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Opium Den


Country of origin:

U.S.

Type of music generally:

Gothic progressive rock/rock

Status:

Most recent release, Clandestine (2005)

See also:

Wikipedia's entry on Opium Den

Opium Den's Facebook page

CD Baby's Opium Den page

The Ectophiles' Guide's entries for vocalist Annette (Kramer) Farrington's solo work and bassist John DeGregorio's band Amber Spyglass

Comparisons:

Amber Spyglass, Perfume Tree, In June, Big Hat, Cocteau Twins, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure...

Covers/own material:

Own

General comments:

Opium Den is a Boston group. The lead singer, Annette Kramer (Annette Farrington), is very sensuous, with a voice which has a fairly wide range, which can sometimes remind me just a little of the lead singer of Sugarcubes (live, anyway—not so much on CD), but mostly it is her own voice, which I can't match up with any of the other female singers in my head. She is gloomy, but etherial, with a very good sense of pitch and mood. If you liked "Ribbed and Veined" by the Cocteau Twins, check this out: The music itself reminds me of an etherial version of Siouxsie and the Banshees from the early-to-mid 80s, perhaps if you threw in the occasional Cure-esque sound and recorded it at Ivo's 4AD studio for atmosphere. (ezust@brainwashed.com)

Comments about live performance:

A couple of weeks ago I saw a couple of bands perform live at the Middle East Cafe in Cambridge, MA. I was immediately impressed by Opium Den. (5/93, ezust@brainwashed.com)

Recommended first album:

Diary of a Drunken Sun

Recordings:


Diary of a Drunken Sun

Release info:

1993—Dutch East India Trading

Availability:

Wide

Ecto priority:

Recommended/

Group members:

Mike Demma—drums, dounds
Chrisian Gilbert—gutiars
John DeGregorio—bass
Annette Kramer (Annette Farrington)—vocals, guitar

Produced by:

Joel Simches and Opium Den; Opium Den and Dicky Spears (1, 3)

Comments:

Basically it's nice gothic-alternative mid-to-late '80s revival with a female lead singer. The album as a whole doesn't tie together quite as much as I'd like, as there are about 3 or 4 songs which really don't work as well as the rest, but I like mid-to-late 80s revival myself, and this is a very young group, with a bright future ahead, so two thumbs up. (ezust@brainwashed.com)

Great album title. Groovacious album. Very crunchy arrangements. Very pretty vocals. Ethereal at times, more 'rock' at others. Neat stuff. Wish I had a lyric sheet. (burka@jeffrey.net)

they remind me more of strange boutique (a washington dc area band) than anything else, though at least one song ("radio in my head") could be a dead-ringer for a sugarcubes song. think dark, introverted, cobwebs. i like this quite a bit after a few extra listens. yum. (woj@smoe.org)


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DISCLAIMER: Comments and reviews in the Ectophiles' Guide are excerpted from the ecto mailing list or volunteered by members of the list. They are the opinions of music enthusiasts, not professional music critics.

Entry last updated 2016-08-18 21:51:05.
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