Audio Collection
Embed
odd birds
The Raventones
With her smoky alto voice, baritone guitars and fretless bass, Autistic artist TR Kelley and drummer Randy Hamme cook up a rootsy melange of original "bohemian geek soul" and Joni-&-Jaco-style jazz from the rural rainforest of western Oregon.
Collection Contents
| # | Title | Length | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Two-tone Touring Car | 5:29 | Play |
| 2 |
|
Walk With Me | 3:23 | Play |
| 3 |
|
I Surrender | 3:24 | Play |
| 4 |
|
Yellow Moon | 3:56 | Play |
| 5 |
|
Unfolding | 5:00 | Play |
| 6 |
|
Do You Want Me to Go | 4:07 | Play |
| 7 |
|
I See You See Me | 2:31 | Play |
| 8 |
|
Hush | 4:08 | Play |
| 9 |
|
Dynamix | 3:28 | Play |
| 10 |
|
White Crosses | 6:50 | Play |
| 11 |
|
Blue Interlude | 1:31 | Play |
| 12 |
|
Southbound #5 Blues | 2:49 | Play |
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| Bitmunk Marketplace Service | USD $0.98 |
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Description
Former Babes With Axes bassist/songwriter/guitarist tr kelley has returned to the Oregon music scene, fronting a psychic and sonic freight-train power-duo with drummer Randy Hamme. They call their collaboration THE RAVENTONES, and their fist album together is entitled "odd birds", a subtle nod to kelley's acceptance and celebration of her Autism.
tr kelley's roots are in honky-tonk, surf, & blues overlaid with the altered tunings, creative textures and and organic elegance of rural Oregon counterculture folk psychedelia.
From that foundation, The Raventones build a deep rootsy mix of low-tuned guitars, vintage-style drums & smoky vocals in a genre they describe as "rural bohemian soul".
Driven by deep twangy baritone electric guitar on some tracks, low-alter-tuned acoustic on others, the songs range from the brawny surf-n-soul attack of "walk with me", to the dark jazzy intimacy of "i surrender". Anchored by the swish & sparkle of Randy Hamme's vintage drum tones, the songs are fully realized yet never overproduced.
Before his recent public emergence as a drummer, Hamme worked as a sound engineer. His creative use of both analog and digital formats in the recording process for this CD is evident in the lush saturation of the instrumental tracks and the intimacy and power of the vocals.
The Raventones - "odd birds" is a deeply vibrant quilt of ideas. Bossa-nova, raw acoustic slide blues, a live mono soundscape, even an 80's style power ballad all make an appearance. Yet these seemingly disparate styles hang together beautifully in the cohesiveness of tr kelley instrumentation and production concepts.
Stylistically, there are echoes of Ray Charles, Patsy Cline and the Ventures swirled in with Joni Mitchell, Jaco Pastorius and Michael Hedges, but tr's way of mixing it all up, pitching it down low and giving it room to breathe & groove without cluttered production make it a truly unique listen.
NEW! Go to www.raventones.com/commentary.html to read tr kelley's production notes on this album and the stories behind some of the songs. The band's page is agressively updated & constantly evolving, check back once in awhile.
QUOTES
"Laid back guitars for surfing in the rain. ..... Kelley's vocals are hypnotic, a surge of power that makes the bulbs glow......."
Sara Warfield, WOW Hall Notes, Eugene Oregon
"( The Raventones' album) "Odd Birds" is a winner...... for its variety, evident talent and songs to get lost in."
Natasha Chilingerian, Oregon Daily Emerald
"TR Kelley is known to fans of Babes with Axes as the one with the growly voice who wouldn't take any lip from society. She brings an entirely different approach to the Raventones, one with a lot more depth, like the guitars and basses she plays with such feeling."
Mike Kelsey, WFHB-FM Bloomington, Indiana
"TR's voice is amazing in its tone and variety.... she moves from a powerful ballad to a dreamy, atmospheric piece, to a Delta blues."
Arthur Elliott, Radio 99.7FM, Brisbane, Australia
"Passion, nostalgia and joy...one of the Northwest's musical treasures"
Eugene Weekly 12/26/02
"On the surface, Kelley sounds somewhat like a disciple of Joni Mitchell in her Hejira and Don Juan's Reckless Daughter era. However, Kelley's guitar tunings are a little more reminiscent of Michael Hedges than Joni Mitchell, and that's Kelley herself playing bass."
Daniel Nestlerode, FAMA Internet Music Review