The Rebirth of Venus
Encyclopedia
The Rebirth of Venus is the seventh studio album
by Australian indie pop
musician Ben Lee
, released on 10 February 2009 by New West Records
.
A portion of the proceedings attained from the record are to be donated to FINCA International
's village banking
program. A press release said FINCA "offers financial services, not charity, to the world's lowest-income women entrepreneurs. This creates jobs, builds assets and generally improves the standard of living in these destitute communities."
Critical response to the album has been largely negative, with particular mention of the song 'I'm a Woman, Too' (which Andrew P Street of Time Out Sydney described as reaching "a conclusion so baffling that it defies any criticism that isn't expressed via a crowbar to the jaw").
The album features Missy Higgins
, Nic Johns, Cary Brothers
, Patience Hodgson, John Alagia
(Ripe producer) and Lara Meyerratken
.
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by Australian 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...
musician Ben Lee
Ben Lee
Benjamin Michael "Ben" Lee is an ARIA Award winning musician and actor. Lee began his career as a musician at the age of 14 with the Sydney band Noise Addict, but focused on his solo career when the band broke up in 1995. He appeared as the protagonist in the Australian film The Rage in Placid Lake...
, released on 10 February 2009 by New West Records
New West Records
New West Records is a record label based in Los Angeles, California, Austin, Texas, and Athens, Georgia. It was established in 1998, and has been home to several indie rock and alternative country bands as well as representing the PBS show Austin City Limits...
.
A portion of the proceedings attained from the record are to be donated to FINCA International
FINCA International
The Foundation for International Community Assistance is a non-profit, microfinance organization, founded by John Hatch in 1984. Sometimes referred to as the "World Bank for the Poor" and a "poverty vaccine for the planet", FINCA is the innovator of the village banking methodology in microcredit...
's village banking
Village Banking
Village Banking is a microcredit methodology where-by financial services are administered locally rather than centralized in a formal bank. Village banking has its roots in ancient cultures and was most recently adopted for use by micro-finance institutions as a way to control costs...
program. A press release said FINCA "offers financial services, not charity, to the world's lowest-income women entrepreneurs. This creates jobs, builds assets and generally improves the standard of living in these destitute communities."
Critical response to the album has been largely negative, with particular mention of the song 'I'm a Woman, Too' (which Andrew P Street of Time Out Sydney described as reaching "a conclusion so baffling that it defies any criticism that isn't expressed via a crowbar to the jaw").
The album features Missy Higgins
Missy Higgins
Melissa "Missy" Morrison Higgins is an Australian pop singer-songwriter, musician and actor. Her No. 1 albums in Australia are The Sound of White and On a Clear Night , and her Top Ten singles are "Scar", "The Special Two", "Steer" and "Where I Stood". From a musical family in...
, Nic Johns, Cary Brothers
Cary Brothers
Cary Brothers is an American indie rock singer-songwriter originally from Nashville, Tennessee. After moving to Los Angeles and becoming a regular performer at the influential Hotel Cafe venue, Brothers first gained national attention with his song "Blue Eyes" on the Platinum-selling,...
, Patience Hodgson, John Alagia
John Alagía
John Alagía is an accomplished music producer. He is best known for his work with the Dave Matthews Band and John Mayer. Alagia is a native of Louisville, Kentucky, and a graduate of Georgetown University...
(Ripe producer) and Lara Meyerratken
Lara Meyerratken
Lara Meyerratken is an Australian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer who currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Lara is most commonly associated with her longtime collaborator Ben Lee.Meyerratken is a notable session musician and songwriter...
.
Track listing
- All songs written by Ben Lee, except where noted.
- "What's So Bad (About Feeling Good)" – 4:39
- "Surrender" – 3:16
- "Sing" – 3:15
- "I Love Pop Music" – 3:35
- "Rise Up" – 4:25
- "Yoko Ono" – 3:42
- "Boy with a Barbie" – 3:27
- "Bad Poetry" (Lee, Carrick Moore Gerety) – 3:41
- "Blue Denim" – 4:03
- "Wake Up to America" (Lee, Jason Schwartzman) – 4:27
- "I'm a Woman, Too" – 3:21
- "Families Cheating at Board Games" – 5:42
- "Song for the Divine Mother of the Universe" – 3:38
Bonus CD (Limited 2CD version)
- "New Wave" (originally by Against Me!Against Me!Against Me! is an American punk rock band formed in 1997 in Naples, Florida and relocated to Gainesville, Florida in 1999. Their first full-length album, released on No Idea Records in 2002, was Against Me! Is Reinventing Axl Rose. They have released music on Misanthrope Records, Crasshole Records,...
) - "Rock Boys" (originally by The GratesThe GratesThe Grates are a two-piece band from Brisbane, Australia, comprising Patience Hodgson and John Patterson . They have been lauded for their catchy songs and enthusiastic and energetic live shows, as Patience spends much of the time bouncing around, even while singing...
) - "Ben Lee" (originally by The AtarisThe AtarisThe Ataris are a rock band from Anderson, Indiana. They have released five studio albums, and their most recent E.P. was released on November 25, 2010 on the Gainesville, Florida based label, Paper + Plastick. It contained the brand new tracks "All Souls' Day" and "The Graveyard of The Atlantic"...
) - "Woman Is the Nigger of the WorldWoman Is the Nigger of the World"Woman Is the Nigger of the World" is a song written by John Lennon & Yoko Ono and recorded by John Lennon. It was released as a single on Apple Records in the United States and in New Zealand and Japan, but was withdrawn from release in Britain. It peaked at #57 on the Billboard Hot 100, making...
" (originally by John LennonJohn LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
) - "KidsKids (MGMT song)"Kids" is the third single from MGMT's album Oracular Spectacular. It was released as a single on October 13, 2008.The song was the center of a legal dispute with the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, over the "insulting" compensation he offered for his illegal use of the song during a party...
" (originally by MGMTMGMTMGMT is an American alternative rock band founded by Benjamin Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden. After the release of their first album, the members of their live band, Matthew Asti, James Richardson and Will Berman, joined the core band in the studio...
) - "Throw Your Arms Around MeThrow Your Arms Around Me-Personnel:Hunters & Collectors members*John Archer — bass guitar*Geoffrey Crosby — keyboards*Douglas Falconer — drums*John 'Jack' Howard — trumpet*Mark Seymour — vocals, lead guitar*Michael Waters — trombone...
" (originally by Hunters and Collectors)
Personnel
- John Alagia, Cary Brothers, Justin Carroll, Michael Chavez, Brian Conrad, Missy Higgins, Patience Hodgson, Laura Jansen, Melissa McCarty, Eric Robinson, Ione SkyeIone SkyeIone Skye Lee is an English-born American actress, who became a teen idol after the 1989 movie Say Anything.... In 2006 VH1 placed her at number 84 in the "100 Greatest Teen Stars" list.-Early life:...
, Maria Teresa Suarez, Olivia Asta Wood, Vanessa Wood: backing vocals - Jack Graddis: guitars
- Nick Johns: acoustic, electric and bass guitars, autoharpAutoharpThe autoharp is a musical string instrument having a series of chord bars attached to dampers, which, when depressed, mute all of the strings other than those that form the desired chord. Despite its name, the autoharp is not a harp at all, but a chorded zither. -History:There is debate over the...
, keyboards, piano, drums, percussion - Ben Lee: electric and acoustic guitars, piano
- Travis Aaron McNabb: drums, percussion
- Lara Meyerratken: acoustic, electric and bass guitars, keyboards, piano, drums, percussion
- Jason Nesmith: slide guitarSlide guitarSlide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
- Kate Netto: percussion, backing vocals
- Ezra Reich: guitars
- Chick Wolverton: percussion
- Brad Wood: electric and synthesized bass, drums, percussion
Production
- Produced and mixed by Brad Wood
- Recorded and engineered by Nick Johns (drums), Mike Terry (drums) and Brad Wood
- Mastered by Greg Calbi