Touché
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Touché

Los Angeles, California, United States | SELF

Los Angeles, California, United States | SELF
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"Touché ready debut LP, playing NYC shows"


Touche ready debut LP, playing NYC shows (dates, streams)
by Bill Pearis

Los Angeles duo Touché is a new musical project from Bram Inscore and Alex Lily, both of whom were in Obi Best if you remember them from a couple years ago. Both have long been part of the LA scene, with Bram playing with Beck, Charlotte Gainsbourg and recently took over bass duties in Twin Shadow after Russ Manning left to concentrate on his project, Rush Midnight (is this a trend?). Alex, meanwhile, sang backup with The Bird and the Bee.
The duo, whose music is shiny electropop with a strong ear for hooks, will release their debut album, It's Fate, next year but the first single, the catchy "I'm a Man Not a Machine," is out now and you can stream it or watch the video below. Also below are some remixes by the likes of Daedelus and Lee Cooper (aka Twin Shadow keyboardist Wynne Bennett).
Touché will be in NYC next month for a show at Glasslands on December 19. No openers have been announced but tickets are on sale now. The duo will then be back in NYC for a show at Cameo on January 4 with Tippy Toes and Future Screens. No advance tickets for that one, just $7 at the door.
All upcoming Touché tour dates are listed below, along with song streams.
--- - Brooklyn Vegan


"Listen to Touché cover Prefab Sprout (track premiere)"

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Posted in music | streams on November 27, 2012

listen to Touche cover Prefab Sprout (track premiere)
by Bill Pearis
DOWNLOAD: Touché - Wild Horses (MP3)
photo by Casey Curry

As we mentioned previously, Los Angeles duo Touché (aka Bram Inscore and Alex Lilly) will be here in NYC soon for a couple shows, happening at Glasslands on December 19 with Rarechild and Yalls (tickets) and then Cameo on January 4 with Tippy Toes and Future Screens.
While we wait for those dates to happen, check out a new recording from the pair -- a cover of Prefab Sprout's "Wild Horses" which is making its debut right here. While Touché's version doesn't veer much from the almost glitchy R&B of Paddy McAloon's original (from their 1990 opus Jordan: The Comeback), it is lovely in its own right and does shed light on the pair's influences. Plus, you just don't hear that many Prefab Sprout covers.
You can download the track above or stream it below, where you'll also find all upcoming tour dates.
---

Touché - 2012 / 2013 Tour Dates
11/29: Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo, 9pm w/ Body Parts, Cayucas & Glow Marrow
12/19: Brooklyn, NY @ Glasslands,10pm w/ Rarechild, Yalls
1/4: Brooklyn, NY @ Cameo w/ Tippy Toes and Future Screens
- Brooklyn Vegan


"Eat, Drink, and Be Merry: Holiday Recipes by Musicians"

GREAT GRANDMA’S SUGAR COOKIES
By Alex Lilly of Touché

"Christmas is all about the anticipation: seeing presents under the tree for weeks, shaking them; the mystery is almost better than the actual thing. This recipe requires patience because you have to leave the dough in the fridge overnight. But you will be greatly rewarded when you get to eat these scrumptious cookies the next day!"

5 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/8 cup white sugar
1 cup butter (2 sticks), room temperature
1 cup Crisco vegetable shortening
3 large eggs, well beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts

Cream butter, shortening, and both sugars together. Mix in well-beaten eggs, vanilla, and walnuts. In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Mix wet and dry mixtures together.

Shape mixture into two loaves about 2 inches in diameter and cover in wax paper. Refrigerate overnight.

Preheat over to 350°F. Slice loaves about a ¼-inch thick and bake on ungreased cookie sheets for about 10 minutes or a little longer if you liked them browner.

Play this: "Christmas Wrapping" by The Waitresses
- Elle


"Premiere: Touché "I'm A Man Not A Machine" (Lee Cooper Remix)"

Premiere: Touché ‘I’m A Man Not A Machine’ (Lee Cooper Remix)
By Alex Moore 24 days ago
Touché, the electronic duo of Twin Shadow’s Bram Inscore and Alex Lilly of Obi Best, recently released a single and and accompanying video for “I’m A Man Not A Machine.” In case you’re living in a part of the world where Halloween isn’t cancelled due to Sandy (or if you’re on the east coast and pulling on your party pants anyway) we’re premiering a remix today from Lee Cooper, the remix moniker of Inscore’s Twin Shadow comrade Wynne Bennett.
As if there wasn’t already enough talent packed into Touché (in addition to Twin Shadow Inscore has recorded and toured with Beck, Thurston Moore and Charlotte Gainsbourg) the Lee Cooper remix brings a fun dance layer to the tune, as well as what sounds like a sample from a John Hughes movie I can’t quite place. Or is that “Say Anything”? If you can place it let me know in the comments.

Image: Evan Lane
Related Stories
Touché release 'I'm A Man Not A Machine' video

- Death and Taxes


"Touché Ready debut LP, playing NYC shows"


Touche ready debut LP, playing NYC shows (dates, streams)
by Bill Pearis

Los Angeles duo Touché is a new musical project from Bram Inscore and Alex Lily, both of whom were in Obi Best if you remember them from a couple years ago. Both have long been part of the LA scene, with Bram playing with Beck, Charlotte Gainsbourg and recently took over bass duties in Twin Shadow after Russ Manning left to concentrate on his project, Rush Midnight (is this a trend?). Alex, meanwhile, sang backup with The Bird and the Bee.
The duo, whose music is shiny electropop with a strong ear for hooks, will release their debut album, It's Fate, next year but the first single, the catchy "I'm a Man Not a Machine," is out now and you can stream it or watch the video below. Also below are some remixes by the likes of Daedelus and Lee Cooper (aka Twin Shadow keyboardist Wynne Bennett).
Touché will be in NYC next month for a show at Glasslands on December 19. No openers have been announced but tickets are on sale now. The duo will then be back in NYC for a show at Cameo on January 4 with Tippy Toes and Future Screens. No advance tickets for that one, just $7 at the door.
All upcoming Touché tour dates are listed below, along with song streams. - Brooklyn Vegan


"Touché "Snow White" (Daedelus' Pig Hearted Remix)"

Longstanding LA producer Daedelus opts for a minimal approach on his most recent remix endeavor, a reworking of "Snow White" by fellow SoCal artists Touché (a.k.a. Twin Shadow's Bram Inscore and Alex Lilly of Obi Best/The Bird and The Bee, pictured above). During this beat-driven production, Daedelus seems to narrow in on a few of the original's elements, namely the murderous and flattened synths and the oddly placed woodwinds, highlighting them against a blank canvas of otherwise sonically empty space. - xlr8r.com


"Touché"


STORY / LOGAN BRENDT
PHOTOS / EVAN LANE
“I enjoy doing art as a form of competition,” says Alex Lilly, of Los Angeles-based band Touché. Trippy and enigmatic, Touché is the genius of Lilly and her bandmate Bram Inscore who are both multi-instrumentalists and vocalists, sharing the tasks somewhat evenly in the band. With a history together that dates back to their childhood, Lilly was also part of Obi Best, and The Bird and the Bee, while Inscore has played with Beck, Thurston Moore, and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Joining forces together, their experimental ideas and techniques have made for remarkably interesting music and videos. “We’ll be inspired by an idea, like holding all these notes down on a keyboard, see what happens and try to make sense out of it,” Lilly adds later, about songwriting.
As for their videos, including their newest, “I’m A Man Not A Machine” which recalls early 90s MTV with edge and modernism, Inscore remarks, “We’re both big fans of the golden age of MTV, [for example] the early Nirvana videos and ‘Black Hole Sun’ by Soundgarden.”
Lilly mentions, “You could get away with more non sequiturs like in the Spookey Ruben video, ‘These Days Are Old’”.
The video for “I’m A Man Not A Machine” was directed by newcomers Igigi Studios, and was also influenced by the 1960s Danish short film, The Perfect Human. Inscore says, “Since the content of the song is about how modern technology is replacing a lot of human aspects in life, we wanted to portray really mundane tasks that people do, also related to just being human, including sexuality and intimacy.”
Working with a modern twist, they wanted to collide the modern world with a more traditional look at humanity. “The paint slapping was the original excitement behind the video,” Lilly adds with a laugh.
Since they’re such a visual band, Touché finds beauty everywhere in their Los Angeles surroundings. “I think the inspiring part is the bizarre, shitty part of it,” Inscore says. “There’s these huge concrete structures and manmade industrial landscapes [east of downtown Los Angeles] that’s kind of inspiring in a weird Terminator style way,” he includes.
While writing the songs that will hopefully be released as an album soon, they also got creatively inspired by taking trips together to remote locations. “It was kind of like sensory deprivation— being in a little cabin by ourselves,” Inscore reflects about their trip to the Redwoods.
“Also stimulation,” Lilly interjects. “When we stayed in New Mexico, there were all these terrifying masks and Bram thought it was funny to scare me with them while I was trying to take a shower,” she laughs.
When writing songs, Inscore believes it’s important to set guidelines beforehand, something he once learned from a Quincy Jones interview. “He was talking about how, the more rules he gives himself before he writes something, the easier it is, because if you start from complete scratch, there’s an insane amount of possibilities,” Inscore says. “I like having creativity within certain guidelines because there’s so much you can do.”
Those that have seen Touché live, rave about what standouts they are among the local live show circuit. So who would Touché (who’s quickly becoming one of my favorite bands) like to play a show with in the future? While Lilly is a fan of Yacht and Inscore is a big fan of Ariel Pink, Lilly instead remarks, “If Yes ever had a reunion tour, that would be pretty cool.”
Inscore interjects, “It would be cool to open up for a rapper.”
“Any rapper will do,” Lilly quips. “Beyonce could be cool.”
“Or Metric, or Robyn. I like Robyn a lot,” Inscore additionally mentions.
But, are any of these music artists truly compatible with what they’re all about?
Lilly concludes, “It would make sense for us to open for someone that totally didn’t fit. It’s always about being contrary with whatever’s happening.”
Ah, touché! - Ladygunn


"Week in Pop"

We have the new video from Touché for "I'm a Man Not a Machine". Alex Lilly of Obi Best and Bram Inscore of Twin Shadow enlist director Sur Realismo for the following arty party with their friends and digitized man/woman v. machine postulations of autonomous declarations in the face of the great singularity dialogue. Look for the single available via digital October 30 from iTunes while we await Touché's forthcoming debut It's Fate coming soon.
- Impose Magazine


"Video: Touché, ‘I’m a Man Not a Machine’"

It’s quite possible that Touché would’ve have made a bigger splash by now if the principals weren’t so busy not being Touché. Alex Lilly (Obi Best, the Bird and the Bee, the Living Sisters, et al) is the distaff half of the electro-pop duo, with Bram Inscore (Beck, Thurston Moore, Charlotte Gainsbourg and, currently, Twin Shadow) lending his multi-instrumental talents. Theirs is not the garden-variety electro; neither Lilly’s melodies nor Inscore’s bass lines are obvious enough to service the face-painting crowd, for one thing. Maybe that’s the subtext in the video for their new single “I’m a Man Not a Machine,” where the principals (and plenty of local luminaries) get splashed themselves. - Buzzbands.la


"Touché "I'm A Man Not A Machine" Video Released w/ Under The Radar Today, Single Out 10/30!"

Touché is Alex Lilly and Bram Inscore, a duo that met during childhood, lost touch & and later reunited to combine their musical chops. Touching upon hallucinogenic and esoteric ideas, when the two collaborate they aim to find the place where their psyches overlap. What emerged were anthemic pop pieces darkened by the desires of the human heart and sharpened by some personal politics and explored themes of lust, obsession, fate, and the struggle for control. Touché will release their "I'm A Man Not A Machine" single, containing the infectious track and a remix from Twin Shadow's Wynne Bennett, on October 30th.

Touché reinvent the dancefloor banger, crafting tracks built upon Giorgio Moroder-esque sequences, humanized with girl-boy harmonies, provocative lyrics and jagged guitar shredding à la Fripp - all futurized by rhythmic experimentation. "I'm A Man Not A Machine" is a synthy, percussive number led by Alex's dreamy vocals and licks of guitar. Juxtaposing black & white scenes with neon-filled backdrops, the band's 80's-inspired "I'm A Man Not A Machine" video for the track premiered with Under The Radar today.

Separately, the two halves of Touché have been involved in a slew of musical projects. Alex's previous project was prog-pop outfit Obi Best and has played keys and sang back-up for The Bird and the Bee, Ry Cooder, and Nick Lowe as well as recently joining folk supergroup The Living Sisters. Bram has kept busy as touring and recording bassist & keyboardist for acts like Beck, Thurston Moore, and Charlotte Gainsbourg, and is currently a member of Twin Shadow. As Touché, they've shared stages with MEN, Active Child, and Daedelus in their hometown of LA. Stay tuned for more from Touché coming soon! - Zoiks!


"Touché "I'm A Man Not A Machine""

On my hipster shit today. Touche’s It’s Fate coming soon, and the video was directed by Sur Realismo. This track will be up for grabs on iTunes 10/30. I’m really into that weird drummer guy for some reason…this was weird, and I liked it. - Untitled Hype


"Touché "I'm A Man Not A Machine""

Touché is Alex Lilly and Bram Inscore, a duo that met during childhood, lost touch & and later reunited to combine their musical chops. Touching upon hallucinogenic and esoteric ideas, when the two collaborate they aim to find the place where their psyches overlap. What emerged were anthemic pop pieces darkened by the desires of the human heart and sharpened by some personal politics and explored themes of lust, obsession, fate, and the struggle for control. Touché will release their “I’m A Man Not A Machine” single, containing the infectious track and a remix from Twin Shadow’s Wynne Bennett, on October 30th.
Touché reinvent the dancefloor banger, crafting tracks built upon Giorgio Moroder-esque sequences, humanized with girl-boy harmonies, provocative lyrics and jagged guitar shredding à la Fripp – all futurized by rhythmic experimentation. “I’m A Man Not A Machine” is a synthy, percussive number led by Alex’s dreamy vocals and licks of guitar.
Separately, the two halves of Touché have been involved in a slew of musical projects. Alex’s previous project was prog-pop outfit Obi Best and has played keys and sang back-up for The Bird and the Bee, Ry Cooder, and Nick Lowe as well as recently joining folk supergroup The Living Sisters. Bram has kept busy as touring and recording bassist & keyboardist for acts like Beck, Thurston Moore, and Charlotte Gainsbourg, and is currently a member of Twin Shadow. As Touché, they’ve shared stages with MEN, Active Child, and Daedelus in their hometown of LA. Stay tuned for more from Touché coming soon! - Ellenwood


"Touché release 'I'm A Man Not A Machine' video"


MUSIC

Touché release ‘I’m A Man Not A Machine’ video
By DJ Pangburn 5 days ago
Touché, the duo of Alex Lilly and Bram Inscore, met during childhood, lost touch for a number of years and surprisingly reunited to explore their mutual esoteric ideas. Touché relased their “I’m A Man Not A Machine” single, with a new music video (see below). The single also contains a remix from Twin Shadow’s Wynne Bennett.
Lilly previously played with the prog-pop outfit Obi Best, while working variously with The Bird and the Bee, Ry Cooder, and Nick Lowe as well as recently joining folk supergroup The Living Sisters. Bram, currently a member of Twin Shadow, has toured and recorded as a bassist and keyboardist with Beck, Thurston Moore and Charlotte Gainsbourg.
In watching the video, it quickly becomes apparent that Lilly resembles no less than Annie Lennox. That is not to say Touché are a modern-day Eurythmics. Lilly doesn’t bring Lennox’s depth of soul, relying instead on vocal approach similar to Elizabeth Frazer (Cocteau Twins), minus the nonsense lyrics. - Death and Taxes


"It's A Pop World"

New on the scene Los Angeles duo Touché already has some serious musical cred. Alex Lilly is a member of Bird and the Bee and The Living Sisters, while Bram Inscore has logged time with bassist & keyboardist for acts like Beck, Thurston Moore, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Twin Shadow. Their video for “I’m a Man Not a Machine,” sees both members putting their pop chops to good use. Check out our premiere below. Like what you hear? The single hits digital shelves on October 30. - Under the Radar


"Maren Parusel and Touché at Bar Pink"

I got to Bar Pink (3829 30th Street, North Park) before 9pm to beat the $10 cover charge. After grabbing a $5 vodka tonic and taking a few pictures, I noticed the eclectic mix of people who started to come in. You had your hipsters, college kids, and men in their 50s. I thought the Retro décor was what was going to grab me, but I found the people in this place more intriguing by the second.

I had the chance to speak with members of an L.A band Touché. We talked about music, photography and how they had not played in L.A. yet. They asked if I would buy their CD based on their cover (left). How could I not?

Touché started to play, and the crowd of 40 really seemed to be enjoying the music.
The next band was indie-sounding Maren Parusel. They played on a beige rug surrounded by floor lamps draped in sheer fabrics. It made the stage feel more like a living room. The crowd looked to be comfortable and really enjoying the music
- San Diego Reader


"FEVER + L.A. RECORD + NOMERICA PRESENT TOUCHÉ TONIGHT AT LOS GLOBOS"

TOUCHÉ is the featured performer for tonight’s edition of FEVER, the monthly music series hosted by L.A. RECORD’s Daiana Feuer. Here is a platform that explores weird dance music, weird pop music, weird disco derivatives that might be called avant garde but we refrain from that term since it scares some people. FEVER aims to find a new way to talk about this music by perhaps not talking as much and instead letting the experience grow its own limbs and fingers and toes and teeth.

TOUCHÉ has really nice slender appendages that it uses to perform scintillating pop music that tickles and rolls all over the flesh with a blend of beats and guitar and keys that feels fresh and new, like a body emerging from a futuristic shower.

Tonight, FEVER is co-hosted by Nomerica, those purveyors of music from around the world led by Nicole Disson and Ana Calderon. DJ Bruno Malone will unfurl music he’s collected from his most recent out-of-America travels.
- L.A. Record


"Video: Touché, ‘Everything He Wants’"

In the battle between original sin and disco, there are no losers. At least, when said fight is orchestrated by Alex Lilly and Bram Inscore, the multi-instrumentalist art-schoolers whose wry take on electro has been realized in the new project Touché. Longtime friends Lilly and Inscore are familiar faces on the L.A. scene; Lilly for her band Obi Best and her work with the Bird and the Bee and the Living Sisters, among others, and Inscore for his work beside myriad artists including Beck, Thurston Moore and Charlotte Gainsbourg (although Inscore’s solo project should have gotten more attention). Touché’s first single, “Everything He Wants,” is a whirligig of choked synths and boy/girl vocals, and Keith Megna’s (tongue in cheek? teeth on fruit? concept gone awry?) video finds the dyspeptic duo trying to put the apple back on the tree. Oh well, the song’s a jam.

||| Live: Touché opens for Gold Panda and Jonti tonight at the Echoplex.
- Buzzbands.la


Discography

"I'm A Man Not A Machine" (KCRW airplay on Chris Douridas's show)
"Bad Dreams" vinyl single (KCRW radio airplay on Anne Litt's show)
"Bad Dreams" Indie 103.1 airplay
"She's A Black Cat" co-write with The Sweet Hurt (KCRW airplay)

Debut album, "It's Fate", out early 2013.

Photos

Bio

Alex Lilly and Bram Inscore have a task every time they write music together – to find the place where their psyches overlap. This territory holds some fairly hallucinogenic and esoteric ideas, but the themes explored in the music of their new duo Touché are as classic as those you would find in a sci-fi love story: lust, obsession, fate, human inadequacy and the struggle for control.

Bram and Alex always knew they should start a band together. The two first met as teens in San Francisco, and though they shuffled through the typical high school high jinks together, they never got musically curious with one another until years later with Touché.

After moving to LA on separate whims, they were fortunate enough to be enlisted by their modern idols. Bram toured and recorded as bassist and keyboardist with Beck, Thurston Moore, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Sebastien Tellier and is currently playing with Twin Shadow. Alex played keys and sang back-up with the Bird and the Bee, Ry Cooder, and Nick Lowe. She’s also a recent addition to The Living Sisters and toured her own creative prog-pop outfit, Obi Best.

In Bram's prefab studio, the duo teamed up to write, record and produce their debut album, "It's Fate." Their close but combative friendship naturally led to a competitive writing process. What emerged were anthemic pop pieces darkened by the desires of the human heart and sharpened by some personal politics. Alex Lilly and Bram Inscore reinvent the dancefloor, crafting tracks built upon Giorgio Moroder-esque sequences, humanized with girl-boy harmonies, provocative lyrics and jagged guitar shredding à la Fripp - all futurized by rhythmic experimentation. 

Touché has already been whipping locals into a frenzy with shows at L.A. hotspots: The Echo and Echoplex, the Satellite and The Standard, sharing the bill with MEN, Active Child, Daedelus, Jonti and more. And their not-yet-released single, "Bad Dreams,” has received some love from KCRW's Anne Litt.