“In name and in art, this New York collective is a response to a culture that values style over substance. You'd expect their sound to be more punk considering the anarchy of their name, but instead Blow Up Hollywood prefers to shake things up with an unusual mix of emotional text and cinematic arrangements. Led by Steve Messina, who has scored two films for PBS, the band is comprised of many musicians with Masters' degrees. Dave Eggar studied at Harvard and has a doctorate from Julliard. He has played the Kennedy Center and performed with everyone from Sinead O'Connor to Ornette Coleman. Often, players with advanced degrees can produce cold, calculated music, but Blow Up Hollywood is not an assembly of mechanical studio musicians. Their goal isn't to show off its players' resumes, their intention is to move the listener. Their latest album Fake plays out like one continuous symphony of epic rock, graced by several haunting instrumental passages that feature Eggar's string arrangements. The band is so intent on making the music the story that they don't put any bio information on their packaging or web site.” – Steve Ciabattoni, Editor CMJ
“Blow Up Hollywood - the NYC-based outfit makes surprisingly mournful and gentle music, a sort of country-tinged,
orchestral parade”. -TimeOut NY
"Somewhat ambitious locals mine a swooshy sort of ornateness that might be rooted in Pink Floyd, Radiohead, or Porcupine Tree: leaden emotion amid promising open spaces."
-Village Voice
“Their name is certainly scary and threatening, but the music of this New York-based art rock group ventures into regions of dream pop, moody rock and evocative chamber instrumentals. Their recent album, FAKE, is already garnering critical hosannas”.
– John Diliberto, Echoes
“Forget about image and media leading sales, sales, sales. Blow Up Hollywood, in case you can’t tell by the band's name itself, don't want to be known for all the gimmicks and tricks that sell music today. Judge this band for what it’s worth: the music itself. Their mellow rock style is at moments reminiscent of U2's softer side in the '80s, with a modern-edged mixture of electronics and cellos to keep the music unpredictable. Pain oozes off this album, the lead’s voice (and nor do they believe in naming band members in liner notes) trembling passionately with a nasal edge as he wails about loves that may have never been. It is a truly moving experience, no strings attached.” --Lori Hager, The Sentimentalist
“Blow Up Hollywood is definitely putting itself in the running as a truly "important" band. And while the music is overwhelming and astonishingly powerful, it really isn't pretentious. All that stuff I listed earlier? The vagueness of the web site, etc.? That might be taken as a bit precious, but the music is the thing. And Blow Up Hollywood's full-blown huge sound is a marvel to behold. The songs evolve slowly, taking on one idea after another without sounding forced. And when the summation arrives, it's like a revelation from beyond the veil. " - Aiding and Abetting
“There's nothing Fake about Blow Up Hollywood's second album. This is serious, serious music charged with very real emotion. Like gray clouds hanging low on a fall Sunday afternoon, occasionally pierced by hopeful moments of sunshine that never seem to last, this music is downright overshadowing and all-consuming yet, in a subtle, gentle manner, somehow comforting. The songs swell with grayness and disperse momentarily to reveal hopeful moments, all the while accentuated by visceral passages of lyrical pleading. And yes, all of this is achieved with good old-fashioned (but not too loud) guitars, bass, drums, and vocals, along with some keyboards and cello for added ambient effect. Decade-old alternative rock bands like Sunny Day Real Estate and Live won legions of listeners with this sort of brooding music, but the music of Blow Up Hollywood is a much more serious affair. These guys aren't aiming for modern rock radio or indie credentials; they're making music that resonates deep in your soul, the sort of music that's so intimate, you feel like the band is playing its songs for you and you alone. In fact, you could think of Blow Up Hollywood as mid-'90s Sunny Day Real Estate ten years later — still conflicted and passionate yet further jaded and further drawn within, putting away the distortion pedals in favor of long passages of quiet numbness. All of this might be too much for most listeners. After all, there's nothing catchy to grasp onto here, and the music never crosses over into experimental territory. This is music for grownups who still find solace in emotional rock music yet who just can't get off nowadays on the commercially calculated likes of U2, Sarah McLachlan, and other such adult alternative rock. Blow Up Hollywood isn't radio fodder. This is heartfelt music that is made out of a love for music-making, not a quest for fame. So if you're looking for some real music charged with real emotion and played with real passion, look for Fake. It's about as ethereal as adult alternative rock music gets before it crosses the line from poetry into parody.”
-All Music Guide
“There is a hazy, sad, completely wrapped up feel to this gorgeous music which lies stretched across the lines of trip hop, melancholia, and ambient. Make your own mental film from the gliding sheets of strings and washed out guitars. It is grand and nostalgic, emotional and dramatic, pleading and sensitive; it is an excellent tribute (or companion, for that matter) to the place where we all convalesce now and again, the place that exists only for us to make clear the division between what just happened and what happens next”. -Cdbaby.com
"This anonymous band inhabits a musical terrain that can be sonically and rhythmically traced to the seminal 1970's masterpiece "Dark Side Of The Moon". The orchestral backdrops coupled with acoustic guitars, somnambulant ride cymbal patterns, instrumental interludes, cosmic effects and dramatic dynamic shifts all hark back to the heady days of lava lamps, day glo-posters, and mind altering substances. The other good news is the songs are as good as their influences. "Oceans", a sleepy love song embellished with legato slide guitar textures and celestial harmonies is the centerpiece here, running the gamut from subtle to bombastic. The title cut emerges as an epic tale of alienation with an arena rock chorus to kill for. And Goth fans will appreciate the spooky romance of "being there". For fans of Radiohead, solo-Dave Gahan/Martin Gore, and Messrs, Waters, Gilmore, Wright and Mason, this Fake is the real deal." -Tom Semioli - Amplifier
"Pure Artistry...this album reveals the inner most thoughts of the human psyche… a musical epiphany." -Mike Vincenti - thefreezer.com
“...is reminiscent of Radiohead's recent work---minimalist, spooky, moody and hypnotically intriguing. Nothing is known about this band. There are no liner notes, few printed lyrics and credits. They could be from outerspace or this could be the music heard in parallel worlds.” –Lynne Bronstein, Oneway Magazine
“Blow Up Hollywood doesn't beat you over the head with their beliefs on this album, allowing the music to speak for itself. The best moments here - and they are truly fantastic, beautiful moments - are on the band's instrumentals.” -Delusions Of Adequacy
“This is an album of cohesion, precision execution and thought provoking messages- both lyrically and musically. The instrumentation on the album is acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, synth, bass, drums, cello, violin, viola and trumpet. The lack of member credits indicates the album and the band are about the sum of Blow Up Hollywood, not the individuals themselves.”
-stormbringerwebzine.co.uk
"Blow Up Hollywood" seems like an ironic moniker considering that the project comes across as a soundtrack for a film noir . . . though, ahem, certainly not a Hollywood film score. This music is somehow simultaneously as disturbing as it is beatific, conjoining dirge like acoustic guitars, surrealistic strings and languorous vocal harmonies into tone poems which literally follow one individual's ethereal passage into afterlife. The mystery is reinforced by the artists' decision to reveal no credits, names or photos, a surprisingly egoless kowtow to the art considering the incredible professionalism of this production. Fans of Lisa Gerrard or Sigur Rós will like this."
- Minor 7th
“Very rarely has a band knocked me completely off of my noggin and left me speechless. Thanks to a very good friend and the timely contact of their promotions material, the band Blow Up Hollywood has done that for me. On first listen, this album has stunned me in a way that few albums could. It's an album that - I must preface this - is meant to be heard in the correct atmosphere. You need to be listening to it at night, preferably in a somber mood. You need a great bottle of wine (red, preferably). You need the room lit up in candles, to initiate a mood. You also need someone special beside you in order to appreciate the power coming out of the speakers. There are no words to describe the feeling you should get while listening to this song, but the mood should put you in the position to receive what BUH is trying to show you." -Michael Ostrich, Progscape
“Very heartfelt and expansive in scope, Blow Up Hollywood's release Fake has an orchestral feel that is hard to ignore. The production and song construction are first-rate. These anonymous guys really deserve credit for a piece of artwork like this.”
– Impact Press
"Blow Up Hollywood is an electronically orchestral adventure with depth and heart.” - pollutedezine.com
"While there is a bunch of ethereal, instrumental music that seems cinematically inclined, this self-titled disc from Blow Up Hollywood takes things a step further, serving as a literal soundtrack for a film in the works. In the future, the band will score the film live as it's projected on three screens in front of audiences. Based on the music, one expects an evocative, eerie B & W kind of film, with its plotline about a boy who dies and has a trip to Heaven interrupted by detours to Purgatory and Hell."
-Suite101.com
"This music is very intriguing, as dark, brooding, and haunting as the angel of death itself." -Progressive World
"Somber as rain over a funeral, Blow up Hollywood brings out life’s darker moments through lush orchestrations and acoustic folksy pop. It’s a listening experience that’s not as glum as the music itself." -altarnative.com
“You’ll find dashes of everything from folk to electronica, but the overall feel is that of atmospheric rock that almost feels as though it came from another world altogether. There is a dark yet uplifting vibe that is reminiscent of bands like Radiohead and Coldplay, or even Pink Floyd, but without the British accents. The first track “Born” really raises the bar for all of the songs that follow, but fortunately, each and every one of them seems up to the challenge. Whether it is the heartbreaking string section that weaves its way in and out of several songs, or the anthematic propulsion that drives several others, the album is consistently well-crafted, and it really leaves you wondering why some record label hasn’t scooped this band up yet. Blow Up Hollywood know how to write the sort of songs that sound large enough to fill an arena, and with Fake they have created a virtually flawless album, from the songwriting right down to the production.
- Eddie Fournier – Ghettoblaster Mag
“These guys don't want anyone to know anything. I am fine with that. You should be too. For what emerges from the speakers as the disc plays is nothing short of aural ambrosia. The first time I listened, it was as if I had been familiar with the music for some time, as if I had known these songs. And it's that immediate accessibility that is the most interesting aspect of the band. When you listen, and you will listen, the music envelopes you, you run movies in your head, you reflect, things happen. The strings are lush and beautiful, the guitar work likewise; the songs ebb and flow as one big unit as well as individually. I think this is best listened to in its totality on a home system. Much in the way that Radiohead's "OK Computer" was an ethereal sort of mood-inducing disc, BUH's "Fake" digs deep into your soul. The surreal beauty of the tracks here easily place this disc as best of the year”. –NY Rock
“This group believes in making music that defies the hype; yet they have a knack for writing pop songs, and the instrumentals are vaguely reminiscent of something you might hear woven through an emotional drama or independent film. The evocative strings can easily carry the listener away into a dream world. The music is intriguing, artful and a good listen for anyone who enjoys a walk in the shadows.” -Lisa Town, Left of the Dial
“…nice flow, varied intensity, emotional story. Incredibly deep and interesting music.”
-Hybrid Magazine
“Sounds like early R.E.M. meets Radiohead with the voice of the dude from Smashing Pumpkins with a David Gray edge but ten times more interesting, innovative, layered and organic.”
-Kweevak
”It seems that this band effortlessly crosses musical genre boundaries of classic and modern rock, blended alternative style, and takes your mind on a bit of a mystical voyage ; all while providing thoughtful lyrics. They're a little Moby, a little Duncan Sheik and a smidge of Coldplay in this depth-focused album but they’re so much more at the same time. You can even sense a Pink Floyd vibe in this album, which sends off a Radiohead signal too. Lyrically, the album contains a simple stature with audible delights of instrumental tracks as well.” Rating: 4 stars -Discovering Artists
“Intriguing sense of anonymity is what encompasses “Fake”. They intentionally leave out details of their persons in the liner notes so that people have to listen to the music to get a sense of their unique personalities. The sounds are organic but have an experimental avant-garde veneer about them. Their ideas are certainly grandiose and while their name suggests a departure from the mainstream they still manage to eek out incredible melodies and catchy hooks that will have the majors scratching their head. Good ethereal stuff”. – -Smother.net
blowuphollywood "Fake", 2004 “An anonymous duo heavily influenced by the dreamy aesthetic of Pink Floyd, Radiohead, and The Verve, blowupollywood renders a breathy, cosmic collection sure to ignite lava lamps and incense burners to all who come in contact. Built upon simple, legato melodies of voice and acoustic guitar embellished by a myriad of sound effects, lush keyboard textures, and a wide array of orchestral harmonies and counterpoint, blowupollywood excels at creating memorable, anthemic songs with a classic 70's studio sheen. The throbbing lower register bass, syncopated grooves, and soaring vocal motif on the title track evokes memories of the Moody Blues in mid-flight. "Born" quotes an obscure Paul Simon lyric. The sampled flutes, arpeggios, slide-guitar, and double-tracked vocals of "Oceans" are majestic as they coalesce into a grand finale. And vintage B3 at the onset playfully pushes "White Walls" into Procol Harum territory. Though the references may be retro, "Fake" is a futuristic tour-de-force”. © Tom Semioli
“By no means is this music suitable for the low end of a manic swing. You couldn't take it. It's breathtakingly beautiful but you're surrounded in a blanket of fragility and sadness. If, however, you're the even keeled sort, this is probably going to be one of those CDs that reacquaints you with the repeat button. As I write this the album is playing through for the fifth time and I can't get over how gorgeously ethereal this music is. "Just Before Dawn" layers sounds upon sounds, including swells of ambient noise and spine-tingling, stratospheric slide guitar, until it becomes an enormous sonic symphony that fills and lifts you up. Which makes the repeating line of "NDE," "I don't wanna come down," seem very appropriate. You know, the more I think about it, the more I think I've played this five times in a row because it feels pretty good. Sure, it's a pretty somber album, but something about it seems cathartic. And maybe it's perfectly suitable for the low end of a manic swing because, as it turns out, it's the soundtrack to time at the bottom (with light at the end of the tunnel).” DJ Johnson, Cosmik Debris
“In terms of music—and this could be hotly debated—we live in a world forever changed by Radiohead. While Radiohead’s late-Nineties/early-Oughts ‘innovations’aren’t really anything that hasn’t been done before, they have turned a lot of mainstream listeners on their ears and widened the palette of sounds deemed ‘acceptable’ for mainstream music. Just as the synthesizer forever changed the face of popular music in the Eighties, these subtle experimental leanings have crept their way into millions of homes. I say all that because New York’s Blow Up Hollywood have taken the teachings of the ‘Head and crafted a sublime masterpiece that could dazzle a wide audience even more than Thom and company.
What do they utilize that those agit-Brits don’t? Restraint. While Radiohead’s sonic experimentalism and obtuse lyrical themes help them to stand out, they also don’t always work. As admirably as putting your neck on the chopping block of creativity is, it can also lead to losing your head in over-indulgence. Blow Up Hollywood’s “Fake” is lush without being lost, intelligent without sacrificing its accessibility, and humanly steeped in romantica as the gorgeous “Oceans” will attest. In the choruses of the title track, the vocalist recaptures the trembling emotional resonance that Live’s Ed Kowalczyk used to great effect before that band (like Radiohead) got lost in itself. Ending with a spacey instrumental, “DMK”, the group wander through ambient music territory with an honesty that recalls the best of Brian Eno’s pioneering work in that genre. If you have the album on repeat, the beginning of the album (“Born”) starts with the same drifting sounds that “DMK” ends on, thus creating a perfect seamless loop. Sheer brilliance.
Any and all comparisons aside, Blow Up Hollywood are gearing up to become a classic band whose releases may someday be mandatory additions to every music lover’s collection. “Fake” is far from true to its name.” -Jack Alberson at FAC193.com
“From the cool white and blue color scheme of the album cover and the echoing tones of the first track, “Born”, one might be inclined to think Blow Up Hollywood is just another electronica band. Nothing could be further from the truth, for once the full band kicks in after those first tones, we are transported into a world of smooth atmospheres and blissful dreamscapes. Since the heyday of bands like Slowdive, Lush, Medicine, and My Bloody Valentine, dreamy alternative shoegazer hasn’t had much of a voice beyond the occasional leanings in some of today’s bands. The music on Fake is as diverse as it is soothing, containing elements of shoegazer, classical, electronica, and radio-friendly pop that come together to form a sound that defies the conventional categorization. There is a running theme in the lyrics (primarily in the title track) about failing relationships. This is par for the course after Blow Up Hollywood’s acclaimed debut, which dealt simply with death. It may sound like the perfect recipe for the standard goth band, but amid the sad subject matter is an uplifting sound, a catharsis the likes of which only music can bring about. It makes for good soundtrack music. It is somewhat reminiscent of Godspeed, You Black Emperor or The Smashing Pumpkins in their lighter moments. There is just the right balance of soft guitars with the minimal but effective synthesizers. A string section adds that timeless feeling that only classical music can provide, and the vocals have just the right touch of melancholy without coming across like a whiny victim of heartbreak. Among the album’s finer moments is “NDE” which would make an excellent radio hit. This song is not only the best example of Blow Up Hollywood’s balance of genres, but is also one of the most melodic and lyrically satisfying songs to be written by any band in this genre—it is a work of pure poetry - RenGen Magazine
Review: Blow Up Hollywood
Blow Up Hollywood performed last Saturday at The Gatherings Concert Series and followed that performance a few hours later with a live on-air performance on the widely respected STAR'S END radio program, aired weekly on Saturday nights beginning 1AM until 6AM Sunday Morning on WXPN, 88.5fm in Philadelphia.
The performance at The Gatherings was a wonder to behold, both visually and sonically. Blow Up Hollywood's music is serene and sometimes melancholic, often times melodically beautiful, and quite disturbing at others. The two performances reminded me of the chameleon, changing to hide within their environment while the music carries the listener to places never inhabited. Both of their performances were completely different in feel and I came away mesmerized and with a new found respect for this band.
Anonymity is a long-standing tradition within this band. There's no bio on their website, (which if you've never visited it, I highly recommend you do so. It's like no site I've ever seen before), their CDs list no band member's names, and each song's author is nameless. Steve Messina, who's recognized, albeit begrudgingly, as the official leader of the band, has said in interviews that the Blow Up Hollywood's primary mission is to release music from the heart, fresh, original, and free from battling egos and personalities. This way the music can live a life of it's own. And their music definitely evolved to great heights last night.
Blow Up Hollywood is actually a 7 member band, all of whom have played together for years and who also have separate successful careers of their own. They're all highly accomplished musicians with members who've trained at some of the most prestigious music schools in the country. They have degrees from Temple, Harvard and Julliard and have studied under such legendary musicians as Aaron Copeland. Last night only 4 musicians made the trip to Philly and they were also accompanied by their manager Karen Lee and her partner from Evolution Promotions, Karen Doran, as well as their visual gatherer, Spence.
The Gatherings Concert Series is most commonly known for featuring electronic music, performed by only one or two musicians on keyboards and maybe a guitar, but last night was a huge step forward, or sidewise, for The Gatherings. Blow Up Hollywood featured a keyboardist, an acoustic guitarist and singer, (a first for the Gathering I believe), an electric guitarist who also played keys, and a cellist. Their performance gracefully maneuvered through instrumental atmospheres and somber melodic vocal pieces, never breaking stride and flowing seamlessly into one long continuous enjoyable set. Their performance was accompanied with a visual backdrop where a video montage was shown while the band was playing. The band mostly played in the dark, almost as if scoring to the visuals, while the images on screen swept the listener into a bizarre abstract world of hallucinogenic imagery and thought provoking film clips.
Later that night on the STARS END radio show, the band displayed a completely different side of their musical personality by playing a one hour non-stop improvisational ambient performance. Those of us in attendance could only watch and listen in awe as these accomplished musicians embarked on a journey of sound and song, never knowing their destination or how they would get there, but traveling it with an unwavering confidence. I left the building that night with a completely new appreciation and respect for these musicians.
by John Garaguso/Progressive Soundscapes Radio
as posted to the Spacemusic list (#9109) Sun 14 Nov 2004
|
|
Contact Artist
Add to Profile
Add to station
