The Red Channels are one of the great innovators in modern American music. The reason, perhaps, lies in trying to understand what Ryan and Elaina themselves attempt to project in their music. It is summed up in two words: "soul" and "excitement". The Red Channels told me that they try to excite the listener, but after hearing this splendid full-length album, I am convinced that they excite the dancer as well.
Here it is! The energy, the experience of The Red Channels - and Ghetto Cooking. The Red Channels are here, with all the excitement that surrounds them. From the first minute to the last, the unique EXHILARATION of the amazing Red Channels rushes through the audience and captures them. This excitement holds them number after number, for The Red Channels' energy is as great as their talent.
Ryan and Elaina's stimulating arrangements, certainly the height of originality, are well exemplified in the full, rousing sound of "I Am In It". The soothing effect of "Forever" is more evidence of their advanced styling technique. Each tune on Ghetto Cooking has its own message to deliver as part of the success story of one of the most soulful and satisfying of today's masters of ethereal pop music.
Ready? It's Ghetto Cooking. It's The Red Channels Time. The Red Channels prove to be their own stylistically. Listen to the fine, creative production in this album. The Red Channels present another fine collection of tunes, following their previous albums, Lonely Melting Iceberg and The Red Channels.
Although their music is filled with a refreshing and irresistible gusto for enjoyment, nothing is hurried or rushed. What the group does on Ghetto Cooking is the result of thoughtful and practiced skill. The Red Channels' great execution and perfect tone are coupled with a feeling that few musicians are able to accomplish. No library is complete without a collection of recordings by The Red Channels. All the songs on Ghetto Cooking can be described as "pre-tested" - since, when you get right down to it, that's exactly what the term "hit" means. For these are some of the crowd-pleasers that have grabbed night club audiences and sparked the sales of CD's.
GHETTO COOKING AND OTHER RELEASES BY THE RED CHANNELS ARE AVAILABLE FROM iTUNES, TONEVENDOR.COM, CDBABY.COM, SUPER D DISTRIBUTION, AND OVER THE PHONE AT 1-800-BUY-MY-CD.
These are the musicians that will make you remember the first decade of the millenium. The Red Channels have pioneered an imaginative sound that draws on the most innovative groups and movements in music history.
To many of their fans, The Red Channels are best known for Fragola Bella, their David Lynch-style hit from 2005's Lonely Melting Iceberg. Released August 25, 2009, Ghetto Cooking is an album exhibiting an unbound versatility that electrified audiences and critics alike.
Having skyrocketed onto the underground rock scene at the turn of the century, this band has demonstrated an ever-lasting charm. With an unbeatable and evolving sound, The Red Channels are still in there swinging as one of the world's leading art rock bands. - Magenta Weekly (10/21/2009)
NEW FULL-LENGTH ALBUM GHETTO COOKING OUT NOW!
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Ghetto Cooking available digitally (mp3) from Amazon MP3, i-Tunes, & CDBaby.com. CDs from Tonevendor.com, Super D Distribution, CDBaby.com.
The Red Channels Ghetto Cooking CD Ten Dollar Recording Co. 2009
"Ghetto Cooking takes a number of eclectic styles and mixes them together to create a single coherent album. And while you’re usually able to make out what different ingredients The Red Channels’ throw into their slow burning stew, the album never really strays from the melancholy mood that the dish slowly simmers in. The Red Channels are led by the songwriting team of Ryan M. Block and Elaina Azari. Azari is the voice of the band and her unique vocal provides an eerie backdrop to the dark and dreamy soundscapes that the group specializes in. She’s not always singing words though; most of the songs on the album are aided by her ethereal howl that resonates along with the music like just another instrument...for the most part the album is a steady cohesive effort by an immensely interesting set of musicians. The album begins with I Am In It, a song that allows Azari to show off her vocal ability in the midst of pounding percussion and a calming (yet upbeat) organ. Before the listener is able to get too comfortable with the direction that the song is heading in, Azari’s vocal transforms into a reverb filled blur and the instruments build to a thunderous crescendo. It’s an open ended adventure of a track...Meanwhile Tongue is breathable and expansive. It’s a song that allows Block’s guitar and other chosen instruments to saturate the wide open spaces that are created. In the distance Azari’s ethereal howls are like the far off calls of a siren, beckoning the listener to come closer. One of the most interesting tracks on the album is the upbeat Elated, a bouncy little number that replaces Azari’s chilling voice with the eerie moans of a harmonica. The key point of Ghetto Cooking is the mood it unwaveringly carries to its listeners. Despite having its upbeat moments, the album is decidedly dire and somber. The Red Channels’ have obviously mastered the art of low key, enigmatic, atmospheric indie rock...the disc will wrap you up in its somber environment and its haunting mood. Throw in shades of folk, world music, and even a waltz and you have yourself one tasty entrée." - Justpressplay.net 9/14/2009.
"Sounds like: A freak folk duo’s third and beautifully weird gem of dub and reggae-infused beats over Björk-like howls.
Free association: Even the leftovers are probably dope the next day.
For fans of: Blonde Redhead, Lee Perry" - Philadelphia Weekly, 8/25/2009
"I was hesitant about this at first but it won me over pretty fast. Really subdued vaguely generally ethnic something. Lots of atmosphere here, mysterious-type, girl vox. I hear a much more accessible Spires In The Sunset Rise in this band." - KUCI FM
"While they've drawn comparisons with 4AD artists and Mazzy Star, and the duo The Red Channels (Ryan M. Block and Elaina Azari) do craft some spooky, shoegazey sounds; there is certainly a unique presence of a peculiar, carnivalesque atmosphere, and a strange beauty throughout. Take a listen to Waltz, from their new album Ghetto Cooking, and let yourself get carried away along with the mystery..." - afutureinnoise.com, 9/11/2009
"Yes, Waltz, but this dance is far from the ballroom, in a post-apocalyptic circus, a dance among the detritus, in rags for a dress, with a dead dog for a judge. The song resonates beautifully over the fallout. But maybe that's just me." - Smudge of Ashen Fluff 8/27/2009
"Judge this album by its title - there’s really no better way to describe the hip-hop-informed smorgasbord of sounds that is Ghetto Cooking. Ancient soul meets dub meets we like it." - indie pit
The Red Channels Lonely Melting Iceberg CD Ten Dollar Recording Co. 2005
"Lonely Melting Iceberg by the Red Channels exhibits something significantly less dark than their debut work. The Red Channels have found a delicate balance between their sedated instruments and Azari's haunting, often indecipherable vocals. Consequently, Lonely Melting Iceberg plays the listener much like the substance combination best-suited for it - offering a lucid tranquility, occasionally interrupted by bouts of uneasiness." - Robert G. Nelson, 5/2/2006
“The Red Channels’ second album is more experimental, dabbling in odd time structured rhythms with heavily processed f/x laden vocals. Typical of the experimental and exotic sounding nature of Lonely Melting Iceberg is the first track Loungéz, which combines a crazy mix of dub sounding bass lines, experimental jazzy percussions, middle eastern influenced guitars, unidentifiable sound effects, and the haunting vocals of Elaina Azari. Fragola Bella has the acoustic guitars & basslines reminiscent of the glory days of Galaxie 500 mixed with horns and violins that take the song into blissful outerspace. Fans of Opal, Blonde Redhead, the Knife, and classic 4 A.D. bands should check out Lonely Melting Iceberg immediately.” - Lunapark6.com, 3/20/2006
"Dub-folk-pop, female vocals. Pretty loungey. Rather experimental with lots of vocal processing and unusual playing of usual instruments." - KZSU, Stanford University, 10/3/2005
"I really like the direction The Red Channels are heading on Lonely Melting Iceberg; creepy, creepy and so very lovely. It sounds like they put a whole lot of time into orchestration and making this record. Not to attempt to pigeonhole at all - I hear touches of Opal, Black Heart Procession, 4AD stuff, Mum, Dirty Three, and maybe even Calexico... but at the same time it's not really any one of those." - T.F.O. zine, 8/1/2005
"...really has a dreamy feeling, a la Portishead...The Red Channels flow like Calgon and take you away." - Noncast
The Red Channels The Red Channels CD Silver Girl Records
2003
"I was now able to appreciate the cool, dark rhythms of Now Playing, the creepy Casio effects of It Was All Static and the minor key melodies and the Middle Eastern-sounding scales that permeate the album." - READ Magazine
"Singer Elaina Azari is completely unintelligible on this record, like Michael Stipe on most of Life's Rich Pageant or a selection of Mazzy Star songs played through a fuzzy radio drifting in a swimming pool...we get all manner of squiggles, samples, and unidentifiable musical instruments running roughshod over the proceedings. . .it's a visceral thrill and a rush of blood to the head..." - Skyscraper, Issue 15, Winter 2004, P. 114
"This is fantastic...the Red Channels offer dark, menacing grooves. . .For 4AD and Mazzy Star lovers! The music is enhanced even further by the wonderfully sultry, dark female vocals. Sexy, beautiful, often catchy...this is so good! Play over and over again!" KZSU, 9/30/2003
"A band and album with a tremendously well-developed and quite particular sound, The Red Channels self-titled effort is a cumbersome fit for the ear, tiptoeing a thin line between the beautiful and the aggravating. Fitting nicely into the Silver Girl ilk as a slower-paced, moody group featuring female vocals, The Red Channels also push the envelope for the label as they are decidedly more sonically ambitious than many of the other bands under the Silver Girl umbrella...Floating overtop of most of it are disturbingly woeful female vocals...Often drenched in delay and/or reverb, occasionally filtered through some eerie distortion, take Mazzy Star and run her through a gothic effects box under the direction of a depressed Flood and you might wind up with something akin to this. The lyrics are utterly unintelligible, so all that‚s left is that voice...If you're enticed, good, you should be. An attentive spinning of this record could possibly shake a listener loose, leaving them with a furrowed brow, a shocked nervous system, and a blind stare out the window...The Red Channels' self-titled album is an ambitious one..." - Delusions of Adequacy 9/22/03
"Delay and reverb heavy dream-pop with 80's flava" - beattheindiedrum.com
"I don't even know what's going on here. If you have this record, please email me and explain it to me...At some point during the listening experience I believe my walls started to bleed and penguins dressed as pirates singing barbershop hymns visited me on an ethereal plane of time." - Todd Hansen, indieworkshop.com, 8/19/2003
"A sense of danger underlies every turn. The result is the kind of exhilarating experience that you get from acting on a forbidden whim. Plastic's pulsating bassline is sultry. The Red Channels is fraught with this pent-up, perhaps taboo sensuality, uncovered with calculated restraint as each song slowly unfolds. . .it's executed with undeniable (and never showy) finesse." - Splendid e-zine, 10/11/2003
"Taking one page from VU and another from a more compelling Mazzy Star (like if a cackling Kat Bjelland replaced Hope Sandoval). Dramatic, dirgy, and creepy..." - Marjorie Skinner, Portland Mercury, 12/24/2004
"Azari's voice colors the songs quite well...The rest of the orchestration (a word I don't use lightly) is impeccable as well. Just goes to show that there are a million ways to make cool music. The Red Channels shows its cards at every turn, and yet it still manages to surprise just as often. A wonderful little gem." - Aidabet.com, 243, July 2003
"...stunningly beautiful guitar lines in Doesn't Play Well and Amer..." - Tom Nash, Lost at Sea Magazine, October 1, 2004
"Complete with eire keyboards, rhythm focused guitars, and singer Elaina Azari's monotone Siouxsie Sioux-like vocals. They have the sound down, whether they are plodding it through low key tracks like Now Playing and Doesn't Play Well, pounding it out on Pivot Box with a rocking fervor that matches the Swans, or draping it across a beat on Not Catatonic that's danceable yet subdued enough for the Cure's Mixed Up." - Action Man Magazine
"The collection closes with the mesmerizing synthesizers and gorgeous vocals on Want for Nothing by The Red Channels." - All Music Guide on Loose Lips Sink Ships compilation, which contained an outtake from The Red Channels sessions.
The Red Channels Cling To None, Cut Your Tongue 7" 2002
"Note to the Red Channels: it's confusing when you release a seven-inch that features two songs, the titles of both of which begin with "C", both of which consist of three words, and both of which rhyme. I've confused Cut Your Tongue with Cling To None several times now, which is doubly annoying as I enjoyed one far more than the other..." - Splendid e-zine, 9/16/2002
"First single from The Red Channels...check em out...Cling To None is impressive...Think Spiritualized Lazer Guided Melodies meets Cranes/Hope Sandoval kind of vox...and you get a close approximation." - Ki Mun lunapark6.com, 6/20/2002
All 4 The Red Channels Releases Are Available To Public, or Vendor Discounts, From www.tonevendor.com
Record Store Distribution: Tonevendor Distribution (tonevendor.com) Super D Distribution (sdcd.com)
Digital:
MP3 Albums & Song Downloads Carried By:
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