Black Moth Super Rainbow | Eating Us

Graveface (2009)
By MARTIN PAVLINIC  |  May 27, 2009
3.0 3.0 Stars

090522_bmsr_main2

As a band trading in a specific and idiosyncratic brand of psychedelic, pastoral synth-porn, Black Moth Super Rainbow don't seem to produce records so much as additional views into a doped-up, Katamari-like world. Eating Us doesn't do anything tremendously different from their previous albums.

If you're looking for more three-to-five-minute excerpts from a seemingly endless supply of mid-tempo funk with gorgeous synth, Mellotron, and fuzzy bass, topped off with vocoded vocals, this is the perfect (and probably only) place for you. BMSR have, however, gone for extra credit and studied up on their Free Design and David Axelrod; they may even have taken more quaaludes.

"Fields Are Breathing" and "Smile the Day After Today" clear off most of the dense oscillators and filters for acoustic guitars and fake strings, sass the tempo a bit, and let the sunshine pop in. Still, a few cinematic departures aside, it's not long before the knobs start turning again and the drums get breakin', just like old times. Most of these tracks would sound at home on their 2007 Dandelion Gum, but that just means the band have grown comfortable and fluent in their own language. Their job is to bring heaps of audio Play-Doh for us to mash around in our heads — and they're good at their job.

Related: Photos: Black Moth Super Rainbow at ICA, Black Moth Super Rainbow | Cobra Juicy, Herbie Hancock, et al., More more >
  Topics: CD Reviews , David Axelrod, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Black Moth Super Rainbow,  More more >
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