Omar K

I heard this amazing sound while shopping at Amoeba the other day. Blaring over the loudspeakers was something that sounded like Siouxsie And The Banshees circa Juju being played in the middle of a noisy, bustling middle-eastern market. There were synths, sharp-edged guitars, female vocals, lots of eastern instruments, and a hot beat. I was transfixed!

Needless to say, I quickly made for the information counter to find out that I was listening to The Basta, the first EP from LA-based husband and wife duo Rainbow Arabia. I bought the EP on the spot and can't stop listening to it. It reminds me a bit of M.I.A. or Santogold (as it would) but it seems to have a bit more of a punk edge to it that I like. A lot.

I have since learned that they're recording their first album for release in Spring '09, so I'm looking forward to that. They were also recently featured on Perfect As Cats, one of the Cure tributes I wrote about last March. I'm going to have to hunt this down because hearing them cover "Six Different Ways" (from The Cure's eastern-tinged The Head On The Door) could be very cool indeed.

The folks at Amoeba followed this up with...ZZ Top. Ugh.

Listen:

Rainbow Arabia - Omar K