Band of Holy Joy | |
---|---|
![]() Band of Holy Joy | |
Background information | |
Also known as | Holy Joy |
Origin | New Cross, London |
Genres | Urban Folk music, Alternative pop, Post punk |
Years active | 1984–1993, 2002–2003, 2007–present |
Labels | Tiny Global Productions, Rough Trade, Flim Flam, Cherry Red, Exotic Pylon Records, Moloko Plus, Stereogram Recordings, Radio Joy |
Members |
|
Past members |
|
Website | www |
The Band of Holy Joy are an English band formed in New Cross, London, and initially active between 1984 and 1993, releasing several albums. In 1992, they abbreviated their name to Holy Joy. They reformed in 2002, under their original name, releasing a new album called Love Never Fails. They concentrated on other musical projects during 2003 to 2006. The band began performing live again in 2007 and since 2017 have released a number of albums on Tiny Global Productions, including Funambulist We Love You, Neon Primitives, Dreams Take Flight, and their latest critically acclaimed release Fated Beautiful Mistakes in 2023.
The band was formed in 1984, by Johny Brown in New Cross, South London. Early experiments revolved around cheap junk shop instrumentation and rudimentary electronics. After two self-issued cassettes, they signed to South London indie label Flim Flam for a string of singles and two 1987 albums; More Tales From The City and the live LP When Stars Come Out To Play. [1]
The band reached a commercial and critical peak after signing to Rough Trade, with Manic, Magic, Majestic in 1989, and Positively Spooked in 1990, [2] supported by a tour of the U.S.S.R. [3] The label was forced into receivership in 1991 following cash flow problems and eventual bankruptcy. The band re-emerged in 1992 as Holy Joy, with the album Tracksuit Vendetta. They split up in 1993 and Brown moved into freelance journalism, playwriting and production.
Band of Holy Joy reformed in 2002 and released an album Love Never Fails. After a number of live dates the band became inactive between 2003, and 2006, pursuing other musical projects. In May 2007, the band began playing live again. October 2007 saw the release of Leaves That Fall in Spring, a best of released on the Cherry Red label. [4]
In 2008, after playing nine warm-up dates in and around London during April, May and June, the band set off to the US for the first time in their 24-year history and embarked on a successful tour of New York City. [5] Punklore, a six-track CD was released and initially only available at the New York gigs.
In 2009, the band started to explore theatrical and multimedia based performances. As their alter ego Radio Joy, they performed two song plays Troubled Sleep and Invocation to William. Troubled Sleep was a fictional account of Sid and Nancy's last days at the Chelsea Hotel in New York. It played out over several nights in the Shunt Theatre Lounge in London and Star and Shadow Cinema in Newcastle. [2] Invocation to William was performed at The University of London Institute in Paris at the event celebrating the 50th anniversary of William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch , 'Lunch @ 50'. [6] The songs from this show were released as a mini album CD A Lucky Thief in a Careless World on the band's own Radio Joy label. [7] [8] In October 2009, they were invited to play The Wire magazine's 'Into the Vortex' festival, [9] followed by a series of shows in Athens, Greece, later that year.
Paramour, the band's eleventh album was released on 8 June 2010 and featured eight songs that had evolved from the song play Troubled Sleep.
In 2011, the band embarked on another tour of Greece, playing in the cities of Athens, Thessaloniki, and Larissa. They made their first appearance at Glastonbury Festival and performed their third song play Beuys Will Be Beuys in London and Thessaloniki. A CD release titled How To Kill A Butterfly was released on 28 October 2011 on Exotic Pylon Records.
On 15 March 2012, a CD release entitled The North Is Another Land was released on German independent record label Moloko Plus.
On 28 January 2013, a double cassette and digital download titled City of Tales: Volume 1 & 2 was released on Exotic Pylon Records. [10] Volume 1 contains previously unreleased material from 1985 found by former band member Brett Turnbull, restored and accompanied by a second volume of recordings from 2012. This was followed up in 2014 with Easy Listening which was released on Exotic Pylon Records with an accompanying UK tour. [11]
Their album The Land of Holy Joy was released through Stereogram Recordings on 21 September 2015. [12]
Since 2017, the band have put out a series of releases on label Tiny Global Productions starting with an EP on 10" vinyl entitled Brutalism Begins at Home followed by the albums, Funambulist We Love You, Neon Primitives and Dreams Take Flight. A new album entitled Fated Beautiful Mistakes was released in June 2023 on vinyl and CD. Louder Than War described the most recent release as "an album that everyone should hear and hopefully take to their heart. Songs that make you feel less alone. More optimistic and free to grasp hope and love where and when you can, while you can". [13]
Band of Holy Joy host their own radio show, Bad Punk, on Resonance FM every Friday from 10pm until 11pm. [14]
The band's music includes elements of post-punk, folk rock, European cabaret, reflective instrumentation and epic pop, [15] with Jacques Brel, Bertolt Brecht, [1] Coleridge and David Peace [2] identified as influences. Their City of Tales release has been likened to David Bowie's 1. Outside and the work of Pere Ubu. [16] Jason Ankeny, writing for Allmusic, described the band as "urban folk". [3] Rob Young, in the book Rough Trade, described their music as "a bohemian mix of inner city guignol, Brechtian street song, and soaring romanticism". [17]
Chart placings are from the UK Independent Chart. [18]
In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separately from an album, although it usually also appears on an album. In other cases a recording released as a single may not appear on an album.
Dead Letter Office is a rarities and B-sides collection by R.E.M., released in April 1987. The album is essentially a collection of many additional recordings R.E.M. made from before Murmur to Lifes Rich Pageant that were outtakes or released as B-sides to their singles internationally. Many of the tracks are favorite cover versions indicating the band's disparate influences and musical tastes, including three Velvet Underground covers, and songs by Aerosmith, Roger Miller, and fellow Athenians Pylon ("Crazy").
David P. Madson, better known by his stage name Odd Nosdam, is an American underground hip hop producer, DJ and visual artist. He is co-founder of the record label Anticon. He has remixed tracks by a variety of bands and artists including Boards of Canada, The Notwist, and Sole.
Even As We Speak is an Australian indie band from Sydney. Formed in the mid-1980s, founding members Matthew Love and Mary Wyer were later joined by Rob Irwin (bass) Anita Rayner, Paul Clarke and Julian Knowles.
Nightingales are a British post-punk/alternative rock band, formed in 1979 in Birmingham, England, by four members of Birmingham's punk group The Prefects. They had been part of The Clash's 'White Riot Tour', recorded a couple of Peel Sessions, released a 45 on Rough Trade and, years after splitting up, had a retrospective CD released by US indie label Acute Records.
A.R. Kane was a British musical duo formed in 1986 by Alex Ayuli and Rudy Tambala. After releasing two early EPs to critical acclaim, the group topped the UK Independent Chart with their debut album 69 (1988). Their second album, "i" (1989), was also a top 10 hit. They were also part of the one-off collaboration MARRS, whose surprise dance hit "Pump Up the Volume" was released in 1987. Ayuli is believed to have coined the term "dreampop" in the late 1980s to describe their eclectic sound, which blended elements such as distorted guitars, dub production, and drum machines.
Hellbastard is an English crust punk/thrash metal band formed in 1984 in Newcastle.
Blue Orchids are an English post-punk band formed in Manchester in 1979, when Martin Bramah left the Fall, after playing on the band's debut album Live at the Witch Trials. Christened by Salford-based punk poet John Cooper Clarke the band recorded for Rough Trade and acted as backing band for the Velvet Underground's Nico before a 25-year period of intermittent activity and fluctuating line-ups.
Temposhark was an English electronic rock band, formed in London and Brighton by singer-songwriter Robert Diament and one-time music producer Luke Busby. Temposhark were best known for their songs Bye Bye Baby, Joy, It's Better To Have Loved and Not That Big; a duet with singer Imogen Heap which appeared on their 2008 debut album The Invisible Line. Their second album Threads was released in 2010 and reached the top 15 on iTunes UK electronic albums chart. Other notable artist collaborations include Guy Sigsworth, Sean McGhee, Youth from Killing Joke, Kate Havnevik, Melnyk, Camille, MaJiKer, Morgan Page, Avril and the virtuoso violinist Sophie Solomon. Temposhark's music has been featured in numerous television programmes, including the US advertising campaign for British TV series Downton Abbey in 2011.
"A Song for the Lovers" is a song by English singer-songwriter Richard Ashcroft, included as the opening track on his 2000 album, Alone with Everybody, as well as his first solo single following the break-up of the Verve. The song was released on 3 April 2000 as the first single from the album in the United Kingdom. "A Song for the Lovers" was originally written by Richard Ashcroft as a demo track for the Verve's studio album Urban Hymns; three different versions were recorded, but the song did not make the final cut. It was inspired by Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart".
Fucked Up is a Canadian hardcore punk band from Toronto, Ontario, formed in 2001. The band consists of Damian Abraham (vocals), Mike Haliechuk, Josh Zucker (guitar), Sandy Miranda (bass), and Jonah Falco. From 2007 to 2021, the band also included guitarist and vocalist Ben Cook.
Parasites are an American pop-punk band. They were formed in the late 1980s by guitarist / singer Dave Parasite and bassist Ron Nole in New Jersey. Dave later relocated to Berkeley, California, and continued with a new lineup during the heyday of Lookout! Records and the Bay Area pop-punk revival.
Vanessa Briscoe Hay is an American singer for the Athens, Georgia bands Pylon, Supercluster and Pylon Reenactment Society.
Casper & the Cookies is an American rock and pop band from Athens, Georgia, United States.
Where It Is is the debut album by British new wave band The Beloved, first released as a vinyl LP in October 1987 on the Flim Flam Productions label. It was the only album the band released as a new wave, guitar-oriented quartet before the line-up halved and they transitioned to a house/alternative dance sound. It is mostly considered to be a compilation album, since it complies most of the singles and related B-side tracks the band released between April 1986 and June 1987, along with tracks from the Happy Now EP. The album was produced by New Order's engineer Michael Johnson, except for "Forever Dancing" and "If Only '87", which were produced by the band themselves. All of the singles made the Top 30 on the UK Indie Chart, but failed to reach the UK Top 75. It didn't chart on the UK Albums Chart, but it reached Number 17 on the UK Indie Chart.
Rafael Anton Irisarri is an American composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer and mastering engineer based in New York. He is predominantly associated with post-minimalist, drone and electronic music.
Stockholm Monsters were an English post-punk band, formed in Burnage a suburb of the city of Manchester in 1980. They recorded for Factory Records between 1981 and 1987.
Ritual Productions is a London-based independent record label launched in 2010.
Stick in the Wheel are a band with its origins in working-class East London, UK. It consists of vocalist and artist Nicola Kearey and Ian Carter, their producer, arranger and Dobro player. They bring a contemporary approach to folk music with raw minimalism, setting vocals to simple accompaniments and handclaps, along with progressive synths and beats informed by the street music of their heritage.