Black Tape for a Blue Girl
Country of origin:
U.S.
Type of music generally:
Ethereal Goth
Status:
Most recent release, With a Million Tear-Stained Memories: Highlights 1986-2003 (2-CD compilation, 2020); most recent release of original material, To Touch the Milky Way (EP, 2018)
See also:
Black Tape for a Blue Girl's site
Comparisons:
Dead Can Dance, other Projekt bands
Covers/own material:
Own
General comments:
they're a goth band. as in old goth, dead can dance-esque. good for mopey days. i have one album of theirs, very medieval, intriguing. (sketches@earthlink.net)black tape for a blue girl is sam rosenthal and whomever he has in the studio with him at any particular time. many of the vocalists on the albums are women, but there are a number of men who have sang for sam as well. oscar may be the most well-known, but padraic ogl of thanatos (another projekt band) has too. a lot of people like black tape, but i find them incessantly boring. they are the epitome of the ethereal sound—swells of swirling sounds with floating female vocals—but i feel no emotion in their music. it's just there. (woj@smoe.org)
I also have been into Black Tape For A Blue Girl for many years. After buying Remnants of a Deeper Purity, tho', I decided I just couldn't take Oscar's voice anymore. No matter how beautiful the music is, he just *has* to get out of that 3-note range. I really love Sam Rosenthal, though. (runly@hvi.net)
Comments about live performance:
I liked Black Tape for a Blue Girl more live than I expected to, and I'm not sure if that means I need to pick up both their latest albums, or if they were just really good live. (larnep@pathfinder.com)I have to say that though I was glad to get the chance to find out what they sound like, I was basically disappointed in them: too much "ambient" and not enough "gothic" for my taste. I was hoping I'd find a more sophisticated version of Enigma, or something that started in the Cocteau Twins universe and headed out in a different direction. But I found the music basically too mellow; to me it didn't live up to the promise that was held out by being fronted by three witchy women in black dresses.
Of the three women, one (Lisa Feuer) played flute and the other two (Vicki Richards and Elysabeth Grant) switched off on violin and viola. Elysabeth Grant did the occasional vocals—and Lisa Feuer did some backing vocals when called for. Sam Rosenthal played keyboards and also made an occasional vocal contribution.
The lyrics of the songs struck me as being somewhat stilted and emotionally detached—if I've had trouble connecting with October Project's formal poise, this to me was about twice as remote. This even though the subject matter was sexual surrender and worship—there just wasn't enough voluptuousness brought to it to my mind.
I can't really remember much of any of it, except for an encore piece they did, written on the occasion of the death of a cat, called "Majestic as a King." (psfblair@ix.netcom.com)The final, headlining act was Black Tape for a Blue Girl. I'd been forewarned that they were melodramatic. They got the best production values in the house—a full stage set, with risers and curtains and slides. Dry ice fog filled the stage like it was a mini-San Francisco. The male lead singer—Oscar—prowled the stage with true, post-Peter Murphy grace. The female lead singer—Lucien—looked like an 18th century art-house chanteuse, in a golden brown lace gown. All of the melodrama was appropriate—consider the angst of the lyrics. (ethereal_lad@livejournal.com)
Recommended first album:
No consensus of where to start
Recordings:
- The Rope (1986)
- Mesmerized by the Sirens (1987)
- Ashes in the Brittle Air (1989)
- A Chaos of Desire (1991)
- This Lush Garden Within (1993)
- Remnants of a Deeper Purity (1996, reissued 2006)
- As One Aflame Laid Bare by Desire (1999)
- The Scavenger Bride (2002)
- Halo Star (2004)
- 10 Neurotics (2009)
- Tenderotics (remixes, 2013)
- The Collection (compilation, 2014)
- 2016 Album (Early Mixes) (2015)
- Across a Thousand Blades (Demos + Live) (single, 2015)
- Bike Shop (EP, 2016)
- Limitless (EP, 2016)
- These Fleeting Moments (2016)
- Blood on the Snow (EP, 2017)
- To Touch the Milky Way (EP, 2018)
- With a Million Tear-Stained Memories: Highlights 1986-2003 (2-CD compilation, 2020)
The Rope
Release info:
1986—Projekt
Availability:
U.S.
Ecto priority:
Recommended for fans of Gothic music
Comments:
the one album of theirs which i can listen to is the rope. it's their first and has a meatier, more physical sound than the others. (woj@smoe.org)
Mesmerized by the Sirens
Release info:
1987—Projekt Records
Availability:
U.S.
Ecto priority:
Recommended
Comments:
i still think this may be their best album. (clsriram@phoenix.Princeton.EDU)
Ashes in the Brittle Air
Release info:
1989—Projekt
Availability:
U.S.
Ecto priority:
Recommended for fans of Gothic music
Group members:
Sam Rosenthal, Oscar Herrera
Comments:
Ashes in the Brittle Air is not bad. (woj@smoe.org)
Remnants of a Deeper Purity
Release info:
1996—Projekt Records
Availability:
U.S.
Ecto priority:
Recommended for fans of Gothic music
Comments:
Remnants of a Deeper Purity is probably the best album to start with...I personally think it is one of their best. Some beautiful stuff. (Faerymouse@aol.com)
10 Neurotics
Release info:
2009—Projekt Records
Availability:
U.S.
Ecto priority:
Recommended for fans of Gothic music
Group members:
Sam Rosenthal
Brian Viglione (Dresden Dolls & World/Inferno Friendship Society) Athan Maroulis (Spahn Ranch)—vocals
Laurie Reade (Attrition)—vocals
Nicki Jaine—vocals
Guest artists:
Lucas Lanthier
Elysabeth Grant—vocals (11)
Michael Laird—percussion )12)
Lisa Feuer—flute (3)
Gregor Kitzis—violin (7)
Comments:
Risqué, gorgeous stuff with Nicki Jaine and Brian from Dresden Dolls guesting. Distincly NSFW frontcover and images in the booklet. And the songs are great mostly. One of my top albums of 2009. (stjarnell@yahoo.com)
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