Tasseomancy is a Canadian experimental band from

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

formed by twin sisters Sari and Romy Lightman.

Biography

Born in c. 1985 and raised in Toronto, the Lightman twins moved to Halifax to attend university. There the sisters began performing under the moniker Ghost Bees that they described as "experimental acoustic folk". The duo released their debut EP ''Tasseomancy'' on April 8, 2008, via Youth Club Records as Ghost Bees. The pair toured around North America in support of the record. As the Ghost Bees project developed, new sounds and influences not heard on the original EP began to be incorporated, prompting the change to Tasseomancy in 2010.Ghost Bees Change Name to Tasseomancy, Release Timber Timbre-produced Single
''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'', September 27, 2010 Sari Lightman explained that "we wanted to have a link to our previous band and not dismiss it entirely. It’s a progression and we wanted to keep something from it". The sound moved away from acoustic folk to a more experimental and art pop oriented direction, and included flute and steel pan instruments. They released the 7" single Health Hands b/w The Darkness of Things on the Diamond Rings' boutique label Hype Lighter in 2010. They began performing in friend Katie Stelmanis' electronic outfit Austra as touring backing singers in the same year."Concert preview: Austra thrives on touring"
''

Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper in Edmonton, Alberta. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunningham — as ...

'', October 6, 2013. The duo recorded their debut full-length ''Ulalume'' under the new name that year. The title of the album was taken from an

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

poem. It was released on

Out of this Spark Out of this Spark is an independent record label founded in the fall of 2006 by Stuart Duncan in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The label is an artist-focused label that works to release fun, exciting and innovative music, with a focus a facilitating ...

/Turf Records in August 2011. When performing live, the duo were supported by

Maya Postepski Maya Alina Postepski is a Canadian musician and producer from Toronto. She has been making music for over ten years, best known as drummer of the electronic group, Austra. She is a prolific remix artist, DJ and she co-wrote and produced the 2012 a ...

(drums /keyboards). The band released a five track Tasseotape cassette in 2013. In 2015 the duo released a second album, ''Palm Wine Revisited'', on Toronto DIY label Healing Power Records, and toured the US with Braids. They were joined by Johnny Spence (keyboards) and Evan Cartwright (percussion). In November 2016 they released the 11 track album ''Do Easy'', on label Bella Union in Europe, run by Simon Raymonde of the Cocteau Twins, and on

Hand Drawn Dracula Hand Drawn Dracula (HDD) is a Toronto-based independent record label. Artists who have released music on the label include Beliefs, Breeze, Brian Borcherdt, Bruce Peninsula, By Divine Right, Chastity, Dusted, Julie Fader, No Joy, Postdata, Ta ...

in Canada. The album featured bandmates Johnny Spence and Evan Cartwright, as well as Brodie West (alto-sax), Ryan Driver (flute) Simone Schmidt and Alex Cowan (Blue Hawaii). ''Do Easy'' was inspired by the domestic manifesto of William S. Burroughs
''The Discipline of D.E''.
According to band member Romy Lightman, "Burroughs's doctrine on finding 'the easy way' struck me as something rare and I hung onto it like a piece of protection. Later on, I discovered that

Genesis P-Orridge Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (born Neil Andrew Megson; 22 February 1950 – 14 March 2020) was a singer-songwriter, musician, poet, performance artist, visual artist, and occultist who rose to notoriety as the founder of the COUM Transmissions arti ...

believed this text to be one of the greatest magic techniques for retraining the mind". ''Do Easy'' was met with critical acclaim from outlets such as Uncut, VICE i-d,

noisey ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. Founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, the founders later launched the youth media company Vice Media, ...

The Line of Best Fit ''The Line of Best Fit'' is an independent online magazine based in London, concentrating on new music. It publishes independent music reviews, features, interview, and media. Founded by Richard Thane in February 2007 and currently edited by P ...

, MONOCLE, and The Guardian. ''Do Easy'''s music videos were directed by video artist Charles Linden Ercoli, as well as the self directed "Missoula" video. The band toured Japan with

Lydia Ainsworth Lydia Miriam Ainsworth is a Canadian composer, producer and singer based in Toronto. She has released four albums, the Juno-nominated ''Right From Real'', ''Darling of the Afterglow'', ''Phantom Forest'', and ''Sparkles & Debris''. Early life an ...

, North America and Europe with

Andy Shauf Andy Shauf is a Canadian singer-songwriter from Regina, Saskatchewan. He plays several instruments, including clarinet.Carla Gillis"Andy Shauf moves to Toronto" ''Now'', 15 November 2016. Early life Shauf was born in Estevan, Saskatchewan, gr ...

in 2017. They are currently working on a new album. Romy Lightman's latest musical project, 'Lightman Jarvis Ecstatic Band' is a collaboration with musician

Yves Jarvis Yves Jarvis is the stage name of Jean-Sébastien Yves Audet,

. The duo's debut album is called ''Banned'', and it's set to arrive on June 25, 2021 via

Flemish Eye The eye splice is a method of creating a permanent loop (an " eye") in the end of a rope by means of rope splicing. The Flemish eye is a type of circular loop at the end of a thread. There are several techniques of creating the eye with its k ...

ANTI- Anti- is an American record label founded in 1999 as a sister label to Epitaph Records. While Epitaph's focus has mostly been on punk rock, Anti-'s roster includes gospel (Mavis Staples), country (Merle Haggard), hip hop (Sage Francis, The Cou ...

Name

The cover of the ''Tasseomancy'' EP featured a photograph of the sisters' great-great grandmother Clara Chernos, a

Russian Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...

tea-leaf reader who moved to Canada in the 19th century during the

Russian pogroms Pogroms in the Russian Empire (russian: Еврейские погромы в Российской империи) were large-scale, targeted, and repeated anti-Jewish rioting that began in the 19th century. Pogroms began to occur after Imperial Ru ...

. When renaming the band in 2010, the sisters opted for the title of their debut EP, noting "We’re into tea and tea-making, our great great grandmother was a tea leaf reader and she passed it on to the rest of our family".

Discography

Albums

* ''Ulalume'' (Out of This Spark / Turf, 2011) * ''Palm Wine Revisited'' (2015) * ''Do Easy'' (2016)

Singles

* "Healthy Hands" (2011) * "Braid. Wind Is Coming" (2013) *"Missoula" (2016) *"Do Easy" (2016) *"29 Palms" (2016)

As Ghost Bees

* ''Tasseomancy'' (2008)

References

External links

*
Soundcheck #1: Ghost Bees
(April 2008,

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tasseomancy Musical groups with year of establishment missing Musical groups from Halifax, Nova Scotia Canadian folk rock groups All-female bands Twin musical duos Jewish musical groups Canadian musical duos Musical groups from Toronto Canadian indie folk groups Jewish rock groups Jewish folk singers Canadian twins