Celebration "Heartbreak" - Prefix Studio Session (Video)
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No longer content to stand by and passively glimpse our favorite artists as they wander through New York, we’ve decided to take matters into our own hands.
Well, more accurately, into the knob twiddling hands of sound engineers Alex Aldi and Chris Zane at Tribeca's Gigantic Studios. Their state-of-the-art recording setup will be the sweet nothing whispered in the ears of our musical crushes, the bait we use to steal a bit of their time to pass on to you. A full report of our seduction, complete with videos from the sessions as well as MP3 downloads, will be standard operating procedure.
The first session features three tracks from rising Baltimore rockers Celebration. Core members Katrina Ford (vocals/percussion), her multitalented husband, Sean Antanaitis (guitorgan and other instruments), and David Bergander (drums) were joined by Colin McCann (additional instruments/keyboards) and Ryan Sawyer of the Tall Firs (drums). The Modern Tribe, released earlier this year and produced by the band's long-time pal Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio, saw the band members expand the dramatically layered textures of their self-titled debut (2005) into a stunning romantic direction.
Soon before their heap of CMJ Music Marathon appearances this fall would bring them to roughly half of the city's venues, the band stopped in at Gigantic with a serious rhythm section in tow. In addition to a regular drum kit augmented by an odd wooden-plank attachment, there were amassed bongos, shakers, and tambourines filling every available corner. Not content to lay down anything less than their best, the band toiled over the three songs posted below. It was well worth the patience.
Celebration "Heartbreak" - Prefix Studio Session
"Heartbreak" is the bloody soul of The Modern Tribe's running order. With the warm brass outbursts of the album version absent, it becomes an even hazier love-sick swoon. Which is not to say that the elaborate percussion display was not expertly utilized.
Celebration "Wild Cats" - Prefix Studio Session
Jagged guitar bursts and even more feverish drumming define another spirited take of a Tribe standout. Recorded in the midst of a full-band performance, Katrina Ford's voice sounds fuller here than it does on the record, less echoed and more direct. Her rich tones spike into excitable yips, lost in the moment of her bandmates' continual rhythmic crests.
Celebration "Fool's Gold" - Prefix Studio Session
The band slows down considerably for a haunted version of this 2006 B-side. "Fool's Gold" inches along on a static piano refrain. Ford only occasionally trades her torch-song cool for a more desperate ache. Cymbals crash as the members of Celebration swell to a close, their song's frayed edges continuing to unravel.
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I think the final video/mp3s came out great!