Watch the Todd Tobias video for Blue Mansion IX, a track from his Blue Mansions album: "a dreamy excursion with elements of minimalism, ambient and softcore. He did not bother to come up with titles - the numbers are there to mark the transistions between the compositions. It is a very relaxing effort, not to be confused by made to order New Age-y stuff that is taking up shelf space at drug stores."
» toddtobiasmusic.bandcamp.com
HCTF review of Blue Mansions
Ohio based experimentalist Todd Tobias wrote 14 gentle "aeriform vignettes" for his new album Blue Mansions. It is a dreamy excursion with elements of minimalism, ambient and softcore. He did not bother to come up with titles - the numbers are there to mark the transistions between the compositions. It is a very relaxing effort, not to be confused by made to order New Age-y stuff that is taking up shelf space at drug stores.
Tobias is a master of lo-fi sound, being careful not to keep polishing the tracks until they loose all personality and urgency. The tracks on Blue Mansions were built with care, but it is not that hard to figure out where the scaffoldings were before he labeled them as good-to-go masters.
Dutch underground label Tiny Room Records, specializing in lo-fi, indie, slowcore, and bedroom folk, was founded 10 years ago. Label manager Stefan Breuer has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Voordekunst.nl to cover the costs of releasing a double album, Foundlings Vol. 1 & 2, with 25 unreleased tracks.
Leave it to Ohio based experimentalist Todd Tobias to record an album where visitors from outer space provide the vocals. Well, not really, but First Man On The Rock as a concept works quite well. Post-rock, ambient, metal and avant-garde were thrown into the melting pot to create mesmerizing instrumentals. Tobias is a studio wizard who can turn the glimmer of an idea into a full-fledged composition that packs a punch.
Fans of Sci-Fi B-movies as well as died-in-the-wool music geeks will something they will love on this album. If anything, it will broaden their horizons as Tobias reaches for the stars.
Avant duo Moonchy & Tobias goes for an experimental choral mood on their new album Wild Eye. The musical partnership singer Pat Moonchy and multi-instrumentalist Todd Tobias is a journey of exploring the outer regions of popular music, with forays into ambient soundscapes, shifting time signatures and pushing the limits of electronics. With lyrics in Latin, Italian and English the vocals serve as an extra instrument. They are adamant to create something fresh and new with each release, and never repeat the same form twice. It can be challenging to get into, but it is worth the effort. And when it clicks, the listener is always left wanting more.
They look both East and West of their new album, visiting dreamed up places like Shangri La in Asia's Kunlun Mountains, endure the heat and the dust while traveling on a Road of Sand and are tricked by a Mirage. Their knack for creating tension and release is in full swing. Tobias's experience as an inventive producer and sculptor of sounds enables to use simple motif change that can turn the mood pretty much instantly, with Moonchy's innocent delivery turning into an operatic squeal without warning. Wild Eye offers a different perspective for anyone who wants to look beyond the safe routes and explore new ways to enjoy music.
Avant duo Moonchy & Tobias continue their quest to create adventurous music. Singer Pat Moonchy and multi-instrumentalist Todd Tobias have been working together since 2018. The sharp contrast between Moonchy's high pitched vocals (in Italian, Latin and English) and Tobias's knack for coming up with an amalgam of post-rock soundscapes, riff and power chords, has lessened a bit with each new release, but the intensity is still in full bloom.
On their fourth full-length, Golem, there are elements of psychedelic rock, widescreen motifs of the Ennio Morricone variety, raga, a motorik beat a la Can, and much, much more. It is their darkest sounding collection of songs to date. Imagine enjoying the rides of an entertainment park that has been closed to the public, due to some serious health and safety issues. A thrilling, chilling and ultimately very rewarding listening experience.
For True Sound, the new concept album by lo-fi project The World of Dust, Dutch musician Stefan Breuer once again reached out to Todd Tobias to write the music. It is a true collaboration, with Breuer telling stories about his grandparents Nel and Jan (plus a song about Jan's first wife Petronella who died in childbirth), and Tobias providing a backing to echoes the emotions.
Death and life are treated as two sides of the coin, and as long as there are people to share memories the dead are still an integral part of the family. Breuer and Tobias meet each other halfway with their love for noise, avant-garde, and jangling psychedelic shoegaze. Accessible underground music that will be embraced by anyone who is serious about music and has had his share of loss and love.
Dutch musician Stefan Breuer will release his new concept album True Sound by his lo-fi project The World of Dust on September 10. All songs are about the life and death of his grandparents. On lead single Goodbye he copes with the death of is grandfather Jan, who succumbed to cancer in 1999. Todd Tobias wrote the music, and his wife Anneke Nieuwdorp took care of the backing vocals. Jangling psychedelic shoegaze that goes straight for the gut.
Avant duo Moonchy & Tobias go for a lighter, more accessible sound on their new Venus Mirror EP. Singer Pat Moonchy sings once again in Latin and her native tongue Italian, with Todd Tobias providing a stew of bubbling synths, acoustic guitar and beats that for a lack of better description could be labeled as sunny post-rock. The title track - Specchio Di Venere means Venus Mirror - is a wordless serenade to inner beauty. Moonchy hits all the notes in a stream of consciousness-like state. Foglia Di Te is almost as introspective, with the music going round and round as the tea leaves in the cup that was the inspiration for the lyrics.
Music geeks will give a thumbs up to the warm major sevenths of jazz and Shoshana Klein's Oboe in Delibo. It is their most optimistic effort to date, going out on a high note with the closing track Leniter, Latin for "gently" or "mildly". Venus Mirror is for daydreamers of all ages.
Watch the new Moonchy & Tobias video for Delibo, the lead single from their forthcoming new EP Venus Mirror, out on June 5 via Hidden Shoal and Tiny Room Records. Singer Pat Moonchy holds back on this one, her voice coming close to a whisper every now and then, with Todd Tobias supplying a comfortable bed of sounds, relying on the warm major sevenths of jazz for extra comfort. Shoshana Klein plays a bit of plays Oboe, a nice addition to the duo's musical palette.
Ohio based experimentalist Todd Tobias and Italian avant-garde singer Pat Moonchy go in at the deep end on their third album, taking cues from Portishead’s lauded Third. A sense of foreboding is eminent inn the soundscapes and by using Latin it could be mistaken for a gospel record, albeit one where art is the thing that offers mankind comfort and a sense for beauty.
Most of the tracks move slowly - Frangit inches forward at snail's pace - making Moonchy & Tobias III a listening experience that is an oasis in a sped-up world wherein everything is moving so fast that details and nuances are lost. This music is best experienced in solitude wearing a set of premium headphones.
Watch the new Moonchy & Tobias video for Petali Caduti, the second single from their forthcoming new album Moonchy & Tobias III, out on October 30 via Hidden Shoal and Tiny Room Records. Pat Moonchy sings in Latin again, with Todd Tobias providing a soundscape maze that is sligthly disturbing, but it is a joy to wander around in. Gentle avant-garde as a gateway to their parallel universe where time and moods shift in a way that will send physicists back to their drawing boards.
HCTF review of Atmosfere.
Watch the new Moonchy & Tobias video for Sericum, a track from their forthcoming new album Moonchy & Tobias III, out on October 30 via Hidden Shoal and Tiny Room Records. Pat Moonchy sings in Latin, with Todd Tobias providing the dreamy and compelling music. A part cerebral part sacral composition, that will baffle Portishead fans in a good way.
HCTF review of Atmosfere.
Watch the new Moonchy & Tobias video for Lo Sguardo, a track from their Atmosfere album, a soft-spoken collaboration of two avant-garde musicians. "All lyrics are in Italian, but there is no need to be fluent in that language in order to get the gist of the words. Tobias plays a kot of acoustic guitar on the tracks and the tinkling sound of that instrument is like a second guide. Pick one to follow or change mid-song to find something new and interesting. All tracks are invitations to dream and wonder." The clip was made by Budano Lino.
HCTF review of Atmosfere.
Watch the new Moonchy & Tobias video for Pioggia e sale, a track from their Atmosfere album, a soft-spoken collaboration of two avant-garde musicians. "All lyrics are in Italian, but there is no need to be fluent in that language in order to get the gist of the words. Tobias plays a kot of acoustic guitar on the tracks and the tinkling sound of that instrument is like a second guide. Pick one to follow or change mid-song to find something new and interesting. All tracks are invitations to dream and wonder."
HCTF review of Atmosfere.
Ohio based experimentalist Todd Tobias and Italian avant-garde singer Pat Moonchy have teamed up for a collaborative Moonchy & Tobias album. Their self-titled debut was a nice surprise, a meeting of musical minds that left the listener wanting more.
Atmosfere picks up the quiet intensity of the debut, meandering soundscapes with Moonchy as a guide to a pastoral, almost childlike world. All lyrics are in Italian, but there is no need to be fluent in that language in order to get the gist of the words. Tobias plays a kot of acoustic guitar on the tracks and the tinkling sound of that instrument is like a second guide. Pick one to follow or change mid-song to find something new and interesting. All tracks are invitations to dream and wonder.
Dutch indie label Tiny Room Records enters the world of book publishing with Circus Devils: See You Inside. Written by Todd Toabias the book documents the 14 full-length albums released by the Ohio freak-rock trio founded by Robert Pollard (Guided By Voices):
In October 2018, Jeremy St James and Johnny Savely set up the listening party series ‘Discussions in the Cave’ in the Guided By Voices facebook group. All Circus Devils’ albums were being discussed, while the people in the group listened to one of the 14 records from A to Z. Band member Todd Tobias provided notes of his reflections on the music. This led to a book about the psych rock formation, their albums, and his own history of making music. The book offers a personal glimpse into the band’s playfully dark, psychedelic world.
Dutch musician Stefan Breuer always made it personal on the albums of his The World of Dust project, but never more so than on his new one Samsara. Named after the Sanskrit word for "wandering" or "world" he bares his soul about mental and physcial issues (Worms of the Mind), and dealing with parenthood (Welcome).
Todd Tobias (Guided by Voices, Robert Pollard) created the instrumental backdrops for this album, mostly gentle guitar excursions and a bit of choice percussion. Breuer kept chipping away at his lyrics, rewriting and rearranging, putting his skills as collage artist to good use for his words. After two years of going back and forth the thirteen vignettes on Samsara are now ready to begin their journey. Fans of serious and dreamy lo-fi folk will love it.
Dutch musician Stefan Breuer used all his action figures (157, try counting them) for the video for Tarot, a track from his forthcoming The World Of Dust album Samsara. Todd Tobias (Guided by Voices, Robert Pollard) created the instrumental backdrops for this album, a lo-fi journey about dealing with mental health and parenthood.
Two years in the making the album by The World Of Dust will be a special one. Stefan Breuer, the man behind the Dutch one-man dreamy lo-fi project wrote the lyrics to instrumental backdrops created by Todd Tobias (Guided by Voices, Robert Pollard). This transatlantic collaboration served as a kind of therapy for Breuer who turned it into "personal suite of lyrics, reflecting his struggles with his mental health and his experience of becoming a father". Lead single Blood can be streamed on Soundcloud.
