Flight Of The Conchords Debut Due In April

Music Review: Flight of the Conchords

"Flight of the Conchords"

by Dan Shafer, of the Advance Titan

When Flight of the Conchords got the green light to create, produce, write and star in the first season of their now-successful eponymous HBO show, they described themselves as “New Zealand’s fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo.”
       
The Conchords’ self-titled debut album is more than simply an accompaniment to the already successful television show, and it is clear that Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie have certainly made sure that what is on the album is an entirely different animal than the in-show music videos that are not only hysterically funny but also undeniably unique.
       
The Conchords’ comedic brilliance is just as accessible in purely audio format as it is on the show. Their semi-oblivious ode to Wednesday night lovin’, “Business Time,” boasts lyrical hilarity the likes of which haven’t been seen in the fusion of music and comedy since Spinal Tap’s legendary “Smell the Glove.” Clement channels Barry White’s groovy baritone vocals in recalling the embarrassing events of a mid-week sexcapade with lyrics such as “I remove my clothes very, very clumsily/Tripping sensuously over my pants/Now I’m naked except for my socks/And you know when I’m down to just my socks, what time it is,” before McKenzie chimes in with the falsetto-funk chorus, “It’s business/It’s business time.”
       
The Conchords don’t stop there in exploring different musical styles. They range from whimsical 60’s psychedelia (“The Prince of Parties”), new wave synth-pop (“Inner City Pressure”), “freestyle” rap (“Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros”), socially conscious Marvin Gaye-style R&B (“Think About It”) to David Bowie’s entire music arsenal (“Bowie”).
       
What’s really tremendous about “Conchords” is that Clement and McKenzie are able to both mock and emulate these styles, and do so satirically without being unnecessarily offensive, and sonically impressive without taking away from the true hilarity of their comedy.
       
McKenzie is able to show that he is more than mere comedian. He establishes himself as an extremely versatile musician that is capable of arranging intricate songs, setting the album’s tone on acoustic guitar and offering up background vocals that are both well-timed and showcase impressive range.
       
The studio production and full-band accompaniment does wonders for songs like “Robots,” which describes a post-apocalyptic world run by robots set in the year 2000, and “Mutha’uckas,” in which their mainstream rap-mocking lyrics express the anger and fury of mundane activities like making bank transactions, paying ATM fees and purchasing fruit.
       
Another standout track, “The Most Beautiful Girl (In The Room),” spectacularly unfolds as a spoof on immediate infatuation, with a story moving from showing off dance moves at a party, to sharing kabobs, to confessing to the room’s finest, “You’re so beautiful/You could be a part-time model/But you’ll probably still have to keep your normal job.”
       
Top to bottom, “Flight of the Conchords” is the best musical comedy album to come along in years. Clement and McKenzie manage to work within many different genres of 20th century music while being sonically captivating and piss-your-pants funny at the same time. Even for those who aren’t fans of the HBO show, this album will leave you binary soloing all the way to business time.

Conchords fly to digital No. 1

By TOM FITZSIMONS - The Dominion Post | Monday, 05 May 2008

NUMBER ONE: Flight of the Conchords's debut album has scored the top spot in online sales.

They appear in one music video as robots dressed in cardboard boxes - but now the Flight of the Conchords really are the kings of virtual music.

As well as streaking to No. 3 on the overall American album charts in their first week, selling 52,000 copies, the folk comedy duo has been declared champions in the digital arena, ranking No. 1 in downloaded online sales.

Sales of their self-titled album have eclipsed New Zealand's previous best first-week showing in America - Crowded House's 1986 debut album.

But while they fell behind pop divas Mariah Carey and Leona Lewis in total sales, the pair were unsurpassed in the booming world of Internet download sales, according to industry bible Billboard.

The magazine said the Wellington pair also topped the charts for independent album, soundtrack and comedy album last week.

Online music critics reported that this made it the highest debut for a comedy album - and the highest placing on the charts since a Steve Martin record in 1978.

Top music magazines seemed shocked at all the success. Rolling Stone reported that newly engaged pop starlet Ashlee Simpson - at No. 4 - was "surprisingly" beaten by the pair.

"That's right: Pete Wentz's fiancee got edged by the comic duo who were on the show that followed Big Love on HBO," the magazine wrote.

NME reported a "frenzy" to rival the Beatles that greeted the band's most recent Los Angeles performance.

Billboard has tracked artists' online performance since 2005 - recognition of the Internet's growing dominance of the music market.

The digital chart is not the only success the Conchords have had online. They now boast an improbably high number of friends on influential networking site MySpace - 117,195 as of yesterday.

Despite the success, the Conchords ran second to Kiwi band Shihad on the New Zealand charts in their first week.