Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future

( 3 )

Editorial Reviews

All Music Guide - Andrew Leahey
The Bird and the Bee emerged from their retro nest in 2006, flaunting a sort of contemporary space-age pop that relied on Inara George's voice -- a jazzy, soft soprano in the vein of Norah Jones and Priscilla Ahn -- and Greg Kurstin's production chops. The combination celebrated outmoded genres without losing a modern edge, and the Bird and the Bee scored a chart-topping club single ("Fucking Boyfriend") while simultaneously courting the NPR crowd. Several years later, the Bird and the Bee take a grounded approach to their sophomore effort, Ray Guns are Not Just the Future, which sports nary a club single (much less an expletive-filled song title). This is pure NPR music,...
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Editorial Reviews

All Music Guide - Andrew Leahey
The Bird and the Bee emerged from their retro nest in 2006, flaunting a sort of contemporary space-age pop that relied on Inara George's voice -- a jazzy, soft soprano in the vein of Norah Jones and Priscilla Ahn -- and Greg Kurstin's production chops. The combination celebrated outmoded genres without losing a modern edge, and the Bird and the Bee scored a chart-topping club single ("Fucking Boyfriend") while simultaneously courting the NPR crowd. Several years later, the Bird and the Bee take a grounded approach to their sophomore effort, Ray Guns are Not Just the Future, which sports nary a club single (much less an expletive-filled song title). This is pure NPR music, all neo-jazz melodies and martini-lounge flourishes without the sly bite of its predecessor. George is still a cunning vocalist, pledging her evergreen love to David Lee Roth on "Diamond Dave" and courteously seducing her listener on "Polite Dance Song" ("I try to be as coy as I can, but I want to see your naughty bit"), yet her melodies remain reliant on Kurstin's orchestrations, which sound considerably more relaxed this time around. He churns out retro-minded backdrops like a hipster Burt Bacharach, veering between elegant orchestration and dancefloor percussion (with an emphasis on the former), and his productions are striking in spite of the band's general rallentando. Nonetheless, it's hard to shake the notion that he gave his best hooks to Lily Allen, whose own sophomore album (featuring Kurstin's production and co-writing credits) was released two weeks after Ray Guns. Those in the market for fast songs will find a few here, most notably "Love Letter to Japan" and "Meteor," but the album's true gems are its slightly slower numbers: the elegiac "My Love," "Birthday," "Polite Dance Song," and the stringed splendor of "Baby."
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 1/27/2009
  • Label: Blue Note Records
  • EAN: 5099923455627
  • Catalog Number: 34556
  • Sales rank: 57,241

Tracks

Disc 1
  1. 1 Fanfare (0:28)
  2. 2 My Love (3:45)
  3. 3 Diamond Dave (3:14)
  4. 4 What's in the Middle (3:22)
  5. 5 Ray Gun (4:42)
  6. 6 Love Letter to Japan (4:08)
  7. 7 Meteor (3:21)
  8. 8 Baby (3:49)
  9. 9 Phil Polite (0:09)
  10. 10 Dance Song (3:48)
  11. 11 You're a Cad (3:10)
  12. 12 Witch (3:55)
  13. 13 Birthday (3:50)
  14. 14 Lifespan of a Fly (3:14)
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Album Credits

Performance Credits
The Bird and the Bee Primary Artist
Greg Kurstin Bass, Guitar, Percussion, Keyboards, Background Vocals
Joey Waronker Drums
Inara George Vocals
Mike Andrews Guitar
Gus Seyffert Guitar
Megan Geer Alsop Background Vocals
Alex Lilly Background Vocals
Technical Credits
Greg Kurstin Composer, Programming, Producer, Engineer
Gavin Lurssen Mastering
Carla Leighton Art Direction
Kazumi Someya translation
Inara George Composer
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Customer Reviews

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Sort by: Showing all of 3 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted May 11, 2009

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    Posted February 17, 2009

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    Posted September 8, 2009

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