Product Description
02 marmalade cat MILLY MIX BY STEVE JONES | MP3 Clip
03 rotten zurich cafe VALERIE GENTILE MIX
04 tell me you’ve taken another MARTYR MIX BY ANDROID LUST
05 in dystopia UNWOMAN MIX | MP3 Clip
06 caught by a stranger MILLY MIX BY STEVE JONES
07 feel your pulse quicken STEVE ROACH MIX
08 love song STEVE ROACH MIX
09 istrike AS LONELY AS DAVE BOWMAN MIX
10 perfectpurity SAM ROSENTHAL MIX
11 inch worm ATTRITION MIX
12 caughtstranger SAM ROSENTHAL MIX | MP3 Clip
13 zurichstrings SAM ROSENTHAL MIX
14 halo star (2013) BLACK TAPE FOR A BLUE GIRL
WITH ERIK WØLLO | MP3 Clip
GENRES: Electronica, Trip Hop, Dream Pop, Dark Cabaret, Alternative
Auxiliary Magazine review excerpt, 2013: “Dubbed Tenderotics, the album is a reimagined play on the sexually charged 2009 album 10 Neurotics. There is amazing diversity here… but it never strays far from that mysterious sensual BlackTape sound. What’s constant is the ambience and overall slow-paced emotionally charged sense of feeling this band is known for, a sort of David Lynchesque romanticism. If 10 Neurotics was an intelligent nod to the underworld of sexual fetishism, Tenderotics continues this theme elegantly conjuring up an arousing narrative through delicious… soundscapes.”
In 2013 BlackTape’s Sam Rosenthal asked a diverse group of soundsculptors to try their hand at remixes. The directive was to use only the original performances recorded for the album — find a new heartbeat within the sources, find a new angle on these uniquely expressive songs. And they delivered! These tracks luxuriate in the vocals, letting Laurie’s passionate purr, Nicki’s cynical growl, and Athan’s croon shine above the ethereal & dark cabaret moods.
Blurt Magazine wrote, “Erik Wøllo and Android Lust give ‘The Perfect Pervert’ and ‘Tell Me You’ve Taken Another’ throbbing, sensual mixes that bring the original album’s underlying themes of alternative sexuality to the fore; the ‘milly mixes’ by Steve Jones (from Area, not the dude from the Sex Pistols) do the same for ‘Marmalade Cat’ and ‘Caught By a Stranger,’ only more so. The second half dives into deeply ambient waters.”
The ‘milly mix’ of “Marmalade Cat” is trip-hop meets fur and lust… strip-hop! Comparisons with Groove Armada and Ben Watt but darker and more sensual. This mix dives into the multi-track and pulls out elements and pushes them to the front such as the slinky, feline bass line. In fact, the cover image is model Narcissa, taken from the “Marmalade Cat (milly mix)” video shoot. Watch at YouTube.
For this 2022 reissue, Rosenthal adds three additional mixes.
Music Tap wrote, “Tenderotics begins with an Erik Wøllo-remixed treatment of ‘The Perfect Pervert,’ providing it with an electronica dance vibe. But that doesn’t carry over to the others. With remixes and recreations by eclectic talents like Steve Roach, Android Lust, Attrition, Steve Jones, and even Sam Rosenthal himself, Tenderotics cosmetically nips and tucks with experimental surgery surprising every time with a uniquely expressive rework. Erik Wøllo is chosen to end the album with his dark ethereal mix of ‘Halo Star (2013).’ The hallmark of Black Tape For a Blue Girl album releases have always been the poetic expression of dark human emotion encased in the music interests of Sam Rosenthal at the time of composition. Tenderotics is an album that has the creator of 10 Neurotics entrusting his personal songs to others. And it is safe to say that the others have not defiled the songs but have instead given them new blood with which to exist within a different sphere of life.”
Fan Reviews:
rikm: An excellent collection of remixes from the 10 Neurotics album. Mixes by Erik Wøllo and Steve Roach add a certain ambient quality to their tracks and of course an appearance by Unwoman is always well appreciated. An engaging listen and a great opportunity to rediscover some old favorites in a new light.
Uncle Brains: Black Tape For A Blue Girl’s characteristic ethereal/dark-cabaret sounds are given several interesting twists in this collection of remixes and reinterpretations.
Release Date: July 29 2013. Limited edition of 1000. There was a deluxe edition in a limited edition hand-sewn furry slipcase (not REAL fur, it’s man-made).
Click to Join, hit send, and I’ll add you to the list. – Sam
Reviews Editor –
A review from Wicked Channel
Say what you want about Sam Rosenthal and Black Tape for a Blue Girl, but one thing is for sure, they have yet to release a cd that has disappointed. Now, you would expect that statement about a band that has a few cds under their belt and maybe around less than a decade, not a band that has been around close to 30 years and have influenced so many different genres of music with their unique sound and passionate musicians that have made this band legendary. Their latest is more of a remixing of their brilliant last album 10 Neurotics. If you never heard of Black Tape for a Blue Girl, you are truly missing out on some of the most beautiful gothic poetic lyrics ever put to music. This is trip hop in its most darkest and most sensual. This is a cd, you light candles around the bed get the person you love and just make serious love to.
This is the first remix cd that I think the remixes are better than the originals. Now that is taking nothing away from 10 Neurotics, that was a brilliant record but this remix album is revolutionary in its feeling and sound, this is a band that has nothing to prove to anyone, but seems to always want to prove to people they are capable of making groundbreaking cds and really still showing people that they are just as important now as they were then. The women on this cd are the stars of the vocals, no offense to the guys. The women shine very good on this cd, and Laurie Reade and Nicki Jaine, really give you guys some very intense and deeply sensual stuff that will get you talking and thinking long after you leave this cd. I wish Nicki would come back to this band, she is such an amazing talent, and sad that she is giving up music, she has so much to offer.
Erik Wollo does something interesting with two tracks; he makes them ambient almost space and time shifting stuff. This cd sounds like the equivalent of a split personality; you have half the tracks that sound like sensual female vocals on display trip hop and the other part that sounds inspired by Syd Barrett. This is one of those records that I just feel there is some deeper meaning to it than what the sound is letting on, like either a goodbye or maybe a new direction next time out. This is a cd that will not redefine music, but it may get people interested in buying cds again and supporting bands. This is a cd to buy your lover for valentines with some roses and take them somewhere romantic. From a band that has been around almost 30 years, I would never have expected that they would keep making music this incredible, maybe the Hall of Fame of Rock and Roll would throw them a bone and get them inducted, just for the sheer fact that when this band is gone, all you will have is a million crappy imitations out of the ashes of their greatness with the million already there. Recommended, and highly recommended if you never heard this band before and have no clue what this band is about. Cds like this are not made, they are created and they are created to be forever hailed as where music was at the time you listened to it for the first time, and where music was at afterwards. 9 out of 10 -James DePaolo
Reviews Editor –
A review from Orkus Germany
Stunning remix work!
Reviews Editor –
A review from Ondarock
Quattro anni sono passati da quando Sam Rosenthal, con l’uscita di 10 Neurotics, aveva sostanzialmente sconvolto tutti i canoni stratificatisi negli anni attorno al marchio Black Tape For A Blue Girl. Anni in cui il boss della Projekt non è certo rimasto fermo, continuando piuttosto a promuovere – attraverso l’arruolamento in scuderia di nomi come Brian Viglione (Dresden Dolls, da tempo divenuto braccio destro del Nostro), Audra, KatzKab, Adrian H & The Wounds e Jill Tracy – la sua frontiera più recente: il dark-cabaret. Nel mezzo, un omaggio ambientale a proprio nome (“The Passage”) e un impegno sempre crescente in favore della retribuzione dei musicisti.
Ma dei Black Tape For A Blue Girl, durante questi anni, non abbiamo avuto traccia. Non è certo bastata la cover inedita di “Forbidden Colours” nella natalizia Ornamental, unita a qualche brano sparso altrove per saziare la fame di un pubblico sempre più curioso di vedere dove Rosenthal sarebbe andato a parare, dopo una svolta tanto estrema e impopolare. Oggi, Tenderotics non da risposta alcuna a questo interrogativo, ma segna il già importante ritorno del marchio, cercando di rimettere ordine laddove 10 Neurotics aveva sconvolto ogni equilibrio. Quattordici remix affidati ad alcuni fra i nomi di punta di casa Projekt, che se da un lato confermano l’assetto bipolare che risponde oggi al progetto Black Tape (traducibile come Rosenthal + Viglione), dall’altra cercano di ricucire delicatamente gli strappi con i fans “storici”, senza per questo abbandonare le frontiere più recenti.
Le performance imperfette si contano sulle dita di una mano e hanno come difetto unico un’evidente mancanza di coraggio: prima fra tutte è la versione di “Inch Worm” a cura degli Attrition, sostanzialmente una riproposizione integrale dell’originale senza la benché minima integrazione. Problema analogo affligge la “Rotten Zurich Café” a firma Valerie Gentile e, in parte minore, l’iniziale “The Perfect Pervert”, dove Erik Wøllo si distingue a fatica in un pezzo già di per sé ottimo. Per il resto, i risultati sono lusinghieri quando non stupefacenti: Sam Rosenthal in persona firma un trittico di interessantissime divagazioni strumentali sui temi dei brani già citati, guardando ad un esoterismo oscuro in “Perfectpurity”, alla frontiera tribale in “Caughtstranger” (da “Caught By A Stranger”) e alla melancolia in “Zurichstrings”, mentre ancor più riuscito è il mix dronico di “Istrike”, dove rispolvera il moniker As Lonely As Dave Bowmann. Il primo a sorprendere è invece Steve Roach, intento a destrutturare e riassemblare samples vocali provenienti da varie tracce in “Feel Your Pulse Quicken” e a ambientare in un deserto chitarristico “Love Song”. Chi osa più di tutti è Steve Jones nei suoi “Milly Mix”, specialmente in quello già edito di “Marmalade Cat”, rivoluzionata rispetto all’assetto ermetico dell’originale. A chiudere il cerchio sono un’Android Lust in forma splendida sul capolavoro “Tell Me You’ve Taken Another” – che surclassa di gran lunga l’auto-cover di 10 Neurotics – e i Black Tape stessi che rivedono in chiave minimale, assieme di nuovo a Wøllo, la title track di Halo Star.
Impossibile chiedere di più ad un disco nato come variazione su un tema ostico e complesso, che riesce pure nell’impresa (non facile in tema di remix) di suonare compatto e omogeneo, riducendo al minimo la discontinuità dell’effetto-raccolta. Tenderotics è dunque un lavoro che rappresenta al tempo stesso l’odierno status dei Black Tape For A Blue Girl e lo spettro di interessi su cui Rosenthal ha deciso di soffermarsi, quello stesso su cui ha costruito la politica artistica della Projekt in questi ultimi anni. Un regalo che piacerà a chi ha seguito e continua a seguire la label americana, e che ha l’indubbio merito di far salutare un ritorno importante. In attesa di capire la strada che si accinge ad intraprendere, il marchio Black Tape è vivo più che mai. Rating: 7 (very good) -Matteo Meda
Reviews Editor –
A review from Music TAP
Sam Rosenthal began his label, Projekt Records, as a vehicle to distribute the music from his band, Black Tape For A Blue Girl. To date, Black Tape For a Blue Girl has released ten studio albums over a period of 23 years. Their last, 10 Neurotics (2009), expressed Rosenthal’s growing interest in dark cabaret. However, since 10 Neurotics, Black Tape For A Blue Girl has been quiet.
The music of BTFaBG (Black Tape For A Blue Girl) deeply reflects the evolutionary musical mind of Rosenthal, who assembles a new band when his need to express becomes necessary. On this occasion, Sam Rosenthal farms out most of the unique songs from 10 Neurotics, with remixing in mind, to recreate the nuances of some of those tunes.
Tenderotics begins with an Erik Wollo remixed treatment of “The Perfect Pervert”, providing it with an electronica dance vibe. But that doesn’t carry over to the others. With remixes and recreations by eclectic talents like Steve Roach, Android Lust, Attrition, Steve Jones, and even Sam Rosenthal himself, Tenderotics cosmetically nips and tuck with experimental surgery surprising every time with a uniquely expressive rework. Erik Wollo is chosen to end the album with his dark ethereal mix of “Halo Star (2013)”.
The hallmark of Black Tape For a Blue Girl album releases have always been the poetic expression of dark human emotion encased in the music interests of Sam Rosenthal at the time of composition. Tenderotics is an album that has the creator of 10 Neurotics entrusting his personal songs to others. And it is safe to say that the others have not defiled the songs, but have instead given them new blood with which to exist within a different sphere of life.
Yes, there are many pages in Tenderotics. And within those pages you’ll find new stories. The words are the same, but the pulse has quickened, and the varied sounds somehow change the mood. -Matt Rowe
Reviews Editor –
A review from Darkview
Sam Rosenthal is al enkele decennia de bezielende kracht achter het cultproject ‘Black Tape for a Blue Girl’ dat eveneens het uithangbord is van z’n eigen label Projekt Records.
Zoals bij de meeste releases op dit kleine Amerikaanse label gaat het hier om heel etherische, zweverige muziek met een onwerelds klinkend instrumentarium en dromerige zang. Tenderotics is een verzameling herwerkingen van oude nummers in een samenwerking met verschillende artiesten. Het spectrum rangeert van ambient over spaarse folk naar iets dat niet zou misstaan hebben op een plaat van Hooverphonic. Stuk voor stuk zijn het kleine luisterpareltjes. Zoals de titel het ook al aangeeft, zit er een onderhuidse erotische spanninglaag in de nummers die al dan niet meer meer naar de bovengrond komt of niet. Een plaat om op te zetten terwijl je ‘Vijftig Tinten Grijs’ aan het lezen bent? Rating: 8/5 out of 10 -Tom
Reviews Editor –
A review from Blurt
The remix companion to its previous LP 10 Neurotics, Tenderotics recasts black tape for blue girl’s masterpiece in new shapes in the hands of a variety of sculptors. Erik Wollo and Android Lust give “The Perfect Pervert” and “Tell Me You’ve Taken Another” throbbing, sensual mixes that bring the original albums’ underlying themes of alternative sexuality to the fore; the “milly” mixes by Steve Jones (not the dude from the Sex Pistols) do the same for “Marmalade Cat” and “Caught By a Stranger,” only more so. Attrition turns “Inch Worm” into a cross between cabaret and European art song, while Unwoman follows a similar tack for “In Dystopia,” adding a trip-hop rhythm track.
The second half dives into deeply ambient waters, with Steve Roach giving “Love Song” a richly haunted feel, and btfabg bandleader Sam Rosenthal, under both his own name and his As Lonely As Dave Bowman guise, transforming several tunes into synth and string-driven ghosts. The record ends with a new take on “Halo Star,” the title track to btfabg’s 2004 album as reimagined by the band and Wollo as a Peter Gabriel outtake.
As with most remix albums, results vary, and the success of the ambient tracks depends on one’s tolerance for that style in the first place. But Rosenthal’s direct involvement in the project assures that, no matter what the imagination of the remixer, the tracks stay faithful to the spirit of the original recordings. Not essential, perhaps, but Tenderotics is still a worthy companion to the original work of art. -Michael Toland
Reviews Editor –
A review from Auxiliary Magazine
In a world where the word “darkwave” might be a little passé in lieu of the rising grave wave movement, Black Tape for a Blue Girl serves up a lush new remix album that fits in nicely without the need for a drum machine. BTFBG has always been tossed into a sort of goth/cabaret archetype but it has served them well over their near thirty years. Aprpropriately dubbed Tenderotics, the album is a reimagined play on the sexually charged 2009 album 10 Neurotics. In my opinion it’s brilliant, perhaps better than 10 Neurotics, with each track holding its own but keeping to theme. There is amazing diversity here, as diverse as the album’s participating guest list, but it never strays far from that mysterious sensual BTFBG sound. Sometimes this album sways into trip hop territory, other times their traditional use of strings and other acoustics creates a neofold sound, but they never quite go over these edges. What’s constant is the ambiance and overall slow paced emotionally charged sense of feeling this band is known for, a sort of David Lynchesque romanticism. If 10 Neurotics was an intelligent nod to the underworld of sexual fetishism, Tenderotics continues this theme elegantly conjuring up an arousing narrative through deliciously listenable soundscapes. BTFBG never has been witch house nor are they attempting that, but there is an appeal here for witch house fans. BTFBG is doing what it’s always done and lovers of the modern gothic will dig BTFBG, as the hiero-phants of classic darkwave. – Hangedman 9/10