TOBACCO
The frontman of psychedelic/electronic indie pop outfit Black Moth Super Rainbow, enigmatic Pennsylvania-based artist Tobacco casts summery spells with analog synths and tape machines. As a solo artist, Tobacco employs many of the same styles and strategies that fuel his work with the band, but with a darker, more fractured edge. Integrating elements of hip-hop, electro, and experimental rock, and generally featuring vocoder-masking singing, his tracks are gritty and tape-damaged, yet filled with pop hooks. Following four BMSR full-lengths throughout the 2000s, Tobacco made his solo debut with 2008's Fucked Up Friends. While still active with BMSR, he continued issuing solo albums, including 2014's grimy Ultima II Massage and 2020's surprisingly more polished Hot Wet & Sassy. Additionally, he collaborated with Zackey Force Funk as Demon Queen and Aesop Rock as Malibu Ken.
Tom Fec grew up in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. He began making music as a high school student in the mid-'90s, first as Allegheny White Fish from 1996 to 2000, then as part of the group satanstompingcaterpillars until 2002. Black Moth Super Rainbow started in 2003, releasing music on their own 70s Gymnastics Record Co. Their first release, Falling Through a Field, compiled the best material from the group's days as satanstompingcaterpillars. BMSR signed to Graveface in 2005 and released the EP Lost, Picking Flowers in the Woods that year. The group's fan base steadily increased as they consistently toured and released new material, with 2007's Dandelion Gum regarded as a career highlight.
Tobacco released his full-length debut album, Fucked Up Friends, on the Anticon label in 2008. His next foray into the solo realm came in 2010 with the release of Maniac Meat, also on Anticon. The album featured guest vocals from Beck, plus a lot of weird noises. Tobacco kept busy the next few years, appearing on a Black Moth Super Rainbow album (Cobra Juicy) in 2012, remixing White Zombie's "Thunder Kiss '65," and producing Demon Queen's Exorcise Tape album. After jumping to Ghostly International, Tobacco released his third solo album, Ultima II Massage, in 2014. Following its release, he began working on another album but soon hit a creative wall. He stepped away from music, going so far as to spend an entire year without plugging in any of his gear, but in time, he rediscovered his musical spark. His next album came quickly and saw him reverting to an old technique of recording tracks on cassette and then dropping them on a sampler. Sweatbox Dynasty was the result, and it was issued by Ghostly in August of 2016.
In 2017, Tobacco's Rad Cult label released Ripe & Majestic, a sprawling 24-track LP of outtakes and instrumentals of tracks or remixes he produced for other artists. Tobacco formed the duo Malibu Ken with rapper Aesop Rock (who appeared on Fucked Up Friends) in 2018, and their self-titled debut arrived on Rhymesayers in 2019. Tobacco returned to Ghostly in 2020 with a cover of Eric Carmen's hit "Hungry Eyes." This preceded the full-length Hot Wet & Sassy, a more pop-influenced effort which included a guest appearance by Trent Reznor.
© James Christopher Monger & Paul Simpson /TiVo
Discography
18 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
-
Sweatbox Dynasty
Electronic - Released by Ghostly International on 18 Aug 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ultima II Massage
Electronic - Released by Ghostly International on 13 May 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hot Wet & Sassy
Alternative & Indie - Released by Ghostly International on 30 Oct 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fucked up Friends
Electronic - Released by Rad Cult on 14 Oct 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
High on Life, Vol. 1 (Original Soundtrack)
Soundtracks - Released by Rad Cult on 3 Feb 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Hungry Eyes
Alternative & Indie - Released by Ghostly International on 3 Jun 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fucked Up Friends 3
Electronic - Released by Rad Cult on 5 Mar 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ripe & Majestic (Instrumental Rarities & Unreleased Beats)
Electronic - Released by Rad Cult on 25 Aug 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Babysitter
Electronic - Released by Ghostly International on 5 Aug 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Hungry Eyes
Alternative & Indie - Released by Ghostly International on 5 Jun 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mystic Thickness
Ambient/New Age - Released by Rad Cult on 25 May 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Don't Deny Your Weakness
Alternative & Indie - Released by Rewika Records on 1 Feb 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
TOBACCO på kajen - Live fra Copenhagen blues festival
Country - Released by Villa Ø.P. Studios on 27 Jan 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo