Black Box Recorder

Artist: Black Box Recorder

Group Members:

John Moore, Sarah Nixey, Luke Haines

Similar Artists:

Goldfrapp, Goya Dress, Arab Strap, Tindersticks, Portishead, Pulp, Saint Etienne

Influenced By:

Young Marble Giants, Angelo Badalamenti, Wire, David Bowie, John Barry

Formal Connection With:

The Auteurs, Sarah Nixey, The Servants, The Jesus and Mary Chain

See Black Box Recorder Lyrics

Formed: 1998, London, England
Genres: Rock
Representative Albums: "The Facts of Life," "England Made Me," "The Worst of Black Box Recorder"
Representative Songs: "Child Psychology," "The Art of Driving," "These Are the Things"

Biography

Black Box Recorder included Auteurs main man Luke Haines, former Jesus and Mary Chain member John Moore, and vocalist Sarah Nixey. Like the Auteurs, Black Box Recorder's songs commented on the state of English affairs, both social and personal, often using character sketches that exposed the less-than-pleasant with sharp frankness and simplicity. Domesticity and childhood themes often ran through their albums. Coming together in 1998 as Haines kept his primary vehicle operable, the trio introduced themselves with their first single ("Child Psychology") being banned from U.K. radio for the line "Life is unfair/Kill yourself or get over it."

The full-length England Made Me followed later in the year, establishing Moore and Haines as a songwriting team that excelled at getting its points across with the least amount of instrumentation necessary. Raw and minimal but still perversely pop, Nixey's detached and fragile-yet-rich voice (usually kept up front in the mix) provided the ideal characteristics for their songs. Imagine a sober, somber, dub-influenced version of the Velvet Underground with an elegantly smooth Nico singing on top.

Jumping ship from Chrysalis to Nude for 2000's The Facts of Life, the first single from the album surprisingly went Top 20, providing Haines with the highest chart position of his career. Despite this, Haines made no bones about his disdain for Nude within a week of the chart placement, feeling that they dropped the ball after being handed it on a silver platter. Artistically, The Facts of Life was a superb follow-up, incorporating electronic elements without sounding anything like a trip-hop or Garbage-style dance-rock group. The Worst of Black Box Recorder, a collection of the trio's B-sides, came the following year.

After a lengthy break aided by Nude's downfall, as well as two solo releases from Haines, the group landed on One Little Indian for 2003's Passionoia. WIthout forsaking their knack for subversion, the group returned with their most ornate batch of songs yet, several of which were as poppy as anything recorded by Saint Etienne. Prior to the album's release, Nixey and Moore tied the knot. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide

Search unanswered questions...

Browse: Unanswered questions | Most-recent questions | Reference library

Wikipedia: Black Box Recorder

Top

This article is about the English indie band. For the recording device, see black box (transportation). For other uses, see black box (disambiguation).

This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2009)

Black Box Recorder
Origin	London, England
Genres	Electronic music Indie rock
Years active	1998 – 2003 2007 - present
Associated acts	The Auteurs Baader Meinhof Art Brut
Members
Luke Haines John Moore Sarah Nixey

Black Box Recorder are an English indie rock group. They debuted in 1998 with England Made Me and followed this up with The Facts of Life, which gave them their first hit with the single of the same name in April 2000. Their third album, Passionoia, was released in 2003. There is also a compilation album, The Worst of Black Box Recorder, a collection of B-sides, cover versions and remixes.

Musically, the group is influenced by ambient music, English Rock and Roll and French electronic groups such as Air.^{[citation needed]} However the lyrics to these lush and romantic melodies are frequently bleak, ironic or sarcastic: obvious influences are Ray Davies, Morrissey, and Pulp.^{[citation needed]} The video for single "The Art of Driving" depicted the band as crash test dummies.

Black Box Recorder are Sarah Nixey, Luke Haines (of The Auteurs), and John Moore (formerly of The Jesus and Mary Chain). Moore and Nixey married in 2001, and have one child, although they were divorced in 2006.

Although no official announcement of the band's split was announced, Black Box Recorder was on hiatus during the mid 2000s. The band collaborated with Art Brut during 2007, and released the single "Christmas Number One" under the name The Black Arts. In October 2008 the band played live at the Nick Sanderson (Earl Brutus, The Jesus And Mary Chain) tribute concert at The Forum, London.

In late 2008 it was announced that the band would be playing a gig at The Luminaire, Kilburn, London on 18 February 2009. The gig quickly sold out, and a second appearance at the same venue announced. These sold out shows were the band's first headlining appearances in five years.

It has also been confirmed that the band will record a new album in 2009.

1 Discography
2 References
3 External links

Discography

Albums

England Made Me (20 July 1998)
The Facts of Life (1 May 2000) (UK^[1] #37)
Passionoia (3 March 2003)

Singles

"Child Psychology" (4 May 1998)
"England Made Me" (6 July 1998)
"The Facts Of Life" (10 April 2000) UK^[1] #20)
"The Art Of Driving" (3 July 2000) (UK^[1] #53)
"These Are The Things" (24 February 2003)
"The School Song" (30 June 2003)
"Christmas Number One" (December 2007, with Art Brut)

Compilations

The Worst of Black Box Recorder (21 August 2001)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 59. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.

External links

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Donate to Wikimedia

Learn More

	England Made Me (1998 Album by Black Box Recorder)
	Ultra Chilled, Vol. 2 (2002 Album by Various Artists)
	Stars (2001 Album by Hippiehaus)

	Are there black box recordings for the September 11th plane crashes? Read answer...
	What colour is the black box flight recorder in an aeroplane? Read answer...
	What is the scientific concept of the black box flight recorder? Read answer...

Help us answer these

	Black box recorder is never damaged?
	When was the black box flight recorder made?
	How did the black box flight recorder solve a problem?

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

Copyrights:

		Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved. Read more
		Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Black Box Recorder". Read more