According to their online bio - Flowers of Hell are a trans-Atlantic rock orchestra made up of 16 or so experimental independent musicians consisting of members based in Toronto and London. There's something about the word trans-Atlantic that makes it all the more intriguing (not that the name 'Flowers of Hell' isn't intriguing enough). Trans-Atlantic, oddly makes me think about the word inter-galactic - they're in the same word family, right? Hyphenated location terms aside - interstingly, one way that you can describe music by the band is it's space-age, symphonic space rock. If this genre's never existed before, or has existed, but never been aptly named, Flowers Of Hell would be one of flagship groups to represent it. Not only do they have the groove and feel of being in the Starship Enterprise, but NASA hearts them - as proven by this cool video of the Discovery launch to the music of Flowers of Hell, made by one of the members of NASA's shuttle launch team.
This week, the band's very own Greg Jarvis was kind enough to take a stab at answering our daunting questions for Fresh from the Post. The following is our little Q and A about the group, which somewhat diverts to an anthropological book referral, a brief introduction to motorik and how forming a band is like a one night stand that somehow turned into a steady relationship.
posted by Cris on May 23, 2009 9:31 AM
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After a couple of weeks of absence, we're happily back to our regularly scheduled posts here at the Indie Music Database. The well deserved mental health day, became a week... and another, and has now resulted in this week's list (and as always, it's still late for Friday). Since my entry about my top 5 break-up songs was a big hit, I've decided to do another similar themed one. This one deals with heartbreak, not the romantic kind, but more of the other kind of heartbreak - like maybe the kind that you feel when you're laid off from work after 4 long years of loyalty and servitude. It's actually the 'in' thing right now - and I opt to be timely ;)
One could say, a job is like a relationship - and it is. Even when it comes to the bitter end and you feel that you're not appreciated anymore, it always hurts to be the dumpee. Then again, in the end, a job is still just a job, then it's business as usual. Time to move on and find a new one. However, it doesn't hurt to get some mood music on to ease away the pain. 1. LCD Soundsystem - New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down
I'm amazed at how many great songs there are that have New York in it. There's always so much passion for this city. For this song however, it's all about disappointment. Though as a lot of people say, you can't be that disappointed if you don't care so much. May it be a place like New York, a person that you know or even the company you work at - this song applies to anyone who's been disenchanted at one point in their lives. Just replace 'New York' with said place or person and you get a personal song for that someone, someplace or something that you once loved. It's a song for the recently brokenhearted, calm and blues-y, the song just sets the mood oh-so-perfectly.
After the initial shock of heartbreak, sombre and solemn usually comes to the point of emotional. The Maccabees 'Lego' is a pour your heart out type of song. It's actually about a family being broken apart, but the emotional lyrics, and Orlando Weeks' soulful delivery just tugs at your heartstrings making it fitting for your mood. His occasional wails of 'oh!' actually feels like your heart crying out. With equally passion filled lyrics, you might find yourself signing along to the part when he says 'we'll hold on'.
Also a plus - if anything lego related reminds you of your object of heartbreak it's definitely the song for you.
I've posted this song before . Though I do hate it when I re-use songs for a new list (since we are in the business of introducing new songs). This is one song that should never be absent from a heartbreak songs list. A calm after the emotional storm song, with this one, you just want to get away from the situation as far as you could and forget. Though, if you do find yourself stuck for a couple months or so - this song is a perfect song to keep you company.
So you're already calm, you've accepted the facts behind the said cause of heartbreak and you need a really nice song. 'Last Words' is the song to do it. It's one of the loveliest songs I've heard in a while - which makes you think like it's a falling in love kind of song. In truth, it's actually breakup song. It recounts the day of the breakup - a sweet and ordinary day at the laundromat. There's a bit of sadness in there, but then, you get a more of the - it's-better-this-way kind of feel - which makes it all the more okay.
According to this song, The Wombats have found a cure to a broken heart: by dancing to Joy Division. Though I do love Joy Division and sometimes find comfort in listening to 'Love Will Tear Us Apart', I actually find dancing to the song that suggests dancing to Joy Division as a cure to a broken heart, a better cure for a broken heart. I bet if The Wombats were born earlier and released this song when Joy Division was still Joy Division, Ian Curtis would never have offed himself and lived a long a full life. But then again we wouldn't have had New Order - a band who's songs I've danced my sorrows away to, for many a summer ( 'Bizzare Love Triangle' and 'Regret' - oh the memories!).
Heartbreak aside, many of us still have mounds of stuff to worry about. Like the eternal problem of money for one. But then again, a fresh break means a new start. I'm itching to find out exactly - what does the future hold? In the meantime, I'll probably dance to The Wombats instead.
Charlotte and Magon is a duo with a unique background - one hails from France, while the other from Israel. Their meeting reads like a modern love story: the two met online, got together to create an album and fell in love in the process. I got a chance to hold a short Q & A for the twosome who took some time off from their touring schedule to answer my questions:
How did you guys start out? I know you guys met online, and finally met in person after two years of communication. What drew you to each other?
C&M : We met on a musical network.
C : After listening to Magon's music on this network, I sent him a long mail about what I was feeling about it and not about technical musical talking or just a "thanks like your sound blabla". It was for me the beginning of going on the web for musical networking, so I was really careful with what I was discovering and his music was so funny, delightful, original, playful and effective. Than he told me he was beginning composing music just since couple of months and I began to be more interested. But it was just musical and friendship. After few mails, weeks and life going by, we begun to chat and really become close virtual friends. Maybe he was fantasizing about talking to a french singer, but for me, it was quite serious. I was calling him my "virtual friend" to my people.
M : At the time, Charlotte seemed like a fantasy because she seemed to be so energetic, full of life and curious. I always tried to make my friendships concretely cooperative with my new creations. So after one year and a half of communication, I asked Charlotte to sing for my next album and sometimes she was more serious in the way she was talking about it through the internet and than I felt easily for the first time our artistical parallel ways. I think that what Charlotte liked is that... C : He was quite young - and making things happened so fast and with such passion. I was quite admiring him as a musical and creative thing, especially when I received his CD. He was talking to me a lot about it to me on the chats I was also sending him voices for it. But here in my hand it was quite real... A nice cover, a refreshing music with short crazy songs, nice ideas, good production, young but so promising... And horrible presentation letters. ahaha. He was not showing off at all even if he was always talking giantly about his work.
M : When I asked Charlotte to come to Israel to make a romantic pop album with me, I didn't know if it's ok to ask that and if I was serious, and when I saw that she was into the idea, I found it so cool.
Considering that you two come from different cultural backgrounds - in the songs that you've made for the album, Love Happening, what were your influences?
C&M : So for the songs of Love Happening, we were influenced by what was happening in our lives at that moment (our meeting and the fact we were falling in love) and by a musical general background in our mind created by friendships, discoverings, passions...
If you could pick a few songs to share, which songs would you like us to share to our readers? Can you tell us a little bit about them?
This song is the end of the album, the ninth one and it's really meaningful for us. Conceptually, the whole album talks about a love being happening, beginning, whatever. For this song, we imagined us as an old couple faced with the separation that death represents. For us, it was just being separated by the distance. It could be a lots of things that could separate two persons really connected and loving each other. The album is quite light and fantasized of a love in the 70's with a sepia touch in the picture (this grain of visual Magon chose for the cover), but this one was more "serious", deep, musically complex. The longest also, the slowest and the fastest (for the outro). Maybe an opening way to the next project we're thinking of...
During the composition of the songs, we were sharing also a daily normal life : eating, sleeping, going out for a walk, toilets... We realised we had some kind of phobia, normal human fears, those dark side that everyone has and that even with your most professional collegues you begin to share just because we are close for long and intense periods of work. Everyone could be a maniac cause unstability of mind is human, and what also rules the world. We realised also that every kind of creation and deep and good human relationship can make this unstability creative and positive or could even be cured... We called that song Howard, thinking of Howard Hughes - this genius and so crazy guy.
Love Happening is truly a romantic album. The songs ooze with sex appeal - think of it as the perfect background music for a private candelit dinner for two, but with an experimental kind of twist which takes it a bit on the edgy side. Of course Charlotte's vocals lends a lot to the romantic appeal - who can say 'no' to sultry vocals with a French accent? Their unique chemistry shows in their music, which is passion filled. But like all great partnerships, do they have what it takes to keep the music playing? In any case, I hope that the fire that ignited Charlotte and Magon to create such wonderful tunes won't burn out so easily, they do make such great music together.
You can check out other tracks from their album at their MySpace page or download the full album at eMusic.
We're back again with the Friday list, that never does go out on Friday anyway, but sometime between late late Friday and early Sunday.This was supposed to go out next week, but then, in the life of a music blogger (who most likely does this kind of thing on the side), life gets in the way sometimes. But we persist! Posting is an itch that must be scratched. My analogy might be odd, but my purpose, true.
Now for the list.
I dedicate this list to my precocious 6 year old son, who lately, has picked up the habit of saying 'Oh darn it!' every chance he gets. I don't mind actually - it's pretty clean. Though, conservative people might not approve (as they say, it's a gateway swear word), but for an autistic kid who tells me he wants to kill me and burn me when he's angry (yes, he doesn't know the implications) - this replacement expression, that sums all the anger up, is quite welcome. I just need to watch out if in case he graduates to the more complex, adult words that these next few artists were ever so kind enough to use in their brilliant songs.
1. The Maccabees - Latchmere
Since we're gearing up for summer, I thought I'd throw in one of my favorite summer activity related songs from The Maccabees - who, despite their name, have songs that are neither religious nor biblical. Latchmere is a song about their favorite Battersea leisure centre, which has a pool that has a wave machine. I've posted this song before, but it deserves a second show - I've never been so moved by a song about swimming pools before. In fact, it's made with astounding passion, that they actually spurt out an expletive once.
Latchmere
Offending line: Came out of the changing room and absolutely f*ck all had changed
2. Suburban Kids with Biblical Names - Trumpets and Violins
These suburban kids with biblical names, also have nothing to do with the Bible and religion, and they swear too. I think I'm seeing a pattern now.
Their lovely song is about hope in life in a world where violins and trumpets play.
Trumpets and Violins
Offending Line: I've seen your eyes more sad than this, so f*ck the shit and sign the list
I love this band, despite the fact that they sometimes use the glockenspiel too much that my ears hurt from listening. Their songs are lyrically creative. You definitely need to listen to the words closely if you want to truly appreciate this band. We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed is from their newest album with the same name. The line with the swear words isn't the only offending line in the song, which just goes on to prove that you can creatively express your anger, without the use of expletives. The song is a tale of a broken heart, which is articulately expressed in the last lines: 'I cannot emphasise enough that my body is a badly designed, poorly put together vessel / Harbouring these diminishing, so-called 'vital organs' / Hope my heart goes first /I HOPE MY HEART GOES FIRST!'. That, I would say, is anger and heartbreak in it's purest form.
We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
Offending line: Oh, we kid ourselves there's future in the f*cking, but there's no f*cking future
I can't get away from posting Belle and Sebastian songs can I? This song is proof that hard rocking bands aren't the only ones that can have a parental advisory sticker in their album. This girly song, is a song sung by a guy from a girl's perspective. Whenever I hear this song, it always reminds me of how Stuart Murdoch looks like Christopher Reeve when they performed this for BBC Scotland. It's like imagining, what if Clark Kent fronted an indie-pop band instead of working for the Daily Planet?
Dress Up In You
Offending line: I swear and I rant, I make quite an arrival / The men are surprised by the language / They act so discreet, they are hypocrites, so f*ck them too!
Tullycraft is twee as f*ck and that's what this song is all about. This rockin' lo-fi song actually has the expletive in the chorus - but it doesn't deter to it's catchy, pop-y cuteness.
Twee
Offending line: Well you can keep the punk rock, ska, rap beats and house / F*ck me i'm twee
And this, ends our foray into the potty mouths of the indie music scene. I could've put more angsty songs in the list, which you'll kind of expect to have more of those kinds of words - but expletives sound better when they're least expected right?
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According to their online bio - Flowers of Hell are a trans-Atlantic rock orchestra made up of 16 or so experimental independent musicians consisting of members based in Toronto and London. There's something about the word trans-Atlantic that makes it all the more intriguing (not that the name 'Flowers of Hell' isn't intriguing enough). Trans-Atlantic, oddly makes me think about the word inter-galactic - they're in the same word family, right? Hyphenated location terms aside - interstingly, one way that you can describe music by the band is it's space-age, symphonic space rock. If this genre's never existed before, or has existed, but never been aptly named, Flowers Of Hell would be one of flagship groups to represent it. Not only do they have the groove and feel of being in the Starship Enterprise, but NASA hearts them - as proven by this cool video of the Discovery launch to the music of Flowers of Hell, made by one of the members of NASA's shuttle launch team.
Mike on Fresh from the Post Tuesdays : We Swim You Jump
Jocelyn31Lara on Modern Time Travel by The Rest
Boowy Buan on High School Crushes and Unrequited Love