Orange & Atlas by Orange & Atlas

Orange and Atlas masterfully weave gentle rock rhythms with folk and traces of pop for simple, pure and engaging musical experience."

Largely under the radar

By Charles Cole

"If you know who Andy Partridge is, you are probably way ahead of most people reading this, and you aren't thinking of a 70's TV show. The name may not be instantly recognizable, but he has been on, off, and largely under the radar for years, crafting timeless music all along the way. ORANGE and ATLAS have persisted resiliently as well, in one form or another. From their respective roots, pop rockin' pre-Bricktown OKC, (Defenestration/Wickers), through collaborations a la pre-house Talk Talk stylings, (Fencewalkers) then touring The Great Northwest with a label, (Red Footed Genius), ORANGE and ATLAS have cut many gems along the way. They polish several more on their latest self-titled "debut" release. ORANGE and ATLAS mines the light heart of the dark side and the other way around in their latest album as this incarnation of a longtime song-writing duo. With deep texture, deft touch, and definitely lots of feel, they click with a near telepathic synergy at the best moments of their hook-laden release. It's hard not to find a groove when you go all the way back to tennis racquet guitar riffs together. ORANGE and ATLAS draw from that collective intuition and still manage to explore their own individual musings and matters, each with equal effect, on the 14-song collection (originally ORANGE and ATLAS was released as a double album containing 22 cuts - this is the paired-down version). Each song features one of the primary tunesmiths, with extra flavors and inflections added by the other half of the duo."

Biography

Orange and Atlas has really been a band longer than they have really been a band.

Having grown up together in Oklahoma, the two principal songwriters - Erick Orange and Atlas Levan - have played together in different bands and in different forms since junior high school. They are complimented and joined by longtime friends and fellow musicians Shane Harris on bass, and Bo McCarty on drums - both players also veterans of the same local music scenes, and each of them also having been in other bands with either Orange, or Atlas or both. And from those earliest beginnings they have been writing songs. Original music has always been their focus.

Their first self-titled and released album is really just a continuation of the partnership - a natural progression of their musical lives - a coming together of the past but, more importantly, the first step in a new direction.

Having gained loyal followings and critical acclaim for their songwriting and the bands in which they have played in Oklahoma, Oregon and Washington, the band now calls Dallas, Texas home, and the base of their FruitWorld Tunes operation (with a satellite base of operations known as North Grove in wonderful Chickasha, Oklahoma).

There are three bands in which Orange and Atlas have played in together: BBEF and the Fence Walkers in Oklahoma, and Red footed Genius in Oregon. Other bands in which they have played and been songwriters include Defenestration, The Wickers, On a Llama, Dorkweed, Tumble, and Mandala. Each of these groups obtained at an absolute minimum highly successful "local band" status, performing to large groups of dedicated fans and attracting the praise of many music writers and critics - two of which were even signed artists on independent record labels and had several extensive continental tours. And the music from these groups represents the vast compliment of styles and sounds both Orange and Atlas create and are influenced by.

But now they have come back again, so to say. This latest incarnation and its creative pojects is the inevitable realization of a process born out of the unspoken language that emerges from two people so closely tied together in art, life and musical sensibilities. But even though its roots are in their past, this "new" music is representative of the path that they have taken to get to here and now, and a sign of where they will be going in the future.

Just read the accolades and reviews these two have garnered in the past, (see Press) to get a good idea of why we all would do well to listen and pay attention to their music today, and tomorrow.

Press Quotes

Some press quotes of O&A's music in its other forms from the last few years...

...could be the bastard child of XTC's Skylarking and R.E.M.'s Document. Irresistible.

Rolling Stone

...perhaps the best unsigned band in America...

Oklahoma Gazette

...rich lulling melodies with enough moving shapes and textures...

...able to engage the listeners with rushes of desperation and sadness in his crooning vocals. The enveloping melodies felt as comfortable as a feather pillow, while the underlying discordance kept the more primal senses buzzing...

Los Angeles Times

...a dynamic collection of original material offering a unique variation on today's "alternative" sound...

...imagine if the spawn of Sade and Neil Finn (Crowded House) discovered a box full of Steely Dan records, then decided to make an album with Joni Mitchell...

...combining melodic progressions with thoughtful lyrics, the songwriting is alluring and provocative...Universal themes expressed through personal experience reveal the emotional nature of (the) music...

..a sonic tapestry, rich with extensive instrumentation on some cuts, as well as scaled-down energy on others...

...a world class rhythm section combined with excellent guitar work...lush vocal arrangements and instrumentation combine for the subtlety and variation that make (this) one of the best studio projects to spring from the metro area in quite some time...

Norman Metro

...label interest from the likes of A&M and Almo Sounds...

...linked to a Led Zeppelin phase and...heavily influenced by Steely Dan and Paul Weller...

Pop Musical Enlightenment

...music resonates with the sound of the not so distant past but with an ear to the future...

...how incredibly innovative and original this music is...

...a solid collection of music...

...covers territory that, while familiar, never fails to captivate the listener...

...they represent a demographic which offers them the potential to cross-over nationally with their soulful pop sound...

...one of those rare finds that you'll regret not being the first to discover...

Ear Candy

...the best of the material glows with a homespun quality, a weary wisdom based upon the ineffable certitude of human kindness ineluctable modality. Their finest songs capture the elusive piquancy of life's darker moments...

...a very good band, with all the equipment necessary to succeed...

...material is of unquestionably high caliber...

...a band on the verge of greatness, with tremendous musical passion...

Two Louies

...represents a wide assortment of styles and moods, and there should be at least a little something for everyone...

Oklahoma Daily

...quickly convert new listeners with their acoustic-guitar-based song writing...

...(they) write solid alluring songs...

...listeners beware that this is not merely another bubble gum pop band from the heartland...

...If you're not careful you may find yourself lost in the wonderful "feel good" grooves ingrained in each cut and miss the often subtle but at times powerfully thought-provokingly mature lyrics...

...The end result is pure listening pleasure that appeals to a huge demographic population as is evidenced by the turn out at their local shows...

...surely some interested A&R people will benefit from a dose...

Norman Gazette

...falling stylistically somewhere between the Rembrandts and the poppier Toad the Wet Sprocket and Matthew Sweet at the more introspective end. ..

...uses steady, workmanlike hooks and intricate constructions of textures, colors and dynamic interplay...

...It's really a record to call in sick, stay home and mull things over to...

The Oregonian

...can usually be found on the weekends playing a club or coffeehouse, and they always deliver the goods...

...classy tunes flawlessly sung and played...

...(Orange's) songs are mostly acoustic-oriented but just as eloquent in their craftsmanship...his sounds (are) rooted in Harvest-era Neil Young...and the beautiful elegy Hours Before evokes early Paul Simon...

...definitely recommended...

Moxie

...the two have reemerged with a fresh sound and a renewed vision...

...mostly comes off as a traditional garage band, with primary emphasis on roots-rock song structure and fluid vocalization...

Oklahoma Gazette

...the newest album shows how groups from the 70's through today have influenced their music, creating a unique sound that can't be described as any one type of music...

Norman Gazette

...appealing collection of well-constructed, catchy, melodic songs...

Willamette Week

...delivers surreal washes of woozy guitar, cool bass lines and sweet crooning vocals...

...dreamy melodies of old time crooners like Sinatra, Red Foot taps a new vein of escapist pop...

Options Music Alternatives

...sounding forever hopeful, and hopelessly smooth, as if they were famous already, waiting for the rest of the world to catch up...

All-star

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