The Art Museums

In the summer of 2009, Josh Alper and Glenn Donaldson—both already active in the psychedelic indie outfit the Skygreen Leopards—joined forces to produce a run of lo-fi recordings under the name the Art Museums. Their resulting sound merged the Skygreen Leopards’ psychedelic jangle with Television Personalities– and Kinks-derived arty jumble, gritty production textures, and austere computerized beats; the textures stemmed largely from the vintage 1985 Tascam 388 tape machine the pair employed. Once Alper and Donaldson had finished tracking what became the Art Museums’ first full-length album, bassist Carly Putnam of Green Flash and drummer Virginia Weatherby of the Mantles were added to complete the live lineup. Woodsist Recordings issued that album, Rough Frame, in February 2010, followed by the 7" single “S.H.O.P.P.I.N.G.” After two further singles—“Other Times” and “Dancing with a Hole in Your Heart”—appeared in 2011, the group disbanded.