Daybed’s “2”, a sprawling 20 minute electronic maelstrom of music, was ultimately a brief detour in direction for the band.  Obsessed with late sixties, early seventies German electronic artists such as Cluster, Kraftwerk, Neu! and quite audibly here, early Tangerine Dream, the band created the twenty-plus minute suite of music as an homage to their kraut rock influences.

 

The piece, recorded in 1999 at Mercy College in White Plains NY by Alan Zapata, came to be as the result of a broken leg.  As the broken leg belonged to the band’s most able drummer, it put them at a severe disadvantage with regards to live work.  The band had a rather important show scheduled to open for Low, one of the group’s favorite bands.  Rather than cancel, Daybed decided to write and perform an entirely new set of music for this show; one that wouldn’t necessarily need a live drummer.  Having spent a period of a few months refining and playing the piece, the band decided to record it for possible release.

 

While “2” sounds much like an improvised piece of music, it was actually quite composed.  Instruments used included numerous vintage synths such as the Moog Opus 3, ARP Axe, and minimoog, an antique oscillator run through a roland space echo, guitar modified with synth pedal, a roland drum machine and even a live flute, manipulated with filters and looping pedals.  Most of what is heard on this recording was performed live in the studio, with minor embellishments overdubbed later.

 

This is the first time this music has been available anywhere, as the band more or less abandoned the recording when they eventually changed direction, yet again.

 

DAYBED 2:

John Belles, Nathan Yeager, Matt Kohnle and Jason Socci

Recorded by Alan Zapata at Mercy College in 1999.