Rose McDowall (née Porter;[1] born 21 October 1959) is a Scottish musician who formed Strawberry Switchblade with Jill Bryson in 1981.[2]

History

McDowall was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1959. Her first venture into music was in the Poems, an art-punk trio formed in 1978 with her then-husband Drew McDowall. She then formed Strawberry Switchblade in 1981 with Jill Bryson. After signing with Warner Bros. Records, they enjoyed chart success with their single "Since Yesterday" in 1984; however, later singles and an album did not sell as well as expected. This and internal problems led to an acrimonious split in 1986.[1]

For the next six years, McDowall was primarily a guest vocalist or "floating member" of several different alternative bands, particularly in the neofolk genre. She contributed backing or lead vocals for Coil, Current 93, Death in June,[3] Felt, Alex Fergusson, Into a Circle, Megas, Nature and Organisation, Nurse with Wound, Ornamental, Psychic TV[4] and Boyd Rice on recordings as well as singing or playing guitar for live appearances. In 1993, she collaborated with Boyd Rice under the band name Spell, producing two singles and an album of 1960s pop, country and psychedelia covers for Mute Records. [1]

At the same time, she formed a folk rock band called Sorrow with then-husband Robert Lee.[5] Between 1993 and 2001, they released two albums and one EP through World Serpent Distribution and performed in Europe and the US. During this time, McDowall continued to record and perform with Current 93 and Coil, including the short-lived group Rosa Mundi. Robert Lee left the band in 2002. McDowall and her remaining bandmates continued to perform as Rosa Mundi until 2005 when she began performing under her own name.[1]

McDowall is best known as a vocalist, but also plays guitar, keyboards, melodica, and drums. Her signature instruments are a Washburn 12-string acoustic guitar, a Fender Coronado electric 6-string guitar and an electric harmonium.

Discography

Rose McDowall

Year Title Format, notes
1988 Don't Fear the Reaper 7" and 12" on Rio Digital (unapproved release)
1994 Johnny Remember Me Pic. 7" on Sympathy for the Record Industry (unapproved release)
2004 Cut with the Cake Knife CD on Bad Fairy
2005 Alone CD EP on Durtro – with John Contreras and Nurse with Wound

Strawberry Switchblade

For Strawberry Switchblade's recordings, see Strawberry Switchblade § Discography.

Spell

Year Title Format, Special Notes
1993 "Big Red Balloon" Single on Mute Records
1993 Seasons in the Sun CD on Mute Records

Sorrow

Year Title Format, Special Notes
1993 Under the Yew Possessed CD on Piski Disc
1999 Sleep Now Forever CD on Piski Disc
1999 The Final Solstice (I/II) CD on Piski Disc
2001 Let There Be Thorns Maxi CD on Piski Disc
2001 Let There Be Thorns Pic. 7" on Piski Disc

Track appears on:

Current 93

Year Title Format and special notes
1983 Mi-Mort cassette split with Nurse with Wound
1984 LAShTAL 12"
1984 Nature Unveiled LP (reissued on CD,1992)
1984 No Hiding from the Blackbird 7" split w/ Nurse With Wound
1984 Dogs Blood Rising LP (reissued on CD, 1988 and 1995)
1985 Live at Bar Maldoror LP (reissued on CD 1990 and 1994)
1985 Nightmare Culture EP split with Sickness of Snakes (Coil/Boyd Rice)
1986 In Menstrual Night LP (reissued on CD, 1994)
1986 NL Centrum-Amsterdam live cassette split w/ Nurse With Wound
1987 Happy Birthday 12"
1987 Dawn LP (reissued on CD, 1994)
1987 Imperium LP (reissued on CD, 2001)
1987 Crowleymass (with HÖH) 12"/CDS (reissued in 1997)
1988 Christ and the Pale Queens Mighty in Sorrow 2xLP (reissued on CD, 1994)
1988 The Red Face of God 12" (reissued on CD with above, 1994)
1988 Swastikas for Noddy LP (reissued on CD as Swastikas for Goddy, 1993)
1988 Faith's Favourites 12" split with Nurse with Wound
1988 Earth Covers Earth LP (reissued on CD, 1992) (limited LP reissue, 2005)
1989 Rome/Hourglass for Diana/Fields of Rape 7" (live)
1989 She Is Dead and All Fall Down limited edition 7"
1989 Crooked Crosses for the Nodding God CD
1990 Looney Runes LP, CD 1992
1990 1888 split EP with Death in June
1990 Horse LP, part of a box set/split with Sol Invictus and Nurse With Wound (reissued on CD as Horsey with extra/reworked tracks, 1997)
1991 Island (with HÖH) LP/CD
1991 As the World Disappears (live) CD
1992 Thunder Perfect Mind 2xLP/CD (reissued, 1994)
1992 Death in June / Current 93 / Sol Invictus (live) Recorded in Frankfurt, Germany, 1991. Originally a bootleg called Day of Dawn, officially reissued on CD.
1993 Emblems: The Menstrual Years LP, issued as 2xCD retrospective
1993 Hitler as Kalki CD
1994 Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre LP/CD
1994 The Fire of the Mind CD/MiniAlbum
1994 Lucifer Over London EP/CD
1994 Tamlin 12"/CDS
1995 Where The Long Shadows Fall 12"/CDS
1996 All The Pretty Little Horses: The Inmost Light LP/CD
1996 The Starres Are Marching Sadly Home 12"/CDS
1996 Untitled, a.k.a. Seven Seals CD-EP with Tiny Tim, Nurse with Wound and Nature and Organization
1997 In a Foreign Town, in a Foreign Land limited CD, accompanied Thomas Ligotti book of same name
1998 Soft Black Stars LP/CD/sheet music, (reissued on CD in 2005)
1999 Calling for Vanished Faces 2xCD retrospective
1999 An Introduction to Suffering Current 93/Michael Cashmore/Christoph Heemann LP/CD
1999 Misery Farm CDS
1999 All Dolled Up Like Christ 2x Live CD
2000 I Have a Special Plan for This World 12"/CD, Thomas Ligotti prose poem read by Tibet, treated by Current 93
2000 Sleep Has His House LP/CD
2000 Faust LP/CD
2001 The Great in the Small LP/CD
2001 Cats Drunk on Copper CD (Live at the Union Chapel, London, 3 May 1997)
2001 Bright Yellow Moon 2x12"/CD Current 93/Nurse with Wound
2001 Purtle CD Split w/ Nurse with Wound
2001 This Degenerate Little Town CD with Thomas Ligotti
2002 The Seahorse Rears to Oblivion 12"/CD
2002 Music for the Horse Hospital 2xCD Current 93/Nurse with Wound
2003 A Little Menstrual Night Music CD containing remixes of tracks from In Menstrual Night
2003 Calling For Vanished Faces/Virgin Mary 7" split with Antony and the Johnsons; UK PanDurtro 008
2003 Live at St. Olave's CD EP split with Antony and the Johnsons; UK PanDurtro 007
2004 Halo Live CD
2004 SixSixSix: SickSickSick CD compilation of Tamlin, Lucifer over London, Misery Farm, and two pieces from Looney Runes
2005 How I Devoured Apocalypse Balloon 2xCD (Live at St. George The Martyr Anglican Church, Toronto, 18–19 June 2004)
2005 ⲛⲧⲛⲁⲩ ⲛϩⲱⲧⲡ ⲙⲡⲣⲏ ⲁϩⲉⲛⲉϫⲏⲩ ⲉⲩⲕⲏⲙ ⲟⲩⲉⲙ ⲧⲡⲉ CDS (promo for Black Ships Ate the Sky; the Coptic title reads "At Sunset Black Ships Ate The Sky")
2005 Judas as Black Moth (Hallucinatory Patripassianist Song) 2xCD "best of"/introduction to C93's works
2005 How He Loved The Moon 2xCD/2xLP (ltd. 1200)/2xLP+7" (ltd. 200), a remixed version of In Menstrual Night
2005 Hypnagogue/Hypnagogue II CD
2006 Black Ships Ate the Sky CD / 2xLP
2006 Inerrant Rays of Infallible Sun Split 10" with Om
2006 Black Ships Eat the Sky CD – Alternate mixes
2007 The Inmost Light 3xCD/2xLP reissue of Where The Long Shadows Fall, All the Pretty Little Horses, and The Starres Are Marching Sadly Home
2007 Birdsong in The Empire Live CD (ltd. 1200) Recorded in Toronto, Canada, 2005
2008 Black Ships Heat the Dancefloor Blue 12" single/DualDisc, remixes by JG Thirlwell and Matmos
2008 Birth Canal Blues CD EP April 2008
2009 Aleph at Hallucinatory Mountain CD/LP
2010 Baalstorm, Sing Omega CD/LP
2010 Haunted Waves, Moving Graves Limited-edition CD (999 copies) and 12" picture disc (666 copies). Both editions have different track listings.
2010 When the May Rain Comes 12" purple & white vinyl (200 copies). 12" purple vinyl (300 copies). 12" black vinyl (500 copies). CD EP (Deluxe Digipak 6 panel).
2011 HoneySuckle Æons Released 24 March 2011
2012 When Rome Falls, Falls the World Live CD
2014 I Am the Last of All the Field That Fell: A Channel CD/LP
2015 The Moons at Your Door CD/LP
2018 The Light Is Leaving Us All CD/LP
2019 Invocations of Almost CD/LP (the 12" LP has a slightly shorter version and mix than the 59-minute CD)
2022 If a City Is Set Upon a Hill CD/LP

See: Current 93

Nature and Organisation

Year Title Format, Special Notes
1994 A Dozen Summers Against the World CD on Durtro
1994 Beauty Reaps the Blood of Solitude CD on Durtro

Backworld

Year Title Format, Special Notes
1999 Anthems from the Pleasure Park CD on Harbinger House
2001 The Fourth Wall CD on Harbinger House – live recording

References

  1. ^ a b c d Graham, Ben (15 September 2015). "All Her Yesterdays: Rose McDowall Interviewed". The Quietus. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  2. ^ Sutton, Michael. "Biography: Rose McDowall". AllMusic. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
  3. ^ Lester, Paul (14 April 2015). "Cult heroes: Strawberry Switchblade – the clue was in the name". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  4. ^ Mandois, Sarah (7 October 2015). "Rose McDowall va continuer à vous mettre le coeur en miettes" [Rose McDowall will continue to put your heart in pieces]. Vice (in French). Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  5. ^ McHugh, Stuart (11 September 2018). "Rose McDowall switches Strawberry for Sorrow". News Guardian. Retrieved 9 November 2019.

Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_McDowall
No tags for this post.