After loving the Warm Currency 10” last year, this set at the PBC with Maxine Funke in January was the first chance I’d managed to catch them live and they blew me away.
I remember there was some hesitancy about the decision to use the notoriously out of tune upright piano which I reckon is more set dressing than functional (and both Mary and Matthew apologise for its use despite tuning to it) but it only adds to an air of mystery and eeriness to the set which draws from material from the 10”.
One of the things that particularly struck me about their set was the clarity of sound in the room and the silence of everyone there during Warm Currency’s set and it’s funny to hear it confirmed in these recordings. The gentle and occasional clatter of bistro cutlery blends in with the eerie creakiness of the set and the room is so silent it’s almost a shock when the audience applauds at the end of each track.
While this is a live recording from a Zoom mic, it’s worth noting that it sounds better to my ears than most multitracked recordings these days (kudos to David A on sound!) with Mary’s vocals here particularly haunting (Maxine compared them to Nicole Moffat’s singing in The Terminals) and an airy yet distinct balance between the piano, guitar, and samples.
Apologies for the essay, but stoked that this amazing set can reach further than the walls of the PBC!
-Mitch