Song of the Day: Dr. Onionskin - FJR

By in News, Song of The Day | 4 Comments

Dr. Onionskin has a long and somewhat interesting history. Born Shane Ries, he had a brief career in the 80s in mod and power pop bands (a fact I only recently discovered), but first came into CCM prominence with the oddly effective project Hymn Jim’s Gospel Gems (1995), which fused traditional hymns with dance music. He re-branded a year later as Dr. Onionskin and changed styles to acid jazz, releasing the quirky, instrumental and semi-brilliant Split Pea Soup.

Then in 1996 he changed styles again, though still building on jazz-electronica fusions, and emerged with Bully and oh my gosh, what a record! Even for people not widely into electronica, the album was incredibly well-received and made it to many of the year’s “best of” lists. I bought a cassette release of the album and it very rarely left my tape player for the better part of 2 years.

Being mostly instrumental, ‘Christian’ electronica is rarely known for faith statements or bold lyrics, but there are hints here and there on Bully. And of course in a subculture known for heavy drug use, it was easy for believers to stand out simply by not celebrating the cultural norms associated with the genre.

Ries released a handful of other albums and singles well into the early 90s and has also recorded under the pseudonym of Alfa One Seven.

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Silent Music
Guest
March 2, 2023 1:21 pm

Enjoying this track. I heard about Dr. Onionskin only a few months ago, searching for a Cowboys & Monsters CD on eBay, I believe.

Silent Music
Guest
March 10, 2023 7:22 pm
Reply to  Loyd Harp

Oh cool, no way haha! I bought it from callandresponserecs. 🙂

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