Discogs
Artist Biography
by Stacia Proefrock
Tim Foljahn, the guiding force behind
Two Dollar Guitar,
began the band when he landed in Hoboken, NJ, after several years
traveling around the country, with brief stops in New Orleans,
Alberquerque, and Chicago. Hooking up with his friend,
Sonic Youth drummer
Steve Shelley,
he began to record a collection of dark ballads that he had accumulated
during his travels. The result was his debut single, "Lost Bird"
(Smells Like Records, 1995), which was produced by
Shelley and featured him on percussion, but regardless was largely a solo effort by
Foljahn. Soon after, they released
Let Me Bring You Down, also on Smells Like Records, which delved deeper into
Foljahn's collection of grim songs.
Foljahn and
Shelley's partnership was developed further as they began playing together with other bands. Around the release of
Let Me Bring You Down, they put in time with groups like
Mosquito,
Male Slut (with
Thurston Moore), and
Cat Power. Their second full-length issued on Smells Like Records in 1996,
Burned and Buried
pulled in many more guest musicians and reached deeper into folk, jazz,
and blues roots, incorporating pedal steel and blues harp to create an
album that featured mature instrumental work as much as lyrics.
Two Dollar Guitar, in essence, became a whole band with this album as they added ex-
Cell bassist Dave Motamed as a permanent member. A pair of singles from the
Burned and Buried sessions, "Woman Killing Man" and "Erl King," were also released in 1997.
Not content to stop experimenting, two unusual projects were released in 1998.
Hotel Opera, a solo album by
Foljahn under the name
la Lengua Asesina, featured a more minimal sound;
Train Songs,
which featured all three members of the trio, dispensed with the lyrics
altogether to allow instrumental tracks to grow and bloom in many
different directions, highlighting the development and growing
cohesiveness of this band.
Weak Beats and Lame-Ass Rhymes followed, issued in 2000 by Smells Like Records.
Tracklist
| 1 |
Patagonia |
3:44
|
| 2 |
Virginia Creeper |
2:13
|
| 3 |
Oiseau Bleu |
2:38
|
| 4 |
Flying Crow |
4:54
|
| 5 |
Cascade |
6:50
|
| 6 |
Erie Lackawana |
4:26
|
| 7 |
Silver Meteor |
8:00
|
| 8 |
Conversation With Myself |
0:26
|
| 9 |
Turnaround |
5:34
|
| 10 |
Asheville Special |
1:41
|
| 11 |
Etoile Du Nord |
0:31
|
| 12 |
Morning Zephyr |
2:44
|
| 13 |
Danville Flyer |
1:55
|
| 14 |
Twilight Limited |
3:07
|
| 15 |
Southern Crescent |
1:51
|
| 16 |
Ghost Train |
1:10
|
| 17 |
Palmland |
8:06 |
