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Setting Sun | Fantasureal
(By Stephen Slaybaugh, LimeWire)
June 1, 2010
The title to Setting Sun’s sixth album, Fantasurreal, is the perfect made-up combination of two words to capture the spirit and sound of the record. Largely the work of one man, Gary Levitt, Setting Sun creates a fantastical mix of whimsy and brightly hued pop matched to a surreal lyrical sensibility that’s the product of either a vivid imagination or some good drugs. Cuts like the leadoff “Driving” and the six-minute paean to sustained adolescence, “Don’t Grow Up,” recall Grandaddy in their mutations of organic instrumentation.
On the latter, Levitt seems fond of tape saturation as well, pushing the cut’s big drum beat into the red for a fuzzy tom sound. Here We Go Magic’s Jennifer Turner joins him for “Into the Wire,” which turns out to be lyrically more mundane, with Levitt singing about doing dishes, cleaning the bathroom and making the bed over a sparkling pop melody. Perhaps most out-there (or “fantasurreal,” to use the new parlance) is “The Sympathetic CEO” which is sung from the point of view of an executive sitting on top of the world, though, it sounds like it comes from the bottom of the deep blue. Whatever, you want to call it, Setting Sun has made an album that’s wonderfully weird.

Setting Sun: 'What We Wanted'
NPR (All Things Considered)
By Conor McKay

NPR.org, June 23, 2008 - Setting Sun is a quintet led by frontman and producer Gary Levitt. The band's third album, Children of the Wild, evokes the laid-back simple life of Levitt's Upstate New York home. Driven by simple acoustic guitar lines, Erica Quitzow's graceful string orchestrations, and Levitt's hushed vocals, Setting Sun's arrangements are dramatic and poignant.

Levitt's whispery vocals might remind listeners of a less depressed Elliott Smith. Levitt mixes softly cooed choruses and murmured spoken-word verses on the album's opening track, "What We Wanted," giving the sense that he's playing and singing to himself. This personal, confiding style lends the music its defining intimacy. Levitt the storyteller is immediately alluring, offering an inviting closeness in the whisper and croon of his honest lyrics.

Along with Setting Sun's characteristic guitars, cello, violin, drums, and backing singers, the band also travels with a synthesizer. Unobtrusively, the band mixes synth experimentalism in with its folky, string-band sound — at times to great effect. "No Devil No More," Children of the Wild's second track, takes blue-note melodies and a driving beat and sets them against scratching violins and ambient electronic feedback. The resulting gloominess well-emphasizes the track's melancholic lyrics.

The band sets out on a month-long cross-country tour starting June 24, with a three-week European tour due in November.

All Music Guide
Review by Stewart Maso

Raised in upstate New York and now based in San Francisco, singer-songwriter Gary Levitt has a solid take on the balance between rural naif and urban hipster that's at the root of the current alt-folk scene, but for all the acoustic guitars and simple musical settings of the third Setting Sun album, he's no Devendra Banhart type of modern flower child. Levitt (who basically is the Setting Sun, although Erica Quitzow, co-owner of the Young Love label and Levitt's partner, adds cello, violin, drums and vocals) has far more in common with Destroyer's Dan Bejar: the 11 songs on Children of the Wild use not only vintage psych and folk-rock as musical touchstones, but the melodramatic likes of Scott Walker and Hunky Dory-era David Bowie, as well as sophisticated '80s college rockers like Prefab Sprout and the Go-Betweens. Moods range from the giddy, strummy pop rush of "Overjoyed" to the whispered tension of "Not Waste," with room for the folkish delicacy of "Morning Song" as well as the trippy edge of the Beck-like single "No Devil Me No More," with the boyish charm of Levitt's vocals and the inventive melodicism of his tunes tying the whole thing together. Children of the Wild may not fit easily into any currently fashionable genre descriptors, but it's definitely worth a listen.

Setting Sun
CD - Children Of The Wild
http://www.toxicpete.co.uk/settingsun.html

'Children Of The Wild' by New York's Setting Sun is exactly the kinda album I love to find sitting on my doormat in the morning. 'Children Of The Wild' is a beautifully stimulating and superbly executed piece of post-country modernistic pop genius!

Actually, what Setting Sun does is very hard to pigeonhole; it sits comfortably inside several sub-genre without really conforming to any one in particular. 'Children Of The Wild' takes me all the way back to Kevin Ayers' 'Joy Of A Toy' - an album that was way ahead of its time - 'Children Of The Wild' may not be ahead of its time in the same sense but it definitely has an intangible timelessness about it. There's a sleepy, whispery nursery-rhyme quality to the vocals that sits somewhat juxtaposed to some really modernistic atmospherics that also sit often opposed to the pounding percussive back beats and persuasive rhythms.

Listening to 'Children Of The Wild' is like a voyage of discovery; nothing is what it seems, all is not what it purports to be - it's like taking a bare-back ride across previously uncharted territory; you're always anticipating what comes next and never quite getting it right. But if you just hold tight, the rewards for your unrest and anguish are extremely worthwhile and certainly memorable. Setting Sun is the brainchild of Gary Levitt; quite clearly a master of melodic dynamics, a dextrous and massively competent multi-instrumentalist and a well grounded, slightly surreal urban poet. With a little help from a few 'friends', Levitt pulls it all together and manages to capture just the right amount of sophisticated ambience to offset the pop sensibilities and keep this album believable and accessible without selling out to any particular modern musical idiom - a clever move that opens this brilliant album up to people from practically all musical persuasions and preferences.

'Children Of The Wild' by Setting Sun is a beautifully complex but somehow uncomplicated work that's easy on the ear, good for the heart and even better for the soul. A refined piece of intelligent pop, a modern masterpiece of art-pop, a thoroughly convincing and rewarding trip into a new kind of musical heaven. Stunning - superb!!

A Beautiful Setting Sun
http://obscuresound.com/?p=1965

Though they seem to be minority, some songwriters are just better off writing songs on their own. In addition to having more helping hands available in the process of writing and recording material, bands can provide a stable source of personal and artistic support for a lead songwriter who may be in dire need of it. However, they can also provide the exact opposite in disrupting an artistic vision in order to provide for their own weaker version; gathering up a group of talented musicians who hold a similar vision as the lead songwriter is an arduous feat that is often determined by chance. This level of cooperation can vary from artist to artist and it certainly has nothing to do with their congeniality or morality, but simply how well they work together with other people when writing music. For most artists, the discovery of whether or not they work most efficiently in a group or isolated environment is determined after attempting both circumstances. Finding success in the first group or project one forms is extremely rare, often only achieved by individuals who exceed innovational standards. After all, a colossal success is rare to come by when a failure has not preceded it.

Gary Levitt has spent over a decade in various projects, gaining experience while witnessing the highs and lows of being both a songwriter in a group and solo project. In fact, as far as being a member in a band goes, Levitt has experienced life in a quartet, a trio, and a duo. He has seen a reasonable share of success from each of them but none has reached the recognition or level of potential that his solo project, Setting Sun, has provided since the release of his debut album, holed up, in 2002. Levitt’s first foray came when he was situated in New York during the ‘90s. Consisting of a revolving lineup, he served as one of the founding members of The Kung-Fu Grip. The group remained in New York four 4 years and toured frequently throughout the East Coast before making their way out to San Francisco. While there, they cut out all excess pieces and reverted to being a tightly focused trio. Around the same time, Levitt met Erica Quitzow and they formed the indie-pop duo Heavy Pebble together. Along with The Kung-Fu Grip, Levitt started making a name for himself on the West Coast with several releases and a busy touring schedule. When Levitt felt that he had the confidence and experience necessary to try his hand at something new and on his own, both groups disbanded and he formed Setting Sun.

After secluding himself in an apartment with some gear and two cheap microphones, he emerged in 2002 with holed up, Setting Sun’s debut. It showcased Levitt’s reverence for lo-fi folk and pop music, with an acoustic guitar often guiding the way over alternating crescendos. Holed up caught the attention of Virgin recording artist and Furslide frontwoman Jennifer Turner and she invited him to London to play guitar for her band Inner. He stayed for a bit and wrote two songs for their debut album, lovetheonlyway, before returning home to resume work on his solo material. Upon his return, the release of holed up had captured an increasing amount of attention to coincide with Setting Sun’s rampant tour as a three-piece. Around the same time, Levitt also began performing solo every night with his acoustical charm. His second album, Math and Magic, followed in 2005 and capitalized upon the potential that holed up displayed. Produced by Richard Chiu, it was a more expansive release that saw Levitt’s songwriting embrace a more polished soundscape. Despite their differences though, both albums hold up and one can easily find the enjoyment in the lo-fi charm of holed up and the evolutionary blend of folk and pop in Math and Magic.

For his third and most enjoyable album to date, Levitt has assembled an impressively wide array of experience to produce a sound that fulfills all expectations that were provided by the potential of his first two albums. Set to be released on June 10th, Children of the Wild features 11 tracks that show Levitt’s best songwriting to date. The urging thump of “No Devil me no More” provides exceptional use of the cello, with an underlying bass line and forceful percussive response complementing the experimental string use even more. The track features collaborator and label-mate Erica Quitzow on vocals, a role she reprises for a handful of very memorable tracks throughout the album. The true standout of the album for me though is “How Long”, a magnificent track that concurrently manages to be romantically touching and exceptionally infectious. “I hope you feel the same, feel the same, as you’re whistling my name,” Levitt sings somberly, backed by an impressive acoustical progression and steadfast rhythm section. “How long, how long,” Levitt and Quitzow sing in a duet during the chorus, providing a beautiful rendition that may even soak the eyes. Comparisons to The Magic Numbers and folk-pop groups of the ’70s are prevalent and certainly welcome in this case. The track manages to remain in the conventional realm of folk with amiable elements of indie-pop peaking through, mainly through the vocal execution and use of strings.

“Carry me Away” is one of the most straightforward tracks on Children of the Wild but it still manages to feature an ardently impressive chorus in addition to being a further display of Levitt’s lyrical prowess. As the song’s topic of romantic indecision wears thick, Levitt’s repeated sentiment of “enchanting, romancing you” is one that he fulfills extremely well through his delicately crafted songwriting. He now resides in upstate New York but the word is beginning to spread quickly. When Children of the Wild is released in a few weeks, I strongly recommend it as being one of the most straightforwardly enjoyable folk albums of the year so far

Nothing Upsetting About Setting Sun
Published by laurent the laurent on July 23, 2008
http://pastaprima.net/?p=715

Setting Sun began in 2001 in a San Francisco apartment by the one and only Gary Levitt.  On June 10th Levitt released the third album from Setting Sun called Children Of The Wind out on Young Love Records.  Collaborating on this album is label mate Erica Quitzow(who is the band Quitzow…more on her later) who plays all of the strings on the album.  Quitzow, Levitt, and friends recorded Children Of The Wind entirely in their 19th century Victorian house.  Out of their unique home recording environment comes a sometimes grand, sometimes hushed, sometimes eerie expanse of folk based songs.  Though the production swirls from one emotion to the next, the one constant is Gary Levitt’s coarse yet fragile vocals (the closest I can relate to them is Sebadoh’s Lou Barlow).  They sound good.  As for the album as a whole, Children Of The Wind first came across as disjointed, but as I spun it ’round a few more times, I found the underlying current of Levitt’s spirited delivery powerful enough to hold together this diary of mystery and sentiment.

Setting Sun - Children of the Wild
Fig and Mint

But this is a post primarily about Setting Sun of Young Love Records. Although an initial listen at the whispery vocals on Children of the Wild, the group's third album, would indicate yet another Sam Beam spinoff, the songs progress into pleasantly unique territory.  The soft acoustic line and melodious chorus of "What We Wanted" brings a haunting familiarity akin to darkly mellow Neil Young, but the spoken word delivery of the verses changes the direction the song takes, a trick that songwriter/producer/frontman Gary Levitt (above) uses with great effectiveness throughout the length of the record.  Unexpected electronic tints and flourishes appear and are gone, along with sharply incisive interjections of wit or commentary that slide gracefully back behind sonorous reflection.  Favorable reviews by NPR and Crawdaddy (among others) and a current US tour seem to suggest that Setting Sun is a band on the move, but don't take my word for it: click here to stream Children of the Wild and decide for yourself.

Setting Sun - Children of the Wild
by Tom Sekowski
http://www.gaz-eta.vivo.pl/gaz-eta/recenzje/gazeta.php?nr=66&id=s_23

Multi-instrumentalists Gary Levitt and Erica Quitzow enjoy each other's company so much, they continually play on one another's projects. Levitt's project Setting Sun features Quitzow on vocals, drums, cello and violin, while Quitzow's project - simply called Quitzow, features Levitt on vocals, bass and percussion. I don't particularly care whether these two are a couple or not, what matters is that they can make wildly poignant music together.

In Setting Sun context, the duo sound relaxed, though the music, which heavily relies on pop-folk idioms, has an underlying gray colour to it. Levitt's vocals are barren, oftentimes whispered, while the rhythms sound regimented. A song like "How Long" sounds tranquil. With Quitzow on back-up vocals and providing some gorgeous cello and violin melodies, I'm getting a sense of the open road or a wild back country. "Love My Love" falls along a similar territory. The folk influence weighing in heavy on the band, the music is loose, the melodies pleasant, while the mood remains melancholy. Everything ends on a positive note, as Levitt sings "Happy joy, joy", while Quitzow gives off the sweetest sing-along choruses. If anything, I imagine the music on "Children of the Wild" to be something that comes across best in a coffee shop or late at night by a campfire.

Pop Wreck(oning)
Setting Sun - Children of the Wild
by Jessica McGinley

Hailing from the Catskills of New York, the brainchild behind the magnificent Setting Sun is Gary Levitt. Children of the Wild, out June 10th on Young Love Records, is the third effort from Levitt, who went solo following the the dissolution of other projects he'd been involved in. Levitt currently shares a home studio with musical collaborator Erica Quitzow, who uses her last name as her musical moniker. She takes on vocals, drums, cello, violin and more for Children of the Wild, adding fluidity and beauty to an already outstanding album.

Children of the Wild begins with the low and mellow "What We Wanted." Levitt's vocals are saturated with melancholy as he sings the opening chorus and each verse, methodically strumming his acoustic guitar. A sense of sadness is heightened when Quitzow and the other backing musicians join Levitt for the chorus: "We never really got what we wanted. / We barely even get what we need. / We never really got what we wanted, / But we try. But we try."

The slightly haunting "No Devil Me No More" (download) seamlessly emerges from "What We Wanted." Quitzow provides a deep and eerie cello part as well as a pounding back beat on the drums, driving the song forward. The bridge features warped guitar chords before the chorus picks up and Quitzow ends the song with a deep and frantic cello trill. This and the next song are definite earmarks for singles. "How Long" is instantaneously bouncy and catchy, hooking you in every single aspect. The harmony between the keys and violin is simply gorgeous. A Levitt sings in the chorus, "this song can't be ignored."

Much of the album retains a jaunty feel with plucky strings, steady beats and driving riffs, yet "Slob" deviates from the upbeat indie pop sound. It's echoed vocals evoke a dreaminess that is complimented by a soothing violin, rain-like percussion and Quitzow and Lawrence Roper's eerie backing vocals. "Love My Love" keeps the dreamlike state intact with its low tones and hushed sound.

"Love My Love" is a warped and trippy tune featuring great effects from a synth, some of which sound like they could belong in a video game. The dynamic between the synth and the rest of the instrumentation is intriguing: Levitt's vocals are agitated are over a haunting melody and angry drum beat. The mellowed "Morning Song" continues with a slightly warped synth sound before Children of the Wild ends with the hugely melodic "Happy Joy."

In the vein of a modern classic like Bright Eyes, Levitt's unrivaled pop sensibilities make for meticulously crafted songs on both ends of the emotional spectrum. This is definitely an album to own.

Children of the Wild will be available on June 10th via Young Love Records. Pick up a copy and be sure to catch Setting Sun on tour beginning at the end of June. I'll be covering the Philly date so check back for more on Setting Sun!

Rum-Soaked Review
This sound can't be ignored: Setting Sun, Children of the Wild
Tuesday, April 15, 2008

This week’s reviews mark several firsts. One of which is that I’m reviewing two CDs long before their release date. I feel a bit more professional now. The other is that this is the first time I’ve reviewed music by friends, which I find to be a difficult position to be in since objectivity gets outright flushed into septic oblivion. However, I feel strongly that reviews are always subjective due to the biases of the individual writing the review, so, without further ado, let’s get this whirly-gig flying.

I’m trying to remember when I first met Erica Quitzow and Gary Levitt. I was most likely introduced to them by Kevin (see Swing The Heartache) somewhere in the wild, late night, open mike, pub scene of New Paltz, NY. In any event, I’m glad that I did indeed meet and become friends with these two fine musicians. They contribute to each other’s music projects in integral roles; I remember noting at certain live shows that the only differences in line-up between Setting Sun (Levitt’s project) and Quitzow (take a guess) was what position each performer was in and who was singing. Both Setting Sun’s and Quitzow’s releases for this year (Children of the Wild and Art College, respectively) are released on Young Love Records, Gary and Erica’s labor of love, and apparently devoted to music that is fun and loving (tagline to the website: “home of the Love”).

Up first this week is Setting Sun’s Children of the Wild. I’ve been hearing “Overjoyed” and “Happy Joy” since I first saw Setting Sun play several years ago, so it’s nice to see them on this album. I’m sure I’ve heard some of these songs before at various places in and around New Paltz, but those two are the first that come to mind.

To me, Children of the Wild is a sunny afternoon or drive in the country album. The predominantly-acoustic folk/pop with occasional synths doesn’t really lend itself to the dimly lit bars that I typically see Gary and Erica and company performing in; this music is for socializing, dinner parties, good friends and good times. It is, for the most part, a fun and joyful album, upbeat without being annoyingly sweet like so much cookie-cutter indie pop that hits the shelves these days. Comparisons be damned; Setting Sun stands on its own feet.

The instrumentation on this album is what I like the most. It isn’t wildly different or trying too hard to escape definition, but at the same time, it’s a character all it’s own. When the cello and violin start, and those occasional synths kick in, the party really gets started; that’s the experimental aspect to Children of the Wild and what prevents it from being casually pigeonholed as an indie folk/rock album. My favorite tracks are “No Devil Me No More” (probably the darkest song on the album, more foreboding if anything), “How Long,” the delightfully spacey “Not Waste,” and the afore-mentioned “Overjoyed” and “Happy Joy.” “Inside My Love” is a bit of a heartbreaker in its simple beauty. Children of the Wild is a varied album; there’s a little something for everyone.

The album art is beautiful. Billy Keddy’s vaguely Suessian cover painting, with the two people holding hands under a big orange sun walking to a wobbly city, is a fantastic expression of the emotional state conveyed in the songs. Love, uncertainty, an expansive world to get lost in… it’s an accurate representation of everything this album is about.

If there is a single complaint to be made, it’s the run time of 37:03. The music is just so comfortable that you want to stay there all afternoon, and when it ends, you can’t help but start it over again. And again. And again. Expect Children of the Wild to spend a lot of time in your CD player. It’s infectious in it’s fun.

The official release date for both Children of the Wild and Quitzow’s Art College is June 10th, so mark your calendars. I don’t know what they’re doing for distribution on these two albums, but I know that you can get them direct from the artists and, if they stay true to tradition, most likely at live shows. I cannot recommend the live performances of Setting Sun and Quitzow enough; aside from the fact that they are really talented, they are friendly people that I am glad are part of my life. They have a tour planned for this summer, so look at their sites and see if they are going to be near you. It will be worth stopping in for a show. If you're not ordering it right now, then pick up Children of the Wild when you hit up the concert.

Setting Sun
Album: Children of the Wild
Label: Young Love Records
Release Date: 10 th June 2008
http://www.krugermagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1777&Itemid=54


Setting Sun is Gary Levitt, the partner in crime of Erica Quitzow. The two keep getting grouped together due to the fact that they both contribute to each other’s records and are co-headlining a tour this summer.

But honestly, there aren’t many comparisons to be made.

In my opinion, Children of the Wild has a completely slower, warmer feel that hardly reminds me of the fun, synth-heavy, quirky Art College put out by Quitzow.

Let me take you through it. This is a solid album. Did it blow me away? No, but it does have this easy going yet haunting quality to it that keeps you coming back for another listen. The music is acoustic, almost folk sounding with more unique instrumentation and strings. Levitt’s voice is slow and soothing even when it’s upbeat, it’s raspy and drawn out. There have been many Elliott Smith comparisons, but I don’t see it. It’s less slit your wrists than that. For the record, I’m in no way trying to be disrespectful to one of my idols, it’s just that Setting Sun is louder and less depressing and whispery than Smith. I’d go with Nick Drake or Iron & Wine. Which is why it makes sense that while listening to Children of the Wild I kept feeling like I was listening to B Sides off the Garden State soundtrack or something.

My favorite track is No Devil Me No More which has this haunting cello sequence. It’s definitely the darkest, most ominous song on the record and I dig it. Other favorites include the more singable How Long and yes, embarrassingly enough Happy Joy, where he repeats “Happy Happy Joy Joy I’m a little laughing boy.” So a bit of a range. Dark to happy and a good record overall. Will it be able to break through the clutter? Hard to say.
Steph Price

One Microphone - CHILDREN OF THE WILD Review!
Chad Freeburg, June 10, 2008

Gary Levitt is keeping busy. Between his band Setting Sun's third LP release, a full touring schedule with label mate Erica Quitzow, producing and appearing on her latest album, as well as taking an administrative hand in their recording label Young Love Records (he actually answers the publicity-related emails himself!), Levitt seemingly would have little remaining time to invest in, well, living life. However, Setting Sun's latest Children of the Wild, with it's rich time-weathered imagery, would suggest otherwise, that Levitt has lived a lot of life with all its trials and tribulations, its good and bad.

"What we Wanted" opens the album with a pensive Cat Stevens slash Elliot Smith slash Nick Drake feel that sets the stylistic groundwork for the rest of the LP. As can be expected by the comparison made, Children of the Wild relies heavily on a stylized rustic folk-tinged poetry to evoke a sense of worldly wisdom and poignancy. In "What we Wanted," lines like, "well my life's living out like a Frankenstein... they say we're free but how can that be, spending all our time on the dime," and, "God will love you anyways, 'cause there's no sinners and there's no saints, God don't evaluate," give a hint of what's in store. A self-defeatist bittersweet desolation contrast a sense of gratitude and jubilation, these seesawing back and forth over the course of the album to create a grand poetic description of the protagonist's smallness in the world (all personal pronouns in the song titles are in lower case on purpose).

Dark in sentiment, "No Devil me no More" is unsettling with edgy strings, a douse of synthesizer, field drum-like percussion and cryptic lyrics, "you keep scratchin', there's no difference. I'm tryin' to beat the boy. You keep scratchin' but no devil, no devil me no more." But the shadows are met with sun in "How Long." Though the lyrics create a sense of yearning with, "how long is all we know," the outlook is less damning, the percussive drive more upbeat and the strings more playful. "Carry me Away," returns to melancholy, repeating, "I'm old, I'm old, I'm old." Obvious by the title, "Overjoyed" with it's prominent dueting between Levitt and Quitzow, text painting, and bounty of instruments both acoustic and electric is like Arcade Fire in great jubilance.

"Love my Love" opens with the outdoor sounds of cicadas and crickets. The unusual treatment of the main vocal line with light octave doubling and heavy filters makes it seem like the voice is singing from under or through water, a warbly waver entering to create and inspire the fantastic. Returning to a striking resemblance to Elliot Smith, "Slob" opens with chords straight out of "Needle in the Hay" and Smith's own close-to-the-mic hushed utterance. But swiftly the sound mutates as electronic synthesized sounds, backing vocals and a drumset are added. A smattering of harmonic interest in "Not Waste" neatly balances the frowning lyrics. The clicking back-of-the-bow pizzicato on the strings toward the very end of the piece is haunting.

Confessing, "come live inside my love, too bad we won't know what to do with it," a sense of emotional impotence continues the dreariness in "Inside my Love." "Morning Song," is quaint with its acoustic guitar and calliope-esque accompaniment but inspired and progressive with its compound meter, oscillating effortlessly in a 7/4. And the finale with its nod to The Ren and Stimpy Show, singing, "Happy, happy, joy, joy," is traditional folk with a feel-good Peter Pan and the Lost Boys appeal creating an euphoric and easily digestible petit fort closer.

Children of the Wild is difficult to compartmentalize. Though the depth of lyrical content is clearly inspired by the greats of folk rock, a close attention to sonic experimentation allows Levitt's latest to straddle defining categories. Setting Sun creates intelligent music, no exception with this album, and it's clear to see why collaborations with Quitzow, also an intelligent artist, work so well despite the obvious difference in musical sensibilities.

Pop Wreck(oning)
Setting Sun - John & Peter's, New Hope PA
by Jessica Micginley

more @ flickr

John and Peter's, a tiny bar tucked away on Main Street in New Hope, Pa. has featured live music 7 days a week, 365 days a year for over 35 years. Famous acts such as Norah Jones, Mary Chapin Carpenter, George Thorogood and Ween have all taken the stage downstairs at John & Peter's as up-and-coming acts. This past Friday night was my first time in John & Peter's and I had the pleasure of seeing up and comers Setting Sun. Gary Levitt, who plays guitar and provides lead vocals, is joined by Erica Quitzow on the violin, also lending backing vocals. The New Paltz, Ny. based duo are both band and labelmates twice over -- the each have their own projects, Setting Sun and Quitzow, respectively, but both play in each other's project and share their own label, Young Love Records.

Joining the pair on Friday night were Topu Lyo (Skidmore Foundation, Domestic Mosquitoes) on cello and Miles Kennedy on drums. It always impresses me to see a band with classical string instruments, so I fell in love before even the first note was played. The four previewed most of Setting Sun's forthcoming album Children of the Wild (due in June), almost in its tracklisting order. Their opener, "What We Wanted," drew cheers from the crowd as the energy on stage radiated from Levitt and Quitzow, who then launched into the dark yet driving and incredibly catchy "No Devil me no More." The drum hook gets you. Go to Setting Sun's myspace page immediately and stream this song and just try to not play it over and over and over. Really. Go.

A sugary sweet violin part stole the show on "How Long," a rather jaunty tune, minimal on percussion but maxed out on awesome. Following the bouncy tune, Levitt informed the audience, "We're gonna try to calm down a little bit." Slow it down they did, with "Carry me Away." Quitzow and Lyo harmonized in a low key on their respective string instruments and Levitt matched with almost baritone vocals. Quitzow then pulled off beautiful and melodic riffs on her violin as the song ended.

Levitt introduced the next song, "Slob," saying, "This is a song about being a very messy person." The crowd laughed as Setting Sun launched into an upbeat tune with Quitzow picking up a tambourine in lieu of her violin, and the foursome proved their skill as musicians, playing very tightly. The band looked back to 2002 as they played "Holy Days" off Setting Sun's debut Holed Up. "Holy Days" started off as a typical singer/songwriter tune, but soon took a dark and heavy turn atop a driving beat. It during this song that the lights at John and Peter's flickered, alerting the audience to last call.

The flickering of the lights wass ignored and Quitzow told the sound guy to "Turn up the drums for this one!" as the band broke into the intensely melodic and driving "Happy Joy." The set ended just as bouncy with the upbeat love song "The Only One" from 2005's Math and Magic and "Overjoyed". On the former Levitt sang, "You're the only one I had to be there for / There's a absence and a spark that I cannot ignore / You're the only one," over a driving snare drum and smooth riffs.

Though short on time, Setting Sun managed to fit in their entire set list by speeding up each song a little bit to fit within their time constraints. Levitt and crew have a ridiculous amount of energy that kept me in love with them throughout the entire set. I had a great time seeing Setting Sun and wouldn't hesitate recommending you catch them live as often as possible (tour dates below). Their spirit and energy is infectious and you'll leave the show a happier person, even if just for the night.

Setting Sun will be releasing their new album, Children of the Wild, on June 10th. We have a copy (which we're stoked about!), so check back for a review!

Space City Rock
Setting Sun - Math and Magic
(Jill Krasny - 06/01/07)
Spacey, thoughtful, and -- dare I say it -- pretty, Setting Sun's music is perfect for watching
sunsets from a balcony while taking long drags from a licorice-flavored clove cigarette.
Their sophomore release, Math and Magic, finds the band functioning at a higher level
than before (the production is tighter, more fluid, and polished) and further establishes
front man and guitarist Gary Levitt as a songwriter whose uncanny ability to draw his music
from his scenery -- be it the tropical Q-tip trees of L.A. or the frenetic pulse of New York --
makes him one of the most interesting talents to emerge in the indie scene. Just listen to the
sweeping balladry and throbbing crescendo of "It's Light," and you'll get what I mean.

Roll Magazine
Band on the Rise: Setting Sun
by Peter Aaron
If you want to catch the Hudson Valley’s king of D.I.Y. rock, you’re going to have to do some driving—either down the Thruway to New York, where Gary Levitt and his band Setting Sun play roughly once a month, or through the village of New Paltz and onto cornfield-lined Libertyville Road. If you choose the latter, look sharply; it’s easy to miss the tucked-back 19th-century farmhouse where Levitt lives with his partner—and the local D.I.Y. queen, naturally—Erica Quitzow, and where the couple operates their Young Love label and recording studio. Right now, with the insane schedule of a deadline-straddling music journalist, Manhattan is out of the question. So off to New Paltz it is. But why is a house call the only option—doesn’t Setting Sun do local shows?

“We don’t really play out a lot around here,” says Levitt, who sings and plays guitar, bass, and keyboards in the band, a studio-birthed project augmented by multi-instrumentalist Quitzow and a changing cast of drummers. “It’s weird, we draw way more people in New York. The people who come to see us in the city are there to base their lives on art, while most people up here have serious jobs, families, whatever. So we play more down there more and tour a lot. But I still think it’s important to play locally whenever we can.”

Levitt grew up in Queens, where he was inspired to make music not by the teeming New York rock scene, but by his acoustic guitarplaying high school friends. “I just thought it was really cool, how they wrote their own songs and did their own thing,” he recalls. Oh, and there was also The Beatles. “They’re still my absolute favorite band. The way they put something like ‘I Am The Walrus’ together—just amazing.”

Levitt’s first foray into the indie scene was as a guitarist in New Paltz-based punk/noise quintet The Kung-Fu Grip, which he joined in 1993. The band cut its jagged teeth on the East Coast circuit, but on the night before a planned national tour the group’s singer and second guitarist quit. Instead of throwing in the towel, however, Levitt and the remaining bassist and drummer decided to hit the road anyway, the three members learning to sing and playing improvised music along the way—D.I.Y. to the core. Rechristened The KFG, the trio moved to San Francisco in 1996, where Quitzow, Levitt’s then-new girlfriend, soon followed.

The band did well for a time on the Northern California scene but eventually broke up, leaving Levitt and Quitzow to form psychedelic pop outfit Heavy Pebble. The new group, with its quirky sound and trippy film-projection backdrops, was another hit in the San Francisco clubs, but it too came to an end when several key members left. After twice being burned by intra-band dynamics, Levitt knew what he had to do: start his own project.

So in 2001, Levitt sequestered himself in a friend’s apartment with some borrowed gear and “two cheap microphones” to record what was to become Setting Sun’s debut, the appropriately titled Holed Up. Marked by a sense of palpable urgency that betrays the shoot-from-the-hip conditions of its creation, the album seamlessly fuses Levitt’s chief references—warmly strummed acoustic guitar, bent Beatles/Bowie pop, loud/quiet Pixies/Nirvana dynamics—into a catchy and inversely intimate lo-fi blend. Levitt describes his sound as having an “orchestral approach.” “Whenever I’m writing or recording, I’m always hearing a lot of different parts for songs,” he says. “Lots of counter-melodies, different things for strings and keyboards to do.”

Unfortunately, it would be a little more time until the world at large would get to hear the album. Before Levitt could plan Setting Sun’s rise, he and Quitzow detoured to Los Angeles to play with Inner, the brainchild of sometime Hudson Valley resident and Natalie Merchant guitarist Jennifer Turner. Inner recorded an album in London and toured, but, alas, also soon broke up. So finally in 2002 the couple started Young Love Records and released Holed Up, which was met with a healthy stack of positive reviews. Levitt put together a threepiece Setting Sun to tour the Western U.S. and also did a couple of lengthy solo tours to plug the disc.

When it came time for the follow-up, Math & Magic, Levitt called in producer Richard Chiu. “I thought I’d try something different and work with someone else,” Levitt says. “He gave the music much more of a sheen than I would have, but the songs still come through.” True, Math & Magic is slightly polished compared to the earlier disc, but it’s light years away from real mainstream slickness. And Levitt’s fine pop song-craft still emerges uncompromised.

By 2004, having had their fill of the West Coast, Levitt and Quitzow (by now writing and recording under her last name) were back in New Paltz, determined to continue making, releasing, and promoting music on their own, self-contained terms. They set up Young Love Studio in a spare room of their house at first to record themselves but soon began taking on outside clients like singer-songwriters Pete Laffin, Meryl Joan Lammers, and Doug Wapner, pop-punk trio Fink, and others. “I love helping other artists work on their music,” says Levitt. “If they come in with just bare-bones sketches of songs on acoustic guitar and want to make them sound bigger, I can usually come up with ideas that add to the songs but don’t compete with them.” In addition to running the board at Young Love, Levitt works as an engineer at Sonart Studios in Woodstock.

It’s pretty much impossible to write about the music of Setting Sun without touching on that of Quitzow. Like the proverbial yin and yang, the two “bands” feed and complement each other’s art while remaining very different animals. “Setting Sun is more of a traditional, organic rock band, more song-oriented,” says Quitzow. “But [the band] Quitzow’s music is more keyboard-based, more electronic and experimental. We usually back each other up on stage, and it’s really cool when people come up to us at the end of the night and say, ‘Wow, you guys both play in each other’s bands but the music is so totally different!’”

Of course, for a do-it-yourselfer the Internet is a godsend. “It’s so unbelievably easy to book a tour now,” Levitt says. “In the old days, you had to call the club at some particular time to catch the booking agent while they were in, then send them a package, do follow-up calls, and wait. Now you just send them a pdf of the press kit and a link to some mp3s, and they can just get back to you from that.” The myspace revolution has added yet another dimension to online profile building. Recently, MTV found Levitt through the popular website and approached him about licensing his work for background music. Ca-ching!

“[Levitt and Quitzow] are really inspirational,” says the Hudson Valley’s other leading D.I.Y. diva, Laura Pepitone. “They’ve set themselves up so well, with the label and the studio and the tours they do together. They’re such hard workers.”

Currently, Levitt is working hard at finishing up Setting Sun’s next album, to be released simultaneously with the new Quitzow record this June. “Since again we’re going to tour with both bands, we’re gearing the releases so we can send out press packages with both CDs—way cheaper on the mailing costs,” says the savvy Levitt.

But there’s no scrimping on the quality of what’s inside. Judging by clips of new tunes like the cello-lashed “No Devil Me No More” and the crawling mood piece “Inside My Love,” the forthcoming fulllength looks to be another episode of home grown pop perfection. In a world of vapid boy bands with guitars as props, lovers of inventive and honest sounds can take heart: Setting Sun shines on.

Tasty Fanzine (UK)
May 2006
Setting Sun - Math and Magic
Would Setting Sun's press novella govern what I write? Hardly… my readers,
you'll be pleased to know that I did nothing more with the press release than
roll it up and whack the unruly dog with it. I didn't read a damn word of it. 
But purple prose aside… Setting Sun have an interesting sound. It's urgent
in a kind of methodical and knowing way. Some musicians will allow their
music to grow and rise and rise on a crescendo until the song just abruptly
ends -- a surefire sign that the band have let their music grow too hot to
handle and all of a sudden, they can't do anything with it but drop it.  
   On the Lion's share of tracks, it sounds as though Setting Sun are about to
push into a sonic-soundscape of wild arcadia and verdant acoustic imagery,
yet the band always keep their cool and their sound remains disciplined and
well-mannered. 
   Setting Sun save the best 'til last and although a melancholy lamentation,
Can’t Control What Happens is disturbing and full of brooding vocals that
teeter uneasily on the edge of sanity.  
   I anticipated that the vocals would inevitably explode into a droll abhor! why me?
abhor! abhor! free for all, but Setting Sun are better than that. Indeed, when we
are finally treated to the musical splurge that we've been expecting, it comes in the
form of a terrific guitar solo. The notes are soaked in reverb; they're ambient and
luxuriously spacious. They grow woolly with distortion, but they remain effervescent and precise. 
   I sense a lack of technical prowess, but then that's not necessarily detrimental to great guitar
playing -- even David Gilmour accredits his singular sound to his second rate playing ability.  
   This is a good album. Perhaps not Saturday night listening - a good kick-start to Sunday, definitely.
If your reading this now and you've got a brand-spanking new copy of Math and Magic
in your hands, check out the excellent graphics on the back page of the inlay-booklet.
- Alex Clark

Ulster County Press
November 28, 2007
BY ANDREW HICKEY
Gary Levitt has done his share of traveling, albeit somewhat circuitous.
With a music career that started in New Paltz with a band called Kung-Fu
Grip, Levitt toured out to San Francisco, where he met up with Erica Quitzow.
They formed Heavy Pebble (pop songs played to post-modernist film
collage projections), which enjoyed success in the SanFran club scene for a
few years. Levitt, who now calls New Paltz home, struck out on his own, staying
secluded at a friend’s house in California sleeping on the floor. It was there
he recorded his first album, aptly titled, “holed up.” That was the birth of
his present day band, Setting Sun. Add some more touring and recording
with another band in London; his second album, “Math and Magic,”
which was released in 2005; and some more touring, and Levitt found himself
back in New York along the way, where he is working on his third album and
running Young Love Recording Studio. It wouldn’t make sense to label Setting
Sun’s music. On first hearing Levitt, his music can appear to be simple
melodies from an early model Casio keyboard combined with phrases
turned darkly and quietly. A second, third and fourth listening to Setting
Sun can leave you mentally check-listing new things noticed - from moving
lyrics to the soft melding of any number of instruments weaving through
the track. But, for those that need labels, it’s quirky pop music that certainly
seems experimental. Fortunately, for fans of quality, local
music, you can catch Levitt and Setting Sun for three dates over December and
January in Ulster County. Setting Sun, which features the multi-instrumentalist
Levitt and a rotating cast of bandmates, will play with Quitzow on cello and vocals.
On Nov. 30, Setting Sun will play a free show at The Basement at 744
Broadway in Kingston at 10 p.m. On Jan. 10, the band will play at Oasis at 58
Main St. in New Paltz at 11 p.m. and on Feb. 5 at 8 p.m.
After that, you’ll have to head to the west coast to find Setting Sun. Levitt
will tour through California and Oregon through the beginning of February.
To check out Setting Sun, visit
www.myspace.com/settingsun.

Independent Weekly (North Carolina)
Setting Sun
Oct 31, 2007
Singer/songwriter Gary Levitt's burbling folk-pop shuffles with off-kilter shimmy. Like Sparklehorse on the proper meds, Setting Sun feels strangely upbeat despite the cloudy, shape-shifting rumble that surrounds the songs. New track "No Devil Me No More" suggests the Silver Jews gone baroque. 10:30 p.m. —CP

Losing Today
Myspace Favorites
5/13/07
setting sun are a new york based group comprising of gary levitt and erica quitzow
who can be found absconding occasionally doing extra curricula work for their other
musical love Quitzow (myspace.com/quitzow). A more darker affair this time around,
laced within a brooding noire like setting ’no devil me no more’ with its edgily tense cortege
of suspense straining strings could easily pass for june panic doing his own interpretation
of Nirvana’s ’in utero’ while the more punchy new wave coded ’the only one’ sounds like
chris brockaw fused with a more gritty version of the late 70’s era Cars -
which I’m sure you’ll agree sounds like the bollocks.

The Daily Freeman
March 9, 2007
Setting Sun shines on 'Math and Magic'
The brainchild of studio owner and singer-songwriter Gary Levitt, Setting Sun
first rose in San Francisco in 2001. Now holed up in New Paltz, NY he offers
the intrigueing 'Math and Magic'.
Starting out with the paper thin drumbeat of 'The Only One' you can tell right
away Levitt loves quirky, clever elements which are a given in the lo-fi production
values here. He sings-talks the lyrics in a linear fashion that suits the material on
this nine-track CD about love and irony.
Then anxious 'Isolation' has Levitt's voice thinly veiled while a wall of guitars
pump the chorus of 'All that we Wanted'. Catchy hooks fill the swirling, dark
'It's Light', while L.A. Way has an obvious Beatles vibe on the verse, which is
never a bad thing.
Levitt surely knows his way around the studio, can certainly turn a phrase and
his tunes have more hooks than a tackle box.
Be sure to check out the powerful and pleasing 'Math and Magic'
- David Malachowski

Imapct Press
DEC 2005
Setting Sun ¥ Math And Magic ¥ Young Love Records ¥
Simple, but intense and melodic indie rock make up this nine track album. The vocals are somewhere between Hum and Elliot Smith. The bouncy melodies will make your toes tap, but there's enough edge to sway far from the pop scene. They've taken that early '90s Dinosaur Jr. sound and incorporated some emotive melodies, and even some dance rock.
It kind of made me feel like I was 15 again and listening to a new Sub Pop band. (MP)

Boise Weekly
MAY 11, 2005
Math and Magic: Setting Sun
BY AMY ATKINS
The first song on Setting Sun's Math and Magic opens as a tinny, uptempo tune that sounds like it's being played on a 1983 Casio keyboard complete with snare drum button. "The Only One" fattens it up with guitar, bass and raw vocals, and it eventually gets darker and slower. Soon, the tempo picks up again, but the mood doesn't. Change seems to be a running theme in Setting Sun's latest CD which came out in April. Each song evolves to some completely different end without losing its original idea. Even Setting Sun's lineup of support players is ever-changing. The only constant is New York-born Gary Levitt, as he is Setting Sun: vocals, guitar, bass, keyboard, music and lyrics. The songs on this CD are like a never-ending treasure hunt. I think I really know the essence of a song, but then I hear it again, and find another little gem either in the words, a new melody, a harmony or even a previously unnoticed instrument coming through. I've been trying to imagine what category record storeowners are putting this CD under ... Setting Sun's LA-NY-San Fran-pop-punk-blues-electronic-metal sound defies pigeonholing. If the storeowners are smart, they won't try to make it fit in anywhere, but just put it right at the front of the store under a sign that reads "Buy This." As entranced as I am by this CD, I'm guessing Setting Sun puts on an amazing live show and I can't wait to experience it for myself on May 18 at the Neurolux.

News Observer (North Carolina)
Setting Sun
April 30, 2005
The problem with so much music involving electronics is how cold it is. But that's not the case with Setting Sun, a West Coast group led by multi-instrumentalist Gary Levitt. "Math and Magic" (Young Love Records) lives up to its title, integrating programmed sounds into live-instrument arrangements with Levitt's emotional yelp of a voice on top. It's good, and good for you. Setting Sun plays Monday at Temple Ball (www.templeball.com), and Tuesday at The Cave (www.caverntavern.com).

Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette
Setting Sun rises
Friday, May 27, 2005
At times, the lo-fi indie rock of the appropriately titled Setting Sun could almost pass for psychedelic Ween of a distinctly "Mollusk" vintage.
But the songs on "Math and Magic" never get as weird as those two have been known to do.
It's just quirky enough to make it stand out from the downbeat lo-fi "quiet is the new loud and everyone tells us we sound just like Elliott Smith" pack. In truth, the writing would have made it stand out either way, with darkly playful turns of phrase and melancholy melodies as haunting as the one in "Isolation," one of several standout tracks.
You can see for yourself when Setting Sun hits Friendship for a low-key Saturday performance at The Quiet Storm with the Fearnots and 54-SqFt Trampoline. The show is all-ages, beginning at 9 p.m. Admission is $5. (Ed Masley)

LAS CRUCES PULSE
Setting Sun shines bright
By Patricia L. Garcia/SunLife Editor
Apr 27, 2005, 14:49
They had me at the synth.
With the emergence of dance rock and the Neo New Wave movement storming radio stations, it’s not unique to use a synthesizer anymore. Nonetheless, that electric buzz still sounds fantastic.
Luckily for Setting Sun, a rotating group conceptualized by Gary Levitt, there’s more going for the band than a synthesizer.
Take, for example, “The Only One,” a single from “Math and Magic,” Setting Sun’s second album. It’s like listening to everything that’s good about synth pop and alternative and rock. How Levitt managed to encapsulate all of that into one unique sound might be because the 32-year-old New York native has lived and played on both the East and West coasts. Maybe all of that rubbed off on Levitt … or maybe he’s just an independent thinker who’s onto something.
Since 1996, Levitt’s bands seemed to disband after only a little while. Moving from New York to San Francisco and then to Los Angeles didn’t help, so he made the decision to leave the world of “traditional” bands.
“This project got started from just being in other bands and wanting something that wasn’t going to disintegrate,” Levitt said Monday in a phone interview from Chapel Hill, N.C.
Because Levitt is the only permanent member of the group (other current members are drummer Erica Quitzow and synthesizer player and bassist Lawrence Roper), the music doesn’t change drastically from one album to the next.“This works out great. I love it,” he said. “I would say this is the best line-up.”
Though Quitzow and Roper join Levitt on tour, Levitt wrote and recorded all of the songs.Ultimately, Levitt said he simply wants to make music, regardless if a record deal comes his way.“The goal is to ultimately enjoy the process of recording music,” he said. “If there was a lot of money involved but I wasn’t happy, then it would all be a failure.”

May 6, 2004
Salt Lake City Weekly
On tour now (Critics Picks)
Setting Sun (aka Los Angeles singer-songwriter Gary Levitt) has racked up many an Elliott Smith comparison over the past two years, not to mention David Bowie and Kurt Cobain—who could really complain about that? Levitt’s two albums, 2002’s lo-fi Holed Up and the new higher-fi Math & Magic (SettingSun.cc), are loaded with dark left-field melodies and rainbow-flavored pop quirks far more endearing than annoying; it’s usually one or the other with these self-produced solo multi instrumentalists operating under covert band names.

April 29, 2004
Albuquerque Alibi
On tour now (Critics Picks)
The Sun Also Sets -- Dinosaur Jr., Nirvana, Elliot Smith, Dumptruck ... all these influences and more can be heard in wondrous, living color on Setting Sun's Math and Magic (Young Love). The mastermind behind the amazing mish mash here is Gary Levitt, who played all the instruments on most of the record, but tours with a three-piece band. If you're an Elliot Smith fan, you'll do well to spend tonight at the Atomic Cantina beginning at 9 p.m.

May 13, 2004
Eugene Weekly
On tour now (Critics Picks)
by Vanessa Salvia
Cozmic Pizza hosts Setting Sun on the 16th. The band is the brainchild of Queens, NY native Gary Levitt, who migrated to San Francisco. Setting Sun's first recording, Holed Up, was made after Levitt hid himself away for three months with nothing but microphones and simple recording equipment. With help from his friend, Eric Layer, as well as a rotating cast of musicians, Setting Sun's second full length, Math and Magic, was born. The title refers to the alchemy of songwriting, the "logic and mystery" that goes into the making of a record. Levitt crafts songs with an intimate lyrical style but expansive music, embracing driving beats, soothing instrumental interludes and aggressive rhythms. The overall rock feel is softened by catchy melodies throughout and a pensive, somber lyrical view of life resembling Elliott Smith. Levitt was a member of New York indie band The Kung-Fu Grip, who toured the country and then broke up. While in S.F., Levitt formed Heavy Pebble, who also broke up after just starting to establish themselves. Levitt became disillusioned with band relationships and decided that Setting Sun would be solely his project, with a revolving cast of musicians. He now calls Los Angeles home.

May and June 2003
Punk Planet
Setting Sun - holed up
The songs on Setting Sun' debut album, Holed Up, are darkly personal and aurally powerful. Yet they are also warm, with a novel sound that manages to be tuneful and pretty against quiet-to-loud dynamics. These odd anti-folk-rock ballads are all about unexpected minor chord progressions, backed by lovely ethereal (and sometimes experimental) instrumentation that fills out and lends a contradictory polish to the albums roughened sounds. There's cello and vox besides guitar, bass, keyboards and drums. Pretty consistent across it's 12 interesting tracks, the album was self-produced and self-released by multi-instrumentalist Gary Levitt. It sounds as though it has label money behind it, but it doesn't. It's a very strong debut--and a keeper.

July 25, 2002
Chico News & Review
Setting Sun - holed up
Former New Yorker and San Francisco-relocated indie-rock musician Gary Levitt has produced an interesting collection of songs, all written and recorded late last year in a small Bay Area apartment. Suggesting diverse indie influences from Elliot Smith to Nirvana and appropriately titled Holed Up, the new disc is mainly an acoustic-guitar-driven set of songs with additional instruments overdubbed by Levitt and musical partner/keyboardist Eric Layer.
Much of the material tends toward moody, minor-key extrapolations on pain, loss, and the all-too-brief flicker of potential happiness before the falling shadow of failure. Admittedly pretty bleak stuff, lyrically speaking. Yet these songs are just hook-laden enough to transcend their generally somber observations on the human condition.
Opening cut "I've Been Hit" establishes the introspective mood right off: "Runnin' around/with this fear all over my face" ... the bleakness somewhat parting before the melodic crest of the chorus. Other standouts include "The Only One," with its bubbly pace and past-tense joy, "Oh My God!" with its stoic confession "Tired of places I think I should see/Tired of history," and the penultimate tune, "Holy Days." Not everyone's idea of a Catharine wheel, but certainly worth a spin.  

August 1, 2002
Willamette Weekly (Portland)
Setting Sun
On tour now (Critics Picks)
With his voice a biting whisper and guitar work that's
quietly emphatic and shrewd as it picks its way around
the fretboard, Setting Sun's Gary Levitt has more than
a little Elliott Smith in him. We're talking old
Elliott Smith here, i.e., the sad, intimate and cloudy
days of Roman Candle, not the overblown rainbow
Beatle-isms of today. Perhaps ironically, Levitt grew
up in New York City and now lives in Los Angeles...so
perhaps if Portland gives him a warm enough welcome,
he'll move here and it'll be like reclaiming a lost
Portland son. Or, perhaps more appropriately, Sun.

Jauary 15, 2003
Delusions of Adequacy
Setting Sun - holed up
Setting Sun is a band out of LA led by former New Yorker Gary Levitt and friend Eric Layer. Levitt is a veteran of the music scene, having played in bands while in New York and a few in the California area. Levitt wanted a more stripped-down outlet than his other projects and that was his goal with Setting Sun. Levitt's music has many moods, but on this recording he prefers to be a little more brooding and dark while occasionally letting loose. The music and vocals set a quiet tone while still having an aggressive bite to them.
   "I've Been Hit" is moved along by Levitt's hushed vocals and slight guitar pickings that erupt occasionally. Eli Moore's cello work adds another dimension to the song with its soaring, haunting qualities. "Love Is..." has some nice vocal hooks to go along with the brightly twinkling piano untill Levitt explodes with the anger filled chorus. "Oh My God" is a darker piece brought along by Levitt's quiet reminisces; the song has a pleasant psych feel. This song tends to drag on longer than it should and eventually takes away from the better parts of the song.
"In a Lifetime" is a strong piece with soaring keyboards and vocals done  in a chanting manner.   There is some nice guitar work here that mixes very well with the slightly nasal vocals. "It's Light" is a little off-key number that fits in very nicely here as slight change of variety. There is some really neat instrumentation to accompany this song that again hearkens back to some psych-based melodies. Levitt shows his range through this song that has a bittersweet undertone that fits perfectly here for the song and background moans.
    This outing has some ups and downs, and it's hard to tell what can work well for the band because most songs are pretty similar. When there is some variety, other examples that make you wonder if the band should stick to one style. Its uneveness can be very frustruating because there are flashes of very good moments that can give off hope. It isn't totally dissapointing, and there are a couple of very nice songs and song portions that can be very appreciated; unfortunately there aren't enough. This is a disc that shows talent that if used properly can create a recording much better than this decent one.

July 18, 2002
New Times - San Luis Obispo
the sun also sets
Gotta love a pragmatic indie record label. Gary Levitt of Young Roaster Records found a few thousand stickers in a dumpster behind a meat packaging plant that said "Young Roaster" on them and figured it was a great name for a new label and an inexpensive start to begin his marketing campaign.
Levitt, a guitarist and singer, started the label back in 1993 to promote his rock group the Kung-Fu Grip, then based out of Queens, New York. The band eventually settled in San Francisco, then broke up, leaving Levitt available to start another indie rock group Heavy Pebble. Yeah, it broke up too, but now Levitt has teamed up with keyboardist Eric Layer to form Setting Sun which plays revved up indie pop.
There's a little Bowie in there, and some Elliot Smith, but who cares about comparisons? Setting Sun writes and plays great songs like "The Only One": You're the only one I had to be there for, there's an absence and a spark that I just cannot ignore."  

January 1 2003
West Coast Performer
Setting Sun - holed up
If you were to read the lyrics of Holed Up before listening to the CD, you may very likely toss it into a mental trash pile of bitter, self-absorbed college rock, but give the Setting Sun a chance. Though the honest lyrics are more like emotional proclamations than poetry, the music's rough purity makes bandleader Gary Levitt's words endearing. One could say that the CD has been poorly produced, with its lack of precision as instruments seem strangely loud or too soft at different points, creating a sense of disunity of sounds. However, this rawness to the recording preserves its humanity as guitars shake through Kravitz-y chords and the bass plunks firmly, sometimes awkwardly, but in a way that seems rich in musical expression. Most songs are lonely and bitterly heartbroken, but not in a wallowing sense. In the first song, "I've Been Hit," Levitt wails, "I don't want to die to feel, but I am not alive, I need to heal," with toned-down tinges of Kurt Cobain's emptiness and Elliot Smith's pain. In another song, "Love is…", the guitars trail upwards and groove with Barenaked Ladies-ish casualness, balancing out the Levitt's words "Love is the cruelest thing I've ever seen." The guitars may get aggressive and a cello sometimes adds an element of drama, but a spark of optimism coats the music despite the downward bent of the lyrics. Psychedelic organs jazz up hopeful moments and occasionally the bass dips into funk. Levitt's first band relocated from Queens, NY to San Francisco and then soon after to LA. With the help of a few friends, Levitt recorded his new project last winter in a San Francisco apartment during a hiatus from LA, and thus came about the album title. More importantly though, Levitt separated himself from all things familiar for a little old-fashioned soul searching, making this album a step above college rock, which can so often be either relationship-obsessed or overly angstful.

"your cd blew my mind. you know people give you their cd's and songs and stuff and usually they all suck but you smile and say you like them, but your songs really impressed me. i never knew how good a song writer you are and this was the first time i have ever heard you sing. i have to say though your style of music is a bit of a surprise i didnt expect it to be as 'rock' as it is. its perfect for me though, i listen to it while i am on the tread mill." -Kristin

"Bedroom pop at it's finest" -Stephanie