new arms of kismet CD hits today

If Arms of Kismet's 2004 debut, Eponymous was a heartfelt affirmation, the brand new Cutting Room Rug is its prankster twin, fusing parodic rants with tragic laments in a playful cocktail of satire and sincerity. From the mischievous "Clover" to the ominous "Coil," the new CD is a dark joyride, careening from track to track like a condemned man in a funhouse. Its inhabitants can only cry at weddings, can only laugh at funerals.

Fans of postmodern popsters like Beck, The Flaming Lips, and The Postal Service will find a kindred spirit in Arms of Kismet. Cutting Room Rug forsakes pimpin' and rides for pointed salvos wrapped as sweet confections. Split into three "acts," it attacks with guitars, hooks, and dancebeats, wooing the listener with sugary, stuck-in-your-head melodies and fractured lyrics. The format recalls The Firesign Theatre and The Who Sell Out, veering between spiritual yearning and crass commercialism, compelling passers-by to forget their troubles and "spin the wheel." It sketches a perilous, chaotic world begging for a skip and a chuckle.

Arms of Kismet blends disparate genres ("roots" music, '80s rock, hip-hop) in offbeat and revelatory ways. From the hooky "Outbound Train" to the folky "Life Imitates" to the house-soaked "Cracks," it paints a fast-changing landscape where one never knows what ripping good luck or bitter misfortune waits over the next hill. Brooding and poppy, funny and foreboding, it's toe-tapping, tragicomic rock 'n' roll.

Cutting Room Rug was written and produced by Mark Doyon, mastered by Jon Astley (Tori Amos, George Harrison, Pete Townshend), and released by independent label Wampus Multimedia. Guests include Kowtow Popof ("Life Imitates") Janna Audey ("Coil"), Eamon Loftus ("Auriculara [Listen to Me]"), Scott Goodrick ("Clarendon"), and Paul Golder ("Auriculara [Listen to Me]").

Doyon released CDs as Wampeters during the 1990s, and published a book of fiction, Bonneville Stories, in 2001. He thinks of Cutting Room Rug like a jigsaw puzzle. "Sometimes the puzzle falls off the table," he says. "You can put it back together, or you can do something else with the pieces."

Arms of Kismet was selected by Kweevak.com as its Spotlight Artist for April 2005.

Cutting Room Rug is available at Amazon, CD Baby, Tower Records, and other fine stores.

http://armsofkismet.com

http://cdbaby.com/armsofkismet2

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Arms of Kismet / Cutting Room Rug

Brooding and poppy, funny and foreboding, it's toe-tapping, tragicomic rock 'n' roll.

Casey Abrams / Like a Mirror

Reflecting folk, jazz, and the American songbook, Abrams takes Paul Simon and Don McLean back to their roots.

Cafebar 401

Brimming with darkly sweet pop hooks, Cafebar 401 calls to mind Coldplay, Masters of Reality, Muse, Beck, Soulwax, Radiohead, and Queens of the Stone Age.

Arms of Kismet / Eponymous

Literate and insidiously catchy, it's postmodern pop for the savvy, ironic streetcrawler.

Various Artists / After Hours: a Tribute to the Music of Lou Reed

From the optimism of Johnny J Blair's "Sunday Morning" to the ambivalence of Brook Pridemore's title track, After Hours tells the story of an artist unencumbered by popular expectations, yet... popular.

Various Artists / If I Were a Richman: a Tribute to the Music of Jonathan Richman

A wildly entertaining ride through the repertoire of one of rock's most original and eclectic songwriters. From his early days with the original Modern Lovers, through numerous iterations of the Lovers, to his latter-day solo career, Richman's work has mixed an arresting sense of innocence with a deep sensitivity to human emotion.

tvfordogs / Heavy Denver

Definitive modern rock from London-based trio.

Kowtow Popof / Kowtow Drops the Pop Off

Powerfully nuanced postmodern rave-ups that set the car radio ablaze. "Preternaturally surrealist post-pop." --Eve Zibart, The Washington Post

Amateur God / Near Life Experience

Dark gothic-semi-vocal-ambient music in the tradition of Mylene Farmer, All About Eve, Celtic Frost, Type O Negative, Sisters of Mercy, The Gathering, Jean Michel Jarre, Orbital, Front 242, Rammstein, Art of Noise, and Voivod.

J.T. Bowman / J.T. Bowman & Lerlene Stackwood

A rollicking tour de force of canny Nashville twang. Earnest plea or scathing parody?

Mitch Renault & Arms of Kismet / Ted's 12: Original Soundtrack

Snappy songs and snippets from the forthcoming film.

Various Artists / Glass Flesh 2: a Tribute to Robyn Hitchcock

Twenty-one great ways to skin Robyn Hitchcock's cat.

Wampeters / Murder Your Darlings

Smoldering chamber rock descended from the Band, the Beatles, and the Beach Boys. "A great narrative album. The last great mainstream release that exemplifies this method of development of style and sound is Wilco's Summer Teeth." --Heidi Drockelman, IndieMusic.com

Wampeters / Bloodline (remastered)

The connections between people are indecipherable and everlasting.

Wampeters / Pagan's Nest (remastered)

Ringing guitars, searing melodies and playful distortion -- everything you need for your '90s Friday night.

Wampeters / Folk Medicine (remastered)

Wampeters' sophomore disc captured the lightning of '80s pop in a bottle... and then shot the bottle with a BB gun.

Mark Doyon / Bonneville Stories

Crisp fiction from Arms of Kismet's Mark Doyon that's as dark as optimism gets. "A brilliant collection of beautifully written stories that made me cringe, grimace, and laugh, while sometimes moving me to great pity.... There just aren't any flaws here, and I can't possibly do this book justice in a review. No one could, really...." --Laurie Edwards, CultureDose.net

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1929763093/qid=1034199246/sr=8-7/ref=sr_8_7/102-8551637-2399362?v=glance&n=507846

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Coming in 2005-07

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