The Dark Side of Hall and Oates is a tribute album like no other. Some have described it as something akin to Ravi Shankar meets Sufjan Stevens meets Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now. Rather than simply covering the songs of the storied pop duo, a quirky, yet interesting artist collective named “Koot Hoomi” have re-imagined a sampling of Hall and Oates’ catalog as it might exist in an alternate universe, replete with off-kilter harmonies, psychedelic swirls, minor-key digressions, and the occasional spot of Tuvan throat-singing. The project was largely recorded in living rooms and basements, using cheap instruments and an old-school Tascam 488 analog tape recorder, giving it a fascinating, low-fi allure. In addition to tackling the songs that actually spent some time on the Billboard charts (ie: Maneater, Kiss on My List, Out of Touch), Koot Hoomi have also reinterpreted a number of deep cuts and b-sides, going all the way back to Daryl Hall and John Oates’ earliest Philly demos. The Dark Side of Hall and Oates presents a monumental exploration of a storied pop catalog, intricately translated into a strange new language.

Koot Hoomi have been described by one astute observer (who happens to be in the band) as The Traveling Wilburys in reverse. None of the members of this collective are actually famous…but they reserve the right to believe that they may be someday (fingers crossed).

The album is being released by Velvet Fallopian Tube (Portland, Oregon) on March 9th (national physical release) and April 6th (national digital release) distributed worldwide by CD Baby.

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