Death in Vegas
Death in Vegas | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | London,England |
| Genres | Electronic,neo-psychedelia,shoegaze,trip hop |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Members | Richard Fearless |
| Past members | Tim Holmes Steve Hellier Dominic Keane Ian Button Simon Hanson Terry Miles Danny Hammond Mat Flint Seamus Beaghen Dave Neale |
Death in Vegasare an English electronic music group, for whichRichard Fearlessserves as frontman.[1]The band was formed in 1994 by Fearless and Steve Hellier and signed to Concrete Records under the name of Dead Elvis. Owing to an Irish record label of the same name,Dead Elvisbecame the title of their first album instead.
History
[edit]Dead Elvis
[edit]The band's debut,Dead Elvis(1997), used a blend of musical genres. Most of the tracks are mainly based in electronic dance music. Shortly after the release of the album, Hellier left the band and was replaced by Tim Holmes, who had already been involved with mixing and engineering tracks on the album.[1]
The Contino Sessions
[edit]The band's second album,The Contino Sessions(1999), marked a slight change in direction with more attention to live instrumentation than their first and the inclusion of guest vocalists (includingDot Allison,Bobby Gillespie,Iggy Pop,andJim Reid).[1]Although predominantly rock-influenced, the album still retained some electronic elements, in particular the opening track, "Dirge", with its drum machine-based rhythm track. "Dirge" was featured on aLevi'sjeans commercial, as well as the second installment ofThe Blair Witch Project,and was used in the trailer for the 2006 filmThe Black Dahlia.The song was also used in the trailer for the 2013 filmCheap Thrillsand used in the 2001 filmDisco Pigs,at the end of the 2009 remake ofThe Last House on the Left,near the end of theBeing Humanepisode "The Longest Day", and in the second episode of season two ofMisfits.Along with "Aisha" (with vocals fromIggy Pop), "Dirge" helped the band gain more recognition, culminating in aMercury Music Prizenomination in 2000. "Dirge" was the subject of a lawsuit by the bandFive or Six,as it borrowed extensively from their song "Another Reason". The matter was settled with Five or Six receiving a writing credit. "Aisha" was a top 10 hit in the UK and also featured in thePlayStation 2titleGran Turismo 3: A-Spec.[2]
Scorpio Rising
[edit]In September 2002, the band released their third album,Scorpio Rising,after almost a three-year gap. During their time off, the band had toured and briefly returned to their techno roots with the track "Scorpio", which, although not appearing on any album, was included as theB-sideof "Hands Around My Throat", the first single fromScorpio Rising.Scorpio Risingtakes its name from the cult avant-garde film of the same name byKenneth Anger.The lyrics of the title track (featuring vocals fromLiam Gallagher) reflected the controversial nature of Anger's film. It also borrowed extensively fromStatus Quo's "Pictures of Matchstick Men". The matter was settled once again withFrancis Rossireceiving a writing credit. It also continued to attract attention from advertisers and filmmakers with "Hands Around My Throat" being used in a Sony Ericsson advert and appearing on the soundtrack toThe Animatrix,while the track "Girls" was used on the soundtracks toSofia Coppola'sLost in TranslationandAngela Robinson'sD.E.B.S.,[3]as well as in an episode of the TV showVeronica Marsand a commercial for BBC's most recent production ofSense and Sensibility.This was their last studio album for Concrete Records. Concrete released a best-of album, entitledMilk It,in 2004.
Satan's Circus
[edit]Death in Vegas set up their own label, Drone Records,[4]and released their fourth album,Satan's Circus,in 2004.
The melody ofKraftwerk's "Trans-Europe Express" and "Kometenmelodie 2" are featured in the tracks "Zugaga" and "Kontroll" respectively. Unlike the previous two albums,Satan's Circusdid not feature any guest vocalists. The album was also released as a limited edition double pack including a live CD, recorded on theScorpio Risingtour at theBrixton Academy,London.
Oasis album production
[edit]In late December 2003 Death in Vegas was hired by Oasis to produce some tracks on their sixth albumDon't Believe the Truthat Sawmills Studios inCornwall.[5][6]
Trans-Love Energies
[edit]The band released their fifth studio album,Trans-Love Energies,on 26 September 2011 in the UK. The album featured vocals byKatie StelmanisofAustraand Richard Fearless.
Transmission
[edit]Death in Vegas' sixth studio album was released on 27 May 2016 on Fearless's Drone Records label,[4]featuring vocals by writer and sex symbolSasha Grey.The formerThrobbing GristlemembersChris & Coseyremixed "Consequences of love" —aTransmissionsong performed and composed by Grey and Fearless—and in 2017Michael Mayeradapted the Chris & Cosey remix in hisDJ-Kicksalbum.[7][8]VicedescribedTransmissionas an "EBM-inspired romp through the darker edges of the sleazier clubs in the nightlife spectrum".[9]In a cameo appearanceDJ Harveyplays "Consequences of love" in the rave party at theGrand Palaisscene ofMission: Impossible – Fallout.[10]
Members
[edit]Current members
[edit]- Richard Fearless- producer, writer, electronics (1994–present)
Former members
[edit]- Tim Holmes - co-production, engineering, mixing (1996–2004)
- Steve Helier - co-production, engineering, mixing (1994–1999)
- Ian Button- guitar (1996–2011)
- Terry Miles - keyboards (2002–2004)
- Danny Hammond - guitar (2002–2004)
- Seamus Beaghen - keyboards (1996–2002)
- Mat Flint- bass (1996–2005, 2011)
- Dave Neale - drums (2011)
- Dominic Keane - bass (2011)
- Simon Hanson(Squeeze,Planet Funk) - drums (1998–2004)
Discography
[edit]Studio albums
[edit]| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [11] |
FRA [12] |
NOR [13] | |||||
| 1997 | Dead Elvis
|
52 | — | — | |||
| 1999 | The Contino Sessions
|
19 | 72 | 39 | |||
| 2002 | Scorpio Rising
|
19 | 22 | 22 | |||
| 2004 | Satan's Circus
|
117 | 79 | — | |||
| 2011 | Trans-Love Energies
|
57 | 141 | — | |||
| 2016 | Transmission
|
— | — | — | |||
Compilation albums
[edit]- Back to Mine Vol. 16(January 2004) as part of theBack to Mineseries.
- Milk It: The Best of Death in Vegas(February 2005)
- FabricLive.23(August 2005)
- The Best of Death in Vegas(October 2007)
Productions
[edit]- Don't Believe the Truthby Oasis (2004)
Singles
[edit]| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [14] |
AUS [15] |
ITA [16] | |||||
| 1996 | "Dirt" | 79 | — | — | Dead Elvis | ||
| "Rocco" | 84 | — | — | ||||
| 1997 | "Rekkit" | 91 | — | — | |||
| "Twist And Crawl" | 81 | — | — | ||||
| "Dirt (Slayer mix)" | 61 | — | — | ||||
| "Rocco"(reissue) | 51 | — | — | ||||
| 1999 | "Dirge"(feat.Dot Allison) | 135 | — | — | The Contino Sessions | ||
| "Neptune City" | — | — | — | ||||
| 2000 | "Aisha" | 9 | — | — | |||
| "Dirge (Slam mix)"(feat.Dot Allison) | 24 | — | — | ||||
| "One More Time"(feat.Bobby Gillespie) | 163 | — | — | Non-album single | |||
| 2002 | "Hands Around My Throat"(feat.Nicola Kuperus) | 36 | — | — | Scorpio Rising | ||
| "Scorpio Rising"(withLiam Gallagher) | 14 | 81 | 30 | ||||
| 2016 | "You Disco I Freak"(feat.Sasha Grey) | — | — | — | Transmission | ||
| 2018 | "Honey"(feat.Sasha Grey)[17] | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||
References
[edit]- ^abcStrong, Martin C. (2000).The Great Rock Discography(5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. p. 250.ISBN1-84195-017-3.
- ^Roberts, David (2006).British Hit Singles & Albums(19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 146.ISBN1-904994-10-5.
- ^"MusicBrainz D.E.B.S. soundtrack page".Musicbrainz.org.Retrieved17 April2014.
- ^abcDroneArchived6 February 2017 at theWayback Machine,indie labelfounded 2004 in the UK.
- ^Pill, Steve (18 October 2004)."Death in Vegas".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.Retrieved22 July2023.
- ^M, Staff (15 January 2015)."Noel Gallagher talks about past collaborations with Amorphous Androgynous and Death In Vegas".OasisMania.Retrieved22 July2023.
- ^Sherburne, Philip (19 May 2017)."Michael Mayer DJ-Kicks".Pitchfork.Retrieved13 March2019.
- ^Simpson, Paul (2017)."Michael Mayer DJ-Kicks".AllMusic.Retrieved13 March2019.
- ^Baines, Josh (22 August 2016)."Chris & Cosey Remixed Death in Vegas so We Got Death in Vegas to Pick Their Favourite Chris & Cosey Records".Vice.Retrieved21 April2019.
- ^Balfe, Lorne (27 July 2018)."Mission Impossible: Fallout Soundtrack".what-song.com.Retrieved1 May2019.
- ^"The Official Charts Company - Death in Vegas".The Official Charts Company. 5 May 2013.
- ^Steffen Hung."Les charts français".lescharts.com.Retrieved5 October2012.
- ^Steffen Hung."Norwegian charts portal".norwegiancharts.com. Archived fromthe originalon 4 March 2016.Retrieved2012-10-05.
- ^"Death In Vegas - UK Chart".The Official Charts Company.Retrieved2 March2015.
- ^Ryan, Gavin (2011).Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010(pdf ed.). Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 77.
- ^"Death In Vegas - Italian Chart".italiancharts.com. Archived fromthe originalon 2 April 2015.Retrieved2 March2015.
- ^Barnabe, Dylan (12 June 2018)."Death in Vegas" Honey "".Exclaim!.Retrieved14 December2018.
External links
[edit]- Official website
- Death in VegasatIMDb
- Death in Vegasdiscography atDiscogs
- Drone Recordsdiscography atDiscogs
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