classic albums, atsonicpark edition # 17: thinking fellers union local #282 - mother
 

...of all saints. Damn you TFUL for having such a long name.




THINKING FELLERS UNION LOCAL # 282 "MOTHER OF ALL SAINTS"
Matador, 1992

1. ...
2. A Gentleman's Lament
3. Catcher
4. Hornet's Heart
5. Star Trek
6. Tell Me
7. Heaven For Addled Imbeciles
8. Hive
9. Hummingbird in a Cube of Ice
10. None Too Fancy
11. Wide Forehead
12. Infection
13. Pleasure Circle
14. Tight Little Thing
15. Hosanna Loud Hosanna
16. Tuning Notes
17. Shuddering Big Butter
18. 1" Tall
19. Raymond H.
20. ...
21. Cistern
22. El Cerrito
23. Fish Bowl

Personally, Thinking Fellers Union Local # 282 has everything I look for in a band: endlessly creative, ridiculously inventive, fiercely independant, yet still able to make a song that is memorable and catchy without shame. You really can't go wrong with any of their albums, as they are all perfect, as this is easily the most consistent band I've ever heard. But I chose this because it has my favorite TFUL282 songs (like the catchy-as-hell "Hornet's Heart" that starts like a Sun City Girls song and has some of the weirdest guitar lines this side of Captain Beefheart) and it's their longest.

There's really only about 12 songs on this album, as with all their albums, there are tons of snippets of "Feller filler" which range from hilarious to annoying to head-scratching. I once read that TFUL put those on there so as to not be taken so seriously; their music is so good and complex and they're such skilled players that they didn't want to come off as condescending perfectionists. Unlike math rock bands who showoff the fact they can count a lot in every song they do, TFUL's moments of complexity never feel forced. They're more concerned with crafting unique, interesting songs. And they do in spades here.

For those who haven't heard TFUL # 282, there are three guitarists (who play lots of different instruments too) with alternately-tuned guitars playing extremely creative and well-structured rock songs that are actually kind of undefinable. There are elements of noise rock, pop, folk, surf, and even classical in their works, and it's all done with a sense of humor.


For fans of Polvo, Sonic Youth, and Truman's Water; you can hear echoes of that stuff here, but TFUL # 282 easily takes the cake. Honestly, probably the best album you all haven't bought yet. Amazing.

A classic.

I haven't heard it. I'll have to.

I like how this is easily one of the best albums of all time, by far the best album released in the 90's, and one of the only amazing albums Matador has ever been involved with in any way, yet no one has said anything about it. That's pretty embarassing, eh?

i haven't listened to tfu yet, sorry.

yeah, hornet's heart is a great song. i've got a couple of their albums, can definately see the polvo / truman's water comparisons. any other similar bands you'd recommend?

Unfortunately, no.. I'd like to hear more similiar bands though.

They just don't make 'em this creative, entertaining, innovative, and amazing very often.

ah you disappoint me, i was expecting a list of about 300 random bands haha..

i'll have to track down all their other albums instead

everyneurotic, they covered caroliner on one of their eps . is that reccomendation enough?

I'm certain 've said this in this forum before, but the first time I saw TFUL282 was in autumn 1990 and I wasn't too impressed, too much goofiness for me at thattime, but I saw them again in a year or two and was blown away, thinking (and this was the Goo era which I really disliked) 'This is the band Sonic Youth wishes they could be'.

Every single one of thier albums are good. Sadly, they picked the wrong business model ('We can tour with Live and breakthrough opening up for them') - if they had stuck it out in the slow path I think they would be huge now (at least as big as Battles).

ohh no, it's not for lack of reccomendations, i actually want to check them out, i just haven't yet.

and their version of 'outhouse of the pryeeeeeee' is probably the best cover version ever. this album is a masterpiece!

yes.

probably the most consistently amazing band ever.

http://www.mediafire.com/?w4vmmjyzijh

DOWNLOAD!

Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 were remnants of San Francisco's hippie/freak culture of the 1960s, and heirs to the Residents' theatrical madness. Tangle (1989) and especially Lovelyville (1991) collected eccentric, amateurish, irreverent and manic-depressive miniatures that overflowed with echoes of the most disparate genres (free-jazz jamming, funeral music, heavy-metal riffs, Indian pow-wow music, folk lullabies). The unifying theme of these musical landmines was the performance, which evoked the Holy Modal Rounders in their most irrational moments. There was no limit to human imagination in the demented cabaret of Mother Of All Saints (1992), a chaotic excursus through jazz, bluegrass, exotica, Ennio Moriccone and Frank Zappa, a super-collage of sonic debris assembled by vocalist Anne Eickelberg, percussionist Jay Paget, multi-instrumentalists Brian Hageman and Mark Davies on a wealth of instruments. Faithful to Dada's principle of art as a paradox, the band was at its childish peak.


If you'd like to buy a copy, it's only $5:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=glance&n=5174

i only got this one (and the remaining tful282 albums i didnt have) last week. just listened to it 2 nights ago... its excellent...... i have a renewed fascination with this band.....

strangers in the universe is still one of my favourites....

Downloading, I'm looking forward to hearing ths. I've been meaning to check them out for some time now.
The e-mails section on their site is great

people are saying SY really ripped these guys off which is probably somewhat true. however does anyone else notice how star trek sounds so much like can song or in the bedroom which were done before this record came out.

Strangers from the Universe rules, pauly!

My favorite is definitely the ep "admonishing the bishops". There's a great banjo/gospel singalong at the end... not to mention the song undertaker which is just unbelievable.

can anyone upload this?

i just can't seem to find it anywhere..

do you have soulseek? if so add i300e, he definitely has it (thart's my best friend's account)...

lonelyville is so fucking crazy. atsonicpark, when you first told me about tful 282, id assume they were gonna be in the vein of polvo, that is, like, an ultra melodic sweeping guitar quasi-math indie rock band. i was shocked when i realized they were more in the vein of sun city girls, that is, theyre undefinable by anything less than 5000 word essays. there is so many elements to thier sound that i simply cant due them duty by discussingng them on a message board. incredible fucking band.

word.

YES! took me a day but i found it (among all of their other releases, too)..

http://youngmosstongue.blogspot.com/...rs+union+local

hf :)

Yep, AWESOME band!

I got that bob fellers album a while ago... I never got into it - I think i dont like it. and i thought i'd really love this band. From that album i thought they were a little too eclectic, a little too much going on like i'd be enjoying something off that album then something would ruin it or really annoy me about it. I shall definatly check out mother tho on the download, thanks! maybe i can be swayed because i dont think i'd buy another one of their albums to try and find out..

Well auto-aim, they are pretty eclectic, but all their albums sound different too. That's actually probably not the best place to start (it's their last album also if that makes a difference) though it is brilliant in my opinion.

I think the best place to start is probably strangers from the universe, though this is my favorite. The one that seems to divide people the most is the excellent I Hope It Lands.

My favorite TFUL # 282 song is either "Undertaker" or "Hornet's Heart"...

Also, Batreleaser, do you like Caroliner?

I always considered Sun City Girls/TFUL # 282/Caroliner brother bands... for a lot of reasons besides them all touring together.

i looooove carolner. theyre a bit more visual than those bands, also a bit noisier, no? anyways, yeah, theyre amazing.

I like Mother of All Saints a hell of a lot more because at least there isnt anything on there that sounds like RHCP. I'm still not certain i totally like this band though - the music is great but theres something off that i dont get. I'm enjoying this album though but i guess its because i was hoping to love it - which i dont think i do.

rhcp... red hot chili peppers? eh?

yeah sno cone off bob fellers really bothers me because it really reminds me of them.

That's probably my favorite song off of that album.

Anyway, RHCP? Both bands have bass and drums and guitar and vocals. THat's pretty much the only similarities I hear!

best band on the planet earth. without any doubt.

they are AWESOME. I've discovered them about a year ago and my first song was "big hands". now I own ALL their releases on vinyl and collecting live shows. so fun!

can't say exactly which album is my favorite, probably it's "tangle".

Cooley, do a Skullflower classic albums. I've been obsessing over the work of Matthew Bower the past few days, all of his bands, but Skullflower is the best. I even like the new albums better than the old ones, like "IIIRd Gatekeeper", which is like Hawkwind reduced to a minimal Drone-Noise project but with still all the Psycehdelic Drugged out sleaze they always had.

Alright I've listened to 4 TFUL albums so far.

Strangely Mother Of All Saints has been the one I've least enjoyed. Saying that, it has their best song (Hornet's Heart) and has some WOW moments.

My favourite so far has been Strangers of the Universe. Amazing melodies coming left and right in that album but still keeping that oddness that makes them so appealing and unique.

Great band overall! Glad I listened to them.

fantastic, everyone loves tful 282.

Fly Ashtray is closer to the TFU sound than most.

i also love TFU...saw 'em 5-6 times and they were fantastic each and every time.

On a wire that's easy and wide, the catcher enters, then the catcher leaves.
To catch a catcher with half-closed eyes, find something that fits, then pry.

In my car at the shopping mall, there's some things I've got to see.
I saw some aerobics and cancer. Tonight I will not dream.

I saw a car so big and wide, it wouldn't fit down the street.
The man who bought it couldn't fit inside. Tonight I will not dream.

He's suspended in drinks tonight. He's suspended in dreams tonight.

ive heard 3 TFL albums
MOS
i hope it lands
and lovelyville
mother is amazing, i think i like hornets heart and tell me the best
but i might like i hope it lands better. the guitars sound so fucking good. and a lambs lullaby and lizards dream are great
im now DLing strangers...

You can fizz out the top or settle to the bottom or stand still inside a liquid life.
You can float away or melt into the ground, but scientists can watch you through the glass and measure forces pulling you, and measure forces pushing you, until you stand still and make the shadows stop.
Vaporize, solidify. Hummingbird in a cube of ice.