Re-visiting Ocean Rainbow with Jim Rao of Orange Cake Mix
You’ve probably figured out by now that _____ mood. mixtapes reliably include a track or two from the 90s. Usually these are songs that I remember from my college radio days at WUNH in Durham, New Hampshire in the USA. Sometimes they are songs I am discovering for the first time even though they were by bands that I listened to back then. Looking back, it was easy to get caught up in the things that your friends had. Now I realize how nice it is to devote more attention to these old-ish things with your own more mature ears.
There’s also the fact that some music simply never made it to where you were back then. If you are a pre-internetling, you know this well.
It’s through one of these re-discovery rabbit holes that the lo-fi indie pop of Orange Cake Mix makes its way into this month’s episode of _____ mood. As you’ll hear me say on tape, episode 8 is a late-90s sandwich of sorts, with two wonderful layers of Orange Cake Mix.
I can’t remember exactly what prompted me to check in on Orange Cake Mix lately, but my search started a few months ago and brought me to the 1998 album Ocean Rainbow via Bandcamp, Discogs, some random indie music blogs still hanging on out there and Jim Rao himself. I had never heard Ocean Rainbow before and one song really stood out to me - “Introversion”. I knew immediately I wanted to include it on a mixtape, so I set out to acquire a copy of it.
After a few more listens of the album I realized that the first and last songs of Ocean Rainbow are essentially the same, but one is instrumental and the other has lyrics. Now I was even more motivated to find a copy of this Ocean Rainbow out in the wild. But, what’s this you say, almighty Discogs? Ocean Rainbow is from JAPAN and I can have it for an obscene amount of money?
Surely I can get a digital copy on Bandcamp. Right?
Hello,
I’d like to ask if there’s any chance of buying Ocean Rainbow from you? Or even just a few tracks from the album?
Thanks!
Wendy
Re: Ocean Rainbow
You can hear it on Spotify or most streaming. I think I sold the last extra copy on ebay.
Last copy? eBay?!
There’s no way I can let this go now. Must. Get. Ocean. Rainbow. It’s now time to consult a trusted source on 90s musical matters like this, Sonixcursions:
"Even with all of my accumulated OCM releases over 25 years, I've never even heard of Ocean Rainbow! If ever there was a candidate for a massive deep-dive - or better yet, a large box set - it's Mr. Rao. One could even imagine it packaged in a faux Easy Bake Oven!"
Long story only slightly shorter, I succeeded in getting a copy of Ocean Rainbow and wow, it is a beautiful thing in so many ways. I mean, an Orange Cake Mix box set disguised as a limited edition Easy Bake Oven would be incredibly beautiful too, but I guess Ryan and I need to work on that idea a bit more.
In going through Jim’s songs, old and new, I realize how many include reference to light or the absence of it. There is the title Ocean Rainbow itself and the story behind the title, which you’ll find on the liner notes for the CD. The word “light” appears in many of his song titles, but also through his lyrical expressions of the light and darkness of nature, relationships and the self.
“Light a Candle”
"Can You Light a Candle For a Friend"
“Waiting for Another Light (To Shine on Me)”
“When the Sun Shines Down on the Town You Leave Behind”
And, although it doesn’t literally reference light, a line that always makes me laugh and feel lighter with the weird sense of relief that someone else could feel this way and express it, is from the song “When I Needed You Most”:
“I’d rather kiss a frozen piece of wood. Memories mean nothing when I’m dead.”
Me too, Jim. Me too.
“Introversion” from Ocean Rainbow is my favorite variety of Orange Cake Mix. It’s the buzzy guitar and introspective lyrics, trying to make sense of things, seeing through people or yourself and putting words to that often unkind process.
Two other two tracks from Ocean Rainbow that I find special, “Valentine Love Letter” and “Broken Valentine” Jim explains more about below.
“River of Glass” the second OCM song included in episode 8 of _____ mood. has a similar vibe to “Introversion” even though it was released a year later on the album Pink Grapefruit.
A perusal through the OCM Bandcamp reassures that Jim has continued to think, write and sing about light in many ways. Seems silly to say, but if you’re an OCM fan perhaps you’ll get what I mean: Jim Rao is Orange Cake Mix and Orange Cake Mix is Jim Rao... and yes, Jim, people actually like Orange Cake Mix.
Would you by any chance be interested to comment on the song "Introversion"? Was it written with someone particular in mind? This song sounds so then and so now to me, if that can make any sense at all. It feels weary and honest, like you’re taking a risk that is necessary to connect with someone somehow.
"Introversion" was just an abstract song, sort of a song to myself. I liked the way the guitar sounded, sort of a slight shoegaze influence.
The two songs that bookend the album Ocean Rainbow - was there a reason to do that? Were they written to complement each other?
“Valentine Love Letter” was a love letter to my wife Ritsuko. She was living in Japan at the time, so I recorded that with a spoken word part. But it sounded sort of corny, so I erased it. Just kept it as a nice instrumental. But when I was putting the song sequence together, I thought it would be nice to add a vocal to that Valentine song because there was a track open also, and it would be cool to have it like that. Bookending the album like that.
So I just sang it, one take as usual. Has a melancholy feel, about growing older, becoming distant from friends, etc. So I called it “Broken Valentine”.
Wow, that's cool to know people actually like Orange Cake Mix!
People always loved Orange Cake Mix, Jim - and they still do!
It's been great re-visiting some bands and music from that time period. Ocean Rainbow is not an album I remember back in the day, but I do remember the Darla Bliss Out volume you did. It's nice to go back and give some time to things that were there but maybe you skipped over. You were quite prolific though! Do you still write and record?
Yeah, unfortunately life has sort of chewed me up and spit me out ... always hoped maybe a few of my songs would make it in a movie or commercial whatever. Never happened.
I don't record anymore, not since around 2020. My 4-track studio broke, effects unit broke. Sold most of my master cassettes as used blanks on eBay. Sold a few instruments on eBay. Actually, I sold some old OCM cassette demos / releases and they sold for $40 or more! That was back in 2017, but yeah, I did notice there are some OCM collectors out there. Was a nice ego boost, plus I needed the money.
Have a lot of new songs written, just not recorded yet. Just don't have the financial freedom to be an artist. It's complicated.
I read elsewhere that Ocean Rainbow was a Japan-only release, which probably explains why I never saw it at my college radio station. I also read that it was a deal you came to as a result of a connection with Elefant Records, which had released something else of yours. Is that correct?
Yes, Ocean Rainbow was Japan only, thanks to my wife. Long, long story.
Elefant licensed Blue Island Sound to Tokuma for like five thousand? It had like three bonus tracks, I think. Elefant never paid me. I had to ask again and again. He gave me 100 copies of each Elefant CD, I think. And $900 bucks. Other people told me he was a rip off, but whatever. He released my albums and no one else would until I met Darla and Blackbean. So I didn't care. It's just business.
So ANYWAY, instead I went direct to Tokuma when I was in Japan and my wife translated to tell Ogihara I'd rather do an exclusive to Japan. So Tokuma paid me a $3,000 advance! I didn't get 100 CDs, maybe 20 or 30? So yeah, my wife let the label know I'd rather release it in Japan, otherwise I would have gotten ZERO from Elefant.
I acquired the Ocean Rainbow CD from someone in Germany. Wow, what a fine looking CD with the embossed paper and liner notes, plus the lyrics in Japanese and English! And each of the two photos of the cats fit in the cut-out of the cover, you just have to flip the sheet!
Yeah they did a nice job on that artwork.
You mentioned, and I've read elsewhere, that you thought it would be great to have your music in film or commercials. Do you have a type of film or scenario in mind for a certain song?
At this point, always hoping my songs will be used in a film. Usually an artist has to die first. Ten years from now my songs will be used in a car commercial, but I'll be dead and gone.
Anything that you are particularly enjoying listening to lately? If you could release a split 7 inch with anyone right now, what song of yours would it be and who would the other and be???
I would do a split 7" with that band Drugdealer or Mild High Club, maybe. I've been listening to Drugdealer lately. Radio Dept., Mild High Club, Moon Duo, Astral Drive. Mostly streaming music. A handful of others.
Thanks to Jim for these short stories and memories. And thanks to Jim’s wife Ritsuko for having made that connection in Japan long ago.
It would be a real treat to hear something new from OCM on this side of the pandemic, but until then, you can find an incredible collection of Orange Cake Mix songs, some previously unreleased, on OCM’s Bandcamp page.