The Flowers of Hell
| The Flowers of Hell | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Toronto & London |
| Genres | Experimental, space rock, drone, psychedelic, post-rock, neo-classical |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Labels |
Optical Sounds Unfamiliar Benbecula Records Fat Ghost Saved By Vinyl Awkward Silence Starmole Japan Earworm Records Shifty Disco |
The Flowers of Hell are a trans-Atlantic experimental orchestra made up of a revolving line-up of 16 or so independent musicians based in Toronto and London. Their largely instrumental sound builds bridges between classical music and post rock, shoegaze, space rock, and drone music, often resulting in their being described as an orchestral extension of the work of The Velvet Underground and Spacemen 3.
Led by synesthete composer Greg Jarvis, much of their repertoire is an exploration of the timbre-to-shape synesthesia that causes Jarvis to involuntarily perceive all sounds as floating abstract visual forms.
The group's music has been championed by Lou Reed,Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine),Pete 'Sonic Boom' Kember (Spacemen 3) who mentored the group through the creation of their debut album, and numerous others. They have had positive coverage from media including Rolling Stone,NME,Pitchfork, and BBC Radio.
The Flowers of Hell moniker comes from an old blues concept of transformation whereby the misery and toil of the musician results in the pleasure of the listener. The name was first used by the group’s founder Greg Jarvis on tracks included on various UK newspaper and magazine covermount CDs in 2002 and 2003, of which just under two million units were distributed. Jarvis expanded the project into a London-based live act in 2005 with the founding six piece line up consisting of himself as the principal guitarist, Guri Hummelsund on drums, Abi Fry on viola (later of British Sea Power and Bat For Lashes), Owen James on trumpet, Ruth Barlow as the accompanying guitarist, and Steve Head on Hammond organ. During 2006 and 2007 the group underwent numerous small line up changes.
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