Joy Box I,II

Hello, well we have a little quandary that we’d like you to help the barra libre with so we can get the show rolling. You see, we’re about to put out a recording that we’re really exited about, but we have two different versions of this one song called “Joy Box”, and can’t decide which one we like better….which one should we put out? One or both? So the decision we did make was to pre-release both versions on myspace just for YOU to listen to and for you to decide!! After all, it’s all of you we have thank for, for supporting barra libre, so you be the judge. You’ll also be able to keep both songs if you like (we’ve offered an mp3 download option), in appreciation for you help and 2 cents on the case. Just post your harsh and honest comments right on the site for all to see, or keep ‘em private via email if you prefer to be that way. Either way, here’s the myspace link to JOY BOX I and II…enjoy!

http://www.myspace.com/barralibre



Cheers,
Barra Libre



WARNING: I must give you a word of warning as these songs are not your everyday light and pop pieces (especially one of the versions), and thus they may induce vertigo, disorder, frenzy, obscure lust and mad love ...hear if you can make out what it’s saying!



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Here’s a bit of background on the Joy Box




Not too long ago, in a rehearsal studio that’s no longer, in a part of the lower east side where rents were low, demand was high, and China town was not too far, Barra Libre poured their hears out loudly every Saturday for all the neighborhood to hear. With the help of fellow studio mate Matt, and producer Giorgio, BL then went on to produce a live and raw recording there at the rehearsal space to be known as “Live at 45 Orchard” before getting kicked out of the studio this Winter. No it wasn’t for driving the neighbors mad, (though it was close) but because the building was sold to be renovated into more expensive condos that come as a result of gentrification, which the bordering Chinatown is now fighting. So the recording was a tribute and a goodbye.

In the recording sessions, there was a song that was inspired as a tribute to Joy Division, as that band we admired from our dark high school days had suddenly resurrected to influence the Interpols of the world. And as if that wasn’t enough, our bassist’s (Javier) insistency in playing the "Love Will Tear Us Apart" baseline, pretty much did it for us to inanimately write a song as a kind of tribute to that band, which we ended up calling Joy Box. But that wasn’t the problem.

As we dove deeper into that new “joy” song (which really didn't have much of the traditional joy at all) and submerged more and more in a frenzy that pulled us to the edge with the almost fanatical guitar solos at the end, we discovered that within the obscure and provocative boundaries of the song, lurked yet another version of that same song. And it was a slower yet deeper and more hypnotic piece, which was brought to light with the help and encouragement of our mentor / producer Giorgio Gomelsky, who sat with us throughout the recording sessions and made sure that we reproduced that head bobbing “vertigo” experience of almost falling off your seat at 4 a.m., but without really falling.

So thus the two versions, which contain different lives. They are NOT Joy Division covers nor adaptations….simply a sort of paying tribute to their art as a piece that takes us into those dark places that are ironically enlightening, where broken hearts lay restless with introspective revelations.
Cheers!
BL

www.barra-libre.net