Mediaeval Baebes: A Spin-Off of Miranda Sex Garden
It is impossible to talk about Miranda Sex Garden without mentioning the name Mediaeval Baebes. This group was founded by Katharine Blake, who also founded Miranda Sex Garden. There are many similarities besides those that these two bands hold. They are also both from the United Kingdom and both bands have seen major changes over the years regarding the number of members they have and who those members are. There is usually a change for every new album and the number ranges between six and twelve.
The current members of the group are Katharine Blake, Emily Ovenden, Claire Rabbit, Melpomeni Kermanidou, Esther Dee, and Bev Lee Harling. Dorothy Carter was one of the founding members of the group and played up until shortly before her death, which was in 2003, at 68 years of age, from a stroke. There are thirteen past members and the list includes big names such as Ruth Galloway, Melanie Garside, and Rachel Van Asch.
Mediaeval Babes was the band that Katharine Blake busied herself with after her former band, Miranda Sex Garden broke up and went their separate ways. The first album from Mediaeval Baebes, Salva Nos, was released two years after Miranda Sex Garden broke up and their most recent has been a live album that includes two new songs recorded in the studio and is only available from the band directly or at concerts. That album was released in 2006 and is called Mediaeval Baebes.
The music stayed very much in tune with what Miranda Sex Garden once produced. Their sound is very gothic, very dark and reminiscent of medieval times. The language that the words are sung in varies greatly but includes languages such as Latin, Middle English, French, Italian, Russian, Swedish, Gaelic, as well as English. Katharine Blake writes most of their music, just as she had while part of Miranda Sex Garden. The music pays great tribute to the eras from which it came but all albums and every song has its own uniquely modern sound.
It can be said that Mediaeval Babes is a spin-off of Miranda Sex Garden. Their sound is very similar and they were created by the same woman, who also wrote most of the songs for the two groups that she founded. Mediaeval Babes is still producing albums however, Miranda Sex Garden released their last album in 2000, which turned out to be only a brief reunion of the band.