Unknown Mortal Orchestra first dropped into the world in late 2010 as a bandcamp account carrying a single called "Ffunny Ffrends."

"Ffunny Ffrends" was everything you imagined it might be - alien beatnik pop music that echoed 60s psychedelia and krautrock minimalism with just a hint of gentle weirdness that suggested its roots might equally lie in the verdant indie of the equally distant New Zealand scene.

Ruban Nielson is a New Zealand native who had transplanted to Portland, Oregon with his band Mint Chicks. UMO was a project conceived as Ruban's escape hatch to a new musical dimension where his vision of junkshop record collector pop could be realized in a sound that recalled Captain Beefheart, Sly Stone and RZA jamming on some kids TV theme too dark to ever be broadcast.

Out of the home studio, Ruban was joined by local Portland producer Jake Portrait on bass and teenage prodigy Julien Ehrlich on drums. They have been on the road all year, sleeping in ditches and running drunkenly from venues when need be, curling ears and turning heads with their intoxicating sound all the way.

The eponymous UMO debut album was released in June on Fat Possum. Its probably something you should listen to.  

 

 

UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA

 
08/29 Los Angeles, CA Bardot / School Night *

09/08 Portland, OR Hawthorne Theater / MFNW %
09/09 Athens, GA 40 Watt Club #
09/10 Raleigh, NC Hopscotch Music Festival $
09/11 Washington, DC Black Cat #
09/12 Philadelphia, PA First Unitarian Church #
09/14 New York, NY Webster Hall #
09/15 Brooklyn, NY Glasslands Gallery +
09/16 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club #
09/17 Montreal, QC Le National #
09/18 Toronto, ON Opera House #
09/19 Detroit, MI Majestic Theatre #
09/20 Bloomington, IN The Bishop #
09/21 Grinnell, IA Grinnel College Gardner Lounge
09/22 Urbana, IL Pygmalion #
09/23 Cincinnati, OH Midpoint Music Festival #

09/24 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall #

09/25 Minneapolis, MN Triple Rock #

09/26 Fargo, ND The Aquarium (Dempseys Upstairs)  

09/28 Seattle, WA The Crocodile #

09/29 Vancouver, BC Venue #

09/30 Portland, OR Branx #

10/01 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall #

10/02 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall # 

10/03 Los Angeles, CA El Rey Theatre #

10/04 Phoenix, AZ Crescent Ballroom

10/05 Tucson, AZ Club Congress 

10/06 El Paso, TX Lowbrow Palace #
10/07 Dallas, TX Club Dada #
10/08 Austin, TX The Mohawk #
10/09 Houston, TX Fitzgerald's #
10/10 New Orleans, LA One Eyed Jack's #
10/11 Tallahassee, FL Club Downunder #

10/12 Mobile, AL Alabama Music Box 

10/13 Birmingham, AL Bottletree #
10/14 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade #  

10/15 Columbia, SC New Brookland Tavern #

10/16 Asheville, NC Grey Eagle Tavern

10/17 Winston-Salem, NC The Werehouse

10/18 Richmond, VA Strange Matter

10/19 - 10/22 New York, NY CMJ

10/25 Buffalo, NY Mohawk Place

10/30 Kansas City, MO Riot Room

11/07 Oakland, CA The New Parish  

 

* = w/ The Submarines 

# = w/ Toro Y Moi 

% = w/ Little Dragon

$ = w/ Times New Viking 

+ = w/ Woven Bones, Blouse, Man/Miracle 

 

    

UMO LINKS:

Official Site - http://unknownmortalorchestra.com/  

Twitter - http://twitter.com/UMO  

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/unknownmortalorchestra  

Label - http://www.fatpossum.com