Black Moth Super Rainbow

The music of Black Moth Super Rainbow seems custom-fitted for a Sofia Coppola film. It has that daydreamy, otherworldly sound favored by acts like Air and Broadcast, with low-end buoyancy propelling sparkly, soaring waves of sound — sort of like Stereolab without the political agenda and driving, droney guitars. And...

By Tom Murphy

October 18, 2007

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The music of Black Moth Super Rainbow seems custom-fitted for a Sofia Coppola film. It has that daydreamy, otherworldly sound favored by acts like Air and Broadcast, with low-end buoyancy propelling sparkly, soaring waves of sound — sort of like Stereolab without the political agenda and driving, droney guitars. And live, the act employs whimsical video projections to augment its consciousness-bending music. If the Residents' evocation of Theater of the Obscure was mated with an electric Kool-Aid dance party, it might look a lot like this. Fresh off a string of dates supporting the like-minded Flaming Lips, Black Moth Super Rainbow is back out on the road with Aesop Rock and touring in support of its latest effort, the playfully exuberant Dandelion Gum. Whereas Hendrix and the Beatles pioneered mind-altering rock for the masses, Black Moth Super Rainbow makes psych-pop for the space-age bachelor pad.

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Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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