Gabe Schray
Softest Service
virb.com/gabeschray
Gabe Schray's dub instrumentation, shifting beats and laptop noodling work as musical subtext. With obtuse track titles like "Unleash the Soft Vectors" and "Recording the Destruction of the Spectral Curtain Dub," Schray, who also plays with Houseguest, Six Parts Seven and Beaten Awake, leaves you on the outside of the inside joke. "Flaming Homosexual Telepaths" has a nice familiar surfer-rock feel. Tracks like "Mysterious Masters of Preteen Autumns" and "Actual Sons" have some really hot percussion lines. Not everything else is so easy to latch on to. Still, it's interesting if not always totally engaging. The best bits of Softest Service appear briefly and then disappear like dorsal fins on a dolphin-spotting boat tour, but they're worth watching out for. - Emily Anderson, Cleveland Free Times
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Gabe Schray
Softest Service (Top/Hat)
Published: November 21, 2007 Scene Magazine
Gabe Schray spent more time at the defunct Lime Spider club than the barstools. He was bassist for local bands Houseguest, Intelligent Knives, and Genetically Yours. He also played trumpet for Six Parts Seven, Beaten Awake, and Churchbuilder. Every so often, he makes lo-fi solo records. His latest project alternates white-noise soundscapes and indie-rock instrumentals. "Flaming Homosexual Telepaths" sounds like a movie soundtrack just waiting for the perfect movie. Meanwhile, Houseguest's Steve Clements helps out on the effervescent "Fanatical Fiction," pounding drums, tapping a whiskey bottle, and skipping up and down a xylophone. And if you ever need a brass solo that's soft as velvet, Schray's got one lined up.