(Ambient, Darkwave, Gothic) Black Tape For A Blue Girl - The Collection - 2014, MP3, 320 kbps

Black Tape for a Blue Girl's ethereal, mournful sound virtually defined the darkwave aesthetic of their label, Projekt Records, a company owned and operated by the group's founder, composer and keyboardist Sam Rosenthal. Formed in 1983, Projekt was originally envisioned as an outlet for Rosenthal's solo electronic music; upon relocating to California three years later, his music adopted a warmer, deeply personal sound heralded by the formation of Black Tape for a Blue Girl, which debuted in 1986 with The Rope. Where subsequent efforts including 1987's Mesmerized by the Sirens and its 1989 follow-up Ashes in the Brittle Air drew heavily on ambient soundscapes, the group — a revolving ensemble of performers that in addition to Rosenthal also at times included vocalists Oscar Herrera and Lucian Casselman, violinst Vicki Richards, clarinetist Richard Watson, and cellist Mera Roberts — expanded into increasingly dense electronic textures over the course of records like 1991's A Chaos of Desire and 1993's This Lush Garden Within. After a three-year hiatus, Black Tape for a Blue Girl resurfaced in 1996 with the EP The First Pain to Linger, a disc packaged with a novel authored by Rosenthal; the full-length epic Remnants of a Deeper Purity appeared that same year, followed in 1998 by As One Aflame Laid Bare by Desire. Before the Buildings Fell appeared in early 2000. Subsequent releases included Scavenger Bride (2002), Halo Star (2004), Fragments (2005), and 10 Neurotics (2009).