Sam Rosenthal of Black Tape For a Blue Girl
Sam Rosenthal, the founder/songwriter of long-running dark wave favorites Black Tape For a Blue Girl, is appealing to fans to help fund the “restoration” and multi-format reissue of the act’s atmospheric second album, 1987’s Mesmerized By the Sirens.
Rosenthal recently launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign that already is more than halfway toward its goal of raising $9,000 toward reissuing the album on 140-gram color vinyl, CD and MiniDisc.
He’s already remixed Mesmerized By the Sirens’ 10 songs “from scratch” and just released the 2023 stereo mix of the album via Bandcamp, where it can be streamed and download. Fans can pre-order the physical versions of the reissue by contributing to the Kickstarter campaign.
Of the new version of the album, Rosenthal writes on the campaign’s Kickstarter page:
After 36 years, Mesmerized finally matches the way it has always played in my head — rich, detailed and distinct. Everything is more present, and the lovely vocals engulf you in their power and beauty.
How did I do it? First, the original 8-track analog multitrack 1/2-inch tapes were baked and digitized, then over the Xmas ’22 break I attentively remixed each song. Martin Bowes of Attrition mastered the mixes for an amazing stellar sound. I was 21 when this album was recorded. The instruments and vocals sounded great when I was working in the studio, however my engineering/mixing skills weren’t great. I sorta fumbled it at the 5-yard-line. Remixing the tracks recently, I stayed loyal to the spirit of the original; I’m not altering the performances or the flow.
But with eq and much more advanced computer mixing possibilities (and 37 years of experience) I was able to restore the album to as good as it could have been back in the day. The 2023 stereo mix returns sumptuousness to Mesmerized; it’s the same album yet so different from what you remember — discover what has been hidden all these years.
To learn more about the reissue project and pre-order, visit Kickstarter.com — and watch the video below.
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