REBECCA GATES
"RUBY SERIES"
(BADMAN)

Rebecca Gates' first release under her own name is a quiet, intimate collection of songs that takes up where the more atmospheric side of the Spinanes' Strand left off. The music on Ruby Series is reminiscent in a number of ways of the '60s classic Astral Weeks, but Gates' cool yet seductive vocals are almost the complete opposite of Van Morrison's raspy shout. A few other sonically-related works might include side 2 of Eno's Before and After Science, the ESP Summer collaboration between Warren Defever and Ian Masters, and Ida's more recent releases. The instrumentation is almost minimalistically spare but production brings out gentle, sensual qualities, resulting in a sound with a bright center and dark edges.

Ruby Series opens with the soul-influenced "The Seldom Scene," then follows up with an amazing track: "Lure and Cast" is a fully-realized dreamscape set to a modified bossa nova rhythm, perfectly balanced and alone worth the price of the album. Elsewhere there are traces of musical styles as diverse as hip-hop and country, set in varied arrangements blending acoustic with electric instruments. On "The Colonel's Circle," another standout track, a cello provides an almost conversational counterpoint to Gates' vocals against a backdrop of gently flowing guitar sound. Simply put, Ruby Series is a late-night masterpiece.

---Mike C.