the spinanes / rebecca gates

some of the production on their records is patchy and the songwriting on the third album wasn't quite as consistently strong as the first two, but i think the three albums are a pretty strong body of work in general. her voice is wonderful. and when she did a solo tour in australia she played a cover of the pretenders' "talk of the town" and melted my heart completely.

Best mix-CD segue I've ever done: the semi-famous recording of postal workers at the University of Ghana post office canceling stamps --> "Spitfire."

? Do tell me more, please.

Scott Plouff's (sp?) drumming on MANOS is KILLER JAMZ.

i should really hear manos. the title always reminds me of manos: the hands of fate--serious cognitive dissonance.

"Hawaiian Baby" coming up later today unless someone does it first.

Hawaiian Baby

god bless you, merry gentleman. i will now use it for a mix cd.

Too bad she's not more prolific, I adore her Spinanes work but found her solo record completely unmemorable. I'm sure she's got more great music to offer the world.

Reposting from http://www.marfa.org/2008/09/ballroom-marfa-sessions.html

The Marfa Sessions, curated by Regine Basha, Rebecca Gates and Lucy Raven presents a series of individual sound projects, each engaging some aspect of Marfa's geographic, historical and unique social character. Basha, Gates and Raven have selected fifteen artists with specific interests in sound work and its potential as a transgressive medium within place and geography. Seven of these artists have been invited for individual site visits and residencies in Marfa, Texas in the year before the exhibition to collect field recordings, record interviews and document the landscape. The Marfa Sessions includes new contributions from Nina Katchadourian, Christina Kubisch and Kaffe Matthews, as well as collaborative work by Deborah Stratman/Steven Badgett, Steve Roden/Stephen Vitello and Steve Rowell/Simparch. Pertinent work from Emily Jacir, Louise Lawler, Inigo Manglano-Ovalle, Angel Nevarez & Valerie Tevere, Dario Robleto, and Julianne Swartz will also be featured in specific locations for the exhibition.

portland, oregon september 16 with corrina repp and aux eutres
marfa, tx september 20,21
brooklyn, ny november 17 union pool

I bet that Arthur Russell thing she did in the spring was nice.

nothing new from her?

new album in a month, in fact

:D!!

I love the Spinanes, and they are very much not-the-sort-of-thing-I-usually-like.

Manos is really great, every song, particularly "Sunday."
― BlastsOfStatic (BlastsofStatic), Monday, September 20, 2004 9:59 AM (7 years ago)

Good, I found what I would have said.

Very good news. I think she's been working on that thing for a while. The Spinanes are great and Ruby Series was also great. I'm way looking forward to this.

She opened for the Decemberists show I saw. She was really good, and I was sooooo thrilled that she performed "Hawaiian Baby" (one of the best songs ever), but I got the distinct impression that 99% of the audience could not give even one tenth of a fuck. Such a shame.

Manos was one of my favorite records in high school, haven't heard it in so long. I never heard any of the following albums, would like to hear her covering Arthur Russell!

We are about to begin fund-raising in order to complete and release the album.

Hopefully this has worked. She's on tour in the US SW now I see.

would like to hear her covering Arthur Russell!

it was so good!

I know I said this already but Imp Years is some of the finest indie rock the 90's had to offer.

I will totally listen to this new rec, need to catch up.

I wanna clarify, because I'm surprised by the relative lack of discussion of it in this thread (aside from the general agreement that it is, indeed, fantastic), that "Hawaiian Baby" is one of the best songs ever because it's maybe the best breakup song ever. It's pretty much the Platonic ideal of utilizing very specific and very personal details in the service of encapsulating a universal experience (in this case, the melancholy of sorting through post-breakup memories and miscellany).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvr75rZmZ2A

Manos and the stars are insane both remind of great high school late nights.

Also wanna rep for Arches & Aisles. That album is super underrated. It's different from the first two, but it has that amazing and sunny late-'90s John McEntire production and feels of a piece with TNT (and maybe Dots and Loops, to a lesser extent).

the first time i heard the spinanes was on a mixtape i got from a girl who lived in houston (her grandmother lived down the street from us which is how we met, she had green hair and i was in love) anyway she made me this tape with Helium, Tsunami, Crayon field mice, even the Sundays and the Smiths and Spitfire by the Spinanes. i was a bus boy on the weekends and mowed lawns, after her first few tapes, i started spending all of my money through mail order catalogs.

Also wanna rep for Arches & Aisles. That album is super underrated.

Co-sign. Just the way it starts, with the chippy-happy bongos (or whatever) immediately brings a smile to my face.

I was really underwhelmed by her solo mini-album, though. There was just... something... missing.

I wish they'd done a whole album....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPFXsdfjIII&feature=youtu.be

Stupid youtube...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPFXsdfjIII

Co-sign. Just the way it starts, with the chippy-happy bongos (or whatever) immediately brings a smile to my face.

"Kid In Candy" = pretty perfect pop.

Gates was at the time experimenting with R&B, covering songs by Aaliyah ("Are You That Somebody?") and TLC ("No Scrubs") in concert, and the sultry vibe of that genre also informed her singing in the studio.

Haven't found these on youtube. I saw her do "No Scrubs."

Rebecca has a full-length solo album out, "The Float". I've listened to it a couple of times and it's growing on me, though it's mostly gentle and I miss the swagger of The Spinanes. Still, the closing track in particular is great.

More tour dates for Gates and the Consortium. But grrr, I will be away on vacation when she's in my neighborhood

07/20/12 – Philadelphia, PA – Milkboy
07/21/12 – Brooklyn, NY – Rock Shop Brooklyn
07/22/12 – Somerville, MA – Radio Bar
07/26/12 – Washington, DC – Black Cat DC
07/27/12 – Chapel Hill, NC – Local 506
07/28/12 – Columbus, OH – Double Happiness
07/29/12 – Chicago, IL – The Hideout

oh fuck i missed those dates, was kind of hibernating in july. dammit.

moving down on taylor
dinner with your father
looking for a mailbox
someone's rolling in the mud
someone does it just because

I should listen to them again. Always liked them. I think Gates is living In Portland again but I don’t think she’s put out any new music in a bit.

my love is well documented itt but I now realize I don't have that Stones covers 7", so thanks for revive mookie

just heard "kid in candy" for the first time in ages and it is still a terrific pop song

It’s so good

As a NZer, did not expect the extended G.Downes nods in "Hawaiian Baby".

Snippet of her Arthur Russell cover here:

https://m.facebook.com/lacastanya/videos/10155247285851737/

happy 30th to manos