Hercules And Love Affair - Blind (DFA Records 2008)

"Blind" is the first single from the eponymous debut album by Hercules and Love Affair. "Blind" was written by Anohni and Andrew Butler. The song began as a poem by Butler before it was recorded by Anohni.

Jacob Wright of Resident Advisor commented that the song is "accessible," yet is "new and ambitious and different, and it has quality."

The Chicago Maroon placed "Blind" at #2 on the Top 5 Songs of 2008. "Blind" ranked at #2 on the 10 Best Singles of 2008 list by American magazine Entertainment Weekly. Mother Jones ranked "Blind" at #14 on The Best Singles of 2008. Likewise, NME placed "Blind" at #18 on the Top 50 Singles of 2008. Pitchfork Media placed "Blind" at #1 on The 100 Best Tracks of 2008 and at #18 on The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s. PopMatters placed "Blind" at #8 on The Best Singles of 2008. Resident Advisor voted "Blind" at #6 on the Top 30 Tracks of 2008 and at #18 on the Top 100 Tracks of the 2000s. Rolling Stone placed "Blind" at #77 on the 100 Best Singles of 2008.Slant Magazine placed "Blind" at #4 on the Top 25 Singles of 2008 and at #16 on the Best of the Aughts: Singles. Spin placed "Blind" at #19 on The 20 Best Songs of 2008. In October 2011, NME placed it at number 128 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".

Hercules & Love Affair is a dance music project created by American DJ Andy Butler in 2004. Consisting of a rotating cast of performers and musicians, the band work within the genres of house music, disco, techno and nu-disco.

Originally based in New York City, now based in Ghent, Belgium, Hercules and Love Affair were founded following Butler's collaboration with Anohni to produce the song "Blind", which was a hit single. Initially signing to DFA Records, for their eponymous 2008 debut album, the band went on to record two more albums for Moshi Moshi, Blue Songs (2011) and The Feast of the Broken Heart (2014). Their fourth album Omnion was released in September 2017 by Atlantic Records.

In 2007, after Anohni had won the Mercury Prize for her work with Antony and the Johnsons, Butler approached her with the "Blind" demo, and they agreed to release it. Butler decided to do so under the name of Hercules and Love Affair because it reflected his interest in Greco-Roman mythology; it referenced Hercules and his "love affair" with Hylas. According to Butler, "[Hercules] stayed on the island, looking for his boyfriend. I just thought this was super-beautiful: the strongest man on earth looking for his lost love, at his most vulnerable. Strong men can have strong feelings. And they can experience those feelings and experience pain and express pain — and be gay." DFA Records agreed to release the song, with DFA founder Tim Goldsworthy stating that "We had slight reservations that 'Blind' would be a one-hit wonder. But then he played us some bits he had been playing around with at home." The single was first released in the United Kingdom in March 2007, where it made the Top 40. It was awarded Best Song of 2008 by Pitchfork Media and came in at sixth place in Resident Advisor's Top 30 tracks of that year, while Entertainment Weekly called it the second best song of the year.

At this point, Butler decided to establish Hercules and Love Affair as a continuing musical project, stating his intent to release music with a rotating cast of performers and musicians. The band's self-titled debut album was released in Europe through DFA's parent company, EMI, in March 2008. For the album, Butler assembled a mixed line-up; Morgan Wiley and Andrew Raposo, both formerly of Automato, joined the backing band, while Nomi Ruiz, CocoRosie, Kim Ann Foxman, and Anohni took up vocals. However, although Anohni would appear on five of the album's tracks, she did not participate in the band's live performances.[8] The band made its live debut on May 17, 2008, at the Studio B venue in Brooklyn, New York, before going on a European and North American tour. Appearing at London's Lovebox Festival in 2010, it was there that they were interviewed by Vogue. After touring for a year, Butler split with his record company and returned to Denver.

As a child, I knew
That the stars could only get brighter
And we would get closer
Get closer
Oh
As a child, I knew
That the stars could only get brighter
That we would get closer
Get closer
Leaving this darkness
Behind
Oh
Now that I'm older
The stars should lie upon my face
When I find myself alone
Find myself alone
Oh
Now that I'm older
The stars should lie upon my face
And when I find myself alone
I feel like I
I am blind
Feel it
Feel it
Feel it
Feel it
Like I am blind
I am blind
I wish the stars could shine now
For they are closer
They are near
But they will not present my present
They will not present my present
I wish the light could shine now
For it is closer
It is near
But it will not present my present
It makes my past and future painfully clear
To hear you now
To see…

Видео Hercules And Love Affair - Blind (DFA Records 2008) канала DiscoSaturdayNightTV