Spread the Social Love:

Altsounds Introducing: ... BLACKLIST

Blacklist Release Their Debut "Midnight of the Century" on Wierd Records July 28, 2009

by Jack Stovin +, July 8th, 2009 and has been Read 1167 times.
Last Edited by: Jack Stovin July 8th, 2009.

Follow @jackstovin

Altsounds Introducing presents ...
Blacklist

Bio:

In a way, Blacklist was an accident. Not an accident like cars colliding - more like atoms crashing. Singer Josh Strawn hadn't expected to end up in another rock and roll band, but he landed in one anyway. When bassist Ryan Rayhill first met Josh, he immediately identified a potential co-conspirator. The two bonded over their shared enthusiasm for the intellectual anxiety of Wire, The Sound, and The Comsat Angels as well as the unapologetic bombast of Motorhead and Sabbath. Amongst these seemingly disparate elements, the spirit of Blacklist was born.

Once Rayhill and Strawn met drummer Glenn Maryansky and guitarist James Minor, the circle was complete. Maryansky's brutal way with his drum kit and Minor's shoegaze-inspired "airplane hanger" guitar sound rounded out the sonic template, creating a new mutation of grandiose, loud guitar music. It wasn't long before they caught the eyes and ears of Pieter Schoolwerth, painter and founder of Wierd Records. The label, which specializes in experimental noise and minimal electronic music, latched on to Blacklist as a rare instance of a rock band with its heart in the same place as the label's other acts.

Ryan had coined the band's name long before initially meeting Josh, but it would become the perfect moniker for a band that devotes so much energy to glorifying outsiders. "I was reading books like Darkness At Noon by Arthur Koestler when we were writing," says Strawn. "It communicates the total isolation of being betrayed by your comrades and ideals--separated from everything you ever held dear. It's the willingness to stand in opposition, even when doing so means you'll have to go it alone and maybe pay dearly for your choice. That particular temperament matters more than anything. I'm always trying to sing in that voice."

To listen to Blacklist is to listen to people who have tried to take that path, who have both succeeded and failed, and who want to pay tribute to that way of life. Complex and modern themes are wound tightly inside impressionistic lyrics, available to be unravelled by the curious listener or ignored by those who find themselves moved primarily by the force of the music. The band's debut LP, Midnight Of The Century, is raw ambition mixed with raw power. Mixed by Ed Buller (Suede, Slowdive, Pulp, White Lies) and mastered by Howie Weinberg (Muse, Jeff Buckley, Iron Maiden, U2, Nirvana), it is a potent dose of rock and roll maximalism.


When the revolutionary Victor Serge coined the idea of a midnight in the century, he was referring to the dark pact between two of the cruelest tyrants the world had ever seen. And yet Serge is perhaps best known for his rambunctious, stubborn attitude in the face of such darkness: "the course is set on hope," he wrote. It is precisely this marriage of extremity to romantic optimism that characterizes Midnight Of The Century -- not just in the realm of ideas, but musically as well. Despite its density of sound and shadowy atmospheres, the record is the soundtrack to an uplifting journey that is as personal as it is universal. It is also a fitting manifesto announcing the arrival of Blacklist.

Latest News:

To listen to Blacklist is to listen to people who have chosen to stand in opposition. Complex and modern themes are wound tightly inside impressionistic lyrics, available to be unravelled by the curious listener or ignored by those who find themselves moved primarily by the force of the music. The band's debut LP, Midnight Of The Century, is raw ambition mixed with raw power. Mixed by Ed Buller (Suede, Slowdive, Pulp, White Lies) and mastered by Howie Weinberg (Muse, Jeff Buckley, Iron Maiden, U2, Nirvana), it is a potent dose of rock and roll maximalism.

When the revolutionary Victor Serge coined the idea of a midnight in the century, he was referring to the dark pact between two of the cruelest tyrants the world had ever seen. And yet Serge is perhaps best known for his rambunctious, stubborn attitude in the face of such darkness: "the course is set on hope," he wrote. It is precisely this marriage of extremity to romantic optimism that characterizes Midnight Of The Century -- not just in the realm of ideas, but musically as well. Despite its density of sound and shadowy atmospheres, the record is the soundtrack to an uplifting journey that is as personal as it is universal. It is also a fitting manifesto announcing the arrival of Blacklist.

"Midnight of the Century"

Tracklisting:

1. Still Changes
2. Fight of the Demoiselles
3. Shock in the Hotel Falcon
4. Language of the Living Dead
5. Odessa
6. Julie Speaks
7. Poison for Tomorrow
8. Frontiers
9. The Cunning of History
10. When Worlds Collide
11. The Believer

Please enjoy a FREE MP3 of "Flight of the Demoiselles"

Click HERE to Download

Press:

"icy sound and quaking bottom end is counterbalanced by a more inviting, anthemic impulse" - Village Voice

"bell-ringing guitars and dark-overcoat charisma transport you back to the Chameleons' anthemic heyday." - SPIN [ Songs You Must Hear Now!]

"equal parts pornography, poetry, post-punk and politics" - The Big Takeover

"a much-needed anomaly in NYC’s music scene .. with their chiming guitars and dark, romantic melodies" - Other Music

"simultaneously celebratory and melancholy... they create the soundtrack to an explosive resistance" - RCRD LBL

Links:

http://www.myspace.com/blacklistmusic