L'Rain

Last updated
L'Rain
Lrain.jpg
L'Rain in Columbus in 2022
Background information
Birth nameTaja Cheek
Origin Brooklyn, New York; Yale University
Genres Experimental pop
OccupationsMulti-instrumentalist, vocalist, composer, curator
Labels Mexican Summer, Astro Nautico
Website lrain.info

Taja Cheek, known professionally as L'Rain, is an American experimentalist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and curator known primarily as the lead vocalist and songwriter of her eponymous band. [1] [2] L'Rain has been recognized for experimental music that draws on a vast number of traditions and genres [3] [4] in a practice and aesthetic Cheek calls "approaching songness". [1]

Contents

Her self-titled debut, L'Rain , was included in best-of-year lists by publications including Pitchfork [4] and Bandcamp Daily ; [5] her second album, Fatigue (2021), was named the best album of the year by The Wire . [6] She has collaborated with artists including Vagabon, Helado Negro, [1] and Naama Tsabar, [7] and performed with Kevin Beasley at the Whitney Museum of American Art. [8]

Early life and education

Cheek was born and raised in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, [9] where she lived with her mother, father, and grandparents. [1] Her father, Wyatt Cheek, worked in music marketing and promotion for entities including Select Records and Kiss FM; [1] her grandmother ran a liquor store; [2] and in the 1950s her grandfather owned a neighborhood jazz club. [10] Cheek's mother, Lorraine C. Porter, taught physical education, health, math, and science in Brooklyn schools. [11] The stage name L'Rain is an homage to Porter, who died before the release of the self-titled debut. [12]

Cheek studied ballet and modern dance at The Ailey School [10] and learned piano, cello, and Baroque recorder before picking up bass in high school, [1] then forming and joining groups that included an Iron Maiden cover band. [10] She attended Yale to study music but dropped the major, citing factors including a lack of diversity among the program's course offerings. [13] She transferred to the American Studies program, where her major included a concentration in visual, audio, literary, and performance cultures; [14] in 2011, she completed her Bachelor of Arts degree with distinction. [15] While at Yale she worked as music director of radio station WYBC and booked shows. [1]

Career

After graduation, Cheek returned to New York, where she resumed playing in Brooklyn bands including Throw Vision, [16] who released their debut in 2013 and an EP in 2015. [17]

In 2017, Cheek released the self-titled L'Rain on New York City-based [18] label Astro Nautico. [12] She composed and performs vocals, keyboards, synthesizers, guitar, bass, samples, and percussion on the album. [19] L'Rain also features Alex Goldberg, Jeremy Powell, Kyp Malone (of TV on the Radio), and Andrew Lappin, who co-produced the album with Cheek. [20] Pitchfork included L'Rain among their 20 Best Experimental Albums of 2017, [4] and Bandcamp Daily listed the release as #10 in their Best Albums of 2017. [5]

In 2018, L'Rain (represented by Cheek and Ben Chapoteau-Katz) collaborated with producer Morgan Wiley and vocalist Patrick Gordon to remake the 1980s Chicago house track "Your Love" for a benefit compilation which paired electronic artists with formerly-incarcerated singers. [21] The release, Bring Down The Walls, raised money for Critical Resistance, an organization dedicated to ending the prison–industrial complex. [22]

L'Rain's second album, Fatigue , was released on Mexican Summer in 2021. [23] Fatigue was named album of the year by The Wire , [24] included among the year's best by Pitchfork, [25] [26] and met with wide acclaim from outlets including NPR. [9] Cheek provides vocals and plays guitar, bass, synth, keyboards, piano, percussion, tape effects, and airhorn on the album, which features an expanded roster of twenty performers; [10] these include executive producer Andrew Lappin, on guitar and programming, and co-producer Ben Chapoteau-Katz, who contributes synths, saxophone, vocals, percussion, and airhorn. [27]

In August 2023, L'Rain announced a third album, I Killed Your Dog , released in October 2023; [28] the album was co-produced by Cheek with Lappin and Chapoteau-Katz, who perform alongside L'Rain bandmates Zachary Levine-Caleb, Justin Felton, and Timothy Angulo. [29]

L'Rain has toured with bands including Black Midi (2021), [30] Animal Collective (2022), [31] Sharon Van Etten (2022), [32] Big Thief (2023), [33] and LCD Soundsystem (2023).

Curatorial work and public programming

In 2011, Cheek began working with arts nonprofit Creative Time; [34] in 2014, as site manager for an exhibit co-presented with the Weeksville Heritage Center, [35] Cheek installed and ran a pop-up radio station from a pink Cadillac parked outside the Utica Avenue A/C subway station. [36] [13] (The project was conceived by Otabenga Jones and Associates in homage to Jitu Weusi, black nationalist community arts center The East, and the Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium. [36] [37] ) The same year, Cheek––along with Ariana Allensworth, Salome Asega, Sable Elyse Smith, and Nadia Williams––co-organized "The Kara Walker Experience: WE ARE HERE", a public gathering of people of color at the Domino Sugar Refinery for Kara Walker's installation A Subtlety . [38] In 2015, Cheek's work as Curatorial Assistant for High Line Art included helping to organize an installation and performance by Kevin Beasley. [39]

In 2016, Cheek joined the curatorial team at contemporary art institution MoMA PS1; [40] the same year, she also opened the basement of her Brooklyn apartment to experimental music events under the name 49 Shade [41] (initially co-organized with Max Alper, Dann Lawrence, and Matteo Liberatore [13] ). At PS1, Cheek co-organized Sunday Sessions and the Warm Up series through 2021; [42] Warm Up lineups receiving extensive media coverage included a 2017 event with Cardi B, A$AP Ferg, and YATTA (of artist collective PTP); [43] [44] a 2018 show pairing Lizzo with experimentalists Gang Gang Dance; [45] [46] 2019's season opener, with Queens local duendita and Freddie Gibbs; [47] 2020's livestream edition, with Eartheater and KeiyaA; [48] and a limited-capacity 2021 event with Baby Tate and Patia's Fantasy World. [49] As of July 2022, Cheek was listed as "former Associate Curator" at PS1. [50] Her DIY space 49 Shade has presented artists including Kyp Malone, Miho Hatori, [51] and Otomo Yoshihide, [52] and Bartees Strange credits the space as introducing him to many of his collaborators. [53]

In 2023, Cheek was announced as the first artist curator for BRIC's Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival. [54] She is currently the artistic director at Performance Space New York.

Musical style

L'Rain often layers and loops her vocals, and her work frequently features samples from her collection of hundreds of field recordings, some pitch-shifted or otherwise manipulated beyond recognition. [1] She has spoken in interviews about her work's tendency to evade [1] or reject [2] categorization, saying that she is "more interested in a Barthes, Death of the Author, approach to genre", [55] values illegibility, [2] and seeks to complicate assumptions about the relationship between identity and aesthetics: "I’m hyper-aware of how marketing and packaging happens for Black people and women and Black women [...] I like feeling a sense of agency in how those stories are told". [10]

AllMusic described L'Rain as making "dreamy, genre-blurring music [...], reflecting on grief, change, joy, and resistance through a collage-like mixture of soul, psychedelia, gospel, musique concrète, and numerous other genres." [56] Pitchfork described her 2021 album Fatigue as "painterly and methodical, daubing vocal loops over clattering percussion, sweeping strings, and resonant synths to create a shapeshifting strain of experimental pop." [26] Reviewers have variously identified her style and influences as including free jazz, ambient, noise music, and disco; [12] dance; [26] "psychedelic orchestral pop" and "distorted shoegaze"; [3] krautrock, outsider music, and hip hop; [20] R&B and avant-garde rock; [2] gospel, funk, and post-punk; [23] and soul, drone, avant-pop, and musique concrète. [10]

While Cheek is the sole fixed figure in L'Rain recordings and performances, she says the project follows a "more nuanced and collective [model]" than that of the "lone genius or creator": "I'm trying to find a way to nurture my own voice and singular vision, especially as a Black woman musician, while also acknowledging that I work collaboratively with a team that is essential to the project." [57] Andrew Lappin and Ben Chapoteau-Katz are credited as Cheek's closest collaborators and co-producers of L'Rain's second and third albums; as of 2023, the band's members are Cheek, Lappin, and Chapoteau-Katz with Zachary Levine-Caleb, Justin Felton, and Timothy Angulo. [29]

Discography

Studio albums

List of studio albums
TitleYearLabelFormat
L'Rain [12] 2017Astro Nautico LP, digital download
Fatigue [58] 2021 Mexican Summer LP, digital download
I Killed Your Dog [28] 2023Mexican Summer

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MoMA PS1</span> Museum in Queens, New York

MoMA PS1 is a contemporary art institution at 22-01 Jackson Avenue in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens in New York City, United States. In addition to its exhibitions, the institution organizes the Sunday Sessions performance series, the Warm Up summer music series, and the Young Architects Program with the Museum of Modern Art. MoMA PS1 has been affiliated with the Museum of Modern Art since January 2000 and, as of 2013, attracts about 200,000 visitors a year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arca (musician)</span> Venezuelan musician (born 1989)

Alejandra Ghersi Rodríguez, known professionally as Arca, is a Venezuelan musician and record producer based in Barcelona, Spain. She initially began releasing music under the name of Nuuro. After attending the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, Ghersi first released the EP Baron Libre (2012) under the name Arca and subsequently released the EPs Stretch 1 and Stretch 2; the latter experimented with hip hop and brought her attention from prominent music publications.

<i>Vulnicura</i> 2015 studio album by Björk

Vulnicura is the eighth studio album by Icelandic musician and singer Björk. It was produced by Björk, Arca and The Haxan Cloak, and released on 20 January 2015 by One Little Indian Records. Björk said the album expresses her feelings before and after her breakup with American contemporary artist Matthew Barney and the healing process.

<i>Björk</i> (exhibition)

Björk was an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City about the Icelandic singer of the same name. Exhibited at MoMA from March 8 to June 7, 2015, Björk was a "retrospective" showing comprising audio, video, fashion, instruments, and other objects pertaining to her career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stonemilker</span> 2015 promotional single by Björk

"Stonemilker" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer and musician Björk for her eighth studio album, Vulnicura, in 2015. It was written and produced by Björk with beats by Venezuelan musician Arca. "Stonemilker" is Vulnicura's opening track and the first of a six-part narrative that details the devastating end of Björk's relationship with American contemporary artist Matthew Barney. Björk wrote the lyrics on the same Icelandic beach where the innovative 360-degree music video was later shot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Algiers (band)</span> American post-punk band

Algiers is an American-English post-punk band from Atlanta, Georgia, United States, formed in 2012. The band consists of multi-instrumentalists Franklin James Fisher, Ryan Mahan, Lee Tesche, and Matt Tong. Algiers pulls from a divergent number of musical influences; the most notable of which being post-punk, hip-hop, Southern Gothic literature, and the concept of the Other. Their sound has been described as dystopian soul due to its somber mood, afrofolk inspired vocal approach, and heavy emphasis on atonal textures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Barat</span> Musical artist

Nick Barat, better known by his stage name Nick Catchdubs, is an American record producer and DJ from New Jersey. He is a co-founder of Fool's Gold Records. He has also served as an associate editor at The Fader. In 2013, Stereogum called him "the best party DJ in the game right now." He resides in Brooklyn, New York.

Regan Mathews, better known by his stage name Ta-ku, is an Australian musician, producer and photographer.

Kevin Beasley is an American artist working in sculpture, performance art, and sound installation. He lives and works in New York City. Beasley was included in the Whitney Museum of American Art's Biennial in 2014 and MoMA PS1's Greater New York exhibition in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucy Dacus</span> American singer-songwriter (born 1995)

Lucy Elizabeth Dacus is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Originally from Richmond, Virginia, Dacus first gained fame following the release of her debut album, No Burden (2016), which led to a deal with Matador Records. Historian, her second album, was released in 2018 to critical acclaim. Home Video, her third studio album, was released in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moor Mother</span> American poet, musician, and activist

Camae Ayewa, better known by her stage name Moor Mother, is an American poet, musician, and activist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is one half of the collective Black Quantum Futurism, along with Rasheedah Phillips, and co-leads the groups Irreversible Entanglements and 700 Bliss.

Venezuelan electronic music producer Arca has released ten studio albums, one remix album, two mixtapes, one compilation album, five DJ mixes, one box set, five extended plays (EPs), twenty-nine singles, twenty-three music videos, and ten remixes.

Smerz is a Norwegian electronic music duo based in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Oslo, Norway. The two members, Catharina Stoltenberg and Henriette Motzfeldt, met at high school in Oslo and moved to Copenhagen in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Devin Kenny</span>

Devin Kenny is an interdisciplinary artist, musician, writer, and curator who works across music, text, sculpture, painting, videos, photography, garments, and performances. Kenny's work has addressed network technology and the Black Atlantic, gentrification, the prison industrial complex, experimental music, subculture and countercultures, and alternative economies.

Alexis Georgopoulos, who often records under the name Arp, is an American electronic musician, composer, and music producer based in New York.

<i>Fatigue</i> (album) 2021 studio album by LRain

Fatigue is the second record by Brooklyn-based experimental musician Taja Cheek, under the moniker of L'Rain. It is her first recording with record label Mexican Summer. Fatigue builds on Cheek's experimental compositional approach, drawing from an eclectic collection of genres and employing field recording elements. Instrumentally, it has help from twenty collaborators, who lend the record clavinet, saxophone, and more.

<i>LRain</i> (album) 2017 studio album by LRain

L'Rain is the debut studio album by experimental musician Taja Cheek, who performs as L'Rain. The album was released in 2017 by New York City-based label Astro Nautico and included in best-of-year lists by publications including Pitchfork and Bandcamp Daily. The album cover is an image of Cheek's forearm, which is tattooed "L'Rain"; she chose the name after her mother, Lorraine, died during the making of the record.

Jenny Schlenzka is a Berlin-born curator of time-based art, currently serving as Executive Artistic Director at Performance Space New York. Schlenzka was the first full-time curator dedicated to performance art at The Museum of Modern Art and established the Sunday Sessions program at MoMA PS1. In March 2023, she was selected to become the next director of Berlin's Martin-Gropius-Bau; her term will begin in September 2023.

<i>Shook World (Hosted by Algiers)</i> 2023 studio album by King Vision Ultra

Shook World (Hosted by Algiers) is a mixtape album from King Vision Ultra. It is a companion to Algiers' 2023 album Shook. Shook World melds together audio samples from Shook that were provided by Algiers, with snippets from a personal archive of cassettes originally sourced from outlets like Kim's Video and Music and mixtape purveyors Tape Kingz back in the 1990s, plus personal phone field recordings and voice memos. Shook World featured guests include Elucid, Bigg Jus, Dreamcrusher, LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs, Matana Roberts, Nakama., Desde, Rena Anakwe, Marcus, Lord Kayso, Harlem Boog, DJ Haram, Dis Fig, maassai, amani, No Land, with additional field recordings courtesy of Taja Cheek (L’Rain) and Ara Kim, with Franklin James Fisher of Algiers hosting.

<i>I Killed Your Dog</i> 2023 studio album by LRain

I Killed Your Dog is the third studio album by Brooklyn-based experimental musician L'Rain. It was released on October 13, 2023, through Mexican Summer.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Pareles, Jon (24 June 2021). "L'Rain's Songs Hold Ghosts, Demons and Healing". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Fraden, Angel E. (26 February 2018). "Meet L'Rain, the Mystic Multi-Instrumentalist and Vocalist Whose Intimate Music Will Mesmerize You". Teen Vogue. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  3. 1 2 Berlatsky, Noah (1 July 2021). "L'Rain creates glittering, warped pop collages on Fatigue". The Chicago Reader. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 Geffen, Sasha (15 December 2017). "The 20 Best Experimental Albums of 2017". Pitchfork. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  5. 1 2 "The Best Albums of 2017: #20 – 1". Bandcamp Daily. 15 December 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  6. ↑ "The Wire's Releases of the Year 2021". The Wire. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  7. ↑ "Rosana Cabán joins Naama Tsabar at Kasmin Gallery". The Computer Music Center at Columbia University. 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  8. ↑ "Performance from Kevin Beasley: A view of a landscape". Whitney Museum of American Art. 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  9. 1 2 Garcia-Navarro, Lulu (28 June 2021). "L'Rain's Latest Album 'Fatigue' Explores The Power Of Change". NPR. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pelly, Jenn (28 June 2021). "L'Rain Wants to Confuse You". Pitchfork. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  11. ↑ "Lorraine C. Porter, Age 59". United Federation of Teachers. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Balfour, Jay (28 September 2017). "L'Rain: L'Rain". Pitchfork. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  13. 1 2 3 "JOB Interview: Taja Cheek". BenSisto.com. October 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  14. ↑ "In medias res". Yale Daily News. 27 January 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  15. ↑ "Wadada Leo Smith in Conversation with Taja Cheek". Walker Art Center. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  16. ↑ Berumen, Gwen. "DIY Band 'Throw Vision' Talks Genre And Identity". BUST. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  17. ↑ "Stream Throw Vision's Were It Will 7-Inch". Impose Magazine. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  18. ↑ Kuhn, Bennett. "Labeled: Astro Nautico". Impose Magazine. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  19. ↑ Berlatsky, Noah (4 September 2017). "Music on the Horizon". Splice Today. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  20. 1 2 Schube, Will (8 September 2017). "L'Rain's Debut Album Is A Rollercoaster Ride of Soul, Shoegaze, and Dance". Bandcamp. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  21. ↑ "Creative Time and the Fortune Society present Bring Down the Walls". Creative Time. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  22. ↑ Ryce, Andrew (4 May 2018). "Larry Heard, Honey Dijon and Robert Owens feature on prison benefit compilation". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  23. 1 2 Moore, Marcus J. (24 June 2021). "L'Rain's "Fatigue" Captures the Everyday Nuances of Black Life". Bandcamp Daily. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  24. ↑ "The Wire's Releases Of The Year 2021". The Wire. December 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  25. ↑ "The 50 Best Albums of 2021". Pitchfork. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  26. 1 2 3 Torres, Eric (29 June 2021). "L'Rain: Fatigue". Pitchfork. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  27. ↑ "Fatigue". Bandcamp. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  28. 1 2 Hope, Clover (23 August 2023). "L'Rain Talks Shattering Expectations With Her "Basic Bitch" Album, I Killed Your Dog". Pitchfork. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  29. 1 2 "L'Rain". Pioneer Works. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  30. ↑ "black midi expand tour, add 2nd NYC date". Brooklynvegan. 22 September 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  31. ↑ "Animal Collective Announce New Album Time Skiffs, Share New Video: Watch". Pitchfork. 20 October 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  32. ↑ "Sharon Van Etten shares new single "Porta," adds tour dates w/ L'Rain". Brooklyn Vegan. 8 February 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  33. ↑ "L'Rain playing free Union Pool show ahead of UK tour with Big Thief". Brooklyn Vegan. 21 March 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  34. ↑ "Living As Form: Thanks". Creative Time. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  35. ↑ "Funk, God, Jazz, and Medicine: Black Radical Brooklyn". Creative Time. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  36. 1 2 "Jazz, 'The East' and a Pink Cadillac: Outdoor Exhibit Reflects on Black Radical Brooklyn". BKReader. 29 September 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  37. ↑ "How a Pop-Up Radio Station Is Radicalizing Bed-Stuy". VICE. 22 September 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  38. ↑ "We Are Here:Black Women Claim Their Space at Kara Walker's Controversial Sugar Sphinx Show". EBONY Magazine. 2 July 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  39. ↑ "Kevin Beasley: Untitled Stanzas: Staff/Un/Site". High Line. 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  40. ↑ Murnighan, Annie (13 March 2018). "MoMA PS1 curator Taja Cheek dives into New York's experimental music scene". Interview Magazine. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  41. ↑ "What's going on Thursday?". Brooklyn Vegan. 14 April 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  42. ↑ "Warm Up 2021". MoMA PS1. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  43. ↑ Madden, Sidney (5 April 2018). "The Business Of Being Cardi B". NPR. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  44. ↑ "Warm Up: Total Freedom (with Ryan Trecartin) / Cardi B / ASAP Ferg / Hitmakerchinx / Lotic / inc. no world + Ian Isiah / YATTA". MoMA. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  45. ↑ Garcia, Sandra E. (18 September 2018). "Lizzo Wants to Build You Up". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  46. ↑ "Warm Up: Discwoman / Yaeji / Gang Gang Dance / Lizzo / AceMo / Logan Takahashi". MoMA. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  47. ↑ Fulton, Nick (7 February 2019). "how 'warm up' at moma ps1 became nyc's best summer festival". i-D. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  48. ↑ Moen, Matt (27 August 2020). "Livestream This: MoMA PS1 Warm Up". PAPER Magazine. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  49. ↑ "Photos: MoMA PS1 Throws Exuberant, Fully Vaccinated Warm Up Party". Gothamist. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  50. ↑ "Poncili Creación". MoMA PS1. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  51. ↑ "December 2022". NYC Noise. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  52. ↑ "Otomo Yoshihide Solo, 49 Shade, December 10, 2017". DowntownMusic.net. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  53. ↑ "Musician Bartees Strange on indie music's overlooked audiences". WNYC. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  54. ↑ Helfand, Raphael (28 July 2023). "How L'Rain helped build Celebrate Brooklyn! 2023's phenomenal lineup". The FADER. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  55. ↑ Bourgeois, Jasmine (November 2018). "In Conversation with L'Rain". Tom Tom Magazine. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  56. ↑ Simpson, Paul. "L'Rain - Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  57. ↑ Berzon, Stephanie (23 June 2021). "A Healing Vortex: Taja Cheek Interviewed by Stephanie Berzon". BOMB. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  58. ↑ Bloom, Madison (31 March 2021). "L'Rain Announces New Album Fatigue, Shares New Song: Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.