Rake. was an

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an ar ...

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise music, noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimal music, minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, a ...

musical ensemble from Northern

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

(near Washington, DC), founded in 1989. Not aligned with the

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

/hardcore bands more commonly associated with the local underground music scene, Rake. took a more experimental route and were more closely associated with fellow Virginia-based bands

Pelt A fur is a soft, thick growth of hair that covers the skin of almost all mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an ...

and Wingtip Sloat. Throughout the 1990s, a relationship cemented via their principal label, VHF Records. Band members Jim Ayre (a.k.a. Vinnie Van Go-Go or OASTEM!), Bill Kellum, and Carl Moller (a.k.a. C-Man) released their first record in 1989, a 7” 45 rpm single called "Cow Song" and the follow-up EP "Motorcycle Shoes" in 1990. The punkish leanings on these recordings were soon superseded by more experimental offerings such as the cassette "The Day I Remembered Seeing Ice" and the LP ''

Rake Is My Co-Pilot ''Rake Is My Co-Pilot'' is the debut album of Rake., released in 1993 by VHF Records. It contains two lengthy improvisations, one on each side of the vinyl. Track listing Personnel Adapted from the ''Rake Is My Co-Pilot'' liner notes. ;Ra ...

'', the latter featuring a sidelong extemporization on the lead song from the "Motorcycle Shoes" EP. The band's early recordings featured (mostly shouted) vocals, but the band's later work was generally instrumental in nature. Although Rake.'s main instruments were electric guitar, bass and drums, they made liberal use of tape loops, synthesizers, static, and anything else they saw fit. The band's sound reached a highbrow, minimalistic/ambient peak on 1998 album ''Resume The Cosmos'', which was released by Australian label

Camera Obscura A camera obscura (; ) is the natural phenomenon in which the rays of light passing through a aperture, small hole into a dark space form an image where they strike a surface, resulting in an inverted (upside down) and reversed (left to right) ...

but their aesthetic is best summed up by their double CD release '' The Art Ensemble of Rake/The Tell-Tale Moog'' which combined lengthy improvisations with found sounds, field recordings and harsh edits. The second disc was largely indexed at 60-second intervals, regardless of the musical content, although one 5-second section was simply a recording of a male voice saying, "Look out: rattlesnake!". Often wilfully mysterious (to the point of providing misinformation, particularly through the OASTEM! website), Rake. released a steady stream of vinyl singles, CDs, cassettes and later CDR's, mostly on the label VHF. However, they were never a touring act, only performing intermittently around the Virginia/ Maryland area. Although they never formally split and members of the band continue to work together, only archive material has been released during this decade.

OASTEM!

OASTEM! is a word invented by Rake. that appears in various album and song titles by the band, although its exact meaning has never been revealed. It may be used in several ways: as a greeting or as a way of saying good-bye; as an exclamation of satisfaction; or as a reference to cosmological and mystical phenomenon. Included are early cassettes such as "The Day I Remembered Seeing Ice" and "Shock Tart Chew Up" as well as more recent recordings under other names or by single members. An early version of the web site included the following greeting: "OASTEM! You have landed upon a web site devoted to the exploration of the Sound of Peace and Harmony that is expressed through OASTEM! Discuss OASTEM! Receive OASTEM! Achieve an understanding of the message that has captured the imagination of a generation."

Additional information

*The stage name Vinnie Van Go-Go is a pun on

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...

and

go-go dancing Go-go dancers are dancers who are employed to entertain crowds at nightclubs or other venues where music is played. Go-go dancing originated in the early 1960s at the French bar Whisky a Gogo, located in the town of Juan-les-Pins. The bar's n ...

. *It was rumored that the band chose its name from indie rock "supergroup" Velvet Monkeys' album ''Rake'', which was released on

Rough Trade Records Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis, who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. It is currently run by co-managing directors Travis and Jeannette Lee and ...

in 1989, about a year before Rake's first single. There was also a reference to Velvet Monkeys member Don Fleming on the first Rake 45. However, in 1993, the band told UK magazine Grim Humour that their name was chosen before becoming aware of the album and also that the final decision on their name had been taken by Kellum, who had designed the sleeve to "Cow Song". * Several titles were puns on well-known musical and cultural references: ''

'' is a pun on the name of the queercore band God Is My Co-Pilot, ''Art Ensemble Of Rake'' is a pun on the name of experimental jazz collective

Art Ensemble of Chicago The Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant-garde jazz group that grew out of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, AACM) in the late 1960s. The ensemble integrates many jaz ...

and ''The Tell-Tale Moog'' is a pun on the

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...

short story "

The Tell-Tale Heart "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1843. It is told by an unnamed narrator who endeavors to convince the reader of the narrator's sanity while simultaneously describing a murder the nar ...

." In addition, *The cover art of the ''Fighting 2 Quarters And A Nickel'' double live CD is a modification of the cover of rebel organist

Virgil Fox Virgil Keel Fox (May 3, 1912 in Princeton, Illinois – October 25, 1980 in Palm Beach, Florida) was an American organist, known especially for his years as organist at Riverside Church in New York City, from 1946 to 1965, and his flamboyant "Heav ...

's early-'70s live album ''Heavy Organ''.

Discography

;Studio albums *''

'' ( VHF, 1994) *'' The Art Ensemble of Rake/The Tell-Tale Moog'' (VHF, 1995) *''

G-Man ''G-man'' (short for "government man", plural ''G-men'') is an American slang term for agents of the United States Government. It is especially used as a term for an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). ''G-man'' is also a term ...

'' (Squealer, 1996) *'' Resume the Cosmos'' (

, 1998) *'' Ginseng Nights'' (VHF, 2002) *'' Omniverse .:. Frequency'' (VHF, 2002) ;Cassette albums *''The Day I Remembered Seeing Ice'' (Sweet Portable Junket, 1992) *''Shock Tart Chew Up'' (Chocolate Monk, 1993) *''Rake Live at the 15 Minutes Art Gallery'' (1994) ;Live albums *'' Fighting 2 Quarters and a Nickel'' ( VHF, 1998) ;EPs *''Motorcycle Shoes/Look at Rocks/My Miserable Existence/The Center'' (VHF, 1991) ;Singles *''Cow Song/My Fish Died'' (L Records, 1990) *''Subterranean Marijuana Garden/U.S. TV'' ( VHF, 1992) *''Squelch/Phrase Text Slur'' ( Fourth Dimension, 1995) *''Art Ensemble of Rake (Carlophonics)/The Tell-Tale Moog (Carlophonics)'' (VHF, 1996)

External links

VHF Records
Record label run by Kellum *

Allmusic entry AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the data ...

br>Rake's Facebook Page Rake.info
at archive.org {{Authority control American noise rock music groups