Charalambides is an

avant-garde music Avant-garde music is music that is considered to be at the forefront of innovation in its field, with the term "avant-garde" implying a critique of existing aesthetic conventions, rejection of the status quo in favor of unique or original elem ...

al group originally from

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, United States and lately of

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

, Texas. They were formed in 1991 under the short-lived name Mutual Admiration Society by Tom Carter, Christina Carter and Kyle Silfer, and later members have since included Jason Bill and Heather Leigh Murray. The band has long considered itself primarily a duo between Tom and Christina Carter. Their music contains elements typical of

psychedelic music Psychedelic music (sometimes called psychedelia) is a wide range of popular music styles and genres influenced by 1960s psychedelia, a subculture of people who used psychedelic drugs such as Dmt, DMT, Lysergic acid diethylamide, LSD, mescaline, ...

such as reverb, backwards recording, extended instrumental jamming and the use of found sounds, which led to them being described as part of the

New Weird America New Weird America is a 21st-century style of music that primarily draws on psychedelic and folk music of the 1960s and 1970s. Etymology The term was coined by David Keenan in the issue 234 (August 2003) of ''The Wire'', following the Brattleb ...

movement. In addition to several major releases on labels such as Kranky, Eclipse Records, and

Time-Lag Records Time-Lag Records is an independent record label based in Portland, Maine. It has released albums by artists such as Phantom Buffalo, Elephant Micah, Fursaxa, MV+EE and the Bummer Road, Death Chants, Six Organs of Admittance, Wooden Wand, ...

, they have also released many small edition CD-Rs on their own Wholly Other label, and other small independent labels, some of which have later been re-issued (''Our Bed is Green'', and ''Historic Sixth Ward'' for example). Their name derives from the surname of a customer at the record shop where core members Tom Carter and Christina Carter met, who are divorced but remain together as a musical unit. They have also released albums on Kranky and Eclipse Records under their own names, as well as several small edition CD-Rs. In addition, the two have collaborated with numerous other musicians such as

Loren Mazzacane Connors Loren Mazzacane Connors (born October 22, 1949) is an American guitarist who has recorded and performed under several different names: Guitar Roberts, Loren Mazzacane, Loren Mattei, and currently Loren Connors. His music has touched on many genre ...

Yellow Swans Yellow Swans are an American experimental music band from Portland, Oregon. The duo were renowned for their improvisational approach to noise music, creating a unique experience for each live performance. They described their music as "a consta ...

and Robert Horton.

Selected discography

Primary album releases on Siltbreeze and Kranky

*''Our Bed Is Green'' CS-100 (No Label, 1993) Reissued as 2CD on Kranky, 2005 *''Union'' LP (

Siltbreeze Siltbreeze is an American independent record label based in Philadelphia. It is known for its eclectic roster of artists and releases of experimental, noise, folk, and rock-based music. Founded in 1989 by Ohio native Tom Lax, the label evolved out ...

, 1993) *''Market Square'' 2LP (Siltbreeze, 1995) *''Houston'' CD (Siltbreeze, 1998) *''Unknown Spin'' CD (Kranky, 2003) *''Joy Shapes'' LP/CD (Kranky, 2004) *''A Vintage Burden'' (Kranky, 2006) *''Likeness '' CD (Kranky, 2007) *''Exile '' LP/CD (Kranky, 2011) *''Tom and Christina Carter '' LP/CS (Drawing Room, 2018)

Limited edition album releases, self-released, CD-R's

*''Historic 6th Ward'' CS-90 (No Label, 1994) (Reissued as CD on ( Wholly Other, 1996 and 2 LP on (

, 2002) *''Internal Eternal'' CD (Wholly Other, 1999) *''Sticks'' CD-R (Wholly Other, 2000) *''Branches Lathe'' LP (Eclipse Records, 2001) Edition of 100 copies *''YIH'' CD-R ( Carbon Records, 2001) Limited to 100 copies *''Untitled'' split CD-R (with Scorces) (Wholly Other, 2002) (Charalambides side reissued as ''Unknown Spin'' on Kranky, 2003) *''Being As Is'' CD-R ( Crucial Blast, 2002) Limited edition of 100 copies *''CHT'' CD-R (Wholly Other, 2002) Limited edition CDr, 200 copies. *''IN CR EA SE'' 2LP (Eclipse Records, 2002) *''Emerald Message'' CD-R (Wholly Other, 2006) Recorded in Houston, 12/23/95 except for 4 recorded 12/22/95 as part of the _Internal Eternal_ sessions *''Glowing Raw'' CD-R (Wholly Other, 2006) limited edition of 250 copies. Recorded 1995–98 *''Strangle The Wretched Heavens'' CD-R (Wholly Other, 2007) Recorded 1994–96 *''Electricity Ghost'' CD (Wholly Other, 2007) Recorded during the "Joy Shapes" Sessions in 2003 *''Rose/Thorn'' LP ( Klang Industries, 2008) *''Three-Lane Blacktop '' LP (

Two-Lane Blacktop ''Two-Lane Blacktop'' is a 1971 American road film directed and edited by Monte Hellman, from a screenplay by Rudy Wurlitzer and Will Corry. It stars musicians James Taylor and Dennis Wilson, Warren Oates, and Laurie Bird in the leading ro ...

, 2010) Edition of 500 copies.

Live albums

*''Charalambides'' CD (Wholly Other, 1997) *''Home'' CD-R (Wholly Other, 2000) *''Water'' CD-R (Wholly Other, 2001) *''The Work Of Glaciers'' (Not On Label, 2001) *''Live Hand Held'' CD-R (Wholly Other, 2002) Limited edition CDr, 200 copies *''Live/Dead'' CD-R (Wholly Other, 2005) *''Dead/Live'' CD-R (Wholly Other, 2005) *''Live At Graag Traag Festival #2'' CDr, Ltd (Majjem Radio Recordings, 2012)

Singles, EP's, collaborations

*"Devils"/"Bid You Goodnight" 7" (Playtime, 1995) *"Naked in Our Deathskins" on '' Harmony of the Spheres'' Comp 3LP (Reissued as 2CD, 1999) ( Drunken Fish, 1996) *"Spring Leaves Fall"/"Sun or Wind" 7" ( Timelag, 2002) *''Ana/Kata 10" EP'' (

Beta-lactam Ring Records Beta-lactam Ring Records is an American independent record label founded by Chris McBeth in 2000.The label relocated from its founding city of Austin, Texas to Portland, Oregon in 2001. The aesthetic focus of the label is psychedelic and experim ...

, 2002) *'Charalambides / Pocahaunted - Split (7", Single, Ltd, 2008)

Compilation appearances

*"On the Corner"/"Winning Friends"/"13,14" on ''Heartland'' Comp CS-60 (

Seagrave Seagrave is a village and civil parish in the Charnwood district of Leicestershire, England. It has a population of around 500, measured at the 2011 census as 546, It is north of Sileby and close to Thrussington and Barrow upon Soar. Histor ...

, 1994) *"Variant"/"Mayflower" on ''Drilling the Curve'' Comp LP ( Fleece, 1995) *"Hyetal" on ''Whump!'' Comp 7" (Bobby J, 1996) *"Drop" on ''Succour'' Comp 2CD ( Woronzow, 1996) *"Mansfield" on ''The Nature of Systems'' Comp CD ( Carbon Records, 2000) *"One Song" on ''Serotonin Ronin'' Comp 2CD (

Camera Obscura A camera obscura (; ) is the natural phenomenon in which the rays of light passing through a aperture, small hole into a dark space form an image where they strike a surface, resulting in an inverted (upside down) and reversed (left to right) ...

, 2000) *"Rehearsal" on ''Urban Meadows'' Comp CD ( Broken Face, 2000) *"Second Rehearsal" on ''Songs From the Entopic Garden Volume 2'' Split LP (with Six Organs of Admittance) ( Timelag, 2001) *Untitled track on ''Intersect 4'' Comp CD ( Pale-Disk, 2002) *"Song for Always" on ''Ptolemaic Terrascope No. 32'' comp CD (P.T., 2002) *'' Lactamase Bonus Compilation''

External links

Charalambides at KrankyConcert photos
by Laurent Orseau
Everything is Magic
interview with the band in Ascent Magazine
Charalambides on Last.FM
{{Authority control 1991 establishments in Texas American experimental musical groups American folk musical groups American post-rock groups Musical groups established in 1991 Musical groups from Houston Psychedelic rock music groups from Texas Siltbreeze Records artists Kranky (record label) artists