About Me
The Invisible Rays are a company of musicians dedicated to communicating complex and antediluvian emotions from cinematic, rhapsodic, and rhythmic music without the crutch of a singer. No language – just the intervals, spaces and rhythms invented by:
Ned Armsby – drums and samples
Brendan Haley – keyboards
Eric Krauter – bass
Rafi Sofer – guitar
- from the liner notes to Salute the American Popular Song, written by Dr. Brian Stevens, Pro Tem Dean of Music, Northeastern Florida College of Art, Song, and Dance.
Originally formed in 2001 by Sofer and Armsby, the I-Rays crossed musical paths with first Krauter and then Haley through Sofer’s audio engineering work at Q Division Studios in Somerville, MA and convinced them to join forces to forge a new sonic landscape. Never ones to shy away from the science and technology of music, the four piece instrumental band creates new combinations and possibilities in sound. Manipulating and layering sonics using instruments and equipment that span decades of innovation in modern music technology, from Mellotrons to Roland Drum Machines and from Fender Deluxes to Symphonic Bass, no stone is left unturned in search of the perfect sound.
Since early 2006 the quartet has been producing an epic work titled ‘Salute the American Popular Song.’ The songs on STAPS (the follow-up to 2004’s Put Your Gun Away) are concise compositions made up of a rich palette of sounds in a wide range of tempos and time signatures. As on their freshman release, The Rays use samples from B movies, old radio shows, and news broadcasts in the place of a “vocalistâ€. By juxtaposing and manipulating sources ranging from the 50’s Science Fiction B-movie ‘Teenagers from Outer Space’ to President George W. Bush’s invasion eve ultimatum speech on Iraq, meaning is twisted and reassigned, bringing forth new stories and narratives out of the ashes of the old – stories that range from the light and comedic to the somber and serious. The entire album is accompanied in live performances by video collages that interweave the video complement of the audio samples with other snippets from B-movies, found film, damaged family super 8 reels, and oscilloscope traces. These moving pictures augment the stories and moods and add a whole other dimension to the music.
Over three years in the making, ‘Salute the American Popular Song’ was hand crafted with singular dedication and reflects many life-changing events; while the songs were being written, recorded, and mixed children were born, jobs were lost and found, marriage vows were exchanged, and parents passed away. Making an album as ambitious in scope as STAPS was truly a collaborative effort. It started with four passionate musicians playing songs live in a room together. Over time, arrangements and parts were constructed, destructed, reduced, and re-invented until the final mix was printed. Everyone in the band had more than just a hand in the process; some sounds and parts were written, recorded, and layered repeatedly and manipulated until they no longer sounded like the sources they came from. But beneath all this sonic manipulation, the basic building blocks remained just what they were: unbridled, raw rock and roll in its purest, wildest form.
Taking their cues from influences such as Pink Floyd, Snoop Dog, Sonic Youth, Dr. Dre, Outcast, PJ Harvey, Genesis, Television, Throbbing Gristle, and Psychic TV, the Invisible Rays take you on a journey that’s unlike any you’ve been on before
Please visit us online!
Go to CD Baby to order both our albums or download MP3's.
Stop in on us at Facebook for slightly more frequent updates, pictures, and videos. And find us on Youtube to share our videos.Reviews of Put Your Gun Away:
From CD Baby
Three minute pop rock instrumentals. Thats right. With so many instrumental rockers concerned with the extended jam, The Invisible Rays ask the following: why make a song ten minutes long when you can make it in three and make it rock? The textured instrumental expanses (created by guitars, bass, drums, well-placed samples, and electronic elements) serve as musical building blocks while the actual songs swoon, hum, and buzz with some catchy pop prowess. While there are hints at Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth, and Calexico, this record does stand alone; it is instantly appealing, and theres plenty for you guitar geeks to dissect over the long term.
From The Noise - by Joe Coughlin
There's a special place in heaven for all-instrumental bands who can really pull it off, 'cause there's about a dozen if we're lucky. Except now it's 13. This is trotted out as "an imaginary spy film soundtrack," but it would work just as beautifully if they'd titled it "Steaming Pile Of Dung." What sets these forward thinkers ahead is the sheer variety of moods they're willing to take on. I mean, let's face it, The Ventures and Los Straitjackets are all good fun, but they don't exactly run ya through the emotional gamut. There's playful, pensive, sinister, spacey, and much more here, and not a note of it feels forced. Plus, it says they largely wrote it as they recorded, which hints at some massive possibilities for their future. The overall organic wash of this is far greater than the sum of its considerable riffs and soundbites, resulting in a grand head-trip of the finest order. I seriously can't wait to hear it in a moving car. Or for their next one. My only advice would be to bag the motifs next time, because some people are actually dumb enough to only hear what you tell them they're hearing. Just do your thing, because it happens to be extremely damn cool and necessary right about now.
LIVE SHOWS:
Opening for Kinski at TT's in August by Steve Gisselbrecht
The first thing I see of The Invisible Rays, who are playing when I enter TT's, is the huge bank of synthesizers that they're triggering samples from, and I'm nervous. This doesn't seem like my kind of thing, necessarily. But as I round the corner, I start to take in the really excellent drummer, the solid and melodic bassist, and the squealing, tragically undermixed guitar player. Plus the projection behind them, an oscilloscope trace of the output from the synth setup, which proves a suprisingly entrancing visual accompaniment to their set. The samples provide a lot of weird snippets of speech, mostly on the topic of synthesizers and sampling when I can make them outit's all very recursiveand since there are otherwise no vocals, it's kind of nice to have that thrown into the mix. My own focus is on the rhythms, which are complicated and beautiful, with lots of good odd-time stuff that gets me dancing. A very pleasant surprise overall. Also pleasantly surprising is the respectable crowd here for the first band on a Tuesday night.
