I guess like many of us, Birds of Maya were productive in the last year and a half. They finally released Valdez, the long lost album you never knew existed. Recorded way back in 2014, it picks up right where 2013’s raucous Celebration leaves off. Given the band’s long hiatus, I seized this opportunity to travel down to Philadelphia to catch their record release show at Sunflower Philly, a beautiful outdoor space in North Philadelphia. The band rips through some tunes from the new record and jams Celebration-style on a couple of song collages I’ve titled “Sunflower” and “Philly” here that have the band cycling through a few riffs that I swear sound familiar and slippery at the same time. A few blown fuses don’t stop these Birds as they cap things off with their take on The Stooges’ “TV Eye” with the legendary Harmonica Dan on, well, harmonica.
No future dates on the books for Birds of Maya but make sure to grab Valdez from Drag City and maybe encourage these guys to make some new recordings.
I recorded this with the MBHO’s up front. Once people got rocking I had to move a little bit and the sound can be slightly uneven in areas. Nonetheless this is an excellent capture of a really special show. Enjoy!
Birds of Maya
2021-06-24
Sunflower Philly
Philadelphia, PA
Recorded and produced by Eric PH for nyctaper.com
MBHO KA200N/603A > Naiant PFA >> Sound Devices MixPre-6 > WAV (24/48) > Adobe Audition CC + Izotope Ozone 5 > Audacity 3.0.2 > FLAC
Tracks [48:32]
01. High Fly
02. Please Come In
03. Cosmic Honey Shaker
04. Porch Dude
05. Jam/TV Eye (false start)
06. TV Eye
Sunflower – cosmic honey shaker; Philly – porch dude