Dntel

From Free net encyclopedia

Image:Dntel.jpgDntel is an electronic music artist whose real name is Jimmy Tamborello. He is sometimes cited as James Figurine, the co-programmer and vocalist for the electropop outfit Figurine. Other projects include Strictly Ballroom and The Postal Service.

1 Name
2 History
3 Figurine
4 Discography
5 Trivia
6 See also
7 External links
- 7.1 Official sites
- 7.2 News and media

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Name

Dntel is pronounced din-tell. Tamborello admitted that the name was not intended to mean anything. When asked to create a meaning for it, he quoted it as a shortened version of "Don't Tell." He admits that this meaning is a bit of a stretch.

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History

Tamborello first began creating music in 1989, when he was in Junior High School in Santa Barbara, California. His father — a jazz saxophone player and flautist — bought Tamborello a drum machine, a sequencer, a keyboard and an eight track recorder, primarily for the possibility to create music on his own. He recorded an album under the pseudonym Antihouse in 1993, and released it in 1994. He began work on the first Dntel EP in 1994, which was not released until later.

Around 1994, Jimmy Tamborello was also the bass player for a band known as Strictly Ballroom. The band was often described as "Enocore," for the way it fused hardcore punk rock with soundscapes inspired by Brian Eno.

A collection of the demos during the period of 1995-1997 titled Early Works For Me If It Works For You (1999) was released on the label Phthalo. The work on the first Dntel EP was released as Something Always Goes Wrong (2000), also on the Phthalo label.

As a pioneer of contemporary glitch and electronica, Dntel gained a cult following. After writing a track for the Voices In My Lunchbox collaboration for the Plug Research label, he was asked to work with them. He first released Anyone Anywhere (2000), a 12-inch EP.

He released his full-length album Life is Full of Possibilities (2001). The album contained a slew of guests, playing vocals, guitar and others, including Ben Gibbard, of Death Cab for Cutie, Mia Doi Todd, fellow Figurine member Meredith Figurine, Chris Gunst of Beachwood Sparks, Brian McMahan of Slint and The For Carnation, and Rachel Haden of That Dog. Probably the most well-received song was the Ben Gibbard collaboration "(This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan", which led to a single in 2002, and later, the forming of the band The Postal Service with Ben Gibbard.

Dntel is currently working with The Postal Service, as well as (reportedly) working on the next Dntel LP, rumored to be titled "Dumb Luck."

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Figurine

Tamborello is also part of Figurine, an electro-pop band consisting of Tamborello, now in character as James Figurine, Meredith Figurine and David Figurine. The three were high school friends and created music based mostly on the theme of long distance love, with an inventive electro-pop sound.

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