Archived Main Page Talk (Page 8)

Birdhouse used in Clarks advert on UK TV

Not sure if it merits a mention on the front page but I thought this was pretty cool. [1]

(505) TMBW-505

Call it. (Yes, from your phone. Yes, it's free.) This is only a test. More to come if people enjoy it.

Sincerely,
Jon / CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 11:45, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

BEAUTIFUL. i've been hoping for something like this for ages. BRAVO. -- 11:56, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

OMG <3 -- Jason DeLima - ♥! - 19:34, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

TMBW, I LOVE YOU. -Apollo 19:50, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

This is terribly exciting. -Lekker 22:22, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

People are happy! And thus, Dial-A-Wiki (at (505) TMBW-505) is born. The unfortunate limitation with its current form is a 60-second length limit on the recordings, but perhaps this is for the better in order to uphold the legal principle of fair use, since the end result comes out as a low-quality (and time-limited) sample.
By the way, YES, you can leave voicemail messages. And I'll try to update the song daily for as long as I can. Keep calling, and if this starts getting a lot of feedback, I guess I'll spread it beyond this talk page. Tell your friends, I suppose! See how people feel about it! -Jon / CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 02:38, 11 August 2010 (UTC)

It's incredible even with the limitations! Do They know about it? -- DidgeGuy (आ ज) 13:19, 11 August 2010 (UTC)

I haven't made any effort past this page yet to spread the word about the service, so if they do find out, it's going to take a while for it to reach them.
Anyway, I received some great voicemail messages today from fans! Perhaps I'll eventually post some of the voicemail recordings up for posterity (after asking permission from the original callers, of course).
For those wondering how this service is run, I'm using the free Google Voice service as an answering machine; there's no actual tape involved. :] -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 01:26, 12 August 2010 (UTC)

This is fantastic! -j2

Anyone here leave the voicemail message consisting of a little humming+ukulele(?) rendition of Drinkin'? It's fantastic and charming! -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 01:19, 13 August 2010 (UTC)

Really really cool. I'll be sure to leave a message once I think of something to say!! - Goodtimes2

So wait. Wait. If it's so easy to do this sans-tape then WHAT THE HELL IS THE JOHNS'S EXCUSE? >:( >:( >:( (awesome though!) --Self Called Nowhere 01:05, 14 August 2010 (UTC)

AAHHH!! So true!! -- DidgeGuy (आ ज) 01:53, 14 August 2010 (UTC)

Just an idea

I think it might be good if we delete "User talk:" pages for users that are blocked after we block 'em. Or send a bot to do that. -- Buzzmusic100 ("Keep your voice down...")

Since users aren't blocked for consistent reasons, I don't know if a bot function would be advisable. It's possible that even a user with a legitimate, active(?) talk page could be blocked, and/or the talk page could be related the the user's blocking (and therefore potentially archival). You could always just request the deletion of a specific page, though. An admin would get around to it soon enough unless it doesn't actually need deletion. What talk page did you have in mind? -Apollo 20:56, 22 August 2010 (UTC)

I had this one in mind but there are surely a million (not literally) others. That's why I thought a bot could do it. -- Buzzmusic100 ("Keep your voice down...")

Oh, yeah, that might as well be deleted. I'm still not sure about the bot; I think it's too inconsistent (but perhaps I am wrong). Also I think it still seems a little frivolous, seeing as users that require blocking only come along every so often, and I dunno if there are very many talk pages along with them. Not to mention that manual deletion probably isn't very hard. WAS THAT A JOHN HODGMAN REFERENCE? :D -Apollo 21:39, 22 August 2010 (UTC)

Facebook

So many new accounts... -Apollo 17:37, 24 August 2010 (UTC)

Idea

Why don't we put the recent Dial-A-Wiki songs on the main page, like the recent news column? After all, it saves people from having to go to the page.

To be honest, it couldn't hurt to have a little "today's dial-a-wiki song" box somewhere, but I think it's a little tedious and unnecessary. Plus, I think part of dial-a-song's appeal is that one does not know what to expect when they call it. Even if someone does add it to the song list eventually. -Apollo 02:45, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

Awards...

...to some TMBG songs, as of today (9-7-10).

• Best song:Ana Ng
  
• Best Linnell song:Ana Ng
  
• Best Flansburgh song:Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head (or See The Constellation)
  
• Best non-John song:I Am A Paleontologist
  
• Best alternate version of a song:James K. Polk (Original Version) (unless you count Why Does The Sun Shine? (Live STD))
  
• Best State Song:South Carolina
  
• Best Mono Puff song:Unsupervised, I Hit My Head
  

And these are the best songs from each album:

• Pink Album:Don't Let's Start
  
• Lincoln:Ana Ng
  
• Flood:Birdhouse In Your Soul
  
• Apollo 18:I Palindrome I
  
• John Henry:The End Of The Tour
  
• Factory Showroom:Spiraling Shape
  
• Long Tall Weekend:Older
  
• Mink Car:Man, It's So Loud In Here
  
• No!:Sleepwalkers
  
• The Spine:Experimental Film
  
• Here Come The ABCs:Alphabet Of Nations (Maybe! Correct me if I'm wrong)
  
• The Else:The Mesopotamians
  
• Here Come The 123s:Apartment 4
  
• Here Comes Science:I Am A Paleontologist
  

Correct me if I'm wrong please! -- Buzzmusic100 ("Keep your voice down...")

I disagree with almost everything you've said here! And also, I really don't see the point of this list when it's a purely subjective selection... --༺𝄞𝄆Ⓠⓤⓔⓛ⎈Ⓓⓞⓜⓜⓐⓖⓔ𝄇༻ 11:19, 10 January 2011 (UTC)

Calm down, this list is outdated. It was taken from the song ratings page, fyi. It's not Buzzmusic's opinion. The song rating page has been changed recently due to the deletion of unregistered user votes (i think). -- DidgeGuy (आ ज) 13:38, January 10 2011 (UTC)

My bad. So sorry! D: --༺𝄞𝄆Ⓠⓤⓔⓛ⎈Ⓓⓞⓜⓜⓐⓖⓔ𝄇༻ 23:07, 10 January 2011 (UTC)

Life Is Good webcast

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it does not look like the TMBG portion of the Life is Good Festival will be webcast.

According to the information on the Life is Good website, they are only webcasting the two adult stages. TMBG are performing on the family stage. There is a schedule on the website of the times all the bands who will be appearing on the webcast and TMBG is not on it. You can check out the list of performers who will be on the webcast here.

I took down the link we had posted to the webcast. If anyone can find info that says they are showing the family stage, feel free to revert my edit. I just didn't want people getting all excited about watching TMBG only to discover they couldn't. --BlueCanary 06:03, 11 September 2010 (UTC)

I was already excited...SUPER-EXCITED, LIKE, THIS WILL BE THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY WEEKEND EXCITED...it's been, what, since 2002 that there's been a webcast? Well, let's just use this as the launching pad for another "HOW MANY MORE WAYS CAN WE FIND FOR THE CHILDREN'S MUSIC TO BE KILLING THEM" rant, shall we? Because clearly we need more of those. SO MAD. --Self Called Nowhere 06:22, 11 September 2010 (UTC)

Clock radio update?

Happy Thursday. TMBG have updated their Clock Radio desktop music streamer--Download it for free at www.theymightbegiants.com

- [TMBG Twitter]

Is this newsworthy?

Eh, probably not considering the last "big update" was (IIRC) just adding podcast stuff. But I guess someone should check out what the update actually is to decide. Myself, I've never used the damn thing. --Self Called Nowhere 23:16, 30 September 2010 (UTC)

So far nothing's been added, at least to the list of things the Clock Radio will play. You'll see if it has changed in edit: [the xml file]; it's currently timestamped at Wednesday, February 17, 2010 2:50:42 PM. ~ magbatz 08:32, 1 October 2010 (UTC)

I'm asking because last time, we put it in the news when it was just announced, then again when something actually happened.

Not newsworthy until they actually update Clock Radio. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 22:54, 1 October 2010 (UTC)

Less Than Jake

Moving from the "Current Events":

October 5, 2010

On October 12, Less Than Jake will release a Tv theme song ep featuring "Boss of Me" as Track 6.

Rondo Brothers

Anyone know anything about these guys? On their twitter feed, they claim to be mixing a live track by TMBG. I assume they're working on the new album?

http://twitter.com/#!/rondobrothers/status/29602300696 http://twitter.com/#!/rondobrothers/status/29510259579

--Duke33 13:42, 4 November 2010 (UTC)

I wonder if it's for a bonus track on the new album, like how they had that live version of Bed Bed Bed on one of their kids' albums? --Oddjob 14:23, 4 November 2010 (UTC)

WLIR Concert ID

Do we have a page for this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJz5FMuKQN8&feature=youtu.be

I couldn't find one. Thought it was kind of interesting though. --Duke33 18:21, 9 November 2010 (UTC)

That is awesome. We totally need a page. --veggieman 20:53, 9 November 2010 (UTC)

One of my favorite features on the Gigantic DVD, both because it's funny and because it's referencing so many places a few miles from me! -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 05:03, 10 November 2010 (UTC)

TMBG-centric Tumblr

Ok, I hope I'm not being obnoxious mentioning this all over the place, but I figured y'all would be interested: I'm doing an ALL TMBG, ALL THE TIME Tumblr now. I'm posting all kinds of pictures, mp3's of varying degrees of rareness, and other miscellaneous goodies. You'll have to wade through a considerable amount of Linnell gushing (obviously) so I apologize if that's not your thing, and I am making a ton of posts (I actually just now made my 200th post after having the thing for 12 days) but hopefully you'll find some things to enjoy in there. So yeh, if you are so inclined you can check it totally out right here.

1999 Kids Sampler

Does anyone know what this is? Wout 00:28, 27 November 2010 (UTC)

Something we've never heard of? --$¥Šтəмд†↓к є┌╓☼╔ (talk) 01:48, 27 November 2010 (UTC)

Someone on the old mailing list bought it:

"Hi, A week ago I mentioned that I ordered a cd from Esprit http://eil.com called Kids. I sort of guessed it wouldn't be the No album, but I was intrested anyway. So I paid #40 for Istanbul (flood version), Particle man, Why does the sun shine (slow version), James K. Polk (not the album version), I forgot what album it's on... Factory showroom?), Mammal, South Carolina (It seems to be mixed slightly different to state songs but is basically the same), Meet James Ensor, Cow Town, Dinner Bell, Number 3, Shoehorn with Teeth, Mr. me, For Science. Operator Dot (I think that's your name) asked for the track listing, but I've lost your addressed. It is a white labelled Disc."

I'm guessing it's not legit. Zomba Screen Music does seem to exist though. Wout 02:16, 27 November 2010 (UTC)

Huh...weird. Zomba did in fact issue the Bangs (Promo). That possibly lends some legitimacy. --Duke33 04:21, 27 November 2010 (UTC)

Next TMBG Rock Album Sorta News

Quote Danny Weinkauf from his Facebook page, "nearly done with next rock album with TMBG - doing a bunch of TV and Jingle stuff from home studio - and with Dan Miller and Marty." Not sure if it was common knowledge or if it was mentioned in any recent interviews, but the album is nearly done! Hopefully it will be released soon-ish. Just thought anyone here who isn't on Facebook would like to know. -- Jason DeLima - ♥! - 20:09, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

Wait, where is this? I don't see it on Danny's FB page at all. --Self Called Nowhere 21:12, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

-- Jason DeLima - ♥! - 21:40, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!--Self Called Nowhere 22:29, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

Recorded and produced/mixed are totally different things. I'm keeping my fingers crossed though. --Duke33 01:26, 30 November 2010 (UTC)

Yeahh, he didn't specify which part They were done with. They still have to announce it, master it, album art, promote it, etc. Sounds promising for 2011 though! -- Jason DeLima - ♥! - 20:37, 30 November 2010 (UTC)

Not to be a Debbie Downer, but did anyone see today's FB post by the band? They mentioned "raising money for the band's next effort". That sounded sort of weird, and desperate. I don't know if they were talking about the album, or something else, like Invention. --Duke33 21:57, 30 November 2010 (UTC)

If you were Debbie Downer, you'd be talking more about diabetic cats. No, actually, I thought it sounded kind of hopeful! Like the new event was just on the horizon. It was a strange phrasing though, I'll admit. Although, the post did begin with, "(...if we said our big holiday swag sale was really a pledge-drive…)." So perhaps the humor fell flat. --Lemita 22:09, 30 November 2010 (UTC)

I read it as CLEARLY a joke, geez. I mean. How would it even make sense as a serious thing? As Lemita is saying here, the intro makes it pretty clear. --Self Called Nowhere 03:56, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

I assume it wasn't serious, but it was such a bizarre thing to say. If it was a joke, it fell flat, as Lemita said. --Duke33 04:39, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

A joke it may be, but it's still relevant news acknowledging the "next effort". Perhaps it isn't without some truth. They've mentioned having several interruptions while working on the next album. --thevince, 1 December 2010

No, it is not "relevant news." The fact that they're working on a new album is not something we were not aware of. How exactly is them casually mentioning this, with no sort of information about said album at all, "news" in any sense of the word? --Self Called Nowhere 19:45, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Holiday Theme

A nice little surprise to see the holiday theme when i checked the site this morning. I can't believe that I forget about it every year! --Duke33 14:45, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

There's no holiday in Monobook. --$¥Šтəмд†↓к є┌╓☼╔ (talk) 15:34, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Mmm... yeah. No holiday theme in Monobookland. However, I do think the holiday theme is really cute. :3 --Lemita 15:38, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

I'm always willing to take the time to step out of the happy familiarity of monobook in exchange for the nonsecular poignancy of the yuletide skin. -Apollo (Phoebus!) 21:07, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Holy shit.

Is this whole fight about using the accordion?

...what fight? -Apollo (Phoebus!) 20:23, 12 December 2010 (UTC)

Their songs are mostly all just a dialogue between John and John, Flans wanting to explore the infinite potential of the accordion, Linnell wanting to become a rock band. There was a huge event between them (Broke in Two), I'm impressed basically remedied the situation but Flans referenced it in The Shadow Government as well which spurred Linnell to write Contrecoup.

I'll break a song down: Wearing a raincoat.

Wearing a raincoat is Flans and his seemingly crazy reason to keep the accordion going in the proportionally small fanbase.

Linnell panicked over the revenue because of their image with the accordion, literally he had to be "talked down" by the rest of the band in some situation. That's the situation being referenced. He wants to make money, live in luxury. Hating food that comes from a pipe is Linnell being tired of eating canned food because of monetary constraints.

Climbing the Walls is about TMBG's boost in popularity with the new image, climbing music charts, making money.

First of all, I think you might have Linnell and Flans confused, because the accordion is the instrument that Linnell plays. Also, I don't really think that they would base a whole album off of a minor argument like that. I think both Linnell and Flansburgh appreciate and enjoy the accordion very much, and are mature enough that they know that writing songs about it won't solve any issues. And they aren't so poor that they can only eat canned food. John and John are actually both very financially stable. Aside from that, you're a bit off on the chronology. Wearing a Raincoat was written awhile before the release of The Else, and Contrecoup almost surely preceded The Shadow Government. I also think it's worth noting that there is no "new image". TMBG still uses an accordion frequently live, and probably will on the new album, too. There hasn't really been any significant increase in chart-climbing, either. -Apollo (Phoebus!) 03:58, 13 December 2010 (UTC)

You're may be right, now that I think about it, it is also about dumbing down the lyrics to the songs. Making the music more accessible.

Well, there's nothing wrong with interpreting songs as you wish to, I'm just not so sure that we should reflect the lyrics onto our real opinions of the Johns. Your interpretation is certainly amusing and I personally appreciate your creativity. I apologise if I came of as hostile in my replies at any point, though. -Apollo (Phoebus!) 05:10, 13 December 2010 (UTC)

I think you might have Linnell and Flans confused, because the accordion is the instrument that Linnell plays. I think the more significant confusion is the idea that Flans would want to be more involved with exploring the musical form and Linnell would be more concerned about "rock band" status. p.s. Apollo it's not really necessary to feed the trolls. --Self Called Nowhere 08:08, 13 December 2010 (UTC)

I take great pleasure in arguing. -Apollo (Phoebus!) 12:15, 13 December 2010 (UTC)

"it is also about dumbing down the lyrics to the songs" yeah. Duende lyrics are REAL dumbed down. -- DidgeGuy (आ ज) 13:45, December 13 2010

I will simply point out once again that by acting like this is an actual theory and not obvious trolling y'all are making yourselves look really stupid and gullible. REALLY. (And yes yes, I am aware that I said something too, but I found the thing I was commenting on legitimately amusing. The only thing in all this nonsense that was, actually.) --Self Called Nowhere 08:14, 14 December 2010 (UTC)

If you guys would only read the lyrics, you would know that a terrible thing has happened on the inside of TMBG. Or is it creative control over the songs.

Apollo 18

-BlarJotunn 17:33, 27 December 2010 (PDT)

if this movie really does happen, then it'd better at least have "the statue got me high" in it, regardless of whether or not that is consistent with the tone of the film. -Apollo (Phoebus!) 01:37, 28 December 2010 (UTC)

Well, I'm sure there's something to be found on the album that would be consistent. IF NEITHER "TURN AROUND" NOR "MY EVIL TWIN" CAN FIT INTO A MOVIE I DON'T WANT TO SEE IT. (But yeh, it really should be Statue.) --Self Called Nowhere 12:55, 30 December 2010 (UTC)

There are other songs they could use... --Luke 05:45, 10 January 2011 (UTC)

Ouch.

From The AV Club: The turd in the caviar: 24 songs that almost derail great albums:

23. “You’ll Miss Me,” They Might Be Giants, Lincoln

For those who believe They Might Be Giants died the moment the duo started working with a live band, 1988’s Lincoln will always stand as the group’s unassailable masterpiece—or almost unassailable. Its Achilles heel, sandwiched between the larkish “Santa’s Beard” and the classic “They’ll Need a Crane,” is the car-crash melange of “You’ll Miss Me.” Over faux-funky jazz bass and discordant horns, John Flansburgh gruffly mock-raps a tough-guy screed, the irritation of his affected vocals doubled by the distortion in which they’re slathered. For a band who’ve always lived by their wits, “You’ll Miss Me” is bafflingly witless; anyone waiting for a sign that it’s some obscure joke ends up waiting in vain.

--Self Called Nowhere

Ah, they just missed the point. That's a great track. Changing subjects a little, it really is distressing how much our culture fixates on the negative, and this smarmy, sarcastic tone that permeates all pop culture is just so obnoxious. This is a whole article about songs the author doesn't like. Think about that. --Oddjob 14:40, 30 December 2010 (UTC)

WHAT? THIS IS MY FAVORITE SONG ON THE ALBUM!!! IT IS NOT "WITLESS" OR "FAUX FUNKY"!!!!

Your favourite song on ALL OF LINCOLN? ARE YOU FOR SERIOUS? --Self Called Nowhere 01:59, 1 January 2011 (UTC)

I am truly disgusted! This is one of my all-time favourite Flans songs! --༺𝄞𝄆Ⓠⓤⓔⓛ⎈Ⓓⓞⓜⓜⓐⓖⓔ𝄇༻ 18:43, 30 December 2010 (UTC)

You don't read the AV Club very often do you Oddjob. That's kind of their standard thing, and I find it pretty amusing generally. (I found this rather amusing, actually.) But FWIW, they have posted many many other things exalting various TMBG tracks as well. --Self Called Nowhere 01:59, 1 January 2011 (UTC)

I actually think it's a veiled compliment. Considering the #1 is "Revolution 9" on The White Album, this is the author saying Lincoln's right up there with the best of them, sans one track. --SMB 10:01, 6 February 2011 (UTC)

Um, considering the entire concept of the feature was "these are the only tracks on these albums that are not fantastic," and that it refers to Lincoln as an "unassailable masterpiece," I don't know if it is really what could be called "veiled"... --Self Called Nowhere 11:27, 6 February 2011 (UTC)

New Music Tipsheet

Am i the only one not getting all worked up about the fact that they are reporting the 4/5/11 release date for the next album? I mean, is this a reliable source? I don't know anything about the site. --Duke33 04:22, 9 January 2011 (UTC)

Yes. You are. I mean, granted, I don't know anything about this site either, but I don't know what they would have to gain by making things up, you know? --Self Called Nowhere 09:19, 9 January 2011 (UTC)

Well, you know how these things go. Tentative dates get put out there, then revised, etc. I'm not saying these people are making them up, but i'm just wondering if they are official? I guess we'll just keep monitoring to see if other people corroborate the claim? --Duke33 16:02, 9 January 2011 (UTC)

As far as I know, New Music Tipsheet is a reliable source that lots of industry folk use. I'm pretty confident that whatever information they have is true (as of right now). --houseofmayors

As far as I recall, in my real old age, tentative album release dates come and go. I'm with the venerable duke on this one, that date could change a week before the album is slated to drop. It just happens. --Luke 21:43, 9 January 2011 (UTC)

I think I speak for every sensible person ever born when I assert: WHOOOOOOO CRAAAZZZZZZYYYYY, EVIDENCE THAT THERE IS A THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS ALBUM THAT'S GOING TO BE RELEASED REALLY PRETTY SOON. It may not be April 5, but I think we can say with some confidence that we'll be listening to a new TMBG album (!!!!!!!!!!!!) by summertime.

I really don't know about that, actually. Does anyone else find it weird that the album has no name, yet is supposedly going to be released in two months? They haven't been talking it up at all, it's not on their website, the media hasn't mentioned it other than this one site... These are all things that they would probably happen two months away from a release. --SMB 09:52, 6 February 2011 (UTC)

TMBG sponsering little league???

Does anyone else know about this?[2]

That's from a couple of summers ago. I never heard anything about them continuing it after that year, but who knows.--BlueCanary 23:03, 9 January 2011 (UTC)

spam?

can anyone provide any sort of explanation as to what is up with all the spam recently? or is this just some thing that happens spontaneously? also: would blanking the pages be appropriate or is it best to just wait for someone to delete it? I would assume that latter, but it feels weird to leave it there. -Apollo (Colloquia!) 16:21, 27 January 2011 (UTC)

I had the same question. I figure blanking them is better than nothing, so it's what I've been doing (let me know if I'm wrong, though). Do you have to be a moderator to delete pages? I'd do it if I could, but I guess it's not a good idea to let just anyone delete pages . . . Drew 19:35, 27 January 2011 (UTC)

Well, there are admins and deletion folks, and they can block users and delete pages (well, admins can block users, at least), but I'm still curious as to what should be done until such a time that one of them can do something. -Apollo (colloquia!) 19:49, 27 January 2011 (UTC)

it's easiest for me if they haven't been touched. that way, i can see who made it with the default deletion summary, and i don't have to go into the page's history to see which account to block. -- 21:00, 27 January 2011 (UTC)

Okay, I'll keep that in mind for the future. Drew 19:29, 29 January 2011 (UTC)

Indecision

Check this out:

http://repertoire.bmi.com/title.asp?blnWriter=True&blnPublisher=True&blnArtist=True&keyID=7934994&ShowNbr=0&ShowSeqNbr=0&querytype=WorkID

I don't know if it's from the new album or what. It lists the publisher as "Hilarity Music" which is part of Sony. So, it might be for some Various Artists comp. --Duke33 21:23, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

Haha I don't know how I feel about The Johns releasing anything on something called "Hilarity Music," but any sign of anything new is exciting! Is there any way to use this to get more info? The idea of extra new stuff (like for a comp) PLUS the new album is kind of overwhelming me right now... --Self Called Nowhere 06:18, 29 January 2011 (UTC)

What about the extra music and production that The Daily Show puts on for elections? Could this music be from that? Krueger 12:47, 29 January 2011 (UTC)

Yeah, "hilarity", "indecision"... It adds up to sounding like a Daily Show type thing. --SMB 09:54, 6 February 2011 (UTC)

A Little Something for You Lady-Types Out There

http://www.etsy.com/listing/65426766/they-might-be-giants-80s-retro-mini

--Duke33 01:12, 6 February 2011 (UTC)

TMBG's Upcoming EP

If we have an article for the next album already, should we perhaps make a page for the upcoming EP? TheSkullHead 23:49, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

I vote that we should. Chances are, that's the April 5th release they were talking about. --Lemita 00:48, 23 February 2011 (UTC)

Let's wait until we get a few more details. Right now all we know is that it's an "album preview", so it might not even have unique material (like b-sides). Until we find out further details (a solid release date or a title or a track listing), we can keep information about it on the Upcoming Album page. :] -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 01:50, 23 February 2011 (UTC)

MST3K

Something fun i found while watching old MST3K episodes on my lunch break:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8aP7xxkU2U

Jump to about 8:00 in. --Duke33 17:56, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

Ahahahahah! Very nice find ;D --༺𝄞𝄆Ⓠⓤⓔⓛ⎈Ⓓⓞⓜⓜⓐⓖⓔ𝄇༻ 18:12, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

Join Us

Brand new information on the Johns' next album. Update away~ --Lemita 17:34, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

hello hello?

is this worthy of being news, or too vague? in any case, sounds interesting, eh? -Apollo (colloquia!) 04:25, 29 March 2011 (UTC)

fuisefhauweifrhgveujodcafhiuwfejo. -- 04:31, 29 March 2011 (UTC)

i agree with ant. --AGR 14:10, 29 March 2011 (UTC)

Track listing/"Can't Keep Johnny Down"

Pitchfork released this today. I'd edit, but I have to leave for class. Who wants to do the honors? --Lemita 15:58, 5 April 2011 (UTC)

"Ten Ridiculous Wikis to Cure Your Boredom with Just One Click"

Apparently we're considered the #10 most interesting useless wiki or something, yay?... --Self Called Nowhere 03:07, 10 April 2011 (UTC)

never knew love

So I guess "Never Knew Love" will be a single...? --AGR 01:55, 20 April 2011 (UTC)

hmm... the other three advance tracks are there too... --AGR 02:03, 20 April 2011 (UTC)

the guitar

My sister was watching "the 40 most slimmed-down celebrities" on VH1 (it's about famous people losing weight?) and one of the "celebs" was Al Roker, and in the little Al Roker introduction bit they played ~10 seconds of The Guitar! I got really excited. -Apollo (colloquia!) 17:30, 20 April 2011 (UTC)

Aww I thought you were going to say Flans was on it. I mean sometimes he does... --Self Called Nowhere 22:25, 20 April 2011 (UTC)

TMBG Awareness Day

So Flansburgh has declared Tuesday to be TMBG Awareness Day (see this YouTube video and the @tmbg Twitter feed) to celebrate the release of the preview. I think it would be rather awesome if we, the fan community could make this kind of a big thing. His celebration suggestions included posting a status update, making a video and generally telling all your friends. We seem to be a pretty creative group of people so I am sure we can come up with some other awesome ideas. I took the liberty of creating a Facebook event for the occasion to help spread the word. Here is the page. I think you have to be logged in to Facebook to see it but I think anyone can "attend" as long as you have Facebook (let me know if I'm wrong about that). Anybody else got any nifty celebration ideas? Who's with me?! --BlueCanary 20:57, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

Um, the last time a TMBG day was declared, wasn't it a ((kinda) mind-blowing) surprise made by a third party (Brooklyn)? (And announced by such a dude as

)

Not that this isn't swell and all, but I feel like TMBG have forgotten what humility is lately. Maybe I'm just a curmudgeon these days, and maybe it's just because it seems Flansburgh is the one trying to get people interested and also interest people into getting others interested; the Street Team of times past seemed to be done by.... someone else. Also, the fact that JF seems to be a professional twitter artist these days? Weird. End rant. ~ magbatz 21:16, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

There is a difference between humility and marketing. TMBG are themselves a product they have to sell to survive. They aren't on a major label with the giant advertising budget that comes with it. They've got to do it themselves. And the best resource they have is us, the fans. Fact is if one of the fans tried to organize this, it would get a mild response and maybe sell a few extra copies of the preview. But if the band promotes it, it instantly goes out to 175,000 people on Facebook and 16,000 people on Twitter and if even half those people manage to convince 1 extra person to buy the preview or even just look up the band then it's an overwhelming success. This is just Street Team for the internet age. And besides, it's fun. I don't know about anyone else, but I embrace any opportunity to share my TMBG love with the world. Also, I have found JF's Twitter persona enormously entertaining and informative. *stepping off shoebox now* --BlueCanary 22:04, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

Yeah I've gotten over it now. Sorry. It's still not something I'm interested in 'taking part in', but for now I have called off the order of eggs and spraypaint. ~ magbatz 22:10, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

The Flansburgh House

Ok this is kind of awesome. "Completed in 1963, the Flansburgh House was designed by the late architect Earl R. Flansburgh, FAIA for his family’s private use. The house is designed around an open interior garden court and was built to illustrate Flansburgh's approach to Modern residential design. It is set on a slightly sloping wooded lot and surrounded by tall pine trees and stone walls built by Flansburgh and his sons." --Self Called Nowhere 20:02, 5 May 2011 (EDT)

You are right, that is pretty awesome! Nice house. --BlueCanary 09:52, 6 May 2011 (EDT)

Tubthumping

Keep an eye on the Onion AV Club: [3] --Duke33 08:43, 31 May 2011 (EDT)

Well that explains the mysterious Twitter post from the Chicago Tribune writer who said she got to sing with TMBG. Apparently their limo also hit someone's car on the way out. Whoops. Can't wait to see this video. --BlueCanary 11:42, 31 May 2011 (EDT)

An AV Club staff member wrote about this (and posted a picture) here. Exciting! --Self Called Nowhere 17:01, 31 May 2011 (EDT)

Sources say it's not going to be up until June 28. --Self Called Nowhere 01:46, 2 June 2011 (EDT)

Discography Book

Check out this TMBG discography book available on amazon. It looks like someone compiled the info from Wikipedia, and is now selling it as a book. What does anyone think? Should we add an article for it on TMBW? --Duke33 08:48, 31 May 2011 (EDT)

You're right - Books LLC does republish Wikipedia for money. I don't think it deserves a page. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 10:05, 31 May 2011 (EDT)

Melodica

Having just heard Havalina on Podcast 45, I find it to be a brilliant cover. I'm especially delighted by the use of melodica on the track. The melodica, with its extraordinary appearance and distinctive sound, seems like a very Johns-style instrument to me; sadly, I don't believe They used it very often. I remember a melodica being played on Snowball In Hell and Istanbul, but I can't recall any other instance of melodica appearing in a TMBG song. Anyone here who knows if they ever used it in other songs? 194.48.133.8 03:51, 9 June 2011 (EDT)

Kids Go! comes to mind. -j2

MUSIC VIDEO

So if you haven't looked at that new Flans interview yet, the EXCITING PART is that They are apparently making an ACTUAL MUSIC VIDEO for "Can't Keep Johnny Down" CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW AMAZING THIS IS --Self Called Nowhere 23:41, 9 June 2011 (EDT)

nope. forbidden under WL6 §12.3. sorry. -- 23:47, 9 June 2011 (EDT)

Awesome. SamuelMan36 00:19, 10 June 2011 (EDT)

Yes.

Sorry. YESSSSSSSSSSSSS. - Whirrrlwind (Woosh!) 12:00, 14 June 2011 (EDT)

Rebuild File Cache

Over the past week or so I've been occasionally seeing pages that say "Rebuild File Cache" in place of the page title. I can fix this by editing the page and not making any changes, which I know just re-caches the page. I was wondering if this is indicative of some problem or just a quirk? — User:ACupOfCoffee@ 14:36, 8 July 2011 (EDT)

Yeah - I'm aware of it...I just need to actually do something about it. I'll try to get it fixed soon, promise. --Duke33 15:27, 8 July 2011 (EDT)

Pink Album Font?

I've been searching everywhere and I just can't seem to find the font of "They Might Be Giants" on the Pink Album. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

sadly, it seems to be custom-made, as far as i can tell (i've done quite a bit of investigation into this... though i have not gone directly to the source). if you want to use it in a digital product you can try to fake it using the letters from the cover of both pink and dls (that's what i usually do). there are other instances (such as on the inside of the BOTEY cover, but they are all too small to use. that said, if you do figure out that it is available as a digital font and manage to obtain it, i will be forever in your debt! -- 20:35, 13 July 2011 (EDT)

UPDATE: I created a rough font of this in August of 2013. It can be downloaded here [4]. It only has a partial character set and hasn't been kerned, but it'll do in a pinch!

Are the EP buyers being left out in the cold by Apple?

I bought the Join Us EP on iTunes back when it was the full price of $9.99. I don't see any way to get the rest of the album besides re-buying it, and I've emailed Apple multiple times and only got back that they are "denying my request for a refund" (which I wasn't, I was requesting the album I had rightfully purchased). Anybody else who bought the EP have more luck than I have?

Same here. Haven't heard back from iTunes Support yet though...

Have you guys tried going to the Store dropdown menu and choosing "Check for Available Downloads"? Worth a shot. If that doesn't work, iTunes will probably straighten this out. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 20:37, 19 July 2011 (EDT)

I just tried your suggestion and it didn't work out. I'm in a very similar situation to the original poster. So far, I've started a discussion in the Apple Support Community and gotten nowhere, emailed Apple and gotten nowhere, and, last but not least, Twittered with @tmbg and gotten nowhere. According to (I assume) Flansy, the people who bought the EP when it was $3.99 should be able to buy the rest of the album for $6 now on the "Complete My Album" page. I'm considering just biting my tongue and re-purchasing the album, but I'm not going to do that until I've emailed Apple a few dozen times more. --SMB 21:38, 19 July 2011 (EDT)

Flans on Facebook: iTunes writes our management that all the goof ups with the complete my album program will be fixed. It's a momentary thing but obviously people want it fixed asap. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 23:56, 19 July 2011 (EDT)

It's now Thursday and nothing has happened, at least on my end. Anybody else have any success, at least in communication with Apple? --SMB 16:06, 21 July 2011 (EDT) I finally heard back from an Apple support rep, who refunded my purchase on the faith that I would use the money to buy the new album (which I will, mind you...). It seems the EP was mis-priced in the early days of its sale; instead of being the full $9.99, it was only supposed to be $3.99, giving purchasers a discounted price on "Join Us" rather than an upgrade. Thankfully, this is resolved now, and I'll be listening to the album soon! --SMB 01:54, 22 July 2011 (EDT)

Sounds like this whole "Complete my Album" gimmick was kind of a bust for the Johns. I know it's not their fault, but they definitely spent a lot of energy promoting the EP with the angle that you'd get the full album at a discount. And folks had to wait 2 days to hear the album when the whole point was instant gratification? The static at the end of the FLAC files is a problem too. Unfortunately this all falls into the category of "poor user experience".

Anyway, I ended up buying the thing on Amazon for $3.99, which ended up being cheaper than the "complete my album" thing would have been anyway! Glad iTunes didn't get any more of my money after their folly. So between that, the EP purchase, and the CD purchase (a compulsion of mine), I really ended up buying "Join Us" a total of 3 times! And I must say it is worth every penny. --Oddjob 09:41, 22 July 2011 (EDT)

Word magazine article online

http://cde.cerosmedia.com/1N4e11bd4936e9e012.cde/page/68 - Wezzo 09:26, 22 July 2011 (EDT)

Leonard Lopate interview

I have never been so proud to have a slightly deviated septum and ever-enlarged tonsils. ~ magbatz 12:09, 25 July 2011 (EDT)

Shedd Aquarium

Felt I should mention here. There is now this invite-only show happening in Chicago at the Shedd Aquarium on August 2nd hosted by WXRT.

Power of Dial-a-Song

Is there any way I can get a hold of the Power of Dial-a-Song bootleg? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Skullivan/When The Skeleton Walks In The Moonlit Night

Before The Spine came out, TMBW hosted a Dial-A-Song song or a demo titled "When The Skeleton Walks In The Moonlit Night", which was a mistitled version of Skullivan. It was a really good track! Unfortunately, it got taken off the site a while back. Does anyone know where it can still be found, or have it in their personal collection? Thanks! --withershins

I used to keep it around, but it turns out that it's just the completed Skullivan track from Spine Surfs Alone that they put on Dial-A-Song. If you're still interested in remembering how the Skullivan master sounded when pushed through a phone line and onto a tape recorder though, I have it burned to (a sort of scratchy) CD. Alternatively, other people probably still have the mp3. ~ magbatz

October Surprise

This tweet from Flans is interesting -- an "October surprise"... --Duke33 13:49, 16 August 2011 (EDT)

I dunno man, it seems like a lot of times their "surprises" turn out to be way less exciting than we'd been hoping for, and Flans just said something on IFC about how "Dial-A-Song ran its course" so I don't think they're, like, suddenly planning to revive it or something. HOPING they'll prove me horribly wrong though... --Self Called Nowhere 15:28, 16 August 2011 (EDT)

Seems pretty clear that it'll be an iPhone-exclusive Dial-A-Song app. Probably something like TMBG Clock Radio but with a new interface and (hopefully) different music. If anyone else remembers, they put out a call for iPhone developers in 2009. A bit disappointed it's not cross-platform! -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 15:34, 16 August 2011 (EDT)

That's what I've been guessing it is, as well, Jon. We can keep our fingers crossed that it's good. --Duke33 15:51, 16 August 2011 (EDT)

I am not gonna let TMBG force me to get an iPhone!...maybe. If they were actually putting NEW STUFF on it like real DAS, oh mannnnnnn... --Self Called Nowhere 15:49, 16 August 2011 (EDT)

Song in Commercial

The song I am a Paleontologist was used for a shoe commercial. Link: here

"Mink Car Cover" Discussion

Thought it would be a good idea to start a little conversation about the cover album here, which was a great idea. I'm listening through for the first time right now, past the halfway point and it seems slightly like a mixed bag—but there are some great cuts on here. Highlights for me so far are the covers of "Hovering Sombrero", "Hopeless Bleak Despair" and "My Man", and pretty much any that have great singing and try to play with the song's original direction a bit. Hearing Beefy on "Yeh Yeh" was pretty surprising, too. I'll write back after I finish listening to the whole thing. Anyone else want to share their thoughts? -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 16:23, 23 August 2011 (EDT)

Though usually I somewhat enjoy the music of Hank Green, his "Bangs" did not really encourage me to listen further. I haven't been listening to each track all the way through, but "Man, It's So Loud in Here" seemed pretty ok. I like the "Another First Kiss" cover more than the album version! I thought the "Drink!" cover was really interesting, and while I like the original better, it was a cool take on the song. I thought what Hello, The Future! did with "Working Undercover for the Man" was interesting (and pretty crazy) too. I liked the instrumental "Mink Car" a lot, as well. Overall nothing really particularly stood out as being, you know, incredible, but it was fun listening. -Apollo (colloquia!) 17:01, 23 August 2011 (EDT)

I will say that most of the names I recognized made me frown, but I found myself detesting this album a lot less than I expected - maybe I just went in with the right (wrong) attitude. And that's our TVsKyle on track four, which I wasn't expecting, so that's kinda cool! So yeah, things! -j2

Would anyone be interested in this?

So I'm kind of fascinated by tracking what keys songs are played in live vs. on the studio versions, and was thinking maybe it would be interesting to have a page categorizing the songs that are played in different keys for whatever reason. (Theoretically demo versions and stuff could be included in the list too, but since a lot of the old Dial-A-Song tapes have that chipmunky vocal effect going on, indicating that the tape is being played at the wrong speed, then those songs that have obviously been sped up to a different key by outside technical factors could be left off the list.)

I know that there's already that category for song keys (e.g. Songs in E major) that appears at the bottom on song pages, but I thought this might be a little better organized for viewing things on a song-by-song basis, since as it is now, a bunch of songs have incorrect keys listed, or have a whole bunch of keys on their page, which kind of confuses things. I'm not suggesting getting rid of that, I just think having a page listing the songs that have notably been played in different keys in different situations would be interesting, and would like to know whether anyone else thinks it's a good or bad idea. -J-Gatz

Merch/Shirts/etc.

I'm looking for a section of the site that features TMBG merchandise (pencils, stickers, etc.) and clothing. Not seeing this anywhere. Does a section like this not exist or am I totally missing it? -thevince 3 September 2011

As far as I'm aware, there's not really anything like that on the site. I've been thinking for a while it might be interesting to have a page for trivia/etc. about TMBG shirts—there is quite a bit of interest surrounding that area—and I suppose other material would be appropriate too. For now, there is the graphic artists category, which has a couple people who designed shirts/other merch, and images of shirts they've done, but I suppose that's not sufficient for what you were looking for. -Apollo (colloquia!) 14:21, 3 September 2011 (EDT)