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Takka Takka
Indie

"'Migration', out July 29th on Ernest Jenning "

Brooklyn, Manhattan and Astoria, Queens, New York
United States

Profile Views:  84461




Last Login:  7/20/2008
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   Contacting Takka Takka

 MySpace URL: 
  http://www.myspace.com/takkatakka  

   Takka Takka: General Info
Member Since9/7/2005
Band Websitetakkatakkamusic.com
Band MembersGabriel Levine, Conrad Doucette, Grady Jurrens, Rene Planchon, Drew Thurlow
InfluencesMusical and non-musical
Sounds Likemusic for a world such as this one.
Record LabelErnest Jenning Recording Co.
Type of LabelIndie





   Upcoming Shows ( view all )
Jul 15 2008 8:00P
Pianos New York, New York
Jul 22 2008 8:00P
Pianos New York, New York
Jul 24 2008 6:00P
Daytrotter Sessions Chicago, Illinois
Jul 25 2008 9:00P
Schubas Tavern Chicago, Illinois
Jul 26 2008 9:00P
The Frequency Madison, Wisconsin
Jul 29 2008 8:00P
Pianos New York, New York
Sep 7 2008 8:00P
TT the Bear’s Place Cambridge, Massachusetts
Sep 10 2008 8:00P
DC9 Washington, DC, Washington DC
Sep 12 2008 8:00P
Local 506 Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Takka Takka's Latest Blog Entry  [Subscribe to this Blog]

Spin Reviews Black Cat Show  (view more)

RCRD LBL Premieres Silence  (view more)

Stereogum Premieres The Takers  (view more)

Takka News - 02.07.2008  (view more)

New Album in Spring 08!  (view more)

[View All Blog Entries]

   About Takka Takka


Here are my thoughts about the record
By Gabe Levine of Takka Takka

Sometimes this record is about existing in a place you don’t belong. Conversely, it is about where you came from and how you got there.

Sometimes this record is about my mother. She recently decided to become a Pamanku, a Balinese holy person. This has brought us do a fair amount of talking lately, more than I have ever had chance to do before. Some of those conversations made their way into these songs—myth, prayer, offerings, gamelan music (oh such sweet music), poverty, volcanic eruptions, Communist purges, cultural misunderstanding, racism, family and abandonment.

Sometimes this record is about a band experimenting with sound and form, trying to honestly say things in song it has never said before.

Sometimes this record is about not going back and staying in the place you don’t belong.


Some words about migration
By Alec Hanley Bemis

I listened to this album once out of obligation because Takka Takka are my friends, but found myself re-listening to it many times because it was pleasurable to do so.

The band didn’t provide me with any names for the songs, and it’s a record that works really well that way. It plays less like a series of songs than one big idea with one pulsing rhythm. There are no singles; rather it strikes me as one long thought cut into twelve individual sections. Maybe music is better that way? Maybe any music that aspires to the condition of namelessness -- that works at one idea so relentlessly -- is the only music that truly deserves the name.

The album is called Migration and I’ve come up with a notion about where that migration might be taking us. To me, this band are part of the wave of emerging young musicians who have been pulling in ideas from world music, but without adopting the colonizer perspective which previous generations of Western artists brought to such borrowings.

Now, don’t get me wrong here. Among that older generation of musicians/colonizers are some of my favorite artists: David Byrne, Paul Simon, Joe Strummer. But it’s hard to argue that these artist weren’t engaged in a kind of creative theft (or at least creative misappropriation) when they jammed out with collaborators from South America, South Africa, the Caribbean, et al.

This new wave of musicians – Takka Takka included – have brought to the table an egalitarian respect for their sources, be it obscure underground rock bands like The Feelies, composer Philip Glass, or the tradition of Balinese Gamelan. It doesn’t sound like Caucasians from the West raiding the world for influence; it sounds like Caucasians from the West realizing we don’t own this planet but are along for the ride just like everybody else.


-------------------------------------

Takka Takka’s new record is called Migration. It will be released on July 29, 2008. It was lovingly produced by Sean Greenhalgh of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah drumming fame. It was recorded in Brooklyn and features performances by Bryan Devendorf of The National, Lee Sargent of CYHSY, Olga Bell of Bell, and Charles Burst.


PURCHASE

Migration will be out on July 29 via Ernest Jenning Record Co. Pre-orders are available!

To pre-order from Ernest Jenning, CLICK HERE.

To pre-order from Insound, CLICK HERE.

Our first CD, We Feel Safer At Night, is available for purchase at: insound, iTunes, Other Music, and at Amp Camp.

Purchase the tour EP featuring live tracks from Takka Takka, Architecture In Helsinki and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Click here. Only a few left!

Our post-Safer EP, Talk Faster, is available for purchase on iTunes.

Become a fan on our Facebook page.

Join our mailing list!

RECENT PRESS

July 2008, Spin

"Sun-spotted drone (think Clap Your Hands Say Yeah on a methadone drip) gave way to lush soundscapes that called to mind frozen tundras and burning hearts, while frontman Gabriel Levine played his guitar like he was choking the chords out and shut his eyes tight behind his Buddy Holly frames. Set highlight "Silence," off their forthcoming LP, Migration (July 29, Ernest Jenning), transcendently contradicted its title, as the band wrapped barely there atmospherics around spacey vocals."

June 2008, RCRD LBL

"There's something eerily zen about "Silence." It builds up a platform of snare drum and distorted guitar - over which Levine's vocals flow in a wave-like fashion. "Taker" also has undulating rhythm, accompanied by shimmering instrumentals and a poppier beat progression. Both exude a peacefulness- offering reprieve from a day of cacophony in the city."

May 2008, Stereogum

"Migration isn't just a migration. It's Takka Takka post metamorphosis.

Now in fairness we've based all this on just one quick spin through the new album, but the changes are everywhere (e.g. later on the album, "Homebreaker" hits with a Talking Heads thing, "Lion In The Waves" with a "You And Whose Army"-esque progression, parenthetically titled tracks about "optimists" being right/wrong hit with synthy Eno-isms, etc.). And again, just a one spin verdict ... but the shifts and ambition are a welcome turn indeed. Nice one, Takkas."

April 2007, Spin Magazine

"Takka Takka - We Feel Safer At Night / 4 Stars / Self-Released

ATTENTION, DEFLATED INDIE KIDS: THIS BAND'S FOR YOU.

Brooklyn's Takka Takka seem overly casual or even apologetic at first, but there's a sneaky intensity to the minimalist urban rock n' roll on this wonderful debut. Resisting cynicism and self-pity, wry frontman Gabriel Levine sings the way people talk, resembling a nicer Lou Reed as he offers moral support to self-conscious loners who get caught up in society's games, only to "break under pressure." Sample throwaway gem: "You pushed real hard / But you never pushed enough."

- Jon Young, Spin Magazine

February 2007, Time Out New York

"Takka Takka seems preternaturally gifted at conveying prettiness through guitar pop. The band's casual swagger, both on record and stage, suggests an ease at pursuing this difficult task."

Jan/Feb 2007, Harp Magazine

"[They] catch you with little details like the handclaps, whistling and "oh-ah-ah-oh" refrain on "Coco on the Corner" or offhand rhymes like "Utah" and "you, pa" on "Living Out of Trouble." They're as sweet and hooky as you'd hope that any up-and-coming indie rockers could be."

December 2006, The L Magazine - Top 20 Albums of 2006 (No. 8)

"Takka Takka has made a record that makes us think about Lou Reed, 70s Dylan and late-period Pavement all at the same time, yet still manages to stay current."

December 2006, New York Magazine

"When Takka Takka scored an opening slot with former band-of-the-second Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, rock cognoscenti were alerted to their laid-back organ pop. Together for less than a month, they mesmerized fans at SummerStage, then played to packed shows at the CMJ festival."

December 2006, Rolling Stone magazine (jpeg)

"Unsigned indie-popsters Takka Takka have been a hot property since Clap Your Hands Say Yeah took them on tour this fall."


   Takka Takka's Friend Space (Top 16)
Takka Takka has 3760 friends.
 Uninhabitable Mansions 


 Union Hall 


 Mr. Brownstone 


 The Forms 


 Charles Burst 


 Inlets 


 The Secret Life of Sofia 


 dave godowsky 


 Ernest Jenning Record Co. 


 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah 


 The National 


 NATO 


 a maine girl 


 Raising The Fawn 


 Nuh Uh 


 The Seaside Lounge Recording Studios 





Takka Takka's Friends Comments
Displaying 50 of 370 comments  ( View All | Add Comment )
Erik Stouffer Photography





Jul 16 2008 2:34 PM

I don't know if whoever's looking over this is a band member, but do you guys see yourself coming back to the dylan of today bland talk-y music of your first album, because I do like this new stuff, and I will grow to like it more and more, but I'd love to hear some bland-rock-ish stuff.
The talk faster EP is definitely where I'm headed, but I'd love to see some bootlegs and outtakes and even covers from We Feel Safer at Night ERA
Mark Twain Indians





Jul 14 2008 6:19 PM

people- your music is very very great.. would love too catch you sometime... i am a fan...
BBB Show





Jul 13 2008 2:00 PM

thank you takka takka for adding the BBB Show!!
daniel





Jul 9 2008 4:14 PM


MySpace Comments - You Rock
MySpace Layouts - You Rock
Free Comments & Graphics
~amber allena~





Jul 8 2008 11:54 PM

you guys are soooooo awesome... !!!!!
yes, i am drunken messaging you all. ;)
ah well, that's how it goes in ex-Q&S life.
xoxo
Erik Stouffer Photography





Jul 3 2008 11:56 AM

I love you guys so much, man. I saw you at a Clap Your Hands concert in L.A. for both of your first albums, geez. I am SO glad I bought the CD. I fell for you so much more than when I just heard you out there that night. It's got such a good overall appeal. The lyrics are brilliant, while the music plays so perfectly under them.

Nice stuff, do tell, if you've been to L.A. since, or are gonna come back. I'll be sure to come.
PETE @P4TH





Jul 1 2008 11:56 PM

SO ITS BEEN AWHILE FELLAS... I'D LIKE TO WISH YOU WELL ON THE RELEASE OF YOUR NEW ENDEAVOUR "MIGRATION"... I WOULD LIKE TO COME TO NYC ONCE AGAIN AND HANG OUT AND SEE YOU GUYS GIG...
ITS BEEN A RUFF SPRING SINCE YOU WERE HERE...ALOT OF MEDICAL CRAP GOING ON ...I HOPE DAVE G IS WELL ...PEOPLE STILL SPEAK OF THE NIGHT YOU PLAYED..I AM THINKING A NICE FALL GIG IS IN ORDER...WE'LL SEE.... (btw... there was no birthday gift from you lads...lol ) I HOPE ALL IS WELL AND LIFE BRINGS YOU TREATS :)
Anneke - Lemon Baby Bundt





Jul 1 2008 8:51 AM

i saw you guys at the black cat last night; that was awesome! :D

anyways, thanks for the add and good luck with everything. i love your music.
preorder The Dark Romantics new album now!!!





Jul 1 2008 9:17 AM

hey fellas...really dig the jams.
cheers from the south.
~e
Rev K





Jun 20 2008 3:21 PM

Happy Summer, t2.

Oprah Dei! 01 (cool blue)

Blessings.






Jun 10 2008 3:09 PM

very impressed...thank you and see you at Pianos!
Inlets





Jun 7 2008 4:19 PM

excellent show last eve, and augmented beautifully by projections of flailing people storms
minor mine





Jun 2 2008 4:19 AM

Hallo guys,
thanx for being our friends
transatlantic greetings...
a maine girl





May 29 2008 12:00 AM

and that's just the beginning, takkas!!!
Goes Cube





May 25 2008 8:04 AM

VERY excellent work, guys!
[J]ate[cake]gives up music





May 20 2008 11:15 PM

dude your new music is sick. i love all of it though. come to new mexico with clap your hands say yeah. it would be hella sick.
alot of indie folk out here
Mark G.





May 20 2008 8:08 PM

Hey guys, what's up! I want a copy of the new album - "Silence" is really good, looking forward to the rest!

Cincinnati Connection,
Mark G.
Leah





May 20 2008 4:18 PM

hey guys! love the new songs, new page, album cover! its glorious! :D
elliott


Is Online


May 19 2008 8:51 PM

Ah Takka Takka, love the new songs! I'll be putting one up right now.
Mamut





May 17 2008 8:06 AM

Gracias por el add!!


PETE @P4TH





Apr 4 2008 1:49 PM

Blown Speaker Productions





Mar 25 2008 1:49 AM

Check out our New Monthly Concert Showcase!
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us
Rev K





Mar 20 2008 11:26 AM

Happy Spring T2.

Oprah Dei! 01 (green)

Blessings.
AQUILA*NEW SHIT IS UP*





Mar 11 2008 6:48 AM

hey, thanks for the add, your music is meta cool. sorry we missed you at the annex! but we're playing luna lounge on march 20th, itd be awesome to chill if you can make it!
MIMAS





Mar 5 2008 2:54 PM

Hello, you charming New Yorkers.

Congratulations on being chosen to play SXSW! It's fully deserved. And we envy you. I hope you'll come to Denmark one day.

xx Martin
Mimas
RospiGroup





Mar 5 2008 8:20 PM

Just passing by to say hi! you guys have a good sound...
cheers!
RospiGroup. Com
Right on Dynamite





Mar 4 2008 5:37 AM

yo fellas! We gonna party in the ol texy or what?
Wilcow





Feb 18 2008 3:27 PM

wooooowwww...... a new album !!!!!!
je vous adoooooooooooore
Ww
Rev K





Feb 9 2008 11:12 AM

You kidding? Thank you, its just swell. Blessings.
annie