JW Farquhar is an American musician and singer-songwriter based in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. He is known for his 1973 album, ''The Formal Female''. Music critic Ned Raggett called it a "forerunner" to

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...

and outsider artists including

R. Stevie Moore Robert Steven Moore (born January 18, 1952) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter who pioneered lo-fi (or "DIY") music. Often called the "godfather of home recording", he is one of the most recognized artists of the cas ...

and

Jandek Jandek is the musical alias of Houston, Texas based lo-fi folk singer Sterling Smith. Since 1978, Jandek has independently released over 45 albums without granting interviews or providing any biographical information, releasing on a self-made la ...

Biography

Farquhar graduated high school in 1956 at Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden, NJ, and studied electrical engineering for three years at Drexel University, but never finished his degree. JW Farquhar recorded his debut album, ''The Formal Female'', following the end of his 10-year marriage in 1972. Having little money for gear following the divorce, JW Farquhar recorded the album in response to his ex-wife, using a

TEAC TEAC may refer to: * TEAC Corporation, a Japanese electronics company * TEAC Oval, a sports stadium in Port Melbourne, Australia * Tetraethylammonium chloride, a chemical compound * Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity, a measure of antioxidan ...

4-track and playing all the instruments, including a primitive drum machine. The recording took place in his apartment in Philadelphia. Due to the presence of various background sounds surrounding his third floor apartment including sirens, buses, and gunshots, Farquhar tried to soundproof his apartment by covering the windows with foam, receiving mixed results. The album was released on Brainblobru Records in 1973 with a private pressing and was reissued in 2008 through Shadoks Records. Farquhar’s music is categorized as "acid rock" and features "guitar chops with a smattering of weird effects, harmonica, and rustic

distortion In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio s ...

." He was compared to Tom Waits and ''The Formal Female'' was described as what "

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (; born 23 March 1968) is an English-Icelandic musician, singer-songwriter and composer, best known as the frontman and primary lyricist of the rock band Blur and as the co-creator and primary musical contributor of the virtual ...

’s '' Democrazy'' would be some 30 years later." Farquhar's lyrics primarily focus on his bitterness against his ex-wife. According to

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, f ...

critic Alan Ranta "they end up being more ludicrous than tormented, which oddly makes JW that much more compelling." In the late 1980s, Farquhar moved to

Fort Mill, South Carolina Fort Mill, also known as Fort Mill Township, is a town in York County, South Carolina, United States. It is a suburb of Charlotte, North Carolina. As of 2020 census, 24,521 people live inside the town's corporate limits. Some businesses and resid ...

, where he released his second album, ''AgentX'', in 1997. He now writes books dissecting the Bible mathematically and spiritually.

Discography

;Studio albums * ''The Formal Female'' (1973) * ''AgentX'' (1997)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Farquhar, JW Living people American rock singers American rock songwriters American rock guitarists American male guitarists Psychedelic rock musicians American male singer-songwriters Outsider musicians Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania American folk rock musicians Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Guitarists from Philadelphia