Tindersticks

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Tindersticks
Tindersticks at the Royal Festival Hall, 3 May 2008
Tindersticks at the Royal Festival Hall, 3 May 2008
Background information
Genre(s) Alternative - Independent
Years active 1992-Present
Website Official Website
Members
Stuart Staples
David Boulter
Neil Fraser
Former members
Dickon Hinchliffe
Al Macaulay
Mark Colwill

Tindersticks are a rock band from Nottingham, England. Their sound is characterised by a synthesis of orchestral backing, lounge jazz, and soul; the lush orchestrations of multi-instrumentalist Dickon Hinchliffe and the smoky baritone of lead vocalist Stuart Staples are the band's hallmarks. Tindersticks have employed electric guitars, as most rock bands have done, but augment their instrumentation with a wide array of instruments: Rhodes piano, glockenspiel, vibraphone, violin, trumpet, trombone, clarinet, bassoon, Hammond organ, and many more are prominently utilised in the music of Tindersticks. The band has a cult following in the United Kingdom and continental Europe, although the eclectic and unique sound Tindersticks possesses never made significant inroads in the mainstream.

Contents

[edit] Members

[edit] Former members

  • Dickon James Hinchliffe, born 9 July 1967 - violin, guitar, voice, piano, string and brass arrangements (member until 2006)
  • Alasdair Robert De Villeneuve Macaulay, born 2 August 1965 - drums, percussion, trumpet (member until 2006)
  • Mark Andrew Colwill, born 12 May 1960 - bass guitar (member until 2006)

[edit] History

The band formed in late 1991, Staples, Boulter, Fraser, Macauley and Hinchliffe having previously been members of Asphalt Ribbons. The final band line-up for the "old horse" mini-LP (1991) was: Stuart Staples (vocals) Dave Boulter (organ & accordion) Neil Fraser (guitar) Dickon Hinchliffe (Guitar & strings) Al Macauley (percussion & drums) John Thompson (bass). Mark Colwill was recruited when John Thompson left the Asphalt Ribbons, but it is not sure if he played any gigs under the Asphalt Ribbons name. Then they changed their name to Tindersticks after Stuart A. Staples discovered a box of German matches on a Greek beach.

Tindersticks started recording demo tapes in 1992, and were signed by Tippy Toe Records who released their first single, "Patchwork", in the same year.

Their self-titled first and second albums established their signature sound and received widespread critical acclaim. Their live performances, often augmented by large string sections and even, on occasion, a full orchestra, were rapturously received. (The live album Bloomsbury Theatre 12.3.95 is a recording of one such concert.) By the time of the third album, Curtains, however, it was clear that a change of direction was called for. The lengthy "Ballad of Tindersticks" was a weary swipe at the pressures of being a touring band.

The fourth album, Simple Pleasure, lived up to its title with a series of snappy, direct songs influenced by soul music. The female backing vocals on several tracks, and the respectful cover of Odyssey's "If You're Looking For A Way Out", signalled the band's wish to move towards lighter, more soulful material. However, the inner sleeve's documentation of the number of takes each track went through was evidence that the band continued to adopt a painstaking approach to recording.

The fifth album, Can Our Love, continued the band's soulful direction, in particular evidence on the tender "Sweet Release" and in the nod to the Chi-Lites in the title of "Chilitetime".

The sixth album, Waiting For The Moon, was more stripped down and introspective in nature, particularly on the harrowing "4.48 Psychosis" (based on the play of the same name by the British playwright Sarah Kane) and "Sometimes It Hurts". Only the bouncy "Just A Dog" lightened the otherwise melancholy mood of the album.

In 2005 Staples embarked on a solo career and there was resultant speculation that the band had split. Staples has so far produced two solo albums, Lucky Dog Recordings 03-04 and Leaving Songs. The title of the second album, and Staples' notes on it, indicated that change was in the air: "These are songs written on the verge of leaving the things I loved and stepping into a new unknown life, both musically and personally. I was always aware that these songs were the end of something, a kind of closing a circle of a way of writing that I started so long ago and I knew I had to move on from." [1]

In September 2006, the band played a one-off concert at London's Barbican Centre, performing their second album in full with a nine-member string section and two brass players, including former collaborator Terry Edwards on trumpet. [2]

Staples later acknowledged that this show, while being a happy triumph, was also "tinged with sadness of the knowledge that the six of us had made all the new music we were going to make together."[citation needed] However, it also refired his determination to make a new album.

In 2007, a stripped-down line-up of three of the original band, Staples, Boulter and Fraser, spent time writing and recording in a newly equipped studio in Limousin, France. They were joined by Thomas Belhom on drums and Dan McKinna on bass, with Ian Caple engineering. Strings were added and the new album, The Hungry Saw, was completed. It will be released on Beggars Banquet in April 2008.

Tindersticks play a concert at the Royal Festival Hall on May 3rd 2008 and are playing a number of other European dates during the early summer.

[edit] Soundtrack work

  • They recorded a cover of the Four Tops song, "What Is A Man", for the theme to the British TV series The Sins.
  • The Tindersticks song "Tiny Tears" was featured prominently in the Series 1 episode "Isabella" of HBO's The Sopranos. Additionally, a version of "Running Wild" was played during the ending credits of the penultimate episode of the series, "The Blue Comet".
  • In the season one finale of Brotherhood, "El Diablo En El Ojo" is used twice.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Singles

  • "Patchwork" (Tippy Toe, 1992)
  • "Marbles" (Tippy Toe/Che, 1993)
  • "A Marriage Made in Heaven" (Rough Trade Singles Club, 1993)
  • "Unwired E.P." (Domino, 1993)
  • "City Sickness" (This Way Up, 1993)
  • "Marbles" (No.6 Records, 1993)
  • "We Have All the Time in the World" (Clawfist Singles Club, 1993)
  • "Live in Berlin" (Tippy Toe/This Way Up, 1993)
  • "Kathleen" (This Way Up, 1994)
  • "No More Affairs" (This Way Up, 1995)
  • "Plus De Liaisons" (This Way Up, 1995)
  • "The Smooth Sounds of Tindersticks" (Sub Pop, 1995)
  • "Travelling Light" (This Way Up, 1995)
  • "Bathtime" (This Way Up, 1997)
  • "Rented Rooms" (This Way Up, 1997)
  • "Can We Start Again" (Island 1999)
  • "What is a Man" (Beggar's Banquet, 2000)
  • "Trouble Every Day (Promo)" (Beggar's Banquet, 2001)
  • "Don't Even Go There E.P." (Beggar's Banquet, 2003)
  • "Trojan Horse" (Tippy Toe, 2003)
  • "Sometimes it Hurts" (Beggar's Banquet, 2003)
  • "My Oblivion" (Beggar's Banquet, 2003)

[edit] Studio albums

[edit] Other Albums

[edit] Original Soundtracks (OST)

[edit] Solo Albums / Side Projects

[edit] Videos & DVDs

  • Bareback - nine films by Martin Wallace (Beggar's Banquet, 2004)

[edit] External links