Raising the Fawn is a group made up of John Crossingham, Scott Remila and Dylan Green. We're involved in several other projects, including ex-Rheostatic Tim Vesely's The Violet Archers (Scott), Toronto country-folk balladeers Bellewoods (Dylan & Scott), and Broken Social Scene (John). We recently released our fourth album, Sleight of Hand to a mixture of praise, confusion, and damnation. Which could mean we're either the constantly berrated, one-eyed stepchild of indie rock; an unwelcome harbinger of a sea change in pop culture; or just not very good. Here are some of the recent reviews that seem to get it.
"For all the accolades every Broken Social Scene member receives whenever they put out a new record on their own, John Crossingham’s Raising the Fawn never seems to get its due. Despite having released five CDs, including two excellent discs in 2004’s The North Sea and last year’s The Maginot Line, those who flock to hear the latest from Feist, Metric, Stars, Jason Collett, Do Make Say Think, Apostle of Hustle, and Kevin Drew seem oblivious to Crossingham’s own band. Whether it’s the trio’s unassuming nature, their somewhat lofty arrangements (which often extend close to the ten-minute mark in a live setting), the fact that they’re not on a label as stylish as Arts & Crafts, or just crummy luck, Raising the Fawn continue to be perennial underdogs, not only in indie rock circles as a whole, but even in their native Canada." Adrien Begrand-Popmatters.com-7
"The songs leave a strange imprint, being the kind of addictive pieces that one returns to, simply to try to nail the melodies in the mind's ear. The hazily recalled atmosphere leads you there and the intricacies of it keep you." Liz Colville-Pitchforkmedia-7.2
TORONTO STAR, ANTI-HIT LIST by John Sakamoto
"RAISING THE FAWN, "River of Gold"
As with Wilco's new Sky Blue Sky, the latest release by this perpetually on-the-verge Toronto band seems destined to be misrepresented as a retreat into convention. And, as with the Wilco album, it is nothing of the sort. Instead, the spirit of experimentation merely manifests itself more organically, and amid more tightly constructed songs. The result is the best of both worlds: short and dense, melodic and noisy, accessible and restless. (From Sleight of Hand)"