(posted by Abe)

We woke up this morning in Montreal. Brittany cooked us all french toast with Blackberries. Mike, Avery and I went to an internet cafe to look up www.averyisgreat.com then headed back to the loft to write a Mali-inspired Indie rock song and a blues in G called “My woman got cocaine breath.”

Now we’re waiting it out in Toronto until our show tomorrow at the Horseshoe Tavern. We’re playing with the drummer from DFA 1979. Oh yeah, and this evening we saw the encore of a Leonard Cohen concert.

(posted by Abe)

I asked this from stage last night and I think I saw a tumbleweed float by. I guess our fans aren’t the sandals-wearing, frisbee-tossing types. I love you all regardless.

And speaking of our show last night. It was sold out! (see above) Amazing. Everytime we come up to Montreal we have a blast. Great people and great culture. All the kids at the Casa Del Popolo were so friendly and, well, Canadian. Soon after our set I quickly made it across the street to a performance by Oneida (rock!) and Carla Bozulich with Nels Kline. Nels Kline! What a treat.

One of the Wolf Parade guys were out at the show last night. I love this city.

In other news, I just discovered Avery’s Website.

(posted by Abe)

Asher is moments away from picking me up in the new tour van. This time we’ll be rolling across the country with a DVD player on board. I’ve of course packed three seasons of The Simpsons, One season of Arrested Development, Super Troopers and Spaceballs on DVD. Below is a more comprehensive list of things to bring when touring with a rock band:

Tent
Industrial strength velcro
Soldering Iron
Cut-off jean shorts
Baseball glove
Adam Sandler CD’s
And a mascot

Here’s a nice write up of our Montreal show happening tomorrow.

(posted by Abe)

We’re going on tour again! This time we’ll be hitting several cities in Canada, as well as most northern US cities (apologies to our southern US fans … we’ll come see you again soon too).

New York NY, Montreal PQ, Toronto ON, Chicago IL, Madison WI, Los Angeles CA, San Francisco CA, Portland OR, Vancouver BC, Victoria BC, Winnipeg MB

Check out our tour section or myspace for dates!

(posted by Avery)

We’ve met some great music fans these past six months or so since Reichenbach Falls came out. Many of them have come to us Ravens with their minds and arms open to dig into what completely freaks us out and turns us on. So here it is, a Mixtape of the Ravens’ favorite hits curated by yours truly.

Crystal Castles – 16-tell-me-what-to-swallow Brit saw this band with Health last month. I love the vocals at the end.

Sharon Jones – 01-100-days-100-nights I think we all secretly want to be in her backing band.

Prince – 05-darling-nikki Prince is undeniably one of the best American songwriters. The last 30 seconds of this song get me hot and bothered.

Crystal Castles – 01-untrust-us

Nocarsgo – quest-to-canada Asher loves this guy. So will you.

Genghis Tron “Arms” We saw this band at SXSW. I think Hamilton can outplay anyone on guitar.

Alan Lomax Field Recordings 02-no-more-my-lawd, and The Osborne Brothers 01-ruby Listen to both these songs with the lights out and the volume up. Your brain will melt.

Velvet Underground & Nico – 04-venus-in-furs

T Rex – Cosmic Dancer – This song lives on Mike’s iPod. I always request it.

Basia Bulat Asher really likes this folk singer. She recorded at the Hotel2Tango right around the same time as us.

Beck – 03-lazy-flies Nora sweats Beck, and with good cause. He’s a genius.
Camper Van Beethoven – Take the Skinheads Bowling Avery grew up listening to this band. I thought it would make a good closer for the mix.

(posted by Abe)

We’re back in New York now for some good Thanksgiving eating and a show at Piano’s on Tuesday, November 20. While on the road the Ravens came up with some really fantastic “Would You Rather” questions. Here’s a taste:

Would you rather be bitten by a black widdow spider or a cobra snake?
Would you rather have a tattoo of The Greatful Dead or Phish?
Would you rather play in the backing band for Shakira or Beyonce?
Would you rather run really fast or fly?

Talk amongst yourselves.

(posted by Abe)

We’ve been driving for as long i can remember. I’m typing this from my iPhone as we sprint from Cincinnati to Chicago. Everone is excited to perform tonight – only a few short hours left. Photo and more to follow soon!

(posted by Avery)

My deepest apologies for not constantly posting while we were on the road. Once we left Los Angeles our days and nights were filled with endless walking tours, new friends, and of course great performances. Here are some pictures from the tour:

Working Hard at the Heather Court Studios in Los Angeles.

Ravens, ATTACK!

Some friends in Seattle actually made their own shirts. They’re the coolest.

While in Seattle I got to perform in front of some old friends and family at The Crocodile Cafe. This is the same club where Superdelux, Nirvana, and Modest Mouse used to play shows that I couldn’t see because I was under 21, thank you very much Seattle Teen Dance Ordinance. The gentleman on the left is the man, the myth, the legend, Barry Pollack.

By the way, San Francisco is cold.

(posted by Abe)

(posted by Avery)