Tilly and the Wall

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obiwankobe
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Tilly and the Wall

Post by obiwankobe »

Tilly and the Wall Reveal New Record, Tour

Kati Llewellyn reports:
Dust off the old tap shoes, because Tilly and the Wall have wrapped up work on their sophomore record, Bottoms of Barrels (hope that title isn't foretelling of the disc's content!), and have it set for a May 23 release on Conor Oberst's Team Love label. The album, recorded with fellow Nebraskan AJ Mogis over three weeks in Omaha, features University of Nebraska choir Trip the Light Fantastic, along with keyboard, trumpet, cello, xylophone, and yr usual tap percussion/guitar/keybs combo.

Bottoms of Barrels:

01 Rainbows in the Dark
02 Urgency
03 Bad Education
04 Lost Girls
05 Love Song
06 Sing Songs Along
07 Black and Blue
08 Brave Day
09 The Freest Man
10 Coughing Colors

Those who can't wait to get their hands on this piece can pre-order it from Team Love's online store where, for a mere 99 cents more, it will ship with a limited edition Tilly and the Wall 7" (not to mention a Tilly and the Wall sticker, for maximum locker-decorating).

Tracklist:

A:
01 Bad Education

B:
01 Forget the Feeling
02 Patience Babe

The single will only be made available via the internet and the band's upcoming tour, and, as you may have noticed above, it features two previously unreleased B-sides.

Tilly and the Wall are currently in the midst of a full-fledged UK jaunt, but the fun doesn't stop there, as they recently revealed a slew of dates in the States.

Tap it:

05-15 Manchester, England - Night & Day Café *#
05-16 Birmingham, England - Carling Academy Birmingham #
05-17 York, England - Fibbers *^
05-18 Sheffield, England - Leadmill *#
05-19 London, England - Luminaire *#
05-20 Glasgow, Scotland - King Tut's *#%
05-21 Edinburgh, Scotland - Cabaret Voltaire *#
05-22 Leeds, England - Cockpit *#
06-02 Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground &
06-03 Des Moines, IA - Vaudeville Mews &
06-04 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock &
06-05 Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theatre &
06-06 Chicago, IL - Abbey Pub &
06-07 Urbana, IL - Canopy Club &
06-08 Columbus, OH - Little Brother's &
06-09 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop &
06-10 Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig &
06-11 Toronto, Ontario - Mod Club &
06-12 Montreal, Quebec - La Salla Rosa &
06-13 Boston, MA - T.T. the Bear's Place &
06-14 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom &
06-16 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church &
06-17 Washington, DC - Black Cat &
06-18 Charlottesville, VA - Satellite Ballroom &
06-20 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle &@
06-21 Athens, GA - Caledonia Lounge &
06-22 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn &
06-24 Orlando, FL - The Social &
06-25 Miami, FL - Studio A &
06-29 Houston, TX - Walter's on Washington &$
06-30 Denton, TX - Hailey's &$
07-01 Austin, TX - Emo's &$
07-03 Tempe, AZ - Modified $+
07-04 San Diego, CA - Che Café $+
07-06 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour $+
07-07 Pomona, CA - Glass House $+
07-08 San Francisco, CA - Café du Nord $+
07-10 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge $+
07-11 Seattle, WA - TBA $+
07-14 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court $+
07-15 Denver, Co - Larimer Lounge $+

* with the Semifinalists
# with Emmy the Great
^ with Ali Whitton
% with the X1
& with David Dondero
@ with Devotchka
$ with Now It's Overhead, Jason Anderson
+ with Wolf Colonel

* Pitchfork Review: Tilly and the Wall: Wild Like Children
* Tilly and the Wall: http://www.tillyandthewall.com/
* Team Love: http://www.team-love.com/
-tom

~"Let there be no conflict in America, if you bother me, I whup yo' ass."~Charles Barkley
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obiwankobe
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Joined: Mon Mar 14, 2005 11:56 am
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Post by obiwankobe »

Tilly dances around the dull
*On stage and off, Omaha's Tilly and the Wall has a different way of doing things, and the band's indie ideas seem to be paying off.




By Susan Carpenter, Times Staff Writer

IN small rock clubs, it can be difficult to see a band's feet, which is why it takes a while for those unfamiliar with Tilly and the Wall to make the connection — that Jamie Williams, the dancer in this five-piece from Omaha, isn't just dancing, she's also tapping out the beat.

Fronted by two female singers and rounded out with the sounds of what seems like the entire inventory of an instrument shop, Tilly and the Wall is making some of the most imaginative and uplifting indie rock to come along recently.


Inventive music making isn't without its risks, however. As attractive as new sounds are to more adventurous listeners, they also hold the potential to alienate, which is why the ability to sample music before buying is so important, especially for potential fans who may not have a lot of discretionary income.

Tilly and the Wall is signed to a label that does exactly that. When "Bottoms of Barrels," the group's second album, is released later this month on Team Love, its songs won't only be available for sale on CD but also as free downloads through the record label's website (http://www.team-love.com).

Omaha golden boy Conor Oberst co-founded Team Love two years ago as a means of giving more exposure and artistic control to bands that are signed to single-record deals. Tilly and the Wall was the first act he added to his label, which, most recently, released the critically acclaimed debut of Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins.

The strategy of offering free downloads, one not widely favored by major labels, seems to be paying off for Tilly — if not in record sales, then in merchandise sales and show attendance.

"It's definitely helped our band," said guitarist Derek Pressnall, 26. "We were unheard of basically and it's just gotten our name out there."

The band's 2004 debut, "Wild Like Children," sold about 18,000 copies, but some songs on the album were downloaded more than 100,000 times.

Tilly and the Wall is part of the Omaha indie-rock scene — a scene that consists of only 50 or so musicians, despite its Saddle Creek Records-inspired high profile. Being so small, it's enjoyed an unusually high success-to-failure ratio, winning national attention for local acts such as Oberst (a.k.a. Bright Eyes), the Faint and Cursive. Its size has also led to an unusually high incidence of crossover between bands. Many musicians in the scene have played with multiple acts, and Tilly is no different.

Neely Jenkins, one of two vocalists in the band, and tap dancer Williams both used to play in a group with Oberst and the Faint's Clark Baechle. Williams had moved on to a different band with vocalist Kianna Alarid when the two met Pressnall and keyboardist Nick White (who had their own group) and decided to form Tilly and the Wall.

Tap dancing aside, Tilly's setup is fairly conventional. Its core consists of bass, guitar, keyboards and vocals, but "Bottoms of Barrels" also features artful touches of violin, sax, cello, accordion, drums, Mellotron, bells, trumpet and even a children's choir.

Live, the group doesn't even attempt to replicate its recorded sound. The members just sing and play their instruments and let Williams' feet fly.

"She's doing some serious work up there [tap dancing]," Alarid said. "She definitely has final say in the set list."
-tom

~"Let there be no conflict in America, if you bother me, I whup yo' ass."~Charles Barkley
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