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Tindersticks

Tindersticks is an Indie rock band from Nottingham, England that formed in 1991. The group released six albums before singer Stuart A. Staples took on a solo career. The band reunited briefly in 2006, but more permanently the following year. The band has recorded several film soundtracks.

Staples, Boulter, Fraser, Macauley and Hinchliffe, all former members of Asphalt Ribbons, formed the band in 1991. The final lineup for the Old Horse mini-LP (1991) was: Stuart Staples (vocals) Dave Boulter (organ and accordion) Neil Fraser (guitar) Dickon Hinchliffe (guitar and strings) Al Macauley (percussion and drums) John Thompson (bass). Mark Colwill was recruited when Thompson left the Asphalt Ribbons, but it is not known if he played any gigs under the Asphalt Ribbons name. They then changed their name to Tindersticks after Staples discovered a box of German matches on a Greek beach.

Tindersticks started recording demo tapes in 1992, and formed their own label Tippy Toe Records to release 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 well received. The live album The 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.

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Catching Up With

David Boulter: Thinking Differently

Read "David Boulter: Thinking Differently" reviewed by Nenad Georgievski


The best music in the world is that which suggests there is no other music in the world. Twenty years on from its humble beginnings, Tindersticks makes music that is so seductive and gripping that it feels just like that. Tindersticks is one of the most brilliant and original bands to emerge from Britain in the early '90s, when the UK charts were dominated by the guitar-driven pop indie scene. Its music is a beautiful mélange of subtle touches of ...

20
Live Review

Tindersticks: Novi Sad, Serbia, May 11, 2012

Read "Tindersticks: Novi Sad, Serbia, May 11, 2012" reviewed by Nenad Georgievski


TindersticksPozorište mladihNovi Sad, SerbiaMay 11, 2012Two decades into its career, the British band Tindersticks has plenty to be happy about. It's been 20 years since the band released its first single, which means that 2012 marks its anniversary, and there is the new album, the critically acclaimed The Something Rain (Constellation Records, 2012). While most bands, after an existence spanning at least a decade are, as conventional wisdom states, simply content just to consolidate past ...

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Recording

Tindersticks:the Hungry Saw

Tindersticks:the Hungry Saw

Source: JamBase

By: Dennis Cook

It starts so meditatively with Satie-like piano putting shivery bell tones and low flying melancholy in the air. When the drums arrive, up front and thick on “Yesterdays Tomorrows," followed by simmering organ and a deep, very present voice snatched from '60s radio, you just know you're dealing with pros. Around since 1992, Tindersticks let their feelings hang out, messy ones and neat, but have funneled all this emotion into some of the most captivating, subtly built ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

The Something Rain

Constellation
2012

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Rented Rooms

Unknown label
1997

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Tindersticks

This Way Up
1995

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Videos

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