Miro
I really can't remember the first time I saw Miró. I think it was 1989 at the Troubador in Earl's Court, London. I almost certainly went there to see Sonja Kristina (ex Curved Air and subject of one of my other pages).
At that time there was a small group of acoustic acts performing individually or as part of the line up of an 'Acoustic night' in a number of London pubs and other usually slightly bizarre venues (I once saw Sonja Kristina and Tylor perform in the crypt of a church in South East London).
Roddie, Miró's lead singer, lyricist and apparent driving force was certainly impressive. Julian the violin player was excellent. I had already seen him previously, supporting Sonja Kristina at the Bull's Head, Clapham, and other venues. Julia on Cello and backing vocals was also obviously talented.
Some months later the band did a sort of show piece performance to a largish audience in Bloomsbury, London.
To the best of my knowledge they issued two CDs under the label name Secret Heart.
Angel N1
the Grain of the Voice
I enjoyed the first of these 'Angel N1' the most. If you can find it, my favourite tracks are 'Mother Courage', 'Secret Snakes', 'Portsmouth the beautiful', 'The devil and the Lord' and finally 'Back to the Start' (but only for it's Indian style intro).
However I also enjoyed 'the Grain of the Voice'. For me the best track is 'I breathed out', in which the backing vocals sound like panting, Julia panting the loudest, presumably breathing out.
Since writing the above I have received the following discograpghy, kindly supplied by Gianpaolo Banelli, of Italy, who informs me that Miro were also popular there.
- ANGEL N1 (LP/MC) o 1/90 ? (Secret Heart SH 2008 - 02/90) reissued (Secret Heart SH 2008 CD - 07/90)
"Galileo/Six Stars/Mother Courage/Secret Snakes/Black Sky/Portsmouth The Beautiful/The Familiar Unfamiliar/Palace Of Seasickness/The Devil And The Lord/Back To The Start"
- THE GRAIN OF THE VOICE (CD/LP/MC) (Secret Heart SH 5008 - 05/92)
"Belsize Park/Land Of God/Fishing For Dreams/Urban Dreaming/Bible Weed/The New American/Primrose Hill/Scratch/Alphabet Hands/Beeswax Honey/The Grain Of The Voice/I Breathed Out"
- THE SOUTH WRAXALL BOOTLEG SESSION '94 (MC only)(Secret Heart - 00/94)
"Red Mouth/Weight Of The Earth/Malie/Siamese Twins/Sea Shanty/ Mermaid Song//Seven/Sea Of Gold/Reynard The Fox/Blues n°1/Miracle Boy/Sleep Around Your Feet"
- THE CIRCUS OF ELECTRIFYING POSSIBILITIES (CD/MC) 500 copies (Secret Heart SH 7008 - 11/94)
"Sex Catastrophe Chaos/Badger Song/Blues n°1/Seven/Reynard The Fox/ The Mermaid Song/Weight Of The Earth/Beautiful Skin/Funk n°1/Nylon Food/The Snow and The Ice/Miracle Boy"
- GREETINGS FROM THE GOLBORNE RD.(7" EP) (Secret Heart SH 30008 - 07/90)
"Urban Dreaming/The New American/I Breathed Out/Primrose Hill"
- THE DIVINE EP (Secret Heart SH 6008 CD - 03/94)
"The Divine/Necklace Of Light/Beautiful Skin/Snow & The Ice/Funk n°1"
- "The World In Maps/Great Dominions" (7") (Secret Heart SH 40008 - 00/91)
RODDIE HARRIS:
- MY LIFE INSIDE THE DOG COSTUME (MC - 16 copies) (Secret Heart - 10/95)
"Is Love Enough/She Is The One/Cars Crash Through Trees/Talk About Love/Wonderwall/Dog Costume/Life Is Normal/Star Demons/Miracle Boy/ I Love You Absolutely"
Updated January 2008
Thanks to Chris for the email alerting me to this Miro performance on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4WUeovbEVs