Let It Fly

Description

Let It Fly is a live album by the American alternative rock band The Choir, independently released on the band’s own label Tattoo Records in January 1997. The album was recorded by Skye McCaskey at Penn State University in University Park, PA; at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI; at Babes in Austin, TX; at Eveangel College in Springfield, MO; and at Christ United Methodist Church in Dayton, OH. Mixed by Derri Daugherty at Neverland.

Warning: This album is intended to be listened to in moving vehicles with windows down and at least one speaker blown. Headphones are advised against. These are live recordings, and in the spirit of honesty (and laziness) we did no studio overdubbing whatsover. For you. We truly did let it fly. It was a great tour. Tim Chandler played bass. Wayne Everett played percussion. Bill Campbell played guitar. Buckeye Dan Michaels (from Akron, Ohio) played lyricon and sax. Derri Daugherty sang and played guitar. Steve Hindalong (you can call him Skinny) played drums and sang. We lost money but we had a good time… and perhaps, we met you. Thanks for comin’ out! The Choir.

Recorded by Skye on the Dirty ol’ Road. Mixed by Derri at Neverland. Mastered by Eric Wolf at Wolf Mastering. Art Direction + Design by Jim Dantzler @ Flywheel Industries. Art Coordination by Dan Michaels. Live Sound Engineer: Paul Thur. Monitor Engineer: Dave Leonhardt. Lighting Director: Keith Rintala. Bus Driver: Doug Rioux. Opening and Closing Remarks by Reverend Brian Quincy Newcomb.

[album liner notes]

There are two truly amazing moments on Let it Fly, the new live release by seminal alternative band The Choir, and two truly depressing ones. The two amazing moments come at the end of «Sad Face» and «Restore My Soul», when the band (joined here by Bill Campbell of the Throes and Wayne Everett of Starflyer 59 and Lassie Foundation) explodes in a chaotic fury of feedback, percussion and moaning lyricon, resulting in intense, mesmerizing beauty. The two depressing moments follow shortly thereafter, when the band finishes both numbers and the sparse applause betrays the fact that only a handful of people witnessed these moments live.

The Choir is a prime example of a band (Adam Again and Daniel Amos are two others) who bear a regrettable curse. Having formed before progressive music was considered viable in Christian Music, they won only a small (albeit committed) base of fans while other music purchasers sought out safer, more predictable offerings. Because the band deals with topics that sometimes are downright existential, they consequently sacrifice the young fan base that lamentably gravitates more towards big chords than big words. This leaves them in the unfortunate dilemma of consistently creating fierce, thoughtful music that nobody ever hears. The small crowd noise on Let it Fly is a depressing reminder of this predicament.

Unlike The 77’s and The Cure, who have been known to dip far back into their extensive repertoires in concert, The Choir favors it’s more recent compositions, turning to 1988’s Chase the Kangaroo only for the standards «Consider» and «Sad Face» (both of which are given new life through the band’s gripping arrangements.) Live, The Choir exudes an amazing amount of vitality, kicking up swirling clouds of sound and occasionally veering into feedback laden noise jams that resemble a more tempered Starflyer 59. The presence of Dan Michael’s lyricon (unwisely phased out on the group’s Dove-winning Free Flying Soul) floating like a spectre above the melee is the perfect final piece to The Choir’s puzzle of sound, further bolstered by Everett’s manic, tribal percussion. The eerily psychedelic «Circle Slide» collapses into noise, allows a verse of «Sled Dog» to surface, then dissolves again before delivering «Circle Slide»’s gripping final verse. «Yellow Skies» and «Sentimental Song» virtually sparkle with energy and emotion. It is moments of utter professionalism like this that set The Choir apart from the hundreds of Johnny-come-lately bands that hawk familiar music packaged in slick marketing.

Despite being a live album, Let it Fly sounds incredibly crisp (Tim Chandler’s bass tends to dominate the mix, but I can’t help but think that was deliberate). Other established artists (Steve Taylor and DigHayZoose among them) have tried and failed to make a live record that captures a concert’s raw energy; The Choir somehow pulls the trick off with panache.

At the close of Let it Fly, former Syndicate editor Brian Quincy Newcomb is heard imploring fans to stick around, despite the rain, and help The Choir pack up their gear. While I would like to think the band put this on there as a self-deprecating joke, the image of Steve Hindalong, Derri Daugherty and a handful of fans loading PA equipment into a beat-up bus is nonetheless sad. That sort of job befits second-rate acts who have yet to prove their skill and merit, not to pioneers of Progressive Christian Music. The difference? The former are young, inexperienced and brimming with ambition. The latter are bona fide artists. [J. Edward Keyes, True Tunes Magazine]

CD tracklist:

01. Introduction by Reverend Brian Quincy Newcomb – 1:13
02. Circle Slide / Sled Dog – 9:32 (recorded at Penn State University, University Park, PA)
03. Yellow Skies – 4:24 (recorded at Penn State University, University Park, PA)
04. Away With The Swine – 2:46 (recorded at Babes, Austin, TX)
05. Consider – 4:50 (recorded at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI)
06. Kissers And Killers – 3:22 (recorded at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI)
07. Sentimental Song – 4:42 (recorded at Eveangel College, Springfield, MO)
08. Sad Face – 7:02 (recorded at Christ United Methodist Church, Dayton, OH)
09. Tear For Tear / About Love – 6:05 (recorded at Christ United Methodist Church, Dayton, OH)
10. Beautiful Scandalous Night – 3:48 (recorded at Christ United Methodist Church, Dayton, OH)
11. Restore My Soul – 10:08 (recorded at Babes, Austin, TX)

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Tattoo Records. This CDPLUS Enhanced CD contains the Sled Dog music video, live concert video, audio interviews, and pictorial biography which will work in most MacIntosh™ and Windows computers with Multisession CD-ROM drives. CD ROM Authoring and Production by Craig A. Mason. Available at Bandcamp: https://thechoir1.bandcamp.com/album/let-it-fly

The Choir – Live at Cornerstone, 1996. (Set list: Circle Slide / Consider / Gripped / Weather Girl / Away of the Swine / The Chicken / Kissers and Killers / Sad Face / Sentimental Song / Tear for Tear/About Love / Warbler (acoustic) / Beautiful Scandalous Night.)