Lit By Your Phone (2007)

"....Lit by Your Phone, the Quavers’ new moody and texturally rich album, places moody Americana folk under blacklit, lo-fi electronica." - The Village Voice

“...moody and enchanting lo-fi songs. The pair‘s spare tunes combine plaintive minor-key melodies... and tight, yearing harmonies with touches of electronica thrown into the mix. Both musicians bring a deep and eclectic musical background to their songwriting; between the two of them they’ve worked with indie filmmaker Jem Cohen, avant-garde theater director Richard Maxwell and the cult singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt, among others. ” - The New Yorker

"The Quavers might be better known as T. Griffin Coraline, the duo of T. Griffin and Catherine McRae. The duo has added two new players for this new project, but the shadowy songs on the Quavers new Lit By Your Phone work a similar magic, painting the edges of low-wattage country-folk with electronics." - Time Out New York

" 'Darling promise me you'll kill me in my sleep if I'm still waiting tables here this time next year,' sing the Quavers on "Snow Day." My first emotion after listening to Brooklyn's the Quavers was one of pure wall-punching anger and frustration. Where the holy hell has this band been all my life? How is it that I get bombarded by press releases all day for new albums by horrible bands (there is a new Korn album out now, just in case you were curious), but I've never heard a peep about the Quavers? All anger aside, the band utilizes sly electronics, softly strummed guitars, and soft vocals, making the duo (T. Griffin and Catherine McRae) a perfect fit for the cozy Mississippi Studio confines." - Portland Mercury

"By taking hints of ‘Cyann & Ben’ and ‘Low’, and then melding it into a genre not usually known for its eccentricity, the Quavers have made an album of such breathtaking beauty that you would be hard done by to not drift away with it. Pushing the boundaries of folk with its ambient feel and electronic quips, ‘Lit By Your Phone’ is one of the best albums you will hear this year." - Americana UK

The Sea Won't Take Long (2004)

'Holed up in a basement once used as a bolthole for Latvian sailors, Brooklyn's T. Griffin teamed up with singer/violinist Catherine McRae for this spectral third album. His grainy blend of electro-folk and found sounds (he calls it "porch techno") resembles a hushed collision of Vic Chesnutt, Low and Jim O'Rourke. Deathly strings and lonely guitar - allied to telephone static, samples and snatches of Casio - make this record appear salvaged from some creaky urban junk shop. It holds together admirably, though, its wounded ambience both delicate and dense. " - Uncut Magazine (UK)

'Brooklyn's T. Griffin Coraline came up next, and this was an act I had heard nothing about previous to this show. Appropriately, they blew us away. Led by some incredible boy/girl harmonies, folky guitar work, emotional strings, and what the band refers to as a "junk store electronic vibe," this duo endeared the audience to them instantly. If you think you'd like a more hopeful, folk-themed Low sound, give these guys a listen immediately. I picked up an album and chatted briefly with the very friendly and humble guitarist right afterwards, so look for a review of their new disc shortly.' - Indieville.com

'The New York group's new album, The Sea Won't Take Long searches for the heart of alt-country and finds it in a junkyard full of old computer parts, caught between the melancholy narratives of singer-songwriters and the avant-folk ambience that swirls in the white noise of the city.'-Minneapolis City Pages

'... an eerily beautiful mix of acoustic instruments and machinery... The Sea Won't Take Long resembles a short-story collection complete with reoccurring characters... The woman who is haunted by images of trapped sailors in the opening song possibly could be the same woman drowning herself in the closing, title track... An alluring gem of an album that's worth seeking out." iTunes Music Store

'There is a dark beauty around these songs, an Edward Hopper quality of being outside looking on as small dramas are played out.  ‘Missouri’ tells one such story:  constructed from some electronic noise, percussive loops and threats of banjo, the conjoined vocals elevate the whole thing above the already considerable sum of the parts. It is strange to try to analyse why small squiggles of machine noise and a few lone banjo notes can have an emotional impact.'- Americana UK

'Using truncated beats, samples taken from a mini-disc and well-placed sonic effects along with simple acoustic guitar, T. Griffin wrests intensely beautiful and enigmatic lyricisim from his acute observations. His third album, The Sea Won't Take Long is a junk-shop wired rusty heartbeat inhaling and exhaling some of the most masterful and touching songs to come out on record this year." - Delusions of Adequacy

'Catherine McRae's haunting violin and chilling vocals bring an added element to the sound, suggesting early Mojave 3 or Low crossed with Leonard Cohen or Joe Henry...The album was recorded in a basement down by Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal and the isolated location adds to the album's spooky ambience, with the duo augmenting their tranquil, unhurried compositions with ghostly noises and effects... this lovely record will almost make you feel like a sailor of yore whiling away a lonely night on the Red Hook docks.' - The Big Takeover

'...sets himself apart from the folkie pack by backing his deep-droned laments and sea chanteys with clanky musique concrete he poetically refers to as "porch techno"' - The Village Voice

'...deep, haunting densely arranged songs that are part Tom Waits and part Low." - Minneapolis Star Tribune

'It'll freak you into hugging a stranger.' - Olympia Weekly Volcano

'T. Griffin is one of those songwriters that defys easy description. It's not like people haven't tried. He's been compared to Tom Waits, Elliott Smith and Chris Knox. That's some powerful company, but Griffin takes it a step further by using odd sound-making devices to punctuate the songs." - Ames Tribune

'...a disarmingly pretty record that weds T. Griffin's songwriting with a subtle clatter that incorporates both Americana roots music and warm electronic work." - Time Out New York

'what makes his skewed folk so appealing is his ear for uncommon accompaniment - found sounds, noisy loops, bowed marimba, horns, cello and female vocal harmonies. Check out his dynamite new CD, REDBIRDS.' - The Village Voice

'... a mixture of low-fi electronica and rural folkiness that should contradict each other but mesh perfectly into a haunting and soulful, psychedelic, alt-country, techno, gypsy, folk-pop sound... The CD only gets better as it settles into your psyche. The strange electronic noises serve to create a fuzzy static forcefield that encirles the Americana instrumentation and lyricism." - PointBlank Des Moines

'...an inventive bleep-blipping take on Americana, thanks to the help of some ace satelite members, including Dennis Cronin (ex-lambchop) and Bruce Cawdron (godspeed you! black emperor)... An alluring hybrid of sampled beats, found-sound collisions and traditional songwriting.' - Pulse of the Twin Cities

Light in the Aisles:

'...a brilliant little diamond in the rough - an intimate collection of ocasionally witty, slightly warped and often sad reflections on relationships and pop culture, set to a gorgeously alluring slo-core minimalism... Think Vic Chesnutt meets Tom Waits in a series of New York apartments." - Minneapolis Star Tribune.

"...radiates a kind of sober hope and dreaminess through Griffin's delicately added electronic flourishes. Unassuming music for sure, and quite nice as well."(Critic's Pick)- Time Out New York,

"Unearthly, but private sounding songs." - The Big Takeover

"...every bit as dusky and heartbreaking as last year's Tortuga, but with a sound that fills more than the secret corners of your mind." - Pulse of the Twin Cities

"...like a walk in the rain through a decaying graveyard haunted by the ghost of Nick Drake." Uno Mas

Tortuga:

"...the best late night companion this side of Tom Waits' Mule Variations."- St. Paul Pioneer Press

"...puts the singer-songwriter in the ranks of Vic Chesnutt, Elliott Smith and Chris Knox." (Critic's Pick) Laura Learmonth, Seattle Weekly.

"Too beautiful to be pretty." - Erin Anderson, Pulse of the Twin Cities

"His music suggests a vast new genre of spaghetti-western-techno-gupsy-folk." (Critic's Pick) Zach Dundas, The Willammette Weekly (Portland Or)

"A perfect late night alone record." - TapeOp.

"...one of the year's most enchanting diamonds in the rough." - St. Paul Pioneer Press

T. Griffin live:

"... the iron chef of singer-songwriters." - Minneapolis Star Tribune