Please Be Seated

The New Deal- Please Be Seated EP (Sound and Light)

"Wind Over The Crickets" MP3

(I used the large image of this flyer because I was at that show and it was the last show I saw at Thai Joe's before it was shut down.) The New Deal is a band from Toronto that plays live house music without loops or overdubs. They are often lumped in with the jamband scene because of their ability to drop incredible improvised jams to get the dancefloor rocking. The New Deal is Jamie Shields on keys, Dan Kurtz on bass, and Darren Shearer and drums. They are a sight to see live because Jamie produces one great melody after another and alternates the lead with Dan who lays down the heavy, super low frequency bass notes. Darren is very machine-like with his drumming and sometimes it is hard to decipher whether a dj is playing or if the band is jamming.

Aside from their fantastic live show, they also know how to take advantage of their studio time. Their second album "Gone Gone Gone" was one of my favorite albums of last year. They perfectly replicated what they can do live and they also added vocals to some of the tracks. They had music left over from the recording session and released a wonderful EP of lush, downtempo tracks titled "Please Be Seated". In my opinion this is the band's finest work and each of the tracks show the band's versatility.

Buy their albums, find tourdates, and watch videos: HERE