+/-, or Plus/Minus, is an American

indietronic Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

band formed in 2001. The band makes use of both

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic c ...

and traditional instruments, and has sought to use electronics to recreate traditional indie rock song forms and instrumental structures. The group has released two albums on each of the American indie labels

Teenbeat Records Teen Beat is an American independent record label, originally based in Arlington, Virginia, now based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was founded by Mark Robinson (of Unrest) in 1984 at Wakefield High School, along with Phil Krauth (of Unres ...

and Absolutely Kosher, and their track "All I Do" was prominently featured in the soundtrack for the major film '' Wicker Park''. The group has developed a devoted following in Japan and Taiwan,Transform interview with James Baluyut
and has toured there frequently. Although many artists append bonus tracks onto the end of Japanese album releases to discourage purchasers from buying cheaper US import versions, the overseas versions of +/- albums are usually quite different from the US versions – track lists can be rearranged, artwork with noticeable changes is used, and tracks from the US version can be replaced as well as augmented by bonus tracks.

History

owner Mark Robinson had been impressed by a solo track that James Baluyut contributed to a 2000 EP ''Drawn and Quartered'' issued by

Versus Versus (Latin, 'against') may refer to: Film and television * ''Versus'' (2000 film), a Japanese zombie film * ''Versus'' (2016 film), a Russian sports drama film * ''Versus'' (2019 film), a French thriller film * Versus (TV channel), form ...

, an influential indie rock band in which Baluyut played 2nd guitar. Robinson asked Baluyut to record an album's worth of material for release on Teenbeat, which Baluyut did under the name +/-. The debut +/- album, '' Self-Titled Long-Playing Debut Album'', was released on March 18, 2002. Although the album was essentially a Baluyut solo affair, he had formed a touring and recording band in mid-2001 before the album was released, with Versus drummer Patrick Ramos assuming guitar, keyboard and co-lead vocal duties, Chris Deaner on drums, and Margaret McCartney (formerly of Tuscadero) on bass. McCartney left in 2002 and the other members did not seek a permanent replacement. Since then the band has usually employed Tony Zanella of

True Love Always True Love Always is an American pop band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1995, with a mission to play only love songs. The band was influenced by João Gilberto, Dionne Warwick, and Earth, Wind & Fire. The band has been associated with T ...

as a tour bassist. Deaner was

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne (born Kelly Brianne Clarkson, April 24, 1982), known professionally as Kelly Clarkson, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Rising to fame after winning the American Idol season 1, first season of ''Ameri ...

's tour drummer from early 2007 to spring of 2008, during which time Karl Lundin (Deaner's partner in Loudest Boom Bah Yea) stood in for Deaner while he was on tour with Clarkson. The group left Teenbeat in mid-2006 to sign to Absolutely Kosher, although Teenbeat did issue a long-delayed split EP with

Bloodthirsty Butchers Bloodthirsty Butchers was a long-running indie rock and punk rock band from Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan. Although little-known in the West, they have contributed to two compilations on the Olympia, Washington based Yoyo Records, Yoyo label. The ban ...

and a retrospective DVD of video clips in 2007. Subsequent to signing with Absolutely Kosher the band's recordings received distribution in central Europe through BB*Island, and the band has since toured Germany and its surrounding nations three times. After the release of

Xs on Your Eyes ''Xs on Your Eyes'' is the fourth album by +/-, released in late October 2008. An instrumental version of the song "sweet home Alabama" was used as background music in the menu loop of the band's 2007 '' Self Titled Debut Digital Video Disc'' ...

in 2008 the group did not tour the US to any great extent, but concentrated their touring efforts on Asia and continental Europe. In late 2009 the band released the Japan-only EP Thrown into the Fire, and also announced that they had provided the soundtrack for the

multiplayer online game A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...

Code of Everand, which Chris Deaner had worked on as a lead programmer.Credits for Code of Everand

Members

* James Baluyut (vocals, guitar, keyboard, producer) * Patrick Ramos (vocals, guitar, keyboard, drums) * Chris Deaner (drums, sampler, banjo, clarinet, vibraphone, video production)

Discography

Albums

* '' Self-Titled Long-Playing Debut Album'' (2002 –

Teenbeat Teen Beat is an American independent record label, originally based in Arlington, Virginia, now based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was founded by Mark Robinson (of Unrest) in 1984 at Wakefield High School, along with Phil Krauth (of Unres ...

) * '' You Are Here'' (2003 – Teenbeat / & / WWR Taiwan / BB Island) * ''

Let's Build a Fire ''Let's Build a Fire'' is the third album released by +/-. It was first released in Taiwan by white wabbit records in November 2005 and in Japan by & Records on December 14, 2005. A revised version of the album was released by Absolutely Kosher ...

'' (2006 – Absolutely Kosher / & / WWR Taiwan / BB Island) * ''

'' (2008 – Absolutely Kosher / & / BB Island) * '' Jumping the Tracks'' (2014 – Teenbeat / &) * ''Further Afield'' (2024 –

Ernest Jenning Ernest Jenning / Ernest Jenning Record Co. is an independent record label established in 2002 in Jersey City, New Jersey. EJRC has been based out of Brooklyn, NY since 2003. The label is run by Pete D'Angelo and Gandhar Savur, and is home to art ...

/ 7ep)

Compilations

* ''Pulled Punches'' (2010 – Teenbeat)

EPs

* ''Holding Patterns'' (2003 – Teenbeat / &) * ''As Seen on Television'' (2004 – &) * ''Bloodthirsty Butchers vs +/- Plus/Minus'' (2005 –

Nippon Columbia , often pronounced ''Korombia'', operating internationally as , is a Japanese record label founded in 1910 as Nipponophone Co., Ltd. It affiliated itself with the Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom and adopted the standard UK C ...

/ Teenbeat) * ''Thrown into the Fire'' (2009 – &) * ''Summer 2019: Extended Play'' (2019 – Ernest Jenning)

Soundtrack recordings

* '' Wicker Park Soundtrack'' – one track, "All I Do" * Code of Everand

MMOG A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or more commonly MMO) is an online video game with a large number of players to interact in the same online game world. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent open world, although there are games th ...

Background music

Videos

* ''Self Titled Debut Digital Video Disc'' (2007 –

)

References

External links

+/-
(official website) * +/-at

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:+ - (band) 2001 establishments in New York (state) American video game composers Indie rock musical groups from New York (state) Musical groups established in 2001