Spawned from the vernal heat of the Florida swamps amidst swirling patterns of pine orchards and pre-Columbian artifacts, Prince Rama was whispered into the ears of Taraka Larson, Nimai Larson, and Michael Collins in the summer of 2007 by the clanging of prayer bells and goat-skin drums. They left the Hare Krishna farm where they were staying to go to art school and form a creative nucleus in Boston. There, their engaging and often unpredictable ritualistic live shows attracted a rapid cult following, replete with collective chants, werewolf summonings, Sanskrit invocations, and the distribution of various handmade percussion to members of the audience.

In a short time, the trio was picked up by British-based label, Cosmos Recordings who released their first collection of lo-fi bedroom recordings as Threshold Dances and flew them out to the UK to tour and record the cinematically orchestrated Zetland. At this time, Taraka also began working for the controversial visionary artist Paul Laffoley and began composing Architecture of Utopia inspired by his paintings, an album that explores mapping utopic space via the mandalic architecture of the vinyl record. In spring 2009 the group departed from Boston and went on a series of extensive tours across the US and Europe, culminating in a tragic car robbery in which all their equipment got stolen. Thanks to an overwhelming outpouring from friends, family, and fans, the group was catapulted to rebuild and reinvent themselves from the ground up to make a unique new sound surcharged with a renewed sense of awe, gratitude, and urgency. The trio moved to Brooklyn, and with their new instruments wrote and recorded Shadow Temple, produced with the help of Dave (Avey Tare) and Josh (Deakin) of Animal Collective for release on Paw Tracks in August 2010.


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Discography:
-'New Raytheonport' LP (shdwply)
-'Zontag' 7" (Sacred Bones)
-'Anhedonic Man' 7" (Hell Yes!)
-'Opens: WFMU Session' Cassette (Captured Tracks)
-'Horribles Parade' LP/CD (Sacred Bones) Cassette (Knife Slits Water)
-'Galactic Citizens' 12" EP (Captured Tracks)
-'Reality Protest' 7" (Sacred Bones/Holidays)
-'Police Water' 12'' EP/CD (Sacred Bones)



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Gang Gang Dance is a music group based in New York City, signed to the the 4AD record label. Members were previously seen in Washington DC's The Cranium, NYC's Angel Blood, Actress, and Ssab Songs (with Harmony Korine). The group has become well known within the New York experimental/art scene for its distinctive sound that draws equally from African rhythms, Middle eastern dance music, industrial, noise, grime and other genres.

While Gang Gang Dance is generally associated with fellow space cases (Animal Collective, Black Dice), their sound is wholly unique. While their earlier sound was much more chaotic and sprawling, the latest material is a combination of skewed pop music with the unpredictability of experimental/noise performances. The eerie female vocals are reminiscent at times of an airy Kate Bush, trapped in a deep well with no one to sing to. The band belts out Arabian synth lines mixed with delayed out shimmer guitar, over dark poly-rhythms. Their beat heavy weird tribal-noise appeals to fans of all flavors of marginal and/or left centered pop music. And yes, you can dance to it.

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