A Kiss in the Dreamhouse
Encyclopedia
A Kiss in the Dreamhouse is the fifth studio album by English post-punk
band Siouxsie and the Banshees and was issued by Polydor Records
in the UK in 1982. It was reissued, remastered, and expanded in 2009. Both a critical and commercial success, it peaked on the UK Albums Chart
at number eleven.
The Banshees claimed it to be their personal best, until the release of Peepshow
in 1988.
Guitarist John McGeoch
ceased to be a member of the band shortly after the release of the album.
Richard Cook
in NME
wrote: "'A Kiss in the Dreamhouse' is a feat of imagination scarcely ever recorded. It's breathtaking. Somehow, a bold assurance of intention has met with a hunger for experimenting with sound to expand an already formidable group of songs into pure, open-minded ambiguity. The flesh of the song will balloon out or contort into unimaginable patterns; indecipherable echoes volley between the walls of the recording; glassy, splintered tones pierce the luxuriant sheen of the mix. Repeated listens trick the sense of balance; tremendous risks are taken." Cook then finished his review by this sentence: "I promise. This music will take your breath away."
Steve Sutherland
in Melody Maker
also welcomed the new musical direction: "The Banshees achieve an awesome, effective new pop without so much as a theory or qualm. "Dreamhouse" is an intoxicating achievement."
Critic David Cleary would later describe the single "Slowdive" as "a violin-colored dance beat number" with "a catchy melodic hook away from being the real thing". He wrote about the album that "this fine platter is well worth purchasing."
In 2007, Mojo
magazine named it one of the best albums of 1982.
and sampled
songs from this album. LCD Soundsystem
made a version of "Slowdive" for the B-side of their single "Disco Infiltrator
"; it was also included on their Introns compilation in 2006. The Beta Band
sampled the Nocturne live version of "Painted Bird" on their track "Liquid Bird" from the Heroes to Zeros
album.
The album belongs to what critics and fans refer to as the Banshees' experimental
phase, and contains chimes, strings, recorders, loops, and many vocal overdubs. The album was written, produced, and arranged by the band.
Production
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
band Siouxsie and the Banshees and was issued by Polydor Records
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
in the UK in 1982. It was reissued, remastered, and expanded in 2009. Both a critical and commercial success, it peaked on the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
at number eleven.
The Banshees claimed it to be their personal best, until the release of Peepshow
Peepshow (album)
Peepshow is the ninth studio album by the English band Siouxsie and the Banshees and their first as a quintet. With the arrival of multi-instrumentalist Martin McCarrick, Peepshow was one of their most musically complex albums, including the singles "Peek-a-Boo" and "The Last Beat of My...
in 1988.
Guitarist John McGeoch
John McGeoch
John Alexander McGeoch, , was a Scottish guitarist who played with a number of bands of the post-punk era, including Magazine, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Visage and Public Image Ltd....
ceased to be a member of the band shortly after the release of the album.
Reception
The UK music press was unanimous in its praise for the album on its release.Richard Cook
Richard Cook
Richard David Cook was a British jazz writer, magazine editor and former record company executive.Sometimes credited as R. D. Cook, Cook was born in Kew, Surrey and lived in west London as an adult. He was co-author, with Brian Morton, of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings , now in its ninth...
in NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
wrote: "'A Kiss in the Dreamhouse' is a feat of imagination scarcely ever recorded. It's breathtaking. Somehow, a bold assurance of intention has met with a hunger for experimenting with sound to expand an already formidable group of songs into pure, open-minded ambiguity. The flesh of the song will balloon out or contort into unimaginable patterns; indecipherable echoes volley between the walls of the recording; glassy, splintered tones pierce the luxuriant sheen of the mix. Repeated listens trick the sense of balance; tremendous risks are taken." Cook then finished his review by this sentence: "I promise. This music will take your breath away."
Steve Sutherland
Steve Sutherland
Steve Sutherland is a DJ in the United Kingdom. The music he produces varies from R&B Hip Hop, 2 step vocals, 4x4, and Grime.-DJ career and radio shows:...
in Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
also welcomed the new musical direction: "The Banshees achieve an awesome, effective new pop without so much as a theory or qualm. "Dreamhouse" is an intoxicating achievement."
Critic David Cleary would later describe the single "Slowdive" as "a violin-colored dance beat number" with "a catchy melodic hook away from being the real thing". He wrote about the album that "this fine platter is well worth purchasing."
In 2007, Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
magazine named it one of the best albums of 1982.
Legacy
Several bands later coveredCover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
and sampled
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
songs from this album. LCD Soundsystem
LCD Soundsystem
LCD Soundsystem was a prominent American dance-punk band from New York City. It was fronted by American singer-songwriter and producer James Murphy, co-founder of record label DFA Records...
made a version of "Slowdive" for the B-side of their single "Disco Infiltrator
Disco Infiltrator
"Disco Infiltrator" is a song from the debut album by LCD Soundsystem, released as their sixth single on June 6, 2005. The single includes a cover of the Siouxsie and the Banshees' track "Slowdive," which was originally released on their 1982 album A Kiss in the Dreamhouse. The B-side was recorded...
"; it was also included on their Introns compilation in 2006. The Beta Band
The Beta Band
The Beta Band were a British musical group who received much critical acclaim and achieved cult status amongst avid followers of the underground and experimental music scene...
sampled the Nocturne live version of "Painted Bird" on their track "Liquid Bird" from the Heroes to Zeros
Heroes to Zeros
Heroes to Zeros is the third and final studio album by The Beta Band, released in 2004.The cover illustration was created by comic book writer and artist Kaare Andrews...
album.
Music and history
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
phase, and contains chimes, strings, recorders, loops, and many vocal overdubs. The album was written, produced, and arranged by the band.
Track listing
Personnel
- Siouxsie and the Banshees – producers
- Siouxsie SiouxSiouxsie SiouxSiouxsie Sioux is an English singer-songwriter. She is best known as the lead singer of the critically acclaimed rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees and of its splinter group The Creatures . The Banshees produced eleven studio albums and a string of hit singles including "Hong Kong Garden",...
– vocals, and bells on "Obsession" - Steven SeverinSteven SeverinSteven Severin , is an English musician, composer, bassist and co-founding member of Siouxsie and the Banshees....
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, 6-string bass on "Slowdive", and organ on "Painted Bird" - John McGeochJohn McGeochJohn Alexander McGeoch, , was a Scottish guitarist who played with a number of bands of the post-punk era, including Magazine, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Visage and Public Image Ltd....
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
on "Cocoon", "Circle", and "Cascade", and recorder on "Green Fingers" - BudgieBudgie (drummer)-External links:*...
– drums and percussion, and harmonica on "Slowdive" - Caroline Lavelle – celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
on "Obsession" - Anne Stephenson – violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
on "Obsession" and "Slowdive" - Virginia Hewes – violin on "Obsession" and "Slowdive"
Production
- Mike HedgesMike Hedges-Career:Mike Hedges started as a tape-op at Morgan Studios in London in the late 1970s. Having graduated to engineer, he went freelance in 1981 and became an engineer/producer....
– engineer - Rocking Russian – design
- Michael Kostiff – photography and set