To Live and Shave in L.A. (TLASILA) is an experimental music collective founded in 1993 by avant-garde composer/producer Tom Smith (formerly of Washington, DC groups
Peach of Immortality and
Pussy Galore) and Miami Beach musician/producer Frank "Rat Bastard" Falestra. They were soon joined by oscillator player Ben Wolcott; this lineup created the majority of the early releases in TLASILA's extensive discography.
The group's debut album, ''30-minuten männercreme'', was released in 1994. ''
Bananafish Magazine'' described the recording as "a wind tunnel of 30-weight vitriol." The "wildly inaccessible" ensemble has featured
Don Fleming,
Andrew W.K.,
Weasel Walter,
Thurston Moore, and at least a dozen other musicians and sound artists.
The group's primary aesthetic assertion posits that "genre is obsolete". Although often categorized as purveyors of
noise music
Noise music is a genre of music that is characterised by the expressive use of noise within a musical context. This type of music tends to challenge the distinction that is made in conventional musical practices between musical and non-musical ...
, TLASILA have been noted to pursue an unorthodox approach, "construct(ing) songs around an overwhelming plethora of
sonic
Sonic or Sonics may refer to:
Companies
*Sonic Drive-In, an American drive-in fast-food restaurant chain
*Sonic (ISP), an Internet provider and CLEC, serving more than 100 California communities
*Sonic Foundry, a computer software company whic ...
detail, challenging the listener to engage with a surfeit of information," deliberately blurring "the line between harsh metal-on-metal noise and abstract
musique concrète
Musique concrète (; ): " problem for any translator of an academic work in French is that the language is relatively abstract and theoretical compared to English; one might even say that the mode of thinking itself tends to be more schematic, ...
" Smith's lyrics "distance" the group "from any potential peers," "scanning like (they) came from some previously unearthed hermetic treatise."
Following the release of ''The Cortège'' (
Fan Death Records, 2011), the collective went on hiatus, abjuring live performances but releasing albums all the while. Regrouping in January 2015 with the album ''Unwept to Meet Strange Clay'' (Karl Schmidt Verlag, 2015), TLASILA resumed its touring activities.
Founding member Tom Smith died in January 2022.
Selected discography
*''30-minuten männercreme'' CD (Love Is Sharing Pharmaceuticals, 1994)
*''Vedder Vedder Bedwetter'' CD (
Fifth Colvmn Records
Fifth Colvmn Records was a record label based in Washington, DC. The label was founded in 1990 by Zalman Fishman, owner of the nightclub FIFTH
COLVMN, located in Washington D.C.
The label's first release was Chemlab's debut EP Ten Ton Pressure. ...
, 1995)
*''An Interview with the Mitchell Brothers'' CD (Audible Hiss, 1995)
*''Tonal Harmony'' CD (Betley Welcomes Careful Drivers, 1997)
*''Where a Horse Has Been Standing and Where You Belong'' CD (Western Blot, 1998)
*''Peter Criss vs. Peter Christopherson'' CD-R (Betley Welcomes Careful Drivers, 2000)
*''The Wigmaker in Eighteenth Century Williamsburg'' 2xCD (Menlo Park Recordings, 2002)
*''God and Country Rally!'' CD (The Smack Shire, 2004)
*''Horóscopo: Sanatorio de Molière'' CD (Blossoming Noise, 2006)
*''
Noon & Eternity'' CD (Menlo Park Recordings, 2006)
*''Les Tricoteuses'' CD (Savage Land Records, 2007)
*''Like Other Painters of Her Generation...'' Split LP (with Totally Ripped) (Isolated Now Waves, 2008)
*''Le Ceneri di.../Sun Hidden There'' Split CD-3 (with Harshcore) (Dukuro, 2008)
*''Les poisons délectables'' C-40 (Tanzprocesz, 2009)
*''The Cortège'' 12" LP (
Fan Death Records, 2011)
*''The Cortège'' CD (
Thick Syrup Records, 2011)
*''Chorea Vinyl'' 2xCD (Karl Schmidt Verlag, 2012)
*''The Death'' 6xCD (Karl Schmidt Verlag, 2013)
*''The Tall Ma'rib with Coalition Skin'' CD (Karl Schmidt Verlag, 2014)
*''Unwept to Meet Strange Clay'' CD (Karl Schmidt Verlag, 2015)
*''Apfel - Messer - Fliege'' CD (Barn & Associates, 2015)
*''The Propagation of Negation Volumes 1 & 2'' CD (Karl Schmidt Verlag, 2017)
References
External links
Official To Live and Shave in L.A. WebsiteOfficial TLASILA MySpace ProfileOfficial Laundry Room Squelchers Website
{{Authority control
Musical groups from Florida
American experimental musical groups
Musical groups established in 1993