Blacklist (band)
Encyclopedia
Blacklist is a band from Brooklyn, New York composed of Josh Strawn (vocals, guitar), Ryan Rayhill (bass), Glenn Maryansky (drums), and James Minor (guitar). They are one of the flagship bands of painter Pieter Schoolwerth's Wierd Records
imprint. The band creates atmospheric modern rock music that has been described as "anthemic,"http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2009/jul/13/cold-wave-wierd-records, "darkly erotic, strangely sensual"http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-05-27/music/the-wierd-records-social-club/, and "brings a much-needed anomaly in NYC's music scene."http://digital.othermusic.com/search/full.php?FULL=364757 They are sometimes classified as part of the post-punk revival
, though the sound is generally more dense, sonically incorporating elements of shoegaze and heavy metal
with coldwave
. The members often cite influences like My Bloody Valentine, Motörhead http://www.deathrockmagazine.com/current-page/blacklist-editors-pick-issue-1-interview-by-pieter-schoolwerth-of-wierd-records/ and Black Sabbath
http://vice.typepad.com/vice_magazine/2008/11/new-york---happ.html alongside bands like The Comsat Angels, Killing Joke
, and The Sound
.
band Asylum Party's song "Pure Joy In My Heart." The band's debut LP, Midnight of the Century
, was released digitally on May 26, 2009 and on CD on July 28, 2009. It was mixed by Ed Buller
and mastered by Howie Weinberg
. The album title is a reference to the revolutionary Victor Serge
's book, Midnight In the Century.
's Homage to Catalonia
. "Language of the Living Dead" references the work of Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek
. The album's liner notes quote Jacques Lacan
, Don Delillo
, Rumi, and Salman Rushdie. While many bands who play similar music often traffic in imagery relating to the supernatural, Strawn himself identifies his message as "militantly humanistichttp://www.bigtakeover.com/reviews/blacklist-midnight-of-the-century-wierd-records," combining Geezer Butler
and Ozzy Osbourne
's more politically charged lyrics like Children of the Grave
, Electric Funeral
, and Killer of Giants with the cerebral work of Richey Edwards of the Manic Street Preachers
.
Wierd Records
Wierd Records is an American independent record label, founded in New York City by Pieter Schoolwerth in 2006. "Wierd" is also the name for an associated weekly DJ night started at Southside Lounge in Brooklyn in 2003, but having been held at Home Sweet Home for the last three years...
imprint. The band creates atmospheric modern rock music that has been described as "anthemic,"http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2009/jul/13/cold-wave-wierd-records, "darkly erotic, strangely sensual"http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-05-27/music/the-wierd-records-social-club/, and "brings a much-needed anomaly in NYC's music scene."http://digital.othermusic.com/search/full.php?FULL=364757 They are sometimes classified as part of the post-punk revival
Post-punk revival
The post-punk revival was a development in alternative rock of the late 20th and early 21st centuries in which bands took inspiration from the original sounds and aesthetics of garage rock of the 1960s and post-punk and New Wave of the late 1970s...
, though the sound is generally more dense, sonically incorporating elements of shoegaze and heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
with coldwave
Coldwave
Coldwave, also written as Cold Wave, is the French variant of Dark Wave, gothic rock and post-punk music, primarily spread in France, South Belgium and Romandy.- History :...
. The members often cite influences like My Bloody Valentine, Motörhead http://www.deathrockmagazine.com/current-page/blacklist-editors-pick-issue-1-interview-by-pieter-schoolwerth-of-wierd-records/ and Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
http://vice.typepad.com/vice_magazine/2008/11/new-york---happ.html alongside bands like The Comsat Angels, Killing Joke
Killing Joke
Killing Joke are an English post-punk band formed in October 1978 in Notting Hill, London, England; other sources report the band formed in early 1979.Related news articles: Founding members Jaz Coleman and Geordie Walker have been the only constant members.A key influence on industrial rock,...
, and The Sound
The Sound
The Sound were an English post-punk band, formed in 1979 and dissolved in 1988. The band was fronted by Adrian Borland and evolved from his previous band, The Outsiders...
.
Releases
Blacklist's first EP was self-released and is currently out of print. The Solidaire EP was then released including a cover of seminal French coldwaveColdwave
Coldwave, also written as Cold Wave, is the French variant of Dark Wave, gothic rock and post-punk music, primarily spread in France, South Belgium and Romandy.- History :...
band Asylum Party's song "Pure Joy In My Heart." The band's debut LP, Midnight of the Century
Midnight of the Century
Midnight of the Century is the debut album of Brooklyn band Blacklist. It was released in 2009 on independent record label Wierd Records. The title is a reference to a book by Victor Serge.- Themes and References :...
, was released digitally on May 26, 2009 and on CD on July 28, 2009. It was mixed by Ed Buller
Ed Buller
Ed Buller is a British record producer and former musician. He primarily works with Australian and British bands like Suede, Pulp, The Raincoats....
and mastered by Howie Weinberg
Howie Weinberg
Howie Weinberg is a music mastering engineer who has worked with numerous bands.- Career :He has worked at Masterdisk, New York City, since 1977...
. The album title is a reference to the revolutionary Victor Serge
Victor Serge
Victor Serge , born Victor Lvovich Kibalchich , was a Russian revolutionary and writer. Originally an anarchist, he joined the Bolsheviks five months after arriving in Petrograd in January 1919 and later worked for the Comintern as a journalist, editor and translator...
's book, Midnight In the Century.
Lyrics
The lyrics to Blacklist songs often contain references to various authors, philosophers, and historical events. The song "Shock in the Hotel Falcon" is inspired by George OrwellGeorge Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
's Homage to Catalonia
Homage to Catalonia
Homage to Catalonia is political journalist and novelist George Orwell's personal account of his experiences and observations in the Spanish Civil War. The first edition was published in 1938. The book was not published in the United States until February 1952. The American edition had a preface...
. "Language of the Living Dead" references the work of Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek
Slavoj Žižek
Slavoj Žižek is a Slovenian philosopher, critical theorist working in the traditions of Hegelianism, Marxism and Lacanian psychoanalysis. He has made contributions to political theory, film theory, and theoretical psychoanalysis....
. The album's liner notes quote Jacques Lacan
Jacques Lacan
Jacques Marie Émile Lacan was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist who made prominent contributions to psychoanalysis and philosophy, and has been called "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Freud". Giving yearly seminars in Paris from 1953 to 1981, Lacan influenced France's...
, Don Delillo
Don DeLillo
Don DeLillo is an American author, playwright, and occasional essayist whose work paints a detailed portrait of American life in the late 20th and early 21st centuries...
, Rumi, and Salman Rushdie. While many bands who play similar music often traffic in imagery relating to the supernatural, Strawn himself identifies his message as "militantly humanistichttp://www.bigtakeover.com/reviews/blacklist-midnight-of-the-century-wierd-records," combining Geezer Butler
Geezer Butler
Geezer Butler is an English musician and songwriter. Butler is best known as the bassist and lyricist of heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He was also involved in Heaven & Hell from 2006 to 2010.-Career:Butler formed his first band, Rare Breed, with old friend John "Ozzy" Osbourne in the autumn of...
and Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
's more politically charged lyrics like Children of the Grave
Children of the Grave
"Children of the Grave" is a song by Black Sabbath from their 1971 album Master of Reality. The song lyrically continues with the same anti-war themes brought on by "War Pigs" and "Electric Funeral" from Paranoid, adding in Geezer Butler's pacifist ideals of non-violent civil disobedience...
, Electric Funeral
Electric Funeral
"Electric Funeral" is the fifth song from Black Sabbath's second album Paranoid, released in 1970. The song deals with nuclear war and its aftermath...
, and Killer of Giants with the cerebral work of Richey Edwards of the Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers are a Welsh alternative rock band, formed in 1986. They are James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire, Richey Edwards and Sean Moore. The band are part of the Cardiff music scene, and were at their most prominent during the 1990s...
.
EPs
- Blacklist (2006, self-released)
- Solidaire (2007, Wierd RecordsWierd RecordsWierd Records is an American independent record label, founded in New York City by Pieter Schoolwerth in 2006. "Wierd" is also the name for an associated weekly DJ night started at Southside Lounge in Brooklyn in 2003, but having been held at Home Sweet Home for the last three years...
)
Compilations
- "Interiors" featured on P.E.A.C.E. (2010, Buffet Libre/Amnesty InternationalAmnesty InternationalAmnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, Spain)