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Azure Ray
Azure Ray is an American dream pop duo, consisting of musicians Orenda Fink and Maria Taylor. Formed in Athens, Georgia, in 2001, they later moved to Omaha, Nebraska, and became part of the Saddle Creek Records music scene, which also included Bright Eyes, The Faint, and Cursive. Azure Ray's music has often been featured in film and television, including Six Feet Under, Grey's Anatomy, and The Devil Wears Prada. They have released five albums and several EPs.
The pair met while attending the Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham. They fronted a band called Little Red Rocket, which released two albums, Who Did You Pay (1997, Tim/Kerr) and It's in the Sound (2000, Monolyth Record Group), which earned them frequent comparisons to Veruca Salt. For the first album, the duo co-wrote with the band's drummer Louis Schefano who would become a frequent collaborator.
After the band broke up, Fink and Taylor moved to Athens, Georgia, and eventually formed Azure Ray. "My boyfriend had just died and we had written all of these songs that were helping us cope with everything. We had a night where all of our friends and family got together. We played those songs, which later would turn into the songs on our first Azure Ray record..." said Taylor.
The pair signed to the Warm Electronic Recordings label and released their self-titled debut in 2001, produced by Eric Bachmann (Crooked Fingers and Archers of Loaf). Pitchfork praised the album, giving it a 7 out of 10, describing it as a collection of "maudlin but beautiful, expertly crafted pop songs". The song "Sleep" was later featured in the 2006 Academy Award-nominated movie The Devil Wears Prada. In February 2015, Taylor Swift included "Sleep" on a six-song "breakup playlist" made for a fan via her official Tumblr. DJ Paul Kalkbrenner also sampled "Rise" in his 2008 song "Azure".
Azure Ray's second album, Burn and Shiver, was released in 2002, again produced by Bachmann. With Burn and Shiver, Pitchfork said the duo had "come closer than ever to wielding an emotional potency like master Cohen's". After meeting Fink and Taylor in Athens, Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst invited the band on tour and introduced them to the people at Saddle Creek, the label to which he was signed. They relocated to Omaha, Nebraska, and joined the music scene there. The November EP was released on January 22, 2002, and was the band's first for Saddle Creek.
The duo collaborated with Moby and co-wrote the songs "Great Escape" (on his album 18) and "Landing" (which appeared on the XXX soundtrack), and afterwards joined him on tour.
Hold On Love was the band's third full-length, released October 7, 2003, on Saddle Creek. Pitchfork called it a departure from their previous records, with "newly arresting manipulations of electronic elements interlock[ing] with the duo's traditional organic fare, as well as bolder and sharper production". The first single from this album, New Resolution, was released as an EP/Single by Saddle Creek on January 20, 2004. Azure Ray went on hiatus in 2004, leaving Fink and Taylor to work on solo albums and other collaborative projects, including a stint in Now It's Overhead.
Fink and Taylor reformed the band for a one-off show in Los Angeles at the iconic Troubadour on November 30, 2008, accompanied by Andy LeMaster of Now It's Overhead and Nick White of Tilly and the Wall. In 2009, Taylor announced on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic that the duo had reformed on a semi-permanent basis, with the intention of playing "five or six" shows before working on a new Azure Ray album. Their fourth album, Drawing Down the Moon, was released in September 2010. On August 4, 2010, Stereogum premiered the first song from the album, "Don't Leave My Mind"; they later premiered the video, directed by Ryan Berg, on September 30. Pitchfork said the new album "sounds warmly familiar, a reminder of why we missed them in the first place", while a reviewer for the BBC called it "a warming blanket of an album, here for you to wrap up in". On January 25, 2011, Azure Ray released a new single from the recording sessions, titled "Silverlake", recorded with Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse.
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Azure Ray
Azure Ray is an American dream pop duo, consisting of musicians Orenda Fink and Maria Taylor. Formed in Athens, Georgia, in 2001, they later moved to Omaha, Nebraska, and became part of the Saddle Creek Records music scene, which also included Bright Eyes, The Faint, and Cursive. Azure Ray's music has often been featured in film and television, including Six Feet Under, Grey's Anatomy, and The Devil Wears Prada. They have released five albums and several EPs.
The pair met while attending the Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham. They fronted a band called Little Red Rocket, which released two albums, Who Did You Pay (1997, Tim/Kerr) and It's in the Sound (2000, Monolyth Record Group), which earned them frequent comparisons to Veruca Salt. For the first album, the duo co-wrote with the band's drummer Louis Schefano who would become a frequent collaborator.
After the band broke up, Fink and Taylor moved to Athens, Georgia, and eventually formed Azure Ray. "My boyfriend had just died and we had written all of these songs that were helping us cope with everything. We had a night where all of our friends and family got together. We played those songs, which later would turn into the songs on our first Azure Ray record..." said Taylor.
The pair signed to the Warm Electronic Recordings label and released their self-titled debut in 2001, produced by Eric Bachmann (Crooked Fingers and Archers of Loaf). Pitchfork praised the album, giving it a 7 out of 10, describing it as a collection of "maudlin but beautiful, expertly crafted pop songs". The song "Sleep" was later featured in the 2006 Academy Award-nominated movie The Devil Wears Prada. In February 2015, Taylor Swift included "Sleep" on a six-song "breakup playlist" made for a fan via her official Tumblr. DJ Paul Kalkbrenner also sampled "Rise" in his 2008 song "Azure".
Azure Ray's second album, Burn and Shiver, was released in 2002, again produced by Bachmann. With Burn and Shiver, Pitchfork said the duo had "come closer than ever to wielding an emotional potency like master Cohen's". After meeting Fink and Taylor in Athens, Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst invited the band on tour and introduced them to the people at Saddle Creek, the label to which he was signed. They relocated to Omaha, Nebraska, and joined the music scene there. The November EP was released on January 22, 2002, and was the band's first for Saddle Creek.
The duo collaborated with Moby and co-wrote the songs "Great Escape" (on his album 18) and "Landing" (which appeared on the XXX soundtrack), and afterwards joined him on tour.
Hold On Love was the band's third full-length, released October 7, 2003, on Saddle Creek. Pitchfork called it a departure from their previous records, with "newly arresting manipulations of electronic elements interlock[ing] with the duo's traditional organic fare, as well as bolder and sharper production". The first single from this album, New Resolution, was released as an EP/Single by Saddle Creek on January 20, 2004. Azure Ray went on hiatus in 2004, leaving Fink and Taylor to work on solo albums and other collaborative projects, including a stint in Now It's Overhead.
Fink and Taylor reformed the band for a one-off show in Los Angeles at the iconic Troubadour on November 30, 2008, accompanied by Andy LeMaster of Now It's Overhead and Nick White of Tilly and the Wall. In 2009, Taylor announced on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic that the duo had reformed on a semi-permanent basis, with the intention of playing "five or six" shows before working on a new Azure Ray album. Their fourth album, Drawing Down the Moon, was released in September 2010. On August 4, 2010, Stereogum premiered the first song from the album, "Don't Leave My Mind"; they later premiered the video, directed by Ryan Berg, on September 30. Pitchfork said the new album "sounds warmly familiar, a reminder of why we missed them in the first place", while a reviewer for the BBC called it "a warming blanket of an album, here for you to wrap up in". On January 25, 2011, Azure Ray released a new single from the recording sessions, titled "Silverlake", recorded with Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse.