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Gavin B. · 03-26-2010, 01:54 PM

I'm a big fan of Black Box Recorder. The other co-members of BBR are John Moore former drummer and guitarist for the Jesus and Mary Chain and Sarah Nixey former member of Balloon. Black Box Recorder you posted reminds me of Serge Gainbourg's music from the 60s.

Jackhammer's BBR post segues nicely into my artist profile of Dean & Britta Yankee duo who that has a lot of the same musical attitudes as Black Box Recorder.

Dean & Britta: A 21st Perpective of Gainsbourgh's Europop

Dean & Britta are devotees to the music of Serge Gainbourgh, Leonard Cohen, the Velvet Underground, Lee Hazelwood and the Europop and Baroque pop of the late 60s era. Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips were originally members of Luna a quintessintial New York band that many hailed a heir apparent to the Velvet Underground.

Comparisons to VU were ineviable because Dean's singing voice has a world weary quality and a conversational cadence that evokes Lou Reed's laconic vocals and Britta's voice sounds a bit like Nico during her Chelsea Girl heyday. Britta's physical appearance bears a resembalance the youthful Nico's chilly ethereal Nordic beauty during those pre-VU days before heroin use withered away her exterior beauty.

Like Nico, Britta was an actress and model early on. Britta was best known for her substantial part in the film Satisfaction a movie about an aspiring rock and roll girl group. Britta co-starred with Liam Neeson, Julia Roberts and Justine Bateman. Britta often played a girl group musician or a singer in her television and movie roles because she had a great voice and could sing her own parts. Britta also played guitar and bass with the facility of a professional musician which was a plus for getting musical roles. Britta was on the road to becoming a notable actress but music was her first love and after she joined Luna, her acting career was put on hold.

Luna really wasn't a clone of VU and Reed himself was a both fan and friend of the band. The magnanimous Reed credited Luna with expanding the musical territory that VU mapped in an earlier era. Luna was markedly different from Velvet Undergroud because Wareham and second guitarist Sean Eden had the skills and techincal ability to improvise on meandering psychedelic guitar jams at live shows, in the manner of Television's dual guitarists, Richard Lloyd and Tom Verlaine. Luna's repetoire of songs were markedly uptempo from the standard VU or Television bill of fare. Britta and Dean married shortly after she joined Luna as bassist. Luna disbanded after a venerable 13 year run in 2004.

Since 2003, Dean and Britta have released three albums as a duet and toured extensively. Night Nuse, the song I've embedded below, reminds me of the sultry ballads that Serge Gainsbourg once sang with his muse, his collaborator and his future wife, Jane Birkin in the late 60s.

03-26-2010, 01:54 PM	#191 (permalink)
Gavin B. Model Worker Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 1,248	I'm a big fan of Black Box Recorder. The other co-members of BBR are John Moore former drummer and guitarist for the Jesus and Mary Chain and Sarah Nixey former member of Balloon. Black Box Recorder you posted reminds me of Serge Gainbourg's music from the 60s. Jackhammer's BBR post segues nicely into my artist profile of Dean & Britta Yankee duo who that has a lot of the same musical attitudes as Black Box Recorder. Dean & Britta: A 21st Perpective of Gainsbourgh's Europop Dean & Britta are devotees to the music of Serge Gainbourgh, Leonard Cohen, the Velvet Underground, Lee Hazelwood and the Europop and Baroque pop of the late 60s era. Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips were originally members of Luna a quintessintial New York band that many hailed a heir apparent to the Velvet Underground. Comparisons to VU were ineviable because Dean's singing voice has a world weary quality and a conversational cadence that evokes Lou Reed's laconic vocals and Britta's voice sounds a bit like Nico during her Chelsea Girl heyday. Britta's physical appearance bears a resembalance the youthful Nico's chilly ethereal Nordic beauty during those pre-VU days before heroin use withered away her exterior beauty. Like Nico, Britta was an actress and model early on. Britta was best known for her substantial part in the film Satisfaction a movie about an aspiring rock and roll girl group. Britta co-starred with Liam Neeson, Julia Roberts and Justine Bateman. Britta often played a girl group musician or a singer in her television and movie roles because she had a great voice and could sing her own parts. Britta also played guitar and bass with the facility of a professional musician which was a plus for getting musical roles. Britta was on the road to becoming a notable actress but music was her first love and after she joined Luna, her acting career was put on hold. Luna really wasn't a clone of VU and Reed himself was a both fan and friend of the band. The magnanimous Reed credited Luna with expanding the musical territory that VU mapped in an earlier era. Luna was markedly different from Velvet Undergroud because Wareham and second guitarist Sean Eden had the skills and techincal ability to improvise on meandering psychedelic guitar jams at live shows, in the manner of Television's dual guitarists, Richard Lloyd and Tom Verlaine. Luna's repetoire of songs were markedly uptempo from the standard VU or Television bill of fare. Britta and Dean married shortly after she joined Luna as bassist. Luna disbanded after a venerable 13 year run in 2004. Since 2003, Dean and Britta have released three albums as a duet and toured extensively. Night Nuse, the song I've embedded below, reminds me of the sultry ballads that Serge Gainsbourg once sang with his muse, his collaborator and his future wife, Jane Birkin in the late 60s. Last edited by Gavin B.; 03-27-2010 at 07:36 AM.