Thalia Zedek

Thalia Zedek (born 1961) is an American singer and guitarist. Active since the
Thalia Zedek
early 1980s, she has been a member of several notable alternative rock groups,
including Live Skull and Uzi both of which, according to Spin magazine, "made big
noise in the underground",[1] and Come. Critic Heather Phares writes that Zedek's
music can be defined by "the permanent, aching rasp in her voice, her guitar's bluesy
bite, the startlingly clear-eyed lyrics about life andloss."[2]

Contents
Biography
Discography
Solo
Albums
EPs
Live
With E
References
External links
Thalia Zedek live at the Buffalo Bar
(London) on June 13, 2013
Biography Background information
Zedek grew up in the metropolitan area of Washington, D.C. She attended Born 1961 (age 5556)
Springbrook High School in Maryland, where she played clarinet in the marching Washington,
band under band director Charles Sickafus. The early punk era of the late 1970s in D.C., United
which she came of age, and in particular Patti Smith, contributed deeply to the States
formation of her musical aesthetic. While still at high school, she would travel to Genres Indie rock
New York City with her brother, Dan Zedek (currently the editorial design director at
Years active 1980present
the Boston Globe), to see Smith perform.
Labels Kimchee
Zedek moved to Boston in 1979, attending Boston University for one semester Records,
before deciding to pursue a musical career instead. Her first band, the all-female Matador
White Women, broke up after a couple of years, and she formed the Dangerous Records, Thrill
Birds.[3] This group had somewhat more success, including a single, "Smile on Your Jockey
Face/Alpha Romeo", which achieved airplay on college and alternative-commercial
Associated acts Dangerous Birds,
radio; but Zedek wanted a more "violent" sound in contrast to the somewhat "girlie
Uzi, Live Skull,
pop" tendencies of her Dangerous Birds bandmates. Her next project, Uzi, worked
Come, Thalia
towards this aim, producing an EP, Sleep Asylum. The EP was characterized by
Zedek Band, E
elusive yet subtly menacing lyrics superimposed upon lugubrious but driving
instrumental tracks, featuring layers of dense, murky yet muscular guitar arrangements, blended with heady synthesizer and tape
effects. However, despite the promise of "Sleep Asylum", Uzi dissolved, owing to tension between Zedek and the band's drummer,
Danny Lee.
She next took the role of primary vocalist for New York City's Live Skull, a band already well established. While the album Dusted,
the first product of this collaboration, reflected an intense synergy between Zedek's vocal style and the complexly histrionic
instrumental work of Live Skull, the follow-up Positraction floundered, and Live Skull also disbanded, due to conflicts, in 1990. By
that time, Zedek had also run into problems regarding heroin addiction. Motivated to quit, she returned to Boston and the support of
her friends. She soon co-foundedCome, with Codeine drummer and guitaristChris Brokaw. It was with them that she had her biggest
successes, releasing four albums before the group disbanded in 2001. In that same year, she also released Been Here and Gone, her
first solo project. Since then she has released two other full-length albums and several EPs.

Zedek was also a participant in the 1998 Suffragette Sessions tour, organized by the Indigo Girls. In 2006, she performed at North
East Sticks Together.

In spite of limited commercial success, Zedek has been acclaimed by music critics throughout her career, and has arguably been
deeply influential within the indie-rock realm, particularly through her influence within the prolific Boston indie scene, which has
spawned many noteworthy artists. She is an o" ut-and-proud lesbian".[4]

Discography

Solo

Albums

Been Here and Gone (Matador, July 31, 2001)

Hell is in Hello (Return To Sender, August 2, 2004) Limited edition of 2000 copies
Trust Not Those in Whom Without Some Touch Of Madness (Thrill Jockey, September 14, 2004)
Liars and Prayers (Thrill Jockey, April 22, 2008)
Via (Thrill Jockey, March 19, 2013)
Eve (Thrill Jockey, August 19, 2016)

EPs

You're a Big Girl Now (Acuarela/Kimchee Records, 2002)CD only

The Nature of Drones (Self-released, 2005) 7-song, 35-minuteCD-R EP, home-recorded and self-released exclusively for the July
2005 Australian tour (remaining copies were available only through Thrill Jockey Mail Order). It contains four songs, one cover
House
(" of
the Rising Sun") and two re-workings of older work ("Evil Hand", "JJ85").
SIX (Thrill Jockey, February 24, 2014) Six-song, 29 minute EP (CD and limited LP) including a cover ofFreakwater's "Flathand"

Live

Live at Tonic, NYC 1/16/2000 (Self-released, 2000)

With E
E (Thrill Jockey, 2016)

References
1. SPIN, "Platter du Jour," April 1988, p. 19 (https://books.google.com/books?id=PdiXT9xoRXQC&pg=P
A19).
2. Heather Phares (2008-04-22)."Liars and Prayers - Thalia Zedek, Thalia Zedek Band | Songs, Reviews, Credits,
Awards" (http://www.allmusic.com/album/liars-and-prayers-mw0000783082). AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-08-11.
3. Out magazine, April 2000, Vol. 8, No. 10, p. 86 (https://books.google.com/books?id=d2IEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA86&dq
=thalia+zedek+uzi&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ynU_VOjHOobP7gbQ64DoCg&ved=0CC4Q6AEwA w#v=onepage&q&f=false).
 4. "Down dark alleys with Thalia Zedek | Metro News"(http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/article.html?Down_dark_alleys
_with_Thalia_Zedek&in_article_id=342027&in_page_id=206&in_a_source=) . Metro.co.uk. 2008-10-06. Retrieved
2014-08-11.

External links
Biography from Matador Records
Biography of Thalia Zedek
Thalia Zedek - A Different Girl
Interview with Thalia Zedek on Well-Rounded Radio for 2008's Liars and Prayers album
Gig Review at Corsica Studios, London (5/10/08)

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