4 out of 5

Label: self-released

Produced by: Mike Lust (mixed by), Carl Saff (mastered by)

FACS’ previous live recording of Present Tense expertly captured how effective they can be live… but I poo-pooed it for also not offering something distinct from the album. This show at Maggot Brain, meanwhile, “corrects” for a kind of split focus that distracted me on the album it mostly supports – Still Life in Decay – as it uses that live bombast to highlight the intensity that the songs from the disc absolutely have, but sometimes don’t support in the way the album is recorded / structured. This is notable in a couple of opposing ways: while Alianna Kalaba’s propulsive bass made lead-off track Constellation a highlight, there’s not necessarily enough dynamism to it overall – it’s always on. The version here, whether due to the lack of Sanford Parker’s production or the presence of Jonathan van Herik on bass, is much more balanced, and served better by being deeper into the album. Additionally, No Flag closes both this set and the studio recording, but it’s so much more immediate here, whereas the album edition is reaching for the immersive drone of older FACS and doesn’t achieve it.

About 2/3rds of Still Life is here, appended by new single North America Endless – very linear and rocky, if kind of abrupt in its bookends – and some other unreleased tracks, which sync well with how the live sound embraces the group’s rockier side, and also call back to the 80s / kraut-y influences of their classic sound.

The editing of the set in general I understand for time constraints, but it can be a little disruptive, and though Mike Lust’s / Carl Saff’s mix and master are crisp and well-leveled, it’s still a live recording, coming across a little flat on the low-end and clippy at select points, just meaning that while I might prefer the versions of these songs over the album ones, there’s still kind of an “ideal” recorded version alluding us.

All the same, an excellent set, and as just mentioned, my preferred Still Life-era recording.