Secrets of the Witching Hour

Last updated
Secrets of the Witching Hour
The Crimea - Secrets Of The Witching Hour.jpg
Studio album by
The Crimea
Released30 April 2007
Genre Indie rock
Length36:18
Label Double Dragon, Free Two One
Producer The Crimea
The Crimea chronology
Tragedy Rocks
(2005)		Secrets of the Witching Hour
(2007)		Square Moon
(2013)

Secrets of the Witching Hour is the second album of the British indie band, The Crimea, released on 30 April 2007 as a free download on the band's website. The song "Loop A Loop" appeared in an advertisement for Trident Gum. [1]

The Crimea (band) musical group based in Camden, England

The Crimea were a British indie band, based in Camden, London. The band were featured in John Peel's Festive Fifty, ranking higher than bands such as The White Stripes and all eleven of the initial album demos were played on his show. The Guardian has described The Crimea's songs as "mini-epics" that reduce frontman Davey MacManus to "spasms of jerking anguish". On 2 July 2013 they announced via their official Twitter account that they were calling time on their 11-years as a band and that their gig at the Jazz Café in London on 30 July 2013 would be their last.

Trident (gum) brand of bubble gum

Trident is a brand of sugar-free chewing gum. It was introduced by Cadbury in the United Kingdom. In many other European countries, Trident is branded as Stimorol gum; it is generally the same as Trident. The trident is also a symbol of the Greek sea god, Poseidon.

Contents

Background and release

The Crimea were dropped by Warner Bros. Records in 2006 after the band's debut album, Tragedy Rocks , sold 35,000 copies worldwide. [2] [3] The band decided to self-finance their second album, titled Secrets of the Witching Hour, and make it available to download for free from its website. The album was released on 30 April 2007, almost two weeks before its original projected release date. [2] [3] Within the first 24 hours, the album was downloaded more than 5,000 times. Starting on June 4, a CD version was offered for sale on a mail-order basis from the band's website. [3]

Tragedy Rocks is the debut album by British indie band The Crimea, released on Warner Bros. Records in 2005.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Hot Press Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [4]
NME Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]
Stylus Magazine B [6]

In a review of the album for NME , Jess Colman wrote: "Although slightly ruined by the frequent and unnecessary Americanised monologues, the record’s Technicolor fusion of dark, sombre tunes and vibrant, upbeat tracks proudly pushes aside any doubts." [5] Francis Jones of Hot Press said that on this album, "The Crimea manage to fashion epic tales from everyday material, intimate scenarios instilled with the heroic bombast of Greek myth, or a sense of tragedy befitting the Bard." [4] Andrew Iliff of Stylus Magazine remarked that "the Crimea pick up the swooning where they left off" on Tragedy Rocks. Iliff added that "MacManus' indiscriminate pop culture fetishism is undiminished, littering his lyrics with movie titles and cultural landmarks." [6]

<i>NME</i> British weekly music journalism magazine

New Musical Express (NME) is a British music journalism website and former magazine that has been published since 1952. It was the first British paper to include a singles chart, in the edition of 14 November 1952. In the 1970s it became the best-selling British music newspaper. During the period 1972 to 1976, it was particularly associated with gonzo journalism, then became closely associated with punk rock through the writings of Julie Burchill, Paul Morley and Tony Parsons. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s and 1990s, changing from newsprint in 1998.

<i>Hot Press</i> Irish music and politics magazine

Hot Press is a fortnightly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it had a circulation of 17,084 during 2014.

<i>Stylus Magazine</i>

Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog.

Track listing

  1. "All Conquering"
  2. "The 48A Waiting Steps"
  3. "Raining Planets"
  4. "Man"
  5. "Bombay Sapphire Coma"
  6. "Don't Close Your Eyes on Me"
  7. "Loop a Loop"
  8. "Light Brigade"
  9. "Several Thousand Years of Talking Nonsense"
  10. "Requiem Aeternam"
  11. "Weird"

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References

  1. ↑ Beckmann, Jim (19 February 2008). "Still giving it away - The Crimea releases 16 exclusive tracks... for free!". KEXP-FM . Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  2. 1 2 Gibson, Owen (30 April 2007). "Album giveaway could ignite music revolution". The Guardian . Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 Brandle, Lars (1 May 2007). "The Crimea Breaks Mold With Download Offering". Billboard . Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  4. 1 2 Jones, Francis (11 July 2007). "Music Reviews - Albums: The Crimea - 'Secrets of the Witching Hour'". Hot Press . Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2014.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  5. 1 2 Colman, Jess (25 June 2007). "'NME' Album Review: The Crimea - 'Secrets of the Witching Hour'". NME . Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  6. 1 2 Iliff, Andrew (29 May 2006). "Reviews: The Crimea - 'Tragedy Rocks'". Stylus Magazine . Retrieved 23 June 2014.
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