, 1991)

This one had me baffled at first listen, it's just too clever, but so rewarding when you get into it. This is the work of our friend Kevyn Dymond and his friends, Messrs. Rieder and Erlandson, and very fine work it is too. There's a superb sense of humour present through the brilliantly played music, check out "Yuppie Joy" with lyrics like "born to be filed"! There's some great flute work throughout, shades of Jethro Tull at their best. I think Frank Zappa's influence must have touched these gentlemen some time, I even heard some west coast Association style vocal harmony at times! Then at the end of side 2; classical soprano recorder... accompanied by burps and farts... need I say more? A work of distinction...

Reprinted from "The Mmattrix"

(No. 4, Spring / Summer 1992)

   The Folkoffs - Coffee Love Jig (4:57)

CYNDE GEHMAN

"Her Strange Soundspears"

M&E 384 (C45, 1997)

To the sunny side of the States now, California, home of "Baywatch", a TV favourite with DIY enthusiasts everywhere! Think about it. Of course, it's also home to the Guaranteed Cleveland empire of Kevyn Dymond, and tis indeed said Kevyn that plays all the instruments for Cynde on this one. As you'd expect from Kevyn, this is rather quirky, offbeat and satirical, full of social comment (lyrics by Cynde, of course), a sort of Joni Mitchell for the 90s. Wry and bitter views of everyday American life accompany some complex electro-acoustic folky type music, one track is sort of Reparata meets Arlo Guthrie at a Jewish wedding, honest! Sadly, Cynde's debut only covered one side of the tape, so we filled the other with a Kevyn Dymond sampler, so ya gets a full length album anyway, bonus stuff by Kevyn Dymond & Mark Shafer, Barking Dogma and The Folkoffs, do we spoil you or what?

Reprinted from "The Music & Elsewhere Newsletter:

Volume 11 - No.1" (Rise 1997)

   Cynde Gehman - I'm So Glad (2:51)

   Kev Orkian - Brandenburg Concerto No.2

(1st Movement) (5:19)

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