Introduction to our BOTW: Rainbow Arabia

Forming from the ashes of Future Pigeon- the LA punk/dub band well known for playing Elliot Smith’s memorial concert, as well as their almost cult following during the 1990′s- and Wiskey Biscuit, Rainbow Arabia are husband and wife Danny and Tiffany Preston, who combine dance pop with the obscurer side of the “world music” spectrum. Think Animal Collective or Crystal Castles playing a DJ set in a scene from Disney’s Aladdin. The ‘Rainbow’ part of the band’s name speaks volumes about their kaleidoscopic sound.

Although “eclectic” is more often than not just a buzz word to try and make a band’s music sound more diverse in terms of influences than it really is, it’s obvious with Rainbow Arabia’s newest offering, ‘Boys and Diamonds’, that a wealth of music from all over the world has been digested to inform their sound. After a string of releases on other labels- 2008′s EP ‘The Basta’, and in 2009 the mini-album, ‘Kabukimono’- Rainbow Arabia signed to Kompakt to rleease their new album on the same label as such luminaries as The Orb, Walls and The Field; their blend of dreamy Middle-Eastern infused dance music couldn’t sit in better company.

-Tim Robins