Rainbow Arabia
Inspired by the purchase of a Lebanese synthesizer playing microtonal scales and lo-fi Eastern drum patterns, Rainbow Arabia began a escapist diversion from Danny and Tiffany Preston's day jobs. The demos they recorded, which were written and put to tape in a matter of a days, became their debut, The Basta. Barely existing for only a few months, the married couple were picked out of the ether by NYC sonic alchemists/kindred spirits Gang Gang Dance to support them on a cross-continental tour in 2008. Once they got back (and to their surprise) they quickly found themselves a legitimate act with acclaim from PITCHFORK, THE FADER, XLR8R, NME, in addition to a word-of-mouth groundswell for their fresh, contemporary East meets West take on the Sublime Frequencies catalog that inspired them so much in the first place.
With a penchant for global pop and psychedelic tribal beats, Rainbow Arabia caught ears across the pond releasing the "Omar K" seven-inch on UK's Merok Records (Crystal Castles, Teengirl Fantasy) leading to their first European tour in 2009. Shortly after they released their follow-up digging deeper for inspiration from worldly found sounds, the Los Angeles-based duo's follow-up EP, Kabukimono, expanded the color palette of their Middle Eastern-tinged "fourth world" pop with darker industrial dancehall and comfortably sitting alongside brighter Caribbean and African flavors.
Not interested in merely musical/cultural tourism, the Prestons shifted their focus outward in writing their first full-length album Boys And Diamonds. The inspiration that they found landed squarely in between future-thinking contemporary club music (techno, hip-hop, dubstep) and the organic globe-trekking dance music of the last century (reggae, ragas, gamelan) they've been known to draw from. Add in an affection for the 80s synth-pop they grew up on and the gothic influences informing Tiffany's teenage years specifically (Love and Rockets, OMD, Christian Death), and you have an interesting recipe that is utterly unclassifiable as it is repeatedly listenable.
"Kaleidoscopic, intoxicated dance music made out of dervish rhythms, snakish melodica, and percussion procured from the labyrinthine corridors of some smoky souk." - Guardian UK
"Creating the kind of noise you could imagine the DFA might make had they ever decided to throw a party in the underground ruins of Egypt, the ghosts of the Pyramids shaken into action by the sinuous rhythms and earth quaking basslines." - 20JazzFunkGreats
