|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CD
|
|
TNP 025CD
|
Arriving three years since their mesmerizing new age-tinted synth-pop offering F.M. Sushi (TNP 008CD/LP, 2013) Rainbow Arabia's third full-length album L.A. Heartbreak wades through familiar neon waters but even more deliberately. Rainbow Arabia keep the focus on what distinguishes them from the sea of electronic pop acts out there, Danny Preston's adventurously exquisite arrangements, sturdy songcraft, and Tiffany Preston's potent vocal delivery. L.A. Heartbreak's dreamy, melodic machine pop takes cues from Tangerine Dream, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Giorgio Moroder, Jan Hammer - confidently painting with bolder strokes with leaner, brighter production and infectious hooks evoking '80s radio pop that skew more towards Madonna and Cyndi Lauper rather than darker post-punk influences referenced on Rainbow Arabia's earlier albums. Recorded at home in Los Angeles, L.A. Heartbreak was born out of a tumultuous time for the duo with lyrical themes waxing on failing relationships, mortality, and change. In the three years since F.M. Sushi, the couple have been co-running the left-field leaning electronic label Time No Place, while slowly piecing together songs for their third album, inspired by the diverse selection of electronic and dance music scenes in Los Angeles they are ingrained in. However, after many arduous months of recording, further exacerbating the fracture in their musical partnership and marriage, that album was scrapped. They opted to instead start new and record something more direct and honest. The resulting nine songs on L.A. Heartbreak benefit from the duo's best instincts. By deciding to write and record the album quickly, a sense of immediacy shines within this vital collection of prismatic synth-pop.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
TNP 008CD
|
This is the follow-up to Rainbow Arabia's critically-acclaimed debut LP on Kompakt, Boys and Diamonds (KOMP 088CD/KOM 217LP). Exploring a strange ecosystem balanced with equal parts tech-noir and Adriatic light, Rainbow Arabia land on a new world with their second full-length album FM Sushi. Vaporous FM-synthesized melodies streak across the planet's neon sky, disintegrating into its plush, hypnotic atmospheres. Two musical vectors simultaneously approach 1985 and 2025, intersecting briefly in the present. Their Weirding Modules* are armed with sounds reminiscent of Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Tangerine Dream, Vince Clark, and Jan Hammer. Rainbow Arabia prepare for a war of wavelengths where amplitude and timbre arrive at a sunset-lit shore, emerging from a white Ferrari, armed to the teeth, and prepared for action of Miami Vice magnitude. Tiffany's mercurial pop vocals float into a cavernous section of the subconscious, draped with plush tapestries of sound. With the addition of Dylan Ryan (Icy Demons, Cursive, Herculaneum, Michael Columbia), they have another force contributing to the evolution of their sound. Ryan's drive on tracks like "River's Edge" and "Three Moons" possesses a spellbinding motion where the listener is engaged by the rhythm; pushed, pulled, and pleased by cymbals, dropped into the mix like stones skipping over a still, mirror-like lake with treated delicate ambience. With its choir-like synths, analog sequencing and new age saxophone solos, FM Sushi is determined to set a crystalline path into a future filled with colors that mankind has named only in dream. *The Weirding Module is a sonic beam weapon that translates certain specific sounds into attacks of varying potency. The sounds that the device translates into attacks are presented as being somewhat rare.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
TNP 008LP
|
LP version. This is the follow-up to Rainbow Arabia's critically-acclaimed debut LP on Kompakt, Boys and Diamonds (KOMP 088CD/KOM 217LP). Exploring a strange ecosystem balanced with equal parts tech-noir and Adriatic light, Rainbow Arabia land on a new world with their second full-length album FM Sushi. Vaporous FM-synthesized melodies streak across the planet's neon sky, disintegrating into its plush, hypnotic atmospheres. Two musical vectors simultaneously approach 1985 and 2025, intersecting briefly in the present. Their Weirding Modules* are armed with sounds reminiscent of Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Tangerine Dream, Vince Clark, and Jan Hammer. Rainbow Arabia prepare for a war of wavelengths where amplitude and timbre arrive at a sunset-lit shore, emerging from a white Ferrari, armed to the teeth, and prepared for action of Miami Vice magnitude. Tiffany's mercurial pop vocals float into a cavernous section of the subconscious, draped with plush tapestries of sound. With the addition of Dylan Ryan (Icy Demons, Cursive, Herculaneum, Michael Columbia), they have another force contributing to the evolution of their sound. Ryan's drive on tracks like "River's Edge" and "Three Moons" possesses a spellbinding motion where the listener is engaged by the rhythm; pushed, pulled, and pleased by cymbals, dropped into the mix like stones skipping over a still, mirror-like lake with treated delicate ambience. With its choir-like synths, analog sequencing and new age saxophone solos, FM Sushi is determined to set a crystalline path into a future filled with colors that mankind has named only in dream. *The Weirding Module is a sonic beam weapon that translates certain specific sounds into attacks of varying potency. The sounds that the device translates into attacks are presented as being somewhat rare.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
7"
|
|
KOM 243EP
|
The husband and wife duo Rainbow Arabia released the genre-defying album Boys And Diamonds (KOMP 088CD/KOM 217LP), which went on to become one of Kompakt's most acclaimed releases. In honor of their exhaustive tour throughout the U.S. and Europe, here is another limited edition 7" for the fans and collectors. The title track combines the sway of '80s pop with the raw power of cumbia and ethno-dance. Hardmix are a favorite of the band and he remixes the track into shapeshifting techno bliss.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
KOMP 088CD
|
This is the debut full-length album by Rainbow Arabia. Averse to any easy classification, Rainbow Arabia's continent-trekking, kaleidoscope pop is rooted in no particular time or place, employing modern technological processes to an array of musical cultures and eras. The Los Angeles duo began with the purchase of a Lebanese Casio that played microtonal scales and Eastern beats, with which they quickly recorded their propulsive first EP, The Basta, synthesizing bossa nova and industrial post-punk with heavy Middle Eastern vibes. Digging deeper for inspiration from the worldly found sounds of Sublime Frequencies compilations, their follow-up EP, Kabukimono, expanded the color palette of their "fourth world" pop with dark, Arabic disco-dancehall jams sitting alongside sunnier moments with Caribbean and African flourishes. Rather than restricting themselves to the expanse and musical artifacts of Earth alone, Danny and Tiffany Preston recalibrate their focus, aiming their sights upwards into outer space. Nearly a year in the making, Boys And Diamonds is a stunning journey that not only marries East with West but also the past with the future. Immediately, you can hear some familiar elements found in their previous releases: Danny's asymmetrical tribal beats and lysergic pads, Tiffany's labyrinthine fretwork and tick-tock vocal swagger. But you'll also notice: the hooks are stickier and more confident, the rhythms are sturdier, and the production is lusher, even astral, giving the songs more space to breathe. Boys And Diamonds is unmistakably a pop album but also one that comfortably fits in with Kompakt's long-standing lineage of genre-refracting releases. You will be hard-pressed to find another record that cohesively brings to mind Siouxsie rubbing elbows with Shabba Ranks, Giorgio Moroder sipping daiquiris in Bali, Desmond Dekker envisioned through skittering footwork, Tom Tom Club sitting in with Congotronics, even early Madonna produced by Chris and Cosey. Unlikely as all of that sounds, Rainbow Arabia makes it sound easy. Drummer/producer extraordinaire Butchy Fuego (Pit Er Pat, Boredoms, MIA) contributes arrangements and beats in places, and Icy Demons' Dylan Ryan plays on the percussion-heavy island shuffle "Nothin Gonna Be Undone." The album was mixed at the wonderful Hobby Shop studios in L.A. by Mudrock, who also adds some final production touches on the record.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP+CD
|
|
KOM 217LP
|
LP version with CD, housed in a striking full-color gatefold sleeve.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
7"
|
|
KOM 225EP
|
Kompakt presents the first single from Rainbow Arabia's Boys And Diamonds (KOMP 088CD/KOM 217LP). "Without You" catapults their addictive jams into a new stratosphere of pop music. Tiffany Preston's vocals cry out about loneliness with an undeniable passion that reflects Siouxsie Sioux's finest; however, Tiffany delivers a sincerely unique talent of her own. Cascading congos meet with beaming percussion and impulsive melodies that scream dancefloor drive. The B-side features an alternative version that is just as provoking and inspiring. Hand-numbered limited edition of 500.
|
|
|
|