Rainbow Arabia

Rainbow Arabia originated in 2008 when the married couple Tiffany and Danny Preston launched their indie electronic project, one that explored new wave revivalism, tribal rhythms, and Middle Eastern textures. Three years of marriage had already passed before the pair began laying down tracks together inside the Echo Park basement they shared at the start of that year. Danny’s previous stint had been with the dub-oriented group Future Pigeon, and Tiffany had performed as part of Licorice Piglet. Arabic recordings issued by Sublime Frequencies, together with a music class Tiffany took on Middle Eastern guitar, shaped their sound and drew them into Los Angeles’s experimental dance-punk milieu. Quick notice followed, prompting the U.K. label Merok—home to Crystal Castles and Klaxons—to put out their opening EPs, The Basta in 2008 and Kabukimono in 2009. The full-length debut Boys and Diamonds moved toward tropical and dubby textures when Kompakt released it in 2011. Two years later the duo issued F.M. Sushi on their own Kompakt subsidiary Time No Place, discarding bright samples in favor of a darker dance approach. L.A. Heartbreak appeared on the same imprint in 2016 and gravitated toward new wave-inspired electropop.