25 years ago, Projekt Records released the Black Tape For A Blue Girl album “As one aflame laid bare by desire”. Today, supporters are helping to fund a remastered 2LP/CD/MD edition at Kickstarter. “As one aflame laid bare by desire” was the band’s 7th album, and it will now be reissued in a 140-gram color 2LP vinyl edition, on CD, and MiniDisc.

The album features the vocals of Julianna Towns, the voice of Oscar Herrera, violins from Vicki Richards, Lisa Feuer on flute, and of course songwriter and composer Sam Rosenthal.

You can watch the campaign page video with flashback footage from 1998 right below. Live and in the studio.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

In May of 2023, Cherry Red Records asked Black Tape For A Blue Girl aka Sam Rosenthal to contribute “Within these walls” (from the band’s 1986 debut) to a 4CD Darkwave compilation, “No Songs Tomorrow”. Sam offered the original mix as well as a new one; they could pick which they preferred. Note that songwriter Sam Rosenthal went to the cassette Portastudio masters of the band’s 38-year-old debut, “The Rope”, to remix this version.

A single will be released on May 17, “Seven days till sunrise (2024 mix)” back by “the “Within these walls (2024 mix)”.

Sam says: “I was motivated to make the new mix because I wanted to dive into the original 1986 Fostex 4-track cassette Portastudio master tape to see what I could do with it. The original mixes of The Rope were very mushy and rushed. That’s an understatement! I mixed the whole 12-song album in two hours. That’s unheard of; I really had no idea what I was doing (laughs). Creating this mix for Cherry Red was an experiment towards creating a new mix of The Rope album for the 40th anniversary in 2026.”

And he continues by saying: “This mix is much more distinct than the original, you can hear the parts more clearly. Vocalist Oscar Herrera and I both think this version is an improvement, even if perhaps it loses some of the ‘charm’ of the poorly recorded & mixed 1986 version. The Cherry Red 4CD has a May 31 release date. As it’s a physical-only release, I thought it would be good to have the new one up at streaming sites. A 2-song single is always better than a 1-song single, and I knew which track I wanted to remix next. At Spotify, the most played track off The Rope is the instrumental ‘Seven days till sunrise.’ The 2024 mix was less of a struggle compared to ‘Walls.” It was a minimal recording with only three instruments: acoustic guitar, cello & clarinet, each on their own track. It turned out very pretty!”

Songwriter Sam Rosenthal went to the cassette Portastudio masters of the band’s 38-year-old debut, “The Rope”, to remix this version. Eye-openingly, 60% of BlackTape’s Spotify audience is under 34; the song is older than they are! Fans email that they love our introspective, melancholy music introduced to them via the algorithm. This 2024 mix is created in appreciation of Spotify and all our new fans!

Below is the original album both tracks are taken from.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Out via Projekt Records later in August (28th) is the reissue of the 1987 album “Mesmerized by the Sirens” by Black Tape For A Blue Girl. The reissue comes in a ‘2023 Stereo Mix’ version 2CD (in a thick 6-panel double digipak) set limited to 500 copies. This was the band’s second release.

This new release not only features a new mix of this 1987 album, but also contains no less than 10 previously unreleased bonus-tracks on the second CD.

“After 36 years, ‘Mesmerized’ finally matches the way it has always played in my head,” Sam reflects. “I remixed the album from scratch. It’s rich, detailed and distinct. Everything is more present, and the lovely vocals engulf you in their power and beauty.”

Recorded in the Summer of 1987, its line-up included Sam Rosenthal and vocalist Oscar Herrera who were joined by British vocalist Sue-Kenny.

The following tracks are featured on the second disc.

1. The Magnet & The Metal
2. A Teardrop left behind [pt 1, vocal take 1]
3. The Sawdust Scatter [demo]
4. Seireenien Piano [rehearsal room]
5. Seireenien Lumoama [pt 3, extended mix]
6. Jamais pars [1986 early mix]
7. A Teardrop left Behind [1986 early mix]
8. The Sawdust Scatter [1986 early mix]
9. Hairline Sunlight [1986 early mix]
10. Our Flesh as One [1986 early mix]

The vinyl version comes in a limited edition of 300 copies on oxblood and orange 140g vinyl. Both vinyl editions contain the 10 main album tracks in the new 2023 Stereo Mix.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Sam Rosenthal of Projekt Records / Black Tape for a Blue Girl has announced a Kickstarter Campaign to fund the 30th Anniversary edition of 1989’s “Ashes in the brittle air”. The release will come as an expanded and remastered set along with 21 bonus tracks, all delivered on a deluxe 2CD/LP set.

“Ashes in the Brittle Air” was the third album by the gothic darkwave band Black Tape for a Blue Girl. It was released in 1989 by Projekt Records and contains one of their best known songs, “Across a Thousand Blades” sung by Oscar Herrera.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Out in early January – but available right here – is a double vinyl (on 150 gram green-swirled color vinyl) of Black Tape For A Blue Girl’s “This Fleeting Moments”. The vinyl set comes with a 12-page booklet (7″ x 5″ landscape-shaped), a thick jacket stock in matte varnish. The release comes on the band’s 30th anniversary.

You can order this limited edition vinyl set right now, right here.

Good to know, the original vocalist Oscar Herrera has rejoined the band to sing on 7 songs. Herrera returns after a 17-year absence to join the band for their 11th studio release. Accompanying Oscar is his daughter Dani, who was not even a year old when the band recorded their 1986 debut, “The Rope”.

A must have release!

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com