| Drawing Down the Moon | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 14, 2010 | |||
| Recorded | 2009-2010 | |||
| Genre | Dream pop | |||
| Length | 43:09 | |||
| Label | Saddle Creek | |||
| Producer | Eric Bachmann | |||
| Azure Ray chronology | ||||
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Drawing Down the Moon is an album released by the band Azure Ray. It was released September 14, 2010 on Saddle Creek Records, seven years since their previous album Hold On Love .
On August 4, 2010, Stereogum announced Azure Ray had reunited and premiered the first song from Drawing Down the Moon, "Don't Leave My Mind.". [1] They later premiered the video, directed by Ryan Berg, for "Don't Leave My Mind" on September 30, 2010, [2] Pitchfork called said the new album, "sounds warmly familiar, a reminder of why we missed them in the first place." [3] BBC called it "a warming blanket of an album, here for you to wrap up in." [4] On January 25, 2011, Azure Ray released a new single from the recording sessions titled, "Silverlake", featuring Sparklehorse.
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 66/100 [5] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [6] |
| Drowned in Sound | 6/10 [7] |
| Filter | 83% [8] |
| Pitchfork | 6.5/10 [9] |
| PopMatters |   [10] |
Drawing Down the Moon received mixed to positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic, the album holds a score of 66/100 based on 14 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Saddle Creek Records is an American record label based in Omaha, Nebraska. Started as a college class project on entrepreneurship, the label was founded by Mike Mogis and Justin Oberst in 1993. Mogis soon turned over his role in the company to Robb Nansel. The label is named after Saddle Creek Road, a street that cuts through the east side of midtown Omaha, and the beginnings of a scene whose members included Justin's brother Conor Oberst, Tim Kasher, and others. Collectively, they were known unofficially as the "Creekers". Saddle Creek first appeared in print on a show flyer, offering to "Spend an evening with Saddle Creek" Saddle Creek became an incorporated entity as a result of a class project on entrepreneurship. Distribution is handled by Redeye Distribution.
Conor Mullen Oberst is an American singer-songwriter best known for his work in Bright Eyes. He has also played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, the Faint, Commander Venus, Park Ave., Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Monsters of Folk, and Better Oblivion Community Center. Oberst was named the Best Songwriter of 2008 by Rolling Stone magazine.
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Timothy J. Kasher is a musician from Omaha, Nebraska, and is the frontman of indie rock groups Cursive and The Good Life, both of which are on the Omaha-based record label Saddle Creek Records.
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.
Michael Riley Mogis is an American producer/engineer and multi-instrumentalist who, along with his brother A.J. Mogis, founded Presto! Recording Studios. Mogis currently runs ARC in downtown Omaha.
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Maria Diane Taylor is an American singer-songwriter from Birmingham, Alabama. She is also a member of the duo Azure Ray with Orenda Fink. Taylor plays several instruments, including the piano, guitar, and drums, and has collaborated or performed with such artists as Bright Eyes, Moby, Michael Stipe of R.E.M., Joshua Radin, Nik Freitas and more.
Orenda Fink is an American singer, musician, and writer. Perhaps best known as half of the duo Azure Ray, Fink is also a member of Art in Manila, O+S, Closeness, and High Up, and has played with or appeared as a guest on records by Bright Eyes, Conor Oberst, Moby, The Faint, Pete Yorn, and others. She is married to Todd Fink of The Faint.
Business Casual is the debut studio album by American band Beep Beep. It was released August 24, 2004 on Saddle Creek Records.
Hold On Love is an album released by the band Azure Ray. It was released October 7, 2003, on Saddle Creek Records.
Eric Bachmann is an American musician/producer. He is the lead singer of Crooked Fingers and Archers of Loaf. He was born in Greensboro, North Carolina and grew up in Asheville, North Carolina; Greenville, South Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; and St. Petersburg, Florida. He lives in Athens, Georgia. He made two atmospheric instrumental albums as Barry Black. His first solo effort, Short Careers was recorded as a score to the film Ball of Wax. His second, To the Races, was released by Saddle Creek Records in 2006. The album, which was written while living out of his van outside Seattle the previous year, features contributions from Miranda Brown and DeVotchKa violinist Tom Hagerman.
Happy Hollow is the fifth album by the American indie rock band Cursive. It was released on August 22, 2006, on Saddle Creek Records. Saddle Creek Records began shipping pre-orders on August 8, 2006. The album is named after a neighborhood in Omaha, Nebraska.
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In Love With Oblivion is the second studio album by Brooklyn-based band Crystal Stilts, which was released on April 11, 2011 in the UK and April 12 in the US. The album is the follow-up to 2010's "Shake the Shackles" 7-inch and 2008's debut Alight of Night.
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The Men are a rock band from Brooklyn, formed in 2008. The band consists of Mark Perro, Nick Chiericozzi, Rich Samis (drums), and Kevin Faulkner (Bass).
Big Thief is an American indie rock band with folk roots based in Brooklyn, New York, United States. Its members are Adrianne Lenker, Buck Meek, Max Oleartchik (bass), and James Krivchenia (drums). All four members attended the Berklee College of Music, but only formed a group after each had graduated.
Louis Schefano is an American singer-songwriter, producer/engineer and multi-instrumentalist originally from Birmingham, Alabama, United States. He has recorded under various monikers including Regia, Louis, and Suspicious Light. Schefano was also a founding member of Remy Zero and Little Red Rocket, and has performed, produced or recorded with Azure Ray, Maria Taylor, Verbena, Cheshires, Bright Eyes, The Ladybug Transistor, and Jaymay.
As Above, So Below is the seventh studio release by American duo Azure Ray, consisting of Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink. It was originally released on September 4, 2012 on Saddle Creek Records and features co-production by Andy LeMaster and Todd Fink. Following a 2 year hiatus after the release of Drawing Down the Moon, Fink and a pregnant Taylor entered the studio to record six news songs, with a more "hypnotic" "electronica" influence in collaboration with Andy LeMaster and Todd Fink. On July 17, 2012, Stereogum premiered the "starry, shivering cut" “Scattered Like Leaves.” NPR premiered "Red Balloon" on August 9, 2012, calling the "long, slow summer swoon," "devastating melancholy." Rolling Stone premiered the full EP stream on August 28, 2012.
