August 22, 2006 10th Anniversary. It's really been 10 years since we released Remnants of a Deeper Purity; it's coming back in print next month with a bonus disc containing 41 minutes of music that has been hard to find or completely unavailable. Many people tell me that Remnants is their favorite of my albums, so this re-release gives you the entire album in it's original form, along with the Amplexus EP the Remnants single and three songs recorded at the 1996 Projektfest, black tape's first live show. Follow this link to read more. This site will be updated soon with additional information.... Spring 2006 Hello. Black tape for a blue girl is currently "dormant" - which is a common state we enter, between albums. Sam has moved to a new location in Brooklyn and vocalist Elysabeth has recently moved to New York City, making work on the new album a lot easier (no plane tickets!). Sam is rebuilding the studio; first up is compiling "disc 2" of the 10th anniversary edition of Remnants of a Deeper Purity. Ten Years, Wow! Unfortunately, there are no new songs at the moment, the most recent releases are compilations with "Knock Three Times." A Dark Cabaret includes a remixed version; a bit faster and more sparse. The idea was to recreate the way the song sounds when we performed it live. The compilation is $6.98 and in stores nationwide. The Projekt Almost Free CD is a $4.98 label sampler that includes the album version of "Knock Three Times."
	Black tape for a blue girl Live Bootleg free mp3 download album We have uploaded five exclusive Live MP3s from black tape for a blue girl's 2004 West Coast Tour, for you to download and burn to a CD-R. We've also created image files to print out as the cover and traycard. Live Bootleg is not available in stores, it is only available as a free download by clicking here. The album includes MP3s of three tracks from HALO STARrecorded live on the radio at KXCI in Tucson ("Remnants of a deeper purity," "Your love is sweeter than wine" and "Knock Three Times") plus two cover versions recorded live in Salt Lake City (The Velvet Underground's "All Tomorrow's Parties" and David Bowie's "Space Oddity"). This is a special treat for our fans. Please spread the word....
	Excerpts from HALO STAR Tarnished | 45 Second MP3 Indefinable, yet | 45 second MP3 Knock Three Times | 45 second MP3 Scarecrow | 45 second MP3 Damn Swan! | 45 Second MP3 Halo Star | 45 second MP3 (C) 2004 Seireenien Music, BMI

More fantastic photos from our San Francisco show here.

Black tape for a blue girl on tour We're back from an amazing month of touring!!!! We had such a great time on our tour for the brand new album, HALO STAR. Follow these four links to read my tour recollections: The West Coast East Coast 1 East Coast 2 East Coast 3 I am amazed and proud to have these musicians together as black tape for a blue girl. My perspective has definitely been changed by the two tours we have done this fall. Playing live has gone from being a chore that I did because "the record label wanted me to" to something that I really enjoy, that I cannot wait to go do again. It's not just the playing of the music, but also the experiences on the road with some of my best friends. The personalities, the humor, the dramarama. It's all amazing. I'm glad that I could share it with you here on the eList.... Seductive Melancholy | Darkwave group Black Tape for a Blue Girl marks a new album with a Congress gig. Read an article on the band from The Tucson Weekly here. The live band: J. DeWolfe - percussion Elysabeth Grant - vocals & viola Bart Helm - electric & acoustic guitar Bret Helm - vocals Nicki Jaine - piano & acoustic guitar Sam Rosenthal - electronics black tape for a blue girl have a 5 song almost free cd available. Click here to puchase some of their exquisite music for just $1.98! Now we're catching up on our email and laundry, before heading out for the East Coast Tour at the end of October! Saturday October 23 | Batcave @ Downtime ~ New York City, NY Sunday October 24 | Grape Street ~ Philadelphia, PA Monday October 25 | Nokturnal ~ Providence, RI Tuesday October 26 | The Middle East ~ Cambridge, MA Thursday October 28 | Nation ~ Washington DC Friday October 29 | Revolution @ Fusion Dance Club ~ Dayton, OH Saturday October 30 | The Upstage ~ Pittsburgh, PA Sunday October 31 | Revelations ~ Richmond, VA We could really use your help spreading the word to your friends and people you stay in touch with on-line For information on how you can help, read the "what really matters to me" section of this projektlist HI. This is Sam.... I'm writing this email from an internet cafe in Portland, OR. Our West Coast tour is rapidly drawing to a close. Two weeks have passed so quickly, we've been having a great time. The music is sounding fantastic on stage, we've been meeting lots of fans, and hearing a lot of great responses to the brand new albgum. We wrap up the West Coast in a few days in Salt Lake City, then we take a break before picking back up for our We've been performing more than half of the songs from HALO STAR and people have been loving them. You can listen to MP3s from the album here .

As you know, we've toured with many different line-ups over the years. This band is really strong on stage, because we're more of a live entity. There's more interaction, interpretation and excitement. You really gotta get out to a show to see us.

Halo Star is available in stores nationwide (for a special $11.98 list price) and as a Digital Download at iTunes. The album is being played on 94 radio stations, so call up your local DJ and request it. We've been receiving really incredible comments from press and fans who have heard the album! You can read a page full of reviews here. From Musictap.net: "Halo Star is something different yet remarkably reminiscent. Rosenthal has re-created Black Tape for a Blue Girl by writing a series of songs that are steeped in legacy yet ascending to a new plane of art. It's made all the more amazing because we know BTfaBG to be something more to the world of music by their qualitative reverence to their musical approach. Never afraid to be different, Rosenthal has taken Black Tape for a Blue Girl to the next level. You will be absorbed by this new and important release."

HALO STAR has a beautiful 20 page booklet (which you can preview at the halostar.us website.

Our version of Dead Can Dance's "fortune presents gifts not according to the book" is now available on the Greek 2-CD compilation The Lotus Eaters. The album also includes Faith and the Muse, Arcana, Ataraxia and others. This is the only place the song is available, at this time. It's quite expansive and features the vocals of Athan Maroulis.

By the way... we have some new black tape for a blue girl stuff you can buy:
Tarnished cd-single (pre-order $3.99 - shipping next week)
HALO STAR girls baby-t ($13.98)
HALO STAR girls spaghetti strap shirt ($13.98)

The HALO STAR album is now complete and mastered, release date is August 31, 2004. More details soon. I sent respected English critic Mick Mercer an advanced CDr of a couple songs, and he commented:

"You have honed the manner in which you emit a lyrical snapshot. With Scavenger Bride it was a story and you had the luxury of compounding mystery upon mystery because it was interwoven, at length. With this (HALO STAR's) musical style you can thrust out vignettes which are in the first song dramatic, and in the second distinctly creepy. It's because the music has opened out. You still have artistic touches clouding what is at heart a melodic route while the rhythm hammers in dangerous nails. It's music which seems engagingly accommodating, and then you realise it's not quite as simple as you think."

Yep. He said "rhythm!"

issue #11 of gothic beauty magazine includes a fashion article with a full page interview with lisa feuer of black tape for a blue girl. unfortunately, they didn't use the nice layout idea i made for them, but you can see it at this link:

[april 29, 2004]

Mon, May 3, Bret + Bart perform an acoustic Audra set at Alchemy, NYC

Wed, May 5, black tape for a blue girl perform at Pianos in NYC

Sat, May 8, black tape for a blue girl perform at the Metro in Chicago as part of Convergence 10
info + links: Show Page

Good news from the C10 folks: Saturday-night-only tickets will be available at the door, so if you weren't interested in attending the entire festival you can come see us (and the Brides, who are performing too!). It is true that I am planning West Coast and East Coast tours (for September); however I have no plans for a mid-West tour at this time. So seeing us at Convergence could be the only chance to catch us in the heartland. Nothing against the mid-West, it's just that I have limited time available for touring this year.

I have been mixing HALO STAR, this week. Yes, the album is nearly finished! I am really pleased with these songs, they take my music to a new place which is also reminiscent of our early years when the band had more male vocals and was - for lack of a better phrase - "more goth!" :-) .... It's hard for me - as the guy creating this - to give a truly accurate description of the music. It's more melodic and more song oriented. The pieces are stripped back from the neo-classical layering of The Scavenger Bride; you can hear the other musicians because there's not as much reverb and electronics.... I sent respected English critic Mick Mercer an advanced CDr of a couple songs, and he commented:

"You have honed the manner in which you emit a lyrical snapshot. With Scavenger Bride it was a story and you had the luxury of compounding mystery upon mystery because it was interwoven, at length. With this (HALO STAR's) musical style you can thrust out vignettes which are in the first song dramatic, and in the second distinctly creepy. It's because the music has opened out. You still have artistic touches clouding what is at heart a melodic route while the rhythm hammers in dangerous nails. It's music which seems engagingly accommodating, and then you realise it's not quite as simple as you think."

Yep. He said "rhythm!"

This album includes really great percussion from Michael Laird. Michael also plays acoustic guitar and there's electric guitar from Bret Helm. Lisa plays Flute, Vicki the Violin, and I'm doing the electronics. Bret sings 8 of the 12 tracks, while long-time vocalist Elysabeth Grant sings 4. This ratio of male to female is more like "the early days" of the band. After The Scavenger Bride (which I feel is the pinnacle of the Heavenly Voices style), I wanted to take a different approach to my music. I missed the "male energy" of the band. As I write this, the words sounds like a jumble... I will be honing down the description over the next month....

Come to our shows, and you can hear four of our new songs performed!

By the way... we have some new black tape for a blue girl stuff you can buy:

Tarnished cd-single (pre-order $3.99 - shipping next week)

HALO STAR girls baby-t ($13.98)

HALO STAR girls spaghetti strap shirt ($13.98)

Full Sam Rosenthal interview from The Lodge #6 added here.

black tape for a blue girl in concert [april 7, 2004] we are performing two shows in early may, to introduce fans to halo star, our new album coming out august 31. on may 5 we are playing pianos in new york city and on may 8 we are performing in chicago at the metro as part of convergence 10. at the same time, our three song tarnished cd single will be available. in fact, if you purchase tickets for the new york city show through our website, you receive the tarnished single for free. [ Convergence 10 website ] from the convergence 10 press release: black tape for a blue girl has matured in the live setting, amazing audiences with their powerful sets at 2002's Projektfest (Philadelphia, PA) and 2003's Wave-Gotik-Treffen (Leipzig, Germany). Convergence 10 attendees can look forward to black tape for a blue girl's premiere of new material from their upcoming autumn 2004 Projekt release. Bret's dramatic voice and guitar mixes with Elysabeth's soul-stirring vocals and viola, Michael's guitar & percussion, Lisa's flute and Sam's electronics creating a mixture of heavenly voices and driving darkwave. Rosenthal and ensemble create a memorable series of delicately crafted panoramas; black tape has always tempered sensuality with sadness and beauty, and their music perfectly reflects this dichotomy. "Poetically sincere lyrics add beauty to their already branded melancholic magnificence. So timeless, it's as beautiful as it is haunting. This band should be huge!" - Delirium Magazine. "What they're doing here is original and singular in its ability to touch the listener both emotionally and intellectually." - Alternative Press Magazine

"fortune presents gifts not according to the book"
[november 19, 2003] i have been in the studio working on a cover of this song from dead can dance's aion album for release in early 2004. the greek metal label black lotus records is putting together a compilation cd of dead can dance covers which tentatively includes tracks from arcana, ataraxia, lacrimosa, angels of venice and others. the recording is coming along great! athan recorded vocals yesterday.... lisa plays flute, vicki violin, michael guitar, and elysabeth will provide some backing vocals. more word on this release soonish...

black tape for a blue girl mp3s
[november 17, 2003] with the impending demise of mp3.com,
i have moved all of our free mp3s to this website. you can access them here.

we had an amazing show at the wave-gothik-treffen festival june 8 in leipzig!
click here for photos from the show. click here for sam's reflections upon returning from germany. about the festival, about europe and about life in america. click here for an interview sam did with the largest paper in leipzig, the leipziger volkzeitung.

leipzig, germany ~ the wave-gothik-treffen festival - june 6-9
~~~~ performing sunday night , june 8th, at the agra! ~~~~
black tape for a blue girl is confirmed for our first show in europe!!! we perform on sunday between diary of dreams and faith and the muse! we are very excited about this appearance and the chance to play for all our fans in europe... the line-up will be elysabeth, lisa, michael, bret + i (sam). the treffen is a massive gothic festival held every year in leipzig. they have eight venues, with bands from noon through midnight, over 250 bands play during the four day event and over 15,000 people attend. wild! other "confirmed" etherealish bands are stoa, chandeen, faith and the muse & love is colder than death. current info at the WGT website. also, check out: yahoo.com/group/AmericansInLeipzig. as the name implies, it's for americans who are going to the festival. it's a good source of information and also let's you communicate with other americans, so you know you won't be alone; especially helpful if this is your first overseas adventure.

~~~~ autograph session ~ saturday june 7th ~~~~
we just received word that we are doing an autograph session from 7p.m. till 8 p.m.

projekt is releasing a hand-numbered limited edition (of 2250) 2-cd of highlights from black tape's first 17 years. the set features one disc with vocal songs and one disc with instrumentals. the release date in u.s. stores is may 13th, but you will be able to get with a million-tear stained memories in early-april exclusively from the projekt website. click on the banner above to see the track-listing. new and exclusive are a re-recording of "memory, uncaring friend" with bret on vocals, and the steve roach remix of "kinski."

last year, trisol records in germany asked us to compile a black tape compilation (trisol's edition of 1500 pieces will be in european stores april 17th). earlier this year, lisa sat down and listened to all of black tape for a blue girl's albums back to back, to give me her impression of the highlights. then i went through - with her suggestions - and made my choices. rather than going with the "expected" songs (ya know, the upbeat ones like "across a thousand blades" or "remnants of a deeper purity") i chose tracks that give a good representation of what black tape for a blue girl is all about. there are a few unreleased tracks, to keep collectors intrigued, as well. disc 1 features 17 tracks with vocals. disc 2 features 14 instrumentals. be sure to grab yourself a copy of with a million tear-stained memories as soon as it is available, because 2250 will sell out fast.

we're gonna be busy in the next few months! we're moving to brooklyn. then I'm setting up the studio so we can rehearse for our appearance at the WGT in leipzig. after meetings with european friends, we're back in NYC in mid june to begin preliminary work on the next black tape for a blue girl album, which I hope to have ready for very early 2004.

the scavenger bride, mexico | way back in 1997, aldo altamirano [a very kind dj who hosts ex-perimento radio on 96.1 fm / sabados 7:00 pm] brought black tape for a blue girl to mexico city for our only concert outside of america. It was a wonderful experience; we were really treated like rock stars (press conference, an amazingly nice hotel on the central square, incredible meals, two tv interviews on important network shows and the finale: 900 people at the show!!!). i have kept in touch with aldo over the years and when he asked if i would like the scavenger bride to be the second release on his SAMADHI MUSIK label, I gladly said "yes." over the years he's been a great partner and friend to the band. so here it is, the second fruit of our work together: the mexican edition of the scavenger bride. the first edition is 1000 pieces in a glossy digi-pack with the full 24 page booklet plus a mini-poster signed by lisa & me. if you live in mexico, i encourage you to buy it in a local store (if you need details on where to find it, contact aldo: experimento1@terra.com.mx). for the rest of you, I have a few copies for sale through the projekt site. it's very special when a music lover takes the risk of releasing music from a band he cares about; aldo is just such a special friend and i hope you all support his appreciation of good music by helping to quickly sell out this first edition! [ if all goes as planned, black tape for a blue girl could be back in mexico city in 2003 for a concert or two... ]

ALTERNATIVE PRESS MAGAZINE #168 July 2002
Black Tape for a Blue Girl: The Scavenger Bride

Kafkaesque disc avoids concept album pitfalls to emerge as a true work of art. | 9 out of 10 | Listening to "The Scavenger Bride" by Black Tape for a Blue Girl is like sitting in a cathedral of mindful gloom, feeling at once melancholy and reassured. Sam Rosenthal continues to be inspired by the art of Marcel Duchamp, while author Franz Kafka serves as muse for this concept album set in 1913 Prague. The title track is a cinematic overture, a portent of the artful blending of goth, ambient and chamber music to follow. Rich, timeless vocals by Elysabeth Grant, Bret Helm, and others breathe dark life into the passionate lyrics, but it's the instrumental passages-with flute by Lisa Feuer, violin by Vicki Richards, cello by Julia Kent and electronics by Rosenthal-that burrow deep with the greatest poignancy. Comparisons with Dead Can Dance have become tiresome and inaccurate, for what Rosenthal is doing here is more original and singular in its ability to touch the listener both emotionally and intellectually. - Mark Burbey