Airpushers tour dates for 2009

Musicians who attain massive commercial success often nurture powerful urges to let their creative freak flags fly high. Such is the case with Airpushers' Printz Board and Tim Orindgreff. You may know these L.A. cats mostly for their instrumental work with Black Eyed Peas, whom they helped to sell over 7 million records, score three #1 singles, and garner two Grammys. But that association barely scratches the duo's multifaceted surface of accomplishments. Their resumes are jammed with marquee names, from multi-platinum artists (Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake) to jazz legends (Herbie Hancock) to bossa-nova icons (Sergio Mendes) to hip-hop pioneers (Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg). While Airpushers may log long hours in the studio with people who live in mansions, they keep their own music aimed toward the street-and to the future.

And judging by their debut album, Themes for the Ordinarily Strange, Airpushers' future is an engagingly odd hybrid of urban styles. The duo displays a brazenly deft touch with kinetic funk ("SuperFriends"), ultra-heavy fusion jazz ("Pink Cheetah"), vividly hued R&B ("This Is Howie"), quirky electro ("Red Head Speedskater"), and leftfield hip-hop ("Push That Air"). Many listeners will gravitate to "Hold the Onions," a slightly unnerving slice of melodic funk that combines the propulsive rhythm of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" with Miles Davis' subliminally undulating Rhodes organ from In a Silent Way. The song features the witty words and still-vibrantly soulful voice of Motown legend Lamont Dozier, who's written more classic songs than you've had pay days. It's a tribute to Airpushers' sonic magnetism that they could lure this hall of famer back into the studio after a long hiatus. Elsewhere, "Pollo Masala Disco Express" reflects the title's mongrelized tangle of genres and will inspire as much dancing as it does head-scratching in the world's clubs, while "Music Fight," which features the dulcet tones of MoZella, uses a funk foundation around which it weaves weirdly warped keyboard and wind instruments. The track embodies the fruitful tension between accessibility and edginess that marks Airpushers' advanced studiocraft.

On Themes for the Ordinarily Strange Printz and Orindgreff subvert conventional wisdom about mega-successful studio musicians; far from being complacent with their cushy mainstream status, Airpushers instead launch their futuristic jazz funk into unlikely, rewarding areas-which is indeed ordinarily strange...Recommended if you like Platinum Pied Pipers, Steve Spacek, Basement Jaxx, and Audio Bullys. And be sure to catch Airpushers live on October 24th at El Cid in LA, with guests MoZella, Lamont, Golden, and Sy Smith.