Sing to me in the dark
of sorrow so
I might find hope again.
A connoisseur of dark moods and plaintive melodies, t.k. bollinger is an explorer on the road less travelled. His musical children are songs of contrite and emotionally challenged characters confessing their darkest fears, tortured realisations and most desperate hopes. They speak of the usual things – love, abuse and the small truths gleaned from life’s trials and the desire to grow and survive.
The music is a sweetly tortured fusion of Doom Blues, Gothic Country and post apocalyptic Gregorian Chant. His songs speak of the horror and the hope that lies in a world where each of us is forced to find our own meaning and purpose. Plaintive melodies meet literate lyrics, all played and sung in bollinger’s idiosynchratic style and voice.
2019 is proving to be an exciting year for the music of t.k. bollinger. Together with his new band, The Cold Hard Ground he has been playing live and plans a live recording of some old and new songs over the coming Winter months.
As well, Bollinger has continued to record his solo work, 3 albums of which are now available. There are also rumours of the long awaited follow up album from bollinger’s other band That Sinking Feeling. Doom Blues promises to be a definitive work of the slow, dank and exciting sound that the band began cultivating on their first album A Catalogue of Woe.
To be kept in the loop on these releases and on other news you can also join the t.k. bollinger community mailing list. To sweeten the deal there is a free download of some of bollinger’s previously released material, as well as exclusive news, updates and access to prereleased material not available to the general listenership.
What’s Left Now You Are Dead To Me
This 16 song collection continues to explore t.k. bollinger’s usual dark terrain, though with a little more lushness than 2016’s Shy Ghosts. The stripped back minimalism is still there in songs such as Shovelling/Struggling, but with the inclusion of long time co-conspirator Vis Ortis wearing a co-production hat and providing drum programming and sound manipulation, the atmosphere has thickened and accordingly the sonic texture has become much richer.
Bollinger has even added the occasional keyboard line and there is a distinct triphop feel to some of these songs (see Enough Rope for instance and the sinister and seductive collaboration with Texas’ Pixy Muse – Dark as Night Sweet As Sin).
Some of the tracks are more along the lines of the angular minor key rock that we would expect from bollinger’s old band, That Sinking Feeling – songs such as The More I See The Less I Want and It’s Just Changed.
The Gothic Country vibe however is still strong, particularly in opening track, A Life of Fear and the latin tinged May Death Come Welcome. Folky elements also appear, reminiscent of bollinger’s earlier Country blues explorations, in songs such as Where We Walked Today and The Same Tears.
"People like you and a handful of meds keep me here. Great music is everything." – Sardonic Sloth Ohio
Shy Ghosts
These 13 tracks have been lovingly crafted to bring you the maximum downer bliss. Each song was arranged around 4 and 8 bar acoustic guitar chord patterns. All development in the melody is left to Bollinger’s voice, which hatches musical themes reminiscent of heartrending Soul and dark Gregorian chant, as well as the lengthy doom tinged guitar solos which soar and plummet between the verses.
This gives this music the impression of some ambling, yet beautiful, musical monster pieced together from inspiration, Bollinger freely admits, gleaned from Jason Molina’s sparse acoustic master piece “Let me go, Let me go, Let me go”, Gothic Country, Doom Metal and the soaring solos from Sigur Rós’ beautiful Ágætis Byrjun. A creature searching for answers to the eternal question, “Why does suffering exist?”
No clear answers emerge, other than we must keep walking and enjoy the brief insights and the occasional ray of hope that helps us to summon forth compassion for the shy ghosts that hide in our shadows.
Sinking Claw 7"
This is a limited pressing split 7" EP. One side features two tracks from t.k. bollinger. No More is Bollinger in solo mode, while To Lose the Darkness is Bollinger and his band, that sinking feeling, with all the stops pulled out. The other side draws you into the sinister world of Black Claw, Canadian Black Country at it's most eerie and potent. Join the Rev. Claw as he sings you lullaby's for the tomb.
A Catalogue of Woe
A year after it's release, this collection of dark, minor key roots and rock is still being praised as a worthy wallow for lovers of sadcore. Minted in the mysterious orient, this 9 track album is the culmination of 3 years work. Recorded live to tape and with minimal overdubs at Ugly Separation Studios, the inner sanctum of reclusive producer/engineer/bass-boss R.S. Amor, these handpicked and hand reared tunes will win you over with their dark charm and their maudlin swagger. Available in 3 forms: Book and CD; CD; and Digital Download.