Bowery Electric...

Formed in 1993, as the duo of Lawrence Chandler and Martha Schwendener, Bowery Electric released three great albums, a remix album, and a handful of singles before apparently calling it a day after the release of their last album Lushlife in 2000.

Bowery Electric started out as a sort of down tempo or almost ambient group that relied on thick sheets of guitar distortion to fill out their sound behind the drive of sluggish drum beats that for their debut Self-Titled album in 1995 was provided by a live drummer. It would be easy to label Bowery Electric as a shoegaze band, especially in their earlier stages as it was evident that they were definitely inspired heavily by the sounds of Slowdive and the like. However, as they grew older their sound progressed with them, which by the time their second album Beat rolled around a year later in 1996; they had started incorporating sampled beats into their sound. Beat, to me, is their most accomplished release. The use of distortion has been lessened to a minimal slow burn as on many songs it fades in and out along with the hypnotic drum beat that continues to pulsate behind it creating a much more spacey and almost psychedelic sound. The tempo throughout the album remains very much the same, rarely straying away from a simple beat and the churning drone of guitar, making Beat almost like one long ambient piece to be taken in as whole. The duo’s final album Lushlife was once again a step forward. Now with a full grip on the idea of being able to manipulate their sound, they became almost a full-fledged trip hop outfit, relying much more on a low end heavy sound and many more programmed beats and samples. However, as to be expected with Bowery Electric they do manage to squeeze in enough spacey and ambient texture to keep things interesting.

Bowery Electric:
Bowery Electric – Next to Nothing [MP3]
Bowery Electric – Deep Sky Objects [MP3]

Beat:
Bowery Electric – Empty Words [MP3]
Bowery Electric – Fear of Flying [MP3]

Lushlife:
Bowery Electric – Floating World [MP3]
Bowery Electric – Deep Blue [MP3]

All of Bowery Electric’s albums are available over at Amazon still, whether it is used or new you prefer. Regardless, at least pick up Beat if you’re feeling the tunes above. Enjoy!