Trans Am
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Washington, D.C. (1990 – present)
Trans Am are loosely associated with the mid-’90s post-rock scene centered around Tortoise, UI, Labradford, Windy & Carl, etc., and the Thrill Jockey, Kranky, UHF and Southern labels, among others. Although a vast distance separates Trans Am’s albums, all of them are concerned with an extreme, somewhat humorous reorientation of the clichés and conventions of rock music, primarily through either technical (exaggerated displays of skill) or instrumental (electronics, effects) deviation.
The group formed in 1990 in Washington, D.C., though they didn’t begin seriously recording until after its members finished college in 1995. The members of the band are: Philip Manley (guitar, bass, keyboard, voice), Nathan Means (bass, keys, voice), and Sebastian Thomson (drums, guitar, bass, keys, voice). Their self-titled debut, on the Chicago-based Thrill Jockey label, was recorded after just a few rehearsals back together, and contained instrumental, largely improvised versions of simple rock-oriented figures based loosely on ’70s and ’80s popular and progressive bands such as Boston, Bachman-Turner Overdrive and Yes. Produced by Tortoise’s John McEntire at Chicago’s Idful Studios, the album was instantly lauded as an example of “post-rock”, in turn leading to a short live tour as Tortoise’s opening act.
The group returned in the fall of 1996 with a self-titled EP of somewhat retro electro-funk experiments (released by Happy Go Lucky) that brought to the fore an affection for electronics previously reserved either for between-time studio distraction or the brief interludes separating the meatier segments of their debut.
The group formed in 1990 in Washington, D.C., though they didn’t begin seriously recording until after its members finished college in 1995. The members of the band are: Philip Manley (guitar, bass, keyboard, voice), Nathan Means (bass, keys, voice), and Sebastian Thomson (drums, guitar, bass, keys, voice). Their self-titled debut, on the Chicago-based Thrill Jockey label, was recorded after just a few rehearsals back together, and contained instrumental, largely improvised versions of simple rock-oriented figures based loosely on ’70s and ’80s popular and progressive bands such as Boston, Bachman-Turner Overdrive and Yes. Produced by Tortoise’s John McEntire at Chicago’s Idful Studios, the album was instantly lauded as an example of “post-rock”, in turn leading to a short live tour as Tortoise’s opening act.
The group returned in the fall of 1996 with a self-titled EP of somewhat retro electro-funk experiments (released by Happy Go Lucky) that brought to the fore an affection for electronics previously reserved either for between-time studio distraction or the brief interludes separating the meatier segments of their debut.
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Top Albums
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Futureworld
Trans Am
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Red Line
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Sex Change
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Surrender to the Night
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Shoutbox
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jcotteri wrote:
hello
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toztizokzndz wrote:
you might want to listen to 'a spectrum of infinite scale' by 'man or astroman?' though...
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toztizokzndz wrote:
surrender to the night and the self titled has some!
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Jouhou wrote:
"the campaign" is definitely my favorite song, anyone know any albums that have jams like that? there are a few songs like it on the surveillance. i haven't went through all of the albums yet.
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toztizokzndz wrote:
for me it's like: the surveillance > red line > surrender to the night > futureworld > trans am > liberation > thing > sex change > TA, how about you?
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LiveBootlegs wrote:
Trans Am - Live @ Bottom Of The Hill, San Francisco, USA, 17-09-2000 http://livebootlegconcert.blogspot.com/
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iamholgerczukay wrote:
Why did it take me so long to get into these guys. Wow.
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mrgypsum wrote:
i saw them last wednesday in cambridge mass, they were great live, i think when you listen to the albums you are like, yeah ok now let me here this played live, but they are masters at playing their equipment whether it be a guitar, bass or roland.
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Deadzones wrote:
Just saw them in Montreal, guitarist seemed a bit tired but it was a great show, drummer is down to earth and friendly, took time to speak to people at the merch table. Go see them live its worth it!
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mgpixlab wrote:
Positive People (TA) is just perfect.
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Ithil_pl wrote:
They are more post-rock than 99,9% of nowadays' so called post-rock bands, lol.
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KNIFE_ME_IN wrote:
4,738 Regrets is great
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no_such_thing wrote:
this is what post-rock sounded like in the mid 90's, get over it.
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Evilninja1337 wrote:
absolutely NOT post-rock how the fuck is that even in the top 5??? Ratatat might be more post-rock than Trans Am...jesus
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pinkpressthreat wrote:
a force of nature,these guys
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rodanside wrote:
It was probably supposed to be a prank that Trans Am themselves orchestrated to pull on us. "Hey, how many losers can we get to call us 'post-rock'? I mean really."
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floslow wrote:
How on earth can you tag this band post-rock ?
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ffg wrote:
Shwenk -- it makes sense when you realize that Trans Am was formed in an alternate universe where the two biggest bands were Van Halen and Kraftwerk.
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IHeartNoise wrote:
Show review > http://ihrtn.com/2010/04/20/show-review-04-19-10-trans-am-wjonas-reinhardt-nice-nice-at-middle-east/
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peibol_82 wrote:
Por qué actuan grupos como este cerca de tu ciudad y no puedes ir a verlos?
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Recent Activity
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poisondoor666, c-bagg, EonViolet and 7 other people added Trans Am to their libraries. yesterday afternoon
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why___not tagged Trans Am with post-rock, indie and instrumental. 11 days ago
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ruimatias, vulpine1972, paultergeist77 and 16 other people added Trans Am to their libraries. last month
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RadialRecords and 2 other people added Trans Am to their libraries. last month
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RadialRecords tagged Trans Am with instrumental, electronic, experimental and one other tag. last month
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bossmoss wrote about Trans Am in Konserter 2011. December 2011
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Kupchinsky, endeeniberiet, LiveBootlegs and 3 other people added Trans Am to their libraries. December 2011
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Sah2112, moxi-mox, jstendhal and 4 other people added Trans Am to their libraries. December 2011
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Sah2112 tagged Trans Am with indie and experimental. December 2011
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Rock-A-Rolla wrote about Trans Am in Rock-A-Rolla back issues: #25. December 2011
Related Journals
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Konserter 2011
by bossmoss |
29 Dec 2011
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Rock-A-Rolla back issues: #25
by Rock-A-Rolla |
8 Dec 2011
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