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papercranes

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Music

The best kept secret in music

Press


"Short Stack-papercranes Vidalia"

Coming from the same family that brought you River and Joaquin, singer Rain Phoenix keeps it lowkey, eschewing her potential all-star friends [she's worked with REM and the Red Hot Chili Peppers]. This is a no-frills folk-waltz that glistens like dew and can shimmer with starpower, even without calling in the big guns. The [Gainesville five-piece] does just fine on it's own. - Urb Magazine


"papercranes VIDALIA Review"

She's surely pouring for someone. Lead singer Rain Phoenix's sweetly organic and ethereal voice guides Gainesville's indigenous papercranes' album, Vidalia, over beautifully painted landscapes and out into the spaciest corners of the music's final frontier. It's hard not to listen and wonder whom she has in the back of her mind and on the tip of her tongue. From the opening ancient guttural winds of 'Show Me' to the final sleepy twinge of 'Knew You When,' Rain and her origamied cohorts float solidly written notes and ideas (and with them, plenty of inspiration for introspection) out into an atmosphere rife with electric undertones. Papercranes' music is that of the simultaneous pessimistic yearning and hopeful idealism of youth and life. A thousand paradoxes, oxymorons and ironies would suffice: cheerfully resigned, hopelessly driven. This album is a modern sonic Monet that, if anything is nice to look at and enjoyable to hear. This is a debut mind you. A soundtrack by, for, and to the mature music youth in rim rockin' glasses, with electric mimosas. - Satellite Magazine - November 2006


"SOUNDS LIKE PAPER ONLY BETTER"

The papercranes debut LP is entitled VIDALIA, as much a shout-out to their southern roots as it is a metaphor for their music: sweet enough to eat, strong enough to produce tears. "I like juxtaposition" explains Rain Phoenix, the bands vocalist, (and sister of Joaquin),"taking something soft and pretty and distorting it-makng it strange." The 11 track album, a collection of shimmering indie pop, includes beautiful songs like "Star Count", "Curtain Song" and "Show Me." Phoenix opens the latter nearly a cappella in a plaintive dirge style: "Where would we go/ If we left tomorrow/ To the land of sun/ And all that's borrowed..." Her lyrics are imagistic, filled with hope and disillusion, but her voice turns them extraordinary. She can alternate between a dreamy,druggy, ,Julee Cruise-style languor and the haggard tones of a street hustler on the make. It's a skill.

Phoenix and her bandmate Michael Tubbs met while they were at the University of Florida in Gainesville but only became serious about the papercranes' music over the last two years. "My favorite time is when the maps are yet to be drawn," Tubbs says, discussing how the band naturally evolved from a circle of friends (including Phoenix's sister Summer) into today's lineup ( Mike Amish, Dave Lebleu, Andy Lord, Michael Tubbs, Rain Phoenix and Robb Buono). Phoenix likes it when ideas are still percolating, too: She's a member of the Citizen's Band, where '20s cabaret meets Weimar Berlin in a fantasia of downtown decadence. The papercranes are more conventional then the Citizen's Band, but they're no less punchy. "Vic Chesnutt got it right," Tubbs says, explaining how Phoenix induced the renowned Athens, Georgia, singer-songwriter to collaborate with the papercranes on the album's last song, "Knew You When." "He said, 'You sound just like a sock filled with nickels.'" He's right: They're a soft knockout.

Jonathan Durbin - Paper Magazine October 2006


"MIXTAPE: papercranes"

Let's face it: Florida isn't exactly known for it's musical talent. But the state that has blighted the airwaves with the likes of Creed, Dashboard Confessional, the Backstreet Boys and Limp Bizkit has now redeeemed itself with papercranes. The Gainesville-based band, comprised of Rain Phoenix (yes,she's Joaquin's sister) and bandmate Michael Tubbs, have recently released a shimmering, dreamy debut album, VIDALIA. - NYLON - November 2006


Discography

papercranes Self titled EP
papercranes VIDALIA

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

If you're inclined toward mind-alteration, taking the edge off, stewing in your own juices, there is good news on the music pipeline: A beautiful dose of Gainesville, Florida by way of New York, LA and the Great Beyond. With all the goodness of ecstasy and vicodin, good pot and expensive wine, papercranes bring on a perfect buzz that will let you operate heavy machinery and explore the dark side without getting drowsy.

"We like each other. We like playing music together," lead singer Rain Phoenix tells us. Sure, it's an understatement but the fact is, the whole band likes to keep it simple. Elemental. They start with modest musical ideas and stream-of-consciousness lyrics, seemingly translucent layers of clarity, and they twist it all into nuanced, mystifying works that call to mind the early purveyors of moody, melodic rock like Luna and Belly. That is, if those bands were fronted by the stunningly beautiful and sultry-voiced Rain Phoenix.

The "we" in question is quietly guided by guitarist Michael Tubbs, who also happens to be an architect and magician. And after searching both coasts and employing some very able players, Rain and Michael simplified -- settled down with their friends and neighbors: Robb Buono (guitar), Andy Lord (bass), Mike Amish (keyboards) and Dave Lebleu (drums). They are an understated lot that lets you explore their charms at your own pace.

And yes, Rain Phoenix has been involved with an amazing array of projects.
Starting with Aleka's Attic, which she started with her brother, to singing with REM and The Red Hot Chili Peppers, to playing in a local metal band called Nux Vomica and glamming it up for NYC political cabaret ensemble The Citizens' Band, she has cut her teeth in awfully public arenas. Maybe that's why she possesses a preternatural confidence and an almost scary stage presence. To see papercranes live is hardly the same trip as floating through the new album, Vidalia, since Rain can wail as well as she can whisper. Hers is the ravishing voice that can stand up to the intricate delicacies of Vic Chesnutt and Angela McCluskey, both of whom guest on the album.

Vidalia comes out through the band itself this fall. Recorded in Athens, New York, Gainesville and Los Angeles, the album was produced by the band and mixed by Jamie Candiloro, who mixed Ryan Adams' Rock N Roll album. The songs spiral and swirl out your stereo, as atmospheric as they are delicate, tackling topics like trust, abandonment, loss and need. "For the most part we like to write using whatever is inspiring us in the moment," Rain says. "With less attachment to the outcome, we often find we are happier with the results. We aren't 'going for' anything in particular we just want to see where things naturally "go.""

And "go" they certainly do. papercranes is at work already on a new EP and will soon be touring the East Coast in support of Vidalia. If their tour is anything like their music, it will be one beautiful trip indeed.