The Round Table

I have no idea what the child of Edgar Allen Poe and Dr. Frank N. Furter would look like, but I’m guessing it wouldn’t be as pretty as April Smith and the Great Picture Show sound. Luckily, Tim Curry and Poe are only two of the arrows in the April Smith’s quiver. Other influences include Wes Anderson, PJ Harvey, Tom Waits and Electric Light Orchestra.

As you might imagine, April Smith and the Great Picture Show are a bit hard to place. Sultry horns, dancing pianos and the sense that she wouldn’t be out of place in a 1940′s dance hall are just a few of the things that come to mind. Or they do for me – what do you think?

April Smith and the Great Picture Show – “Colors”

Luckily, we don’t have to rely on my questionable ability to name genres. April Smith was kind enough to give us her own thoughts on genre, sinking ships and The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Read our interview with April after the jump.

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As a band whose first album contained the song of the iPhone campaign, folksy outfit Orba Squara, aka Mitch Davis & co, have remained decidedly grounded –literally. According to the band’s unique side-scrolling website:

To celebrate the release of the new album we decided to get on a bus and take a 10 day journey cross-country to play some new music, meet some new people and, along the way, see what we’ve been missing.

From there what unfolds (er, unscrolls?) is a refreshingly noncommercial, well executed modern masterpiece in collage. Reportedly measuring over 400 feet long (!), the site serves as an earnest scrapbook that is at times poignant, funny, obvious, and endearing –all the while clips from The Trouble With Flying provide the soundtrack. The whole thing feels like a lighthearted Wes Anderson film, at the very least the title card and diorama bits from those films. The album is solid, too, filled with straightforward baroque/folk pop (ba-folk pop?) reminiscent of The Boy Least Likely To. Check out the title track (MPfree!) and let us know what you think. The Trouble With Flying out June 23rd.

Orba Squara – “The Trouble With Flying” MP3

There’s more Orba Squara behind the cut! Listen to their excellent cover of “Poker Face” (originally performed by Round Table fave bane Lady Gaga), PLUS watch the original iPhone commercial featuring “Perfect Timing (This Morning)” from debut album Sunshyness.

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