[Video stills courtesy of Ian Perlman and Oresti Tsonopoulos]
Mike Kinsella has been involved in many a highly-regarded project over the years – in particular, the Illinois native still does time in Joan of Arc with his brother Tim (our recent recording of them [HERE]), and before that, he and Tim were in Cap’n Jazz (our recent recording of them [HERE]). The man’s discography is longer than many artists twice his age – and most of it is quite good.
The latest Kinsella project to receive positive notice is his affecting solo effort, Owen, which he has been releasing albums under since 2001. Let me revise that – a lot of positive notice. I had not seen Glasslands this completely full in a long time, probably since the packed-to-the-rafters Yuck show last winter, or Bear In Heaven’s show there in 2009. Our friends at PopGun Booking knew what they were doing when they booked this for a Friday night.
Packed house or not, Kinsella made the show feel like an intimate evening in a family basement, with a freewheeling set that found him joking with the crowd during and in between songs, chatting with folks in the front row, riffing on fantasy football, hockey, airplane turbulence and (briefly) failed GOP contender Herman Cain, and making the best of some difficult technical issues. Alone onstage with his guitar (with audience members in his face on all sides), Kinsella delivered an hour’s worth of songs that were by turns melancholy, funny and whimsical, all in a trademark sweet voice that, for many of us, typifies the “emo” sound popularized in the 1990s. Even with such distractions as occasional PA buzzing and interference from Mike’s phone, his unadorned set was powerful and moving, and the crowd hung on every word. Much of his 2011 release Ghost Town was covered, but the set spanned the Owen catalog. Even Kinsella’s occasional flubs — a couple of songs ended prematurely — were greeted enthusiastically, to the point that he mocked the crowd for cheering for one aborted number. With some performers, this kind of thing could be annoying, but Kinsella is the type of amiable guy you can’t help but laugh with when things go wrong. The show ended on that kind of note, when a massive equipment problem during the encore sent waves of static blasting through the PA. “That’s cool,” Kinsella said. “Thanks for coming guys. I’m done. It was fun. Now it’s over.” Mike smiled as he walked off, and the crowd roared its approval. It was that kind of night.
I recorded this set with a soundboard feed and Schoeps MK22 “open cardioid” microphones in the usual location I use in the venue. After extensive post-processing to reduce or eliminate most of the sound issues (which, it should be added, were not the fault of the Glasslands house team), I am quite pleased with the quality of the recording. Hear it for yourself below, and enjoy!
Stream “The Armoire”:
[audio:http://www.nyctaper.com/O0212Owen0211/12%20The%20Armoire.mp3]
Stream “No Language”:
[audio:http://www.nyctaper.com/O0212Owen0211/24%20No%20Language.mp3]
Direct download of MP3 files [HERE] | Direct download of FLAC files [HERE]
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Owen
2011-12-02
Glasslands
Brooklyn, NY USA
An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com
Schoeps MK22 (DFC, NOS)>KCY>Naiant littlebox + Soundboard >> Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Audition (mixdown, noise reduction, EQ)>Audacity (set fades, tracking, amplify and balance, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )
Tracks
01 [intro banter]
02 Too Many Moons
03 [banter]
04 O, Evelyn
05 Abandoned Bridges
06 [banter/tuning]
07 The Sad Waltzes of Pietro Crespi
08 An Animal
09 [banter]
10 The Anthropology Song
11 [banter]
12 The Armoire
13 No Place Like Home
14 [banter]
15 New Leaves
16 [banter]
17 Bad Backs and Hardwood Floors
18 [banter]
19 Bad News
20 A Bird In Hand
21 [banter]
22 Everyone’s Asleep in the House but Me
23 [banter]
24 No Language
25 [banter]
26 Broken Bones
27 [banter]
28 Good Friends Bad Habits
PLEASE SUPPORT Owen by visiting Mike’s MySpace page for the band, and buying the band’s records, including the 2011 release Ghost Town, directly from Polyvinyl [HERE]
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