C/D : Black Tambourine

I love that record! Can't remember the last time I listened to it, though.

I didn't discover them until last year sometime. Totally classic. I wish they'd recorded more.

I should borrow this record from my friend.

I have a single, but have resisted buying more because I'd just feel like I was sucking up to Gail O'Hara (not that I know her).

I think I have the 'Complete Recordings', I've never listened to it though.
It looks like maybe I should innit.

Yes! Classic!

I am intrigued. Will listen.

yay they're on Ruckus!

I have a single, but have resisted buying more because I'd just feel like I was sucking up to Gail O'Hara (not that I know her).

I don't think Gail is really involved is she? It's Pam Berry, the lesser known of the two people who founded Chickfactor.

Great stuff!! (I don't know about "classic") but for US female-fronted slumberland-ey MD lo-fi-ish indie shoegazey dreampop, i suppose it is!

Well worth seeking out if any/all of that sounds good to you.

Just out of curiosity, I am not sure I understand the part about sucking up to Gail...

Sigh, my career as a comedian seems more and more distant. Just a Chickfactor-promoting-its-own reference.

This is really awesome stuff. Dreamy, noisy, sigh.

argh dammit my audioscrobbler was turned off ;_;

ah well I can listen to album again! </OCD>

My favorite tracks are:

For Ex-Lovers Only
Can't Explain
Drown
Throw Aggi Off the Bridge
By Tomorrow

I would recommend "Can't Explain" or "Drown" to those who haven't heard this.

argh dammit my audioscrobbler was turned off ;_;

Geez you're worse than me! ;P

Sigh, my career as a comedian seems more and more distant. Just a Chickfactor-promoting-its-own reference.

Sorry to blow your gag! 8P I thought you might be onto some deep shit, that's why I asked.

the black tambourine comp is tremendous, but the songs don't have the impact on me they used to.. at the time it was mindblowing stuff

Gosh!

Been playing this comp a lot lately. Totally great and underrated.

Not underrated by me, that's for sure.

hearts for this banddd

the black tambourine comp is tremendous, but the songs don't have the impact on me they used to.. at the time it was mindblowing stuff

― electricsound, Friday, 1 June 2007 21:24 (1 year ago) Bookmark

i take this back

the 'don't have the impact' bit that is.

Never knew the band had a thread here (well I'd stopped by mid-2007).

'By Tomorrow' is maybe my favourite of all the songs, but 'For Ex-Lovers Only' is a really substantial track too - a quite complex melody, also complex drum pattern.

a new record with extra tracks!

http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jpfuxzqsldfe

Free stream:

http://www.mbvmusic.com/2010/03/29/listenmbv-black-tambourine/23323

thanks! interesting, the new songs are sonically very much like the old ones, which is great. God, I love this sound.

Not being flippant - this is a genuine question. Can someone explain to me the awe indiepop kids hold for this band? I finally heard the comp the other day when I got a promo of the new edition - and it sounded to me like a second-rate band on Sarah or Subway from 1986/7. Would love to be told what it is that gives them their exalted status.

Just got the new S/T comp on vinyl and it is beautiful. Highly recommended!

Can someone explain to me the awe indiepop kids hold for this band?

it sounded to me like a second-rate band on Sarah or Subway from 1986/7.

Even at the time I was never that fond of them. FWIW, lead singer was *extremely* well connected...co-founder of chickfactor, etc. That probably counted for a lot in certain circles.

i'm listening to complete recordings now, and -- unsuccessfully, thus far -- trying to hear what others hear in them.

oh good, a black tambourine backlash

i wasn't there for the buildup, so i don't feel like i can contribute to a "backlash."

i gave up. will try again later. put on the latest califone, instead.

i like the guitars
a few of the songs are really good
the chorus of "for ex lovers" is pretty unfuckwithable.
love the feedback drenched cover of "can't explain".
love when the drummer nails the toms and the crash
i'm way down w/2nd rate sarah or subway bands
this contemporary band pains of being pure at heart does a pretty good black tamourine rip, iirc

this isn't some complex mind puzzle

^was 100% with you til the last point

lol yeah i said "iirc", so that may change if i get around to hearing them again
they shouldn't have messed with the original cover and turned it into a poor man's rags to rufus

shoulda just reprised the cover of either of the 45s imo

this contemporary band pains of being pure at heart does a pretty good black tamourine rip, iirc

i like TPOBPAH. from what i've heard so far, their songs have better hooks and melodies than BT.

again, to be fair, maybe i haven't given BT enough of a chance.

You might like The Ropers better, speaking of Slumberland classics RIYL Pains of Being Pure at Heart.

I still say that TPOBPAH would do well to cover Crash as soon as possible. Seems like a perfect match. Could see them doing really great with "I Feel Fine."

FWIW, lead singer was *extremely* well connected...co-founder of chickfactor, etc. That probably counted for a lot in certain circles.

Certainly won me over.

lool

fwiw i think the fact it was on slumberland was probably more important at the time of the first 45. that's why i picked it up.

I didn't get into them til the first reissue came out, but I got that because it was on Slumberland, I was way into Slumberland around the late 90's, there seemed to be fuck all interesting going on in indie music at the time (probably was I just wasn't aware of it) so I was digging further into late 80s/early 90s C86/shoegaze/indiepop stuff (as well as old punk/HC/pigfuck/noise).

Thats exactly what I've been digging into now! For over a year just getting as much as I can.

some alt mixes from their demo tape

http://blacktambourine.bandcamp.com/

mega classic, I feel like a lot of the hip 2k bands owe a lot to black tambourine. their cover of suicide's dream baby dream is the fckn bomb, totally out of this world, some of the dreamiest pop I have ever heard!

Genuinely very excited to see these play. Also, this: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/817307185/black-tambourine-reunion-shows-new-ep

more discussion of 'em here I think:

Chickfactor 2012: For the Love of Pop Festival

I didn't follow Pam Berry after Black Tambourine and I've just discovered that she's since been highly prolific, in many bands. What's the best of these recordings?

The Shapiros album (pam + bart from cat's miaow) is good.

http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0002/536/MI0002536858.jpg

her songs with the relict are pretty great!

pam's still very active in london indie scene - in the last 6 months i've probably seen her sing with 6 different bands (withered hand, peter astor, citizen helene, darren hayman... and doing her bond cover at the union chapel as part of the wiaiwya / papernut cambridge / daylight music thing *1). and is friends with everyone.

so i emailed her 8)

"I wonder if anybody who was really into black tambourine would like any of the less fuzzed-out bands? the shapiros maybe, glo-worm prob not, pines prob not. bel etage maybe, bart + friends maybe, lots of reverb on those. withered hand and pete astor maybe through the medium of backing vox. who can say? I guess it depends on what they liked about black tambourine..."

ha ha.

there are handy glo-worm, shapiros and castaway stones compilations so starting with those would be easiest. ("when i was howard hughes" a personal favourite on the shapiros comp)

the pines thing that stevie posted also appears to be available for streaming (ie spotify) as do the two eps (but not my live favourite of theirs, 'but i'm different now'). contains bonus ilxor...

she's on the latest withered hand lp (New Gods) but low in the mix. it's worth a listen regardless. not sure she's made it onto a peter astor release yet but did do the recent bcc session for lard.

of the oddments i would recommend the clientele single *2 and the snowdrops thing she did with keith blueboy *3. the recent bel etage single (also on wiaiwya *4) is her and lupe from amor de dias writing and playing (and doing the art for)

*1 https://wiaiwya.bandcamp.com/track/underneath-the-mango-tree
*2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_KF6GD-yHc
*3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiioIeikbdQ
*4 https://wiaiwya.bandcamp.com/album/quiet-town-lonesome-heartache-constellation

Koogs - that was super-helpful! I'm working my way through her projects right now, a great weekend project.

I knew Pam when she lived in the DC/Maryland area. I should catch up on her more recent projects too.

So after going through everything I could find, I think The Pines is the best showcase for Pam's beautiful voice.

Oh, so long ago.

Occasionally I get a twinge of panic that all that Pines stuff is backed-up on CD-Rs in a proprietary format. One day (one weekend, one month), I will load those projects back on the ageing Akai HDD and then write everything back out as WAVs. I'll lose all the mix/FX data, but at least I can preserve the recordings. And then, when I'm about 60, I'll remix it all ;)

Pam was out singing last Friday, BVs for citizen Helene. Her and Helene's and Emma's voices together are a joy. Unfortunately the place was 90% full of people not there for the band.

Watch those CDRs, mike. Bit rot...

In my research I found this nifty little homemade compilation:

The Essential Pam Berry
01. Black Tambourine :: Throw Aggi Off The Bridge
02. The Shapiros :: Cry For A Shadow
03. Belmondo :: Sleepwatch
04. The Pines :: Milk Bar
05. Glo-Worm :: Wishing Well
06. Bright Coloured Lights :: Open Your Eyes
07. The Castaway Stones :: Sunday Came And Went
08. The Pines :: Aurora (The Cat's Miaow cover)
09. The Shapiros :: Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? (Shirelles cover)
10. Glo-Worm :: Downtown (Petula Clark cover)
11. Belmondo :: We'll Never Get To Paris Now
12. Black Tambourine :: By Tomorrow