''Factory Showroom'' is the sixth studio album by the American

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants, often abbreviated as TMBG, is an American alternative rock and Children's music, children's band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as ...

, released in 1996 by

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

. It was the band's first album to be produced by Pat Dillett, who would go on to work with the band on all subsequent albums, as well as their first album to feature a second guitarist, Eric Schermerhorn. Two years after ''Factory Showrooms release, John Flansburgh cited the album as his favorite by the duo. Feeling that Elektra did not do enough to promote the album, among other disputes, They Might Be Giants left the label after its release. ''Factory Showroom'' was released on vinyl for the first time in March 2012 by Asbestos Records.

Song notes

* "I Can Hear You" was recorded at the Edison Laboratory on a wax cylinder

phonograph A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration Waveform, waveforms are recorded as correspond ...

without the use of electricity. * "New York City" is a cover of a song by the band Cub. * " James K. Polk" is a song about James Knox Polk, the 11th President of the United States. A sparser,

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

driven version had previously appeared on the ''

Istanbul (Not Constantinople) "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" is a 1953 novelty song, with lyrics by Jimmy Kennedy and music by Nat Simon. It was written on the 500th anniversary of the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire, Ottomans. The lyrics humorously refer to th ...

'' EP (1990). It features singing saw by Julian Koster. * The

hidden track In the field of recorded music, a hidden track (sometimes called a ghost track, secret track or unlisted track) is a song or a piece of audio that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, LP record, or other recorded medium, in such a way as t ...

(track 0) on the CD entitled "Token Back to Brooklyn" is accessible by rewinding from the beginning of track 1 ("S-E-X-X-Y"), and is not playable on all CD players. It can also be heard on the Internet-only album '' Long Tall Weekend'' (1999) and the rarities compilation '' They Got Lost'' (2002). * A cassette version of the album that claimed to be a "promotional item" from Elektra was leaked by an unknown source. Along with most songs from the standard release (including "Token Back to Brooklyn" but excluding "I Can Hear You"), this version also included recordings of "On the Drag" and "Older" that have not reappeared on an official release, as well as "Sensurround", "Counterfeit Faker", "Certain People I Could Name", "Unforgotten", "Reprehensible", "They Got Lost", and "Rat Patrol". All of these tracks were outtakes from the ''Factory Showroom'' sessions and were eventually released on either the ''S-E-X-X-Y'' EP (1996), '' Long Tall Weekend'', or '' They Got Lost''.

Track listing

*"Token Back to Brooklyn" is a hidden track placed within the

pregap The pregap on a Red Book audio CD is the portion of the audio track that precedes "index 01" for a given track in the table of contents (TOC). The pregap ("index 00") is typically two seconds long and usually, but not always, contains silence. P ...

of track 1.

Personnel

Credits adapted from CD liner notes, except where noted. They Might Be Giants * John Linnell – vocal, keyboards, horns, etc. * John Flansburgh – vocal, guitar, etc. * Brian Doherty – drums * Graham Maby – bass guitar * Eric Schermerhorn – lead guitar Additional musicians * Yuval Gabay – drums (0) *Krystof Witek –

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

(1, 8) *Gregor Kitzis – violin (1) *Ron Lawrence –

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

(1) * Garo Yellin –

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

(1, 4, 7–8) *Tim Newman –

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

(1) *Jim O'Connor –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

(1) *Hal Cragin – bass guitar (1, 6, 8) *Sue Hadjopoulos –

congas The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are stave (wood), staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (drum), quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), an ...

(1, 11), percussion (1, 11) *Mo' Funky Element – drum break sample (1) *Jay Sherman-Godfrey – acoustic guitar (3), electric

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that ...

(3) *Steve Calhoon – drums (6) * Lyle Workman – lead guitar (6) * Ralph Farris – viola (8) * Amy Allison – vocal (8) * Steve Light –

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

(9) * Julian Koster – singing saw (10) *Ron Caswell –

tuba The tuba (; ) is the largest and lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece (brass), mouthpiece. It first appeared in th ...

(12) *Amanda Homi – vocals (13) Technical * Pat Dillett – producer *

– producers *Kurt Hoffman – string and horn arranger (1) *Tom Durack – mixing (1–3, 5–6) *Artie Smith – drum production *Tony Gillis – engineer *Greg Thompson – engineer *David Goodermuth – engineer *Albert Caiati – engineer *Peter Dilg – producer (12) *UE Nastasi – mastering *Barbara Glauber (Heavy Meta) – design *Beverly Joel – design assistant *James Wojcik – photography * Jonathan Hoefler – They Might Be Giants typeface

Charts

References

External links

*'' Factory Showroom'' at This Might Be A Wiki {{Authority control 1996 albums Elektra Records albums They Might Be Giants albums Albums produced by Pat Dillett