Setting is Nathan Bowles (solo/trio, Pelt, Black Twig Pickers) on strings, keys, tapes, and percussion; Jaime Fennelly (Mind Over Mirrors, Peeesseye) on synthesizers and harmonium; and Joe Westerlund (solo, Califone, Sylvan Esso, Jake Xerxes Fussell) on drums, percussion, metallophones, and zither. After the release of their acclaimed debut LP ’Shone a Rainbow Light On,’ (Paradise of Bachelors) a record borne of performances in private rather than in public, Setting honed their group approach to improvisation and arrangement via a string of dates up and down both U.S. coasts. These developments were documented via a couple of live reports, both from Asheville NC (‘at Black Mountain College Museum’ and ‘at Eulogy’) but recorded 9 months apart, each indicating a continued honing of methods and direction. Further rehearsals to develop these ideas, including Fennelly’s incorporation of more programmed synthesizer material into the Bowles/Westerlund octopus polyrhythm, took that direction and paved the way for the sessions that are producing their 2nd forthcoming LP (Thrill Jockey): a clear evolution of their group voice and a reassertion of their performative ethos in the wake of the on-stage dynamism developed over these past two years.
(photo by Graham Tolbert; drawings by Field of Grass)