MACABRE MUSIC REVIEW: BLACK TAPE FOR A BLUE GIRL
BLACK TAPE FOR A BLUE GIRL
10 Neurotics
Projekt
So this is what a pervert’s mid-life crisis sounds like. 10 Neurotics, Black Tape For A Blue Girl’s tenth album, catalogues BTFBG principal Sam Rosenthal’s post-divorce exploration of (descent into?) fetishism. And he’s taken to it like a duck to water sports, writing about plushies (‘Marmalade Cat’), voyeurism (‘Caught By Strangers’), cuckolds (‘Tell Me You’ve Taken Another’) and other kinky subjects. And as Rosenthal has remade his life, he’s also reinvented his sound, mostly ditching the eerie/soothing electronics of past Black Tape releases in favour of acoustic instrumentation; piano, drums, guitar. In this he’s aided by Dresden Dolls drummer Brian Viglione, who co-produces, and new vocalists, including Spahn Ranch’s Athan Maroulis and Attrition’s Laurie Reade. Results are mixed (singer Nikki Jaine tries and fails to invoke Marlene Dietrich on ‘Rotten Zurich Cafe’), but Rosenthal’s, shall we say unrestrained enthusiasm for his newfound proclivities is endearing – even if you sometimes want to (ball) gag him.
Rating: 6/10
Black Tape For A Blue Girl founder Sam Rosenthal
Here is the video for the first single, ‘The Pleasure In The Pain’:
December 15, 2009 at 3:52 pm
“…he’s taken to it like a duck to water sports” — that’s brilliant!
: )
I love reviews that are good for a laugh. I think you may have overlooked asects of the album while also making assumptions that are not contained in the music, but that’s all cool. To each his own…..
One thing to point out, “Marmalade Cat” is about a furry, not a plushy (Plushies are sexually attracted to stuffed toys while furries relate to animal energy and sometimes like to dress as animals). If you look deeper into the words of that song, you will see it’s about our need to follow our own personal interests in life, without society’s intrusion and condemnation.
In fact, the songs almost all deal with the dynamics of our life. The interplay between people, or between people and their own unrealized desires. The album does have a deeper subtext that you mostly overlooked. But once again, to each his own.
Thanks for your support……. Sam
December 15, 2009 at 6:01 pm
Thanks, Sam.
Duly noted re ‘Marmalade Cat’, my mistake.
I originally wrote this for Rue Morgue Magazine so was writing to a limited word count, and would have loved to have delved a bit further critically. Overall I enjoyed it a lot. Good work.
Sean