Tooling around Orlando a few weeks ago, I happened to tune into a local college radio station WPRK from Rollins College in nearby Winter Park. The signal was fading in and out, but the music I heard was good enough to stop me in my tracks. In fact, I parked my car to listen to the rest of the song and find out who it was. When the DJ came on, he announced the song as "Hang onto your Headshot" by Matisse and Carrots. What?
This was the hippest song I've heard on the radio in ten years. Maybe more. I'm not saying it's necessarily the most rocking sound, but it was original and mesmerizing with great 60's style guitar and Ray Davies-inspired vocals. Other than that, I don't even know how to properly describe it beyond thinking that if this was the latest Fireman disk from Paul McCartney, I would considered it to be vastly underrated.
It turns out Matisse and Carrots is the name of a solo music project by local Orlando musician Omar Delarosa, who has also recorded and performed in the bands Magnet Club and most recently Little Insects.
You can pick up Matisse and Carrots on Amazon for $9 or slightly more at iTunes. You can also purchase two 4-song EPs of recent recordings for $3 each on the Omar Delarosa MySpace page. A bargoon. Why doesn't commercial radio play stuff this good? Hopefully I'll get the CDs in the mail real soon now...
- Omar Delarosa: Site, Blog, Music, MySpace page
- Amazon: Matisse and Carrots...Play the Songs of Omar Delarosa
- Orlando Weekly: Omar Delarosa: The Sweet & The Sour
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