Black Moth Super Rainbow

Black Moth Super Rainbow: Now that's a mouthful. Not only does the name resonate like a confusingly translated Japanese cartoon, but also it conjures up elements of science fiction, mythology, and, most of all, sensory saturation. It's not unlike a midnight walk through Tokyo's manic, multimedia freak-out Shibuya district. In turn, Black Moth Super Rainbow's retro-futurist sonic wash mirrors the Japanese tendency to fetishize the past while maintaining a propulsive exploration of the future.

Sonically BMSR fits neatly into the same musical niche as French electropioneers Air and former collaborators the Octopus Project. Fuzzed-out vintage synth sounds, manic break-beat drum patterns, and heavily vocodered vocals compose the majority of the band's palette. It sounds like the soundtrack to a Sofia Coppola-directed, rotoscoped adaptation of a Haruki Murakami novel. For a taste, check out "Sun Lips," from the recently released Dandelion Gum. Its burbling synths, static-electricity cymbal crashes, and A.I. vocals summon the fantastical promise of the past and the future, all wrapped up in a Technicolor package.