From the colorful monster that adorns its cover to the scattered soundscapes that cover both sides, Waumiss’ 2008 self-titled LP offered plenty of enjoyment via its homespun whimsy. The duo’s psychedelic, loop-based weird-pop came shaking and clattering and shimmying out of my speakers for months after release and—from time to time—still does.
Now, the duo of Carrboros’ Clarque and Caroline Blomquist has taken its playful aesthetic and sprinted: Two newly unveiled videos—both scored by versions of the LP’s “R-Dog bumps, Tummy Fix”—syncs that song’s unsettling clatter with flashing lights and pinball-machine colors, short toy-shop horror movies of love. Glowing greens and reds shine against a living clutter-drawer or plastic figures and kistchy trinkets. The “Skootch-Babings” version alternates a flashing-eyed tiger mask and a glowing plastic skull in the oreground, while the “Evil Baby” version heads conceptual with a plastic miniature baby that transforms into a plastic miniature goat. And, uhh, back?
I can’t imagine a better-suited set of images for Waumiss, itself a perfectly orchestrated collision of quirk and color and vibrant noise. For the “Skootch-Babings” version, hit the jump. Continue reading »
Back in December, I mentioned Odessa Records—the new label from The Kinsgbury Manx member and former Touch & Go/Merge employee Paul Finn—and its exciting roster of three bands as one of the Triangle’s best musical prospects for the ‘09.
Turns out, that was totally true, too: The new records from Americans in France, Impossible Arms and The Kingsbury Manx represent as strong an introductory triptych as I could imagine for a verdant label. The Manx record arrives April 21, followed by the Arms and Americans on May 12. But you’ll likely be able to pick up copies of all three at Odessa’s first showcase, set for Thursday, April 9, at 9:30 p.m. at Cat’s Cradle. The free show doesn’t include Spider Bags, the destructo-country band with a single due on Odessa this summer. Take the jump for free mp3s from the first three Odessa acts, including “Crest,” an exclusive tune from The Kingsbury Manx. Continue reading »
