Bee and Flower
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Bee and Flower

| INDIE

| INDIE
Band Alternative Singer/Songwriter

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This band has not uploaded any videos

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Press


"UNCUT UK, April 2007"

Having relocated from New York to Berlin, Bee and Flower’s second album sees the band benefiting from the change of scene. Reminiscent at times of Low and Cat Power, but more European than either, the most obvious reference point for the band now is Nico. Dana Schechter’s songs are minimalist but intense, their stark architecture layered with lush spookiness, but the real selling point is her out-of-body sounding voice. Among the gothic droning, she sounds like Polly Harvey sticking pins into a voodoo doll of Burt Bacharach, and it’s a hugely arresting sound. — Nigel Williamson
- UNCUT UK, 4/5 stars


"Village Voice"

Bee and Flower’s songs are minimal, but lush with intensity and emotion. Their music is incredibly rich in texture; it contains layer upon layer of sparse violin, piano, guitars, percussion, and heart-breakingly beautiful vocals. Their sound is otherworldly - you almost feel as if you could leave your body while listening to it...
— Ken Switzer - VILLAGE VOICE


"TIME OUT NEW YORK"

Bee and Flower makes a slow-moving, seductive morass of lyrical noise that grabs you by the scruff of the neck and shakes you down before you even know what’s hit you. If you crave the Geraldine Fibbers’ honeyed poison, then a dose of this is just what you need. Part Low, part Tom Waits, part Massive Attack and part Arvo Part… a sophisticated mix of drums, keyboards, xylophone, lap steel, viola and Schechter’s own expert bass playing and deliberate vocals.
— LD Beghtol - TIME OUT NEW YORK


"THE NEW YORKER"


Bee and Flower is an intense New York quintet that plays darkly beautiful songs. Tasteful exotic touches such as the lap steel, viola, and xylophone push the band further into rich harmonic territory and away from conventional rock aesthetics.
— Dan Kaufman - THE NEW YORKER


"Q MAGAZINE, UK April 2007"

Bee and Flower specialize in slow and moody cinematic pop, not so far from where Portishead once made their mark. Recorded in Berlin with a 25-piece string section adding a grandiose swell to the piano-based heartache, their effect is dreamily soothing.
— Peter Kane - Peter Kane, Q


Discography

—“Last Sight of Land' ( tuition music, TIN 01102), Europe/UK , March/April 2007
—“Various Artists Neurot Recordings I” Music Video/DVD (Neurot Recordings, NR 032), Worldwide, 2004
—“What’s Mine Is Yours” CD (Neurot Recordings, NR 024) Worldwide, 2003
—”This is Next Year—a Brooklyn-Based Compilation” Compilation Track (Arena Rock Records, NY) Worldwide, 2001
—”A Good Night To Die” Original Film Score (2003, Starring Michael Rappaport, Deborah Harry)
—”Dead Dogs Lie” Original Film Score (2002)
—“D.I.Y. Or Die”: Independent Film / Interview/Live Video Feature (2003)

Photos

Bio

Bee and Flower is the musical vision of singer-songwriter, bassist, multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Dana Schechter.

Bee and Flower was founded in NYC in 2000. There, they made their debut album (What’s Mine is Yours, 2003, Neurot Recordings), composed two Feature Film Scores, and performed and toured regularly. The new album, "Last Sight of Land", was released on German indie label Tuition Music in March 2007.

In Spring 2004, Dana and keyboardist Roderick Miller flew to Berlin, Germany along with producer Toby Dammit to create Bee and Flower’s second album. Making room for new inspiration and a change of scenery, Berlin offered them creative freedom and the sense of new possibility, compared to the daily stresses of a life in New York City.

Fully orchestrated and elaborately detailed, the new album took one year to complete. With basic recordings taking place in the 1953 former GDR radio broadcasting center located in Berlin’s old East, further tracking was done on location in train stations, warehouses, hotels and apartments all around Europe.

“Last Sight of Land” features a 25-piece string section, a whirlwind of grand pianos, a mammoth ‘bass section’, a maze of vintage electronics, delicate melodic percussion, guitars, lap steel, and sweeping vocal choirs. Though coming from a uniquely personal perspective, the songs have an inherent grace: lyrical tales of the universal human experience; of hope and heartbreak; of love and living; of leaving things behind for a dream of renewal.

“Last Sight of Land” features many special musical guests from the international music community, including members of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Keren Ann, Iggy Pop, Bertrand Burgalat, Angels of Light, Tarnation, and more.

The new Berlin-based band lineup, comprised of the core American group and the addition of new German members Martin Wenk (Calexico), Jonathan Heine (Martin Gallop), Udo Masshoff (Ready Made, Winson) and Sibylle Zeh (Sinfonietta 92), brings together the combined talents and sensibilites of both American and European musicianship.

Touring in Europe will resume in Fall 2007 and continue in Spring and Fall 2008.