Setting played Public Records

Instrumental trio Setting kicked off their latest run of tour dates with a brilliant show at Brooklyn's Public Records.

The North Carolina collective known as Setting consists of Nathan Bowles on keyboards, banjos, tapes, and percussion, Jaime Fennelly on synthesizers, and Joe Westerlund on drums, percussion, metallophones, and zither and together they create sprawling universes of cosmic sound that stretches from krautrock jams to blissful ambient jazz. As they gathered back together on Wednesday evening in Brooklyn to begin their next run of tour dates, the trio packed their gear onto the tiny stage of Public Records and set forth of a sonic journey through celestial grooves and repetitive rhythms that oscillated between moments of danceable melodies and ethereal drones. As bubbling nature sounds started to fill the room, the trio locked in as the lights around us started to mimic distant lightning strikes to match the mood of the sounds before the band slowly started to add their own score to the moment. Settling into the night, Bowles began to brush a cymbal with a bow as Fennelly started to fiddle with knobs and tease out some notes while Westerlund hinted away at a slow rhythm, tapping roto-toms and cymbals with tuning forks to bring out a metallic sound to get things underway. Soon the band hit a groove and started to chug along on a jam as Bowles picked up a banjo and tapped out some springy rhythms that had things bouncing in no time, slowly spiraling into a luscious tune that rolled on and on with boundless energy. He also changed out cassette tapes throughout the night, presumably adding more of the dissonant soundscapes and new age qualities to some of the more ambient moments of the evening, maneuvering between his tools with such dexterity and inspiration. Just after the thirty minute mark of the set, Fennelly fell into a melody that recalled Mike Oldfield's iconic "Tubular Bells" rolling piano riff and it made the whole room spin with wonder. Getting lost in the groove was spectacular and the band responded in total syncopation, each of them playing off one another in crisp, stunning form. Soon Westerlund was cruising on a motorik beat in one of the most straight-forward moments of the night as all three rocked with absolute purpose and conviction. The trio does wonders when incorporating textures into their music and Westerlund really explored various methods of percussion throughout the night ranging from the effortlessly cool vibes of his metallophones to the more calming and meditative rustling of shells and beads that he dangled during more of the droning segments of the set. Throughout the night, the band's steady flow was captivating, each of them pulling weight to balance out the sound, their shared ability of deep listening and collective intuition of how to play together a real sight and joy to experience. Still, volleying key moments between one another as they put their improvised interplay on full display, all while never losing their focus or control, continued to be mesmerizing as the night wore on. Their kaleidoscopic approach is layered, crafting mosaics of deeply interwoven jams that seem capable of turning any direction at once, yet the ease and gentle nature of their style makes it far from chaotic and rather sublime instead. As the final drone wound down to silence and the room responded with a resounding applause, it was as if we all emerged from dazed state, one where we had submitted to the groove and were now awakening refreshed, rejuvenated, and unable to fully express the killer set we had just witnessed, but knew that our shared collective would be sitting with this one fore quite a while to come.