The Raveonettes
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| The Raveonettes | ||
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 The Raveonettes at the Roskilde Festival, 2005
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| Background information | ||
| Origin | Denmark | |
| Genre(s) | Alternative Rock, Indie Rock | |
| Years active | 2001 - present | |
| Label(s) | Sony Records | |
| Website | Official site | |
| Members | ||
| Sune Rose Wagner Sharin Foo |
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The Raveonettes are a Danish alternative rock duo consisting of Sune Rose Wagner (on guitar, instruments, vocals) and Sharin Foo (on bass and vocals). Their music is characterized by close two-part vocal harmonies inspired by The Everly Brothers[citation needed], coupled with hard-edged electric guitar overlaid with liberal doses of noise. Their songs juxtapose the structural and chordal simplicity of 50s and 60s rock with intense electric instrumentation, driving beats and often dark lyrical content, similar to another of the band's influences, The Velvet Underground.
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[edit] Biography
The duo met in Copenhagen and, after forming the band, began recording Whip It On at Once Was & Sauna Recording Studio, a former Sony Studios facility. They booked the studio for three weeks during non-session down time late in 2001 and handled all production chores by themselves. Adding guitarist Manoj Ramdas and jazz drummer Jakob Hoyer, the Raveonettes booked one of their first gigs at the SPOT festival in Aarhus, the second largest city in Denmark.
Officially the band was discovered by Rolling Stone editor David Fricke at the SPOT festival and his rave review of them immediately resulted in a number of offers from the major labels. Unofficially the band discovered that David Fricke would be present at the SPOT festival, and they rushed a band together and headed for the festival.
Whip It On (in which every song was under three minutes and in the key of B-flat minor) was named "Best Rock Album of the Year" at the Danish Music Awards (Denmark's Grammy equivalent) on March 1, 2003 while the Raveonettes were picked by Rolling Stone and Q Magazine as being among the harbingers of the "Next Wave" of contemporary music.
In 2006 Blender named Sharin Foo one of rock's hottest women, alongside Courtney Love, Joan Jett, and Liz Phair. [1]
[edit] Chain Gang of Love
The band's first full-length album, Chain Gang of Love (in which all but two songs were under three minutes and in the key of B flat major), was produced by the legendary Richard Gottehrer — the author of rock classics like "My Boyfriend's Back" and "I Want Candy" as well as the producer for hit albums by Blondie, the Go-Go's, Richard Hell & the Voidoids, and many more — and the Raveonettes' own Sune Rose Wagner. The album was recorded in Denmark and New York on October 9-17, November 6-12, and December 4-10, 2002 and mixed in London in early 2003. The thirteen songs on Chain Gang of Love are written by Sune Rose Wagner with the exception of "That Great Love Sound", which Sune co-wrote with Gottehrer. Portions of this song were featured in a US ad for Wal-Mart. The album has often been compared to Psychocandy, the debut album by The Jesus and Mary Chain[citation needed].
[edit] Pretty in Black
The band's latest album Pretty in Black broadened their musical palette, featuring guest vocals from Ronnie Spector of The Ronettes as well as guest instrumental spots from Maureen Tucker (of The Velvet Underground) and Martin Rev. This was their first album in which Sharin Foo did not play bass, instead The Raveonettes added bass player Anders Christensen who toured with seminal jazz drummer Paul Motion's band, amongst others, who recorded on the album and now tours with the band. At the end of the 2005 tour, guitar player Manoj Ramdas left the band to concentrate on his new band SPEKTR.
The video for the rockabilly single "Love in a Trashcan" features pink bars and blocks with words like "Vamp" and "Teaser" scrawling by the band members, and is reminiscent of an early-1960s cosmetic ad.
[edit] Instrumentation
The Raveonettes are faithful Fender players. Sune plays Jazzmasters, while Sharin has played a Fender Mustang Bass. Their supporting guitarist plays a Jazzmaster and a Telecaster. Unfortunately, in the fall of 2005, the tour van containing all of the band's equipment was stolen during their tour of the US. The band are currently looking at new equipment including guitars by Harmony.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
[edit] Hit singles
- 2003 "That Great Love Sound" #34 UK
- 2005 "Love in a Trashcan" #26 UK
[edit] References
- Errico, Mike. "Hottest Women of. . .Rock", Blender Magazine Online, December 2006. Retrieved on 2007-02-09.[2]
