Travis Keats Ross, who will turn 21 the month of his new album's release, is an unlikely musical veteran, who has lived and performed in Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico, and California where he began recording by himself and playing with rock bands at 14. After moving to Portland, Oregon at age 19, he formed a band he dubbed Anonym, a four piece that employed a live beat manipulator and Moog keyboardist to provide a slick, hip-hop influenced back beat to his more traditional folk guitar and vocals. Smart-acidic lines like "In the future we'll all have friends/ and every living artist will be signed," recalled Steve Malkmus in a playful mood over a fantasia of sampled beatboxing, Casio guitar, and a floating debris of junk culture like Beck at his most inspired. After recording Digital Release, with the group, Ross decided to go solo with the help of various guest musicians for his next two offerings.
The Hymns of Dakota Slim provided the first glimpse into Ross's realized original voice. Drawing from his desert roots, Ross transformed from suburban street poet to "a cowboy with an utterly stoic face riding through a southwestern thunderstorm (Willamette Week Dec 13, 2006)." The obsession with sounds became more intense, however, despite the more personal lyrics and downplayed melodies, as erratic bursts of white noise and Atari effects interjected between strummed acoustic guitar, upright bass, and live drums.
With Aminals, Ross has found a happy medium between his dusty ballads and electro-bombast. Guests include Portland's new pop princess Michele Wylen on backing vocals as well as musical saw, sampled wolf howls, spanish horns, and his most layered, studio-perfect sound so far courtesy of MRL Dennis at The Record Ranch. Dakota Slim has once again rode off into the sunset to his new home in San Francisco where he is studying music and recording as well as expanding the Dakota Slim legacy.
JAKE ROSE (Childhood Friends, Forest Friends Liberation Magazine)
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old demos (anonym) can be located hizzy:
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