Nathan Means (bass, keyboards, vocoder, vocals), Philip Manley (lead guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals), and Sebastian Thomson (drums, bass, keyboards, guitar, vocals) formed Trans Am in 1990 near Washington, D.C.[1] The band started as a HarDCore project but their sound evolved as the members finished college to include additional influences, such as new wave, classic rock, and experimental rock.[2] In 1995, they began recording their music, which until 1998 was almost entirely instrumental. Their sound is generally marked with acoustic and electronic drums, guitars, electronics, and a varying amount of often-heavily processed vocals. Instrumental virtuosity (especially on drums) is a focal point. All of their albums have been released on the Chicago-based independent record label Thrill Jockey.
Trans Am's self-titled debut, recorded after just a few rehearsals, contained instrumentals which were largely improvised versions of simple rock-oriented motifs based loosely on 1970s bands such as Boston, Bachman–Turner Overdrive, and Yes. The album was produced by John McEntire of labelmates Tortoise at Idful Music Corporation, in Chicago. Afterwards, the band opened for Tortoise on a brief US tour.[1]
In 1996, Trans Am released a self-titled EP, which showed a greater reliance on electronics. The group expanded that approach to album length on Surrender to the Night (1997) and The Surveillance (1998). Their sound during this period was reminiscent of such acts as Kraftwerk, Can, and New Order, interspersed with more rock-oriented material.[1] Also in 1996, they appeared on a split 12" with Wingtip Sloat. One track from that record, "Starjammer", was later included on the highbrow electronica label Mille Plateaux's double-CD compilation In Memoriam Gilles Deleuze. In their live shows, the band began to incorporate trigger devices and MIDI-wired beatboxes in order to perform their electronics-heavy songs.[citation needed] Around the time of the release of The Surveillance, Trans Am started to perform material with vocoder-heavy vocals by Nathan Means.[citation needed]
Their fourth album, Futureworld, came out in 1999. The first side of this album featured songs with vocoder and the second side had all instrumentals, including the sprightly "Cocaine Computer". A music video for the title song was filmed and released. In 2000, the group followed up with the double album Red Line, recorded in their own National Recording Studio.[1][3] A rarities collection, You Can Always Get What You Want, was also released that year.[4]
In 2002, Trans Am released TA,[5] complete with tongue-in-cheek promo photos featuring the band in boy band-esque matching white outfits. TA's cover art was a parody of a REO Speedwagon best-of collection. Though the album was essentially a spoof of the electroclash genre, it was mostly panned by music critics.[6][7]
During the 2004 U.S. election year, Trans Am released the politically charged Liberation, an album that questioned the George W. Bush presidency and addressed such issues as the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the War on Terror, and paranoia.[8][9][10]
Sex Change, the band's sixth studio album, was released in 2007.[11][12][13] Following the release, Trans Am did a tour of the United States with Zombi and The Psychic Paramount, seventeen shows opening for Tool, and they played the Thrill Jockey 15th anniversary show in Chicago, Illinois.[14]
Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock characterized by the exploration of textures and timbres as well as non-rock styles, often with minimal or no vocals, placing less emphasis on conventional song structures or riffs than on atmosphere for musically evocative purposes. Post-rock artists can often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings with electronics and digital production as a means of enabling the exploration of textures, timbres and different styles. The genre emerged within the indie and underground music scenes of the 1980s and 1990s, but as it abandoned rock conventions, it began to show less musical resemblance to conventional indie rock at the time. The first wave of post-rock derives inspiration from diverse sources including ambient, electronica, jazz, krautrock, psychedelia, dub, and minimalist classical, with these influences also being pivotal for the substyle of ambient pop.
Tortoise is an American post-rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1990. The band incorporates krautrock, dub, minimal music, electronica and jazz into their music, and their eclectic style has left a great influence on the post-rock genre. Tortoise have been consistently credited for the rise of the post-rock movement in the 1990s.
KMFDM is a multinational industrial rock band from Hamburg led by Sascha Konietzko, who founded the band in 1984 as a performance art project.
Thrill Jockey is an American independent record label established by former Atlantic Records A&R representative Bettina Richards and based in Chicago.
Eleventh Dream Day (EDD) is an American alternative rock band from Chicago.
The Fucking Champs are a three-piece rock band from San Francisco, California. They are known for their heavy metal sound, based largely around shifting time signatures, guitar harmonies, and plentiful rhythm. Most songs are instrumental. They are currently signed to Drag City. They have also collaborated with Trans Am and the two have recorded albums together as TransChamps and The Fucking Am. Founded in Santa Cruz in the early 1990s, the band was initially called The Champs, but added the "Fucking" to their name – following a brief stint as The Champs UK – because The Champs had been used by a band in the late 1950s.
Millions Now Living Will Never Die is the second studio album by American post-rock band Tortoise. The album was released on January 30, 1996, by Thrill Jockey.
TNT is the third studio album by American post-rock band Tortoise, released in 1998 by Thrill Jockey. After Jeff Parker joined the band in 1996, Tortoise recorded TNT over the course of a year with drummer John McEntire acting as producer, editor and mixing. Taking influence from their remix material of the 1990s, the band recorded the album using hard disk technology in a "forward-then-back" approach, with members individually adding parts to tracks at different stages until the tracks were completed. As with previous albums, the band members also shared instrumental roles.
Tortoise is the debut studio album by American post-rock band Tortoise. It was released in 1994 via Thrill Jockey. It received positive reviews from critics.
Standards is the fourth studio album by American post-rock band Tortoise. It was released on Thrill Jockey in 2001.
The Sea and Cake is an American indie rock band based in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
Thalia Zedek is an American singer and guitarist. Active since the early 1980s, she has been a member of several notable alternative rock groups, including Live Skull and Uzi both of which, according to Spin magazine, "made big noise in the underground", and Come. Critic Heather Phares writes that Zedek's music can be defined by "the permanent, aching rasp in her voice, her guitar's bluesy bite, the startlingly clear-eyed lyrics about life and loss."
A Lazarus Taxon is a box set by Chicago post-rock group Tortoise, released in 2006 on Thrill Jockey.
Jonathan Kreinik is an American record producer, who has produced numerous records from his Boombox Magnetica Studio(s), as well as in different studio locations around the globe. He has worked with the bands !!!, Trans Am, The Make-Up, and Frodus, among others. On occasion he is a traveling live-sound engineer for such bands as The Rapture, Elefant, Le Tigre, and Rocket From The Crypt.
Red Line is the fifth album by Trans Am, released in 2000.
Futureworld is the fourth album by the American band Trans Am, released in 1999. The band uses lyrics in their songs for the first time, employing vocoder synthesis.
Douglas McCombs is an American musician who plays bass and guitar with the instrumental rock band Tortoise and leads the instrumental band Brokeback. He is also the longtime bassist for the rock band Eleventh Dream Day. In 1997, he formed Pullman with Bundy K. Brown, Chris Brokaw, and Curtis Harvey, with whom he released two albums. In May 2018, McCombs replaced Eric Claridge as the touring bassist with Chicago jazz-pop outfit The Sea and Cake.
Trans Am is the debut album by the American band Trans Am, released on January 30, 1996, by Thrill Jockey Records. The band supported the album with a North American tour.
Pontiak is an American neo-psychedelic rock band of three brothers from the Blue Ridge Mountain area of Virginia: Jennings Carney, Van Carney and Lain Carney. The band officially formed in January 2004.
Wingtip Sloat is an indie rock trio formed in the Washington, D.C., suburb Falls Church, Virginia. Active throughout the 1990s, the group comprised Patrick Foster on guitar and vocals, Andy Dubuc on bass, and David Bishop on drums. Throughout their initial decade of activity, the group remained committedly DIY, recording and publishing their music themselves while holding down full-time jobs, earning Wingtip Sloat repute as "hardest working band in America."
↑ Cohen, Jonathan (July 2002). "Thrill Jockey Set Shows Evolution of Trans Am Band". Billboard. Vol.112, no.22. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p.23. ISSN0006-2510.
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