The Paradise Motel

The Paradise Motel formed in Hobart, Tasmania in the early 1990s, moving to Melbourne in 1995. They found their new lead singer, Merida Sussex, working in the St. Kilda Public Library. They were soon signed by Mushroom Records, and released an EP, Left Over Life To Kill. This was soon followed by a remix EP, titled Some Deaths Take Forever, consisting of experimental remixes of tracks and outtakes from the original produced by the band themselves; 2,000 hand-numbered copies were produced. In 1997, The Paradise Motel released their first full-length album, Still Life. A limited edition of this album came with a bonus disc, titled Junk Mail, consisting of one 30-minute track of outtakes. Several singles followed, as did a second album, Flight Paths, whose sound was somewhat more mainstream and less sparse than the early work. The band then relocated to London, though did not record again, and broke up in 2000. The Paradise Motel's instrumentation featured two guitars (acoustic and electric), bass, drums and a Hammond organ, and occasional accompaniment from a string quartet. Their aesthetic was one of sparseness and melancholia, punctuated by bursts of manic loudness; or, as they once said in an interview, "the violence and the silence". Their lyrical subject matter often veered towards the melancholy and macabre, which resulted in (sometimes lazy) comparisons to Nick Cave. Much of the Paradise Motel's songwriting came from Charles Bickford, whilst Matt Aulich was responsible for the string and instrumental arrangements in some of their tracks. The Paradise Motel's cover of The Cars' Drive appears in the soundtrack to the film of He Died With A Felafel In His Hand. Their early song, German Girl, also appears in the film but not on the soundtrack compilation.

Trivia

  • "Left Over Life To Kill" was named after the autobiography of Dylan Thomas' widow.
  • "Some Deaths Take Forever" was named after a graffito on the wall of Brisbane band venue The Zoo.
  • In their early gigs, The Paradise Motel often covered The Triffids' Raining Pleasure, though never released a recording. The track of this title on Some Deaths Take Forever is mostly a heavily processed instrumental, with few recognisable vocal fragments.
Paradise Motel, The

 

<< PreviousWord BrowserNext >>
horsey windpump
nest egg
thomas bernhard
school of public administration in bialystok
ralph neville
guuam
naknek river
brunswick street, melbourne
autumn visits
richard le gras
sahaku twins
john lexington
torture victim protection act (1992)
richard quine
naknek lake
harbhajan singh yogi
magic kaito
elephant house
roy owen west
woodhams' scrapyard
big thing
ian tyson
fake music
peter w. gray
yaiba
la vespire
contestable market
le vey
mutesa i of buganda
vicques
vicques, calvados
mark lucovsky
gwinnett gladiators
marshall meyer
nk rock city records
supporting actor
list of flags by design
wells gray clearwater volcanic field
dunnville, ontario
kawasaki 250r
silent scope
kaila yu
operation days of penitence
spanish bonk