Rake. was an art rock/noise rock musical ensemble from Northern Virginia (near Washington, DC), founded in 1989. Not aligned with the post-punk/hardcore bands more commonly associated with the local underground music scene, Rake. took a more experimental route and were more closely associated with fellow Virginia-based bands Pelt and Wingtip Sloat. Throughout the 1990s, a relationship cemented via their principal label, VHF Records.
Band members Jim Ayre (a.k.a. Vinnie Van Go-Go or OASTEM!), Bill Kellum, and Carl Moller (a.k.a. C-Man) released their first record in 1989, a 7” 45 rpm single called "Cow Song" and the follow-up EP "Motorcycle Shoes" in 1990. The punkish leanings on these recordings were soon superseded by more experimental offerings such as the cassette "The Day I Remembered Seeing Ice" and the LP Rake Is My Co-Pilot, the latter featuring a sidelong extemporization on the lead song from the "Motorcycle Shoes" EP. The band's early recordings featured (mostly shouted) vocals, but the band's later work was generally instrumental in nature. Although Rake.'s main instruments were electric guitar, bass and drums, they made liberal use of tape loops, synthesizers, static, and anything else they saw fit. The band's sound reached a highbrow, minimalistic/ambient peak on 1998 album Resume The Cosmos, which was released by Australian label Camera Obscura but their aesthetic is best summed up by their double CD release The Art Ensemble of Rake/The Tell-Tale Moog which combined lengthy improvisations with found sounds, field recordings and harsh edits. The second disc was largely indexed at 60-second intervals, regardless of the musical content, although one 5-second section was simply a recording of a male voice saying, "Look out: rattlesnake!".
Often wilfully mysterious (to the point of providing misinformation, particularly through the OASTEM! website), Rake. released a steady stream of vinyl singles, CDs, cassettes and later CDR's, mostly on the label VHF. However, they were never a touring act, only performing intermittently around the Virginia/ Maryland area. Although they never formally split and members of the band continue to work together, only archive material has been released during this decade.
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