Takka Takka | |
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Origin | Brooklyn, New York |
Genres | Indie rock |
Years active | 2006–present |
Members |
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Past members |
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Website | www |
Takka Takka is an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York. Performing since 2006, the band's members include Gabe Levine, Conrad Doucette, Rene Planchon and Craig Montoro (formerly of Volcano, I'm Still Excited!!).
Takka Takka began when Levine returned from a "near-disastrous" year in Texas. Back in Brooklyn, he began recording demos of new material, and recruited some old friends to help him work out a live set. Takka Takka soon played its first show in a basement in Williamsburg in March 2006. Takka Takka's constantly rotating line has seen a new band with each album. Doucette and Levine remain the only constant members.
In April 2006, the group began recording in the Brooklyn studio Seaside Lounge, resulting in their first album, We Feel Safer at Night. The album impressed Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, who invited the band to accompany them on a high-profile U.S. tour in fall 2006. Takka Takka traveled to Britain in February 2007 to play their first London gigs, and to Austin, Texas, for SXSW in March 2007. In May 2007, the band signed to Ernest Jenning Record Co.
Takka Takka recorded a cover version of Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight" for Engine Room Recordings' compilation album Guilt by Association Vol. 2 , which was released in November 2008. [1]
In 2008, Takka Takka released their second full-length album, Migration. Produced by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's drummer, Sean Greenhalgh, Migration was a departure from their first album. On Migration, Takka Takka explored minimalistic synthesizer soundscapes, African guitars and percussion poly-rhythms. The album features Bryan Devendorf, the drummer for The National and sometime percussionist for Takka Takka. Migration was released to semi-critical praise receiving positive reviews from the New York Times and Pitchfork.com. Migration was released in Europe in 2010 by Lili-is-pi records which brought the band to tour continental Europe for the first time.
In an interview at SXSW 2011, Takka Takka announced that they were working on a new album called Mover / Believer. The album was eventually released as A.M. Landscapes on November 20, 2012, by Ernest Jenning Record Co. The album was produced by Phil Palazzolo (New Pornographers, Okkervil River, Nicole Atkins) and had contributions from Bryan Devendorf (The National), Kyle Resnick (Beirut), Tim Albright, Hideaki Aomori, Alex Sopp and the Osso Quartet, as well as arrangements by Michael Atkinson.
Levine released a solo album under the name Gabriel and the Hounds in 2011.[ needs update ]
Doucette has occasionally performed as a live percussionist with The National, most notably during New York stops on the band's High Violet tour. In March 2012, he performed with Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead and members of The National for a HeadCount awareness-raising webcast performance called The Bridge Session. In 2016 Doucette served as Co-Curator and performer on Day Of The Dead, a tribute to the Grateful Dead spearheaded by The National and released on 4AD. Doucette also appears on Blue Mountain, a Bob Weir solo album conceived and created by Weir as well as musicians involved with the 2012 The Bridge Session performance.
Bikini Kill is an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington, in October 1990. The group consisted of singer and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band pioneered the riot grrrl movement, with feminist lyrics and fiery performances. Their music is characteristically abrasive and hardcore-influenced. After two full-length albums, several EPs and two compilations, they disbanded in 1997. The band reunited for tours in 2019 and 2022, with Erica Dawn Lyle on guitar in place of Karren.
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an American indie rock band formed in New York City in 2000. The group is composed of vocalist and pianist Karen O, guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase. They are complemented in live performances by second guitarist David Pajo, who joined as a touring member in 2009 and replaced Imaad Wasif, who had previously held the role. According to an interview that aired during ABC's Live from Central Park SummerStage series, the band's name was taken from modern New York City vernacular.
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Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is the eponymous debut studio album by American musical project Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, self-released in the United States on 28 June 2005, and released in the United Kingdom on 23 January 2006 by Wichita Recordings. Produced and mixed by Adam Lasus, the album and the band rose to fame after buzz and attention built up on various MP3 blogs and a very positive ("9.0/10") review from influential music website Pitchfork. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah was listed as one of the 50 most important recordings of the decade by National Public Radio's All Songs Considered.
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Day of the Dead is the twenty-fifth compilation release benefiting the Red Hot Organization, an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS. Featuring fifty-nine exclusive recordings of covers of Grateful Dead songs by a number of independent artists as a tribute to the band, the compilation was released on May 20, 2016 as five CDs, a limited edition vinyl LP box set, and as a digital download. John Carlin, the founder of the Red Hot Organization, was the executive producer for the album. The members of The National first performed with Bob Weir at his Bay Area studio in 2012 as part of the Headcount benefit The Bridge Session. The group's budding friendship with the Dead cofounder pushed them to record the massive Dead tribute.
Blue Mountain is the third solo album by former Grateful Dead singer and guitarist Bob Weir, released on September 30, 2016. The album was inspired by his time working as a ranch hand in Wyoming when he was fifteen years old. It is Weir's first solo studio album since Heaven Help the Fool, released in 1978 and first studio album since recording Evening Moods as the leader of RatDog in 2000.
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