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the gifted children - christmas 2011 (tp0037)   Release Date: December 16, 2011    [digital download - free]
the fourth annual christmas album from the gifted children, christmas 2011 is also their longest release (boxed set aside) since 2000 - 14 songs, 37 minutes of their interpretations of christmas classics, this is an epic by their standards: the whole thing starts off quietly, with a sarcastic nod to the 80s synths being employed by the likes of bon iver, et al, then blows that up into a bombastic rendition of 'santa claus is comin' to town', complete with real sleigh bells, chopped canyon drums and noisy keyboards. the rest of the first side alone covers a lot of musical ground and features many different members of the gifted children extended family - a sweetly nostalgic (yet modern-sounding) take on 'i'll be home for christmas'; a gorgeous arrangement of 'up on the house top' for two acoustic guitars; 'jingle bell rock' featuring hurdy-gurdy and swinging vocals; a rocked out 'o holy night' with stacked harmonies at the payoff; the manipulated midi of 'sugar plum fairy' (from the nutcracker) that sounds like it was played through a gameboy; and finally, a dark take on 'god rest ye merry, gentlemen', with creepy feedback swells and serpentine guitar line winding around straightforward vocals. the second side starts off with a short sound collage that collects favorite incantations of 'santa claus' in music and film. that leads into a creepy 'blue christmas', with looped drums, backwards guitars and distorted, echo-laden vocals. next up is a truly unique take on 'hark! the herald angels sing' with a country hoedown feel complete with bluegrass-influenced guitar, saloon piano, yelps and an insistent drum machine. 'the first noel' evokes artists like eluvium with its reverb-soaked piano and washed out choral vocals, then there's another masterful piece of midi manipulation, this time taking on the 'chinese dance' portion of the nutcracker. one of the stranger moments on a pretty damn eclectic album is 'the grinch', potted out and only loosely based on the original, with longtime member jim sahr spitting the first-ever rap verse on a gifted children record (don't worry, it's a far cry from rush's 'roll the bones' shark-jumping rap moment). the whole thing closes out with a full five-verse rendition of 'good king wenceslas', featuring distorted organ, gang vocals and ebows all swirling around each other in a reverb bath. the most ambitious christmas release yet from the gifted children, and an album that will still sound fresh for years to come. get this and throw your shitty josh groban/kenny g/carpenters christmas albums into the yuletide fire...
digital download via the gifted children website: Free

the make it so - wicked game (tp0035)   Release Date: November 15, 2011    [digital download - free]
we're happy to announce the birth of a new band with this, our second installment of the 'tinhorn planet covers' series. the make it so, bill trautman's (the gifted children, blue blaze irregular, dj fishbrick) newest project, makes its debut with a cover of chris isaak's classic early 90s hit, 'wicked game' - hushed vocals and simply strummed, multitracked guitars give way to a wall of sound in this great interpretation. grab it now for free!
digital download via tinhorn planet: Free

the strungs - kings of kerhonkson (tp0036)   Release Date: November 15, 2011    [digital download - free, optional donation]
the strungs have released 3 EPs in the last 12 months, and are already back with kings of kerhonkson, their debut full-length. this album is packed with vocal hooks and bombastic, arch-heroic guitar solos - 18 songs, 32 minutes of great pop wrapped in layers of noise, highly recommended for fans of jay reatard, guided by voices, wavves, girls, etc... the strungs have successfully branched out in some new directions while sticking with the noisy, lo-fi aethetic that marked their first three EPs. highlights include the catchy uptempo rocker 'everyone wins a prize'; 'crud' with its noisy "it's ok" sing-along; the plaintive, flanged-out ballad 'come in, come in'; the rapid strums of 'rainy day' with its infectious vocal hooks; and start-to-finish barnburner 't shirt'.
digital download via tinhorn planet: Free

the strungs/eisenhower america - summer tour 2011 (tp0034)   Release Date: September 20, 2011    [digital download - free]
the third installment of tinhorn planet's annual summer tour single... this year, the strungs kick things off with an indie rock barnburner, paying faux homage to jason mraz. next up is the tinhorn planet debut of obscure supergroup eisenhower america, with an acoustic 4-track song that pays real homage to an imaginary girl. enjoy, it's free! a1 - the strungs - i'm jason mraz b1 - eisenhower america - hey, soo jin
digital download via the gifted children website: Free

the gifted children - the portable sun (tp0033)   Release Date: July 14, 2011    [CDR - 6.00]
the portable sun, the latest EP from the gifted children, was recorded using only the built-in microphone on an iPhone and an app called 'Multitrack'... using this restriction as a tool rather than a hindrance, the gifted children have carefully crafted a surprisingly great-sounding EP, containing a lot of varied sounds: 'the rapture is a wash' and 'lie detectors' are mostly acoustic, with double-tracked drums, pianos, harmonicas, and pretty vocal harmonies. 'cemetery photo club' fills out a short vocal passage with ebows, staccato piano and frenetic drumming, while 'dark heart' closes out the first side with a simple piano and vocal line which explodes into fuzz bass and droning saxophones. the second side begins in classic gifted children style: short, quirky indie rock with a hook that purposely ends shortly after it begins. 'the short sugar' features a great little group singalong, something that is becoming more frequent for the gifted children lately. 'parenthetical nashville blues' is a beautiful piece of melancholy, bringing a quiet moment to the EP before the title track closes things out with a gradually building array of instruments, including guitars, pianos, banjos, saxophones and the unmistakable voice of pam swarts. once again, there are a ton of ideas packed into this 13-minute EP, but it somehow remains coherent. pre-ordering for the limited edition vinyl version has ended, but you can still order the CD version through Paypal.
CDR : Buy now [$6.00]

the strungs - volume 03 (tp0032)   Release Date: June 28, 2011    [digital download - free]
the strungs are back again, with 6 more lo-fi anthems on their third EP, simply titled Volume 3. the mysterious supergroup wastes no time in getting back to hook-laden, noisy, short pop songs with the appropriately titled 'blow this thing wide open', and continue the lovable mess until the (slightly) quieter and sweeter 'i know that you agree' provides a breath of air before the final push to the end. 'we're not so different' then rocks out with a big GBV-esque chorus and 'will without wisdom' closes this chapter of the strungs' story with infectious, hooky nostalgia. riyl: jay reatard, guided by voices grab it now!
digital download via tinhorn planet: Free

the reginald pantry - towering cities of breathsmoke (tp0031)   Release Date: April 19, 2011    [digital download - free]
the reginald pantry, experimental music arm of the tinhorn planet collective, are back with another soundtrack to an imaginary film. 'towering cities of breathsmoke' is culled from several group improvisations recorded on a ridiculously cold january night in 2010, later edited and thoroughly warped into five distinct pieces . this is abstract yet darkly pretty instrumental music, haunted by canyon keyboards, thickly reverbed feedback and ghostly vocoders. recommended for fans of tim hecker, svarte greiner, hammock and leyland kirby...
digital download via tinhorn planet: Free

the strungs - you can count on me (tp0030)   Release Date: April 15, 2011    [digital download - free]
tinhorn planet is happy to announce a new series of cover songs (cleverly titled 'the tinhorn planet covers'). the strungs are kicking things off with their take on panda bear's "you can count on me" ... the tempo is cranked up, the guitars are loud and the energy is high, yet the cover still somehow captures the prettiness of the original panda bear version. enjoy, and stay tuned for more in the series!
digital download via tinhorn planet: Free

the gifted children - montgomery blue ash (tp0029)   Release Date: April 12, 2011    [digital download - free]
'montgomery blue ash' is the new, free 4-song EP from the gifted children. written and almost entirely recorded in a single day by jeff suszczynski and bill trautman in gastonia, north carolina, it sounds unmistakably like the gifted children yet different from anything they've done so far. in addition to binding themselves to write the songs from scratch in a single day, they also forced themselves to delete the first track recorded for each song. so throughout the brief but richly varied EP, you can hear the band stepping out of their normal comfort zone: lead-off track 'face to face with constellations' is angular indie rock with electronic and funk touches, 'otolith angels' plays like a nihilist hymn with a stein-waving group vocal, 'disciples of languor' mixes doom rock with a dark dance beat to great effect, and the closing title track adds and subtracts layers of instrumentation under a simple vocal mantra. the digital download, available on april 12, will be free for a limited time, with a physical copy containing complete artwork and liner notes available for sale in early may.
digital download via the gifted children website: Free

the strungs - volume 02 (tp0028)   Release Date: February 16, 2011    [digital download - free]
the strungs are back in town... the mysterious group ladles out 6 more hook-laden indie rock songs with 'volume 02', only two months after the release of 'volume 01'!
digital download via tinhorn planet: Free

the gifted children - fallacy stilts (tp0027)   Release Date: January 11, 2011    [digital download - free; mini-CDR - 4.00]
the first 2011 release for prolific western new york band the gifted children is the 5-song 'fallacy stilts' EP. this is a different-sounding EP for the band - most of the tracks were recorded in a single day and night in a makeshift studio set up in a library, contributing to a feeling of spontaneity and collaboration throughout. from the haunting, post-apocalyptic 'if the accident will' to the catchy campfire sing-along on 'i have a lake', 'fallacy stilts' is also less reliant on the band's usual cavalcade of indie rock guitars, instead leaning more heavily on woodwinds, acoustic guitars and pianos.
digital download via the gifted children website: Free

2008-2010 RELEASES:
the gifted children - christmas 2010 (tp0026)   Release Date: December 17, 2010    [digital download - free]
the third annual christmas release by the gifted children! the first 'side' features some fairly traditional interpretations of christmas classics: a shoegazer take on 'i saw three ships' is followed by what starts as an intimate, around-the-hearth version of 'white christmas' that expands into some jangly indie pop. then comes a stripped down 'all through the night' with some sweet harmonies at the very end. 'go tell it on the mountain' features some obscure 60s psych samples and bombastic kick drums as a music bed... then comes a somber 'i saw mommy kissing santa claus', sounding like a codeine-laden country song. the first half finishes with a dark ambient piece called 'nowell'... the second 'side' of this year's christmas release takes things in a completely different direction, starting with a very strange cover of 'what can you get a wookiee for christmas (when he already owns a comb)', from 1981's ill-conceived and bizarre star wars christmas album. an ominous yet dancefloor-friendly 'carol of the bells' is next, followed by a creepy, orchestra-and-electronics version of the lesser known 'sleep well, little children'. the whole thing wraps up with a wash of chopped up, reverb-soaked choirs and strings in 'jul'... we hope you enjoy - huzzah!
digital download via the gifted children website: Free

the strungs - volume 01 (tp0025)   Release Date: December 1, 2010    [digital download - free]
we welcome the strungs into the tinhorn planet fold by releasing their debut EP. simply titled 'volume 01', it features 6 catchy, digital lo-fi indie rock anthems. recommended for fans of guided by voices, the white stripes and the replacements. enjoy!
digital download via tinhorn planet: Free

the gifted children - autumn ghosts (tp0024)   Release Date: October 29, 2010    [digital download - free]
just a couple months after the release of their 5-CD boxed set, 'building your lo-fi shelter', the gifted children are back with some great new material for your fall soundtracks. 'autumn ghosts', over the course of just 5 songs and 10 minutes, once again showcases the gifted children's ability to create a single cohesive arc of out many disparate elements... the opener, 'come on, november', features piano and bass reminiscent of 1950s pop, with only some latter-half static entering the mix to let you know this EP isn't going to remain as straightforward as it starts. 'second hearth' and 'abstinence heroes' sound more like 'typical' gifted children songs: short, atmospheric, quirky, and filled with hooks. then the title track, an instrumental, slowly builds in grand fashion from a simple, repeated acoustic motif into full-blown electronic noise. the EP ends with 'calamity vessels', a spare and pretty song with just acoustic guitar, piano and voice. enjoy!
digital download via the gifted children website: Free

the hodge/the strungs - summer tour 2010 (tp0023)   Release Date: September 21, 2010    [digital download - free]
tinhorn planet proudly announces our second annual summer tour single. this year, the hodge kicks things off with a haunting electronic track that falls somewhere between the witch-house stylings of salem and the ambient noise of the caretaker. meanwhile, the strungs pull off 2 minutes of indie rock perfection on the b-side, filled with pollard-esque vocal hooks and guitar solos reminiscent of dinosaur, jr's excellent bombast. enjoy, it's free! a1 - the hodge - be seeing you... b1 - the strungs - outside my window

the gifted children - building your lo-fi shelter (boxed set) (tp0022)   Release Date: August 31, 2010    [boxed set - 30.00]
For more information, visit the BUILDING YOUR LO-FI SHELTER mini-site: http://tinhornplanet.com/lofi_shelter
boxed set : Buy now [$30.00]

alexander strung - we could still make it (tp0021)   Release Date: May 25, 2010    [digital download - free; digital download - 8.00]
'we could still make it', the latest release from alexander strung (the chief smiles, badger, lazarus go home, the gifted children), is a 16-song, 34-minute album that greatly expands upon the sounds of last year's 'party'... there isn't a filler song in the bunch, as mr. strung moves from claustrophobic, off-kilter rock ('black sleeves') to electro-funk ('they love me') to breezy pop that recalls the best of wilco ('starlite lounge') to hook-laden power-pop that would make bob pollard proud ('show yourself') and well beyond... recommended if you like: boyracer - to get a better hold you've got to loosen yr grip wilco - summerteeth guided by voices - bee thousand prince - sign o the times Note: We've made this release available as both a free and a paid download. The choice is yours - you are welcome to either pay upfront by clicking the 'Buy now' link below, or download the album for free by downloading the tracks individually via the soundcloud player, or as a zip file which contains full-resolution artwork by clicking the 'Free' link below. If you do like what you hear, we would love it if you helped support the artist and the label by later clicking the 'Buy now' link below and paying for the digital download. Thanks for listening!
digital download via tinhorn planet: Free

the gifted children - please freeze me (tp0020)   Release Date: March 2, 2010    [CDR - 7.00; digital download - 4.00]
CDR : Buy now [$7.00]

the gifted children - christmas 2009 (tp0018)   Release Date: December 15, 2009    [digital download - free]
the second annual christmas release from the gifted children features a larger cast of characters and a broader musical palette than last year's release: tweaked drum loops with stacked vocals ('angels we have heard on high'), cut-and-paste guaraldi ('what child is this?), midi repurposing that recalls virgil fox ('we three kings'), stoner guaraldi ('christmas time is here') and much more over 9 songs and 20 minutes. a wide variety of sounds, yet strangely cohesive... huzzah!
digital download via the gifted children website: Free

the gifted children - one clear minute, volume 02 (tp0015)   Release Date: October 27, 2009    [7" vinyl - 7.00]
just a little more than a month after the first volume of the 'one clear minute' series was released, we're happy to announce that volume 02 is ready for release! once again, there's one rule: the maximum song length is 60 seconds. in that single minute, the gifted children have managed to create 9 more fully realized songs, not just little fragments or tossed-off ideas. volume two again has a wide variety of sounds, ranging from noisy mini-anthems ('the arrhythmic fervor') to straight-up indie rock ('supper club', 'plebeian assault') to beatlesque pop ('welcome to sex in the 90s') to more stripped down, acoustic songs ('american night', 'empty homes') and more... 9 songs, 8 minutes, a lot of ideas and, perhaps most remarkably, a coherent flow from start to finish to make this a true mini-album. Note: Available for sale only on vinyl, in a limited edition of 200 copies. Comes with digital copy on mini-CD for those who like the look of vinyl but don't have the equipment to play it. Ship date: October 27, 2009. Price: $7
7" vinyl : Buy now [$7.00]

the gifted children - my museum pieces (tp0016)   Release Date: September 15, 2009    [CDR - 7.00]
the next full-length release from the gifted children brings the largest cast of characters yet, with over 15 people contributing to the sounds of the 11 new songs. this album has everything from bombastic group sing-alongs ('you smashing young prince') to quiet folk songs ('a weathervane alliance') to apoplectic sax screams ('offshore news') to crazy, noisy electronic beats ('and so it ended'), all cohering together for a great autumn record. ship date: september 15, 2009
CDR : Buy now [$7.00]

the gifted children - one clear minute, volume 01 (tp0014)   Release Date: September 15, 2009    [7" vinyl - 7.00]
one clear minute, volume 01, marks the beginning of a new vinyl 7" series from the gifted children. responding to some who complained of too-short songs over the years, they decided to write and record several dozen songs with one rule: the maximum song length is 60 seconds. in that single minute, the gifted children have managed to create fully realized songs, not just little fragments or tossed-off ideas. and 7" vinyl is the perfect medium to exploit for such a project - each volume of the one clear minute series will contain 8-11 songs, making for mini-albums on each record. volume one kicks off the series with a wide variety of sounds, with straight-ahead indie rock ('forget about the mountains'), piano ballads ('dirigible army'), oddly catchy diatribes ('no saviors, please'), beatlesque ('marina sirtis') and much more... these 9 songs pack more coherent ideas into a mere 8 minutes than many full-length albums. stay tuned for volume 02 later this fall, and more installments in 2010! Note: Limited edition of 200 copies. Comes with digital copy on mini-CD for those who like the look of vinyl but don't have the equipment to play it. Ship date: September 15, 2009. Price: $7
7" vinyl : Buy now [$7.00]

the gifted children/alexander strung - summer tour 2009 (tp0017)   Release Date: September 1, 2009    [digital download - free]
this free, digital-only release marks the inception of a split single series which we've dubbed the 'summer tour series'. this year's summer tour single features alexander strung's funky technopop hit, 'beat the dog (to the raccoon)', and an electronic pop number from the gifted children, 'how boring...', that falls somewhere between burial, the twilight singers and the pet shop boys. did we mention it's a free download, out on september 1?
digital download via the gifted children website: Free

the gifted children - open windows (tp0013)   Release Date: March 31, 2009    [mini-CDR - 4.00; digital download - free]
open windows is the third release in a month for the gifted children! this 7-song EP packs a ton into a mere 11 minutes: the title track's simple, repeating piano line ends up crashing into a cinematic wall of distorted bass, drums and saxophones to set the stage for the rest of the EP. there's also a completely re-recorded version of 'a forest', with its crescendo of delayed guitars, pianos and mandolins; 'rescate', a starkly pretty song about lost potential; noisy mini-anthem 'here comes the flood'; a sweet piano/voice/upright song, 'transcription (a certain sweetness)' and much more... open windows, filled with many different ideas and yet completely coherent as a whole, ranks among the best releases from the gifted children.
mini-CDR : Buy now [$4.00]

the gifted children - the reginald pantry (tp0012)   Release Date: March 17, 2009    [CDR - 5.00; digital download - free]
four of the gifted children got together to work on the untitled hi-fi collection that's been an unfinished plague for 7 years, and decided to vent some excess energy by making up some music. the resulting new full-length album, the reginald pantry lp, takes the form of a soundtrack to an imaginary zombie film and is a pretty significant departure from past efforts. drawing more from the sculpted noise of artists like tim hecker, nadja and fennesz than on indie rock stalwarts guided by voices or pavement, the reginald pantry lp offers 14 collectively improvised pieces, captured live by a handheld digital recorder in a single afternoon. the results were then dumped into jeff's computer and edited, looped, rearranged and soaked in cavernous reverb and layers of distortion to create an album wherein individual instruments lose their meaning. no hooks, no lyrics, just pretty noise. this will be, at least initially, a free online-only release.
CDR : Buy now [$5.00]

the gifted children - calvano (tp0011)   Release Date: March 10, 2009    [mini-CDR - 4.00; digital download - free]
jeff was stuck in his parents' house one friday night due to some western new york weather, and decided to write and record an ep from scratch using only the things at hand. found in the house was a shitty old mic from a 1970s tape recorder, an old acoustic guitar, his father's accordion, an out-of-tune piano, some wine glasses and some seasoning containers. combined with field recordings made on a walk, he recorded these five songs onto a laptop, adding some effects in later mixing. this is wintry, indoor, indie folk to help stave off the cold...
mini-CDR : Buy now [$4.00]

alexander strung - party (tp0010)   Release Date: February 3, 2009    [digital download - free]
we at tinhorn planet are pleased to announce our first non-gifted children release with this, 'party', by alexander strung. essentially a solo album by part-time gifted children contributor and full-time leader of the chief smiles, alexander strung, 'party' is a ten-song set of electro-pop without any of the shitty trendiness in that genre which often makes us wince. recorded in his brooklyn apartment in late 2008, mr. strung has created a cozy winter womb filled with hooks, beats and great songs aplenty... from the melancholy party vibe of "olympic twin" (with a cameo from full-time gifted child jeff suszczynski) to the muted bedroom electro-pop of "holocene", and the understated pop anthem that is "valley forge", this is a winter album of diverse, small pleasures. come and get it, and feel free to donate whatever you want if you like it! recommended if you like: atlas sound - let the blind lead those who can see but cannot feel beck - modern guilt radiohead - kid a
digital download via the gifted children website: Free

the gifted children - christmas 2008 (tp0009)   Release Date: December 16, 2008    [digital download - free]
We've decided to release the first in what will hopefully become an annual series of Christmas EPs. This is available for free to all, in glorious 320k MP3 format. Holiday songs rendered beautifully for the unbeliever in everyone... Recommended for fans of David Lynch, My Bloody Valentine, Eartha Kitt and large reverbs. Huzzah!
digital download via the gifted children website: Free

the gifted children - always stay sweet (tp0008)   Release Date: October 14, 2008    [CD - 8.00; digital download - 9.99]
Street date: October 14, 2008 'always stay sweet' is the the second full-length, and already the 9th (yes, we said 9th!), overall release for the gifted children in 2008... Brighter than its predecessor, 'whitespace differences', we think this album will convince you that the gifted children are perhaps the most criminally unknown band in the land. From a 70-second pop anthem for the underdog ("the straw brigade") to a cello-filled ode to dying in plane crashes ("the dancehall atlantic") to a chamber-music-meets-Aphex Twin rumination on muses to the beautiful noise of the title track, 'always stay sweet' is the next great album of 2008... For those who like comparisons, think Guided by Voices communing with Broken Social Scene and Red House Painters and you're partly there.
CD : Buy now [$8.00]

the gifted children - a turncoat spring (tp0005)   Release Date: April 29, 2008    [mini-CDR - 4.00]
more parallel-universe hits from the prolific western new york band the gifted children. "a turncoat spring," already their 7th release so far this year, veers from catchy mantrarock ('halo') to paranoid apocalyptic fantasies ('the kingdom plentiful') to their shortest song yet recorded ('sum total' clocks in at a mere 11 seconds). this time, all the songs were written and recorded in a single night. substances may have played a role in the making...
mini-CDR : Buy now [$4.00]

the gifted children - the commonwealth squelch (tp0003)   Release Date: March 18, 2008    [mini-CDR - 3.00; digital download - 3.96]
We're reissuing this 2005 mini-EP from the gifted children - 4 songs, 4 minutes of mid-fi indie bliss. They've packed more great ideas into these 4 little gems, written in a single day, than you would think possible. From a 48-second anthemic ode to co-dependence ('laboring in the dream factory') to the creation of a parallel-universe dance craze ('the commonwealth squelch'), this is jam-packed indie rock action...
mini-CDR : Buy now [$3.00]

the gifted children - harbinger themes, volume 01 (tp0004)   Release Date: March 11, 2008    [digital download - free]
The "official" release of the first volume in an expanding series that takes the pretty instrumental bits (that will likely be buried under layers of noise) from upcoming releases and lets them shine, unadorned ... Originally given limited, free release on March 30, 2007, harbinger themes, volume 01 will be available on mini-CD for just $3.
digital download via the gifted children website: Free

the gifted children - we saw the vultures (tp0002)   Release Date: March 11, 2008    [mini-CDR - 4.00; digital download - 5.94]
the gifted children's 21st release, this is a 6-song EP that summons the ghosts of autumns past. Capturing the transition from summer to school, from warmth to an isolating cold, from present-tense action to nostalgia for the past... Featuring an alternative version of "we saw the vultures" from the full-length whitespace differences.
mini-CDR : Buy now [$4.00]

the gifted children - whitespace differences (tp0001)   Release Date: February 2, 2008    [CD - 8.00; digital download - 9.90]
tinhorn planet's inaugural release! This is the 5th full-length by the gifted children (Buffalo and Rochester, NY), and their 20th release to date. Everything from shoegazer indie rock to short stabs of pop brilliance to noisy electronic instrumentals... A true winter album, this is the perfect friend for those dark January nights spent drinking alone.
CD : Buy now [$8.00]