Formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1983 Throwing Muses were the first American act to sign to cult independent record label 4AD. Over the course of five records their sound blurred musical genre lines and broke down barriers for females in alternative music, whilst crafting some of the most extraordinarily emotive music of that era.
Throwing Muses have just released their first musical collection in over ten years titled Purgatory/Paradise. This 32 track album is available as a deluxe 64-page book and a full studio album on CD. The band tour the UK for the first time in over a decade throughout September too. To celebrate, the extraordinarily talented Kristin Hersh – who was at the creative heart of the group with her step sister Tanya Donelly – has picked out her five favourite albums from her rich and diverse career with Throwing Muses, solo and with 50FootWave.
1. Kristin Hersh- “Sky Motel” – Written in the California desert and recorded in New Orleans, Sky Motel sounds like a vast swamp; damp and arid at the same time. I played most of the instruments ’cause I don’t have any friends and I wore these stupid blue suede shoes the whole time. They didn’t fit right, which accounts for most of the strangled guitar solos. Somehow, Sky Motel ended up being my sweetest record and I like sweetness. It’s just so much nicer than bitterness.
2. Kristin Hersh – “The Grotto” – A midnight record, very sparse and sickly-dreamy, The Grotto was named after the neighbourhood I was living in when I recorded it. Howe Gelb played his kooky backwards piano (really: he plays backwards, resolving, then climbing up to where you started) and Andrew Bird did his plaintive thing on the violin, squeaking when necessary, shrilling and dipping when I needed him to. It all ends up dark and plummeting, but smooth; like falling for so long that you get used to it.
3. Throwing Muses – “Uses” – Actually, it’s called “Throwing Muses” but you can’t see the Throwing M on the cover, so everybody just calls it Uses, which is handy because we already had a record called Throwing Muses (we’re marketing GENIUSES). This was recorded in the same horse stable where I recorded The Grotto, with the money left over from that session. Which wasn’t much, so I think we recorded it in two weekends, which makes for a bratty demo-style record. Maybe even a little…fun? Though I could’ve made that part up.
4. 50FootWave – “Power + Light” – A continuous piece of music by 50FootWave, my noise rock trio, Power + Light connects movements on a conveyor belt of noise. We bury melodies under other melodies and Rob Ahlers’ catastrophic drumming (sounds like a drum kit being kicked down the stairs in a time signature you’ve never heard before). But there are songs down there, I promise. All of that would be really pretentious if we weren’t such scuzzy losers, high on pounding, grating noise. Recorded in Los Angeles with the brilliant producer, Mudrock, Power + Light sounds as angry as it is joyful.
http://50footwave.cashmusic.org/power+light/
5. Throwing Muses – “Purgatory/Paradise” – The record Throwing Muses can die after making. We hadn’t released anything in a decade, so, with about a hundred songs knocking at our practice space door, we began the arduous process of tearing them into little pieces, tossing them into the air and seeing what settled on top of the pile, ending up with 32 songs we released as a book of artwork and essays. No record company would ever have allowed us to take the 5 years we needed to make this release what it is; becoming listener-supported through CASHMusic made Purgatory/Paradise exactly what it should be: a fractured, shattered montage of what the world looks like through the eyes of islanders, staring out the window of a bus.
Purgatory/Paradise by The Throwing Muses (The Friday Project, £11.99) is available now. This exclusive edition from the experimental HarperCollins imprint The Friday Project contains photography and artwork from both Kirstin Hersh and David Narcizo of Throwing Muses. Founding member and lead singer, Hersh, has also written insightful and revealing notes and essays to accompany each song as well as transcribing the lyrics. Drummer David Narcizo has designed the book and artwork.
Throwing Muses are Kristin Hersh, David Narcizo and Bernard Georges.
FORTHCOMING UK TOUR DATES:
17 September 2014 -Throwing Muses – Glasgow, UK — Oran Mor with special guest, Tanya Donelly
18 September 2014 -Throwing Muses - Leeds, UK — Irish Centre with special guest, Tanya Donelly
19 September 2014 -Throwing Muses – Manchester, UK — Academy 2 with special guest, Tanya Donelly
20 September 2014 -Throwing Muses – Holmfirth, UK — Picturedrome with special guest, Tanya Donelly
21 September 2014 -Throwing Muses – Norwich, UK — Waterfront with special guest, Tanya Donelly
23 September 2014 - Throwing Muses – Bristol, UK — Trinity with special guest, Tanya Donelly
24 September 2014 -Throwing Muses – Brighton, UK — Concorde 2 with special guest, Tanya Donelly
25 September 2014 – Throwing Muses – London, UK — Islington Assembly Hall with special guest, Tanya Donelly
26 September 2014 – Throwing Muses – London, UK — Islington Assembly Hall with special guest, Tanya Donelly
