Phantom Limb
If you were Frankensteining Yolanda Quartey’s voice in a lab, you’d take equal parts Aretha Franklin and Dolly Parton, a dash of Tina Turner, and a spoonful of Janis Joplin.
On a map, you might pick a spot south of Mowtown and north of Nashville — but you’d be off by an ocean. Quartey, and the band she fronts, Phantom Limb, are from Bristol, England.
Phantom Limb formed in 2004, and released their self-titled debut album in 2008. In 2010, they published a performance set, “Live in Bristol.”
“The Pines” (2012) is their third album, twelve tracks written on the road, on location in rural France and back home in Bristol. The results were then produced by Marc Ford (The Black Crowes) in just nine days at Compound Studio in Signal Hill, CA.
This track is from 2009: Director Daf Palfrey sets the band in the basement of an abandoned office building. The acoustics were probably good, but the scene is gritty, even the piano is a beat-up relic. The song showcases the vocal power Yolanda Quartey says began when she was five.
This one is sad. You know that feeling you have when someone’s about to confess something, but you’ve already heard the truth…. Yeah, that kind of sad.
This song is the one that makes me think of Janis Joplin. Recorded in Bristol for the BBC, the clip shows us the band at work in a studio-like setting.
For more from Phantom Limb, find them online:
Web: http://phantomlimbmusic.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PLBandUK
Twitter: https://twitter.com/phantomlimbband
POSTSCRIPT: This band has broken up. The music they recorded is still available.
