Browse by Label: TOMLAB (GERMANY)

Artist:	VA
Title:	For Friends
Label:	TOMLAB (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$9.00
Catalog #:	TOM 006CD

Mass-market version of what was previously a limited CDR Christmas giveaway CD. "On For Friends, Harald is playing his horn for a very melancholic intro, Köhn pays his guitar to the first drum computer on earth that always was and always will be his best friend, Zammuto makes everything so quiet that you can hear the atmosphere's breathing with the last broken melodies that may exist, Kristian Peters is looking for resonance in the depth of his loops, and Blumm makes a break to his organ lessons for the first breakfast in the new century, Jon Sheffield goes to picnic, and Alejandra & Underwood are looking for presents on their hard disc with cryptic codes." Artists include: Harald Sack Ziegler, Köhn, Zammuto, Kristian Peters, Sack & Blumm, Jon Sheffield, Alejandra & Underwood. Limited stock.

Artist:	DE BLONDE, JUERGEN
Title:	Hidden Rabbit
Label:	TOMLAB (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TOM 010CD

"JÜrgen De Blonde is known as the man behind the project Köhn, an electronica-bedroom-project with two CD releases on the belgian (K-RAA-K)3 label, filled with a lot of weird skippings and bleeps. On Hidden Rabbit he is experimenting with beats and melodies like he is born to do nothing other than that. Wonderful guitars and vocals break down the barriers between hi-tech-electronica and songs. His sound library shows fidelity to the Köhn project but the vocals and guitars bring more familiar facets into the sound spectrum and if you listen closely, you'll discover real pop music."

Artist:	NIOBE
Title:	White Hats
Label:	TOMLAB (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	TOM 072CD

"With White Hats Niobe has recorded her most accessible album since Tse Tse and Voodooluba. White Hats projects memories from a vacation of skiing in the Swiss Alps sometime in the '50s, it bears the easiness, the miracles and mysteries of nature in the mountains and carries as much romanticism as today's modern world can allow. Niobe has shaped White Hats with a great variety of sound colorings and associations that illustrate her amazing ease of travelling through the last 8 decades of songwriting and chanson highlights. Niobe's songs are starting to breathe through the uniqueness of her voice that transmits all her emotional variety we already had discovered by surprise in her early cut-up work on her debut album Radioersatz (even through the thickest walls of sound). On White Hats, Niobe's passionate voice wanders between many worlds, marching through picturesque landscapes, and releasing its amazing powers over crystalline guitars. She uses the feelings from the sight of the red and blue skies of a day in the mountains as determining colors in her music. There is a red disturbing side and a blue soothing side to Niobe's voice and both intertwined they can guide the lost folks out of the sudden darkness in the mountains into the secure refuge. Very different from her previous albums, the new songs are always very optimistic. The experience she gained from the vocal contributions to the house tracks for Mouse on Mars' last record Radical Connector can be clearly discerned on this record."

Artist:	HEY WILLPOWER
Title:	P.D.A.
Label:	TOMLAB (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	TOM 081CD

"Which band can claim to take over the dancefloor with a twist of R'n'B, radio-pop and electronica? Who has the secret recipe for a sound that equally stimulates teenagers and people in their 30s? Who sounds as sexy as Justin Timberlake and The Soft Pink Truth combined? And who was the cover star of the San Francisco Guardian in May 2005 with the headline 'dance, punk, dance'? Hey Willpower is one of the hottest acts in the R'n'B underground emerging from the U.S."

Artist:	BLOW, THE
Title:	Parentheses
Label:	TOMLAB (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$6.00
Catalog #:	TOM 083EP

"The Blow's smash hit from Paper Television is finally available on an attractive 7" with a fine selection of remixes from some talented friends. Lille, France-based trio, Dat Politics, have taken the mellow, spring-like love song on a bouncy rollercoaster ride. A hyperactive beat mashup has replaced the original beat, while keeping singer Khaela Maricich's sweet voice safely belted through the loops. London's new premiere resident, DJ Rory Phillips is one of the heroes of The End's Trash (now Durr) Club fame. Fresh off of remixes for Franz Ferdinand and Les Georges Leningrad, Phillips has given 'Parenthesis' a more sensitive treatment, transforming the rhythm into a static, repetitive, but cool house beat. Rounding out this single is the previously-unreleased 'Get Around,' a frantic, dynamic gem from the Paper Television sessions that you shouldn't miss!"

Artist:	KHAN
Title:	Who Never Rests
Label:	TOMLAB (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	TOM 096CD

"With his previous albums on Matador, the journey was just starting. With 1-900 GET-KHAN, Khan launched the persona of a male hustler, selling himself to the audience by performing in a pair of underpants with 'Khan' stitched on the ass. It certainly got the party started! Then with No Comprendo, Khan produced a living homage to the artists that inspired him, collaborating with Diamanda Galas, Andre Williams, Kid Congo Powers, Brigitte Fontaine, Julee Cruise, And Stereo Total's Francoise Cactus. Now the party isn't really over... it's just mutated into a celebration of Khan. 'Honey, it's been a journey to the moon and back...' he sings on 'Favor After Favor,' and that summarizes Who Never Rests pretty well. Now he's quite literally found his voice. Six years ago, he had other people sing his songs and now it's him -- solo. Unashamed. Upfront. Honest. All or nothing. Khan times 20!"

Artist:	DOG DAY
Title:	Night Group
Label:	TOMLAB (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	TOM 098CD

"In many ways a pop group's success hinges on their ability to write memorable songs. Dog Day's Night Group not only delivers in this sense, but also shows how simple tunes can convey meaning, beauty, and honesty. From the playful intro 'Lydia,' named after keyboardist Crystal Thili and drummer KC Spidle's fanatical cat, to the sorrowful 'Bright Light,' a song about fate and last chances, the album moves through a broad range of content and mood. In the tradition of great pop bands, Dog Day keeps it simple on Night Group. They are not a band who distracts by over-indulging or showing off. The beats pound straight through, the keyboard plays one well-chosen note at a time, the guitars and bass follow suit. But unlike the countless bands toting incompetence as a selling point, Dog Day demonstrates mastery by playing tight and aggressive, taunting us at times with their understated abilities on tracks like 'Vow,' which plays with timing, starts, stops, and meanders. This album consistently makes the point that minimalism can be a compositional choice, not a foregone conclusion."

Artist:	VON SPAR
Title:	Von Spar
Label:	TOMLAB (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	TOM 099CD

"When Von Spar made their critically acclaimed entrance in the pop circuit in 2003 (e.g. cover story in Spex Magazine) they were regarded as the German answer to the post-punk/no-wave-renaissance. But their debut was more a clever parody about eighties-style hipster-bands. In the meantime the former trio grew to a five-piece band, which now (three years later and wiser) returns with an uncompromising album that gets ahead of all expectations. It will surprise their audience and critics and maybe leave them confused at first. Detached from the usual style issues Von Spar have exorcised the zeitgeist and overtaken the discourse. There is no scheme. Anything goes."

Artist:	MISHA
Title:	Teardrop Sweetheart
Label:	TOMLAB (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	TOM 102CD

"Misha are Ashley Yao and John Chao. The two have crossed paths since their childhood days in Taipei, but each time, circumstances caused them to move, wandering the world (here in Hong Kong, there in Paris) until they met again after college in New York. Two years after their debut on the highly respected Alphabet-Singles-Series on Tomlab, the Asian/American duo now present their first longplayer Teardrop Sweetheart, a cycle of happy/sad love songs with a new take on an old pleasure: the classic pop album. Walking the line between traditional songwriting and modern music making, settings of grandeur and intimate doubts, Ash and John make little big things, imagining a dimestore Joseph Cornell, and Buster Keaton with holes in his shoes."

Artist:	NUMBERS
Title:	Tomlab Alphabet Singles Series - W
Label:	TOMLAB (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$6.00
Catalog #:	TOM 106EP

"Numbers emerges from the dusk of last year's full-length, Now You Are This, with a pair of rollicking jams that refuse to let the summer set from our hearts and minds. 'Is That Really True?' takes on the heavy question of real knowledge with a fuzz bass and drone organ before turning to an irresistible hum-along chorus. And prevailing question remains: 'What can we know?' On the flip, the Tommy James and the Shondells classic 'Crimson and Clover' experiences a fuzz rock reawakening shot through by pointedly triumphant guitars and dirty synth. All builds to an end with a brilliant reenactment of the tremolo chant 'Crimson and Clover - over and over...' Summer may go, but it won't be gone forever." Limited to 500 copies.

Artist:	NO KIDS
Title:	Come Into My House
Label:	TOMLAB (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	TOM 108CD

"Come Into My House is the first release by Vancouver, Canada trio No Kids, which is comprised of three-quarters of the critically revered pop band P:ANO. Come Into My House achieves an unexpected cohesiveness despite the wide range of musical styles over its 12 tracks. Golden era Hollywood musicals, Jam & Lewis-inspired production techniques, the icy displacement of contemporary R'n'B, and the breadth of Arthur Russell, disco, pop, and avant garde compositional work are referenced and married together by novelistic narrative strains, a lush instrumental palette, and a cinematic atmosphere."

Artist:	MUNCH MUNCH
Title:	Wedding
Label:	TOMLAB (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$6.00
Catalog #:	TOM 109EP

"The A-side, 'Wedding' defines Munch Munch's sound. With prominent synth similar to Of Montreal, and the distinct vocals of Klaxons, this track is a piece of raucous DIY charm. Complex drums and synth move in to a jingle pop ditty with 'Endolphins.' Like Architecture In Helsinki, Munch Munch are able to blend funk elements into the proceedings, making this track easy for every stripe of listener to enjoy. It is as hypnotic as Steve Reich-esque patterns play counterpoint to old school Neptunes style breakdowns. The end to this delectable slice of musical initiative is 'Wet Nightmare' -- the shortest track on the single, but by no means the least noteworthy. Like a Christmas song on speed, it grabs your attention and holds you tight, ending in a crescendo of frantic gusto. Recording frantic pop explosions in their bedrooms, they mix abstract lyrics, unpredictable structures, and ecstatic playfulness into a unique sound that appears to be the start of a fruitful career."

Artist:	THEE OH SEES
Title:	The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending A Night In
Label:	TOMLAB (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	TOM 117CD

"Somewhere beyond nostalgia, beyond the garage, somewhere beyond the fireside song and supposed goo-rock, you will find the latest incarnation of Thee Oh Sees, now a quartet composed of John Dwyer (OCS, Coachwhips, Pink & Brown), Brigid Dawson, Petey Dammit! and Mike Shoun. The prolific John Dwyer contends again for best album of his career with The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending A Night In. Following 2007's understated and unjustly ignored Sucks Blood, The Master's Bedroom... weaves Dwyer's signature AM radio howl with the catchiest of driving tunes, Dawson's gorgeous harmonies, heightened fidelity, thick spring-reverbed bombast, mighty drums (at times in pairs), and an undeniable pull."

Artist:	THEE OH SEES
Title:	The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending A Night In
Label:	TOMLAB (GERMANY)
Format:	LP
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	TOM 117LP

LP version. "Somewhere beyond nostalgia, beyond the garage, somewhere beyond the fireside song and supposed goo-rock, you will find the latest incarnation of Thee Oh Sees, now a quartet composed of John Dwyer (OCS, Coachwhips, Pink & Brown), Brigid Dawson, Petey Dammit! and Mike Shoun. The prolific John Dwyer contends again for best album of his career with The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending A Night In. Following 2007's understated and unjustly ignored Sucks Blood, The Master's Bedroom... weaves Dwyer's signature AM radio howl with the catchiest of driving tunes, Dawson's gorgeous harmonies, heightened fidelity, thick spring-reverbed bombast, mighty drums (at times in pairs), and an undeniable pull."

Artist:	THEE OH SEES
Title:	Sucks Blood
Label:	TOMLAB (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	TOM 118CD

"Prior to entering The Master's Bedroom earlier this year, San Francisco's Thee Oh Sees originally self-released the more subdued Sucks Blood in early 2007 to fund the latter's recording. Steeped in the natural hues of analog and reverb, Sucks Blood is a subtle gem of irresistible pop and basement psychedelia. Immediate classics include the ghostly saw-tinged title track and the charming lumber of the harmonious 'Ship.' Sucks Blood is quite simply yet another testament to the total genius of John Dwyer for those who have yet to heed."

Artist:	THEE OH SEES
Title:	Thee Hounds Of Foggy Notion
Label:	TOMLAB (GERMANY)
Format:	CD/DVD
Price:	$19.00
Catalog #:	TOM 119CD

"Thee Hounds Of Foggy Notion is a brilliant live performance collaboration between Thee Oh Sees and video director Brian Lee Hughes. The project resulted in a double-disc DVD/CD set featuring live performances filmed and recorded, not on stages, but at a variety of hauntingly scenic sites in and around San Francisco. The film is also studded with dozens of stories, jokes and whatnots filmed during their four-day filming adventure. The resulting recordings are included on the audio CD. The results are a rare and necessary masterpiece. Step into the lush dark charm of Thee Oh Sees."

Artist:	PARENTHETICAL GIRLS
Title:	Entanglements
Label:	TOMLAB (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	TOM 120CD

"Portland, Oregon's Parenthetical Girls have traded in their small-screen sincerity for a bold and blustering technicolor -- a lush, longing and lusty celluloid schmaltz they call Entanglements. An orchestral song-cycle of grand sonic ambition, Entanglements is an eleven-song, linear narrative of ascendancy, adolescent sexuality, quantum mechanics, consent and other moral ambiguities! Borrowing string-swept sentimentality from the likes of Van Dyke Parks, Scott Walker, Jack Nitzsche, and Burt Bacharach, Entanglements draws colorful lines across the expanse between these orchestral pop antiquities and the more formidable strains of modern classical composers -- its hues distantly reminiscent of names like Krzystof Penderecki, Philip Glass, and Gavin Bryars."

Artist:	CASIOTONE FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE
Title:	Town Topic EP
Label:	TOMLAB (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$8.50
Catalog #:	TOM 122CD

"The Town Topic EP is the soundtrack to video artist and photographer Laurel Nakadate's debut feature film, Stay The Same Never Change. Laurel commissioned Casiotone For The Painfully Alone's Owen Ashworth to provide all of the music for Stay The Same Never Change, right down to the character's ring tones. The Town Topic EP consists of thirteen short instrumental pieces, book-ended by two vocal tracks that were recorded specifically for the film. This EP also collects tracks from two limited, vinyl-only EPs (the Town Topic 7", released by OIB Records in Brighton, England, and STSNC Instrumentals 7", released by People In A Position To Know Recordings, Inc. in Olympia, WA), plus one bonus track, the previously unreleased 'Lesley Gore on the Tami Show (instrumental).'"

Artist:	FLIM
Title:	Given You Nothing
Label:	TOMLAB (GERMANY)
Format:	LP
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	TOM 018LP

LP version. "The man behind Flim is Enrico Wuttke, a new artist from Dresden, Germany who has been working all quietly over the past years in his home recording studio to develop his unique sound. His debut CD Given you nothing surprised us very much because it is somehow pointing back to the very first Tomlab release Visor -- both with evident references to Talk Talk's Laughing Stock album. Given you nothing is a very playful, warm and acoustic sounding release, far away from the bespoken Visor CD and hard to compare to anything around. It maybe transports feelings that are close to the wonderful Wechsel Garland release on Morr Music but sound wise it is much more centered on organ and piano as well as guitar sounds that sometimes remind us of Fridge."

Artist:	TORAL, RAFAEL
Title:	Early Works
Label:	TOMLAB (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TOM 019CD

"Having completed Violence of Discovery and Calm of Acceptance, I found myself drawing a continuous line going back in time some 15 years. These early pieces are at the other end of that line. At the time of recording them, I was far from dreaming I would ever release records at all. I found them of little value then, but under the light of all my following works, from 'Sound Mind Sound Body' through 'Wave Field' and 'Cyclorama Lift' to 'Violence of Discovery and Calm of Acceptance', they stand out as having paved the way for all this music." --Rafael Toral, December 2001

Artist:	CASIOTONE FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE
Title:	Answering Machine Music
Label:	TOMLAB (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TOM 021CD

"CFTPA is songs made up, sung and played by Owen Ashworth. His first release on Tomlab under the title Pocket Symphonies for Lonesome Subway Cars has gained a lot of attention in the alternative press with an endless list of references ranging from Moldy Peaches, Mountain Goats, Smog, Silver Jews, Young Marble Giants to Will Oldham. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone's self released debut album, Answering Machine Music that has been hard to find previously is now available in an expanded version. A series of musical answering machine messages disguised as pop songs. Recorded in 1999 on 4-tracks, answering machines, and boom boxes and played entirely on swap meet and thrift store bought miniature keyboards, it just may be the best battery-powered pop record you've ever heard."

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Artist:	ERASE ERRATA
Title:	Alphabet Series - U
Label:	TOMLAB (GERMANY)
Format:	7"
Price:	$6.00
Catalog #:	TOM 103EP