In this series I spotlight five bands and/or artists whose names begin with the same letter. I try to feature active (or recently active... it's hard to keep current with all the break-ups) performers so as to reflect who I'm listening to and enjoying at the moment.
T
Tegan & Sara
Gulity pleasure? They were until The Con, which is unabashedly awesome, was released. Now there's nothin' guilty about 'em. On the surface they appear to be a gimmick (twins! from Canada!) but they're quite serious about their music and have steadily matured with each full-length release. Again, 2007's The Con is a very good collection of songs and I look forward to whatever it is they're planning to release later this year. As far as their music sound goes they've done a couple electrobeat-heavy songs and, at the other end of the spectrum, some acoustic-punk, but mostly it's sleek tinny-voiced post-new wave indie rock. Also, they rock the mullets, and there ain't nothin' you can say about that.
"Back In Your Head (Tyler Fedchuk's 1/2 ALIVE Disco Remix)"
Tilly and the Wall
Speaking of gimmicks... Tapdancing! Regardless of what you think, tapdancing does make the percussion more interesting and it does make their live shows that much more fun to watch. Tilly and the Wall are fun to listen to as well, thanks to that tappity-tap-tap. Most of their songs, in fact, utilize the toe-tapping in lieu of a drum set proper. And, for whatever it's worth they've been on Sesame Street. Is that considered selling out?
Go to their Team Love Records page for a handful of downloadable .mp3s, including:
"Cacophony"
and, if you're not a fan of the taps,
"The Freest Man (CSS Remix)"
Two Gallants
"Two Gallants" is a James Joyce short story about two young Irish men who fancy themselves players (i.e. "playas") and think nothing of using women to aquire money and cigars. But according to the dictionary a gallant is a noble and chivalrous individual. See what Mr. Joyce did there? This doesn't have much to do with these Two Gallants who compose and perform some very excellent bluesyalternamericanafolkcountry music. Murder ballads and the like. They are a bit of a throwback, but only in the best possible way.
There's a lot of music and video up for grabs on their website. Highlights:
"Las Cruces Jail (Radio Edit)" (a song that will tear your face off)
"Waves of Grain" (a nine-minute epic)
Rosie Thomas
In every interview with Thomas I've read she cracks jokes and is all funny and stuff. She has, in fact, dabbled in stand-up comedy. Then you listen to her music and it sounds so serious and diary-honest. I can't reconcile the two and have decided to treat her as two different people: Rosie Thomas the witty and charming individual, and Rosie Thomas the heart-on-her-sleeve singer/songwriter.
You can stream These Friends of Mine in its entirety over at Virb.com. I like "Much Farther to Go".
Also stream all of If Songs Could Be Held. My favorite there is "Pretty Dress".
There's also her Christmas album if, Lord help you, you're still in the Christmas spirit.
She's also done a lot of backup vocals for Damien Jurado and Sufjan Stevens and others, so she'll often sneak in when you least expect her.
And finally:
"Leftover Coffee"
"Wages of Sin" (a Bruce Springsteen cover with Damien Jurado)
Trenches
Trenches are a sludgy hardcore-ish band from Indiana. For a while their only claim to fame was owning Haste The Day's former lead vocalist. Then they started releasing snippets of music over the Internet. Then they signed to SolidState Records. Then they released a full-length album. Now their claim to fame is being really stinkin' good. There are some doom influences (everything sounds better when it's doomed), a bit of ye olde 'core, some metal, and a lot of atmosphere.
Stream whatever they've got on their Myspace.
"Eyes Open (demo)"
T
Tegan & Sara
Gulity pleasure? They were until The Con, which is unabashedly awesome, was released. Now there's nothin' guilty about 'em. On the surface they appear to be a gimmick (twins! from Canada!) but they're quite serious about their music and have steadily matured with each full-length release. Again, 2007's The Con is a very good collection of songs and I look forward to whatever it is they're planning to release later this year. As far as their music sound goes they've done a couple electrobeat-heavy songs and, at the other end of the spectrum, some acoustic-punk, but mostly it's sleek tinny-voiced post-new wave indie rock. Also, they rock the mullets, and there ain't nothin' you can say about that."Back In Your Head (Tyler Fedchuk's 1/2 ALIVE Disco Remix)"
Tilly and the Wall
Speaking of gimmicks... Tapdancing! Regardless of what you think, tapdancing does make the percussion more interesting and it does make their live shows that much more fun to watch. Tilly and the Wall are fun to listen to as well, thanks to that tappity-tap-tap. Most of their songs, in fact, utilize the toe-tapping in lieu of a drum set proper. And, for whatever it's worth they've been on Sesame Street. Is that considered selling out?Go to their Team Love Records page for a handful of downloadable .mp3s, including:
"Cacophony"
and, if you're not a fan of the taps,
"The Freest Man (CSS Remix)"
Two Gallants
"Two Gallants" is a James Joyce short story about two young Irish men who fancy themselves players (i.e. "playas") and think nothing of using women to aquire money and cigars. But according to the dictionary a gallant is a noble and chivalrous individual. See what Mr. Joyce did there? This doesn't have much to do with these Two Gallants who compose and perform some very excellent bluesyalternamericanafolkcountry music. Murder ballads and the like. They are a bit of a throwback, but only in the best possible way.There's a lot of music and video up for grabs on their website. Highlights:
"Las Cruces Jail (Radio Edit)" (a song that will tear your face off)
"Waves of Grain" (a nine-minute epic)
Rosie Thomas
In every interview with Thomas I've read she cracks jokes and is all funny and stuff. She has, in fact, dabbled in stand-up comedy. Then you listen to her music and it sounds so serious and diary-honest. I can't reconcile the two and have decided to treat her as two different people: Rosie Thomas the witty and charming individual, and Rosie Thomas the heart-on-her-sleeve singer/songwriter.You can stream These Friends of Mine in its entirety over at Virb.com. I like "Much Farther to Go".
Also stream all of If Songs Could Be Held. My favorite there is "Pretty Dress".
There's also her Christmas album if, Lord help you, you're still in the Christmas spirit.
She's also done a lot of backup vocals for Damien Jurado and Sufjan Stevens and others, so she'll often sneak in when you least expect her.
And finally:
"Leftover Coffee"
"Wages of Sin" (a Bruce Springsteen cover with Damien Jurado)
Trenches
Trenches are a sludgy hardcore-ish band from Indiana. For a while their only claim to fame was owning Haste The Day's former lead vocalist. Then they started releasing snippets of music over the Internet. Then they signed to SolidState Records. Then they released a full-length album. Now their claim to fame is being really stinkin' good. There are some doom influences (everything sounds better when it's doomed), a bit of ye olde 'core, some metal, and a lot of atmosphere.Stream whatever they've got on their Myspace.
"Eyes Open (demo)"
