In the fall of 1994, very impressed by the debut single set, kranky got in touch with the band. The debut, self-titled album was recorded with Mike Deming at Studio .45 in Hartford, CT in January 1995. Bowery Electric was released on compact disc and vinyl in mid-1995. As The Wire described it, Bowery Electric "weave chilled downbeat dirges via hazy sheets of distorted guitar (that sound as though they were recorded underwater), stumbling sluggish percussion and benumbed male/female vocals... the album works as a sustained moodpiece...". Or, as Chris Wodskou put it in the Sept. 1995 issue of Exclaim!, "Bowery Electric shimmer in the way a 20 foot sheet of metal shimmers and resonates when vibrated. A sharp pop confection with the blunt force of a three-alarm headache."
Simon Reynolds' seminal post-Rock article in the November 1995 issue of The Wire placed Bowery Electric in the forefront of "a distinctively American post-rock." The band returned to Studio .45 to work on the second full length release with engineer Rich Costley. With the acquisition of samplers, the band's song writing process (which had always started with the bass track and drum beats) expanded. The resulting album, Beat, featured a drummer on four out of ten tracks, with plenty of subtly sampled beats and bass tones anchoring the bottom end. Lawrence Chandler told Alternative Press that "technologically [Beat] is the beginning of us learning our way around a proper sampler and software which allows us to work with samples on the computer. We can sample ourselves, manipulate sounds, create our own beats and basically work with fewer restrictions." Beggar's Banquet licensed Beat for release in the U.K. and Europe and with drummer Wayne Magruder added to the group, Bowery Electric began tours of the U.K. and North America.
Melody Maker reviewed a show in July 1997 and noted that "for two people to be able to create such a huge, rolling epic sound is surprising; what really hits hard is just how huge it can be, how the inarguable and pulverising beauty of BE's sound simply forces a slacked out crowd into its swell."
Beggar's Banquet released Vertigo, a collection of remixes of Beat tracks by Main, Third Eye Foundation, Chasm, Witchman, Immersion and others. Beat was the last album Bowery Electric made for kranky, they went on to release an EP (Blow Up/Electro Sleep) and album (Lushlife) for Beggar's Banquet and ultimately broke up in 2000.
Eventually, Lawrence formed a solo project called Metrotech, while Martha formed a project called Echostar. So far Martha released one album, Sola, as Echostar, but Lawrence only appeared with a remix on Calla's Custom.
Floating World
Bowery Electric Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In a sea of people
I'm all out of hope
And I've looked so hard
I'm all out of hope
And I've looked so hard
In a crowded world I looked for you
Through a sea of people
How can you sleep
When you've worked so hard?
How can you sleep?
How can you sleep?
The lyrics to Bowery Electric's song Floating World seem to be about the search for someone who cannot be found. The singer is in a crowded room or world, and is searching for someone, likely a lover or companion. They confess to being all out of hope and having looked so hard for this person. The repetition of this phrase emphasizes the futility of the search and the desperation of the singer's situation.
The second half of the lyrics shift focus to the person they are searching for. The singer asks how they can sleep when they have worked so hard. This can be interpreted a few different ways. Perhaps the other person has also been searching for the singer and is exhausted, or maybe they have been avoiding the singer and the guilt of their actions is keeping them up at night. Whatever the reason, it seems clear that the search for this person has taken a toll on both the singer and the one they are searching for.
Line by Line Meaning
In a crowded room I looked for you
Amidst a thronging of people, I searched for your presence
In a sea of people
Surrounded by a multitude of strangers
I'm all out of hope
I have lost all optimism and faith
And I've looked so hard
I've made every effort possible to find a solution
In a crowded world I looked for you
In a world filled with chaos and confusion, I still sought out your companionship
Through a sea of people
Navigating through the crowd, constantly searching for you
How can you sleep
How can you rest peacefully
When you've worked so hard?
When you've exerted so much energy and effort?
How can you sleep?
Repeating the question, emphasizing the disbelief
Contributed by Micah C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.