Abney Park (band): Difference between revisions
m robot Adding: it:Abney Park |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 58: | Line 58: | ||
* ''[[Dark Christmas]]'' (Special website digital release, 2009) |
* ''[[Dark Christmas]]'' (Special website digital release, 2009) |
||
<!-- * ''[[Stigmata Martyr]]'' (Unreleased?) --> |
<!-- * ''[[Stigmata Martyr]]'' (Unreleased?) --> |
||
* ''[[Aether Shanties (Abney Park album)|Æther Shanties]]'' (December 1st, 2009) |
* ''[[Aether Shanties (Abney Park album)|Æther Shanties]]'' (December 1st, 2009) <-help |
||
<!-- |
<!-- |
||
Revision as of 21:57, 19 February 2010
Abney Park |
|---|
Abney Park is a band based in Seattle that mixes elements of industrial dance, and world music influences in their work. Their name comes from Abney Park Cemetery in London (UK).
Band members
- Robert Brown - Vocals, Darbuka, Diatonic button accordion, harmonica
- Kristina Erickson - keyboards, Piano
- Nathaniel Johnstone - Guitar, violin, mandolin, bouzouki
- Daniel Cederman - Bass, Acoustic guitar
- Jody Ellen - Vocals
History
Abney Park was formed by Robert Brown in 1997. In 1998 they released their first full-length album Abney Park, and in 1999 they released Return to the Fire. Tracks from these two albums as well as a couple of new ones formed their third release, titled Cemetery Number 1. In the early years of Abney Park, the band featured a gothic musical and visual style, which they culminated with their 2002 release From Dreams Or Angels.
In 2005, the band released Taxidermy,[1] which is a collection of new versions of songs from past albums, three live tracks and two covers. In 2006 they released the album The Death of Tragedy. After this release, their line-up changed as well, with the departure of Traci Nemeth, Krysztof Nemeth and Robert Hazelton, replaced by Magdalene Veen, Jean-Paul Mayden and Nathaniel Johnstone. Shortly thereafter Jean-Paul departed the band to be replaced by Daniel C.
As part of their transformation, Abney Park invented fictional identities of themselves,[1] complete with a background story that describes the fictional history of the band as the crew of an airship named the Ophelia (see below). In the spring of 2008, Magdalene Veen left the band and was replaced by Finn Von Claret. That year, they released Lost Horizons, their first steampunk-themed album. Finn retired in the summer of 2009. Jody Ellen joined the band later that year and played her first show at Dragon*Con 2009. Also in 2009, the band released Aether Shanties, their tenth album.
Abney Park has performed at numerous goth and steampunk festivals including Dragon*Con, Saturnalia, Utah Dark Arts,[2] Bats Day,[3] Convergence, Ravenwood Festival,[4] Masque and Veil, the Bay Area Maker Faire[5], and Steamcon.[6] Their music has also been featured in many compilation CDs, including Gilded Age Records' An Age Remembered: A Steampunk and Neo-Victorian Mix,[7] Cleopatra Records' The Unquiet Grave vol. III, BLC Productions' Annihilation and Seduction,[8] Squish Me Down Records' Eighteen (Eighteen NW Bands Benefit CD); and in several movie soundtracks, including Insomnis Amour, Goth, and Lord of the Vampires. Sometimes called the "quintessential" steampunk band, Abney Park has been featured in major news media[9][10] and interviewed by several genre magazines and websites,[11] and has been highlighted on MTV[12][13][14] and G4TV.[15]
Fictional Backstory
In 2006, Abney Park transformed themselves from a largely Goth Industrial band into a Steampunk band. Since Steampunk is largely derivative from science fiction and fantasy literature, the band created a fictional backstory to "explain" the shake-up in membership and who they were now, and to set a "stage" for their new music. According to that story, the band's plane collided with a time-travelling dirigible called the Ophelia - said to have been created by a Dr. Leguminous Caligari (a reference to the 1920 silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) - in a freak storm. The band commandeered the vessel, deciding to become "airship pirates", and formed a new band from the "surviving" members of the "crash". Much of their music since that time has been based around this fictional backstory.
Discography
Albums
- Abney Park (1998)
- Return to the Fire (1999)
- Cemetery Number 1 (2000)
- From Dreams Or Angels (2002)[16]
- Twisted & Broken: Abney Park Remixed (This album is available from the band as part of a special package)
- Taxidermy (2005)[17]
- The Death of Tragedy (2005)[18]
- Lost Horizons (2008)
- Dark Christmas (Special website digital release, 2009)
- Æther Shanties (December 1st, 2009) <-help
External links
References
- ^ a b Kim Lakin-Smith (20.06.2008). ""Pump Up The Volume: The Sound of Steampunk"". Matrix Online : the news and media magazine of the British Science Fiction Association.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Dark Arts Festival 2006 Schedule". Dark Arts Festival website.
- ^ jillian (July 24th, 2006). "Bats Day In The Fun Park". LA Metblogs.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ David Koon (7/10/2008). "Steaming into Fayetteville: Big-name goth and steampunk acts gear up for this weekend's Ravenwood Festival". Arkansas Times.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Abney Park: Music Stage 1". Maker Faire Bay Area 2008.
- ^ "Steamcon Musical Acts: Featured Musicians". Steamcon 2009.
- ^ DJ FACT.50 (2007). "An Age Remembered - A Steampunk / Neo-Victorian Old World Mix". Discogs. Gilded Age Records. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Annihilation And Seduction". Discogs. BLC Productions. 2003. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
- ^ Caroline Sullivan (17 October 2008). "Tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1899". The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
- ^ Ruth La Ferla (May 8, 2008). "Steampunk Moves Between 2 Worlds". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-12-14.
- ^ Interviews with Abney Park:
- "Abney Park Interview". Aether Emporium. 12th October 2006. Retrieved 2009-09-25.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "Lost Horizons with Abney Park: Catching up with Ophelia's crew". Aether Emporium. 21st May 2008. Retrieved 2009-09-25.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Tome (September 24, 2009). "INTERVIEW - Captain Robert of Abney Park". Dieselpunks.org. Retrieved 2009-09-25.
- Rebecca Firth (08/27/2008). "Dread Captain Robert and Abney Park Sailing the Metaphorical High Seas in the Name of Steampunk". WooEB. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Caitlin Dougon (28 April 2009). "Hanging With Abney Park". Spartan Youth Radio. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
- "Abney Park Interview". Aether Emporium. 12th October 2006. Retrieved 2009-09-25.
- ^ Andrew Ross Rowe (Sep 29 2008). "What Is Steampunk? A Subculture Infiltrating Films, Music, Fashion, More". MTV News. MTV. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "MTV News video: 'It's Airships, Pirates And Goggles'". MTV. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
- ^ "MTV News video: Abney Park's 'Airship Pirate'". MTV. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
- ^ "Abney Park - Steampunk Culture Video". YouTube. Retrieved 2009-09-25.
- ^ "Abney Park - From Dreams Or Angels". Discogs. Retrieved 2009-09-21.
- ^ "Abney Park - Taxidermy". Discogs. Retrieved 2009-09-21.
- ^ "Abney Park - The Death Of Tragedy". Discogs. Retrieved 2009-09-21.