Todd Trainer
Todd Stanford Trainer is the drummer for the band Shellac. He also performs as a solo artist under the name Brick Layer Cake. He previously played drums for the bands Breaking Circus and Rifle Sport, and he played drums with Scout Niblett in 2005.
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[edit] Personal life
Trainer resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota, manages a warehousing and shipping company, and maintains close ties to his parents and sister Terri. His Italian greyhound, Uffizi, inspired the title of Shellac's fourth studio album, Excellent Italian Greyhound.
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"Dog and Pony Show" by Shellac showcases the "primal" aesthetic of Trainer's drumming
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[edit] Drumming style
Critics have generally favored Trainer's brutal, primitive approach to rock drumming. A New York Times review of a 2001 Shellac performance described the "stubborn crack and thud Todd Trainer's drums",[1] while former Pitchfork Media critic Brent DiCrescenzo wrote that "Trainer beats his drums so primally, you'd swear he's only wearing a loincloth."[2] A Spin review of the Shellac album Terraform declared that Trainer "gracefully resurrects the lost art of the Bonham stomp",[3] a reference to the acclaimed Led Zeppelin musician John Bonham.
[edit] Onstage attire and persona
During Shellac's 2006-07 tours, Trainer sported a pronounced, spiky mullet and favored multiple layers of gauzy, iridescent blouses, leading to the observation from bandmate Steve Albini that the drummer was "double-bloused."[citation needed]
[edit] Brick Layer Cake
Brick Layer Cake is the solo project of Todd Trainer, who plays every instrument and sings in a deep, spoken word monotone. The music of Brick Layer Cake features very slow tempos and "drone-like" compositions, which Steve Albini described as follows: “Think of Nick Drake on downers fronting Black Sabbath, if Black Sabbath played only the good parts of their songs."[citation needed]
[edit] Discography
- Eye for an Eye - Tooth for a Tooth (Ruthless Records) 1990
- Call It A Day (Touch and Go Records) 1991
- Tragedy Tragedy (Touch and Go Records) 1994
- Whatchamacallit (Touch and Go Records) 2002
[edit] References
- ^ Ann Powers (2001-01-23). "POP REVIEW; Playing All the Angles of a Male Band". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9507E7DE103CF930A15752C0A9679C8B63. Retrieved 2008-11-16.
- ^ Brent DiCrescenzo (1999-12-31). "Shellac: Terraform". Pitchfork Media. http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/21661-shellac-terraform. Retrieved 2008-11-16.
- ^ Review of Terraform by Shellac, Spin, May 1998, p.140, 7/10 rating.
[edit] External links
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