The Ruby Suns - Sea Lion
This latest album from The Ruby Suns is titled Sea Lion, the name of which is inspired by the sea lion colony visible from Hwy 1, south of San Francisco. Recorded by McPhun alone in his Auckland basement, Sea Lion's melodic musings found inspiration in the natural world and his travels within it. “Tane Mahuta,” sung entirely in Maori, is an indigenous-sounding ode to the great Waipoua forest near Auckland and “Adventure Tour” tells a tale of a memorable drive through New Zealand's South Island. An African influence also exerts a strong presence in the album. Not only was he struck by the people (“Ole Rinka” is about a man he met in the Maasai Mara National Reserve), but he was also enamoured of the music, especially Kenyan traditional music and modern day hip-hop.
The depth and breadth of the Ruby Suns' songs has, to no surprise, grown dramatically since their 2005 self-titled debut. The epic Sea Lion was intended to be a world music album, but reverb and psychedelic pop crept back in to create a unique mixture of exotic sounds, accomplished with an impressive array of instruments-from steel-string ukulele to djembe drums to pots and pans, all set upon a cosy cushion of synths and cassette samples. The Ruby Suns perfectly describe their wide-ranging influences with: “Pop music, noise, psychedelia, flamenco, South Pacific, southern Africa, home recording, hiking, travelling, animals, beaches, vegetarian food, especially falafel.”
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I Guess I'm Floating - "This is the real deal, guys n' gals... the harmonies are gorgeous, the band's sound is remarkably lush...and nearly every song on their album has something to recommend... I'm gonna go ahead and say this is my favorite discovery of 2007 as of yet." |
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| Wed Apr 30 |
Detroit MI @ Alvin's
w/ Foals
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| Thu May 01 |
Buffalo NY @ Showplace Theatre
w/ Foals
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| Fri May 02 |
Middlebury VT @ Middlebury College
w/ Menomena, Capstan Shafts
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| Sun May 04 |
Princeton NJ @ Terrace F Club
w/ The Walkmen
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| Mon May 05 |
S. Burlington VT @ Higher Ground
w/ Foals
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| Tue May 06 |
Cambridge MA @ Middle East Downstairs
w/ Foals
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| Wed May 07 |
Hoboken NJ @ Maxwell's
w/ Foals
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| Thu May 08 |
Brooklyn NY @ Union Hall
w/ Foals
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| Sat Jul 19 |
Chicago IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival
w/ Animal Collective, Vampire Weekend
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