Plans keep shifting around this 7” so we decided to post Hearts Of Palm for free download on the site. You can get it here

Also here is a review of the song and an interview I did with a blog in the UK this week.

Hope you enjoy!

In other news we’re playing a show as part of CMJ this Friday 10/23 at The Mercury Lounge (217 E. Houston) at 8 pm. We will be playing some of the new material from the record we’ve been working really hard on. Can’t wait for you to hear it.

Would love to see you all!

Asher

(posted by Asher)

Last Saturday, we just played at a Bushwick Music Studios show with Or The Whale, Palmyra and Alex Greneir.  My friends Lisa and Sue from Renminbi even dropped by!  There was an excellent 2$PBR/BBQ balance, though the weather had just started to turn frigid, and playing with cold fingers is no fun.  At any rate, we’re playing again tomorrow at Pianos around 11pm … come check it out if you’re still awake!

Tuesday, October 13th 2009, 11PM @ Pianos

More details are up on the Pianos NYC site.

See ya,  Avery

Some Ravens, outside Bushwick Music Studios

(posted by Avery)

Hi Everyone,

We’re playing September 23rd  (tomorrow)  at Southpaw!  Should be a fun show — hope to see you there.

-Avery

September 23rd 2009 at Southpaw

(posted by Avery)

It’s been a bit since any of us have posted. Hope you’re all well.

We’ve all been busy of course. Working on new songs here in New York. As of now we have half an album recorded and it looks like we’ll be heading back up to Montreal in a few moths to get more songs on tape.

We have a couple of shows coming up including CMJ so definitely check out the myspace page for upcoming dates. We will be debuting some new material and putting out general good vibes for those of you who are around.

In other news we are planning to put out a new 7” in late Fall. It will be two new songs one of which we recorded with Howard Bilerman and Larry Crane at the Hotel 2 Tango back in April called Clarissa Explains It All. The other song is one we recorded here in New York with Patrick called Hearts Of Palm.

John Richards from KEXP will be premiering Hearts of Palm on his show this week so tune in to KEXP (90.3 Seattle, 91.5 New York, KEXP.org Everywhere) from 9-noon EST to hear it.

Hope you enjoy. Talk more soon.

Asher

(posted by Asher)

I’m new here. To the band and bloggerfying. In the band I play bass guitar. 

Ravens inducted me to the band way back in October when we were where we are right now…Montreal. Back in October we were playing up the street from the studio at a place called Sport Benfica, which as far as I can tell is a social club for fans of the legendary Portugese club football team Benfica.

As Avery has already told you, we are in the beautiful and wonderful sounding hotel2tango with our trusty navigators Larry and Howard. Our journey to get here began on Thursday night in good ole NYC. We all piled into the big blue van (which I’m told doesn’t have a nickname….yet) and headed up to Asher’s parents place upstate where we stayed the night. When we got in at around 1 in the morning there was a fully roasted turkey with some homemade stuffing waiting for us. Awesome. Delicious. Thanks Mrs. Lack!

We rolled into Montreal on Friday afternoon and began setting up and starting to record beds (bass, guitar, drums). This place sounds really really good. Well for the next two days Larry worked Mike and I like we were oxen in the video game Oregon Trail. We sweated, we cried, even bled a bit, but we got through it and now there’s a great foundation for everyone to build on. Mike Riddleberger (new drummer) played the crapola out of the drums, but had to split early this morning to head back to NYC (11 hour train ride, ack!). His first show with us will be this Saturday at Mercury Lounge, so you should come check him out as well as the new songs we’ve been working so hard on.

While we record here at hotel2tango, we camp out in what I’m told is the French section of Montreal…about a ten minute drive from here. The digs are nice little duplex with two bathrooms and a nice little deck/porch that I’ve been doing my morning stretches and sun worshipping on. Also included in our cozy little apartment is an abnormally large rear projection television. This thing is huge. Mike liked to refer to it as our “glowing wall”. Avery promised me that he’ll post a picture of it later. Stay tuned!

Last but not least I have to tell you about a special person.

Gus!

Gus is the trusty studio manager here, beautiful brown eyes, playful attitude, and can chill hard.

He is also Howard’s border collie.

(posted by Patrick)

Hello friends!

We’re back in Montréal at Hotel2Tango, recording the beginnings of something.  The new studio that Howard and the rest have built is really wonderful – it retains all the charm of the old location, with the addition of some amazing new facilities.  The main tracking room is huge and the resulting sound (most notably on drums) is huge.  There is even a new espresso machine (it’s a Gaggia)!  We are lucky enough to be working with our friend Howard Billerman again, as well as Larry Crane.  Won’t say too much more because I don’t want to incur the wrath of lord mother Ash-tron, but suffice it to say, tape is rolling, and things are sounding great so far.

See you all soon,

Avery

(posted by Avery)

Been way too long since I put anything up on the blog. We’ve been busy back in New York, working at our jobs and writing the next record which we are going up to Montreal to start work on in April with Howard Bilerman who did our first record.

I’ve been getting a lot of email from fans in Europe who heard “This Is Where We Are” on the soundtrack for the upcoming isenseven film about skateboarding. For those of you don’t know about them check it out http://www.isenseven.de/blox/index.php?page=music

While don’t have any immediate plans to tour Europe or the UK because we don’t have a label or an agent there we are working on fixing this and will be across the pond as soon as we can get there.

Until then keep sending the emails and thanks for the good vibes, it really means a lot.

Last week I went to see Leonard Cohen play at the Beacon. It was fantastic. Over the summer we all got to see a few songs from backstage in Toronto (it’s a long and crazy story). He’s a real hero of mine and if you can get a ticket you should go!

Ran into Howard at the show and got introduced to Bob Johnston (he produced Songs from a Room, Bookends, Blonde on Blonde, and Live at Fulsome Prison among others). WOW! He told me a story about telling off Johnny Cash for asking him to pick up some drugs.

Anyway, much more news to come. In the meantime keep checking myspace.com/ravensandchimes for upcoming shows and radio appearances. Stay warm.

All the best,

Asher

p.s. this is a picture of us making a bonfire at Lake Washington while we were on tour this summer

(posted by Asher)

This summer I finally got film for my “analog” cameras, A Kodak Brownie and a Holga. The brownie was one of the first point and shoot cameras sold to the public at a relatively cheep price. It’s also one of the easiest cameras to operate: load in some 127mm film, tape up the case for light leaks and go to town.

I brought three rolls on the Ravens June tour and only busted out the Kodak for sweeping shots of the American countryside or for haunted Canadian cathedrals. While the rest of my band mates would dig through the van for their various digital cameras every time we drove past a cactus or a mountain, I would sit back and enjoy the ride. Of course as soon I was reminded of Ansel Adams or double exposures I would be the one running back to the van to find my new toy.

The Halga has a mind of its own; light leaks, tripple exposures, and four flash colors to choose from. Below is a shot of Asher superimposed over our Bumbershoot backlighting. Crazy.

The full flickr set can be found HERE

(posted by Abe)

We’re playing bumbershoot today. 5:00 PM a the EMP Skychruch. It will be something like this:

(posted by Abe)

Tour was great. One wish:

Inunditojn! Mi dezir ni povintus naĝ en la Iovao stratojn. B’caw!
Floods! I wish we could have swum in the Iowan streets. Kickin!

(posted by Brittany)