Bowery Electric was an American band formed in New York in 1993 by Lawrence Chandler and Martha Schwendener. They released three albums between 1995 and 2000, including the critically praised ''

Beat Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of inte ...

'' (1996).

History

Formed by Lawrence Chandler and Martha Schwendener in late 1993, Bowery Electric played their first show in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in January 1994. The band's debut double 7-inch single was recorded by Kramer and released by Hi-Fidelity Recordings in 1994. After listening to it, Kranky contacted the band. The band's first album, ''Bowery Electric'', was recorded by Michael Deming at Studio .45 in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

and released by Kranky in 1995. The album was included by Andrew Earles in his 2014 book, ''Gimme Indie Rock: 500 Essential American Underground Rock Albums 1981–1996''. In 2016, ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' named it the 36th best shoegaze album of all time. In 1996, the band released their second album, ''

''. It includes the single "Fear of Flying". In 2016, ''Beat'' was reissued on vinyl as a 20th anniversary edition by Kranky. ''Vertigo,'' a remix album of tracks from ''Beat'', was released in 1997. ''Vertigo'' featured a roster of artists including Third Eye Foundation, Robert Hampson, Witchman and others. In 2000, the band released an album, '' Lushlife'', which was recorded at Electric Sound. The album peaked at number 14 on the

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Top 200 chart and number 11 on the Core Radio chart. They have not performed or released any recordings as Bowery Electric since.

Musical style

The band blended elements of

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie rock, indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion (music), distortion and effects, a ...

with

trip hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...

rhythms, utilizing samplers, laptop production, and dub bass. In the November 1995 issue of ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...

'',

Simon Reynolds Simon Reynolds (born 19 June 1963) is an English music journalist and author who began his career at ''Melody Maker'' in the mid-1980s. He subsequently worked as a freelancer and published a number of books on music and popular culture. Reynold ...

credited Bowery Electric and other kindred groups as developing "a distinctively American

post-rock Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes Texture (music), texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings wit ...

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Bowery Electric'' ( Kranky, 1995) * ''

'' (Kranky,

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, 1996) * '' Lushlife'' (Beggars Banquet Records, 2000) * ''Demo'' (Independent, 2024)

Remix albums

* ''Vertigo'' (Beggars Banquet Records, 1997)

EPs

* ''Drop'' (Hi-Fidelity Recordings, 1994)

Singles

* "Fear of Flying" (Beggars Banquet Records, 1997) * "Without Stopping - Witchman Mix (Hell or High Water Dub)" (Beggars Banquet Records, 1997) * "Coming Down - Immersion Mix" (Beggars Banquet Records, 1997) * "Blow Up" (Happy Go Lucky, 1997) * "Floating World" (Beggars Banquet Records, 2000) * "Freedom Fighter" (Beggars Banquet Records, 2000)

Use of songs in media

* "Beat" was used in commercials for Puma and Michelin

Films

* ''All We are Saying'' ("Deep Sky Objects", "Freedom Fighter") * '' Made in Britain'' ("Looped", "Low Density") * '' The Mothman Prophecies'' ("Under the Sun") * ''The Princess and the Gangster'' ("Lushlife") * Transworld Skateboarding ''Anthology'' (“Fear of Flying”) * Transworld Skateboarding ''Sixth Sense'' (“Fear of Flying”) * Transworld Skateboarding ''Modus Operandi'' (“Shook Ones”)

Television

* ''

Behind the News ''Behind the News'' (more commonly known as ''BTN'') is an Australian children's news program televised by the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Described as an 'educational news program aimed at 10-13 year old kids', ''BTN'' is commo ...

'' ("Freedom Fighter") * CKAL ''News at Noon'' ("Fear of Flying") * ''

Comic Relief Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...

'' ("Low Density") * '' Deepwater Black'' ("Fear of Flying") * '' Gardners from Hell'' ("Low Density") * '' Ideal'' ("Over and Over", "Slow Thrills") * ''Les histoires extraordinaires de Pierre Bellemare: Le virage d'Anna'' ("Soul City") - Season 2, Episode 18 *

WNBC-TV WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City that serves as the flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey–licensed Telemundo s ...

''Listen-Voices of the Future'' ("Beat", "Fear of Flying", "Floating World", "Freedom Fighter", "Over and Over", "Saved", "Under the Sun") * MTV '' Real World/Road Rules Challenge'' ("Deep Blue", "Soul City") - Episode 406; ("Psalms of Survival") - Episode 416; ("After Landing", "Shook Ones") - Episode 504; ("Deep Blue", "Psalms of Survival", "Saved" ) - Episode 505; ("Lushlife") - Episode 506, Episode 916 * ''Moorgate Legacy'' ("Beat", "Low Density") * '' Motorway Cops'' ("After Landing", "Beat", "Fear of Flying", "Passages", "Psalms of Survival") * '' No Disco'' ("Freedom Fighter") * ''Paris Modes'' TV ("Floating World")

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Musical groups from New York (state) American post-rock groups American shoegaze musical groups Trip hop groups Male–female musical duos Musical groups established in 1993 Kranky (record label) artists