Blog Archives

Spray Paint: June 10, 2016 Union Pool (Monofonus Press Northside Showcase)

June 13, 2016
By

Spray Paint
[Photos By Rocketman]

You knew it had to be Northside Festival because the G was barely running… But that didn’t stop us from trekking up to Williamsburg for the excellent and right-up-our-alley Monofonus Press showcase with Spray Paint, Beech Creeps, Running, Matchess, and the Kid Millions/Jim Sauter duo. You know we’re fans, so I’ll spare you my fawning, but also know that Spray Paint have a new record out on Goner Records, Feel the Clamps, which came out June 3, and it’s awesome as usual. The band showed up prepared with a lot of killer new material from that album we hadn’t heard yet like “Styrofoam Garbage,” “Brat Beater,” and “Burn Barrel, ” alongside some (slightly) older gems like “Polar Beer,” “Middle Relief,” and “Rest Versus Rust.” This show wrapped up the band’s tour, but be sure to keep an eye out for some West Coast 2016 dates to be announced soon.

I recorded this set from our usual location in Union Pool with a board feed from FOH Robert. The sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Download: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream:

Spray Paint
2016-06-10
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by Eric PH

Soundboard (engineer: Robert) + AKG C480B/CK63 (PAS) > Roland R-26 > 2xWAV (24/48) > Adobe Audition CC (align, compression, mixdown, normalize, fades) + Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ) > Audacity 2.0.5 (downsample, dither, tracking, tagging) > FLAC (16/44.1, level 8)

Tracks [28:59]
01. Polar Beer
02. Cussin’
03. Styrofoam Garbage
04. Middle Relief
05. Bad Times
06. Signal Master
07. Brat Beater
08. ATXHC (Dangly Earring)
09. Rest Versus Rust
10. Feel the Clamps
11. Burn Barrel

Buy Feel the Clamps on limited clear vinyl via Goner
• • Buy Dopers and other Spray Paint records from Monofonus
• • • Connect with the band at their Website, on Facebook, and on Bandcamp

Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band: May 28, 2016 Union Pool

June 7, 2016
By

Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band

Chris Forsyth and his Solar Motel gang just finished up a tour with the Pacific Northwest’s monsters of psych, Heron Oblivion, and the NYC area was blessed with two stops, first at Jersey City’s WFMU Monty Hall and the second at Union Pool. Naturally, we were there at Union Pool to capture their performances (including openers and fellow Philadelphians Spacin’ which we’ll have up soon). Forsyth’s set gives us a lot to chew on: an extended, exploratory rendition of “The First Ten Minutes of Cocksucker Blues” and some of his finest vocals yet on “The Rarity of Experience, Parts 1-2.” In the group’s tradition of bringing covers out on the road—we’ve previously caught a couple renditions of “The Calvary Cross” and most recently the Dead’s “Cold Rain and Snow”—this tour saw a relentless version of The Dream Syndicate’s “The Days of Wine and Roses.” Rounding things out is the ponderous “Harmonious Dance,” ending things on the quiet side before Heron Oblivion stormed the stage. Forsyth & Co. will be back in town for another superb bill with Oneida at the Knitting Factory. Buy your tickets early and often; we’ll see you there.

I recorded this set from our usual location in the venue, with a board feed from FOH Leah. The sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Downloads are available at the Live Music Archive

Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band
2016-05-28
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by Eric PH

Soundboard (engineer: Leah) + AKG C480B/CK63 (PAS) > Roland R-26 > 2xWAV (24/48) > Adobe Audition CC (align, compression, mixdown, normalize, fades) + Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ) > Audacity 2.0.5 (downsample, dither, tracking, tagging) > FLAC (16/44.1, level 8)

Tracks [45:32]
01. The First Ten Minutes of Cocksucker Blues
02. The Rarity of Experience, Parts 1-2
03. The Days of Wine and Roses [The Dream Syndicate]
04. Harmonious Dance

Support Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band: Website | Facebook | Buy The Rarity of Experience from No Quarter

Ancient Ocean: March 29, 2016 Trans-Pecos & Bohannon/Dusenbury/Fox: March 30, 2016 Market Hotel

June 1, 2016
By

Ancient Ocean and Chuck Johnson

 

Today it’s a double dose of improvised and drone guitar collaborations from J.R. Bohannon/Ancient Ocean. I caught up with Bohannon last year playing under his Ancient Ocean moniker, and though that recording didn’t work out for technical issues, I was on a mission to catch another set. Finally, March presented us with two opportunities, two nights in a row. The first sees Ancient Ocean joined by Chuck Johnson on pedal steel at Trans-Pecos for long southern-tinged, drone-y guitar workout. Rumor has it this performance will lead to future collaborations between Bohannon and Johnson, so keep an eye out.

The second performance captured here finds Bohannon joined by Liturgy’s rhythm section—Tyler Dusenbury on bass and Greg Fox on drums. This one starts out with some droning guitar from Bohannon, but the trio quickly finds its groove and the rest of the set is a shifting neo-Krautrock jam that won over Faust’s packed Market Hotel crowd rather quickly. It’s not quite what you’ve come to expect from Bohannon, nor from two former members of Liturgy, but the trio stake out some interesting new territory in their first collaboration. I hope there’s more to come from these three!

Acidjack recorded the Trans-Pecos set with a pair of stage mics capturing the performance up close. I recorded the Market Hotel set with our built-in Audio Technica mics plus a board feed from Market FOH, Jason. As goes without saying, the sound here is excellent. Enjoy!

Download the Trans-Pecos set: [MP3/FLAC]

Download the Market Hotel set: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream:

Ancient Ocean (ft. Chuck Johnson on steel guitar)
2016-03-29
Trans-Pecos
Queens, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Schoeps MK4V (stage lip)>NBob Cables>PFA>Zoom F8>24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, compression)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects)>Audacity 2.0.3 (amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC (level 8)

01. Live at Trans-Pecos [23:21]


Bohannon/Dusenbury/Fox
2016-03-30
Market Hotel
Brooklyn, NY

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by Eric PH

Soundboard (engineer: Jason) + AT4051 > Roland R-26 > 2xWAV (24/48) > Adobe Audition CC (align, compression, mixdown, normalize, fades) + Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ) > Audacity 2.0.5 (downsample, dither, tagging) > FLAC (16/44.1, level 8)

01. Live at Market Hotel [21:47]

Support Music:
Buy Ancient Ocean’s Blood Moon via Bandcamp

• • Visit Ancient Ocean at Facebook
• • • Connect with Greg Fox at his website
• • • • Visit Chuck Johnson at his website
• • • • • Buy Chuck Johson’s Velvet Arc via Trouble in Mind

 

Heron Oblivion: May 28, 2016 Union Pool

May 30, 2016
By

Heron Oblivion
[photo via Douglas Fraser]

Remember that time your favorite psych-sters got together, swapped instruments, and then gigged for a couple years before releasing 2016’s best record on Sup Pop? Yeah, me too: Finally making it to New York after a series of Bay Area performances and a West Coast tour, Heron Oblivion landed in Brooklyn Saturday, forcing bearded record nerds of the Tri-State Area to abandon their Discogs wantlist for a few hours and venture out to Union Pool. In case you haven’t been following, Heron Oblivion’s not-to-be-fucked-with supergroup credentials are as follows: Meg Baird (Espers, The Baird Sisters) on drums and vocals, Ethan Miller (Comets on Fire, Howlin Rain, Feral Ohms) on bass and backing vocals, Noel Von Harmonson (Comets on Fire) on guitar, and Charlie Saufley (Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound) also on guitar. If Heron Oblivion didn’t exist already you might not be able to dream up what would happen when you combine Baird’s pastoral psych with Miller’s fiery guitar freakouts, but the result is something that achieves a rare cosmic balance. Their Union Pool set covers six of the seven songs off their self-titled debut record, adding one newer untitled song that I hope signals some permanence to the group.

I recorded this set from our usual location in the venue, with a board feed from Union Pool FOH, Leah. As usual for this room, the sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Heron Oblivion is still on tour, and you can view all their dates here.

Download MP3 and FLAC via the Live Music Archive.

Heron Oblivion
2016-05-28
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by Eric PH

Soundboard (engineer: Leah) + AKG C480B/CK63 (PAS) > Roland R-26 > 2xWAV (24/48) > Adobe Audition CC (align, compression, mixdown, normalize, fades) + Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, compression) > Audacity 2.0.5 (downsample, dither, tracking, tagging) > FLAC (16/44.1, level 8)

Tracks [50:04]
01. Beneath Fields
02. Oriar
03. Sudden Lament
04. untitled
05. Your Hollows
06. Faro
07. Rama

Buy Heron Oblivion via Sub Pop
• • Connect with the band on Facebook
• • • Buy assorted Howlin Rain, Comets on Fire, and Feral Ohms music via Silver Current
• • • • Buy Meg Baird’s solo LP Don’t Weigh Down the Light via Drag City
• • • • • Buy Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound records via Tee Pee

The Speer Duo: March 24, 2016 Union Pool

May 5, 2016
By

The Speer Duo

Dave Shuford, musician of many guises, has appeared on this site many times: as Rhyton’s frontman, as alter-ego D. Charles Speer with backing band The Helix, and now as The Speer Duo with his wife Margot Bianca. Not unexpectedly, The Speer Duo incorporates traditional Greek music and instrumentation, reinterpreted within the context of rock music and Shuford’s own improvisational style. For this set, playing on a superb mid-week bill at Union Pool with Sunburned Hand of the Man and Chuck Johnson, Shuford takes up the trichordo bouzouki and guitar while Bianca accompanies him on bass and keyboard. Most of the songs featured here are from Shuford’s extensive catalog under the D. Charles Speer moniker: “O Sinachis” and “Tsamiko Hijaz” were originally released on the solo Speer record, Arghiledes, while “The Janissaries” is from its predecessor, Some Forgotten Country. “Sit Right There” is an older number off the D. Charles Speer & The Helix record, After Hours. And “Aman Yiala Yiala” is off a rare lathe-cut that I challenge you to track down.

I recorded this set from our usual location in the venue, with a board feed from Union Pool FOH, Robert. As usual for this room, the sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Shuford has a new album with Rhyton up for preorder from Thrill Jockey. I assure you the music is as awesome as the cover.

Download: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream:

The Speer Duo
2016-03-24
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by Eric PH

Soundboard (engineer: Robert) + AKG C480B/CK63 > Roland R-26 > 2xWAV (24/48) > Adobe Audition CC (align, compression, mixdown, normalize, fades) + Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ) > Audacity 2.0.5 (downsample, dither, tracking, tagging) > FLAC (16/44.1, level 8)

Tracks [36:26]
01. O Sinachis
02. Aman Yiala Yiala
03. The Janissaries
04. Tsamiko Hijaz
05. Sailing to Piraeus > Drone box improv > Sit Right There

Preorder Rhyton’s Redshift via Thrill Jockey

Thurston Moore Group: April 28, 2016 Rough Trade NYC

May 1, 2016
By

Thurston Moore Group

Thurston Moore’s post-2011 career has cycled through a few different styles and band names, from the solo-credited, introspective Demolished Thoughts to the punk-rock Chelsea Light Moving, then solo again with The Best Day for which the band toured as Thurston Moore Band, now the Thurston Moore Group. At least that’s how they were billed for last week’s stop off at Rough Trade NYC. But despite the fluidity of the band’s name, the lineup still includes Steve Shelley on drums, James Sedwards on guitar, and Debbie Googe on bass. Their followup to The Best Day is due out this year, making this Thurston’s longest-running post-Sonic Youth lineup. And it’s surely a good thing that this band has found their groove, as the material is also some of Thurston’s strongest.

Initially an intimate warmup for the band’s appearance at the Levitation Festival—scheduled for this past weekend but unfortunately canceled due to bad weather—this instead became a one-off gig that found the band relaxed enough to try out some material new and old. From The Best Day, they play  “Speak to the Wild” and “Germs Burn” (dedicated to Darby Crash). New songs from the forthcoming Rock and Roll Consciousness include a few we saw last year: “Cease Fire,” “Turn On,” “Aphrodite,” plus the newest, the twelve-minute highlight “Exalted.” Returning to the stage for four encores, the band digs back to Psychic Hearts for a few classics we haven’t heard in a while: “Psychic Hearts,” “Ono Soul,” “Staring Statues,” and “Pretty Bad.” “Ono Soul” gets stretched into a longer noise tribute, similar to the epic, sidelong Caught on Tape version recently released on Three Lobed’s Parallelogram set.

Late breaking news: the Thurston Moore Group will play an extra special set tonight (May 1st) at Baby’s All Right, with Lee Ranaldo opening. Tickets are only 15 bucks and are on sale now!

I recorded this set from our usual location in the venue with a board feed from Thurston’s FOH, Jack. The sound quality is absolutely outstanding. Enjoy!

Download the complete show: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the complete show:

Thurston Moore Group
2016-04-28
Rough Trade NYC
Brooklyn, NY

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by Eric PH

Soundboard (engineer: Jack) + AKG C480B/CK61 > Roland R-26 > 2xWAV (24/48) > Adobe Audition CC (align, compression, mixdown, normalize, fades) + Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ) > Audacity 2.0.5 (downsample, dither, tracking, tagging) > FLAC (16/44.1, level 8)

Tracks [1:29:46]
01. Speak to the Wild
02. Cease Fire
03. Turn On
04. Germs Burn
05. Aphrodite
06. Psychic Hearts
07. [encore break]
08. Exalted
09. [encore break]
10. Ono Soul
11. [encore break]
12. Staring Statues
13. [encore break]
14. Pretty Bad

Support Thurston Moore: Website | Buy The Best Day from Matador | Preorder the lastest Sonic Youth archival release, Spinhead Sessions, via Midheaven.

Oneida: March 11, 2016 Shea Stadium

April 27, 2016
By

Oneida

Last month, Oneida embarked on a weeklong tour and as promised, we were there to catch the tour opener at Shea Stadium. Typical for recent sets, the band played mostly new songs that you may be familiar with if you’ve been following along here, plus two covers, “S.P.Q.R.” by This Heat and “All Data Lost” by Chrome that were recently released on the Positions EP. “All Data Lost” gets augmented with the “It Was Me” intro, last (and first) heard in October 2014, stretching the jam into an epic, twenty-six minute closer. Similarly, “Cedars” is joined with “Bad Habit,” which we first saw way back in May 2012 at 285 Kent. The band has been on a roll the last few years, despite their infrequent schedule, and when Oneida eventually gets around to releasing their next LP, I think we’re going to be in for something that rivals Rated O as their definitive statement. Until then, we’re fortunate the band is brining these new tunes out on the road.

This set was recorded to multitrack by Shea Stadium engineer Dave. I think mixed down the fourteen tracks, resulting in a recording of exceptional clarity. Enjoy!

Download: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream:

Oneida setlist

Oneida
2016-03-11
Shea Stadium
Brooklyn, NY

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded by Dave
Produced by Eric PH

Soundboard (engineer: Dave) > 14xMono WAV (16/44.1) > Adobe Audition CC (mixdown, balance, compression, normalize, fades) + Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects) > Audacity 2.0.5 (tracking, tagging) > FLAC (16/44.1, level 8)

Tracks [70:08]
01. Economy Travel
02. I Will Haunt You
03. Cedars > Bad Habit
04. Reputation
05. S.P.Q.R. [This Heat]
06. Cock Fight
07. It Was Me > All Data Lost [Chrome]

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Oneida. Visit their website, like them on Facebook, and buy the Positions EP from Rocket Recordings.

Dan Friel: March 6, 2016 Palisades

April 26, 2016
By

Dan Friel

Back in January we caught Dan Friel doing his noise pop thing at Palisades. That was somehow Friel’s first appearance on this site, despite us all being longtime fans of both his solo material and Parts & Labor. Last month we ran into Friel again at Palisades for an extra special set, opening up Sunwatchers’ record release show. This set features Friel joined by Sunwatchers’ Jeff Tobias on saxophone, Sam Kulik on trombone, and Jesse DeRosa on trumpet for “Life Part 2,” “Life Part 1,” and “Thumper.” While the setlist is similar to what we saw in January (aside from “Valedictorian”) the added brass section makes for a completely unique experience. It’s nice to see Friel doing collaborative sets and I hope this isn’t the last we’ll see of it.

I recorded this set with the AKG’s set up at the stage lip, combined with board feed from Palisades FOH Ariel. The brass section comes in nice and clear. Overall the sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Download the complete show: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the complete show:

Dan Friel
2016-03-06
Palisades
Brooklyn, NY

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by Eric PH

Soundboard (engineer: Ariel) + AKG C480B/CK61 (stage lip) > Roland R-26 > 2xWAV (24/48) > Adobe Audition CC (align, mixdown, balance, compression, normalize, fades) > Audacity 2.0.5 (downsample, dither, tracking, tagging) > FLAC (16/44.1, level 8)

Tracks [30:55]
01. Life Part 2
02. Lungs
03. Valedictorian
04. Rattler
05. [banter]
06. Life Part 1
07. Thumper

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Dan Friel. Visit his website, like him on Facebook, and buy Life from Thrill Jockey.

Sunburned Hand of the Man: March 24, 2016 Union Pool

April 17, 2016
By

Sunburned Hand of the Man

It would barely even register as hyperbole to call Sunburned Hand of the Man one of greatest improvisational/psych acts of our time. They are responsible for 116 separate releases, if Discogs is to be believed; and I suspect that number to be much higher in reality, owing to the scarcity of many of their small-batch, handmade releases. The group doesn’t get out much these days, so any performance is sacred. Embarking on a road trip headed down to Three Lobed’s Sweet Sixteen Spectacular show in Raleigh, the loose collective coalesced this March for a brief series of dates with mainstays John Moloney, Ron Schneiderman, and Rob Thomas, plus newcomers Matt Robidoux (ex-Speedy Ortiz) and Jeremy Pisani. Their Union Pool set is one for the books: a rarity within a rarity, Sunburned plays some rehearsed jams, including recognizable songs “The Jaybird” and “Son of Jaybird” off 2001’s difficult-to-find Jaybird. Guesting on vocal duties for those two tracks is New-York-by-way-of-North-Carolina troubadour Frank Hurricane. We’ll soon also have Sunburned’s Raleigh set posted, but in the meantime you can get lost in this monster sesh.

I recorded this set from our usual location in the venue, with a board feed from Union Pool FOH, Robert. As usual for this room, the sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Download: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream:

Sunburned Hand of the Man with Frank Hurricane

Sunburned Hand of the Man
2016-03-24
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by Eric PH

Soundboard (engineer: Doug) + AKG C480B/CK63 > Roland R-26 > 2xWAV (24/48) > Adobe Audition CC (align, compression, mixdown, normalize, fades) + Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, exciter) > Audacity 2.0.5 (downsample, dither, tracking, tagging) > FLAC (16/44.1, level 8)

Tracks [01:03:23]
01. Between Faces
02. [tuning]
03. The Jaybird (feat. Frank Hurricane)
04. [banter]
05. Double Purity
06. Bosom
07. Clardy
08. [encore break]
09. Son of Jaybird (feat. Frank Hurricane)

Support Sunburned Hand of the Man: Website | Buy Sunburned releases via Bandcamp

Mind Over Mirrors: March 17, 2016 Littlefield

April 14, 2016
By

Mind Over Mirrors
[Photos from Le Poisson Rouge by PSquared Photography]

If you saw Tortoise on their most recent tour, I hope you got there early to see the awesome Mind Over Mirrors—a.k.a. Jaime Fennelly and his Indian pedal harmonium. We first saw Mind Over Mirrors back in February 2015 at Union Pool, when Fennelly was collaborating with Haley Fohr adding her distinct vocals to the project. This time around, Mind Over Mirrors is a solo outing, the harmonium combined with sequencers, synthesizers, oscillators, and other sorts of gadgetry. But despite all the electronics, Mind Over Mirrors’ sound is strikingly organic, owing to the harmonium’s unique intonation. This set from last month at Littlefield builds and evolves over nearly thirty minutes, starting off as a quiet drone that morphs into an intricate, whirling piece with overlapping rhythms. Fennelly has been working on new material for a future Paradise of Bachelors release and this set hints at great things to come.

I recorded this set in the same manner as the Tortoise set from the same night. The sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Download: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream:

Mind Over Mirrors
2016-03-17
Littlefield
Brooklyn, NY

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by Eric PH

AKG C480B/CK63 (ROC, FOB, PAS) > Roland R-26 > WAV (24/48) > Adobe Audition CC (normalize, fades) + Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ) > Audacity 2.0.5 (downsample, dither) > FLAC (16/44.1, level 8)

01. Live at Littlefield [27:44]

Support Mind Over Mirrors: WebsiteBandcamp | Buy The Voice Calling from Immune Recordings

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