Search - Adrian Orange & Her Band :: Adrian Orange & Her Band

I was a hater, and was doubtful: I was wrong.

paper cuts | PDX | 04/12/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I have heard the name Adrian Orange and Thanksgiving (his artist moniker) come and go through out the years in this town Portland (where he is allegedly from). I've typically yawned at- "oh, I bumped into Adrian at the cafe", or, "yeah we saw Thanksgiving play an impromptu set at a house party"... once a DJ even told me, "yeah, that guy's really strange". Big F***ing deal, I thought. I've heard but few precious songs by this fellow and I'm only left only to deduct two conclusions- his music is of the Lo-Fi, sad b**tard realm, and whoa, dog this monkey can not sing.... not even in a charming off key, or eccentric way- just plain horrible vox.

BUT! I'm an open cat... I real "down" dude. I see this Adrian Orange & Her Band on the shelf, and I bite ( I know, wow, its a white boy trying to liberating the masses by arbitrarily switching his gender pronoun in the band name... but, I appreciate the attempt).

Anyway, I pop it in... I don't know if its the sun that's shining, or the fact that my girlfriend doesn't hate me today (maybe it was all the red heads I saw)... but I'll be damned if I didn't loose a couple pounds right there. this thing was swingin, this sound was grooving (like few crackas these days), I was shocked. Now, now, I'm not saying this is life altering, or liberating even, I'm just saying compared to what Mr. Orange was doing before, this is hot.

Track one is rockSTEADY. Bad as bad can hope for in the NW. Reggae groove, white boy vocals that teeter on keepin the soul from spillin out the tea cup. Bad, I'm sayin. Again, this isn't Lee Perry, this ain't King Tubby... this is, however, as close as K records will get to that Afro-Skronk-Backbeat. It ends a lil too soon.

"Interdependance", smoothes it out a bit, still fairly soulful. Another dose of that slight jungle rhythm, you'll hear that aura creeping in from some dark corners elsewhere on here.

Track 3, "Fire Dream", is a more morose swing. Slower, pleading, yet believable. Some lyrics," My god, what has become of the world we could share? This world of ours, that's now yours and mine..."

Pick her back up a notch, and we're groovin latin flavors. The "Her Band" is really the spotlight on this disc, as proof on Track 4 and 5 AND 6 (almost a Reggeton-like jam?)... hell, all of them. Reviews will tear Orange a new one for his craptacular voice, I say it fits... in a unique, desperate, unhinged way. I dig it.

Smoke is rollin of it now.

This album jams on a couple more Afro-Latin spiced tracks, and cools it out with a DUB-tacular number, closing the amazing players on this venture. One last sad b**tard lament with Orange doing his best with gentle howl and acoustic... and its STILL great... "I'll keep my soul, you can keep my clothes... you can keep my house, you can keep my pay. You can keep your $."

Like I said, I was a non-believer, and I know this review is worthless, but I think this album is a noteworthy addition to a world in need of some real, visionary, vigilant, and Revolutionary ART and artists... this my friends... IS one giant step in the right direction, at least.

word."