This week's #ThisDealInHistory is from our show in London, ON on Nov 20, 2002. The cut opens with what sounds like a classic Set 2 opening jam, circa 2002-era New Deal. Uptempo house music with a repeating electric piano lick and some stellar hi-hat work. Playing this style of house music requires a fair bit of restraint and patience in order to let the groove settle in. We seem to be doing a pretty good job of that on this night, throwing in some short Moog blips here and there with the bass providing rhythmic counterpoint underneath it all. We open it up a little more around 2:40 w some longer synth phrases (still repeated lines, though) while increasing the intensity a shade - the chord changes hint at what will become the first harmonic gear shift at 3:50 which takes us to the intro jam of Deep Sun...
We heard a 2004 version of Deep Sun in last week's TDIH (Ithaca 11/18/04) and it's fascinating to note the difference in approach within the span of two years. While the song was rarely the same twice (w the exception of the main "chords and melody" section), it's readily apparent that our sound and style evolved dramatically in the time period between 2002 and 2004, and one needs to look no further than these two versions of Deep Sun for proof of that.
Part of the reason for this evolution was our 8-month hiatus at the beginning of 2004 - that decision was based in part on the desire to step back from the style of music that we were most comfortable with at the time and to think about exploring other musical avenues while still maintaining that "New Deal spirit". That's not to say that what we were doing in 2002 wasn't interesting and fun - it definitely was - but we all felt that we could go farther and higher, and the break helped us to do just that when we returned in September, 2004.
I enjoy these types of sets because it appears that we're not trying to throw everything into the mix at all times, preferring to let the groove settle and speak for itself. The rest of this cut unfolds in a similar manner - restrained yet energized with a bunch of interesting ideas that breathe and develop over the course of the jam. -Jamie
