Future Shuttle are a three piece from Brooklyn who make music that is best absorbed in quiet atmospheres. If everyone is not rapt – and they should be – the live experience is ruined; its understated tonalities require that the listener be in full contact with the air around them, with no distractions. This is why one of the best times I saw this band perform live was at the opening of Brooklyn's Body Actualized Center, which is firstly a yoga studio, secondly a performance space, and thirdly a sort of New Age commune. The group that runs the space had just lined the floor with soft reclaimed wood over what had been rough concrete and filled the room with plants, and Future Shuttle played first out of all the groups that were to perform during a very long afternoon. Sitting on the floor, the group's three members built a soundscape from various synthetic, vocal, and woodwind-based melodies. It was a really lovely afternoon moment.
This track, the first preview of an upcoming LP called In To It coming out on September on New Images, hold a lot more spiritual tension than the music they played that day. (Every Future Shuttle performance I have ever seen has sounded very different – I don't know if this is related to the vibe, or the way the sound echoes through space, but it's difficult to pick out individual songs in their winding sets.) With the addition of shaking percussion, the song takes on a new tribal element, along with the aforementioned beautiful melodies.
Future Shuttle plays Body Actualized again this evening, with ODO and Italian legend Franco Falsini of Sensations' Fix and many other groups. The show starts at 10 pm and is recommended.
