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The Mediaeval Baebes are one of world music's treasures. The vocal ensemble's exquisite storybook beauty came to life in 1996 when ex-Miranda Sex Garden chanteuse Katharine Blake aimed to set her fascination with the Middle Ages to music and theater. She and 11 additional musicians and singers — Miranda Sex Garden's Teresa Casella, Audrey Evans, comic writer Marie Findley, Nicole Frobusch, Ruth Galloway, Karen Lupton, Claire Ravel, Australian native Cylindra Sapphire, Carmen Schneider, Nichole Sleet, and New Zealander Rachel Van Asch — defined a contemporary musical approach while incorporating Middle Ages Paganism and spiritual moods and sentiments.
Great Britain's pagan/early music/sensualist ensemble the Mediæval Bæbes released the group's first-ever holiday album — Mistletoe and Wine (their 5th album release). Ex-Miranda Sex Garden leader Katharine Blake steers the group through 15 Latin, Welsh, Italian, French, and English — as in Old English — yuletide standards. All of the songs, except for "The Holly and the Ivy" and "Dulce Jubilo," are culled from previous releases. Besides the occasional flourish of flute, harp, drum, and lute, these lovely secular and non-secular songs are for the most part performed a cappella. Highlights include the lush "Coventry Carol" and a beautiful rendition of the Latin chant "Gaudete," made famous by English folk-rock pioneers Steeleye Span in 1972. This is not just an anthology of joyous festival music — the babes can get downright spooky, especially on tracks like "Undrentide" — it's an often somber examination of pre-Santa Claus holiday piety. The gorgeous closer, "Blow Northern Wind," erases some of that gloom, brings the wheel back around, and sets things right with its dreamy Enya-like lucidity. The production is crisp and clear, and the tracks are paced flawlessly, making Mistletoe and Wine: A Seasonal Collection a cut above the usual Christmas pap.
Tracks
1. The Holly & The Ivy (3:08)
2. Gaudete (2:19)
3. L'Amour De Moi (3:37)
4. Salva Nos (2:58)
5. Glass Window (2:38)
6. There Is No Rose Of Swych Vertu (2:41)
7. Kinderly (1:54)
8. In Dulce Jubilo (2:21)
9. Love Me Broughte (3:03)
10. I Am Eve (3:39)
11. Quan Vey La Lauzeta (3:12)
12. The Coventry Carol (4:26)
13. Undrentide (4:48)
14. Ecce Mundi Gaudium (1:56)
15. Blow Northern Wind (6:16)
