BOBBY (band)
Encyclopedia
BOBBY is a cooperative
musical project based on the talents of musicians from Partisan Records
and Knitting Factory Records
which is notable for achieving an avant garde alternative sound using polyrhythm
as well as achieving critical acclaim before releasing their first album entitled Bobby. They signed a contract with Partisan Records
in 2010.
––group members were students at Bennington College
who moved in to a remote house in western Massachusetts
in the town of Montague
. Tom Greenberg was the founder, according to several sources. Greenberg brought in musical friends including Martin Zimmermann, who had been heavily influenced by Bennington teacher and jazz percussionist Milford Graves
. The group was a "loose collective" emerging from "a broken social scene of Bennington College pals," according to one account, and as a "grab bag of college friends and label mates" by a second account.
The name Bobby does not describe an actual person but rather a fiction
al character who was a "wayward founding member" who never played with the band but whose "spirit lingers over the project." One account suggests BOBBY was the name of a "bad dancer" who was the fictional friend of Tom Greenberg, and in the spring of 2010, Greenberg composed songs for his imaginary friend Bobby to dance to. After using the name BOBBY, the group encountered book artist Keith Smith's 1985 publication "BOBBY," which described an imaginary friend by the same name BOBBY. Smith granted permission for the group BOBBY to feature pieces of his book BOBBY for their album artwork. One reviewer tried googling
the word Bobby only to find it "un-Googleable" since it is not a unique name.
acoustic folk and synthesizer-based sounds. Some members, past and present, have worked with other established bands, including Molly Sarle and Amelia Meath of Mountain Man
. The music of BOBBY has experimental rhythms in which multiple meters are superimposed on one another so that "each song can be felt in different time signature
s." The group performs with numerous effects pedals, numerous synthesizers, and a Rhodes keyboard
.
The group toured in eighteen cities in the United States
in June 2011. In August 2011, the group reformed as a four-piece, introducing Maia Friedman on vocals and keyboards, while Moulton, Labat, Meath and Sarle left the group. In Fall 2011, BOBBY toured with acclaimed UK group Wild Beasts, and later toured nationally with Little Scream. According to one report, the group was discovered by Tim Putnam of Partisan Records
. The project released their debut album on Partisan Records
on June 21, 2011. The group has performed with Thao + Mirah It performed in the South by Southwest
(SXSW) festival in March 2011 in Austin, Texas
.
music critic Nate Chinen wrote that the band was "drowning in reverb" and that "almost every song felt blurred around the edges and muffled at the center." MVRemix described the album as "a lush, full spectrum exploration of frequency and timbrel layering" with "tender harmonies ... above rich textures." A reviewer described the music as "blissed-out, retreating into layers of dewy, droney guitar and fluttering modular synths." A review in Jazner described the music as having "mesmerizing melodies (which) leave listeners in a speechless state of ethereal bliss." Malcom Lacey described the group's song Sore Spores as "intimately catchy" and another described it as "soothing and psychedelic." An account in Visible Voice suggested their music was "hypnotic folk head trip" which was "dewey". An account in Entertainment Realm describes the group as "dreamy, eclectic, quirky". The track Groggy was described as a "best new track" by Pitchfork Magazine in March 2011. Reviewer Liz Jane in Consequence of Sound described the sound as "endearingly quirky" and had a "delicate balance between calm and eerie".
Cooperation
Cooperation or co-operation is the process of working or acting together. In its simplest form it involves things working in harmony, side by side, while in its more complicated forms, it can involve something as complex as the inner workings of a human being or even the social patterns of a...
musical project based on the talents of musicians from Partisan Records
Partisan Records
Partisan Records is an American independent record label based in Brooklyn, New York. It was started in 2007 by Ian Wheeler and Tim Putnam. Their first releases were an expanded version of Holy Sons Decline of the West and The Standard's fifth studio album Swimmer...
and Knitting Factory Records
Knitting Factory Records
Knitting Factory Records is an independent American music label that is notable for promoting a variety of artists including deceased Nigerian political agitator and musician Fela Kuti...
which is notable for achieving an avant garde alternative sound using polyrhythm
Polyrhythm
Polyrhythm is the simultaneous sounding of two or more independent rhythms.Polyrhythm in general is a nonspecific term for the simultaneous occurrence of two or more conflicting rhythms, of which cross-rhythm is a specific and definable subset.—Novotney Polyrhythms can be distinguished from...
as well as achieving critical acclaim before releasing their first album entitled Bobby. They signed a contract with Partisan Records
Partisan Records
Partisan Records is an American independent record label based in Brooklyn, New York. It was started in 2007 by Ian Wheeler and Tim Putnam. Their first releases were an expanded version of Holy Sons Decline of the West and The Standard's fifth studio album Swimmer...
in 2010.
Beginnings
With the exception of Menuez––who attended Hampshire CollegeHampshire College
Hampshire College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1965 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley: Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of Massachusetts...
––group members were students at Bennington College
Bennington College
Bennington College is a liberal arts college located in Bennington, Vermont, USA. The college was founded in 1932 as a women's college and became co-educational in 1969.-History:-Early years:...
who moved in to a remote house in western Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
in the town of Montague
Montague, Massachusetts
Montague is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,489 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts metropolitan statistical area....
. Tom Greenberg was the founder, according to several sources. Greenberg brought in musical friends including Martin Zimmermann, who had been heavily influenced by Bennington teacher and jazz percussionist Milford Graves
Milford Graves
Milford Graves is an American jazz drummer and percussionist, most noteworthy for his early avant-garde contributions in the early 1960s with Paul Bley and the New York Art Quartet...
. The group was a "loose collective" emerging from "a broken social scene of Bennington College pals," according to one account, and as a "grab bag of college friends and label mates" by a second account.
The name Bobby does not describe an actual person but rather a fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
al character who was a "wayward founding member" who never played with the band but whose "spirit lingers over the project." One account suggests BOBBY was the name of a "bad dancer" who was the fictional friend of Tom Greenberg, and in the spring of 2010, Greenberg composed songs for his imaginary friend Bobby to dance to. After using the name BOBBY, the group encountered book artist Keith Smith's 1985 publication "BOBBY," which described an imaginary friend by the same name BOBBY. Smith granted permission for the group BOBBY to feature pieces of his book BOBBY for their album artwork. One reviewer tried googling
Google (verb)
The transitive verb to google refers to using the Google search engine to obtain information on the Web. However, it can also be used as a general term for searching the internet using any search engine, not just Google...
the word Bobby only to find it "un-Googleable" since it is not a unique name.
Music
The group, until August 2011, was composed of seven musicians, some who were members of other bands, collaborating on experimentalExperimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
acoustic folk and synthesizer-based sounds. Some members, past and present, have worked with other established bands, including Molly Sarle and Amelia Meath of Mountain Man
Mountain Man (music group)
Mountain Man is an American singing trio of young women described as indie folk rock with a traditional Appalachian-type folk sound. They are notable for earning critical acclaim from numerous music critics...
. The music of BOBBY has experimental rhythms in which multiple meters are superimposed on one another so that "each song can be felt in different time signature
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
s." The group performs with numerous effects pedals, numerous synthesizers, and a Rhodes keyboard
Rhodes piano
The Rhodes piano is an electro-mechanical piano, invented by Harold Rhodes during the fifties and later manufactured in a number of models, first in collaboration with Fender and after 1965 by CBS....
.
The group toured in eighteen cities in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in June 2011. In August 2011, the group reformed as a four-piece, introducing Maia Friedman on vocals and keyboards, while Moulton, Labat, Meath and Sarle left the group. In Fall 2011, BOBBY toured with acclaimed UK group Wild Beasts, and later toured nationally with Little Scream. According to one report, the group was discovered by Tim Putnam of Partisan Records
Partisan Records
Partisan Records is an American independent record label based in Brooklyn, New York. It was started in 2007 by Ian Wheeler and Tim Putnam. Their first releases were an expanded version of Holy Sons Decline of the West and The Standard's fifth studio album Swimmer...
. The project released their debut album on Partisan Records
Partisan Records
Partisan Records is an American independent record label based in Brooklyn, New York. It was started in 2007 by Ian Wheeler and Tim Putnam. Their first releases were an expanded version of Holy Sons Decline of the West and The Standard's fifth studio album Swimmer...
on June 21, 2011. The group has performed with Thao + Mirah It performed in the South by Southwest
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
(SXSW) festival in March 2011 in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
.
Reviews
The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
music critic Nate Chinen wrote that the band was "drowning in reverb" and that "almost every song felt blurred around the edges and muffled at the center." MVRemix described the album as "a lush, full spectrum exploration of frequency and timbrel layering" with "tender harmonies ... above rich textures." A reviewer described the music as "blissed-out, retreating into layers of dewy, droney guitar and fluttering modular synths." A review in Jazner described the music as having "mesmerizing melodies (which) leave listeners in a speechless state of ethereal bliss." Malcom Lacey described the group's song Sore Spores as "intimately catchy" and another described it as "soothing and psychedelic." An account in Visible Voice suggested their music was "hypnotic folk head trip" which was "dewey". An account in Entertainment Realm describes the group as "dreamy, eclectic, quirky". The track Groggy was described as a "best new track" by Pitchfork Magazine in March 2011. Reviewer Liz Jane in Consequence of Sound described the sound as "endearingly quirky" and had a "delicate balance between calm and eerie".