Artists starting with T

The Wild Tchoupitoulas

,

The Wild Tchoupitoulas, “The Wild Tchoupitoulas” (Mango, 1976).
On one level, this is just classic New Orleans rock and roll, featuring assorted Nevilles and Meters, but it came out on a great reggae label at the height of reggae’s glory days for a reason: here NO’s influence on Jamaica comes back, for music whose loping, hypnotic rhythms and warm yet haunting call-and-response vocals are all-American yet still somehow distant, exotic.
Try 5, 6.
4/19/13

/0 Comments/by

The Heart of Saturday Night

,

Tom Waits, “The Heart of Saturday Night” (Elektra, 1974).
His second album, delving unreservedly into the jazz/beatnik/wasted-at-4AM territory the rest of his ‘70s work would explore, but still with a reservoir of his debut’s singer-songwriter pop melodicism. All in all, one of his best.
Try 1, 6, 11.
2/16/13

/0 Comments/by

Foreign Affairs

,

Tom Waits, “Foreign Affairs” (Elektra, 1977)
With its casual late-night piano-bar feel, this one hews more to the cool (rather than crazy) end of Waits’ ‘70s spectrum, but it’s got plenty of wigged-out stuff, along with some genuinely affecting balladry.
Try 5, 6, 7.
2/16/13

/0 Comments/by

Closing Time

,

Tom Waits, “Closing Time” (Elektra, 1973)
His debut, and the most vocally/musically “normal” work he’d ever do, but the lonely late-night weariness of this couldn’t be anyone else, and these are some of his straight-out best tunes, in a melancholy acoustic guitar/piano mode.
Try 2, 4,6
4/19/13

/0 Comments/by

I Fear

,

The Vivians, “I Fear” (Ice Age/Hit & Run, 1991)
In the wake of this lost Cleveland noise-rock/post-punk classic, guitarist Michelle Temple joined Pere Ubu, and you can see why Thomas, Ravenstine et al were impressed. This is one of the few bands that seemed to understand profoundly the way early Ubu turned Stooges-derived pummeling riff-repetition into dark, looming Rust Belt art-punk epics. Singer/guitarist/clarinetist Diane Duncan and Temple weave gnarled, metallic yet elegant spiderwebs of echo and screech, and the rhythm section drives the sound to the end of the night. But there’s also a side to the Vivians that draws on another Ohio legend, Chrissie Hynde, for a melancholy melodicism and woman-alone-against-the-cold-lake-wind sensibility that makes this truly haunting. A great record by a tragically neglected band.
Try 1/ 2, 2/ 3
11/10/16

/0 Comments/by

Live at the Gluepot

,

Toy Love, “Live at the Gluepot” (Goner, 2012; original recordings 1980)
Starting out as pioneering New Zealand punk band The Enemy, here Toy Love are already getting simultaneously poppier and more twisted on the way to the members’ later-80s indie-rock glory, but this is still quintessential first-wave punk – raw, trebly, funny, feral.
Try 3, 8, 10, 16, 19.
1/13/13

/0 Comments/by

Wednesday’s Children

,

Tomten, “Wednesday’s Children” (Flat Field, 20120)
Interesting stuff from the northwest. Indie-pop with classic mid-60s song structures and crisp, energetic attack, it sometimes seems about to tip into orchestral ornateness or post-punk antiquity, but (intriguingly) never quite does.
Try 2, 8, 10
7/12/12

/0 Comments/by

Under The Pine

,

Toro Y Moi, “Under The Pine” (Carpark, 2011)
Last time I heard these guys (guy?), they/he were pretty sparse and morose, but this is perky, almost ‘80s-ish techno-dance-pop, as if somebody had removed the Xanax from the dish in his terrarium and replaced it with cocaine and poppers.
2 is nice disposable fun.
1/6/12

/0 Comments/by

Back With A Vengeance

,

Trip 6, “Back With A Vengeance” (Grand Theft Audio, 1997; original recording 1987)
Classic NY HC, a thick, muscular, compressed low-end buzz/throb that rushes disorientingly at you like two subway trains barreling past in opposite directions while you stand in between.
Try 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13
5/12/11

/0 Comments/by

The End of All Things

,

Tropic of Cancer, “The End of All Things” (Downward, 2012).
Collecting work released since 2007, this documents a goth/postpunk/gloom combo that eschews typical stylish posturing and heads straight for the trip to the abyss this stuff initially promised. Soot-darkened, stark soundscapes that achieve a kind of transcendence through sheer methodical execution, grinding through the anguish.
Try 3, 5.
4/3/12

/0 Comments/by

Contact Info

tomhaze88@gmail.com

COPYRIGHT MICHAEL O’FLAHERTY 2020 | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | WEBSITE DESIGNED AND DEVELOPED BY DIGITAL AMMO | ADMIN LOGIN