LOU REED DECLARES THE NEW FLOWERS OF HELL ALBUM “AMAZING”
THE FLOWERS OF HELL
New Album: 'ODES'
Released: May 6th 2013
“They take orchestral pop to the next level” Rolling Stone
“Stirringly evocative” NME
“They balance stately chamber pop with noise” Pitchfork
Lou Reed began a recent BBC broadcast of his New York Shuffle radio show with three tracks in a row from Odes, a covers album from trans-atlantic orchestral pop group The Flowers Of Hell.The Velvet Underground founder says of the album, “It’s so beautiful and great. I think it’s an AMAZING, AMAZING CD.”
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Trans-atlantic experimental orchestral group The Flowers of Hell are set to release their fourth album and first ever orch-pop cover record, Odes on May 6th
Listen to the full album HERE (https://soundcloud.com/flowersofhell/sets/flowers-of-hell-odes/s-Dfvgo) (but please don't post this link)
Download full album HERE (don't post this one either)
To download promo tools (cover art and hi-res promo photo) click HERE
There is an animated video for O Superheroin viewable HERE (please post this one!) which Lou Reed has already tweeted and facebooked about (http://www.facebook.com/LouReed)
The album can be purchased on iTunes at www.itunes.com/theflowersofhell
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During Reed’s program, he plays the Flowers Of Hell’s O Superheroin and deems the track “exquisite”. Reed explains, “Wow. That’s Laurie Anderson’s song O Superman mixed with my song Heroin, and then THEM, interpolating, combining, and adding on. They know how some of those sounds were made and they’re in there - that’s kind of amazing really.”
Reed then plays The Flowers of Hell's Velvet Underground & Nico styled reworking of Mr.Tambourine Man, declaring it “devastating” in its power. He follows that with a third song from the record, a rendition of Klaatu’s Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft.
Listen to the broadcast here:
Full segment: https://soundcloud.com/flowersofhell/lou-reed-spins-the-flowers
Quick edit: https://soundcloud.com/flowersofhell/lou-reed-spins-the-flowers-of
Known for their non-linear instrumentals, this is the first time The Flowers of Hell will release music featuring lyrics or verse-chorus-verse structures. Their current and past work has established them as an “artist’s artist”, with support coming from members of My Bloody Valentine, Spiritualized, Spacemen 3, The Wedding Present, Death In Vegas, The Patti Smith Group, The Fugs and Laurie Anderson amongst others.
Odes features The Flowers’ interpretations of songs written by Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Siouxie & The Banshees, Laurie Anderson, Klaatu, Stereolab, Joy Division, Neutral Milk Hotel, Fleetwood Mac, and the Plastic People Of The Universe.
Based in Toronto and London, with a revolving membership of 16 or so musicians, the Flowers Of Hell are led by Canadian synaesthette (he sees sounds as visual shapes around him) Greg Jarvis who co-produced the album with Peter Moore (John Cale, Neil Young, Cowboy Junkies). The album includes collaborations with Czech dissident musician Ivo Pospíšil, a key member of The Plastic People Of The Universe’s many offshoot groups, as well as British Sea Power’s Neil Wilkinson and Abi Fry (the latter being a founding member of the Flowers Of Hell and a two times Mercury Prize nominee through her past work in BSP and Bat For Lashes).
Odes differs greatly in its tone and direction from previous Flowers of Hell releases. 2010’s O was an epic 45 minute abstract piece that sought to break beyond traditional songwriting; this time the group do the opposite, celebrating songs as penned by their favourite writers.
Each song covered on Odes was selected for a purpose. Jarvis had often wondered what Neutral Milk Hotel’s On Avery Island-April 1st might sound like if played by a classically trained trumpeter. Joy Division’s Atmosphere is a core influence on The Flowers of Hell’s style and it’s been done here with their signature sound. Muchomůrky Bílé (Destroying Angel) is the unofficial anthem of the old Czech dissident movement and one of the original musicians from that scene, Ivo Pospíšil, agreed to do the vocals. With Walk On The Wild Side the group used the lyrics from a rare Lou Reed demo taped before its classic verses were written. On O Superheroin, they celebrate the marriage of Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson by marrying O Superman and Heroin. Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft was written by 1970s Toronto outsiders Klaatu, with lyrics from a paragraph that the International Flying Saucer Bureau’s global members tried to simultaneously telepath into outer space in 1953.
ODES - TRACKLISTING:
1. On Avery Island-April 1st (Neutral Milk Hotel)
2. Atmosphere (Joy Division)
3. Muchomurky Bile / Destroying Angel (Plastic People Of The Universe)
4. Walk On The Wild Side (Lou Reed)
5. Run Run Run (The Velvet Underground)
6. The Last Beat Of My Heart (Siouxie & The Banshees)
7. Mr. Tambourine Man (Bob Dylan)
8. Super Electric (Stereolab)
9. Over And Over (Fleetwood Mac)
10. O Superheroin (Laurie Anderson - Lou Reed)
11. Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft (Klaatu / Carpenters)
12. On A Swirling Ship (Flowers Of Hell)
BONUS TRACKS:
13. The Last Beat Of My Heart - Orchestral Mix (Siouxsie & The Banshees)
14. No Side To Fall In (The Raincoats)
http://www.flowersofhell.com
http://www.facebook.com/theflowersofhell
http://www.twitter.com/flowersofhell
http://flowersofhell.bandcamp.com
http://www.soundcloud.com/flowersofhell
Next up for The Flowers of Hell - recording an album in The Congo....
THE FLOWERS OF HELL
'ODES'
RELEASED MAY 6TH 2013
