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Blood Cultures (band)

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Blood Cultures
OriginNew Jersey, United States
Genres
Years active2013 (2013)–present
Websiteblood-cultures.com

Blood Cultures is an American experimental indie pop group from New Jersey.[1] First known as a single person and now recognized as a collective (a quartet as of 2019), the band's members remain anonymous, their faces obscured by black hoods in all photos.[2][3][4] As they have explained, their anonymity is crucial to their ethos and aims "to keep the relationship between the listener and the music as pure as possible".[5] Hailed as some of the most exciting music coming out of New York by NME in 2018, Blood Cultures' genre-bending sound is often characterized as psychedelic pop, electropop, and chillwave.[3][2][6][7] Blood Cultures released their first album, Happy Birthday, in 2017. The band released its second album, Oh Uncertainty! A Universe Despairs, in September 2019.[8] Their third record, LUNO, was released on May 28, 2021.

History

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2013–17: First singles and Happy Birthday

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Blood Cultures released their debut single, "Indian Summer", in October 2013, by uploading it to Soundcloud. The project was launched with conspicuously little background info; at the time, it had no social media accounts or biography and was only represented by a photograph of an individual with a black hood.[9] The first single was followed by "Mercury Child" and "Meavy Hetal", in February and April 2014, respectively.[10][11] The single "Scenes from a Midnight Movie" was released in September 2015 with what would eventually be revealed as the artwork for the group's debut album, Happy Birthday, which was in turn released in July 2017 and accompanied by some of their first interviews.[1][12] Blood Cultures made their first performance at Rough Trade in August 2017 to celebrate the release, and went on to perform with acts such as Princess Nokia and Yumi Zouma throughout the year.[13][14][15]

2018–19: Oh Uncertainty! A Universe Despairs and first tour

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Blood Cultures released a single and video for "Dunk on Me" on Halloween 2018, the first material from their sophomore album. This was followed by "Flowers for All Occasions" in March 2019, a single inspired by the hijacking of local New Jersey TV stations in the early 1990s.[16][17][3] With the release of the single "Best for You" in June 2019, Blood Cultures announced their album Oh Uncertainty! A Universe Despairs, set for publication that September. The single was accompanied by a manifesto conveying Blood Cultures' convictions to remain anonymous, explaining that "disclosing our personalities, politics, alignments, intentions, orientations, etc., could detach the listener further from the personal connection that they have made with the music" and urging that "art is not what the artist intends it to be but rather what you make of it".[8] Following the release of an additional single, "No Favors", in August, the band issued their twelve-track album in September 2019.[18][2] In interviews, Blood Cultures described the album as "a conversation between two opposing sides that share a single relationship" and "a personal journey of self-discovery". The album was generally reviewed positively as "a bright and beautiful blend of cultures, wandering vocals, and electronic beats" and "one of 2019's greatest experiences".[16][5] In November, Blood Cultures released a video for the album's song "Broadcasting", which commented on the question of identity for those who feel pulled between two cultures.[5] The band promoted the album with their first US headline tour in late 2019.[16][2]

2021–present: LUNO, The Olive Tape

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On January 28, 2021, Blood Cultures made their comeback with a new single, titled "Keeps Bringing Me Back", from their upcoming project, LUNO. On February 25, 2021, they released a new single, "Beneath the Moon & Me". The third single came out on March 29, 2021, and was titled "Set It on Fire". The fourth single from the upcoming album, "When the Night Calls..." was released on April 27, 2021. LUNO came out on May 28, 2021.

In 2024, Blood Cultures, together with Rosaline Elbay and Dario Ladani Sanchez, curated and produced The Olive Tape, an album that includes poetry and music by such artists as Nick Hakim, Vansire, Narcy, Jordana, Fire-Toolz, Hala Alyan, and Inua Ellams. The record was created to raise awareness of the ongoing displacement of Palestinian people within Gaza, with all proceeds donated to Anera and the Palestine Children's Relief Fund.[19][20]

Musical style

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The elements that comprise Blood Cultures' sound include psychedelic textures, bedroom pop beats, and tropical melodies.[7][18][1] Indicative of their experimental approach, their arrangements have been characterized by "warm, lo-fi guitars; wobbling synths; washed-out percussion; and auto-tuned, cut-and-paste vocals", "drenched in maximum reverb".[21] Though they hesitate to discuss their influences, Blood Cultures have been likened to LCD Soundsystem, Toro Y Moi, and Jai Paul.[16][22][2]

Discography

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Albums

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Title Album details
Happy Birthday
Oh Uncertainty! A Universe Despairs
LUNO

Singles

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Title Year Album
"Indian Summer" 2013 Happy Birthday
"Mercury Child" 2014
"Meavy Hetal"
"Scenes from a Midnight Movie" 2015
"Dunk on Me" 2018 Oh Uncertainty! A Universe Despairs
"Flowers for All Occasions" 2019
"Best for You"
"No Favors"
"Hard to Explain" 2020 Non-album single
"Keeps Bringing Me Back" 2021 LUNO
"Beneath the Moon & Me" 2021
"Set It on Fire" 2021
"When the Night Calls..." 2021
"Set It on Fire (Extended Version)" 2022 Non-album single

References

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  1. ^ a b c Price, Joe (September 17, 2015). "Blood Cultures - "Scenes From a Midnight Movie"". Complex. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e Sprinkle, Taylor (July 4, 2019). "Blood Cultures Teases New Album With Single Release 'Best For You'". Study Break. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c Schatz, Lake (March 28, 2019). "Blood Cultures provide the Origins for new song "Flowers for All Occasions": Stream". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  4. ^ McCoy, Maya (November 25, 2019). "Blood Cultures' "Broadcasting" Asks Questions Without Answers". Kajal. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c Kato, Precious (November 19, 2019). "Blood Cultures Deals With Identity in 'Broadcasting' [Q&A]". Ones to Watch. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  6. ^ Likoski, Steve (June 22, 2019). "Anonymous Project Blood Cultures Show What is Geniune, Emotive Art in 'Best For You'; a New Taste of their Album". Eat This Music. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  7. ^ a b Smith, Thomas; Feltham, Kai (August 7, 2018). "The most exciting new music coming out of New York right now". NME. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  8. ^ a b Watson, Kayleigh (June 19, 2019). "Blood Cultures return with single "Best For You" and announce new album". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  9. ^ Tanners, Jon (October 2, 2013). "Blood Cultures – "Indian Summer"". Pigeons and Planes. Archived from the original on October 6, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  10. ^ Price, Joe (February 2, 2014). "Blood Cultures – "Mercury Child"". Pigeons and Planes. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved October 11, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  11. ^ Price, Joe (April 29, 2014). "Blood Cultures – "Meavy Hetal"". Pigeons and Planes. Archived from the original on June 5, 2014. Retrieved October 11, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  12. ^ Bartlet, Jess (July 20, 2017). "Blood Cultures steps momentarily out of the shadows to talk debut album "Happy Birthday" [interview]". Earmilk. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  13. ^ "NYC artist on the rise: Blood Cultures celebrates debut LP at Rough Trade 08.09". The Deli. August 4, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  14. ^ "Yumi Zouma played Le Poisson Rouge w/ She-Devils (pics), share "December" video". Brooklyn Vegan. October 26, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  15. ^ "Princess Nokia played Elsewhere with Blood Cultures (pics, video)". Brooklyn Vegan. May 7, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  16. ^ a b c d Vargas, Adrian (September 18, 2019). "A Mystery & Charm that Only Strengthens with Age: A Conversation with Blood Cultures". Atwood Magazine. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  17. ^ Carr, Cameron (October 31, 2018). "Blood Cultures premiere horrifically enchanting new song + video". The Deli. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  18. ^ a b Todd, Harry (August 7, 2019). "Daily Dose: Blood Cultures, "No Favors"". Paste. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  19. ^ Ward, Steven (February 14, 2024). ""The Olive Tape" Coalesces the Pain and Hope of Palestine as an Expansive Mixtape". Grimy Goods. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  20. ^ "The Olive Tape: a mixtape raising aid & building community". A Book of Magazine. August 9, 2024. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  21. ^ Diplock, Simon (November 11, 2019). "Album Review: Blood Cultures – Oh Uncertainty! A Universe Despairs". New Noise. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  22. ^ Haskoor, Michael (October 7, 2013). "Electro-pop from New Jersey: Blood Cultures". The Deli. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
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