Over the course of the last couple years and two albums (plus a stunning collaboration with the Octopus Project in 2006 on The House of Apples and Eyeballs), Black Moth Super Rainbow has constructed a unique and impressive sound that takes the best elements of bedroom echno, DayGlo indie pop, and anything-goes maximum pop and rolls them up into a glittering ball of melody and invention. Most all of their songs are built on a tipsy foundation of lo-fi drums, bass, and the occasional guitar, then plastered over by all manner of tinny junk-shop synths and topped by vocals fed through the cheapest sounding vocoder on earth. Dandelion Gum is the perfection of that sound; each song is a perfectly crafted chunk of organic synth pop insanity. Sometimes a group with such an interesting and individual sound skimps on the actual songs, but BMSR doesn't, as tracks like "Roller Disco," "The Afternoon Turns Pink," "Wall of Gum," and "Spinning Cotton Candy in a Shack Made of Shingles" have the kind of child-like melodies that will nag you gleefully for days. Even when the melodies don't grab you, something about the song will, whether it's the dub-like shifting of tones or the sheer joy the band transmits through the speakers. While for the most part the album lives up to the title and exudes sweet and sticky happiness, some melancholy creeps in on songs like the very Air-y "Sun Lips" or the slightly creepy "Lost, Picking Flowers in the Woods." Apparently the album is based on a concept of candy-making witches who inhabit a forest and lure hapless locals to their doom with their sweets, so it works to have a well-rounded, fully realized, and varied batch of songs to fit the concept. As awesome as it would be to have a full-length album of all toothache-inducing sweetness and light, it might get tired after a while. And your teeth might fall out too. How could you chew your Dandelion Gum then?
This was another group I found through eMusic recommendations. If you relish in the hazy memory of the first time you heard "Kelly Watch the Stars" or the whole _Premiers Symptomes_ album, you should very much enjoy this record. It also reminds me of the first fantastic Grandaddy album (one of my desert island records, for sure, _Under the Western Freeway_).Not to say that the music is derivati...
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I totally enjoyed this day-glo psych, synth-and-vocoder CD...but found it very difficult write about adequately. Here's me thrashing through an attempt at describing Dandelion Gum in PopMatters today, or skip to the end where there's an MP3 of "Sun Lips"."Trippy. Lysergic. Acid-washed. These are the kinds of words that naturally come to mind when you listen to Dandelion Gum, the exuberantly ...
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I think the band's name speaks for itself, but if I may expound for a moment... these guys are making some wicked trippy lovely mellow summertime icetea-sippin' jam that is one big part AIR (circa Virgin Suicides), one part Eno and a splash of 60s French pop. It's weird and it's wonderful!their myspace
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one last preview song from our upcoming dandelion gum record – out april 17 2007
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another preview song from our upcoming dandelion gum record – out april 17 2007
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the first preview song from our upcoming dandelion gum record - out april 17 2007
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I totally enjoyed this day-glo psych, synth-and-vocoder CD...but found it very difficult write about adequately. Here's me thrashing through an attempt at describing Dandelion Gum in PopMatters today, or skip to the end where there's an MP3 of "Sun Lips"."Trippy. Lysergic. Acid-washed. These are the kinds of words that naturally come to mind when you listen to Dandelion Gum, the exuberantly ...
More >
Black Moth Super Rainbow is an experimental band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Their music contains elements of psychedelia, folk, electronica, and pop. Their distinctive sound is characterized by analog electronic instruments including the vocoder, Rhodes piano, and Novatron. The band formed in 2002, and has existed in its current five-member lineup since 2003. Little is known about the band ...
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This was another group I found through eMusic recommendations. If you relish in the hazy memory of the first time you heard "Kelly Watch the Stars" or the whole _Premiers Symptomes_ album, you should very much enjoy this record. It also reminds me of the first fantastic Grandaddy album (one of my desert island records, for sure, _Under the Western Freeway_).Not to say that the music is derivati...
More >
I think the band's name speaks for itself, but if I may expound for a moment... these guys are making some wicked trippy lovely mellow summertime icetea-sippin' jam that is one big part AIR (circa Virgin Suicides), one part Eno and a splash of 60s French pop. It's weird and it's wonderful!their myspace
More >
I once said that Jazz was the sharp object(the paint thinner, the razor blade, the putty knife) with which I scraped off the layers of new music, old music, silly music, stupid music that I constantly indulged myself in and/or was forced to listen to. I described it as if I were in a room.... this room was my life... and I painted it with colors and used wallpaper on occasion. The colors an...
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My favourite new band. OK so they aren't new. just new to me. Since I happened upon them I have been mildly obsessed.This is a beautiful song with a rather surreal video. Everyone loves a bit of taxidermy? right?
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I have no idea who Vietnam and Black Angels are. I went to see my favorite band in Pittsburgh, Black Moth Super Rainbow. The first thing I noticed was the change of setup. Everything was much higher up. Only Tobbaco was on the floor.Again I managed to sneak my way up to the front. It helps when you're short. The visuals were the same they had used at the last Pittsburgh show. I was tempted to b...
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the first preview song from our upcoming dandelion gum record - out april 17 2007
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another preview song from our upcoming dandelion gum record – out april 17 2007
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one last preview song from our upcoming dandelion gum record – out april 17 2007
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As their name implies, Black Moth Super Rainbow are... a bit out there. Enjoy.
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 "Dandelion Gum")
