Photos: Black Marble, John Moods, Pimp Magic Guts at recordBar

May 6, 2026

Samantha Russell,

Photo by Sam Russell

This past sleepy Monday May 4, the inexorable forces of John Moods and Black Marble joined to cocoon recordBar in divine synth oscillations.

The studio project Black Marble, helmed by Chris Stewart, performs live as a trio. Moods backed Stewart’s vocals and guitar on keyboard with a man on bass (whose name I can’t find anywhere for the life of me). Stewart’s low-resonance voice is laden with mechanical, lyrical monotony. Steadfast synth undercurrents carry the tracks forward. Leaning into the music encases feeling in each element: calm under-beat, electronic purls of synth, rhythmic twanging electric guitar. Each instrument and musical element fits together to create a womb-like experience. The set was at times peppy, at others soothing. The bass player pendulumed his instrument in a rhythmically addicting sashay between beats.

John Moods opened with a solo set, his most recent 2022 album, The Great Design, having been a favorite of mine in recent months. Pimp Magic Guts of Lawrence clenched the Moods and Black Marble’s synth-y sets with some Korg of their own in raucous high energy.

The audience cheered an encore from Black Marble that wouldn’t have otherwise happened. Good people, good sounds, good time.