Monthly Archives: March 2010

[photo courtesy of Frank Siringo]

These days, any attempt to pigeonhole Woods as a “freak folk” band seems trite and wholly inadequate. On Friday night at Music Hall, the unique quartet opened their set with a lengthy psychedelic-style instrumental piece, mixed in a few songs that weren’t folk songs as much as deconstructions of the genre, and ended with two completely divergent covers — Blind Melon’s “No Rain” and Graham Nash’s “Military Madness”. The sheer breadth of the stylistic variations of Woods’ music is not necessarily evident in their albums, the latest of which, At Echo Lake, was announced last week and will be released on May 11. But it is the live Woods which stretches the material to these lengths and Friday’s show was an excellent example. Woods tour continues through the Midwest to SXSW before finishing up through the end of March down South. Woods next plays NYC on May 13 at the Abrons Arts Center.

We recorded this set from the same location as the Real Estate set and the sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Woods
2010-03-12
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY USA

Four-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Front of Soundboard Booth

Neumann KM-150s + DPA 4021’s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper
2010-03-14

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:14:32]
01 Creeps
02 Blood Dries Darker > To Clean
03 [banter]
04 Get Back
05 Rain On
06 Suffering Season
07 Down This Road
08 The Hold
09 The Dark
10 Twisted Tongue
11 I Was Gone
12 Death Rattles
13 [crowd]
14 Keep It On
15 [banter – set up]
16 No Rain (Blind Melon)*
17 [encore break]
18 Military Madness (Graham Nash)*
*with Real Estate

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Woods, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their official releases from Woodsist Records.

[photo courtesy of Frank Siringo]

My first experience with Real Estate live was as an opening band for Love Is All at Music Hall a mere nine months ago. Last night at the same venue, there was one obvious fact — they have gotten a lot better. In October at Market Hotel, we remarked about their improvement, but last night was another world entirely. The band has coalesced into a tight unit, performing their songs with the same energy but with a clear focus and, dare I say it, professionalism. The guitars were all in tune, the solos were well placed and purposeful and the rhythm section was precise. Coupled with the well-mixed excellent sound system of Music Hall, the bottom line is that last night Real Estate sounded just plain terrific. While they were the third of four bands on the bill for this sold out show, it was also clear that many in the crowd were there to see Real Estate. The band worked through a setlist consisting primarily of their debut album material, but of note was the new opening song performed only for the second time, and the dead-on cover of Ariel Pink’s “My Molly“.

Last night was the first night of the combined Real Estate and Woods tour. The tour travels through the midwest before SXSW and then continues down south to the end of March. In May, Real Estate tours Europe. Find all the tour dates at their MySpace page.

I recorded this set with the four microphone rig at the usual location directly in front of the soundboard. The sound in this venue continues to excel and this entire show was mixed particularly well. As a result the sound quality of this recording is superb. Enjoy!

Woods was also recorded and will be posted tomorrow.

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Real Estate
2010-03-12
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY USA

Four-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Front of Soundboard Booth

Neumann KM-150s + DPA 4021’s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper
2010-03-13

Setlist:
[Total Time 57:37]
01 [new song – “All Out of Tune”]
02 Beach Comber
03 Pool Swimmers
04 Younger Than Yesterday
05 Art Vandelay
06 Green River
07 Suburban Beverage
08 Suburban Dogs
09 My Molly (Ariel Pink)
10 Basement
11 [banter]
12 Snow
13 Fake Blues
14 [banter]
15 Snow Days

f you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Real Estate, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their releases from Woodist Records, Half Machine Records, and Underwater Peoples (currently sold out).

At Music Hall last night near the end of their excellent set, Real Estate broke into an excellent cover of a fairly obscure Ariel Pink track “My Molly”. This song was originally recorded by Ariel when he was 19 and eventually was released on an EP in 2006. I did record the entire Real Estate set and plan to post it later today.

Real Estate: My Molly (Ariel Pink cover)
MP3 [HERE]
FLAC [HERE]

[Photo courtesy of Taylor Long / T-Sides.com]

Leeds-based Wild Beasts closed out their highly successful U.S. tour (and 2-night NYC run) with a sold-out performance at Music Hall of Williamsburg.   The band’s second album, Two Dancers, has been earning critical raves and increased notice from fans over the past year, and this tour represented the culmination of Wild Beasts’ efforts to break out stateside.   Although the band garnered a lot of initial attention for lead vocalist/guitarist Hayden Thorpe’s theatrical, otherworldly falsetto, these live shows accentuate the fact that bassist/vocalist Tom Fleming’s more rounded tenor is also key, providing the perfect compliment to Thorpe.  Wild Beasts make challenging music – with poetic, melodramatic lyrics and displays of vocal histrionics that could rival almost anyone in the rock pantheon, quick and dirty chillwave this music is not.  But like nyctaper favorites The Dirty Projectors, the Beasts’ live show rewards the listeners who do “get it.”  Although they did mention being shot at in Detroit(!), the Beasts clearly felt that this tour, and even this NYC run, won them a lot of converts.  Their tour schedule has moved on to the UK and Europe for the time being, but if this show was any indication, New York will gladly welcome them back on the next run.

I recorded this set using a four microphone rig from the usual spot in this venue.   The sound is excellent, with extra clarity and detail added through the use of hypercardiod microphones.   Thanks to the Wild Beasts organization for permitting this recording, and for their mastering suggestions.  Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE.

Download the Complete Show in FLAC [HERE].

Wild Beasts
2010-02-28
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Equipment: DPA 4021 + Beyerdynamic MC950>Edirol R-44 (24/44.1)
Position: Clamp to left side of SBD cage, mics at 8? (cardiods DIN/hypers pointed at stacks)
Mastering: 2×24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, smooth peaks, EQ, slight compression, adjust channels, set fades, tracking, normalize to 0dB)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Intro
02 The Fun Powder Plot
03 We Still Got the Taste Dancing On Our Tongues
04 Vigil for a Fuddy Duddy
05 This Is Our Lot
06 Two Dancers
07 His Grinning Skull
08 banter
09 Two Dancers II
10 Please Sir
11 Brave Bulging
12 All the King’s Men
13 Hooting and Howling
14
15 The Devil’s Crayon
16 Empty Nest
17 Cheerio Chaps, Cheerio Goodbye

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Wild Beasts, visit their web site, and purchase the excellent Two Dancers and their other releases from Domino Records here.

[Dinosaur Feathers at Public Assembly in 2009]
[Photos courtesy of Jessi Bautista]

Brooklyn’s own Dinosaur Feathers celebrated the release of their excellent new album Fantasy Memorial before a more eclectic crowd than usual when they played at The Studio at Webster Hall on a Friday night while the venue was also hosting Neon Indian’s DJ set upstairs, as well as its usual Friday night B&T revelers. The band rewarded both dedicated fans and casual passers-through with a solid run-through of almost every song on Fantasy Memorial as well as “Parallel July” from their Early Morning Risers EP. With a sound that defies categorization (is it surf-pop? Is it rock-a cappella?), and is also eminently catchy, the Feathers seem poised to capture the hearts of the college crowd (if there is a band that looks happier on stage than Dinosaur Feathers, I haven’t seen it) as well as the interest of the indie intelligentsia. We look forward to continuing to follow the development of this exciting young band.

I recorded this set up front in the room, near the right speaker stack, with high-end DPA mobile microphones. This recording gives you a realistic experience of “being there,” but as with any recording made in the crowd, it does contain more chatter than some nyctaper recordings. Give the sample a listen, and enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE). Listen to “Teenage Whore” (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Dinosaur Feathers
2010-03-05
Studio at Webster Hall
New York, NY

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Equipment: DPA 4061 (Coresound HEB)>Sony PCM-M10 (24bit/44.1kHz)
Position: FOB, about 10? from right stack
Mastering: 24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (set fades, tracking, amplify each channel, light compression of crowd noise, smooth peaks)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Intro
02 I Ni Sogoma
03 Crossing the Cannon
04 Know Your Own Strength
05 Family Waves
06 Sleeping In
07 Teenage Whore
08 crowd/banter
09 History Lessons
10 Vendela Vida
11 crowd/banter
12 Fantasy Memorial
13 Parallel July

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Dinosaur Feathers, visit their web page, and purchase the excellent “Fantasy Memorial” here.

Titus Andronicus played their album release show at Bowery Ballroom on Saturday night (March 6) to a sold out and very raucous crowd. Near the end of the night lead singer Patrick Stickles introduced the band and dedicated a solo performance of “Treatment Bound” by the Replacements to his band. We recorded the entire set and will be posting it tonight (edit: full show is now here), but I thought it would be a treat to post this little ditty now. Enjoy!

Titus Andronicus – Treatment Bound (The Replacements)
MP3 [here]
FLAC [here]

[photos taken for nyctaper by Kate Ehle – more here]

The fan who shouted a request for “Dark Star” received a smirk from guitarist Seth Olinsky, but the fan was quite perceptive. On Wednesday at Music Hall, Akron/Family performed a series of new songs, one of which “Light Emerges” sounded distinctly like the kinetically charged psychedelic energy of 1968-era Grateful Dead, almost as if an outtake from Anthem Of The Sun. The song led into a jam and then a drums segment before evolving into “Ed Is a Portal”. The entire segment spanned a Dead-like twenty five minutes. While A/F has never shied away from its early GD roots — the flag on stage is a dead giveaway — perhaps the echoes have never been this explicit. Other aspects of the night were vintage A/F, including the group-energy, audience participation, and even a segment where Seth led a meditation session. As the band was called back for multiple encores, they brought up a large contingent of fans who joined the “Woody Guthrie’s America” singalong, before the the set ended in an appropriate fashion with a quiet version of “I Know You Rider”.

I recorded this set with the four microphone rig from the prime location in this venue and sound is outstanding. Enjoy!

This recording is now available for download as FLAC or MP3 at Archive.org [HERE].

Akron/Family
2010-03-03
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY USA

Four-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Front of Soundboard Booth

Neumann KM-150s + DPA 4021’s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper
2010-03-05

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:57:44]
01 Creator
02 River
03 Island
04 So It Goes
05 Another Sky
06 Pygmy Jam
07 Say What You Want
08 Phenomena
09 Light Emerges
10 Drums/Ed Is a Portal
11 Bulldozer
12 Silly Bear
13 Guided Meditation
14 Happy Birthday Shinju TNT
15 [encore break]
16 Woody Guthrie’s America
17 Everyone Is Guilty
18 Raising The Sparks
19 I Know You Rider

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Akron/Family, visit their website, and purchase their official releases from Dead Oceans Records [HERE].