SOD, Ruskoff, Doggofar, Tonton Dimen, Gizmo | pt

If one had to say a few words to sum up the multifaceted musical talent of Titonton Duvanté, adjectives like innovative, ambitious and creative could be used to describe him. Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Titonton wrote his first song at the age of five entitled "Journey to the Stars.” As a child, he was drawn to the upbeat rhythms of disco and the futuristic sounds of early electronic music such as Yellow Magic Orchestra and Gary Numan. As Titonton matured, he was intrigued by the music associated with breakdancing. He admired the Electro sound, as well as the...

They got their names from the Haitian dictator Papa Doc Duvallier's brutal presidential guard that was named TONTON MACOUTE. Why, I am not sure but if that name is original, so is their sole album released on rare and collectable Neon Record (also SPRING and INDIAN SUMMER). Paul French on kbs and vocals is not to be confused with the awesome Pete French singer in ATOMIC ROOSTER and CACTUS and LEAFHOUND. The rest of the band consist of Chris Gavin on bass and guitars, Dave Knowles on winds and vocals, Nigel Reveler on drums. Their record is full of jazz-inspired...

The Gizmos were a proto-punk band that formed in Bloomington, Indiana in 1975. Both leading members, Eddie Flowers and Rich Coffee would move to Los Angeles in the late 1970s and become active in the post-punk, underground rock scene there. Flowers would start Crawlspace with ex-members of the Lazy Cowgirls in 1985, starting out in a punk rock vein but increasingly growing more experimental as time went on. By the early 1990s Crawlspace's music was free improvisation inspired by John Cage and Derek Bailey. Coffee sang and played in Thee Fourgiven and The Tommyknockers, influenced by late 1960s pre-punk hard...

It's funny. The Tontons don't have a readily available mainstream band to make an off-the-cuff comparison, so in this space we won't tell you they sound like Indie Flavor Of The Week or Noted And Weighty Classic Rock Name. The Tontons simply sound like the Tontons. That sounds like false bluster, but anyone who has been tracking them since 2008 will tell you the same thing. Up front is Asli Omar, that vocal vixen who can make men and rock nerds alike quake in their boots. Bassist Tom Nguyen, whose rumble forms the dermis of the band and then them...