Even though countless live tapes and bootlegs have been in circulation for years (one such tape available through mail-order tape trade only) Live at Third Man Records is, quite surprisingly, Woods’ first proper live album. It’s also one that comes at an interesting juncture for the Brooklyn freak-folk jamband: Their ninth and latest studio album, City Sun Eater in the River of Light, signaled a full departure from their primitive lo-fi days and marked a full realization of what has been a gradual progression toward a more polished, studio-friendly sound. Recorded at Third Man Records’ Nashville studio this past May before an intimate, invite-only audience, Live at Third Man offers a selection of Woods’ more radio-ready numbers from their vast and deep catalog. While songs like “Morning Light” and “Hollow Home” put on display Woods’ more recent Americana-driven sound, others, like “Sun City Creeps” and the 10-minute version of “The Take”—both of which feature the addition of an Ethiopian-jazz-inspired horn section—pivot toward the band’s primal, improv side. Despite their prolific studio output, at heart and from their very beginnings as an abstract, improvisational, living-room recording project, Woods has always been a live band. And, on Live at Third Man, it becomes immediately apparent as to why.