desertedvillage
Well-Known Member
Charlambides & Agitated Radio Pilot
Tuesday July 11th
Galway: Richardsons (With CUBS*)
Wednesday July 12th
Ballymahon: The Bog Lane Theatre (with Veronica Moran)
8pm 7euro
Thursday July 13th
Dublin: The Boom Boom Room (with Papercut)
9pm 10 Euros
*Continuity UBS- Galway Chapter.
Charalambides video interview
Charalambides Bio
To say that the words "unique" and "singular" are over-used in describing music is to state the obvious. To apply these words to the sounds created by the various duo/trio configurations of the Texas group Charalambides over the last decade plus would be understatement. To be sure there are numerous antecedents to their music; to deny this of any artist's work would be akin to saying that they are deaf. But they have surely broken new ground in the primitive/folk/mystic/improv/psych valley in which they toil. As Marcus Boon wrote in The Wire; "...here is a truly 21st century experimental ethnic music that explores quietness and stasis... in the same way that musicians in the second half of the 20th century discovered amplification, noise and speed."
Originally a duo comprised of Tom Carter (who had been playing guitar in the Houston grunt-psych band The Mike Gunn) and Christina Carter, Charalambides released a cassette called Our Bed Is Green on their own Wholly Other label in 1992 (it was released on CD three years later). The two Carters had a firm grasp on the haunting nature of American blues and country and a mastery of tape manipulation to add to Tom Carter's expansive guitar skills. A full length album called Union was released by the Siltbreeze label and the duo became a trio with the addition of guitarist Jason Bill. The band toured the U.S., continuing to release a series of albums that accreted drones, withering guitar psych-outs, country-blues structure and Christina Carter's gorgeous singing.
Jason Bill left the band in 1996 (and now has an amazing duo of his own called Migrantes) and Tom and Christina Carter moved from Houston to Austin, TX. Having appeared on the landmark compilation Harmony of The Spheres in 1996 alongside Bardo Pond, Jessamine, Roy Montgomery, Flying Saucer Attack and Loren Mazzacane Connors, Charalambides ranked in an elite group of musicians that spanned continents. The duo focussed on the Wholly Other imprint; releasing music from Ash Castles on Ghost Coast, Scorces, Tom and Christina's solo recordings and a series of Charalambides CDRs. These limited edition releases illustrated the band's working processes; many were recorded live to tape. The band also released a number of titles on small labels. Bill Meyer described the band's more recent aesthetic in a May 2002 issue of The Chicago Reader:
Joy Shapes is the first studio album recorded by Charalambides in a long time. The main tracks were recorded in June 2003, with subsequent overdubs, mixing and mastering done throughout the summer and early fall of 2003 including one night of vocals recording done in what Tom Carter calls a "lost evening." It is scheduled for release in May, 2004. Further reissues of Charalambides albums are now in the planning stages.
They're touring as a duo again this time:
Christina Carter: electric guitar, voice, bells
Tom Carter: electric guitar, lap steel guitar, acoustic guitar
Tuesday July 11th
Galway: Richardsons (With CUBS*)
Wednesday July 12th
Ballymahon: The Bog Lane Theatre (with Veronica Moran)
8pm 7euro
Thursday July 13th
Dublin: The Boom Boom Room (with Papercut)
9pm 10 Euros
*Continuity UBS- Galway Chapter.
Charalambides video interview
Charalambides Bio
To say that the words "unique" and "singular" are over-used in describing music is to state the obvious. To apply these words to the sounds created by the various duo/trio configurations of the Texas group Charalambides over the last decade plus would be understatement. To be sure there are numerous antecedents to their music; to deny this of any artist's work would be akin to saying that they are deaf. But they have surely broken new ground in the primitive/folk/mystic/improv/psych valley in which they toil. As Marcus Boon wrote in The Wire; "...here is a truly 21st century experimental ethnic music that explores quietness and stasis... in the same way that musicians in the second half of the 20th century discovered amplification, noise and speed."
Originally a duo comprised of Tom Carter (who had been playing guitar in the Houston grunt-psych band The Mike Gunn) and Christina Carter, Charalambides released a cassette called Our Bed Is Green on their own Wholly Other label in 1992 (it was released on CD three years later). The two Carters had a firm grasp on the haunting nature of American blues and country and a mastery of tape manipulation to add to Tom Carter's expansive guitar skills. A full length album called Union was released by the Siltbreeze label and the duo became a trio with the addition of guitarist Jason Bill. The band toured the U.S., continuing to release a series of albums that accreted drones, withering guitar psych-outs, country-blues structure and Christina Carter's gorgeous singing.
Jason Bill left the band in 1996 (and now has an amazing duo of his own called Migrantes) and Tom and Christina Carter moved from Houston to Austin, TX. Having appeared on the landmark compilation Harmony of The Spheres in 1996 alongside Bardo Pond, Jessamine, Roy Montgomery, Flying Saucer Attack and Loren Mazzacane Connors, Charalambides ranked in an elite group of musicians that spanned continents. The duo focussed on the Wholly Other imprint; releasing music from Ash Castles on Ghost Coast, Scorces, Tom and Christina's solo recordings and a series of Charalambides CDRs. These limited edition releases illustrated the band's working processes; many were recorded live to tape. The band also released a number of titles on small labels. Bill Meyer described the band's more recent aesthetic in a May 2002 issue of The Chicago Reader:
- "They stripped away layers of instruments, exposing their sound-for-sound's sake keyboard work and increasingly accomplished fingerpicking. A series of recent CDRs in Wholly Other documents an abandonment of compositions in favor of lengthy, textured improvisations; Christina, who's always been willing to let loose a wail when words fail her, has discarded lyrics altogether."
Joy Shapes is the first studio album recorded by Charalambides in a long time. The main tracks were recorded in June 2003, with subsequent overdubs, mixing and mastering done throughout the summer and early fall of 2003 including one night of vocals recording done in what Tom Carter calls a "lost evening." It is scheduled for release in May, 2004. Further reissues of Charalambides albums are now in the planning stages.
They're touring as a duo again this time:
Christina Carter: electric guitar, voice, bells
Tom Carter: electric guitar, lap steel guitar, acoustic guitar
