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Worldes Blysse | 
| Artist: Mediaeval Baebes
Label: Venture
Category: Music
List Price: £8.99
Buy New: £4.98
You Save: £4.01 (45%)
New (32) Used (5) from £2.95
Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 8240
Media: Audio CD
Running Time: 40
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 46672
UPC: 724384667221
EAN: 0724384667221
ASIN: B00002469J
Release Date: October 19, 1998
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Tracks:
| • | All Turns To Yesterday | | • | Waylayway | | • | When Thy Turuf Is Thy Tour | | • | So Sprecht Das Laben | | • | Kinderley | | • | Love Me Broughta | | • | Beatrice | | • | C'est La Fin | | • | How Death Comes | | • | Erthe Upon Erthe | | • | Swete Sonne | | • | Pearl | | • | Alba | | • | La Volte | | • | Passing Thus Alone | | • | Ecci Mundi |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
Following on from the success of Salva Nos, the Baebes. return with their second opus. Even more teasingly packaged than. previously (the artwork features the Baebes glowering enticingly through. swathes of pre-Raphaelite drapery), Worldes Blysse contains the. same mix of settings of mediaeval lyrics and literature in the reconstructed style of the fifteenth century as before, plus a couple of rediscovered originals. As with Salva Nos, the Baebes are (not yet) a band of Emma Kirkbys, nor are they the suggestive, siren-esque travelling players their image might suggest. Again, almost overly perfect performance and recording, somewhat irrationally detract from. any (unprovable) notions of authenticity, although thankfully Salva. Nos's over-bearing reverberating acoustic (an electronic addition, one suspects) is largely absent. Indeed, Worldes Blysse is a much more relaxed, fun and natural sounding collection, none more so in the two standout tracks: "Passing Thus Alone"--an elegantly simple unadorned. solo beautifully sung by Karen Lupton--and the sprightly yet stately courtly instrumental of "La Volta". --Robert Heller
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| Customer Reviews:
Classical Snobs Need Not Apply - But Everyone Else Will Think It's Magical December 13, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
A lot of people dislike the Medieval Baebes for being supposedly pretentious and beloved by pseudo-romantic Goth types - but that's basically just musical snobbery. I mean, come on - with a name like 'The Medieval Baebes', who's stupid enough to actually think they're aiming to appeal to lifelong Medieval Music scholars?
Really, you get far more out of them if you stop thinking of them in relation to other classical music and just love them for what they are - which is accessible, charming and unpretentious Medieval-esque choral loveliness.
The middle-english (or occasionally Latin) lyrics will probably not make sense to your average listener - (best to look at the sleeve notes before you attempt a sing-along!), but if you're familiar with the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, John Gowere, William Dunbar etc, you'll start to spot the patterns in the language. You certainly don't need to know any middle-english to appreciate this, though - just listening to the overall, faery-like, dreamy effect is more than enough.
The tone and pace of the music is quite varied - some tracks are fast, slightly folky (anyone who likes traditional Scottish/Irish Ceilidh music might spot the odd link here) and with an almost dance-able beat, others are ethereal, slow, lamentation-type songs ('Swete Sonne' for one). I've heard other Baebes cds work in a bit more of an electronic, synthesiser feel to the music, but this seems to be made with almost exclusively traditional folky instruments and straightforward singing.
Virtually all of it has a basically religious Christian theme, but that's just symptomatic of the thought of the Medieval age. If you're narrow-minded or easily-offended by that kind of thing, this isn't the CD for you - personally, I'm a pagan and I don't find the Christian themes at all preachy or even noticeable, I'm too busy listening being absorbed by the overall magical feel of it. 'Kinderley' is probably the best track here - a charming little ditty about how life's painful and we're all going to die. :) I love it because it reminds me to make the most of the day and use my precious time wisely - it's ultimately a very positive, upbeat message. The music tends to just make you thoughtful and calm, rather than saddening you or actively cheering you up (although it's not bland enough to quite be chillout music, it's pretty laid-back overall - DON'T try and get a party started with this CD, it really won't work)
As for their singing talent...it's not incredible (none of the Baebes are exactly going to be singing operatic solos anytime soon), but beleive me, I attended an all-girls school with it's own chamber-music choir, and I KNOW what a horrible, untalented voice sounds like, and the Baebes really aren't that bad! All of their voices suit the music perfectly, and bar one or two rather odd voices (the narrator on 'So Spricht Das Leben' is an acquired taste), the singing has a lovely, peculiarly straightforward sweetness to it. Their voices actually have CHARACTER, which is unusual in this age where reality tv popstars get picked for their ability to whack out notes in identical mock-american accents. They may not have an incredible vocal range, but their voices are pure, wholesome, beautifully dreamy and sound like they're absolutely captivated by what they're singing. I think that's very commendable.
Basically, the Medieval Baebes are perfect if you're usually into pop, rock or goth and want something totally out-of-the-ordinary. It's almost certainly not going to sound like anything already in your CD collection!
This is great.... November 14, 2000
20 out of 22 found this review helpful
The mediaeval baebes second album seems to be deeper in content than Salva Nos: the purity of the vocals remains, but the songs have more complex arrangements & instrumental parts. In particular, the song 'Kinderly' is very special
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