Modes of Transportation Vol. 1 is the debut album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 by Spookey Ruben

Spookey Ruben

Spookey Ruben is a Toronto-based musician, composer and video director. Due to his father's work as a space engineer Spookey grew up in Germany, Holland, and Washington, D.C. He spent his teenage years playing in array of hardcore and speed metal bands...

, released in 1995 (see 1995 in music

1995 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1995.- January–February :*January 18 – Jerry Garcia crashes his rented BMW into a guard rail near Mill Valley, California, USA, but is not injured in the accident....

).

Track listing

1. "Terra Magnifica" – 2:56
2. "These Days Are Old" – 4:08
3. "Crystal Cradle" – 3:32
4. "Running Away" – 4:15
5. "Welcome to the House of Food" – 6:05
6. "Wendy Mcdonald" – 3:37
7. "The Size of You" – 4:02
8. "It's Not What you do it's you" – 3:08
9. "Mars" – 5:02
10. "Leave the City" – 3:58
11. "Growing Up is Over?"
12. "Donate your Heart to a Stranger"
13. "Life Insurance"
    • I)snowman
    • II)deepsea-diver
    • III)stolen car

Review

After hearing the fairy-tale introduction, "Terry Magnifica," and the loopy yodeling in the opening minutes of "These Days Are Old," you can't help but recognize Spookey Ruben as eccentricity in its purest form. He also, however, proves himself an undeniably superb and original stylist on this debut long-player. If Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding had continued to explore the most cracked and esoteric terrain of Oranges & Lemons rather than further refining their pop/rock, or if Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith had lightened up considerably during the sessions for Seeds of Love, the results might have approached Modes of Transportation, Vol. 1. The songs range from the bizarre to the childlike to the strangely haunting, all with impeccably crafted pop hooks. There is a guilelessness throughout that is fascinating, especially when it turns dark, as on the lullaby "Crystal Cradle," where Ruben's voice lowers into Morrissey or Dave Gahan range without descending into misery or sounding threatening. Ruben's songcraft is grounded, not accidentally, in the '80s British new wave scene, from its oddly flexible melodies to its angular and brooding tone. Songs like "Welcome to the House of Food" and "Donate Your Heart to a Stranger" are sonically menacing, but the songwriter undercuts the mood with lyrics that are anything but and a relentlessly buoyant approach. At other times, Ruben breaks up the relative mellowness of songs with sound effects or collage techniques, and the artist's attraction to world beat elements ("The Size of You," "It's Not What You Do It's You") only heightens the exotic vibe of the album. It is a relentlessly artistic vision that never comes off as either pretentious or hollow because the naïve and silly qualities of the music play so enticingly off the duskier edges. As inventive as it is, the album perhaps draws a bit too freely from the XTC melodic bag of tricks, and occasionally Ruben's most experimental quirks sabotage his songs. But on the whole, Modes of Transportation, Vol. 1 is a confectionary treat. ~ Stanton Swihart, All Music Guide

Production

• Art director: Spookey Ruben
• All songs written, arranged and produced by: Spookey Ruben
• Engineers: Spookey Ruben, Gadi Foltys, Mark Plati
  Mark Plati
  Mark Plati is a New York-based musician, record producer, and songwriter, widely acclaimed for his work in the 1990s with David Bowie. An in-demand producer, Plati also has worked with Spookey Ruben, The Cure, Duncan Sheik, Hooverphonic, Robbie Williams, Joe McIntyre, and Natalie Imbruglia...
  
  , Brad 'Merlin' Nelson
• Design: Helios
• Photography: Taralea Cutler, Michael Benabib Musician Photography , Luciana Haill, Felix Wittholtz, Spookey Ruben