nyctaper Recordings

[photo courtesy of l_c_m_tt_]

Acidjack reports:
“The cliche about Sonic Youth as New York’s modern rock “elder statesmen” is hard to avoid. Almost no band remains vital for 30 years – not only continuing to perform music (which many do), but making new music, and new good music. These days a pretty good buzz band can consider themselves lucky if somebody cares 9 months later. But Sonic Youth have defied all logic. They may be the only band that can, in a year in which they appeared on the show “Gossip Girl” and played venues around the country that were as big or bigger than Terminal 5, retain their unquestionable status as the kings of underground cool.

In the end Sonic Youth’s continued dominance is no mystery at all. The music, quite simply, is just that good, and this show drove that home again and again, as the band played almost the entirety of this year’s The Eternal (11 out of the 13 songs) plus several big numbers from their 80s albums (though oddly, almost none of the next-most-recent albums or their 1990s material).

This was my debut outing with my new DPA 4021 microphones, and it was a pretty stressful day thanks to my recorder dying the day before, and Terminal 5 being a usual Saturday “amateur night” environment of drunk people and people who didn’t seem to care much about the band. Thanks to Dan for the loaner deck and Johnny for blocking for me. And of course, to Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr. and their management for putting on a top-notch performance and allowing us to record. Enjoy!”

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Sonic Youth
2009-11-21
Terminal 5
New York, NY USA

An ACIDJACK master recording

Recorded and produced by acidjack
Hosted at nyctaper.com

Equipment: DPA 4021>Marantz PMD660 (Oade Concert Mod) (16/44.1)
Position: 12′ up, on stand, right side of SBD cage, DIN
Mastering: WAV>Audacity (set fades, tracking, amplify channels)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Intro
02 No Way
03 Sacred Trickster
04 Calming the Snake
05 Stereo Sanctity
06 Anti-Orgasm
07 Walkin Blue
08 Shadow of A Doubt
09 Antenna
10 crowd
11 Malibu Gas Station
12 crowd
13 Leaky Lifeboat (for Gregory Corso)
14 Poison Arrow
15 crowd
16 Silver Rocket
17 crowd
18 Massage the History
19 crowd
20 The Sprawl
21 Cross the Breeze
22 encore break
23 What We Know
24 White Cross

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Sonic Youth, visit their website, and purchase their official releases from the Store at their website [here].

[photo courtesy of Free Music Archive]

Acidjack reports:
“David Pajo, who performs in various configurations as Aerial M and Papa M, is the kind of artist who inspires fervor among fans not for the relentless bombast of his music, or his stage presence, or probably even his indie cred (although one has to point out that David’s having been a founding member of Slint, is pretty damn huge). Rather, he is that unique kind of artist who, by playing restrained, complex instrumental guitar music, proves that “rock” can inspire and enthrall without screaming its head off. The songs in this melancholy set occasionally build to crescendos, sure, but the release is subtle when compared to the euphoric wad-blowing of other excellent instrumental bands like Explosions in the Sky. Over these five songs, David and his two co-guitarists gave us exactly the type of performance one needs on a cold autumn evening. As the music lolls along – especially some of the circa-1999 classics, you can’t help but be reminded that, this time of year, in the mist of loss, there are the stirrings, still, of life.”

Acidjack recorded this set from in front of the soundboard booth and the sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Many thanks to David and Drag City Records for permission to record this show.

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Papa M
2009-11-18
Knitting Factory
Brooklyn, NY USA

An ACIDJACK master recording

Equipment: AKG ck93 (Busman Active Mod)>CA 9100>R-09HR (24/48)
Position: FOB, on stand, DIN, 11′
Mastering: WAV>Audacity (set fades, downsample, tracking, amplify each channel)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 roadrunner
02 crowd
03 plastic energy man
04 drunken spree
05 crowd
06 i am not lonely with cricket
07 arundel

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Papa M/David Pajo, visit his website, and purchase his official releases from the Store at his website [here].

[photo by nyctaper]

Of all the bands that performed at the Slumberland Records 20th Anniversary concert last weekend at Bell House, Lorelei was perhaps the band that was the most pleasant surprise. As the concert was split between “new” SLR artists (Pains, Stilts, Pants) and old (Linton, Nord Express, Ropers), Lorelei fall somewhat in the middle. As a band that SLR released early — “The Bitter Air” 7″ was the 12th release in the label’s catalog — one would expect that their performance would have taken on a “reunion” atmosphere. But after a late-90’s breakup, Lorelei reformed in 2006 and have been performing steadily since. The band is recording new music to release in 2010. The vitality of actively-working band was quite apparent in their outstanding set. While Matt Dingee has a intense professor-like quality in his approach to the guitar and vocals, Stephen Gardner is an aggressive and energetic on bass and Davis White is a solid backbone on drums. The set highlighted each aspect of the band’s personality and was capped by a wild cover the one of Slumberland’s greatest acts, the Lilys, and their first SLR release “February Fourteenth”.

The recording was captured under the identical circumstances at the Pains and Henry’s Dress recordings, but the mix is different. The soundboard feed was wildly inconsistent in terms of drum and bass volume, so that I had to mix the room mics at a much higher percentage for this set. The result is more audience presence. Nevertheless, the sound quality is quite outstanding. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Lorelei
2009-11-14
Slumberland Records 20th Anniversary Concert
Bell House
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Neumann KM-150s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2 x 16bit 44.1kHz 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
2009-11-19

Setlist:
[Total Time 37:31]
01 Float My Bed
02 Three Interlocking Screens
03 Keyhole
04 [thanks Mike]
05 Mostly I Sleep
06 [banter]
07 Windmill
08 Stop What You’re Doing
09 February Fourteenth (Lilys)

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Lorelei, visit their MySpace page, visit their blog, and purchase their official releases which are still available from Slumberland Records [here].

[photo courtesy of Dan M. Parker]

Acidjack reports:
“I had not seen the Jesus Lizard since Lollapalooza 1995 – the last year I choose to think of as being remotely true to what that festival was about. As hard as it is to believe that was 14 years ago, it is even harder to understand how frontman David Yow & Co. have managed to bring back this band – essentially dormant since 1999 – with this much ferocity. Yow may be 14 years older and a bit worse for wear, but the man caterwauls with an intensity that most 20 year old pretty boys will never match. The Irving crowd – a good portion of whom, at this 16+ show, were not even born when this band began in 1987 – remained in a frenzy throughout the set, turning the Irving floor into a thrashing sea of bodies, flying beers and more than a few sets of broken eyeglasses. While Yow stage-dove, mic in hand, the band delivered their tightly wound hardcore like the experts they are. Covering a range of the band’s catalog and with two encores, the 23-song set gave audience members a lot to scream about.

At one point near the end of the show, with blood smeared on his face, Yow said he couldn’t believe that as a bunch of “65 year olds,” the Jesus Lizard were still “the best band in the world.” After a few minutes, he admitted that maybe the Melvins were better. It all depends on one’s taste in music of course, but it’s safe to say that after Monday’s performance, the Melvins have got a lot to live up to.”

The show was recorded from the floor close enough for a capture of exceptional clarity but far enough back to avoid the craziness. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

The Jesus Lizard
2009-11-16
Fillmore East at Irving Plaza
New York, NY

An ACIDJACK master recording

Equipment: Audix 1280c capsules>Church Audio Active Cables>SPSB-10>R-09HR
Position: Slightly LOC, floor, about 35-40′ back, stealth
Mastering: WAV>Audacity (set fades, downsample, tracking, amplify each channel)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks:
01 [crowd]
02 Puss
03 Gladiator
04 Seasick
05 (None Other Than) Killer McHann
06 Glamorous
07 Mouth Breather
08 Destroy Before Reading
09 Nub
10 My Own Urine
11 Dancing Naked Ladies
12 Monkey Trick
13 Boilermaker
14 Blue Shot
15 Chrome
16 7 vs. 8
17 [encore break]
18 Dudley
19 Bloody Mary
20 Thumbscrews
21 Blockbuster
22 Wheelchair Epidemic
23 [second encore break]
24 Thumper
25 If You Had Lips
26 Fly On The Wall

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Jesus Lizard, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their official releases directly from the Touch and Go Records website [here].

[photo by nyctaper]

Two things became abundantly clear to me as I watched Sharon Van Etten’s performance last Saturday at the Kevchino-produced show at Union Pool. First, given the packed crowd and the rapt attention that they paid to the performer, at this point in her career it is clear that Sharon can headline a venue of this size. The second fact is that I have simply not seen Sharon often enough this year. Other than her guest appearance at the Antlers CD release show in March, the Union Pool show is merely the second Sharon show I saw this year. During moments like the sweet “Much More Than That”, the breathtakingly beautiful voice that sets SVE apart from her contemporaries is the musical elixir that creates such emotions as to literally hush a packed room. I do, in fact, need much more of that.

This set was recorded with the same equipment and location as the Natureboy set and if one doesn’t mind some bar noise and some hiss in the speakers, the sound quality is quite good. Enjoy!

Sharon Van Etten appears again at the Bowery Ballroom on December 15, as an opening act for The Antlers. We will be there.

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

Sharon Van Etten
2009-11-07
Union Hall
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Four-Track Audience Recording
Recorded from Upfront — 20 Feet from the Stage

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
2009-11-14

Setlist:
[Total Time 50:08]
01 Give Out
02 Call It A Joke
03 Much More Than That
04 You Didn’t Really Do That
05 Consolation Prize
06 Heart in the Ground [new song]
07 Oooh Love (Blaze Foley)
08 Take Me
09 For You
10 Holding Out

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Sharon Van Etten, visit her website, visit her MySpace page, and purchase her new CD Because I Was In Love from InSound [here] or Amazon [here] or directly from the Language of Stone website [here].

[photo courtesy of Jessica Amaya]

The biggest surprise at the Slumberland 20th Anniversary Concert at Bell House on Saturday was the completely unannounced appearance by Amy Linton, who performed three of her songs backed by JB, Kyle and Andy of Crystal Stilts. While technically not an Henry’s Dress or The Aislers Set reunion, the brief set was raw and fun, and Mike Schulman’s elated reaction really told the story — how special it was to have Linton perform at this event.

The set was recorded with the same equipment and location as the Pains set and the sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Henry’s Dress / The Aisler’s Set
2009-11-14
Slumberland Records 20th Anniversary Concert
Bell House
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Neumann KM-150s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2 x 16bit 44.1kHz 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
2009-11-17

Setlist:
[Total Time 8:03]
01 [introduction]
02 You Killed a Boy For Me (Henry’s Dress)
03 [banter/tuning]
04 Target Practice (Henry’s Dress)
05 [banter/tuning]
06 The Red Door (The Aislers Set)

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Henry’s Dress and The Aislers Set, visit the Aislers Set website, and purchase their official releases which are still available from Slumberland Records [here] and [here].

[photo by nyctaper]

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have had a “awesome year”, and lead singer/guitarist Kip Berman thanked Mike Schulman and Slumberland Records for their part in the band’s success last night at the label’s 20th Anniversary concert last night at Bell House. Despite the late set time (after 1 a.m.) Pains delivered a scintillating thirty-five minute set of their “Best New Music” power pop, that included seven songs from their full length, the title song from their new EP, and the debut of one brand new song “Say No To Love”.

We are indebted to Mike Schulman not only for his amazing twenty years at Slumberland Records, but also for arranging for NYCTaper to capture this amazing event. We recorded all 8 bands (actually 9, counting the surprise three-song set of Henry’s Dress) on the four-track Edirol with two Neumann microphones set up above the crowd at the board mixed with a stereo feed from the soundboard. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Direct download of the Complete Concert MP3 files (HERE)

Individual Downloads for the new song “Say No To Love” are available as a direct download by clicking [FLAC] or [MP3] at the setlist

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
2009-11-14
Slumberland Records 20th Anniversary Concert
Bell House
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Neumann KM-150s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) >
2 x 16bit 44.1kHz 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
2009-11-15

Setlist:
[Total Time 34:31]
01 This Love Is Fucking Right!
02 Young Adult Friction
03 Say No To Love [new song debut] [FLAC] [MP3]
04 Stay Alive
05 A Teenager in Love
06 Come Saturday
07 Higher Than the Stars
08 Everything with You
09 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their official releases by visiting the Order Link at their website [here] or by vising the Slumberland Records website [here].

[photo by nyctaper]

Natureboy is the musical project of singer-songwriter Sara Kermanshahi. Sara has been on our radar for about a year, so we decided to check her out at the Kevchino-produced show this past Saturday opening for nyctaper-favorite Sharon Van Etten at Union Pool. The live Natureboy is a trio, as Sara is backed by Cedar Apffel and Rory O’Connor (i.e. Masterface) on guitar, bass, drums, laptop and effects. The performance at Union Pool was truly a revelation. Sara’s voice is rich and throaty, and the tasty backing instrumentation perfectly highlights the entrancing songs. When Sara finished the set with a solo rendition of the obscure Dylan-via-Nico nugget “I’ll Keep it With Mine” we knew that this performer was truly in touch with her influences.

The upstairs Union Pool soundboard was unable to yield a proper feed for this show, so we decided to run the four-microphone mix in the middle of the floor. While there was some room noise, minor hiss in the speakers, and chatter during the first minute of Sara’s set, the overall sound quality is quite excellent. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Natureboy
2009-11-07
Union Hall
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Four-Track Audience Recording
Recorded from Upfront — 20 Feet from the Stage

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
2009-11-11

Setlist:
[Total Time 40:15]
01 A Flame
02 Curses Fired
03 Don’t Worry
04 Ode to Merry Maid
05 Dither
06 Pariah
07 Famous Sons
08 Heart to Fool
09 I’ll Keep It With Mine (Nico)

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Natureboy, visit their MySpace page, and purchase Sara’s self-released debut album by following the links to amazon.com mp3s and Itunes at the Natureboy MySpace page.

[photos courtesy of Rez Avissar]

The Smith Westerns were certainly the youngest band that played the Showpaper/ToddP/Pitchfork benefit at Market Hotel two weeks back. The band is still somewhat raw, but the talent is clearly evident in their infectious garage-pop via Chicago. While the teenage behavior problems have gathered some recent blog attention, the music of The Smith Westerns at the Market was the real story — melodic lead guitar, hard chords, and vocal harmonies that mix both the late-60s pop and early 80’s post-punk.

This recording was captured the same as the other sets from this night. The sound quality is rough by genuine. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Smith Westerns
2009-10-24
Market Hotel
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Neumann KM-150s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2 x 16bit 44.1kHz 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
2009-11-08

Setlist:
[Total Time 30:00]
01 My Heart
02 Boys Are Fine
03 Girl In love
04 Tonight
05 Imagine, Pt. 3
06 Gimme Some Time
07 The Glam Goddess
08 Be My Girl
09 Diamond Boys

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Smith Westerns, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their debut album from Hozac Records [here].