dead air: dead air

Rainy Orteca is best known as the bassist from Joan As Police Woman. However, having worked alongside artists such as Lou Reed and Anthony & The Johnsons, she’s clearly a talented artist in her own right. Touring as a one-woman band, her new solo project Dead Air is an intriguing affair. The debut material is tantalisingly limited; a self titled mini-album released on the gloriously independent UK-based label Reveal Records. The songs are abstract slices of electro-based noise, made up of cleverly layered beats and warm, synthetic frequencies, with a steady variety of lo-fi guitar licks and basslines, and just the right amount of gentle, lulling distortion.

Orteca’s stage presence cuts a mysterious figure. A pale elfin face with dark eyes and jet black hair, she sports a dark suit and tie, and is equipped with just a laptop and microphone. While the instrumental sounds are creative and fresh, the power of her music lies in its lyrical content and delivery. Her singing voice is neither pretty nor conventional, and has a strangely entrancing quality.

A collage of whispers, sighs, melodies and spoken word, Dead Air is as much poetry as music. In fact, the lyrics are reminiscent of both the Beat poets and the New York early Velvet Underground New York – full of dreamy, non-linear images and a drugged, euphoric intensity. Standout tracks are ‘Tin Drum’, a slow, almost trip-hop lullaby, and the uptempo, spoken-word rocker ‘Electric Heart’, a sleazy, electronic stream-of-consciousness ecstasy trip.

Lets hope the future brings more Dead Air. Six tracks is just not enough.

[Reveal; April 28, 2008]

Written by: Charlotte Richardson Andrews

Tags: dead air, joan as police woman, rainy orteca

This entry was posted on Friday, August 1st, 2008 at 9:38 pm and is filed under albums & EPs, reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.