The Loom have been consistent favorites of this site almost since its inception. Their intricate arrangements and stellar musicianship truly shine in the live setting, and the band members’ dedication and good attitudes never go unnoticed. Going into the CMJ Music Festival this week, they have already been hailed in the New York Times as a “next big thing”, especially if your indie rock proclivities lean toward the folkier side of things. We couldn’t agree more.
One of the best aspects of the Backyard Brunch Sessions is that these stripped down sets rapidly expose musicians one way or the other – the mediocre bands cannot hide behind technology, while the elemental talents of the great ones are all the more obvious. The Loom, clearly, are the real deal, an act greater than the sum of extremely talented parts. Sarah Renfro and John Fanning’s vocals were spot-on, and bassist Dan Desloover showed off his talents on a home-made upright bass (made of a wash basin) that he cobbled together especially for the occasion. There was not a weak moment in their set, though I was perhaps most captivated by the elegant rendition of “The First Freeze” that even some, er, “local antics” (listen to the banter track) could not disrupt. We wish The Loom a great success this week at CMJ and beyond. They have a new album on the way shortly – don’t miss it – as well as shows coming up at several local venues.
I recorded this set with six microphones strategically placed around the band, with Schoeps hypercardiods targeting vocals and guitars, DPA cardiods picking up the horns, bass and percussion, and DPA omnidirectional mics picking up more percussion and the overall sound of the yard. The sound quality is among my favorite of all of my recordings. Enjoy!
Stream “The First Freeze”
Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]
Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].
The Loom
2010-10-10
Backyard Brunch Sessions
Brooklyn, NY USA
An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com
Equipment:
Schoeps CMC641+DPA 4021>Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) (24/44.1)
DPA 4061>Naiant littlebox>Sony PCM-M10 (24/44.1)
Position: Schoeps on vocals and guitars, 4061s “onstage”, 4021s spot mic’ing horns, drums and bass
Mastering: 6×24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (hard limit some peaks, compress some peaks, pan channels, balancing, mixdown, downsample to 16bit)>FLAC ( level 8 )
Tracks
01 intro
02 A Song of Faint Praise
03 Snowed In
04 banter
05 Like Lamp Glow
06 banter
07 The First Freeze
08 For the Hooves That Gallop and the Heels that March
09 banter
10 Helen
If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Loom, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their debut EP At Last Light from the links on their MySpace page, and keep an eye out for their new album.
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