Transmission (album)
Encyclopedia
Transmission is the fourth album recorded by Canadian band The Tea Party
, released in 1997 (see 1997 in music
). The album sees the band expanding on the mix of rock
, blues
, and world music
found in their previous albums by adding electronic instruments and recording techniques to their repertoire.
While still using several exotic instruments and maintaining the "eastern" influence in the recording, many songs also include samples
, sequencers
, and loops alongside the traditional acoustic instruments. The result is a harder, industrial
sound. The album makes lyrical references to the afterlife ("Psychopomp
"), dystopian works of Aldous Huxley
, George Orwell
, Yevgeny Zamyatin
("Army Ants") and Giovanni Piranesi's 'Imaginary Prisons' ("Alarum").
Transmission continued to build on the momentum generated by The Edges of Twilight
, reaching double platinum status in Canada and receiving a 1998 Juno nomination for "Blockbuster Rock Album of the Year". An edited version of the song "Temptation
", as well as an instrumental version of "Babylon
", can also be found on the PlayStation
game Road Rash 3D, from the same year.
.
The Tea Party
The Tea Party is a Canadian rock band with blues, progressive rock, Indian and Middle Eastern influences, dubbed "Moroccan roll" by the media. Active throughout the 1990s up until 2005 when the band broke up, The Tea Party released eight albums on EMI Music Canada, selling 1.6 million records...
, released in 1997 (see 1997 in music
1997 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1997.-January:*January 9 – David Bowie performs his 50th Birthday Bash concert at Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA with guests Frank Black, The Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth, Robert Smith of The Cure, Lou Reed, and Billy...
). The album sees the band expanding on the mix of rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, and world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
found in their previous albums by adding electronic instruments and recording techniques to their repertoire.
While still using several exotic instruments and maintaining the "eastern" influence in the recording, many songs also include samples
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
, sequencers
Music sequencer
The music sequencer is a device or computer software to record, edit, play back the music, by handling note and performance information in several forms, typically :...
, and loops alongside the traditional acoustic instruments. The result is a harder, industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
sound. The album makes lyrical references to the afterlife ("Psychopomp
Psychopomp (song)
"Psychopomp" is a song by Canadian rock band The Tea Party. It was released as a promotional single in Canada. The music video was shot live in the MuchMusic CHUM-City Building in Toronto, before and during their Intimate & Interactive performance in May 1998."Psychopomp" is a reworking of a...
"), dystopian works of Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. Best known for his novels including Brave New World and a wide-ranging output of essays, Huxley also edited the magazine Oxford Poetry, and published short stories, poetry, travel...
, George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
, Yevgeny Zamyatin
Yevgeny Zamyatin
Yevgeny Ivanovich Zamyatin was a Russian author of science fiction and political satire. Despite having been a prominent Old Bolshevik, Zamyatin was deeply disturbed by the policies pursued by the CPSU following the October Revolution...
("Army Ants") and Giovanni Piranesi's 'Imaginary Prisons' ("Alarum").
Transmission continued to build on the momentum generated by The Edges of Twilight
The Edges of Twilight
The Edges of Twilight is the third album by The Tea Party. The album features many instruments from around the world, giving various songs a strong world music flavour in addition to the rock/blues influences evident in the band's earlier releases...
, reaching double platinum status in Canada and receiving a 1998 Juno nomination for "Blockbuster Rock Album of the Year". An edited version of the song "Temptation
Temptation (The Tea Party song)
"Temptation" is a song by Canadian rock band The Tea Party from the album Transmission. It was released as a single in Australia and a promotional single in Canada and the USA...
", as well as an instrumental version of "Babylon
Babylon (The Tea Party song)
"Babylon" is a song by Canadian rock band The Tea Party. It was released as a promotional single in Canada. The music video was shot in Toronto and was unique at the time for being one continuous shot with a single camera....
", can also be found on the PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
game Road Rash 3D, from the same year.
Track listing
- "TemptationTemptation (The Tea Party song)"Temptation" is a song by Canadian rock band The Tea Party from the album Transmission. It was released as a single in Australia and a promotional single in Canada and the USA...
" – 3:25 - "Army Ants" – 3:33
- "PsychopompPsychopomp (song)"Psychopomp" is a song by Canadian rock band The Tea Party. It was released as a promotional single in Canada. The music video was shot live in the MuchMusic CHUM-City Building in Toronto, before and during their Intimate & Interactive performance in May 1998."Psychopomp" is a reworking of a...
" – 5:17 - "GyroscopeGyroscope (song)"Gyroscope" is a song by Canadian rock band The Tea Party. It was released as a promotional single in Australia, Canada and the USA. It received airplay on Australian radio station Triple J....
" – 2:56 - "Alarum" – 4:58
- "ReleaseRelease (The Tea Party song)"Release" is a song by Canadian rock band The Tea Party. It was released as a charity single in Canada and a promotional single in the USA. The music video was shot in Paris and Toronto....
" – 4:05 - "Transmission" – 5:17
- "BabylonBabylon (The Tea Party song)"Babylon" is a song by Canadian rock band The Tea Party. It was released as a promotional single in Canada. The music video was shot in Toronto and was unique at the time for being one continuous shot with a single camera....
" – 2:50 - "Pulse" – 4:09
- "Emerald" – 4:51
- "Aftermath" – 5:43
Hidden tracks
Transmission contains two hidden pieces of music, both hidden in the pregapPregap
The pregap on a Red Book audio CD is the portion of the audio track that precedes "index 01" for a given track in the table of contents . The pregap is typically two seconds long and usually, but not always, contains silence...
.
- An untitled piece consisting solely of electronically processed voices and sounds is located between tracks 6 and 7, lasting approximately 15 seconds
- An instrumentalInstrumentalAn instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
piece entitled "Embryo", lasting approximately 2 minutes, can be found between tracks 8 and 9
Singles
- "TemptationTemptation (The Tea Party song)"Temptation" is a song by Canadian rock band The Tea Party from the album Transmission. It was released as a single in Australia and a promotional single in Canada and the USA...
" - "BabylonBabylon (The Tea Party song)"Babylon" is a song by Canadian rock band The Tea Party. It was released as a promotional single in Canada. The music video was shot in Toronto and was unique at the time for being one continuous shot with a single camera....
" - "ReleaseRelease (The Tea Party song)"Release" is a song by Canadian rock band The Tea Party. It was released as a charity single in Canada and a promotional single in the USA. The music video was shot in Paris and Toronto....
"- All profits from the release of this single were donated to the White Ribbon Campaign
- "PsychopompPsychopomp (song)"Psychopomp" is a song by Canadian rock band The Tea Party. It was released as a promotional single in Canada. The music video was shot live in the MuchMusic CHUM-City Building in Toronto, before and during their Intimate & Interactive performance in May 1998."Psychopomp" is a reworking of a...
" - "GyroscopeGyroscope (song)"Gyroscope" is a song by Canadian rock band The Tea Party. It was released as a promotional single in Australia, Canada and the USA. It received airplay on Australian radio station Triple J....
"
Recording personnel
- Produced and recorded by: Jeff MartinJeff Martin (Canadian musician)Jeffrey Scott Martin is a Canadian guitarist and singer-songwriter best known for fronting the rock band The Tea Party. Martin began his career as a solo artist in October 2005, when The Tea Party disbanded....
- Recording Assistants: Don Hachey and Lee Moro
- Recorded at: Alkemical Studios (MontrealMontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
), NRG Studios (Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
), Studio Morin Heights (Morin Heights) - Mixed by: Jeff Martin
- Tracks 2, 3, and 6 mixed Jeff Martin and Adam Kasper
- Mixed at: NRG Studios (Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
), Studio Morin Heights (Morin Heights) - Mastered by: Bob Ludwig
- Mastered at: Gateway Mastering (PortlandPortland, MainePortland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
)- Assistants: Don Hachey, Brian Virtue, and Robert Carranza
Art details
- Cover Painting: "The Earth We Inherit" by Stuart ChatwoodStuart ChatwoodStuart Chatwood, is a Canadian musician, best known as the bass guitar and keyboard player for the rock band The Tea Party. The Tea Party are known for fusing together musical styles of both the Eastern and Western worlds, in what they call "Moroccan roll"...
- Concept: Stuart ChatwoodStuart ChatwoodStuart Chatwood, is a Canadian musician, best known as the bass guitar and keyboard player for the rock band The Tea Party. The Tea Party are known for fusing together musical styles of both the Eastern and Western worlds, in what they call "Moroccan roll"...
and James St. Laurent
- Concept: Stuart Chatwood
- Art Design: Verve Graphic Design Consultants Inc.