Preview The Flowers of Hell ‘Atmosphere’ from cult classic 'Odes' LP + first single from ‘Keshakhtaran’ album
06 April 2023
Newsdesk
It's been nearly ten years since Lou Reed passed into another realm. Having once given the advice “You've gotta blow the roof off of your heart and let the universe in”, it seems at least one band was listening, channelling a spectrum of inspiration from beyond into their music. The Toronto / London-based collective The Flowers Of Hell may not be known to the masses, but they were known to Reed. In fact, he featured their album ‘Odes’ (issued 2012) on the very last episode of his BBC6 / Sirius-XM New York Shuffle radio show with a handful of back-to-back tracks and ample praise.
Finally, the band has announced a partnership with Space Age Recordings (known for its tightly curated roster with releases from Spacemen 3, Spectrum, The Telescopes, Acid Mothers Temple) to bring this long-player into the vinyl realm. This first vinyl pressing of ‘Odes’ will see the light of day on April 22nd – you guessed it – just in time for Record Store Day UK. This 180-gram red coloured pressing features a deluxe die-cut sleeve. Following Record Store Day, 'Odes' can also be obtained abroad as an import – mark the date for when that happens (Friday, May 5th).
The Flowers Of Hell's mastermind Greg Jarvis notes, “Lou Reed’s praise meant more to us than a Grammy ever would," says "It also meant all the time I spent in my youth smoking weed while listening to The Velvet Underground wasn’t a waste – it was research!”
By the way, if you do your research, you’ll soon discover the kind of company Jarvis has been keeping since working for BMG and Universal in the 90s, handling acts such as Nirvana, David Bowie, Patti Smith, Dolly Parton, Beck, Sonic Youth, Aerosmith, Malcolm McLaren, KISS, Deep Purple and The Moody Blues, along with Death In Vegas, Spectrum and Spiritualized. Mind blown!
Now a cult classic, 'Odes' pays tribute to some of their favourite songs and influences, creating orchestral-pop covers of works by Bob Dylan, Klaatu, Stereolab, Laurie Anderson, The Velvet Underground, Siouxsie & the Banshees and Neutral Milk Hotel, among others. The band now also unveils the video for 'Atmosphere', made famous by none other than Joy Division, The Flowers performance ultimately taking this song more into Velvet Underground territory.
Since starting in London in 2005 and despite relative obscurity, the band’s music has received praise and support from Sonic Boom, Kevin Shields and members of The Legendary Pink Dots, Death In Vegas, The Wedding Present, The Fugs and The Plastic People Of The Universe, not to mention support from NASA’s mission control team and even
The Flowers have also just shared their spacey-ambient single ‘Foray Through Keshakhtaran’, previewing their first album in six years - 'Keshakhtaran', a colossal project involving 20 artists, including Rishi Dhir (Elephant Stone, BJM, The Black Angels, Beck) and Angel Corpus Christi (Suicide, Spiritualized, Dean Wareham).
TRACK LIST - SIDE A 1. Avery Island / April 1st (Neutral Milk Hotel cover) 2. Atmosphere (Joy Division cover) 3. Muchomůrky Bílé (Plastic People Of The Universe cover) 4. Walk On The Wild Side (Lou Reed cover) 5. Run Run Run (Velvet Underground cover) 6. The Last Beat Of My Heart (Siouxsie & The Banshees cover)
TRACK LIST - SIDE B 7. Mr. Tambourine Man (Bob Dylan cover) 8. Super-Electric (Stereolab cover) 9. O Superheroin (Laurie Anderson/Velvet Underground cover) 10. Over & Over (Fleetwood Mac cover) 11. Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft (Klaatu / Carpenters cover)
