Artist Information
Biography
TAM is a female musician, having began her career playing in one of Mtl's top Swing Jazz band, switched to brit pop then post punk rock mixed with rockabilly and avant garde noise influence, making for a very original mixture of sounds.Tam was signed in 2006 to Thurston moore 's label Ecstaticpeace. Tam recently opened for Nick Cave and signed publishing contract with Germany's Freibank as well.
TAM presently has 2 acts, one solo with "NOISE"/Drum tracks and electric guitar/vocals, or a trio, with Eric Sandmark of Ray Condo on guitar and Ion Ivanovici on drums. Tam began playing music as rhythm guitarist in Django Reinhardt cover band Swing Dynamic , playing over 200 gigs and festivals , then turned alternative post punk- rock after Swing Dynamic leader Mike King hanged himself. She then formed her own band with Men Without Hats bassist Johnny Souranis and Nils drummer Eloi/Johnny Graham.The band was called "The Vampires" when Andy Flesh and wheelchairbound Americafell Charles Meehan joined as second singers and they performed at Pasalamany for one year.Tam was signed to Thurston Moore s label, Ecstatic Peace/Universal in 2006 ( Tam under STORE on ecstaticpeace.com) and Thurston Moore changed her band name back to TAM when he released her cd. She then opened for Nick Cave in 2008. Tam played Osheaga Fest and Pop Mtl fests, did solo Northamerican and UK tour , one week "residency"with New Order re-mixer/Dj producer Arthur baker. Tam was hired by music marketing company Someone Else Intl for 6 months and took part in In The City conferences Manchester, UK. She played with Dave Wenger of Daddy's Hands.TAM is self-managed. Presently Tam has been expanding her solo repertoire to explore more Noise aspects combined with post punk rock compositions.
REVIEWS:
Up and Coming: Tam
By Chris Rolls
July 11, 2006 at 12:39:00 PM
Lo-fi aficionados, shoegazers, and noisepoppers rejoice! Tam has surfaced to fill your ears with music that is nothing short of brilliant.
Tam
When I discovered that Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace label signed a deal with Universal, my heart sank to new depths. A cold sweat claimed my aging skin and my stomach turned with anxiety. (A similar physiological chain reaction occurred when Volkswagen began harvesting tunes by the Orb, Stereolab, and Nick Drake, or even further back, when Nike plucked Lennon's electrified "Revolution" and images of William S. Burroughs.)
Over the years I have watched monolithic record labels destroy great bands and independent labels. So, the question becomes: Can the great Thurston Moore wrestle with the enemy while ensuring that Ecstatic Peace releases will retain the experimental, underground-warehouse feel that so many crave and expect. Well, if Tam is any indication, the answer appears to be yes (at least for the time being).
Who is Tam? Well, she is a seasoned musician who started out in a Django Reinhardt cover band. She then moved on to an Oasis cover band. Eventually she switched over to her own songs, aided by various other players, and released them under the moniker The Butchershop.
More time passed, more music was released and performed, and then Tam turned her focus toward ensuring that her (and her groups) music fell into the hands of Thurston Moore--a dream that thankfully led to Tam, a collection of Tam's songs complied by Moore himself.
This collection is nothing short of brilliant. Lo-fi aficionados will rejoice at its tape-hiss-enveloped simplicity; shoegazers and noisepoppers will praise the nods to late-eighties and early-nineties aesthetics. Even the covers are fantastic; the Arcade Fire's "No Car Go" gets a Pixies-esque reductionist treatment, while "Incest at Best," from Victoria's Daddy's Hands, sounds like a less narcotized Royal Trux.
Thank you, Tam; thank you, Ecstatic Peace; and yes, thank you, Thurston, for pushing more fantastic music into our collective ear holes.
REVIEW FROM BILLBOARD OF 2006 TAM RELEASE:
AMG Review
In the best possible way, Tam's self-titled debut feels like a throwback to a certain kind of '90s indie rock, with female vocals that are sometimes shouty, sometimes charmingly off-key; simple-but-effective drumming and guitars, and the odd keyboard here and there; and production that's raw but not quite lo-fi. Tam ends up sounding a bit like Guv'ner -- an especially apt comparison since they were also signed to Ecstatic Peace! back in the day -- and a bit like Marmoset, if they'd had a female singer. The retro vibe of her music isn't all that surprising, considering that Tam has been writing songs since the mid-'90s even though this is her first official release. Most of Tam falls into this off-kilter but catchy territory, as exemplified by her cover of the Arcade Fire's "No Cars Go," "Take What U Need," and the strummy, bittersweet "You're Not Mine." However, the album takes some interesting detours over the course of its 17 tracks, ranging from the cute synth pop of "Top" and "Alien Nation" (in which Tam pronounces "sunshine" as "soon-she-yine" à la Oasis' Liam Gallagher) to the surprisingly dark undercurrents on "Better Off Dead" and "Incest at Best," on which she snarls, "we're so much less than friends." Sometimes the songs are a little too shambling and her vocals are a little too artless. Still, when many indie rock bands are trying to reinvent post-punk for the umpteenth time or are "collectives" full of glockenspiel and flugelhorn players, there's something oddly refreshing about the strange simplicity of Tam's music. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide
REVIEW FROM BOSTON PHOENIX:BOSTON REVIEW
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Tam
Tam | Ecstatic Peace
By WILL SPITZ
August 8, 2006 1:55:46 PM
I can't quite put my finger on what it is about this debut from Canadian singer-songwriter Tam Isabel Pardo — who goes by just her first name and got her start learning Django Reinhardt tunes and playing in Oasis cover bands — but I can't stop listening to it. Maybe it's the songwriting, a sort of poor man's version of Exile in Guyville–era Liz Phair. Maybe it's the nonchalant charm of Tam's vocals, which are out of tune half the time. Maybe it's recording engineer/multi-instrumentalist Johnny Souranis's ragged lo-fi approach, which fits her songs and voice like a glove. Maybe it's curious moves like opening the 17-track album with three covers: a delightfully shambling version of Arcade Fire's "No Cars Go" and two songs by the obscure British Columbia metal band Daddy's Hands. Maybe it's all of the above.
Instrumentation
TAM- vocals, guitar, drum machine. Tam performs solo or with various rotating band members. Some members include Men Without Hats bassist Johnny Souranis, Ray Condo guitarist Eric Sandmark, Nils drummer Eloi Bertholet or Ion Ivanovici.
Discography
TAM self titled released on Ecstaticpeace in 2006 and "The Dead Soles "self-released solo cd available on cdbaby.com/Artist/Tam or from Freibank publishers. "The Vampires" cd released in 2008 by Jacob Chelkowski. TAM is presently recording a new solo cd which incorporates noise into structured original compositions and covers.
Links
Audio
Lyrics
Video
Photo Gallery
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Tam at Velvet Underground gig solo.toronto.2010
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Jp, bass , Tam, Eloi drums.2005.
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Tam in Lapko shirt.2009.
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Eric sandmark guitar, TAM.2010
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tam at barfly gig, 2003
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Tam at Toronto gig. 2010
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tam.2010
Download print quality (high-res) version -
tam. 2009
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Jp, Tam, Andy. 2005 salla rossa gig.
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iontamjohnny
Press
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reviews
reviews can be found on www.myspace.com/tamofvampires under pics
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Ecstaticpeace signs with Universal
[+ Show ]
In february sonicyouth's Thurston Moore signed a distribution deal between his independant record la...
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Tam and the Vampires
[+ Show ]
Tam is simply amazing. Her voice is angelic, she is like a freakin' godsend.She is delightful and lo...
Setlist
1 set =30- 40 minutes , solo, duo or with band. Set List:Tam originals and covers including Harry Howard, Americefell, Simon Finn, Dave Wenger
