Music Blogs

Call Black Moth Super Rainbow an electronic/psychedelic rocking combo, but forget any notions of electro clash, disco or techno. This five piece group from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (they actually live in the PA forest), play conventional instruments, not laptops. Their dripping color collages seem to include Moog, Mellotron, and what sounds like processed live drums.

BMSR refuse to reveal their identities, instead relying on crazy aliases. From their website: "Led by Tobacco (Vox), who does most of the writing and production, the band also consists of Power Pill Fist (bass and atari), Father Hummingbird (rhodes and monosynth), The Seven Fields Of Aphelion (monosynth), and Iffernaut (drums)."

BMSR's third album, Dandelion Gum (Graveface), recalls classic electronic tone epics like Morton Subotnick's seminal Silver Apples of the Moon, bits of The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour, Boards Of Canada's Music Has the Right To Children, and Vocoder tricks as imprinted by Kraftwerk's Ralf and Florian. Dandelion Gum is a "loosely based concept record about witches who make candy in the forest."  What separates the album from a thousand poorly composed and realized efforts that claim an electronic connection is BMSR's ability to write real songs, with valuable melodic hooks. On first listen, you're taken by the group's fascination with whirring, ancient synth sounds, but that trick soon fades as the song's strengths become the main focus.  Fans of trendoid bands like Digitalism or Daft Punk may not appreciate the cut and paste, organic flow approach of BMSR. There is nothing slick, songs move slowly, songs even sound distinct from one another. There is no Pro Tools synthetic slap to the skull, no heavy synthesis to establish a contemporary connection. Dandelion Gum is timeless, its origin could be 2007 or 1967. It's like stumbling on a lost cache of old reel to reel tapes, boxes unmarked, identities unknown. That the group hails from the US and not the UK is all the more remarkable.

Dandelion Gum is both mind warp electronic treatise and candy gooey good pop. Ingest and digest what is good for you.

Black Moth Super Rainbow: "Sun Lips"  (MP3, 3:20)

Back to Brazil: Kevin Welch and Boca do Rio hail from San Francisco, but their soul belongs to Brazil. Their debut recording, on Welch's Vagabundo label, makes no claim to be the real Brazilian thing. Its groove delivery is decidedly American, and the album's vocals lack any real Portuguese inflection. But like the millions who have visited Rio de Janeiro, Boca do Rio claims a Brazilian heritage of the heart. Their love of samba and its major practitioners, Jorge Ben, Wilson Simonal, Gilberto Gil, Edison Machado, Bossa Tres and Trio Mocoto, is obvious.

Boca do Rio includes keyboardist Jacob Aginsky, native Brazilian percussionist Alex Calatayud, saxophonist Larry De La Cruz, and drummer Dan Foltz.

The group has been merging jazz improvisation with Brazilian themes since the early '00s, picking up the threads of Welch's earlier world styled group, Vivendo de Pão.  Consequently, though Brazilian samba is the album's major currency, Boca do Rio also draws on spices and scents from other cultures, as well.

A classic case of BDR's pure samba obsession is "My Samba," marked by slippery electric bass, rumbling percussion and Welch's sassy delivery. "Time Alone" is sweet and soulful enough to be a lost tune from Los Lonely Boys. But instead of a rock strut, the tune simmers over a pure baiao groove.  "Sweet Seed" explores acoustic instruments and lush vocal harmonies, recalling Mario Castro Neves' classic "Candomble" (most recently heard on Gilles Peterson's excellent Gilles Peterson in Brazil, a must have Brazilian compilation featuring Jorge Ben, Golden Boys,  Djavan, Quarteto Em Cy, and Sergio Mendes, among others). "Pra Bahia" cooks with Rhodes piano, more soul melting harmonies, and a gorgeous Latin groove. Winter's coming, let Boca do Rio warm your cockles.