Ben Sloan Releases 'MUTED COLORS LIVE' Via New Amsterdam Records

Percussionist and producer Ben Sloan, who has performed and recorded with The National, Moses Sumney, Beth Orton, Mouse on Mars, Rozi Plain, Serengeti, and WHY?, has released muted colors live, an EP containing collaboratively-crafted live renditions of tracks taken from his acclaimed debut album muted colors released earlier this year on New Amsterdam Records. 

On muted colors live, Sloan brings together an all-star lineup (Brooklynn Rae, Brianna Kelly, Michael-Andrew Spalding, Darian Donovan Thomas, Mike Haldeman, and Stephen Patota) to reimagine three tracks from muted colors for a live performance video. “So much of the record ‘muted colors' was created solo, so it felt especially exciting to open things up to a full ensemble,” says Sloan. “Everyone involved brought a new dimension to the music.” 

Listen via Bandcamp HERE.

About Muted Colors Live

"I decided to make this film just before moving from Cincinnati to Denver,” Sloan tells us. “It was a sort of ‘goodbye' to my oldest home, and a last chance to collaborate with friends. Of course, those friends will still be around, and I think / hope we will continue to collaborate, but it was more like the last chance to easily tap into my community and pull off a big production with people I love. 

It was also really special to make this film with my partner, Biz Young, who directed and edited this piece.  So much of the record ‘muted colors' was created solo, so it felt especially exciting to open things up to a full ensemble. Everyone involved brought a new dimension to the music. 

We wanted the film to feel connected to the record visually — so we folded in bits of animation and Super8 footage that felt a little collage / scrapbook-esque to match the visuals and feel of the record."

Track Listing

1. Philistine [live version]

2. Too Much Internet [live version]

3. 1e&a [live version]

Ben Sloan is a percussionist, producer, and visual artist. For years, as a drummer and hired gun, Ben provided a powerful and appropriately unhinged rhythmic bed for others' music, while his sound and production simmered in the background. Starting in 2012, he began touring with WHY? taking on double drum duty alongside Josiah Wolf, and cutting his teeth as a full-time touring musician.  

Along the way, he has recorded and performed with The National, Moses Sumney, Beth Orton, Mouse on Mars, Helado Negro, Rozi Plain, Shara Nova, and Nate Brenner, many of whom appear on ‘muted colors' as a part of an ever-expanding constellation of collaborators. Beyond touring, his artistic practice continues to evolve through participation in a variety of Artist Residences; The National's Homecoming Festival  (2018), 37d03d Berlin (2018), and BANFF Arts Center (2020).  

Ben currently works as a freelance producer, composing new music and sound design for Emmy Award-winning films, documentaries, and brands, including The North Face, The Smithsonian, and Arcteryx.

About New Amsterdam

New Amsterdam is a Brooklyn-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit artist's service organization dedicated to supporting new music by composers and performers whose work transcends traditional and outdated genre distinctions. The label's artists have won numerous awards and accolades, including two Grammy Awards, seventeen Grammy nominations, and a Pulitzer Prize. New Amsterdam has also curated and presented more than 500 live concerts of groundbreaking new music. In recent years, the label embarked on a partnership with Nonesuch Records, seeing the release of approximately three albums per year to support contemporary American composers in realizing ambitious creative projects.