Nue Zulund folk-comedy duo Flight of the Conchords have in recent times, to dabble in industry parlance, blown up.
The coupling of Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement have been slaying hearts ever since they donned facial hair and leather jackets. Somewhere along the way they've also managed to conquer the stage, radio, and most recently TV, with their cable show
Flight of the Conchords slow-burning its way into savvy minds worldwide. The show, which ruminates on the laconic duos vague attempts to 'make it' in the music industry in New York, even came in at number two in Time Magazine's 'Top 10 New TV Series of 2007'.
Lost amongst this madness is the fact that the duo, y'know, actually release albums and stuff. Their last EP
The Distant Future came out on uber-indie US label Sub Pop and even won a Grammy for Best Comedy Album.
Now comes the announcement that their self-titled debut album will be released on April 19 through Stomp/Sub Pop. 'Debut' isn't strictly true however as they did release an independent album in 2002. Plus there was that 3-CD set of their BBC Radio series in 2006.
All that pales into comparison however when one learns that the new album was produced by a guy called Mickey Petralia. Petralia has also produced lightweights such as Ladytron and Beck. (He produced Beck's
Midnite Vultures featuring the tune 'Jenny' which might explain
this.) The album will feature "fully fleshed-out and professionally recorded versions of Flight of the Conchords concert AND television favourites."
Wonderful. '"Professionally recorded" are some of my favourite types of recordings.