The Airborne Toxic Event “Storms” through another Bombastic performance.
By Glen and Julie
Around the time that they released their first album, The Airborne Toxic Event surprised and delighted their fans by recording exceptional – and exceptionally fun – one-off acoustic takes of every song. With their sophomore record, All at Once, the group took their unplugged efforts to the next level, upping the production factor for the 11-song Bombastic series.
With that well-established history behind them, by the time the group’s third LP rolled around, observers naturally expected a collection of stripped down video performances to follow. And though the tradition did continue, Such Hot Blood marked a turning point in the band’s approach to the raw recordings.
Instead of reproducing the record in full, The Airborne Toxic Event hand-picked three songs for acoustic treatment. The first, which roughly coincided with the release of the album-teasing The Secret EP, was their currently ubiquitous single.
For each album release, it’s become sort of a tradition for us to record live, one-take acoustic videos as alternate versions of the songs on the record. Yes, there’s something to deconstructing these meticulously recorded songs to hear them laid bare, but really it’s just fun to hear people play music in a room—or a moving car, or a boat, or a church. Or a bus.. Anyway, it’s an ongoing series we’ve been calling the “Bombastic.” We’re proud to present our latest acoustic video for “Timeless,” featuring our very close friends, the Calder Quartet.[i]
The video finds the nine musicians crowded into a lamp-lit, cluttered room, the dank surroundings belying the meticulously orchestrated music pouring fourth from every dusty corner. The Calders’ soaring strings deftly replace the crunchy electric guitar interlude of the standard arrangement, lending extra gravitas to Mikel Jollett’s lament.
“There’s so much you can do in the studio with arrangements,” acknowledges Jollett. “And then with a big live show you can do it with smoke and lights and production and all that. So, when you get stripped down and you just play an acoustic version of your song, it reinterprets the song. We enjoy playing acoustic.”[ii]
The band allowed “Timeless” to simmer for six weeks before dropping the next installment. “The Storm” finally broke a week before Such Hot Blood was due to arrive on store shelves. Opening, fittingly, with a close-up on the rain beating down through a darkened window, the perspective widens to reveal the players gathered inside a home – literally, “a house in the storm.” With Noah Harmon wielding a stand-up bass and Anna Bulbrook juggling piano and violin, the arrangement sticks closely to the familiar album recording – more so than most of the Bombastics. As with much of the band’s visual output, the production was guided by old friend Jon Danovic.
Danovic was back in the director’s chair for the third and final Such Hot Blood acoustic performance. “True Love” debuted on Diffuser on May 10, a week and a half after the album release. This time, the band is seated in an enclosed balcony, the black night sky visible over their shoulders. The rockabilly tune threatens to turn into a full-on hoedown when Bulbrook busts out some slightly discordant strings, but the video is best remembered for Harmon “playing the hell out of that mandolin.”[iii]
For some time, rumors floated that a fourth Such Hot Blood Bombastic had been filmed, possibly for Jollett (and fan) favorite, “Bride and Groom.” Whether or not there was any truth to those whispers, it never saw the light of day. It’s a bit tragic, frankly – as is the fact that we’ll never know what The Airborne Toxic Event would have done with majestic numbers like “Safe” and “The Fifth Day” in stripping them down to their barest essentials.
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Notes:
[i] The Airborne Toxic Event band mailing, Mar. 13, 2013.
[ii] “A Session with The Airborne Toxic Event,” Baeble Music, http://www.baeblemusic.com/concert-video/festival-fever-sessions/the-airborne-toxic-event.html.
[iii] The Airborne Toxic Event band mailing, May 10, 2013.
Julie publishes musingsfromboston.com, a music blog with the bipolar personality of wannabe philosopher and charlatan music critic, where she is just as likely to review the audience as she is the band. Her first Airborne show was at a lingerie party hosted by WFNX at an Irish-Mexican bar in Boston’s financial district. She does her best to live by the motto “only one who attempts the absurd can achieve the impossible.”
Glen is the founder and editor of This Is Nowhere. He’s grateful for an understanding wife and kids who indulge his silly compulsion to chase a band all over the Pacific Northwest (and occasionally beyond) every time the opportunity arises.
