Fol Chen

Fol Chen is an American electronic band from Los Angeles, California,[1] formed in 2009.[2] The band is signed to Asthmatic Kitty Records and has released three full-length albums.[2]

Fol Chen
Fol Chen at the Granada Theater in 2010.
Background information
OriginLos Angeles, California, United States
GenresElectronic, experimental
Years active2009-present
LabelsAsthmatic Kitty Records
MembersAdam Samuel Goldman (credited as Samuel Bing)
The Booksman
Garrett Henritz
Sinosa Loa
Patrik-Ian Polk
Websitecargocollective.com/folchen

Part I: John Shade, Your Fortune's Made

The band "maintained utmost secrecy from the start",[3] working under aliases and disguising their faces during recorded shows, including KCRW radio's Morning Becomes Eclectic program[4] and the 2009 South by Southwest festival.[5]

The cover art for their first album, Part I: John Shade, Your Fortune's Made, release in 2009, features silhouettes, and music videos replace band members with actors and animation, such as the video of the song "No Wedding Cake" where band members appear as animals.

Part II: The New December

In 2010, the band released Part II: The New December, described by the Los Angeles Times as "screwball pastiche pop [that] sounds like an algebra problem but feels like a come-on."[6] Sinosa Loa joined the group at this time as keyboardist and vocalist, although the band favored group vocals and shared lead duties among most members. They toured throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe with other American bands, including Liars, !!!, and The Apples in Stereo.

The False Alarms (2013)

The band's third album was released March 19, 2013, on the Asthmatic Kitty label.[7] The music is in a style the band calls "Opera-House", which they describe as "beat-driven electronica with grand, operatic gestures and lyrically-dense storytelling."[8] In a departure from their previous use of multiple lead singers, Loa performs all ten tracks.[9]

Other projects

During a month-long residency at The Echo nightclub in Los Angeles, the band featured different shows each night – one show invited guest singers found via Craigslist to perform with the band as a sort of live karaoke;[10] another night saw metal band Viscera playing exclusively Fol Chen covers.[11]

In November 2010, Goldman and Loa traveled to Saint Petersburg, Russia, to perform two long-form, constructivist-inspired reworkings of the two studio albums, followed by a workshop and recording session where they invited local musicians (and curious non-musicians) to join them in building a new Fol Chen song.[12]

On July 28, 2011, Goldman and Loa held a workshop at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis to introduce the Fol Chen Verbal Algorithm Composer-Free Song Generator, produced with the Los Angeles–based arts organization Machine Project. The project allowed museum visitors to record their experience with a piece of art and have it converted into a song that they could take home.[13]

The band collaborated with Monome, a computer-manufacturing company, in late 2011 to make the Tetrafol, a motion-sensitive pyramidal sound device. The Tetrafol came pre-loaded with Fol Chen samples but allowed users to apply their own sounds. The band released two singles made with the device and sold a limited run of 100 units.[14]

Members

Discography

Albums

Covers, remixes and collaborations

Other contributions

Music videos

See also

References
  1. Vallejos, Tamara (December 1, 2008). "Fol Chen: 'No Wedding Cake'". NPR Music. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  2. Staff (undated). "Fol Chen". Asthmatic Kitty Records. Retrieved February 18, 2013.
  3. Leahey, Andrew (undated). "Fol Chen – Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  4. Archived July 25, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. KCRW.
  5. Phillips, Amy (March 19, 2009). "SXSW Wed: The Decemberists, Jarvis Cocker, Human Highway, Fol Chen, Ladyhawke". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  6. Brown, August (July 7, 2010). "Live Review: Fol Chen and Baths at the Echo". Pop & Hiss (blog of the Los Angeles Times). Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  7. Breihan, Tom (January 10, 2013). "Fol Chen – '200 Words' (Stereogum Premiere)". Stereogum (blog). Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  8. Hughes, Josiah (January 14, 2013). "Fol Chen Return with 'The False Alarms,' Announce North American Tour". Exclaim!. Retrieved February 18, 2013.
  9. Kevin (January 10, 2013). "Download: Fol Chen, '200 Words'". buzzbands.la. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  10. Youssef, Andrew (August 17, 2010). "Fol Chen, Crocodiles, Light Pollution, Robotanists @ Echo, Los Angeles 08/16/10". Stereogum (blog). Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  11. Staff (n.d.). "One Night Only: Viscera Covers Fol Chen". Terrorbird Media. Archived from the original on August 3, 2014. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  12. Chernov, Sergey (November 19, 2010). "Chernov's Choice". The St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  13. Staff (July 28, 2011). "The Fol Chen Verbal Algorithm Composer-Free Song Generator". Walker Art Center. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  14. Watercutter, Angela (November 21, 2011). "The Tetrafol Is a Crazy, Motion-Sensitive Musical Pyramid from Fol Chen". Wired. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
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