Long time Kingston/Hudson Valley residents all mourn the loss of our beloved venue, BSP. Thankfully the person behind all those great shows, Mike Amari, is still at it, bringing interesting and creative music to the area under the name Chosen Family Presents. He’s been mostly booking at the beautiful sculpture park Opus 40 but last week we were lucky to have him bring Merdian Brothers into Tubby’s for two sold shows. 

Meridian Brothers is the brainchild of Eblis Javier Alvarez Vargas, the Bogota, Columbia based musician and producer. Eblis takes the traditional rhythms of the Carribean and Andes and fuses them with modern psychedelia and electronic dance music into an unforgettable neo-tropical groove that Gilles Peterson referred to as “twisted Cumbia that terrorizes the dance floor”. This is accurate; I’ve never seen the tiny live room at Tubby’s pulsating like this. 

On the recordings Eblis plays everything, but in a live setting he is joined by an incredible band that fills this music with personality and life. The entire band seemed to be having as much fun as the audience. The bass player, Cesar Quevedo Barrero, had an ear-to-ear grin from the beginning of the set straight through the encore. This band is smoking hot and should not be missed 

Meridian Brothers are taking a short break before continuing the tour in Austin and points West. If they are going to be anywhere near you, go. This was a highlight of the year for me and judging by the crowd’s response I’d guess that feeling was universal. I recorded both shows but I am posting the first night since the crowd’s enthusiasm and excitement can almost be felt in the recording. Special shout out to the Meridian Brothers front of house engineer Alejandro Araujo Larrahondo for an excellent mix. 

Download in FLAC or MP3!

Stream on soundlcoud!

Meridian Brothers
2023-07-17
Tubby’s
Kingston, NY

Source: MBHO440 > SD MixPre 3 > SD (24/48) > Adobe Audition/Izotope 9 > Audacity FLAC (lvl8) > Mp3Tag
Recorded and produced by Kliked

1. Intro
2. Donde Estas Maria
3. Metamorfosis
4. La Gitano Me Ha Dejando (Salsa Electronica)
5. El Gran Pajaro de los Andes
6. Bomba Atomica
7. Cumbia De La Fuente
8. La Policia
9. Cumbia Del Pichaman
10. Los Golpeadores De La Cumbia
11. Hipnosis
12. Guaracha UFO
13. Puya Del Empresario
14. La mujer sin corazón

Meridian Brothers:
Eblis Javier Alvarez Vargas: guitar, keyboard, cello, vocals
Alejandro Forero: keyboards
Cesar Quevedo Barrero: bass
María Angélica Valencia Sanchez: saxophone, percussion
Mauricio Ramírez Echeverri: drums
Alejandro Araujo Larrahondo: Front of house engineer

Support this excellent band:
https://meridianbrothers.bandcamp.com/music
https://www.meridianbrothers.com

Support the venues bringing you interesting music:
https://www.tubbyskingston.com/music-calendar

Photo by Christopher Bruno

Seawind of Battery began as an outlet for Mike Horn’s experimental guitar works.  His 2022 album “Clockwatching” struck a nerve with folks keen on hearing ambient guitar explorations delivered with a country drawl.  In recent days Mike has added Jarrod Annis on lap steel.  Operating as a duo the project feels more substantial. The layered guitar parts acting as backing band now have countering “lead” voices in Jarrod’s lap steel and Mike’s Tele and it makes for a very exciting ride. 

I’ve been waiting to see how this material would be reproduced live and I wasn’t disappointed. The set opened with “New Moon”, one of two new compositions we were treated to. The introductory guitar melody reminded me as much of the “ambient country” sounds Mike is often associated with as it did Robert Smith’s use of chorus to enlarge and reinforce his playing. “Some Kind of Symmetry” off his initial Island House release, “clockwatching”, closed the set. Waves of echo, delay and sonic pleasures washing over the crowd. 

There’s a lot going on in Seawind of Battery land. As mentioned above Mike is working on new music for an upcoming album and there is a preorder available for the Clockwatching vinyl release. He also has a few shows lined up for the summer including one this Friday (use code: ‘room31nyc’ at checkout for a discount) with Kendraplex and an 8/17 date with the Royal Artic Institute at Fox & Crow in Jersey City that I’d love to see. 

I recorded this from my usual spot by the soundboard with the MBHO’s and a board feed from Tubby’s FOH engineer Kyle. Enjoy!

Download in FLAC or MP3!

Seawind of Battery
2023-05-16
Tubby’s Kingston, NY

Source: MBHO440 + SDB > SD MixPre 3 > SD (24/48) > Adobe Audition/Izotope 9 > Audacity FLAC (lvl8) > Mp3Tag
Recorded and produced by Kliked

Thanks to Tubbys FOH engineer Kyle for the patch!

1) New Moon
2) Clockwatching
3) Dreamscaper
4) Some Kind of Symmetry

Seawind of Battery is:
Mike Horn – Electric Guitar
Jarrod Annis – Lap Steel

Support this excellent artist:
https://seawindofbattery.bandcamp.com

6/9 w/ Kendraplex @ Room 31 (Arlo NoMad – New York, NY) – Tix: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/seawind-of-battery-kendraplex-tickets-625352214307?aff=erelexpmlt (use code: ‘room31nyc’ at checkout for a few bucks off)
7/26 w/ Liam Grant @ Mama Tried (Brooklyn, NY)
8/12 w/ More Klementines @ Room 31 (Arlo NoMad – New York, NY)
8/17 w/ The Royal Arctic Institute @ Fox & Crow (Jersey City, NJ)
9/30 w/ Wendy Eisenberg Trio @ Room 31 (Arlo NoMad – New York, NY)

Support the venues bringing you interesting music!
https://www.tubbyskingston.com/music-calendar