Obi Best Joins Bird and the Bee on Tour

MUSIC NEWS- When she’s not moonlighting as back-up singer for acclaimed retro-pop group the Bird and the Bee (Bluenote), Alex Lilly is masterminding the fanciful pop of Obi Best. With the help of a few Los Angeles-based friends and a sensibility that’s been favorably compared to bands such as Stereolab, Her Space Holiday and Au Revoir Simone, Lilly conjures music that’s complex and catchy. Obi Best’s new, debut album, Capades (Social Science Recordings; Feb 24, 2009 - out now digitally), is a rich tapestry of piano, airy electronica, refined rock and panoramic beats deftly punctuated by bells, chirps and otherworldly sounds. Ranging from melodic and ethereal to rollicking and fun, the album inhabits a lush universe where fantasy and reality live side by side: Tokyo lies just around the block from Stockholm, youth and wisdom hold hands, magic seems to grow on trees. Guiding the tour are Lilly‘s vocals, which bring to mind Feist or Karen Carpenter (with more traction), singing about bygone eras, nasty neighbors, lovers’ covert ancestry, and the inadequacy of language all with disarming frankness. Obi Best is comprised of synth wizards Bram Inscore (Beck, Peeping Tom, Jem) and John Wood (Inara George, Mike Andrews), drummer Barbara Gruska (Jenny Lewis, Benji Hughes), Alex Lilly on vocals/guitar/keys/g4 and guest back-up vocalists Lisa Tremain (Readers) and Kim Talon (Eagle and Talon). Check them out live (full itinerary below). And try your hand at their video contest for the tune, Swedish Boy. See full contest and prize details at Swedish Boy Song Video contest.

On five dates of their Winter tour, they will join Bird and the Bee on the bill. Bird... also has a new release out soon [January 27, 2009], called, Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future, on Blue Note Records. Check out their self titled initial release and enjoy this jazz/pop/electro sound. The Bird and the Bee is an indie pop/alt duo duo from LA, and consists of musicians Greg Kurstin ("bee") and Inara George ("bird").

Obi Best WinterTour: * = w/The Bird and The Bee -

1/21 Flagstaff, AZ | Hotel Monte Vista

1/22 Phoenix, AZ | Modified Arts

1/23 Tucson, AZ | Plush

1/24 San Diego, CA | The Pink Elephant

2/05 San Diego, CA | The Casbah*

2/07 Santa Barbara, CA | Soho*

2/09 San Francisco, CA | The Independent*

2/11 Portland, OR | Doug Fir*

2/12 Seattle, WA | Chop Suey*

2/13 Boise, ID | Neurolux

2/14 Salt Lake City, Utah | Kilby Court