Orpheus in Exile | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 6 October 2009 | |||
Recorded | Andrei Dorofeev Studio, Pavian Records, Garret Studio (Moscow) | |||
Genre | Russian traditional music, Russian romance | |||
Length | 39:49 | |||
Label | Strike Force Entertainment / Cherry Red Records | |||
Producer | Alexei Fedorov | |||
Marc Almond chronology | ||||
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Orpheus in Exile, also known as Orpheus in Exile: Songs of Vadim Kozin, is the fourteenth solo studio album by the British singer/songwriter Marc Almond. The artist credit on the album cover is extended to read 'Marc Almond with Alexei Fedorov featuring The Rossia Orchestra Ensemble'. The album was released by Strike Force Entertainment, part of Cherry Red Records, on 6 October 2009.
Orpheus in Exile is an album of cover versions of songs originally recorded by Vadim Kozin, an artist Almond had already covered two songs by on his 2003 album Heart on Snow . According to an article in Russian magazine New Style the album was self-financed by Almond and recorded in Russia using Russian musicians. [1] Like Heart on Snow, this album is in the Russian traditional music and Russian romance style.
The first edition of the album came in a digipak in a card slip sleeve and included an essay by Almond giving extensive background information to Kozin's life.
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Record Collector | [3] |
Daily Express | [4] |
The Scotsman | [5] |
Orpheus in Exile was well received by critics overall. John Tatlock of The Quietus calls the album "a respectful tribute and joyous celebration rather than an overly reverent imitation" as well as "a career highlight and a unique window on a marginalised and hidden history". [6] Thom Jureck of AllMusic compares "the way that Almond resurrects and delivers Kozin's music" to "the stuff of poetry itself" before summarising that the album "reflects and invokes the deeper emotions these songs convey in anyone open-minded enough to give them a sincere listen". [2] The Daily Express is also positive, calling Almond's approach to "these luscious tales of love, loss and bitter fate" as "masterful" in a review by Robert Spellman. [4] The Record Collector review recognises that Almond makes some tough career choices that are sometimes "hard to get over" but feels that the listener will "thoroughly enjoy Almond's heartfelt homage to the late Russian singer Kozin", adding that "the arrangements and instrumentation are breathtaking at every step". [3] The Scotsman review adds a slight reservation to an otherwise positive review, stating that the album is "hugely enjoyable, if predictable to anyone already familiar with Almond's chanson repertoire". [5]
Peter Mark "Marc" Almond is an English singer best known from the synth-pop/new wave duo Soft Cell and for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. He has also had a diverse career as a solo artist. His collaborations include a duet with Gene Pitney on the 1989 UK number one single "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart". Almond's career spanning over four decades has enjoyed critical and commercial acclaim, and he has sold over 30 million records worldwide. He spent a month in a coma after a near-fatal motorcycle accident in 2004 and later became a patron of the brain trauma charity Headway.
Marc and the Mambas were a new wave group, formed by Marc Almond in 1982 as an offshoot project from Soft Cell. The band's line-up changed frequently, and included Matt Johnson from The The and Annie Hogan, with whom Almond worked later in his solo career.
James George Thirlwell, styled as JG Thirlwell and also known as Clint Ruin, Frank Want, and Foetus, among other pseudonyms, is an Australian musician, composer, and record producer known for his use of a variety of different musical styles.
The term romance has a centuries-long history. Applied to narrative ballads in Spain, it came to be used by the 18th century for simple lyrical pieces not only for voice, but also for instruments alone. The Oxford Dictionary of Music states that "generally it implies a specially personal or tender quality".
Kolyma or Kolyma Krai is a historical region in the Russian Far East that includes the basin of Kolyma River and the northern shores of the Sea of Okhotsk, as well as the Kolyma Mountains. It is bounded to the north by the East Siberian Sea and the Arctic Ocean, and by the Sea of Okhotsk to the south. Kolyma Krai was never formally defined and over time it was split among various administrative units. As of 2023, it consists roughly of the Magadan Oblast, north-eastern areas of Yakutia, and the Bilibinsky District of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.
Vadim Alekseyevich Kozin was a Russian tenor, songwriter, and an openly homosexual man until 1934 when male homosexuality became a crime in USSR.
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Torment and Toreros is the second album to be released by Marc and the Mambas. The album reached #28 on the UK album charts in August 1983. The song "Torment" was written by Marc Almond, Steven Severin of Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Robert Smith of The Cure. It also is the last studio album to go under the name "Marc and the Mambas"; The next album Almond issued was credited to "Raoul and the Ruined". The Mambas' third album, Bite Black and Blues, is a live album and was initially only available via the Marc Almond fan club.
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Varieté is the fifteenth studio album by the British singer-songwriter Marc Almond. It was released on 7 June 2010 through Strike Force Entertainment, part of Cherry Red Records.
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Upside Down: The Best of The Jesus and Mary Chain is a greatest hits album by Scottish alternative rock band, the Jesus and Mary Chain. It was released on 27 September 2010 via Music Club Deluxe.
Stranger Things is the eleventh solo studio album by the British singer/songwriter Marc Almond. It was released by Blue Star Music, in conjunction with XIII BIS Records, on 18 June 2001.
Heart on Snow is the twelfth solo studio album by the British singer/songwriter Marc Almond. It was released by Blue Star Music, in conjunction with XIII BIS Records, on 21 October 2003.
Stardom Road is the thirteenth solo studio album by the British singer/songwriter Marc Almond. It was released by Sanctuary Records on 4 June 2007.
The Dancing Marquis is the eighteenth solo studio album by the British singer/songwriter Marc Almond. It was released by Strike Force Entertainment / Cherry Red Records on 16 June 2014.
The Velvet Trail is the twentieth solo studio album by the British singer/songwriter Marc Almond. It was released by Strike Force Entertainment / Cherry Red Records on 9 March 2015.
Igor Krutogolov is an Israeli musician, composer, multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, producer, graphic designer, artist, the founder and the leader of the bands Kruzenshtern & Parohod (KIP) and Igor Krutogolov's Toy Orchestra.