Salt Peter

Ruby

Product Details

• Audio Cassette (January 9, 1996)
• Original Release Date: November 1995
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000002BEY
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)

Track Listings

1. Flippin' Tha Bird

2. Salt Water Fish

3. Heidi

4. Tiny Meat

5. Paraffin

6. Hoops

7. Pine

8. Swallow Baby

9. Whole Is Equal to the Sum of Its Parts

10. Bud

11. Carondelet

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Lesley Rankine was the singer in a pretty good rock band called Silverfish, but when she started Ruby she found her voice, adopted a lyrical stance of menacing and predatory sexuality, set the words to an approximation of the grind-and-slap of industrial music, and did something that had almost never been done in an industrial context: opened up and cooed, like a flannel-shirted Billie Holiday. Salt Peter is driven by harsh, looped sounds (every instrument is processed to bring out its nastiest edge), and the rhythms at its center are usually strangled funk beats. Even without the soundplay, the songwriting is strong, especially the club hit "Tiny Meat." Rankine's grisly images are hard to shake. --Douglas Wolk

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars something tells me I've been here before, April 4, 2003

By	Keir H. Fogarty "funkarty" (fort collins, colorado United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Salt Peter (Audio CD)

this album is known in official circles as a trip-hop album, but it really does stand alone. Lesley Rankine brings the attitude and daring of such past projects as Pigface and Silverfish, and lets it flow out in a celebration of a woman's sexuality. trip-hop--I'd say not--more like trip-punk--she doesn't have the "trained" voice typical of most trip-hop divas, but rather her singing is like the grit and core of her feeling and femininity coming out raw, and thats what makes it so alluring--if this was morcheeba's skye edwards or even portishead's beth gibbons, this album would lose 90% of its power--this is straight from the gut, but still has the beauty of femininity blooming like a flower-------the music made by Mark Walk to accompany Ms. Rankine is matched exceedingly well to her voice--this album isn't suppossed to relax you, it isn't suppossed to bathe you in melancholy--it grabs you, frightens you, slaps you with the funky rhythm that is sexuality--its an onslaught of the feminine sexuality that has been trapped, suppressed, enslaved for a lamentable portion of our recent history--the pressure has finally built up to breaking point, and is being released with explosive force--and the funny thing is...its catchy as hell, fun to listen to, equally great for the dance floor and the bedroom--it came out a long time ago, and I am surprised every time I listen to it with how fresh it sounds

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reviset Ruby!, June 27, 2005

By	P. Iannelli (MICHIGAN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Salt Peter (Audio CD)

I've owned this album since 1995, and just recently reviseted it. I am amzed at how timeless it is. The lyrics are still amazingly provocative, and the beats still move me.Maybe I'm living in the past but this could come out in 2005, and still be innovative and beautiful. If you dont buy a used copy for 1 cent , sorry for you. Underated artist , and album. It was in 1995, and is still in 2005.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The whole is equal to the sum of its parts, June 29, 2004

By	Erica Anderson (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Salt Peter (Audio CD)

I first heard of Lesley Rankine when she was in the rock band Silverfish back in the mid'90s. I was an avid fan of alternative music. After Silverfish, I read that she had a new project that was a lot different than Silverfish called Ruby. I bought "Salt Peter" when I lived a block away from this great independent record store called Atomic Records. I found a used copy one day and I decided to throw caution to the wind and bought it. It is really hard to describe Ruby's music but I guess it is a good mix of trip hop and industrial music. A lot of the songs on this cd does have that raw, industrial edge to its beats while there are elements of trip hop at the same time. "Salt Peter" is one of those albums that took me a few listens to get into but eventually I grew to love this music. There are moments throughout the cd that I was reminded of Portishead and Morcheeba but overall Ruby definitely has a sound of their own. Lesley Rankine's vocals just oozes of sexuality and certainly her lyrics like "Heidi" (one of my personal favorite songs on the cd) and "Tiny Meat". I think Ruby was way ahead of its time when trip hop and industrial music wasn't really recognized.