Guaranteed baby-making music…
“Indie Album of the Week”
The Ray Mann Three
Self-Titled (MGM)
Reviewed by: Jonno Seidler
You know what I love about the Sydney music scene? Like, the REAL scene, not the ‘I go to Oxford St and dance to remixes of Wolfmother until 4am’ scene? The fact that everybody knows everybody else. I don’t actually know Ray Mann, but I know him by association to my other muso friends, who’ve been touting his wares for years. Finally, Ray got his shit together after playing in a little hole in the wall (Tonic Lounge) for 3 years and recorded this sublime album full of lazy, summery sex tunes that make Prince look like a virgin.
There’s certain music you put in your CD player and you just smile, and forget exactly what it is you hate about the world (don’t get me started). Ray Mann’s tunes do that for me. It’s like a huge serotonin shot to the ass with a mango daiquiri on the side. The instrumentation is sparse but well thought out, the songs are absolutely top notch, and Ray’s voice is beyond orgasmic – even if you’re a heterosexual guy.
Like all undervalued artists, Ray’s CD is self-produced and completely not getting the airplay it should. I know this because I heard a new Pussycat Dolls song the other day. It took all my self-control not to drive my car into a crowd of kids in leather jackets. Ok, so I might have killed one. But once you hear the beautiful sounds of this trio, you can almost forget that the Dolls, nay, even Kyle Sandilands ever existed.
If you ever needed proof that soul wasn’t dead, you just found it. Guaranteed baby-making music.
Source: The Brag, Sydney, 13.10.08