Shutdown the Sun/From the Ashes of Electric Elves

Shutdown the Sun/From the Ashes of Electric Elves Artist: Oranger
Label: Jackpine Social Club
Category: Music


Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1


UPC: 800223600526
EAN: 0800223600526
ASIN: B0000C239L


Release Date: 2003-09-23

Shutdown the Sun/From the Ashes of Electric Elves


Related Categories:

General General
Categories | Rock | Styles | Music
Pop Rock Pop Rock
Categories | Pop | Styles | Music
Indie Rock Indie Rock
Categories | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
General General
Categories | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
Neo-Psychedelia Neo-Psychedelia
Categories | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Tracks:

  1. Cut Off Yer Thumbs
  2. Going Under
  3. Bluest Glass Eye Sea
  4. Shutdown the Sun
  5. Tree Bent Gun
  6. Just a Little Dumb
  7. Othersider
  8. Writer (H.F.)
  9. Static on the High Desert
  10. Sweet Goodbye
  11. Delivered by Compass

Tracks:

  1. Up Over the Summer Fields
  2. Pleschette Gun
  3. Shake Yer Leisure
  4. Gorilla in a Rucksack
  5. Butterfly Magician
  6. April Skies
  7. Things I Say
  8. Cerebro Esta Zumpando
  9. Friend to You
  10. Yard Sculpture
  11. Space Colony Boogie
  12. Amazing Life of...
  13. Circle Gets the Square
  14. Bleeding Kneecaps
  15. Bizarro
  16. Monster
  17. Intermission
  18. Winter Gardener
  19. Rover
  20. Mike Love Not War [Live]
  21. Sleepwalk
  22. Manatee Party
  23. Siamese Fingers
  24. Sugarpop '66
  25. Behold, Mercury!
  26. Outside It's Coming Down
  27. Spy Tactics
  28. And It's Alright
  29. Twenty Three Skidoo
  30. Twenty Three Skidoo (Continued)
  31. Twenty Three Skidoo (Continued)
  32. Twenty Three Skidoo (Continued)
  33. Twenty Three Skidoo (Continued)
  34. Twenty Three Skidoo (Continued)

Similar Items:

  1. Doorway To Norway
  2. New Comes and Goes
  3. The Quiet Vibration Land
  4. Pikul
  5. The Information

Amazon.com

One of the great joys of watching young bands mature is the way that they work through their influences to develop their own sound. But what of those groups that wear their influences on their sleeve? Oranger, for instance, makes no bones about digging the Zombies, Who, T. Rex, and the Beach Boys a whole lot, since they cop the sounds of those bands all over the place. But ironically, the more this San Francisco-based quartet has just given in to their inner pop demons and stopped trying to be too original or hard-rocking, they've become far more interesting. Where their previous records were merely interesting, with <I>Shutdown</I>, Oranger finally delivers a textured, expertly-crafted, and moody classic of contemporary, `60s-inspired indie-rock. The first pressing of the album comes with a fully-loaded extra CD of rarities going back to 1998. Fans of Beulah, Superchunk, Elf Power, and Spoon are sure to dig this album. <I>--Mike McGonigal</I>

Album Description

This is the 3rd release from San Francisco's psych-pop troubadours, Oranger. The band has toured with Apples In Stereo, Dressy Bessy and Wilco. Features 45 tracks including limited 34-track bonus disc featuring early singles, unreleased stuff, live recordings and more from 1998-2002. Tracks on bonus disc are 'Up Over The Summer Fields', 'Pleschette Gun', 'Shake Yer Leisure', 'Gorilla In A Rucksack', 'Butterfly Magician', 'April Skies', 'Things I Say', 'El Cerebro Esta Zumpando', 'Friend To You', 'Yard Sculpture', 'Space Colony Boogie', 'The Amazing Life Of...', 'Circle Gets The Square', 'Bleeding Kneecaps', 'Bizaro', 'Monster', 'Intermission', 'Winter Gardener', 'The Rover', 'Mike Love Not War' (Live), 'Sleepwalk', 'Manatee Party', 'Siamese Fingers', 'Sugarpop '66', 'Behold, Mercury!', 'Outside It's Coming Down', 'Spy Tactics', 'And It's Alright' & 'Twenty Three Skidoo'

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars "Ashes" of the "Sun".......2005-07-10

San Francisco quartet Oranger is one of those gloriously offbeat indierock bands, which deserves to be well known, yet somehow isn't. And their third album, "Shutdown the Sun," is an indie masterpiece that goes quietly under the radar, yet is unforgettable when you've heard it.

Oranger slowly builds up to a sweet, bluesy guitar song, which slowly gets wrapped in layers of ethereal keyboard. Some songs, like "Going Under" or the sizzly short "Just A Little Dumb" are made up of dense, danceable fuzz-rock. But with some other songs, there's a more delicate, psychedelic sound. Think the Flaming Lips' earlier work

This is the disc that really hooks you into the Oranger sound -- these four guys have a knack for making 60s-inspired rock'n'roll. They have a little punk, a little psychedelica, and a lot of gritty fuzzy stuff, and their songs are wound tightly enough that it's hard to find individual flaws and weaknesses.

But once the windy rock of "Delivered By Compass" is over, switch discs. There's also a sprawling second CD, "From the Ashes of Electric Elves," packed with rarities, live songs, B-sides and previously unreleased recordings. It's not as tight or rich as "Shutdown the Sun," but its swoony psychpop, catchy pop numbers and angular experimental songs are even more fun.

Sometimes they are great songs, and sometimes the guys just sound like they're messing around. It lacks the moodiness of the first disc. Instead, we have the goofy alien-rock "Space Colony Boogie" and "The Rover," psych-punk "Bleeding Kneecaps," sparkling "Pleschette Gun," and an instrumental goof-off at the finale, "Twenty-Three Skiddoo Takes 1-6."

Although "From the Ashes of Electric Elves" could easily stand as an album on its own, it was wisely paired with a more polished, conventional CD. While both discs are excellent, and show off Oranger at their best, they also show different facets of the rock group's sound -- "Ashes" is more experimental, eclectic and funny, while "Shutdown" is richly dense and steady.

Mike Drake has a nice voice, very drawly and able to stand above the music. He also does some wonderfully low-key work on the guitar, backed by Matt Harris's solid bass, Jim Linday's sharp drums, and Patrick Main's outstanding keybards. They all do exceptional work, and different songs allow them to shine.

Oranger make the best album of their career thus far (a new album will be out in the fall) in "Shutdown the Sun," and pair this glorious album with an equally worthy rarities collection. A must-have.

5 out of 5 stars Better Than You.......2004-05-25

Smart, big guitar, super pop. Disc one is the quiet "studio album", disc two is misc. b-sides and rarities (including punk gem "Bleeding Kneecaps"). Overall more good songs than most bands ever write. The Who, Beach Boys (not in the usual lame sense), The Minders, The Kinks and Overwhelming Colorfast all come to mind. Why aren't these guys on everybody's top ten list. Can't wait to see what they do next.

5 out of 5 stars Stunning.......2004-03-04

Mike Drake is an amazing songwriter, and this is his crowning achievement. While the first two Oranger records had good songs and sometimes excellent arrangements, they were often overburdened with the sounds of the band's influences. Here, however, they are at home with their own sound, and the playing reinforces the songs rather than competes with them. Not a weak song on the first disk, & the bonus disk will blow you away.

4 out of 5 stars

Music Album:

  1. Contact ~ Eiffel 65
  2. Golden Mile/Five Live Kursaals ~ Kursaal Flyers
  3. Mercuric
  4. The Green Hour ~ The Autumn Defense
  5. Kindly Stop for Me ~ Chainsuck
  6. Rock-A-Sock-Hop ~ Jimmy Crain
  7. Fapardokly ~ Fapardokly
  8. Lost Sides ~ Doves
  9. Enclosed ~ Magic
  10. The West Is the Future ~ Kid Dakota

Music Album

Music Album

Music CD

Practice Tape No.1 ~ Bill Evans

Cafe Cubano ~ Scott Martin

Serenade in Blue ~ Al Caiola

Cool Breeze ~ Dizzy Gillespie

The Art of Falling ~ Jeff Johnson

Die 3 Generation ~ Die 3. Generation

Boneshaking Zydeco ~ Zydeco Boneshakers

Natural Do Rio De Janeiro ~ Ze Renato

Ao Vivo Em Chicago ~ Djambi

Best Collection ~ Sonoko Kawai