Sister Bliss | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Ayalah Deborah Bentovim |
Born | London, England | 30 December 1970
Genres | House, psychedelic trance, progressive house, electronic, trip hop, trance |
Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, record producer, DJ, keyboardist, pianist |
Instrument(s) | Piano, synthesizer, keyboards |
Ayalah Deborah Bentovim (born 30 December 1970), better known by her stage name Sister Bliss, is a British keyboardist, [1] record producer, DJ and songwriter. In the studio, she is best known for her work with Rollo Armstrong as one half of the production duo Rollo & Sister Bliss, and particularly as part of Faithless.
Sister Bliss formed Faithless in 1995 with Rollo, Jamie Catto and Maxi Jazz. Bliss constructed most of the music of Faithless herself electronically, but also played the piano, violin, saxophone and bass guitar. Various others have been members and collaborators over the years including Zoë Johnston and, frequently, Rollo's sister Dido, who began her musical career providing backing vocals on Rollo's 1994 single 'Give Me Life' (under the pseudonym Mr V). Faithless toured extensively, and while Rollo preferred to stay in the studio, Sister Bliss could be seen on stage with Maxi Jazz. Faithless enjoyed a 17-year career that included 7 albums, including two number ones, and six top 10 singles. As of October 2013, Faithless had sold in excess of 15 million records worldwide and played live to millions across the world.
In 1996, she teamed up with Faithless bandmate Rollo to successfully remix Moby's recording of "That's When I Reach for My Revolver". Moby was so pleased they were asked to remix another song – "Honey".
She released a two-disc compilation entitled Headliners: 02 in 2001.[ citation needed ]
On 10 September 2006, she gave birth to a son named Nate. The track "Nate's Tune" found on the Faithless album To All New Arrivals is dedicated to him. Later on, Faithless founded their own record label called Nate's Tunes. [2]
She released Nightmoves [3] on 14 July 2008.
Following Faithless' retirement from touring in April 2011, she has concentrated on different projects. She presented a weekly show on Ministry of Sound Radio at 7 pm on Friday evenings. [4]
Sister Bliss has collaborated with Dido, Boy George, Cat Power, Robert Smith (The Cure), The Temper Trap and Example amongst others. A gifted musician and composer, Sister Bliss has written music for film, TV and theatre. Credits include 2012ʼs film Knife Fight starring Rob Lowe, and directed by 2-times Oscar winner, Bill Guttentag, commissions for Sex and the City 2 , Danny Boyleʼs The Beach , acclaimed British film The Hide , Crossing The Line and popular TV drama Life Begins . For theatre, Bliss has written music for The Black Album and The Emperor Jones at The National Theatre in London, as well as composing an original piece for the London Sinfonietta, which was performed at Fuse Festival, UK.
The Faithless Sound System – a stripped down live act featuring a live PA from Maxi Jazz, DJ set from Bliss and percussion – has appeared at a number of festivals worldwide since the full Faithless band's split. The sets are typically one hour or less in duration.
Bliss has occasionally appeared at medium-sized clubs in the UK in recent years, often as a headline DJ act playing sets of house music.
Junkdog Records is her current record label, launched in 2013. Junkdog has released Sister Bliss solo singles, her remixing of others' tracks and also independent artists. [5]
On 31 May 2013, she reunited with Maxi Jazz for a Faithless live PA and DJ set at the Electric Brixton nightclub in London. The 1,500 capacity event was in aid of the youth academy for Crystal Palace football club. [6] A similar arrangement of her DJing house tracks between Faithless songs featuring Maxi Jazz on live vocals, was performed at a festival in the United States in March of the same year. [7] The Brixton Electric gig was repeated on 6 June 2014 and was described as an "annual fundraiser", indicating that it will continue to be a once-yearly event.
She released the mid-tempo house track "Dancing Home" under the name of Bliss in 2014. Featuring Dutch vocalist Janne Schra, it was remixed by Tuff City Kids and Yoon.
On 17 March 2022, Bliss released the single "Life is a Melody", in collaboration with Faithless and Hyacinth & Apollo. [8] [9] Speaking about the collaboration, Bliss told NME : [10]
It all started in a South London basement – I first saw Hyacinth & Apollo aka Grammy winner Jinadu & DJ/ producer Jem Haynes perform at a private gig in London I was DJing at – their live set totally blew me away. Following the liberating feeling of playing a huge number of festivals over the summer after multiple postponements due to the pandemic, I wanted to encapsulate that feeling of euphoria and intensity of being back on the road, and the power of music to bring us together once again.
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | |
---|---|---|---|
UK [11] | AUS [12] | ||
"Future Pulse" / "The Future Is Now"[ citation needed ] | 1993 | — | — |
"Cantgetaman, Cantgetajob (Life's a Bitch!)" (featuring Colette) | 1994 | 31 | 74 |
"Oh! What a World" | 1995 | 40 | — |
"Bad Man" | 1996 | 51 | — |
"Sister Sister" | 2000 | 34 | — |
"Deliver Me" (featuring John Martyn) | 2001 | 31 | — |
"Dancing Home" | 2014 | — | — |
"How Long Can I Wait?" [13] (featuring Wiley) | 2018 | — | — |
"Life Is a Melody" (with Faithless & Hyacinth Apollo) | 2023 | — | — |
Florian Cloud de Bounevialle Armstrong, known professionally as Dido, is an English singer and songwriter. She attained international success with her debut album No Angel (1999). Hit singles from the album include "Here with Me" and "Thank You". It sold over 21 million copies worldwide, and it won her several awards, including two Brit Awards; additionally, she won Best British Album and Best British Female as well as the MTV Europe Music Award for Best New Act. The first verse of "Thank You" is sampled in "Stan", a critically acclaimed collaboration with American rapper Eminem. Her next album, Life for Rent (2003), continued her success with the hit singles "White Flag" and "Life for Rent". In 2004, Dido performed with other British and Irish artists in the Band Aid 20 version of the charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?".
Faithless are an English dance music band that formed in 1995, with its core members being Rollo, Sister Bliss and Maxi Jazz. Their first album, Reverence, was released in 1996 and their most recent, All Blessed, in 2020. They have sold millions of physical records, and their catalogue has been uploaded to streaming sites in 2018. They average almost 3 million streams a month. Faithless' records have charted at No. 1 in numerous countries and they were voted the 4th greatest dance band of all time by Mixmag.
Rowland Constantine O'Malley Armstrong, known professionally as both Rollo and R Plus, is an English music producer. He is one half of the remix/production duo Rollo & Sister Bliss and is a founding, non-touring, member of the electronic music group Faithless. He has produced and remixed many tracks for Dido, Pet Shop Boys, Simply Red, R. Kelly, U2, Moby, Grace, Tricky and Suede. He is also known for producing UEFA Euro 2008 theme, which is also used as UEFA Super Cup, UEFA Women's Championship, and youth tournaments theme since 2017.
Maxwell Alexander Fraser, better known by his stage name Maxi Jazz, was a British musician, rapper, singer, songwriter and DJ. He was the lead vocalist of British electronic band Faithless from 1995 to 2011 and 2015 to 2016.
"God Is a DJ" is a song by British group Faithless, written by Maxi Jazz, Rollo, Sister Bliss, and Jamie Catto. It was released on 24 August 1998 as the lead single from their second studio album, Sunday 8PM (1998). The single reached number six in the United Kingdom and also reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in September 1998. The title and core lyric originated from words on a T-shirt worn to rehearsal by the band guitarist Dave Randall.
"One Step Too Far" is a song by British electronic music group Faithless. The track features member Rollo Armstrong's sister Dido on vocals and was remixed for single release. "One Step Too Far" was released on 8 April 2002 as the fourth and final single from their third studio album, Outrospective (2001). The song peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart, number four on the US Dance Club Play chart, and number 21 on the Australian Singles Chart.
Renaissance 3D by Faithless is a 3-compact disc box set, of which each CD has a different theme. The first CD, Studio, includes remixes of both songs by Faithless and others. The second CD, a mix CD called Club, mainly contains uptempo dance songs. Both the first and second CDs are compiled by Faithless member Sister Bliss. The third CD, Home, is compiled by Maxi Jazz and contains less uplifting songs, from genres such as reggae and trip hop.
Pauline Taylor is a British singer and songwriter who came to recognition as the lead vocalist on the singles "Love Love Love, Here I Come" by Rollo Goes Mystic and "Let This Be a Prayer" by Rollo Goes Spiritual. Both groups are pseudonyms for producer Rollo Armstrong, a member of the band Faithless.
To All New Arrivals is the 5th studio album by dance music act Faithless. The album was created after the positive response to the Faithless Greatest Hits tour, originally described as their "final tour". The album was released on 27 November 2006, a week after the single "Bombs". The title for the album was inspired by the recent birth of two babies to band members Rollo and Sister Bliss. The album cover features the 1880 oil painting, Nightfall on the Thames, by John Atkinson Grimshaw.
"Insomnia" is a song by British musical group Faithless. Released as the band's second single, it became one of their most successful. It was originally released in 1995 and reached number 27 on the UK Singles Chart, topping the UK Dance Chart in the process. When re-released in October 1996, the song achieved a new peak of number three in the United Kingdom and topped the charts of Finland, Norway, and Switzerland, as well as the American and Canadian dance charts. It also featured on Faithless's 1996 debut album, Reverence.
"Salva Mea" is a song by British electronic band Faithless, written by members Rollo, Sister Bliss, and Maxi Jazz. The female vocals on all versions are performed by Rollo's sister Dido. "Salva Mea" was released in 1995 as the group's first single and became a hit on the UK Dance Singles Chart; following a re-release in 1996, it peaked at number nine on the UK Singles Chart. The single topped the US Hot Dance Club Play chart twice—during its first chart run in 1996 and again in 1997 when the track was remixed and reissued.
Zoë Johnston is a Grammy-nominated British singer and songwriter, born in Nottingham, England. She has written and recorded songs with a number of bands including Faithless, Above & Beyond, Bent, and Delerium, and also with former Beautiful South frontman Paul Heaton as part of his solo projects. Her longest musical collaborative partnership is with UK trance group Above & Beyond.
"I Want More" is a song recorded by UK dance group Faithless, released as a single on 23 August 2004. It features a vocal sample from the singer and pianist Nina Simone. Also sampled in the intro and outro is an excerpt from Pink Floyd’s "On the Run", from the 1970s album The Dark Side of the Moon.
"We Come 1" is a song by British electronic band Faithless from their third studio album, Outrospective (2001). The song was issued as the album's lead single on 4 June 2001, two weeks before Outrospective was released. The remixes by Wookie and Dave Clarke that appear on the single releases are included on the bonus disc of the album Reperspective: The Remixes.
"Muhammad Ali" is a song recorded by British dance band Faithless. It was released in the UK as a single on 23 September 2001, and was the second single release from the group's third studio album Outrospective. The German release was a DualDisc containing a CD audio side and a DVD side. Muhammad Ali reached #29 in the UK singles chart.
The discography of Faithless, a British electronica band, consists of nine studio albums, four remix albums, three compilation albums, forty-one singles and a number of other appearances.
The Dance is the sixth studio album by dance music act Faithless on their own record label, Nates Tunes, and first for PIAS Recordings. Dido is featured on the songs "North Star" and "Feelin' Good". Actress and singer Mía Maestro performs the vocals on "Love Is My Condition".
Aubrey Nunn is an English bass guitarist, songwriter, producer, and educator. He is best known as a long-serving former member of the British band Faithless.
"No Freedom" is a song by English recording artist Dido. The song was released on 18 January 2013 as the lead single from her fourth studio album Girl Who Got Away (2013). The song was written and produced by Dido Armstrong and Rick Nowels, while Rollo Armstrong co-produced it. "No Freedom" is an acoustic ballad, with folk pop influences.
"Don't Leave" is a song by English band Faithless, co-written by Jamie Catto, Rollo, and Sister Bliss and produced by the latter two. Catto provides the lead vocals on the song while Pauline Taylor and Rollo's sister Dido perform several backing vocals. A downtempo soul ballad, the track was included on Faithless's debut album, Reverence (1996), and was released as its third single in March 1996, reaching number 34 on the UK Singles Chart.