ArtistInfo
Toiling Midgets
A Smaller Life
Compil. FI 2015 on Full Contact Records label
Alternative (Punk, New Wave)
Curated primarily from high-quality studio sessions engineered by the late Tom Mallon, the double-LP compilation amasses 24 tracks never before pressed on vinyl. These songs span the wiry charge of a 1980 demo to a charred feedback orgy consummated in 2011. As time marches on, the sound evolves and intensifies but stays true to Craig Gray's basic template, drawn when he founded the group as the predominantly instrumental successor to his classic Bay Area punk quartet, Negative Trend. Detours along the way include a pair of outtakes featuring American Music Club vocalist Mark Eitzel, as well as five haunted collaborations with ex-Sleepers frontman Ricky Williams, whose 1992 passing truncated his second and final tenure with the Midgets. As distinctive as they are, however, these singers don't matter too much. The band's undeniable core is the friction generated by guitarists Gray and Paul Hood, in which concise, circular chord progressions fornicate with expressionistic smears. Set against the weighty, shifting rhythms of Mallon and original drummer Tim Mooney (also RIP), the elemental riffs transform into a thing of searing majesty and bruising beauty.
Musicians
 | Toiling Midgets , *1979 US album by |
 | Aaron Gregory bass, engineer |
 | Erich Werner , bass |
 | Joe Goldring g, org, bass |
 | Lisa Davis b, bass |
 | Nosmo King , bass |
 | Jordan N. Mamone g, voc, b, curated by |
 | Tim Mooney dr, 1958-2012 US drums |
 | Tom Mallon g, dr, drums, engineer, mixed by |
 | Craig Gray g, drums, synth, engineer, guitar, mixed by |
 | David Paul , engineer, other, machines |
| Annie Ungar guitar |
 | Paul Hood g, guitar |
 | Mark Sullivan key, voc, keyboards |
 | Chris von Sneidern g, p, transferred by, from audio tape |
 | Joanna Hood vl, US viola |
 | Mary Redfield voc, vn, viola |
 | Mark Eitzel voc, g, *1959 US vocals |
 | Ricky Williams voc, 1956-1992 US vocals |
Album Tracks
| No | Title | Artist | Composer | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1980 - 1983 | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 2 | Do The Incendiary | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 3 | Warehouse | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 4 | If You Choose To Live | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 5 | So He Sayeth | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 6 | Richard Speck | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 7 | Caverns II | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 8 | 1989 - 1992 | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 9 | EQ Plex | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 10 | The Brush | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 11 | Mr. Spine | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 12 | Nadine | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 13 | To Die | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 14 | Little Charlene | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 15 | 1991 - 1996 | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 16 | Sequence 13 | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 17 | Wolf Blitzer | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 18 | Pumice | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 19 | Why Can't We? | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 20 | When | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 21 | Train Set | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 22 | 1995 - 2011 | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 23 | No Paul, No | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 24 | Andi | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 25 | Clock | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 26 | Yakuza Serenade | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 27 | Broken | Toiling Midgets | ||
| 28 | Burn | Toiling Midgets |
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