The New Deal w/Future Rock March 21, 2009

The New Deal is high energy three-piece live electronic band from Canada. With a drummer (Darren Shearer), bass guitarist (Dan Kurtz, now playing with Dragonette), and keyboard player (Jamie Shields), the music incorporates many elements of modern electronica, which they have branded live progressive breakbeat house.

The band formed in 1998 after a friendly, impromptu jam session they had at the Toronto venue the Comfort Zone. Upon listening to a recording of the show, they were transfixed by how much it sounded like a DJ mix. They subsequently released the jam session as their first album, This Is Live.

Originally billing themselves as an acid jazz group, they soon found themselves swept up into the emerging musical genre of livetronica. The drumming of Shearer often resembles the simplicity of a drum machine, while still tastefully complementing the accompanying music. Interestingly, Shields never loops a keyboard track and always plays everything live, even if a pattern is to be repeated. Thanks to the widespread sharing of bootleg versions of their first live shows, many distributed by the band themselves, a national buzz ensued and within two years they signed a major label contract with Jive Electro.

Official Website: http://www.myspace.com/tndmusic