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Join Us
''Join Us'' is the fifteenth studio album from the rock band They Might Be Giants, released on July 19, 2011. It is the band's first adult album in four years since '' The Else'' in 2007. Following the success of their 2009 children's album, ''Here Comes Science'', the band returned to their adult audience with ''Join Us'', an eclectic collection of 18 songs. In an interview with '' The A.V. Club'', Flansburgh commented, "We probably recorded 30 songs for this album, and the songs that are on album are basically the last 15 or so. There were so many strange misfires at the beginning, just the most mutant songs." Some of the songs that were left off ''Join Us'' were later completed and released on the rarities compilation '' Album Raises New And Troubling Questions''. Background Recording began in March 2009, according to a July 2009 interview with Billboard, wherein John Flansburgh also mentioned that eight songs had already been recorded. An incomplete track listing composed of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants (often abbreviated as TMBG) is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as a duo, often accompanied by a drum machine. In the early 1990s, TMBG expanded to include a backing band. The duo has been credited as vital in the creation and growth of the prolific DIY music scene in Brooklyn in the mid-1980s; the duo's current backing band consists of Marty Beller, Dan Miller (guitarist), Dan Miller and Danny Weinkauf. The group have been noted for their unique style of alternative music, typically using surreal, humorous lyrics, experimental styles and unconventional instruments in their songs. Over their career, they have found success on the Modern Rock Tracks, modern rock and Campus radio, college radio charts. They have also found success in children's music with several educational albums, and in theme music for television programs and films. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Can't Keep Johnny Down
"Can't Keep Johnny Down" is a song by American alternative rock band They Might Be Giants. The song was released as a promotional single from the band's 2011 album, ''Join Us''."Can't Keep Johnny Down" (album notes). Idlewild Recordings. 2011. Like all the artwork surrounding the ''Join Us'' album, the cover art and labels for the disc were designed by the Office of Paul Sahre. Composition "Can't Keep Johnny Down" was written by John Linnell. Linnell claims that the song is not a biographical song about himself or fellow band member John Flansburgh, though the character's name was selected intentionally, in order to create a contrast between his personality and that of the two Johns. John Flansburgh describes the song as "...a song of defiance. It's an incredibly catchy song. That's a very nice, bittersweet concoction of a very bitchy lyric with an incredibly sunny arrangement. It's sort of Britpop." He adds that he found the song to be a very strong track. Flansburgh also said, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Danny Weinkauf
Danny Weinkauf (born 4 December 1963) is a Grammy-winning New York-based musician and composer. He has been the longtime bassist for They Might Be Giants (TMBG). He has recorded and toured with the band since the late 1990s. Weinkauf had previously performed in a band called Lincoln along with TMBG's guitarist Dan Miller and drummer Gonzalo Martinez De La Cotera. He has written four songs for TMBG, all for their children's albums. Weinkauf wrote and sang "Where Do They Make Balloons?" on the children's album '' No!'', "Number Two" from '' Here Come The 123s'', "I Am a Paleontologist" from ''Here Comes Science'', and "Elephants" from '' Why?'' He also played bass alongside bandmate John Flansburgh for his solo project Mono Puff, in addition to providing additional bass on John Linnell's ''State Songs'' album. In 2014 Weinkauf began releasing albums for children and families as "Danny Weinkauf". That year he released "No School Today" followed by "Red Pants Band" (2016), "Totall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dan Miller (guitarist)
Dan Miller (born October 3, 1967) is an American musician and songwriter. He has toured and recorded with the Brooklyn-based alternative rock band They Might Be Giants since late 1998. Generally, Miller plays guitars for the band. Prior to joining TMBG, he performed with the groups Edith O and Lincoln. Having left Lincoln for personal reasons in 1998, he was contacted by John Flansburgh, who offered him a spot as lead guitarist for They Might Be Giants' Fall 1998 tour. He has also toured with John Flansburgh as Mono Puff's guitarist in the late 1990s, and played on bandmate John Linnell's ''State Songs'' tour. Miller is known to sing backup and some lead during live performances of songs. He also occasionally plays keyboards when Linnell is playing accordion or woodwinds. Miller co-wrote the song "Infinity" with Robert Sharenow on They Might Be Giants' second children's album, '' Here Come the 123s''. In addition to playing with TMBG, Miller and drummer Marty Beller had their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strings against frets with the fingers of the opposite hand. A plectrum or individual finger picks may also be used to strike the strings. The sound of the guitar is projected either acoustically, by means of a resonant chamber on the instrument, or amplified by an electronic pickup and an amplifier. The guitar is classified as a chordophone – meaning the sound is produced by a vibrating string stretched between two fixed points. Historically, a guitar was constructed from wood with its strings made of catgut. Steel guitar strings were introduced near the end of the nineteenth century in the United States; nylon strings came in the 1940s. The guitar's ancestors include the gittern, the vihuela, the four- course Renaissance guitar, and the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Flansburgh
John Conant Flansburgh (born May 6, 1960) is an American musician. He is half of the long-standing Brooklyn, New York-based alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants with John Linnell, for which he writes, sings, and plays rhythm guitar. Commonly referred to by the nickname Flans or Flansy, he is married to musician Robin Goldwasser, with whom he occasionally performs. Early life Flansburgh was born in Lexington, Massachusetts. His father, Earl Flansburgh, was a well-known Boston architect. His mother, Polly Flansburgh, is the founder and president of Boston By Foot. Her father, Brigadier General Ralph Hospital, was an artillery commander in the U.S. Army in the Italian Campaign during World War II. His brother, Paxus Calta (born Earl Schuyler Flansburgh), is an anti-nuclear activist and political organizer. Flansburgh attended the George Washington University, where he learned to play guitar while working as a parking garage attendant, then Antioch College and Pratt Inst ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saxophones
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to produce a sound wave inside the instrument's body. The pitch is controlled by opening and closing holes in the body to change the effective length of the tube. The holes are closed by leather pads attached to keys operated by the player. Saxophones are made in various sizes and are almost always treated as transposing instruments. Saxophone players are called ''saxophonists''. The saxophone is used in a wide range of musical styles including classical music (such as concert bands, chamber music, solo repertoire, and occasionally orchestras), military bands, marching bands, jazz (such as big bands and jazz combos), and contemporary music. The saxophone is also used as a solo and melody instrument or as a member of a horn section in some st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed in a frame), colloquially referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist. The concertina , harmoneon and bandoneón are related. The harmonium and American reed organ are in the same family, but are typically larger than an accordion and sit on a surface or the floor. The accordion is played by compressing or expanding the bellows while pressing buttons or keys, causing ''pallets'' to open, which allow air to flow across strips of brass or steel, called '' reeds''. These vibrate to produce sound inside the body. Valves on opposing reeds of each note are used to make the instrument's reeds sound louder without air leaking from each reed block.For the accordion's place among the families of mu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bass Clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet. Bass clarinets in other keys, notably C and A, also exist, but are very rare (in contrast to the regular A clarinet, which is quite common in classical music). Bass clarinets regularly perform in orchestras, wind ensembles and concert bands, and occasionally in marching bands, and play an occasional solo role in contemporary music and jazz in particular. Someone who plays a bass clarinet is called a bass clarinettist or a bass clarinetist. Description Most modern bass clarinets are straight-bodied, with a small upturned silver-colored metal bell and curved metal neck. Early examples varied in shape, some having a doubled body making them look similar to bassoons. The bass clarinet is fairly heavy and is su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keyboard Instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played using a keyboard, a row of levers which are pressed by the fingers. The most common of these are the piano, organ, and various electronic keyboards, including synthesizers and digital pianos. Other keyboard instruments include celestas, which are struck idiophones operated by a keyboard, and carillons, which are usually housed in bell towers or belfries of churches or municipal buildings. Today, the term ''keyboard'' often refers to keyboard-style synthesizers. Under the fingers of a sensitive performer, the keyboard may also be used to control dynamics, phrasing, shading, articulation, and other elements of expression—depending on the design and inherent capabilities of the instrument. Another important use of the word ''keyboard'' is in historical musicology, where it means an instrument whose identity cannot be firmly established. Particularly in the 18th century, the harpsichord, the clavichord, and the ear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Backup Vocals
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used in a broad range of popular music, traditional music, and world music styles. Solo artists may employ professional backing vocalists in studio recording sessions as well as during concerts. In many rock and metal bands (e.g., the power trio), the musicians doing backing vocals also play instruments, such as guitar, electric bass, drums or keyboards. In Latin or Afro-Cuban groups, backing singers may play percussion instruments or shakers while singing. In some pop and hip hop groups and in musical theater, they may be required to perform dance routines while singing through headset microphones. Styles of background vocals vary according to the type of song and genre of music. In pop and country songs, backing vocalists may sing harmo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lead Vocals
The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ensemble as the dominant sound. In vocal group performances, notably in soul and gospel music, and early rock and roll, the lead singer takes the main vocal melody, with a chorus or harmony vocals provided by other band members as backing vocalists. Lead vocalists typically incorporate some movement or gestures into their performance, and some may participate in dance routines during the show, particularly in pop music. Some lead vocalists also play an instrument during the show, either in an accompaniment role (such as strumming a guitar part), or playing a lead instrument/instrumental solo role when they are not singing (as in the case of lead singer-guitar virtuoso Jimi Hendrix). The lead singer also typically guides the vocal ensemb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
