Real Estate rocked a live set at Manhattan's SubCulture, performing all of their new album Atlas front to back for NPR's First Listen Live program. Alternative to the iTunes Stream that dropped on Tuesday, the live set has a focused energy that gives the songs a slightly different feel. Without the layers of reverb frontman Martin Courtney's voice sounds understandably less dreamy, but his and Matt Mondanile's layered guitar work is all the more impressive when executed flawlessly live. Bassist Alex Bleeker ran the show in between songs, talking to the crowd and cracking jokes while the others tuned.
Unfortunately, the video cuts out once before the band goes on and again briefly in the middle of "April's Song," the instrumental with possibly some of the best guitar work on the album, which might catch some viewers off guard. Besides that the performance and recording are top notch, giving users who can't get enough of the studio version another way to check out the album.
After wrapping up Atlas, the band played a brief encore, performing "Beneath the Dunes," a Mondanile-fronted B-side off of the "Talking Backwards" single, and a cover of George Harrison's "Behind That Locked Door." The video cuts before these performances, but you can listen to them at the end of the NPR audio stream beginning somewhere around 46:30.
Pre-order Atlas, due out on March 4th, from iTunes. For more music, news and more check out Real Estate's Zumic Artist Page.
Source: NPR
