Friends of Friends presents: Teengirl Fantasy, Dance On The Tightrope, and Sway Clarke II.
While students at Oberlin College, Nick Weiss and Logan Takahashi connected over a shared love of classic house and techno records that prompted them to make, “some kind of dance music that wasn’t just emulating what we were hearing.” The duo formed their music organically, improvising over loops that eventually materialized into full-fledged compositions. Rather than relying on triggering loops, or quantization, Teengirl Fantasy’s music has always been performed and composed live, resulting in a form of discourse between the band and their instruments. The result is a-typical for electronic dance music- colorful, maximalist textures and tones that move along with a driving rhythm yet still retain a distinctly human and emotional core.
In the fall of 2010, True Panther Sounds and Merok released Teengirl Fantasy’s debut LP, 7AM. Titled after the, “confused, dreamy, half-awake, half-asleep state that one experiences after staying up all night partying,” 7AM was critically praised for its creative use of samples and experimentation.
On their sophomore LP, Tracer, Teengirl Fantasy featured an array of vocalists including Panda Bear, Romanthony (of Daft Punk’s “One More Time” fame), Laurel Halo, and Kelela. Tracer touched on an array of genres such as techno, pop, R&B, and house.
Berlin based band Dance On The Tightrope never aimed to settle for a single sound and is making no pretense of their private record cabinet. Their musical references meet at a sound consisting of an electronic music foundation, extended by pop-cultural experiments, a generous dose of handmade arrangements, and a mesmerisation for the 80s. Their performance spans hybrid acoustic colours between synthesizer and trumpet or drum pad and drum kit. Paired and carried by spherical vocals, the band succeeds with this balancing act in the modern music landscape. Holding on to the tightrope, the journey, dithering between elements of Pop and psychosis, machine and humanity, drama and austerity, continues. Not only Germany’s leading music magazine, „Musikexpress“, is celebrating the band as promising newcomers and now the band is picking up the pace: After their self-released EPs „Copy“ and „Paste“, their debut album is at the ready.
Sway Clarke II completes the line up. SCII is a singer/songwriter, heavily influenced by hiphop and folk, with a very questionable sense of humour. He enjoys playing live, of course. Having sex. Singing in when nobody’s around. Eating schinitzel and Schwarzwald Kirschtorte. Yoga.Watching Game of Thrones.
