Last week, Josh, Toto, Yvonne, and Ryan – sometimes known as The Octopus Project – were at Lamberts in downtown Austin, talking about touring, self-promotion, and the perils of record production.
They aren’t speaking without experience. Together since 1999, and touring since 2004; through stolen vans, recording three full length albums and two EPs, and an unexpected show at Coachella after nomination by their horde of MySpace fans, their sound has matured and evolved, while maintaining its intrinsic sense of playful electronic experimentation and whimsy.
The Octopus Project offers quite a few free downloads at their website, but to start off with, here’s a collaboration between them and Black Moth Super Rainbow, another group returning to this year’s lineup.
Their collaborative album, The House of Apples and Eyeballs, is a great meshing of similar sensibilities approached from very different angles. The Octopus Project is all about euphoric chords and sweeping gestures of sound, while Black Moth Super Rainbow brings a more avant garde feel to the mix. BMSR will be at The Thirsty Nickel on Saturday, and The Octopus Project will play Emo’s on Thursday.
