Moonchy & Tobias

Moonchy & Tobias

Brace yourself when entering the disorienting world of Moonchy & Tobias, where churning rock textures created by Todd Tobias are the landscape within which vocalist Pat Moonchy runs riot, warping her voice into every recess and shape available. Skirting the boundary between fairytale and nightmare, the angular architecture of the music is softened and stretched at every juncture. Moonchy & Tobias create a transformative musical experience in which giddy tangents abound.

Discography

 

Venus Mirror


June 2021

Venus Mirror is a buoyant follow-up to the brooding, nocturnal atmospheres of the duo’s 2020 release Moonchy & Tobias III, the luminous, soothing Venus Mirror is infused with an almost tropical sway. On ‘Specchio Di Venere’, Tobias’ modulated synth, tuned percussion and acoustic guitar paint a widescreen scene, over which Moonchy’s vocal traces a mesmerizing wordless melody. On the other six tracks, Moonchy sings both in her native Italian and in ancient Latin, her voice soaring and graceful in turns. In the single ‘Delibo,’ the warm major sevenths of jazz are chilled by a shivering wind. ‘Leniter’ brings the EP to a fittingly ambiguous close, setting the listener adrift on see-sawing, reverb-drenched piano lines.

 

Moonchy & Tobias III


October 2020

On their third collaborative album, vocalist Pat Moonchy and multi-instrumentalist/producer Todd Tobias delve deeper into the shadowy recesses of their intoxicating sound, creating an immersive soundtrack to our most uncanny nightmares. Moonchy’s primal vocals, mostly sung in Latin, thread through Tobias’s nocturnal atmospheres like smoke. As Moonchy explains, “When I sing in Latin it feels like discovering the details of ancient lives lost in time.” There’s a definite sense that something latent and primordial is being summoned – yet the full extent of its power is cloaked in mystery.

In an unintentional parallel, the album that III most resembles is Portishead’s majestic Third, which creates and inhabits its own haunted space. Where Moonchy & Tobias differ is in employing a more rustic approach to songcraft, while still evoking an exquisite sense of atmosphere. There’s an undeniable melancholy across these 12 tracks, but it never feels cloying, instead leavened by a poised theatricality and sense of play. The midnight hour has a new transportive soundtrack.

 

Atmosfere


18 October 2019

After the exhilarating psychedelic ride of their acclaimed debut, Moonchy & Tobias’s new album Atmosfere is more subdued and subtly intoxicating. Multi-instrumentalist Todd Tobias has crafted a series of bright, labyrinthine soundscapes within which vocalist Pat Moonchy luxuriantly weaves. While the songs on their debut were sung in an imaginary language, here Moonchy sings in her native Italian. Atmosfere feels like a sun-dappled morning after Moonchy & Tobias’s intoxicating dark night of the soul. It’s the perfect companion – but also a succinct and compelling stand-alone that is as beautiful as it is mysterious.

 

Moonchy & Tobias


2nd November 2018

Brace yourself when entering the disorienting world of Moonchy & Tobias, where churning rock textures created by Todd Tobias are the landscape within which vocalist Pat Moonchy runs riot, warping her voice into every recess and shape available. Whether the pounding bass of ‘Juu Ichi’, the bubbling submarine atmospheres of ‘Vertigo Trail’, or the percussion and fuzz carnival of single ‘Une Saison En Enfer’, Moonchy and Tobias create a transformative musical experience in which giddy tangents abound. Skirting the boundary between fairytale and nightmare, the angular architecture of the music is softened and stretched at every juncture.

Biography

Moonchy & Tobias pairs Italian vocalist Pat Moonchy with American instrumentalist Todd Tobias. Moonchy is one-half of the experimental band Sothiac, plays in duos alongside trombonist Angelo Contini and jazz drummer Lino Liguori, in the Tai-No Orchestra, and with German krautrock pioneers Faust. Ohio native Tobias is a long-time collaborator with Robert Pollard (Guided by Voices), and provided the musical backing to Pollard’s vocals in the freak-rock trio Circus Devils. Tobias has also released a series of themed instrumental albums under his own name, and has released a duo album with Hidden Shoal labelmate Chloe March.

News

Reviews

  • Moonchy & Tobias ‘Foglia di Te’ Reviewed at Tonic Grain

    “The duo of vocalist Pat Moonchy and instrumentalist Todd Tobias have released the magical EP “Venus Mirror” that includes a stunning track called “Foglia di Te.”

    The song title translates from Italian as “Tea Leaf,” and it features beautiful lyrics and an immersive, fairytale-like soundscape. The tender guitar and careful rhythm section accompany the listener along the way. The enchanting synths create a fantastic, cinematic atmosphere. And the lovely vocals unfold in the most delicate, spellbinding performance.”
    - Tonic Grain 

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  • “Moonchy & Tobias III” Reviewed at Keys and Chords

    ” ‘When I sing in Latin it feels like discovering the details of ancient lives lost in time.’ A statement by the Italian vocalist Pat Moonchy and representative of the overwhelming atmosphere on the third album. Together with the American multi-instrumentalist Todd Tobias, the duo conjures up theatrical images drenched in melancholy and darkness. The use of the dead language Latin accentuates antiquity and impermanence.

    For Pat Moonchy, this collaboration is one of many to test out her classical singing qualities. Under the name Sothiac, the emphasis was more on thin soundscapes and avant-garde in duo with Paul Jolly (sax and bass).  It is therefore nice to hear her in more accessible projects such as with Todd Tobias. A versatile musician and not averse to ambient and psychedelic trance. Menacing soundscapes, oracle vocals and smearing of the vocal cords make Moonchy & Tobias III the ideal soundtracks for horror movies, crime scenes, theater or even experimental dance.

    Let your own imagination work!  ”

    – Keys and Chords

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  • “Moonchy & Tobias III” Reviewed at MPodia

    “III is the title of the new album by the American multi-instrumentalist Todd Tobias and the Italian singer Pat Moonchy. It is already the third album in just under three years of this collaboration.

    Cinematic soundscapes
     They both have their own solo careers in quite different genres; where Tobias moves more in the Rock genre, we often find Pat Moonchy in the somewhat dark Ambient corner. Still, the two have been able to complement each other perfectly since the self-titled debut from 2018 and this is already their third album. From the first notes we are transported into those Ambient-like, psychedelic soundscapes that sound almost spooky. It is striking that Pat often opts for the Latin language, which is really very unusual. It gives the already mysterious songs an even darker and more authentic. She herself says: “ When I sing in Latin it feels like discovering the details of ancient lives lost in time. ” Songs like ‘Portus’, ‘Dies Festus’ and ‘Dubium’ evoke almost cinematic images that are drenched in melancholy. If a highlight has to be mentioned, it will be between ‘Petali Caduti’ or ‘Limbi’.

    Final Verdict
    III is an album for the experienced listener. Especially the combination of the sometimes somewhat neoclassical sounding Pat Moonchy and the electronic Ambient-like soundscapes provide an enchanting listening experience. Maybe a bit experimental, but by no means your average album and definitely an album for anyone who wants to listen something “out of the box”. Have fun listening!”

    – MPodia

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  • “Moonchy & Tobias III” Reviewed at Music Won’t Save You

    (Translated via Google)

    “The partnership of the Milanese experimental vocalist Pat Moonchy with the multifaceted orchestrator of alienating atmospheres Todd Tobias is now a stable partnership . On the third album in the space of two years, the ambitious artistic duo continues on the track traced by the previous “ Atmosfere ” (2019), filling sound environments with spectral contours with evocative harmonic contents.

    The choice of Latin as the prevailing language of Moonchy’s vocal evolutions undoubtedly contributes to amplifying the mysterious density of the twelve short snapshots that make up the work, as never before solemn and hieratic, which raise invocations of persuasive restlessness to a night sky, such as the one shown on the cover, between whose menacing shadows are visible diaphanous moon rays. Although largely dotted with dark frequencies and synthetic currents of increasing tension, Tobias’s textures not only reveal atmospheric vapors of surprising warmth but also retract to enhance marked piano lines, on which Moonchy’s declamations are clothed with pronounced lyricism (” Sericum ”,“ Dies Festus ”).

    In just over half an hour, the two musicians therefore offer new proof of alchemy which, with extreme naturalness, unites their expressive worlds, manifesting itself in a surreal gallery of sounds and visions with a dark charm.”

    - Music Won’t Save You

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  • “Moonchy & Tobias III” Reviewed at Subjectivisten

    (Translated via Google)

    “The power and beauty of the micro label is regularly proven by the quirky Tiny Room Records. They know how to bring out wonderful unique music, which others do not have an eye or ear for. A very nice example is the duo Moonchy & Tobias. These debut on the label in 2018 with their eponymous album, albeit written in Japanese. It brings together two special artists, namely vocalist Pat Moonchy (Sothiac, Doubleganger, One Lip 5, Pat Moonchy Trio, Tai No-Orchestra) and the American multi-instrumentalist Todd Tobias (4 Coyotes, Brother Earth, Clouds Forming Crowns, Circus Devils (with Robert Pollard from Guided By Voices), Ricked Wicky, Psycho And The Birds). And in addition, both have also released solo albums. Moonchy often moves in the experimental, dark ambient, avant-garde and noise angle,while Tobias prefers more psychedelic and adventurous rock. As a duo they form a completely magical and mysterious combination, which is also from their second albumAtmosfere (2019) emerges again. Now they are back with their third release Moonchy & Tobias III . The music has become a kaleidoscopic mix of neoclassical, dark ambient, avant-garde and psychedelia. Moonchy’s vocals, somehow reminiscent of Chinese, are somewhere between Phew and Louisa Lilani (from John Prop… does anyone even remember these classy ones?). Musically you have references such as Mi And L’Au, The Caretaker, Cranes, Dead Can Dance and Portishead , although they never quite cover what this pair brings here. In conclusion, you can safely say that you are certainly not dealing with an average combo. What a great, versatile and mesmerizing album!”

    – De Subjectivisten

     

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  • “Moonchy & Tobias III” Reveiwed at Here Comes The Flood

    “Ohio based experimentalist Todd Tobias and Italian avant-garde singer Pat Moonchy go in at the deep end on their third album, taking cues from Portishead’s lauded Third. A sense of foreboding is eminent inn the soundscapes and by using Latin it could be mistaken for a gospel record, albeit one where art is the thing that offers mankind comfort and a sense for beauty.

    Most of the tracks move slowly – Frangit inches forward at snail’s pace – making Moonchy & Tobias III a listening experience that is an oasis in a sped-up world wherein everything is moving so fast that details and nuances are lost. This music is best experienced in solitude wearing a set of premium headphones.”

    – Here Comes The Flood

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  • “Moonchy & Tobias III” Reviewed at Louder Than War

    “This is the third record from ex GBV man, Todd Tobias and Italian chanteuse Pat Moonchy, and it’s possibly their best.

    Moonchy & Tobias III is certainly the perfect soundtrack to these discombobulating times. Soundtracking the vacuum with their elegant psychodramas, things start off as they mean to go on with the mini opera of ‘Dubium’; Pat Moonchy’s suggestive vocal swoops (doubtless played for maximum effect) give extra tension to the strange rhythmic pattern that both backdrops and propels the piece.

    Second track ‘Petali Caduti’ is also driven in a notable way, this time by a glorious stomping beat – is a voyage through a strange landscape. The audio version of a Dora Carrington painting? It could well be so. Third track ‘Sericum’ (Silk) is the poppiest and most fully developed of the tracks, part 80s Goth pop, part modern classical tidbit. You get the feeling that the more standard structure of ‘Sericum’ is a gateway moment, allowing the LP to explore other pastures later on. It’s not a reversion to a “state of normal” though, far from it. We have some lyrics in the booklet, as proof: “the silk of affluence/bites the young lovers”…

    By now you should get the picture. Mystery and mood are our guides. Many of the tracks on Moonchy & Tobias III are presented mythically, as if coloured slides in a magic lantern. Also, the subtle rhythms and changes of tempo in each piece – and the ever-changing vocal conceits adopted by Moonchy – give the listening experience a peculiarly weightless quality. Whilst listening to tracks like the ‘Frangit’, which like to play compressed sounds off against soaring vocals, it’s like being submerged in the rhythms of the tide. This idea of listening to the sound of an ever-evolving dream, or midnight swim is accentuated by the cover; the moon appearing through clouds. Consequently, the listener could maybe feel unable, or unwilling, to escape this huge, dark, mysterious netherworld that slowly builds up around them. Piranesian, even? Maybe.

    But don’t think Moonchy & Tobias III is an exercise in making a sugar-coated dystopia. The record is an arresting listen and an experience to be grabbed and shaped by the listener. There are some killer cuts to hold on to in this shadowland. ‘Petali Caduti’ is one, and ‘Limbi’ is definitely another; a gloriously vampish track given form by the rich operatic vocals, especially those jumps up and down the scale. Once or twice things become like Cocteau Twins’ glorious sleepathon Victorialand, especially ‘Dies Festus’, ‘Dum’ and ‘Unum’ which are all gently rocked – if not tucked up in bed – by slow, softly-pressed piano passages.

    I think they should give David Lynch a ring without delay.”

    – Louder Than War

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  • Moonchy & Tobias “Atmosfere” Reviewed at African Paper

    (Translated via Google)

    “Anyone who plays “Atmosfere” and is at least partially familiar with the previous work by Pat Moonchy and Todd Tobias could feel confused for a while and ask whether he or she may have sold out in the record cabinet. What echoes at you is far from shrill voice experiments in artful fantasy languages ​​and from raw psychedelics collaged according to original contrasts.

    Instead, you listen to the nice guitar picking and mid-tempo drumming of a relaxed folk song that slowly turns into a subtle rock ballad. Even with slightly breathy singing, one becomes suspicious and initially thinks that Linda Perhacs (or Lisa Ekdahl, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Sarah June …) has learned Italian. Only gradually, in the hoarse breath of nostalgia of “La Sguerdo”, one recognizes Moonchy in the tremolation of her voice, which this time is only slightly used, which is cherished by silk ribbons and kept from breaking out. Now there is movement in the songs, which unfold their charisma more and more. It speaks of the lascivious funkyness of “Occasione”, of the varied singing, which in “In Tasca” lies over atmospheric ballad strumming and repeatedly tilts into eccentric inclines,from the hypnotic Appreggios of the fragile “Dall ‘Occhio”.

    The atmosphere that is sung about and evoked in “Atmosfere” is of a sepia-colored nostalgia and is perfect for filling a stylishly furnished café – the effect would, however, be viral, which would give the cosiness a subtle refraction that would be barely perceptible to the inattentive. The friendly pop appeal has a double bottom that cannot be missing from two avant-garde artists who only seem to deny their roots.”

    – African Paper

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  • Moonchy & Tobias “Atmosfere” Reviewed at Festival Info

    [Translated via Google]

    “Pat Moonchy is an Italian vocalist (the word singer does her short) who is known in the experimental kraut rock / drone (Sothiac, Faust). American Todd Tobias is a multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work with Guided by Voices. On this album he takes care of the entire instrumentation. Where their debut Moonchy & Tobias sounds more experimental, psychedelic and unfinished, their successor Atmosfere has become more accessible. This is partly due to the production, but also the fact that Moonchy now sings in Italian instead of a self-made language.

    The album is a collection of quiet soundclouds, which are built up by acoustic guitar supplemented with electronics. Moonchy’s vocals create a dreamy whole. She can sound childish Asian, like on “Dall” Occhio “, but also emotionally threatening like on” Pioggia e Sale “. The quality and intensity of her voice gives these elongated melodies of Tobias a certain direction, without attributing them to an unambiguous genre. For example, “Velo” sounds most like an indie-pop song, while “Altri Se” gets something classic. It is precisely this mix of different styles that keeps you listening. Especially the monotone “Occasione”, the art-rock of “Senso Del Tempo” and the pop of “Grumo” will stay with you. It is a pity that some songs are occasionally cut seemingly casually.

    Welcome to the world of Moonchy & Tobias: it is one that continues to surprise in an almost intoxicating way. When you listen to this album, you wonder why it took so long for them to find each other. Rarely does a duo sound so well attuned to each other: you hear the mutual respect in their search for new sounds and atmospheric images.”

    – Festival Info

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  • Moonchy & Tobias “Atmosfere” Reviewed at hifi.nl

    [Translated via Google]

    “Atmosfere is the second album that multi-instrumentalist Todd Tobias releases together with Pat Moonchy via the Utrecht record label Tiny Room Records. In just half an hour the duo gives a rather unusual, dreamy look into a surreal world that somehow feels pleasant to the listener.

    Todd Tobias is no stranger anymore. The fifty-year-old from Ohio, USA has gained international fame not only for his own work but also for his role within the band Guided By Voices and his work with Robert Pollard. Pat Moonchy, a born Italian, is less well-known in our country, but still has a good record of merit. She is half of the experimental band Sothiac, plays in duos alongside trombonist Angelo Contini and jazzdrumer Lino Liguori, is a member of the Tai-No Orchestra and not to mention German krautrock pioneers Faust.

    After the self-titled debut of Moonchy & Tobias (which was released via Tiny Room and Hidden Shoal in 2018), the duo puts down a more balanced and unambiguous whole on Atmosfere. Instead of using fictional language, Moonchy sings in her native language. In fact, she takes on a leading role, because although the modest playing style of Todd Tobias creates tension and atmosphere, there is an all-determining vocal style on the album. The childish, almost Asian-looking voice of Pat takes some getting used to, but gives the twelve short tracks a unique sound and experience.

    Atmospheric is full of influences of the present and the past. Occasione sounds rather retro, with a nod to the seventies when it comes to the musical interpretation. Velo is again pure contemporary folk, while a song like Dall’Occhio has dreamy pop influences with a “trippy” undertone and the vocals are sometimes even filled in with voices. Modesty, small compositions and even a kind of intimacy are terms that recur on my notebook. And that is perhaps also the best description for this work. Unfortunately not all tracks are equally convincing and sometimes the duo seems to be looking for coherence individually. I suspect that the recordings were not made in the same studio. In addition, the header voice that Moonchy occasionally uses is not entirely pure or pleasant to listen to.

    Still, Moonchy & Tobias manage to deliver a fairly unique album with Atmosfere. Partly thanks to the conscious choice to draw the listener’s attention to the somewhat alienating, intimate Italian vocals with relatively little trimmings and rather elongated, repetitive melody lines. As if on vacation you get a reading from the diary of your host’s daughter’s daughter, where you can read everything from the childish emotion transmission without understanding the words. You feel a bit uncomfortable and at the same time kind of honored that it is shared with you.

    All this makes Atmosfere a strange duck, which is further enhanced by the way in which some tracks end. Open, namely. The sound is appropriate, although the dynamics vary per track. A conscious choice, presumably. The second album from Moonchy & Tobias is really one for a select group and also offers room for development in the future. Yet this can be a nice discovery for those drizzly days that we can call winter in our country.”

    – Hifi NL

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Artist Photos

 

Music Videos


Licensing

The music of Moonchy & Tobias is available for licensing (master & sync cleared) through Hidden Shoal. Please contact us with some basic details about your project and the track(s) you wish to use and we’ll be sure to get back to you straight away.

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