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Before the world fell in love with
The Postal Service, or even
Dntel,
Jimmy Tamborello aka
James Figurine was already making our hearts melt with
Figurine. Albums include
Transportation + Communication = Love (1999) and
The Heartfelt (2001) also a remix album
Reconfigurine (2002). The genius of
Figurine is brought to you by
James Figurine (Jimmy Tamborello),
David Figurine, and
Meredith Figurine (Meredith Landman). Simply known by these alter egos the three high school friends created music based mostly on the theme of long distance love, with an inventive electro-pop sound.
David and
James enjoy a certain amount of experimentation in their compositions while
James and
Meredith are on vocals playing out a verse by verse call and response relationship, kind of like an albums worth of
Don't You Want Me which is later given homage to by
The Postal Service with
"Nothing Better". Figurine's interesting hybrid of forward-thinking techno and retro discotheque dance floor movers is what keeps the fans coming back for more.
Around the release of James' solo album
Life Is Full of Possibilities* and his pop sensation
Give Up with
Death Cab for Cutie's
Ben Gibbard,
Figurine virtually fell off the map. Fans assume they broke up, but they've never said a thing. Even their website has disappeared as did
David and
Meredith Figurine. The music of
Figurine has now become more of a fetish to their fans, constantly scouring the internet for lost tracks and demos... always thirsting for more. Clinging to chat rooms and forums for answers of the bands whereabouts or even a come back. Still they're filled with hope thanks to those last echoing words on the final track of
The Heartfelt "Don't cry, we'll be back soon". We're still waiting.
*You can also find
Meredith Figurine on the
Dntel track "
Suddenly Is Sooner Than You Think".
and check out the JAMES FIGURINE album from jimmy on monika (EU) or plug research (US)
:-)
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