Archivály

Budoár staré dámy is celebrating their 20th anniversary and has prepared a limited edition double vinyl called Archivály. It contains a remastered selection from the first four official albums, which were released only on CD. The celebrations will take place in Brno, 20 September and in Prague, 22 September.

The double vinyl, Archivály, will be released in September 2018 on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the existence of the band, Budoár staré dámy. It is a compilation of  songs from the first four official albums: Na hraní (2002), My o vlku (2005), Dobrou noc, světlo (2008) a Láva (2012), which were released only on CD. The collector’s limited edition of 300 pieces was bejeweled by Marta Kovářová who added special content to each of them.

“I like surprises. So just like I like playing with a song on the record, I also play with the graphic design of the albums. And as we have resurrected some old recordings together with the label so that we find “the best”, the graphic designer, František Eliáš resurrected the covers from the previous records and photographed some of the special goodies we’d re-discovered. I also found some of the worst, behind-the-scene photos in our archive, which have never been published but present nicely certain eras and the band line ups. I had them developed in Fotolab and threw them randomly into one of the record pockets and added some photo corners. And for the inside sleeve, let’s call it the polyester wall, I’ve put down some stories, which are connected to certain situations. The collector, I believe, totally hooked up to his own collection, will check the photo, identify it and stick it to the stories. And if he or she decides to listen to the LPs, the adventure of the expedition to the history will be stunning.”

From the original band line up, which began as three girls and two boys high school band, only the band leader and author of most of the songs, Marta Kovářová, remained. In her perception, the essential spirit of the band never changed. “We were five, we were four. We were 3 girls in the band, now it’s only me. We were young, we’re young. We never made a living out of music. We cared about the band, and we care about it now. To sum it up: shorter hair, less tits, costumes replaced by homie clothes, less pressure in the voice, more expensive drums, heavier amps, lighter guitars, a less dirty sound and still lots of enthusiasm. So nothing major.”

Budoár staré dámy is considered to be the successor of the Brno alternative rock tradition. Their style is easily recognizable thanks to the energetic female voice, ringing melodies, poetic lyrics and the unusual bending of Czech words. The double vinyl compilation clearly shows the extraordinary position of this band in their genre.