Adrian Orange & Her Band · Wednesday September 19, 2007
Adrian’s new album, Adrian Orange & Her Band, has been in deep iTunes rotation for the past few months. Along with Rise Above by the Dirty Projectors, Andorra by Caribou, and You, You’re A History In Rust by Do Make Say Think, it ranks among my favourite albums of 2007 thus far. Happily, it looks like many music writers on the Interwebs agree:
Tiny Mix Tapes
“Adrian Orange’s is a real voice, a voice that puts us in contact with our own everyday struggles, loves, and yearnings. Adrian Orange & Her Band is a small, but significant, step away from musical standardization and toward the preservation of personality, of individualism, in pop.”
Audiversity
“Even still, it is hard to completely pinpoint the sound because Orange and his band so easily transcend styles throughout the album…The album is all over the place, and thanks to the talented musicianship and imaginative arrangements, it shines brilliantly.”
Exclaim!
“Equipped with a new label, sound and 18-piece band, Orange purges himself of his folk-riddled past and embarks on a distinctly African sound, one very much in the vein of Fela Kuti. Recorded with Phil Elverum and Calvin Johnson, the album erects a wall of horns, tribal rhythms and chanting voices, with guitars and organs chugging back and forth in a hypnotic, rock-steady fashion.”
Another Exclaim review (why are there two, I wonder?)
“Inspiringly unfettered, Adrian Orange has composed a remarkable effort.”
A Tune A Day
Adrian Orange used to go by the moniker Thanksgiving a few years back and his debut under the new name is a fantastic journey…Strikingly real and welcoming.”
Some dude named Jeff
“But this band (whatever the fuck you want to call it) are NOT predictable. It’s cryptic and dangerous and we LIKE that. The jazzy horns, the never-ending drums, the wail of a broken (?) soul. You’re not going anywhere while listening to Adrian Orange and Her Band. You’ve come to a halt. A standstill. A crossroads with no clear “right” way. So, stop, look around and have a seat. It’d be a long ride if you kept moving. It’s an even longer one when you’re standing still.”
RetroLowFi
“The record is full of slow building, jazzy barn burners with lots going on at all times. Each musician seems to be in charge of their own section’s sonic destiny while still working towards a common goal of making beauty where chaos could erupt at any second. Adrian Orange & Her Band is a fascinating listen, and if Adrian keeps churning out succesful experiments of this magnitude.. well, his music could very well become the stuff of legend. We’re in your corner, Mr. Orange.”
Clicky Clicky Music Blog
“the band’s forthcoming K Records release is unlike any other that we’ve heard from the label. Orange and a loose collective concoct a perfect late summer sound that is far from unusual, but wholly engaging.”
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