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Diamond Rugs at the Earl – My Little Unicorn
There he stood in the foyer of The Earl, scanning the room with his debonair stare. Posing, long flowing hair and a Jesus face wearing a white belt. I see you. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him. I’m going to talk to him, someone with a white belt has something to say– but I couldn’t. Reconnaissance time. Who’s the Asian chick? Girlfriend, possibly? Good sign: he likes brown girls- at least there’s a chance.
I was there to see the Diamond Rugs, a highly recommended band from Nashville; a menagerie of characters.
Two whiskey’s down and straight to the front of the stage. There he was, purple lit and statuesque, clenching trombone. My Jesus lover with a 70's swag is part of the band? I was captivated by this character who barely played but stood there like a mascot with that Fabio stare to the horizon. Meanwhile the others rocked the stage, tongue kissed a stage jumper, lit cigarettes mid song and shared beers with the audience.
Who is this man that can steal the show with no words and barely any effort?!! I ran home to do some more recon not knowing what the future had in store. I typed “trombone player for TV and the Radio” into the Google machine and Voila, Smoota! David Smoota Smith to be exact, a Film & Lit graduate from Harvard.
Oh my good gracious me. He was more of a character than I imagined. His profile banner on Defendmusic.com was a slightly provocative and insanely hilarious picture of him laying on his side in a white suit, again 70's style.. I’m starting to see a trend. See for yourself!
As I read on on I was intrigued by this unicorn of a man. So sexual, erotic and smooth. I played his track “Pink bra playing guitar” to find myself rolling in laughter. Is this for real?! Did he just say “she is so delicious she should be my mistress”. It wasn’t until I found myself twerking my hips to his groovy sex music that I realized this boy’s got soul and I’m definitely in love.
Let’s put it this way… If I owned a condom company I’d want him as my spokesperson.
If I knew then what I know now about the man in the white belt, I would’ve never hesitated to talk to him. He probably would’ve been open to conversations and relations with me AND the Asian chick.
I leave you with a video that I believe captures his man-sensual essence.
Enjoy responsibly. Yes, that’s right. Smoota. S&M, O, O, T&A. - resunders.com
Discography
Fetishes LP (spring 2013)
Pink Bra Playing Guitar/Fallin' & Foolin' 12" (Quieres Chicle; spring 2013)
Photos
Bio
A singer and trombone player, Smoota writes steamy, sensual, sexy songs about topics rarely heard in pop music. His groovy, provocative, and arousing style has drawn comparisons to Serge Gainsbourg, Barry White, Bryan Ferry, Peaches, and Beck. Renowned for his passionate trombone playing and tours with TV on the Radio, Sufjan Stevens, and Spoon, Smoota debuted his solo act in 2010 and quickly developed a reputation for a rare combination of alluring lyrics and warm, erotic sounds.
Smoota recorded his 2013 debut Fetishes entirely alone, often late at night, less than ten feet from his bed. To create an intimate sound, he limited the instruments to voice, trombone, bass, an old Wurlitzer electric organ, and the Maestro Rhythm King, an early 70s drum machine used by the likes of Little Beaver, Shuggie Otis, and Timmy Thomas. Inspired by the soundscape of Sly Stone's There's A Riot Going On, the wordplay of George Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic, and the honest, confessional treatment of sex and male-female relations found in his favorite movies and books, Smoota emerged with an intimate concept album unabashedly exploring the rich landscape and dark underbelly of male sexuality. Songs explore sexual fantasy, joyful infidelity, the power of suggestion, bodily functions, violence as aphrodisiac, bedroom mishaps, rock n' roll lust, the erotics of race, and the infinite variety of personal fetishes.
The first Smoota 45 ("Pink Bra Playing Guitar" b/w "Fallin' and Foolin'") will be released in early 2013 on Quieres Chicle, an LA-based label run by KCRW DJ Mathieu Schreyer.
The Fetishes LP will follow.
Smoota grew up near Boston and studied Film and Literature at Harvard University, where he played trombone and made 16mm films under the tutelage of Yugoslavian maverick filmmaker Dusan Makavejev. After college, he moved to San Francisco and played bass in psych funk band C'mon Feet while working at Ubiquity Records, home of beloved rare groove label Luv n' Haight. Upon moving to Brooklyn, Smoota picked up the trombone again and, after rejecting life as a book editor, began playing music full-time.
He currently plays trombone with acclaimed art rock band TV on the Radio and recently toured with Sufjan Stevens on his trombone-heavy Age of Adz tour (2010-11). He has also played and/or recorded with Spoon, Miike Snow, Elvis Costello, El-P, MNDR, Pharaoh Monche, Gordan Gano of the Violent Femmes, Akron/Family, Bebel Gilberto, Angelique Kidjo, The Bogmen, Red Baraat, Chin Chin and many others. Since 2009, Smoota has often played trombone and keyboards with Antibalas in Fela!, the Broadway musical directed by choreographer Bill T. Jones about the life of Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti . On Halloween 2009, he joined Sharon Jones and members of the Dap-Kings to help Phish cover the Rolling Stones album Exile on Main Street, documented in the 2010 film Phish 3D. And in 2010, Smoota played trombone and acted in a stage opera version of Melvin Van Peebles' proto-blaxploitation flick Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, directed by Van Peebles himself and featuring music from Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber, the cosmic freak soul group led by Greg Tate (co-founder of the Black Rock Coalition with Living Colour's Vernon Reid). Smoota can usually be found on Monday nights playing at Union Pool in Williamsburg, Brooklyn with local dirty gospel R&B institution Rev. Vince Anderson and the Love Choir.
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