― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Thursday, 15 December 2005 20:10 (eighteen years ago) link
― Edward III (edward iii), Thursday, 15 December 2005 20:14 (eighteen years ago) link
― Renard, Thursday, 15 December 2005 20:22 (eighteen years ago) link
Didn't T&G have to destroy all the Surfers back catalog records they had? seem to recall some article about them being run over with a bulldozer but maybe I'm just wishing that was what happened.
― dar1a g (daria g), Friday, 16 December 2005 00:01 (eighteen years ago) link
I have that Hose EP, it totally sucks. It's pretty funny though. The imprint is actually Def Jam, if I recall! That and God's Fave Dog the only two appearances I know of.
― Stormy Davis (diamond), Friday, 16 December 2005 04:36 (eighteen years ago) link
― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Friday, 16 December 2005 10:42 (eighteen years ago) link
― andrew s (andrew s), Friday, 16 December 2005 23:01 (eighteen years ago) link
― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Friday, 16 December 2005 23:13 (eighteen years ago) link
― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Friday, 16 December 2005 23:53 (eighteen years ago) link
― Halloween Spooky Party Hints! (Bimble...), Saturday, 17 December 2005 04:02 (eighteen years ago) link
Me too.
I am shocked by the lack of love for Pegboy on this thread.
― Ben Dot (1977), Saturday, 17 December 2005 12:49 (eighteen years ago) link
Maybe I am mistaken, but I thought Pegboy were on Quarterstick.
For this thread, are we talking just T&G the label or T&G the distributor, too, because some releases mentioned here were not technically released on T&G but were released by labels who were distributed (exclusively?) through T&G like Quarterstick.
It's interesting to see how T&G has changed over the years. They definitely have "softened" their aesthetic a bit. I know some of the newer releases are decent. But, when I think of T&G, I think of the hardcore stuff to the midwest, grunge, noise, thing (Big Black, Jesus Lizard, and Hyenas), which kind of died out shortly before the rise of post-rock (Something I never really got into.) I mean, the fact that T&G put out something like the Delta 72 record is a sure sign of some kind of decline. Hell, I'll take a rather boring Tar record over sub, sub, sub Jon Spencer fashion dorks. The only newer T&G releases I have ever purchased were the Monorchid/Skull Control stuff. As for the past three to four years, isn't just indie rock and pop. Maybe I'm wrong!
― QuantumNoise (Justin Farrar), Saturday, 17 December 2005 16:05 (eighteen years ago) link
― TRG (TRG), Saturday, 17 December 2005 16:27 (eighteen years ago) link
― Mike Dixn (Mike Dixon), Saturday, 17 December 2005 21:24 (eighteen years ago) link
not unless corey changed his name to ed roche.
― hstencil (hstencil), Saturday, 17 December 2005 22:31 (eighteen years ago) link
― latebloomer: Deutsch Bag (latebloomer), Saturday, 17 December 2005 22:33 (eighteen years ago) link
― [jailhouse tattoo] (nordicskilla), Saturday, 17 December 2005 22:36 (eighteen years ago) link
― [jailhouse tattoo] (nordicskilla), Saturday, 17 December 2005 22:37 (eighteen years ago) link
Might listen to that now.
― [jailhouse tattoo] (nordicskilla), Saturday, 17 December 2005 22:38 (eighteen years ago) link
― moxie, Saturday, 17 December 2005 22:49 (eighteen years ago) link
The short version, though, is that they also released a single (Def Jam #1) that includes a pretty great Flipper-esque track called Mobo, later covered (very nicely) by the Dustdevils on their first Matador album.
― dlp9001, Saturday, 17 December 2005 23:19 (eighteen years ago) link
i love love love jesus lizard, but even now i would seriously consider getting a die kreuzen or necros tattoo. close to my heart.
― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 17 December 2005 23:51 (eighteen years ago) link
I gave the slight nod to Italian Platinum b/c I'm partial to Bourbon Beard and the "story" type songs (LR72) but it's pretty much a toss-up vs. Lifestyle, both are great
― Renard, Sunday, 18 December 2005 00:04 (eighteen years ago) link
― dlp9001, Sunday, 18 December 2005 00:12 (eighteen years ago) link
― fret bored, Sunday, 18 December 2005 19:48 (eighteen years ago) link
― Binjominia (Brilhante), Sunday, 18 December 2005 19:57 (eighteen years ago) link
So very sad if this is true - the demise of Touch and Go -
http://www3.timeoutny.com/chicago/blog/out-and-about/2009/02/rip-touch-go-records/
My fave ever label ...
― BlackIronPrison, Wednesday, 18 February 2009 17:23 (fifteen years ago) link
That is depressing to hear. The label hasn't thrilled me much in recent years, but back in the mid-90s when I was first delving into lolindie and discovering bands like Seam, Slint, and Jesus Lizard, I thought the label could do no wrong. I loved flipping through someone's record collection, flipping over an unfamiliar title, and seeing this...
http://www.southern.com/southern/label/TCH/pics/logo2.jpg
― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Wednesday, 18 February 2009 17:39 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah it was a similar seal of approval for me - digging through 2nd hand CDs if an unfamiliar band had that logo on it I'd consider buying.
Too bad but I guess they haven't released much lately that's been all that interesting? Perhaps someone might like to update this thread with post-2000 T&G essentials?
― I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE UP TO (Colonel Poo), Wednesday, 18 February 2009 17:48 (fifteen years ago) link
The last two Shellac albums and the last Ted Leo album, off the top of my head
Considering this is one of my favourite labels ever I'm curiously unbothered by this TBH
― big fatass Paul Ross (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 18 February 2009 17:54 (fifteen years ago) link
This will be as polarizing at !!!, but Pinback's Summer In Abaddon from 2004.
― System Jr. (Mackro Mackro), Wednesday, 18 February 2009 17:59 (fifteen years ago) link
T&G never really figured out how to thrive in the 2000s, seems like. Just funny because a couple of other semi-regional labels with a similar amount of weight behind their names have done really well over the same time period.
― devin harris with an appletini (call all destroyer), Wednesday, 18 February 2009 18:00 (fifteen years ago) link
it's more desensitized for me than not bothered. Also, T&G's not completely dropping off the earth. They'll be around to keep certain titles in print, but allegedly won't be signing new bands or won't be "moving forward" for lack of a better term. All the rumination here was already rumination several years ago, tbh.
― System Jr. (Mackro Mackro), Wednesday, 18 February 2009 18:02 (fifteen years ago) link
xpost
uh they did sign a couple of bands by the name of yeah yeah yeahs and TV on the radio.
fuck me. this sucks.
― Yo, I just copped dat brand new Manity Kane cd. (M@tt He1ges0n), Wednesday, 18 February 2009 18:03 (fifteen years ago) link
It is sad because even in the crooked 80s, artists on T&G (except for one obvious example) talked highly of how fair the label was in royalty deals. It was really hard to find any label like T&G once upon a time, so I can imagine the emotions in the Chicago music circles are running high right now. :(
― System Jr. (Mackro Mackro), Wednesday, 18 February 2009 18:04 (fifteen years ago) link
holy shit holy shit holy shit! silly me, i thought they were doing well, for some reason. like matador and maybe close to sub-pop well. guess they never got teh subsidy $$$ like those folks. major bummer. though our tastes diverged in the 00s, i still respect the shit out of them guys/gals.
who's gonna put out the crystal antlers LP?
― contenderizer, Wednesday, 18 February 2009 18:20 (fifteen years ago) link
this is a bummer, but as long as they keep their old records in print I won't be as bummed.
― sleeve, Wednesday, 18 February 2009 18:22 (fifteen years ago) link
the real low-down thing that sucks:
T&G's distro arm does TONS of smaller labels...i don't know what like drag city and shit like that is going to do...
fuck the economy.
― Yo, I just copped dat brand new Manity Kane cd. (M@tt He1ges0n), Wednesday, 18 February 2009 18:25 (fifteen years ago) link
^ yow, good point. rough trade 91?
― contenderizer, Wednesday, 18 February 2009 18:31 (fifteen years ago) link
i think merge, drag city, atavistic, KRS, bunch all distro through T&G
― Yo, I just copped dat brand new Manity Kane cd. (M@tt He1ges0n), Wednesday, 18 February 2009 18:35 (fifteen years ago) link
wow, that's huge. merge is a label that seems to be doing well, and i recall reading something will oldham said about drag city gets by and pays its artists very well.
matador, sub pop, and actually secretly canadian/jagjaguawar have all struck gold a couple times over the past few years. i guess T&G signed TVOTR and the YYYs but didn't have them for long and didn't make much money for them? just kind of thinking out loud about why they weren't able to sign and retain a band with decent mass appeal.
― devin harris with an appletini (call all destroyer), Wednesday, 18 February 2009 18:41 (fifteen years ago) link
hands off, artist friendly, binding-contract-averse approach may not allow them to fully "leverage" their more profitable signings
― contenderizer, Wednesday, 18 February 2009 18:44 (fifteen years ago) link
how can they not be making money through their distro if they do merge? Hasn't the arcade fire alone sold enough records to allow all parties involved to light cuban cigars with hundred dollar bills on a regular basis????
― Dr. Johnson (askance johnson), Wednesday, 18 February 2009 18:50 (fifteen years ago) link
My post was before the update re: distro arm, that is legitimately something that sucks even if it's less big-scare-quotes 'glamorous'
― big fatass Paul Ross (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 18 February 2009 18:51 (fifteen years ago) link
i'm not positive they still do merge, but they def used to, back when merge meant like portastatic records and shit like that.
yeah the sad thing is that someone who was more of a dick w/contracts (unlike rusk) would still be eating off TVOTR and Yeah Yeah Yeahs
― Yo, I just copped dat brand new Manity Kane cd. (M@tt He1ges0n), Wednesday, 18 February 2009 18:52 (fifteen years ago) link
secretly canadian funded that entire dead oceans imprint with antony and the johnsons money
― devin harris with an appletini (call all destroyer), Wednesday, 18 February 2009 18:53 (fifteen years ago) link
maybe it's a projections thing. like, given how much they have tied up in distro, how little they're making off of house label, and how dire they see things getting over the next couple, they figure they've to get out NOT in order to avoid screwing over all parties involved. maybe?
― contenderizer, Wednesday, 18 February 2009 18:55 (fifteen years ago) link
^ "get out NOW", that is...
plus go to merge's site, there are pleeenty of records that don't sell shit on that label
― Yo, I just copped dat brand new Manity Kane cd. (M@tt He1ges0n), Wednesday, 18 February 2009 18:55 (fifteen years ago) link
Wait, he's not some indie Broadway Danny Rose, tons of people stuck with him in part because he wasn't setting up deals that put him in an adverse relationship with the bands. It's just as likely that a contract-dependent version of Rusk would never have gotten TVOTR or YYYs because he'd have burned (and been burned by) so many bands before their era that they would have just signed with some NY label.
This situation sucks, RIP T&G P&D. But are they in fact cutting back anything as far as their own new releases goes? The press release only says it's about the packaging deals with other labels, and Corey told DeRo that rumors otherwise aren't so.
― dad a, Wednesday, 18 February 2009 19:01 (fifteen years ago) link