Burnt Hair
Encyclopedia
Burnt Hair records was a record label
involved with Michigan
's space rock
alternative music scene in the 1990s. The label is said to have been most responsible for cultivating the Detroit sound of this period. Burnt Hair recorded artists in various experimental genres also known by appellations such as indie pop
, indie rock
, ambient music
, drone music
,
dream pop
and electronica
. The label was founded by Larry Hofmann in Dearborn
. Burnt Hair released recordings by artists and bands including Windy & Carl
, Hopewell
, Mahogany, Ten Second Dynasty, Miss Bliss, Tomorrowland
, DELTA WAVES, Starphase 23, Füxa
, Auburn Lull
, Monaural (Band), Gravity Wax, Asha Vida, Flowchart (DJ Sean O'Neal) and Alison's Halo
.
Larry Hofmann was a DJ on WHFR
and helped many bands make their first recordings.
Burnt Hair got the Mahogany (band)'s recording career started after Larry Hofmann saw the band perform in 1996. Burnt Hair released a split 12" for them.
Burnt Hair also recorded Mahogany's The Dream of a Modern Day 51 minute CD. Mahogany's Andrew Prinz produced and designed the sleeve for Auburn Lull
's debut full-length album Alone I Admire, which was released on Burnt Hair and reissued by California by Darla Records
in 2002. Burnt Hair also released Mahogany's 2000 album The Dream of a Modern Day that Darla Records calls "their favorite album of 2000". It was later rereleased on Darla Records. Monaural
Burnt Hair also issued the debut album of Michigan band Monaural with the 12" EP Harmonic/ Rhodes in 1996. The instrumental music of the two long tracks was said to have been inspired by the British shoegazers. Monaural used live instrumentation recorded into their computers. Burnt Hair also recorded space trio Asha Vida, a band that "became the epitome of the American underground band" and "managed to mass a small international cult following, as well as critical acclaim." The group offered the underground music press an alternative to grunge in the early '90s, and "Attention was briefly diverted by the discovery of a small, but flourishing Michigan-based space-rock scene... including ethereal-minded bands from the Detroit area (that) flooded the market with singles and 45s, all attempting to get a piece of the psychedelic rock pie." On Asha Vida's 1998 Burnt Hair records release, Nature's Clumsy Hand, the trio abandoned traditional song structure and created "a sonic feast of live improvs and art-noise bliss".
Burnt Hair recorded Alison's Halo's debut full-length CD album Eyedazzler, a collection of "spaced-out dreampop recorded over the course of 4 years" from 1992 to 96. The songs were captured to "glorious" 2,4, & 8 cassette portastudios at the band's own Jetpack Studios. Tracks include: Raindrop, Wishes, Melt, Chime, Always April, Slowbleed, Torn, Leech, Sunshy, Chalkboard James and two bonus live tracks recorded at 1995's Beautiful Noise Festival. The album was reviewed in the UK.
At the end period of the label Burnt Hair released the DELTA WAVES which was a split release with Top Quality Rock & Roll in 2002 called the DELTA WAVES dream in real time
. This was a mix of all things Burnt Hair (space rock
, drone
, electronic
, shoegaze, and experimental
).
roots from the 60s and 70s with bands such as Pink Floyd
. The genre saw a revival in the 1990s including regional music scenes and grass roots interest that developed into small independent record labels in various countries. Distrubtion methods for the groups and their independent labels included cassette releases of 50 or so at a time, magazine give-away promotions and tribute album compilations. Sometimes recorded on 2, 4, and 8 track tapes, the music was also traded among college students in a wired world. The limited release singles were later collected in "singles compilations" where the often out-of-print tracks and sometimes a few alternate takes and live recordings, such as from a local Detroit public radio station, filled out the releases.
Fans of the bands recorded by Burnt Hair refer to the music as dreampop, indie pop, drone, ethereal, avant garde, alternative and ambience layered over electronic percussion. The music has also been described using adjectives like swooshy, swirly, dreamy, noisy, whammybarorama music, and been referred to as electronica
, indie rock
, and Americana
.
Reverb drenched guitars, keyboard synthesizers and effects pedals are used for affect.
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
involved with Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
's space rock
Space rock
Space rock is a subgenre of rock music; the term originally referred to a group of early, mostly British, 1970s progressive and psychedelic rock bands such as Hawkwind and Pink Floyd, characterised by slow, lengthy instrumental passages dominated by electric organs, synthesizers, experimental...
alternative music scene in the 1990s. The label is said to have been most responsible for cultivating the Detroit sound of this period. Burnt Hair recorded artists in various experimental genres also known by appellations such as indie pop
Indie pop
Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...
, indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
, ambient music
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
, drone music
Drone music
Drone music is a minimalist musical style that emphasizes the use of sustained or repeated sounds, notes, or tone-clusters – called drones. It is typically characterized by lengthy audio programs with relatively slight harmonic variations throughout each piece compared to other musics...
,
dream pop
Dream pop
Dream pop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s, when bands like The Passions, Dif Juz, Lowlife and A.R. Kane began fusing post-punk and ethereal experiments with bittersweet pop melodies into dreamy, sensual soundscapes. The term was almost...
and electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
. The label was founded by Larry Hofmann in Dearborn
Dearborn, Michigan
-Economy:Ford Motor Company has its world headquarters in Dearborn. In addition its Dearborn campus contains many research, testing, finance and some production facilities. Ford Land controls the numerous properties owned by Ford including sales and leasing to unrelated businesses such as the...
. Burnt Hair released recordings by artists and bands including Windy & Carl
Windy & Carl
-Overview:Cited as "A leading light of the Michigan space-rock scene" by Allmusic, the minimalist group formed in 1993 around the core husband-and-wife duo of guitarist Carl Hultgren and bassist/singer Windy Weber...
, Hopewell
Hopewell
-USA:*Hopewell, Alabama *Hopewell, Arkansas *Hopewell, California*Hopewell, Connecticut *Hopewell, Florida...
, Mahogany, Ten Second Dynasty, Miss Bliss, Tomorrowland
Tomorrowland
- Tomorrowland 1955–1967 :The first Tomorrowland opened at Disneyland on July 18, 1955, with only several of its planned attractions open, due to budget cuts. The construction of the park was rushed, so Tomorrowland was the last land to be finished. It became something of a corporate showcase,...
, DELTA WAVES, Starphase 23, Füxa
Füxa
Füxa was a space rock duo, consisting of Detroit musicians Ryan Anderson and Randall Nieman . Füxa was created in 1994 and their music has been described as psychedelic and experimental...
, Auburn Lull
Auburn Lull
Auburn Lull are a five-member dream pop/shoegaze band from Lansing, Michigan, which formed in 1995.-Biography:The band consisted of guitarists Sean Heenan, Jason Kolb, Eli Wekenman, Ron Gibbs and drummer Jason Wiesinger...
, Monaural (Band), Gravity Wax, Asha Vida, Flowchart (DJ Sean O'Neal) and Alison's Halo
Alison's Halo
Alison's Halo was a dream pop band from Tempe, Arizona. Their airy vocals and delayed riffs were often also associated with shoegazing or space pop. Their first single, "Dozen", was released in 1995. Their first CD, Eyedazzler, is a compilation of songs the band created between 1992 and 1996, was...
.
History
Burnt Hair records was "unquestionably the label most responsible for cultivating Detroit's sound" of space rock, one of the most exciting regional scenes to emerge in the latter half of the 1990s.Larry Hofmann was a DJ on WHFR
WHFR
WHFR is a low power radio station at 270 watts in Dearborn, Michigan which is operated by Henry Ford Community College. Its frequency is 89.3 MHz FMWHFR programs alternative variety, music heard little elsewhere on Detroit area radio stations...
and helped many bands make their first recordings.
Burnt Hair got the Mahogany (band)'s recording career started after Larry Hofmann saw the band perform in 1996. Burnt Hair released a split 12" for them.
Burnt Hair also recorded Mahogany's The Dream of a Modern Day 51 minute CD. Mahogany's Andrew Prinz produced and designed the sleeve for Auburn Lull
Auburn Lull
Auburn Lull are a five-member dream pop/shoegaze band from Lansing, Michigan, which formed in 1995.-Biography:The band consisted of guitarists Sean Heenan, Jason Kolb, Eli Wekenman, Ron Gibbs and drummer Jason Wiesinger...
's debut full-length album Alone I Admire, which was released on Burnt Hair and reissued by California by Darla Records
Darla Records
Darla Records is an independent record label founded by James Agren while he was in New York. Darla Record's first release was a 7-inch by Grifters, an indie rock/lo-fi band from Memphis.- Background :...
in 2002. Burnt Hair also released Mahogany's 2000 album The Dream of a Modern Day that Darla Records calls "their favorite album of 2000". It was later rereleased on Darla Records. Monaural
Burnt Hair also issued the debut album of Michigan band Monaural with the 12" EP Harmonic/ Rhodes in 1996. The instrumental music of the two long tracks was said to have been inspired by the British shoegazers. Monaural used live instrumentation recorded into their computers. Burnt Hair also recorded space trio Asha Vida, a band that "became the epitome of the American underground band" and "managed to mass a small international cult following, as well as critical acclaim." The group offered the underground music press an alternative to grunge in the early '90s, and "Attention was briefly diverted by the discovery of a small, but flourishing Michigan-based space-rock scene... including ethereal-minded bands from the Detroit area (that) flooded the market with singles and 45s, all attempting to get a piece of the psychedelic rock pie." On Asha Vida's 1998 Burnt Hair records release, Nature's Clumsy Hand, the trio abandoned traditional song structure and created "a sonic feast of live improvs and art-noise bliss".
Burnt Hair recorded Alison's Halo's debut full-length CD album Eyedazzler, a collection of "spaced-out dreampop recorded over the course of 4 years" from 1992 to 96. The songs were captured to "glorious" 2,4, & 8 cassette portastudios at the band's own Jetpack Studios. Tracks include: Raindrop, Wishes, Melt, Chime, Always April, Slowbleed, Torn, Leech, Sunshy, Chalkboard James and two bonus live tracks recorded at 1995's Beautiful Noise Festival. The album was reviewed in the UK.
At the end period of the label Burnt Hair released the DELTA WAVES which was a split release with Top Quality Rock & Roll in 2002 called the DELTA WAVES dream in real time
. This was a mix of all things Burnt Hair (space rock
Space rock
Space rock is a subgenre of rock music; the term originally referred to a group of early, mostly British, 1970s progressive and psychedelic rock bands such as Hawkwind and Pink Floyd, characterised by slow, lengthy instrumental passages dominated by electric organs, synthesizers, experimental...
, drone
Drone music
Drone music is a minimalist musical style that emphasizes the use of sustained or repeated sounds, notes, or tone-clusters – called drones. It is typically characterized by lengthy audio programs with relatively slight harmonic variations throughout each piece compared to other musics...
, electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
, shoegaze, and experimental
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...
).
Music genre
The space rock music genre has BritishBritish people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
roots from the 60s and 70s with bands such as Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
. The genre saw a revival in the 1990s including regional music scenes and grass roots interest that developed into small independent record labels in various countries. Distrubtion methods for the groups and their independent labels included cassette releases of 50 or so at a time, magazine give-away promotions and tribute album compilations. Sometimes recorded on 2, 4, and 8 track tapes, the music was also traded among college students in a wired world. The limited release singles were later collected in "singles compilations" where the often out-of-print tracks and sometimes a few alternate takes and live recordings, such as from a local Detroit public radio station, filled out the releases.
Fans of the bands recorded by Burnt Hair refer to the music as dreampop, indie pop, drone, ethereal, avant garde, alternative and ambience layered over electronic percussion. The music has also been described using adjectives like swooshy, swirly, dreamy, noisy, whammybarorama music, and been referred to as electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
, indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
, and Americana
Americana (music)
Americana is an amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles...
.
Reverb drenched guitars, keyboard synthesizers and effects pedals are used for affect.
Partial discography
- Windy & Carl Instrumentals EP Single (Burnt Hair Records 1994)
- Gravity Wax Toma Coast 7" debut release w/ 6 inserts (BHR-002)
- Füxa Free Your Soul (Burnt Hair - 7") 1995
- Windy & Carl/Hopewell 7" split single 1995
- Monaural EP Harmonic 1996
- Alison's Halo Eyedazzler (debut full-length CD album, a collection of from 1992 to 1996)
- Auburn Lull/Mahogany EP (a split 12")
- Mahogany The Dream of a Modern Day CD
- Auburn Lull Alone I Admire (Burnt Hair, 1999) (reissued on Darla Records in 2002)
- Tomorrowland Futurist 7" (Digital Release Date: February 22, 2000 UPC: 669910477014) Track List: 1) Futurist 2) Sea of Tranquility
- Flowchart Hollow Sky EP (7") 1997
- Hopewell
- Ten Second Dynasty / Miss Bliss 7" Bliss
- Delta Waves the DELTA WAVES dream in real time (debut full length cd released 2002) split label release with Top Quality Rock & Roll...