A few weeks ago, Thao & Mirah headed into New, Improved Recording in Oakland, emerging with this stellar New, Improved, LIVE studio session. The session features intimate live takes on three songs from their excellent new self-titled album, and a percussive re-imagining of Pat Benatar’s “Love is a Battlefield,” all of which are available for free download below.
As the session indicates, Thao and Mirah have pulled off quite a feat in their collaborative efforts: taking two acclaimed songwriting perspectives and creating from them a unique collection of emotionally resonant songs. Out now on Kill Rock Stars, Thao & Mirah sounds like two musicians operating in an environment of total freedom. When the two in question are Thao and Mirah (with the collaborative help of Merrill Garbus of tUnE-YarDs), this is unequivocally a good thing.
Below, you can download all four songs from Thao & Mirah’s New, Improved, LIVE session, and we’ve also got three videos for you to enjoy. Thanks to Thao, Mirah, Eli Crews, Nathan Fritz and everyone who participated in this terrific session! Check out past New, Improved, LIVE sessions featuring Kyp Malone, Deerhoof, Sleepy Sun, and more at our NIL page.
New, Improved, LIVE, featuring: Thao & Mirah
Thao & Mirah – “Folks”
Download: 160kbps mp3 / 320kbps mp3
Thao & Mirah – “Little Cup”
Download: 160kbps mp3 / 320kbps mp3
Thao & Mirah – “Love is a Battlefield”
Download: 160kbps mp3 / 320kbps mp3
Thao & Mirah – “Teeth”
Download: 160kbps mp3 / 320kbps mp3
Videos
Thao & Mirah – “Love is a Battlefield”
Photos
Credits
Audio Recording: Eli Crews
Audio Recording Assistant: Carlos Arredondo
Audio Mixing: Eli Crews
Video Recording: Nathan Fritz
Video Editing: Nathan Fritz
Photos: Nathan Fritz
Andrew Maguire played drums and vibraphone on all four songs
Eli Crews played bass on “Little Cup”
Kacey Johansing sang and played the Rhodes and percussion on “Teeth” and “Folks”
