88.1 WKNC Pick of the Week 1/27

Colourmusic's eccentric new album is a hit
Chris Cioffi

Innovation and creativity are two of the elements to look for when listening to a new band, and the new Colourmusic album has both in spades. The ear candy that one can expect while listening to Colourmusic's first full length album is almost overwhelming at times.

Whimsical, charming music is a guilty pleasure of mine, and f, monday, orange, february, venus, lunatic, 1 or 13 is as whimsical and charming as they come. Their poppy sounds and beautiful song-craft make listening to this album an exciting experience. Conceptually, the band has tried to fashion songs that evoke feelings specific to an individual color.

On previous EPs, for instance, they have tried to evoke the color red, but this time around, orange is the focal point. This eccentric fact wasn't immediately obvious and came from researching the album, but on subsequent listens the orange vibe in their songs does in fact seem to come through.

One could believe that picking a single color would be limiting a band's sound, but Colourmusic is able to transcend those limitations and puts forth thirteen beautiful tracks that not only stand individually as extremely catchy tunes, but flow as a complete and solid album. When listening to this album, you will catch yourself involuntarily singing along to the catchy songs such as "Put in a Little Gas," and my personal favorite, "Winter Song."

Eccentricity is their trademark, and Colourmusic has built an engaging mythology around their blend of performance art and publicity stunts. On many occasions, the band has been known to stage the death and subsequent resuscitation of band member Nick Turner onstage.

They have also been known to hypnotize particularly appealing members of the audience in failed attempts to con them into sleeping with them.

Sometimes all four band members dress alike, grow similar beards, and even date the same girl merging themselves into one stage personality, whom they call Roy G. Biv. According to Wikipedia, another publicly-known interest of the band is going to local malls while on tour and pulling the old "dollar on the end of a string" trick.

Generally, one member will act as string-puller while the others crouch behind a potted tropical plant with their Fisher-Price PXL-2000 video camera, attempting to acquire footage for the video of one of their latest songs titled, "Don't Hollah fo That Dollah You Di-int Get".

Colourmusic has put out one of the better albums released recently. The experience is definitely worth a trip down to the local record store to check out this eccentric entry. Who knows, you might find your new favorite band!

88.1 WKNC DJ Pick of the Week is published in every Tuesday print edition of the Technician, as well as online at technicianonline.com and wknc.org.