Todd Trainer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Todd Trainer
Trainer in 2015
Trainer in 2015
Background information
Also known asBrick Layer Cake
OriginMinneapolis, Minnesota, US
GenresPost-punk, noise rock, post-hardcore
InstrumentDrums
Formerly ofBreaking Circus, Rifle Sport, Shellac

Todd Trainer is an American musician who was the drummer for the band Shellac. He also performs as a solo artist under the name Brick Layer Cake. He previously played drums for the bands Breaking Circus and Rifle Sport, and he played drums with Scout Niblett in 2005.

Personal life

[edit | edit source]

Trainer resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota and maintains close ties to his parents and sister Terri. His Italian greyhound Uffizi inspired the title of Shellac's fourth studio album Excellent Italian Greyhound. He and his dog, along with his band Shellac, were featured in an episode of Dogs 101 in 2009 centered on Italian Greyhounds.

Drumming style

[edit | edit source]

Critics generally have favored Trainer's primitive approach to rock drumming. A review in The New York Times of a 2001 Shellac performance described the "stubborn crack and thud of Todd Trainer's drums",[1] and critic Brent DiCrescenzo wrote that "Trainer beats his drums so primally, you'd swear he's only wearing a loincloth."[2] A review in Spin of the Shellac album Terraform declared that Trainer "gracefully resurrects the lost art of the [John] Bonham stomp".[3]

Brick Layer Cake

[edit | edit source]
File:Shellac ATP 2007-batteur.jpg
Trainer performing with Shellac in 2007

Brick Layer Cake is the solo project of Todd Trainer, who plays every instrument and sings in a deep, spoken word monotone. The music of Brick Layer Cake features very slow tempos and "drone-like" compositions, which Steve Albini described as follows: “Think of Nick Drake on downers fronting Black Sabbath, if Black Sabbath played only the good parts of their songs."[citation needed]

Discography

[edit | edit source]
  • Eye for an Eye - Tooth for a Tooth (Ruthless Records) 1990
  • Call It A Day (Touch and Go Records) 1991
  • Tragedy Tragedy (Touch and Go Records) 1994
  • Whatchamacallit (Touch and Go Records) 2002

References

[edit | edit source]
  1. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  2. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  3. ^ Review of Terraform by Shellac, Spin, May 1998, p.140, 7/10 rating.
[edit | edit source]

Lua error in Module:Authority_control at line 153: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).