Ruby Series by Rebecca Gates

Ruby Series

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Ruby Series

Features

Audio CD (June 26, 2001)

Number of Discs: 1

Label: Badman Records

Reader Reviews
after waiting three years for the next rebecca gates/spinanes effort, the brevity of 'Ruby Series' (7 songs?!) hardly justifies the wait but is still a quality record. the styles vary greatly, all showcasing her breathy, sultry coo and unique lyrics. the opener, 'the seldom scene,' opens with an organ and bass intro, and melts into a cool jazz swing which is made whole when rebecca starts to sing. 'lure and cast' along with 'in a star orbit' display the obvious hand of john mcentire, sounding much like rebecca fronting the sea and cake. on these tracks, as well as on most of the album, the familiar clean guitar sound is buried or treated enough to seem almost absent - again, this is not a spinanes record. rebecca must have moved to my hometown to get that chicago sound, and it sure has worked. the two tracks previously available on the 'shanti project vol.2' comp ('move,' 'the colonel's circle') are largely shapeless floating songs built around the slowburn melodies that first started appearing on 'strand' and 'arches and aisles.' the stunning conclusion 'i received a levitation' opens with an acoustic riff that sounds like a 'strand' outtake before layered harmonies and noel kupersmith's acoustic bass add to the swirling, building coda. overall, this is a strong, creative and sonically varied record. mcentire's usual pops and buzzes and programming actually work surprisingly well and kupersmith's bass is a welcome foil to rebecca's guitar and voice. it would have been interesting to hear it on a couple of the slower tracks on 'strand.' i still believe 'arches and aisles' is the best record rebecca gates has produced, but it's good to see that unlike others (SM), she can lose the band and go in different stylistic directions that still showcase her many gifts. and i still do have such a crush on her.

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