Luna (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Luna


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Origin = New York City, New York, USA
Genre = Indie pop, Indie rock, Dream pop
Years_active = 1991–2005
Label = No.6 Beggars Banquet Elektra Jericho Jetset Arena rock
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URL = http://www.fuzzywuzzy.com
Current_members = Dean Wareham (guitar/vocals) Sean Eden (guitar/vocals) Britta Phillips (bass) Lee Wall (drums)
Past_members = Justin Harwood (bass) Stanley Demeski (drums) Byron Guthrie (drums) Matt Quigley (bass)
Notable_instruments =

Luna was a dream pop/indie pop band formed in 1991 by Dean Wareham after the breakup of Galaxie 500, with Stanley Demeski and Justin Harwood (Demeski formerly of The Feelies and Harwood formerly of New Zealand band The Chills). They announced plans to break up in 2004, and played their final concert at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City on February 28 2005.

The original line-up was expanded with the addition of guitarist Sean Eden for their second album, 1994's "Bewitched". Lee Wall replaced Demeski on drums in time for 1997's "Pup Tent," and Britta Phillips of Belltower (also known as the singing voice of animated character Jem) joined when bassist Justin Harwood departed in 2000. Phillips and Wareham became romantically involved and eventually married in 2007.

History

In 1991 after the end of Galaxie 500's US tour supporting the Cocteau Twins, Dean Wareham told his bandmates Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang that he was quitting the band. Dean then signed a demo deal with Elektra Records and recorded a number of tracks with Mercury Rev drummer Jimmy Chambers. Some of these recordings were later released on the "Anesthesia" single on No.6 Records in the US and Mint Tea in the UK under the name "Dean Wareham".

Elektra's VP of A&R, Terry Tolkin, was suitably impressed and Dean signed a deal with Elektra, and started pulling together a band. He first contacted "Justin Harwood" whom Dean had met while Justin was playing with The Chills and they recruited drummer Byron Guthrie, the trio recorded some more demos (produced by Dave Fridmann) and played a couple of live dates augmented by Mercury Rev guitarist Grasshopper. Guthrie was then replaced by former Feelies drummer Stanley Demeski and this line up recorded the first album Lunapark, produced by Fred Maher and released by Elektra under the name Luna² to avoid confusion with a new-age musician who was already using the name "Luna" (later an agreement was reached which allowed the band to use the name Luna).

Shortly after the release of Lunapark, the band placed an advertisement in the Village Voice for a guitarist, and Canadian former drama student Sean Eden was recruited. The new four-piece went into the studio and recorded a number of cover versions that would become the "Slide" EP and then toured the US. In the summer of 1993 the band landed the prestigious slot supporting the reformed Velvet Underground on their European tour after which they set about recording their second album. Bewitched was recorded in New York City and co-produced by the band with Victor Van-Vugt. Velvet Underground guitarist Sterling Morrison played guitar on two tracks. The album was released in 1994.

In 1995 the band went into Sorcerer Sound studio in New York City with producer Pat McCarthy and engineer "Mario Salvati" to record their third album Penthouse. The album featured the legendary guitarist Tom Verlaine (Television) on the tracks "Moon Palace" and "23 Minutes in Brussels". The album was released in August 1995 to critical acclaim with Rolling Stone declaring it one of the essential albums of the 90s [Rolling Stone [http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/rstone.html#Recordings%20of%20the%20%E2%80%9890s Essential Recordings of the '90s] last accessed: 19 October 2006] . The album featured a cover of Serge Gainsbourg's "Bonnie and Clyde" as a hidden track, the song featured Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab duetting with Dean Wareham. "Bonnie and Clyde" was released as a single in the UK and was named Melody Maker single of the week.

Discography

Albums

*"Lunapark" (1992)
*"Bewitched" (1994)
*"Penthouse" (1995)
*"Pup Tent" (1997)
*"The Days of Our Nights" (1999)
*"Luna Live [live] " (2001)
*"Romantica" (2002)
*"Rendezvous" (2004)
*"Best of Luna" (2006)
* [http://www.rhino.com/store/digital/detail.lasso?upc=603497193868 Lunafied] (Available as Download Only)

EPs

*"Slide" (1993)
*"EP" (1996)
*"EP" (1997) "(Australian release consisting of mostly live songs from Pup Tent)"
*"Close Cover Before Striking" (2002).

ingles

* This Time Around
* Chinatown (Radio Edit)/Chinatown (Album Version) (1995)
* Hedgehog/23 Minutes in Brussels/No Regrets/Happy New Year (1995)
* Bonnie & Clyde (Bonnie Parker Version)/Chinatown/Thank You For Sending me an Angel/Bonnie & Clyde (Clyde Barrow Version) (1995)
* Bonnie & Clyde/Chinatown (1995)
* Season of the Witch (Edit) (1996)
* Season of the Witch/Indian Summer/Lost in Space/23 Minutes in Brussels (1996)
* Bobby Peru (Radio Edit)/Audio Biography (1997)
* IHOP/Fuzzy Wuzzy/Words without Wrinkles (1997)
* Bobby Peru/In the Flesh/Beggar's Bliss (Demo)/Bob le Flambeur (1997)
* Hedgehog/23 Minutes in Brussels (1997)
* Beautiful View/Bobby Peru(U.S. Radio Edit)/California (Live) (1998)
* Superfreaky Memories/Neon Lights/the Bad Vibe Merchant (1999)
* Lovedust/Black Postcards/Only Women Bleed (2002)
* Speedbumps/Astronaut/Eyes in my smoke (2004) Little Teddy Recordings

DVDs

*"Tell Me Do You Miss Me" (2006)

Other releases

* Dean Wareham Anesthesia containing songs Anesthesia/I Can't Wait/Tomato Poodle
* Dream Baby Dream from the guest album Invitation to a Suicide (1997)
* Britta Phillips & Dean Wareham L'Avventura (2003)
* Britta Phillips & Dean Wareham Back Numbers (2007)

oundtracks

*"Irma Vep" (1996)
*"I Shot Andy Warhol" (1996)
*"Mr. Jealousy" (1997)
*"Thursday" (1998)
*"Kill Me Later" (2001)
*"Sideways" (2004)

External links

* [http://www.fuzzywuzzy.com/ Official Luna web site]
* [http://www.fullofwishes.co.uk Comprehensive fan site]
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:3q5tk6dx9krk Luna on the All Music Guide]
* [http://www.arenarock.com Arena Rock Recording Co.]

References