Monthly Archives: August 2011

XVSK: July 23, 2011 Backyard Brunch Sessions – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

August 5, 2011
By


[Photos by Dominick Mastrangello]

XVSK is the dynamic duo of Trevor Exter and John Morgan Kimock, and they turn the whole au courant notion of the noisy garage rock duo completely on its head. Lots of bands use the stripped-down format to excuse sloppy, thin songs; Exter and Kimock manage to pump out fully realized blues-rock tunes that could shame a band twice their size. They achieve it in part by being very good at what they do, and their pedigree has probably contributed to their current skill level. Kimock is the son of the legendary guitarist Steve Kimock, and the family’s musical gift has passed to John in the form of some vicious drum skills. Exter is a celebrated vocalist and cellist who has played with many great artists and released his own solo records, and the use of his plugged-in cello is a big part of what gives the duo a bigger sound. This Backyard Brunch Sessions performance could just as easily have been a studio session given how dialed-in the duo was. Although they haven’t been playing together long, the two musicians clearly have a compatible vision and style. According to the bio on his website, Exter had some rough travels on the way to the musical moment he is now in, and perhaps what makes his blues-inflected vocals so convincing, perhaps no more so than on the kickoff track to the afternoon, “Hits”, which has been stuck in my head since the show.

I recorded this set with AKG microphones on John’s drums, a direct output from Trevor’s vocal mic, and a Schoeps microphone on Trevor’s cello amps. The results are outstanding. Enjoy!

Stream “Back In My Arms”:
[audio:http://www.nyctaper.com/X2307XVSK2011/03 Back In My Arms.mp3]

This Recording is now available to Download in FLAC and MP3 and to Stream at Archive.org [HERE].

XVSK
2011-07-23
Backyard Brunch Sessions
Brooklyn, NY

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

Equipment: AKG C414 B-XLS (wide cardiod)>Sound Devices USBpre2 + Schoeps Mk41>CMC6 >> Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod] (24/48)
Mastering: 4x24bit/48kHz WAV>Audition (effects, mixdown)>Audacity (set fades, EQ, tracking, amplify and balance)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Intro
02 Hits
03 Back In My Arms
04 Mexico
05 Natalie
06 No How

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, PLEASE SUPPORT XVSK by visiting their website, downloading their free EP there, and going to their shows.

Quiet Lights: June 19, 2011 Public Assembly (NYCTaper Northside Showcase) – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

August 4, 2011
By

quietlights2010-10-26
[photo from Quiet Lights Facebook page]

The Brooklyn band Quiet Lights was high on my list of artists to invite to our inaugural Northside Festival showcase, and they delivered, closing out the NYCTaper Northside Festival showcase at Public Assembly with an intense set of songs that included most of their recently-released EP, The Big Fear. As with the first time I saw them at the Knitting Factory, they brought a dense, heavy sound with them, leavened by vocalist Yseult Tyler’s dreamscape vocals. Theirs is the sound of the late night or a slow-breaking dawn, and that made for a perfect late-night ending to a very long weekend of late nights.

I recorded this set with the AKG large-diaphragm microphones and a soundboard feed, as with the other sets from this show. This set emphasizes the soundboard feed a bit more heavily and sounds quite good. Enjoy!

Stream “Fevers”
[audio:http://www.nyctaper.com/Q2610QuietLights2010/03 Fevers.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Follow acidjack on twitter

Quiet Lights
2011-06-19
NYCTaper Northside Showcase
Public Assembly
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Equipment: AKG C414 B-XLS (cardiod)>Sound Devices USBpre2 + Soundboard >> Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod] (24/48)
Position: Each mic clamped to pole, split 5ft
Mastering: 2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, set fades, tracking, amplify and balance)>FLAC ( level 8 )

01 Throat Cut
02 No More Crayons
03 Fevers
04 Engine Down
05 Ablaze
06 Bad At Math
07 Simple Mechanics

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Quiet Lights, visit their website, like them on Facebook, and check out their releases on Bandcamp including The Big Fear.

Tristan Clopet: June 18, 2011 Backyard Brunch Sessions – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

August 2, 2011
By

tristin clopet
[Photo courtesy of Backyard Brunch Sessions]

On the very busy Northside Festival weekend, there was so much good music going on in Williamsburg that you could walk into just about anywhere and find good music. Our friends at Backyard Brunch Sessions added their own excellent contributions to that mix, with sets from Givers (click for the recording) and the singer-songwriter Tristan Clopet. It took a whole team of us to cover as much music that weekend as we could, so while I packed up and headed to McCarren Park to record Guided by Voices, hi and lo hung out and caught this fantastic set from Mr. Clopet. He originally hails from Toronto, but more recently went to school in Miami, FL (as well as a summer at Boston’s Berklee College of Music), and the vibe of the hot-weather locale shows through in the feel-good vibe of songs that are easy to imagine wafting from dorm room windows onto the quad, or (for the post-college crowd) being played in backyards across America. They are good, honest, American songs that don’t ask too much of you, but give a lot in return. Tristan has just released a full-length album, Name It What You Want, capably produced by two experts at similarly approachable music, Raymond Richards (Local Natives) and Justin Gerrish (Vampire Weekend). Another highlight of the album’s production (for our purposes, at least) is that BBS founder Dave Chaitt sings backup vocals on the album. It being his backyard and all, Chaitt joined Tristan at the mic for backing vocals on “A Summer in Sussex,” the kickoff track to the record.

hi and lo recorded this set with Schoeps microphones, and the sound is outstanding. Enjoy!

Stream “A Summer in Sussex”:
[audio:http://www.nyctaper.com/T1806TristanClopet2011/05 A Summer in Sussex.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Tristan Clopet
2011-06-18
Backyard Brunch Sessions
Brooklyn, NY USA

Recorded by hi and lo for nyctaper.com

Equipment: Schoeps Mk5 (omni) + Schoeps mk41 >> Tascam DR-680 (24/44.1)
Mastering: 2x24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audition (mixdown)>Audacity (set fades, tracking, amplify and balance)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 [intro]
02 A Chat With My Brain
03 Hold on Love, Hold on Girl
04 [banter]
05 A Summer in Sussex
06 La Naissance

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Tristan Clopet, visit his website, and purchase Name It What You Want and his other records from iTunes or your favorite retailer.

Heartless Bastards: July 24, 2011 Mercury Lounge – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

August 1, 2011
By

HB ML
[Photo by acidjack]

It’s hard not to like the Heartless Bastards.  They’re one of those bands that never lets you down performance-wise, that’s always on their game, that always gives their fans something special.  This pair of shows at Mercury Lounge (our recording of night 1 here) certainly qualifies as that, as the band played these sets in “acoustic” (but really just sans-drummer) mode, and showed off considerable new material.  The most immediate effect of going drummerless was to focus even more attention on lead vocalist Erika Wennerstrom’s old-soul voice.  The opening lines of one of my Bastards favorites, “Done Got Old” proved she can carry a show without any accompaniment at all, and she remained note-perfect throughout a 90-minute set that was a bit longer than Saturday’s performance.  Most of this group stood respectfully as Erika, Jesse and Mark debuted new numbers like “Skin and Bones,” and the Western-tinged “The Arrow Killed the Beast.”  While the new record will not be acoustic, and some of the material was so new it didn’t even have names, what we heard on this night showed the level of promise we’ve come to expect from this band.  As Johnny mentioned in his review of the Saturday show, this only ups the anticipation for the new record.

I recorded this set from the same spot that Johnny used for the Saturday recording, focusing the sound a bit more toward the perfectly balanced soundboard feed from Kevin at the Mercury Lounge.  As with Saturday’s recording, the sound quality is outstanding.  Enjoy!

Stream “Skin & Bone”:
[audio:http://www.nyctaper.com/H6602HB9922/07 Skin & Bone.mp3]

Stream “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere [Bob Dylan]”:
[audio:http://www.nyctaper.com/H6602HB9922/13 You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Direct download of FLAC files [HERE]

If the FLAC link is no longer working, email nyctaper for the FLAC files

Follow acidjack on Twitter

Heartless Bastards
2011-07-24
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY USA

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

Equipment: Schoeps Mk41>CMC6>Sound Devices USBpre2 + Soundboard >> Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod] (24/48)
Position: At soundboard, DFC, mics at 7.5′, PAS
Mastering: 2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Audition (mixdown, effects)>Audacity (set fades, tracking, amplify and balance)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total time: 89:29]
01 Done Got Old
02 [new song]
03 Sway
04 Hold Your Head High
05 [banter]
06 The Will Song
07 Skin & Bone [new]
08 The Arrow Killed the Beast [new]
09 Blue Day
10 [new song]
11 [banter]
12 Searching for the Ghost
13 You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere [Bob Dylan]
14 Runnin’
15 Be So Happy
16 [encore break]
17 [new song]
18 The Mountain

If you download this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Heartless Bastards, visit their website, visit their MySpace and Facebook pages, and purchase their official releases and merchandise [HERE].

SUPPORT NYCTaper




DISCLAIMER and LEGAL NOTICE

nyctaper.com is a live music blog that offers a new paradigm of music distribution on the web. The recordings are offered for free on this site as are the music posts, reviews and links to artist sites. All recordings are posted with artist permission or artists with an existing pro-taping policy.

All recordings and original content posted on this site are @nyctaper.com as live recordings pursuant to 17 U.S.C. Section 106, et. seq. Redistribution of nyctaper recordings without consent of nyctaper.com is strictly prohibited.

nyctaper.com hereby waives all copyright claims to any and all recordings posted on this site to THE PERFORMERS ONLY. If any artist posted on this site requests that recordings be removed, those recordings will be removed forthwith.