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Recorded in three days, It’s a Shame About Gemma Ray is a different sort of project for Ray, whose previous albums explored the balance between retro pop and neo-soul. Here, Ray’s lush arrangements are replaced by a stripped-down sound that’s almost spooky in its intimacy, with little more than slide guitar and kickdrum forming the bedrock of each song. As for the songs themselves, they’re all covers, and Ray twists each one to suit her alto voice and one-person backing band. Working with percussionist Matt Verta-Ray, she turns Buddy Holly’s “Everyday” into a minor-key ballad, Mudhoney’s “Touch Me I’m Sick” into a femme fatale seduction, and Alex Harvey’s “Swampsnake” into urban blues, with slapback echo and guitar tremolo accounting for most of the album’s hands-off production. The rest of the track list is similarly eclectic, running the gamut from an Etta James standard to a song by the contemporary Sub Pop artist Obits. Cover albums like this aren’t meant to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with an artist’s original work, but It’s a Shame About Gemma Ray more than holds it down, partially because it allows Ray to shine as a lead guitarist and partially because it’s so cohesive, shot through with the same cinematic noir touches used by film directors like Quentin Tarantino.
© Andrew Leahey /TiVo
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Gemma Ray, MainArtist - Embassy Music Corp (BMI), MusicPublisher - Gallon Drunk, Composer
2010 Bronzerat Records 2010 Bronzerat Records
Copyright Control, MusicPublisher - Lee Hazlewood, Composer - Gemma Ray, MainArtist
2010 Bronzerat Records 2010 Bronzerat Records
JEFFREY LEE PIERCE, Composer - Gemma Ray, MainArtist - Bug Music (BMI)/Creeping Ritual (BMI), MusicPublisher
2010 Bronzerat Records 2010 Bronzerat Records
Gemma Ray, MainArtist - Obits, Composer - Metal Detector Music (BMI), MusicPublisher
2010 Bronzerat Records 2010 Bronzerat Records
Mudhoney, Composer - Gemma Ray, MainArtist - Better Than Your Music (BMI), MusicPublisher
2010 Bronzerat Records 2010 Bronzerat Records
Lloyd Price, Composer - Gemma Ray, MainArtist - Songs Of Universal Inc (BMI), MusicPublisher
2010 Bronzerat Records 2010 Bronzerat Records
Gemma Ray, MainArtist - Harvey/McKenna, Composer - Jenevieve (BMI), MusicPublisher
2010 Bronzerat Records 2010 Bronzerat Records
Gemma Ray, MainArtist - Hardin/Petty, Composer - Peer International Corp (BMI), MusicPublisher
2010 Bronzerat Records 2010 Bronzerat Records
Gemma Ray, MainArtist - Komeda/Sonic Youth, Composer - Sony ATV Harmony (ASCAP)/Sonik Tooth/Universal Music Z Songs (BMI), MusicPublisher
2010 Bronzerat Records 2010 Bronzerat Records
Gemma Ray, MainArtist - Jacobs/Secunda, Composer - Warner Bros Music/Cherry Lane Music (ASCAP), MusicPublisher
2010 Bronzerat Records 2010 Bronzerat Records
Gemma Ray, MainArtist - Lida Enterprises Inc (ASCAP), MusicPublisher - Coleman/Fields, Composer
2010 Bronzerat Records 2010 Bronzerat Records
Minnie Lawlers, Composer - Gemma Ray, MainArtist - Memphis Minnie Music Co (ASCAP), MusicPublisher
2010 Bronzerat Records 2010 Bronzerat Records
Gemma Ray, MainArtist - Screen Gems/EMI Music Inc (BMI), MusicPublisher - Wine/Kornfeld/Goffin, Composer
2010 Bronzerat Records 2010 Bronzerat Records
Gemma Ray, MainArtist - Arc Music Corp, MusicPublisher - Jordan/Foster, Composer
2010 Bronzerat Records 2010 Bronzerat Records
Gemma Ray, MainArtist - Easton/Shand, Composer - Shapiro, Bernstein & Co Inc (ASCAP), MusicPublisher
2010 Bronzerat Records 2010 Bronzerat Records
Gershwin/gershwin, Composer - Gemma Ray, MainArtist - WB Music Corp (ASCAP), MusicPublisher
2010 Bronzerat Records 2010 Bronzerat Records
Album review
Recorded in three days, It’s a Shame About Gemma Ray is a different sort of project for Ray, whose previous albums explored the balance between retro pop and neo-soul. Here, Ray’s lush arrangements are replaced by a stripped-down sound that’s almost spooky in its intimacy, with little more than slide guitar and kickdrum forming the bedrock of each song. As for the songs themselves, they’re all covers, and Ray twists each one to suit her alto voice and one-person backing band. Working with percussionist Matt Verta-Ray, she turns Buddy Holly’s “Everyday” into a minor-key ballad, Mudhoney’s “Touch Me I’m Sick” into a femme fatale seduction, and Alex Harvey’s “Swampsnake” into urban blues, with slapback echo and guitar tremolo accounting for most of the album’s hands-off production. The rest of the track list is similarly eclectic, running the gamut from an Etta James standard to a song by the contemporary Sub Pop artist Obits. Cover albums like this aren’t meant to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with an artist’s original work, but It’s a Shame About Gemma Ray more than holds it down, partially because it allows Ray to shine as a lead guitarist and partially because it’s so cohesive, shot through with the same cinematic noir touches used by film directors like Quentin Tarantino.
© Andrew Leahey /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 16 track(s)
- Total length: 00:45:27
- Main artists: Gemma Ray
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Bronzerat Records
- Genre: Pop/Rock Pop
2010 Bronzerat Records 2010 Bronzerat Records
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