New Album "Antelopes" NOW AVAILABLE ON EMUSIC AND ITUNES -vinyl and digital only! Order the record at shortwaverecords.com. With special guests Roscoe Mitchell, Richard Davis, Bernie Worrell, and Corey Wilkes
Watch our video for Down The Sleep Tube, filmed and directed by Aaron Yonda: Voltress combines mean, moody synthesizers with strong and sensual female vocals. Reminiscent of Rick Wakeman, Tangerine Dream, and Dead Can Dance, Voltress also brings to mind Fischerspooner, Portishead, and Garbage. Part futuristic, part retro, Voltress is 70s-inspired synth rock with a modern twist.
Voltress began when drummer/keyboardist Eric Hartz acquired a collection of vintage analog synthesizers. He began experimenting and set about finding a chanteuse to complete the music he was creating. Enter Courtney Collins who loved what she heard, and began writing and recording with Eric. The recording was finished in the spring of 2004, and the CD, entitled Victim of Vultures, was released on October 19, 2004. Look for the new Voltress EP "Antelopes" on vinyl and at iTunes in April 2007. It features Richard Davis, Roscoe Mitchell, Corey Wilkes, and Bernie Worrell.
Also check out Eric's other band Hum Machine , and Courtney's solo music at Courtney Collins.com and at her MySpace page.
Review of "Victim of Vultures" from Rick's Cafe, South Central Wisconsin's Regional Music News:
Simultaneously retro and hip, the first release from Voltress charts some engaging and distinctive territory. Consisting of Hum Machine drummer Eric Hartz and Arena Venus vocalist Courtney Collins, Voltress explores dark psychological corners of the mind while wading in a quicksand of thick, multi-layered synthesizers. Hartz handles all the keys, samples, loops, drums, and other instruments. He prefers synthesizers of the analog persuasion, apparently, on what sounds like vintage instruments, making ample use of envelope filters and oscillation. Add Collins's syrupy alto and dreamy, psychedelic lyrics, along with her penchant for melody, and you've got a gothic, electronic stew that redefines the word "cool."
The album opens with the bubbly "Down The Sleep Tube," all buzzing synths and crooning vocals set to a sequenced drum beat. "God's Western," one of the album's best tracks, is a slow, melodic dirge that borders on trip-hop, bringing Portishead to mind. The band weaves sound bites into various tracks, most effectively on the roommate-from-hell track "Roommate," which captures Hartz's co-habitant in a rage. On the brief "Your Eyeball in My Claws" the sound bite and the music fit together perfectly. The funereal "Winter" possesses a lovely melody and metaphorically poetic lyrics. The standout track here, however, is a kick-ass cover of "Love Is Like Oxygen," the 1978 hit by Sweet, the band that also brought you "Ballroom Blitz" and "Little Willie." The only song to feature guitars, and thick, chunky ones at that, this one rocks with abandon. "The Strangest Secret" also bears mentioning, with its message of conformity and Collins' swooning and repeating "you learn what not to say." Although the dirges are cool, the tracks with the most beat shine the brightest. Fans of Tangerine Dream and other vintage synth bands will find this album appealing as will anyone who appreciates experimentation over imitation.
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Pure Prairie League? Can I expect to hear a cover of "my song" on your next album? Will there be any crazy answering machine men on it? These are all questions that need answers.
Thanks for the lyrics! This song would always be on the muzak when I worked at ShopKo, that and "Leave Virginia Alone" by Rod Stewart. Scary!
Voltress, I'm lovin' your page! And that's a tight group of friends you have.
Keep doing what you're doing ... you do it well!
Shout out!
Brete
"Dancing Dirty ... to The Nutcracker Suite?
Find out what the world will be dancing to this Christmas"
http://www.MadNutcracker.net
Voltress defies descriptions. Soundtracks of an oddly haunting dream, 70s synths that remind me of Dr. Who tv episodes, operettas from a parallel dimension, time machine dreams...
Hope yr 2006 is going well. We've been busy making all kinds of things. There are new CD reviews to check out and the February Radio Stars are in rotation. Radiogirl has created a new, totally cute line of Shrink Art Necklaces and DJ Boy has a brand new electro house mix to Download. Come enjoy the sights and sounds and thx again for all of yr love and support.
