[Live at the Comet Tavern, Seattle WA. Photo courtesy of Bridget Christian under Creative Commons License. See her Flickr stream [HERE]]
After catching the Brooklyn psych metal band Naam opening for Monster Magnet at the beginning of the year (recording [HERE]), I couldn’t wait to hear more. We got the chance on a recent Saturday as the band headlined at Glasslands to celebrate the release of their new Ballad of the Starchild EP by playing almost the entire record straight through. Starchild is styled as five-part suite, and adds overt Eastern influences (sitar anyone?) to the band’s bottom-heavy psych rock sound. And by “bottom heavy”, I simply mean that bassist John Preston Bundy need not fear being an underappreciated member of this band.
Starchild is beautifully mixed in an overtly classic rock style that suits the band’s sound- and I’m pleased to report that Naam’s live sound once again possessed all of the power and poise of their recorded output. It’s no accident that this is a band that has “crossover appeal” between metalheads and psych rock fans alike; they strike a balance between musical exploration and raw power that almost anyone can appreciate. Foregoing the last track of Starchild in evident frustration at an early closing time for the venue, the band instead rewarded us with the sprawling “Kingdom”, their longest number and one of their best. Although this was a shorter set than we (and they) would have liked, it was still a great introduction to this EP.
hi and lo recorded this set with the NYCTaper-installed “house rig”, a Studio Projects LSD2 large-diaphragm stereo mic, plus a well-balanced soundboard feed. There is some DI-related distortion in the first song, but once that clears up, this set is flawless in sound. Enjoy!
Stream “The Starchild”
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/N1310Naam2110/naam_the_starchild.mp3]
Stream “Lands Unknown”
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/N1310Naam2110/naam_lands_unknown.mp3]
Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]
Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].
Follow acidjack on twitter
Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense. The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission. Please respect our request.
Naam
2012-05-12
Glasslands
Brooklyn, NY USA
Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded by hi and lo
Produced by acidjack
Soundboard + Studio Projects LSD2 (xy cardiod)>Tascam DR-680 (24/48)>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, set fades, tracking, amplify and balance)>FLAC ( level 8 )
Tracks
01 Sentry of Skies
02 Lands Unknown
03 History’s Son
04 The Starchild
05 [banter]
06 Kingdom
If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Naam, visit their website, and purchase The Ballad of the Starchild and their other releases from Tee Pee Records [HERE]
This is awesome! Thanks for the recording!
They have an up to date facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/KingdomOfNaam
Cuz that myspace shit is kaput, man.