The weather round here is what an Indian Summer in Belgium is bound to be, so we're in dire need of some gloomy melodies, to correspond with that dreary mess outside. And as dark tunes go, few can top the two bands fronted by Julie Christmas. In Battle Of Mice, featuring members of the equally excellent Red Sparowes, this Brooklyn-based singer successfully combines eerie, hushed nursery rhymes with sudden nerve-crushing screams and epic walls of guitars and drums. Two years ago, Neurot Recordings released their debut album 'A Day Of Nights', on which Christmas et al knocked me off my feet with a mere seven tracks. Built around a fascinating fable involving a chained, bloody-beaked dog reminiscent of Cerberus and more grim, Grimm-ish faerie tale nudges, it's one of those rare concept albums that actually manage to pull you completely into their own, hermetic universe.
Made Out of Babies, Christmas' other, older band with ex-boyfriend Brendan Tobin on guitars, recently unleashed their third LP called 'The Ruiner' upon the world. Their first release via The End Records, a NY label that also harbours some other Ten Songs faves like Nadja (drone-metal) and Enemy of the Sun (doom-core), it's once again a big step forward from their previous albums. Here, Christmas takes a more in-your-face approach, backed by a furious noise rock/metal combo. As you can tell, it's pretty heavy stuff, or, as they fittingly put it in their bio, 'devastating'.
It's quite a surprise, then, that this same dreaded vixen plans to release a solo-album in 2009 under the 'The Bad Wife' moniker, including a cover by none other than fellow Belgian chansonnier Jacques Brel. On her MySpace, you can listen to a 55-second snippet of 'If You Go Away', a translation by Rod McKuen of Brel's classic tearjerker 'Ne Me Quitte Pas'. She's in good company on this one, since a.o. Frank Sinatra, Shirley Bassey, Scott Walker and Dusty Springfield tried their hand on it before her. And quite frankly, Christmas' version sounds promising to say the least. For a heartbreaking live rendition of the original by Brel himself, check YouTube.
Posted here are 'The Lamb and The Labrador', the opening track of Battle of Mice' debut album, as well as 'Cooker', an electrifying new track off Made Out of Babies' 'The Ruiner'. Enjoy breaking your neck to these puppies!
Made Out of Babies, Christmas' other, older band with ex-boyfriend Brendan Tobin on guitars, recently unleashed their third LP called 'The Ruiner' upon the world. Their first release via The End Records, a NY label that also harbours some other Ten Songs faves like Nadja (drone-metal) and Enemy of the Sun (doom-core), it's once again a big step forward from their previous albums. Here, Christmas takes a more in-your-face approach, backed by a furious noise rock/metal combo. As you can tell, it's pretty heavy stuff, or, as they fittingly put it in their bio, 'devastating'.
It's quite a surprise, then, that this same dreaded vixen plans to release a solo-album in 2009 under the 'The Bad Wife' moniker, including a cover by none other than fellow Belgian chansonnier Jacques Brel. On her MySpace, you can listen to a 55-second snippet of 'If You Go Away', a translation by Rod McKuen of Brel's classic tearjerker 'Ne Me Quitte Pas'. She's in good company on this one, since a.o. Frank Sinatra, Shirley Bassey, Scott Walker and Dusty Springfield tried their hand on it before her. And quite frankly, Christmas' version sounds promising to say the least. For a heartbreaking live rendition of the original by Brel himself, check YouTube.
Posted here are 'The Lamb and The Labrador', the opening track of Battle of Mice' debut album, as well as 'Cooker', an electrifying new track off Made Out of Babies' 'The Ruiner'. Enjoy breaking your neck to these puppies!
MP3: Battle of Mice - The Lamb and The Labrador
MP3: Made Out of Babies - Cooker
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