On Wednesday, Brothers Past released a freebie soundboard copy of their 3/27/04 show at Martyr’s in Chicago. It just so happens that this was my first BP show, and to this day, it remains one of my favorite concert recordings (in fact, the “Inside the Tinman” jam from this show made it onto the most recent version of the “Hippie Workout Mix“). This show nicely captured the band during an uber-creative period in early 2004 (or really late ’03-’04), when they were firing on all four cylinders, writing and perfecting the songs that would make it onto This Feeling’s Called Goodbye (their third album), and experimenting live with a bunch of new pedals, e-drums, vocal loops, and laptop beats and samples.
It’s nice to have them offer up a free soundboard copy of my first show and give it a fresh listen. Save for a few odd blips, it sounds great!
While I think this new soundboard release is post-worthy in of itself, there are a few other recent Brothers Past items to note…
New Podcast
The band recently put together a free podcast with some tracks from shows they played earlier this spring and summer, called “Songs that Aren’t the Ceiling, Vol. 1” (“The Ceiling” is a tune from A Wonderful Day, the band’s second album). Although the entire podcast is solid, I think it’s worth the download even if only for the 5/23 version of “Boy” and to sample one of their newer tunes, “Heroes.” The latter features a killer piano outro that is honestly one of the more beautiful pieces of music I‘ve heard this year. The composed section of the song is immediately followed by a jaw-dropping and dirty drum’n’bass jam, making for a nice juxtaposition of sounds. For some, that kind of abrupt stylistic change might be too jarring, but for me, it is what gives this band depth and keeps me into it.
New Interview
The guys recently opened up to State of Mind Music for a fairly in-depth interview, discussing their recent reunion with original drummer (Rick Lowenberg) and their latest efforts both in the studio and on the live stage.
A Few Fall Dates, Plus NYE
They’ve lined up a few sporadic dates for for the Fall, including a show at the Bowery Ballroom here in NYC that I will definitely be checking out. And they’ve confirmed a special hometown NYE gig at the Theater of the Living Arts in Philly, a nice step up from the Note, a venue in West Chester, PA where I caught them this past winter.
Although Brothers Past isn’t really touring consistently, it’s good to see that they’re still playing great live music, writing new tunes, and generally seem to have the old spark back with their original drummer behind the kit.
While the downloads above are probably plenty of musical meat to chew on, I had to end with this recent fan video of the band dropping into an especially dancey tease of Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence.” Just killer…
