nyctaper Recordings

[photo by Impose]

We arrived at Cake Shop on Friday a couple of songs into Rafter‘s set opening for The Loom. One of the members of The Loom was standing near the stage and when we approached to say hello, he immediately suggested that we tape this artist. Rafter was in the midst of a wildly impressive set of his frenetic diy approach to pop. Accompanied by a digital tape machine and a live drummer, Rafter employed an energetic stage presence and “talk box” to fine effect.

We recorded only half the set from the same location at our Loom recording. The sound quality is superb. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the partial recording in FLAC [HERE].

Rafter
2008-11-21
Cake Shop
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Upfront
10 Feet from the PA

DPA 4021s > Edirol UA-5 (Oade Digimod) > digital coaxial > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 24bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge 8.0 (level adjustments, downsample 16/44) > CD Wave > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-11-25

Setlist:
[total time 19:31]
[missing first 5 songs]
01 Thunderclap
02 No Fucking Around
03 Salt
04 Juicy
05 ZZZPenchant

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Rafter, visit his MySpace page, and purchase his official releases from the Asthmatic Kitty Records website [HERE].

[photo credit]

“Yeah, Minnesota!” we heard from behind us in the crowded Union Hall on Saturday night. Jeremy Messersmith had just finished one of the songs on his Minneapolis-based new CD The Silver City, when we surmised that we were among either some transplanted midwesterners in Prospect Park Brooklyn or just fans of superb melodic folk-rock with a midwest charm. Jeremy performed a too-brief thirty minute set of selections from his two excellent CDs and undoubtedly gathered some new converts. When we spoke to this modest and unassuming young man after the show, he seemed quite genuinely moved by the positive reception he received a full 1500 miles from home.

We recorded this set from an excellent location, as we attached our microphones to the metal bar that holds the stage lights in front of the stage at approximately 15 feet. The sound quality is well balanced and deep and this recording is marred only by an extremely chatty group of people who spoke unbelievably rude and loud during the first song. At the beginning of the second number they were literally told to “shh” by half a dozen people and did so. The rest of the recording is nearly flawless. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Jeremy Messersmith
2008-11-22
Union Hall
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Upfront
15 Feet Center – Microphones on Ceiling bar

DPA 4021s > Edirol UA-5 (Oade Digimod) > digital coaxial > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 24bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge 8.0 (level adjustments, downsample 16/44) > CD Wave > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-11-24

Setlist:
[total time 32:11]
01 7:02
02 Welcome to Suburbia
03 Light Rail
04 Virginia
05 Novocain
06 Beautiful Children
07 Skyway (Replacements)
08 Franklin Avenue
09 Miracles

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Jeremy Messersmith, visit his website, visit his MySpace page, and purchase his official releases from the Store at his website [HERE]

[photo by Tiny Mix Tapes]

Friday night at Cake Shop saw the next step in the evolution of the excellent band The Loom — the first time we have seen them play before a packed house. When a band with tremendous musical chops, harmonies and songwriting ability begins to accumulate critical praise, as The Loom have throughout 2008, it is only a matter time before the word spreads and the crowds grow. The band responded with quite a bit of friendly banter with the crowd and a prototypical strong set. We continue to be impressed with the work of guitarist-multi-instrumentalist Mark Rogers and his seamless transition into the band. The set also saw the inclusion of several new numbers and one apparent debut performance, which should mean that the anticipated follow-up to the At Last Light EP can not be far away.

We recorded from our usual spot at Cake Shop and the sound quality is quite excellent. There was quite a lot of rambunctiousness in the crowded room, but not much ended up on the recording. This is perhaps the best of the four recordings of the Loom that have been featured on this site. The other three are [here] [here] and [here]. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

The Loom
2008-11-21
Cake Shop
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Upfront
10 Feet from the PA

DPA 4021s > Edirol UA-5 (Oade Digimod) > digital coaxial > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 24bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge 8.0 (level adjustments, downsample 16/44) > CD Wave > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-11-23

Setlist:
[total time 46:22]
01 Montreal
02 All Your Famous Friends
03 In Your Doldrums
04 Song for the Winter Sun
05 Patience for Books
06 True Believers All
07 Wings
08 For All My Friends
09 Not Really Lost
10 Vampires
11 Song of Faint Praise

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Loom, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their EP At Last Light from The Loom Store [HERE] or digitally from their MySpace page.

[photo courtesy of Rist Photography]

Our first experience with Hot Buttered Rum was as an opening act at the Highline Ballroom in April. Their set was so impressive that we made a mental note to definitely catch them again, preferably as a headliner. At Sullivan Hall on Wednesday night, Hot Buttered Rum performed two complete sets in impressive fashion. The extremely talented quintet plays their version of “newgrass” with precision and confidence. The genre can be shackled by the repetitive nature of round-robin solos and a slavish dedication to form. What separates HBR from their contemporaries is a playful unpredictability and a superb band cohesion. It was during the second set at Sullivan that the band really shined, utilizing the relaxed atmosphere to stretch out and explore.

This is an interesting recording. We decided to move very close to the stage at this venue as previous recordings had suffered from chatter in front of our microphones. We attached the microphone stand onto a pole about 10 feet from the stage, about 5 feet underneath the left PA stack. The right channel was positioned about 15 feet to our right. Since we were so close to the band, there is natural stage sound in the “center” of the recording, while the left channel is almost all PA and the right channel has quite a bit of the upfront crowd. There are several bursts of static in the second set which was the result of a large person backing up into my equipment on multiple occasions and hitting into the digital cable jack. Otherwise, this is certainly an enjoyable listen. Enjoy!

This recording is offered as a direct download as the files are hosted on the Internet Archive server. Right click and “save file as” or “save target as” to download individual tracks.

More about FLAC

This recording is available on the Internet Archive [HERE]

Hot Buttered Rum
2008-11-19
Sullivan Hall
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Upfront
10 Feet from Stage
Left Channel 5 feet from PA, Right Channel over audience
Mic Placement: Healy Method

Neumann KM-150’s (AK-50 Hypercardiod Capsules) > Monster XLR cables > Apogee Minime > digital coaxial > M-Audio Microtrack > 24bit 48kHz wav file > Soundforge 8.0 (set fades, slight level boost, resample 16/44) > CD Wave 1.95 > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced
nyctaper
[email protected]
2008-11-22

Setlist:
Set 1
[total time 44:55]
01 Swing & Sway
02 Guns or Butter
03 Gumboots
04 Lulu
05 Golden Days
06 Bliss Monkeys
07 Howlin’ At The Moon
08 Big River

Set 2:
[total time 1:09:25]
01 Desert Rat
02 Idaho Pines
03 Tear My Stillhouse Down
04 Something New
05 Sexy Bakery Girl
06 Another Soul
07 Summertime Gal > Walls of Time > Summertime Gal
08 Amanda Lynn
09 Angeline The Baker > Cindy
10 [encore break]
11 Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right (Dylan)

Information: txt file
Verification: md5 file

If you download this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Hot Buttered Rum and visit their website, where you can purchase their official releases and merch (here).

Stream This Recording:

[photo by Thom]

It is not often that an opening act gets called back for an encore. At the end of Kaki King‘s set at Webster Hall on Sunday night she received just that kind of reception from the feel-good crowd. Kaki answered the calls by returning solo and performing a surprise cover of The Smiths classic “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” from the Louder Than Bombs compilation and the Pretty in Pink soundtrack.

John Darnielle came out for a second to join Kaki but did not participate in the vocals. Unfortunately, while I had the deck running, I was not quite prepared for this surprise as I was standing near the back of the room jostling through the crowd for a location to record The Mountain Goats set. As a result, the sound quality of the recording is well below the usual standards of the recordings of this site. There is a lot of ambient noise — bottles clinking at the bar, chatting and rustling. We offer this recording because it has been requested by numerous people in the incredibly nice Mountain Goats forum. Enjoy!

Direct Download (right click and save file):
“Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” [FLAC HERE]
“Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” [MP3 HERE]

[many thanks to Thom for photo permission — more here]

If Saturday night’s Mountain Goats concert in Brooklyn was a serious exercise in musical precision, Sunday night’s tour-closing show at Webster Hall was a joyous celebration of a wonderful month of music and friendship. The show began much like Saturday, but it soon became apparent that this would be a special Mountain Goats night when John Darnielle revealed that his solo set would include only songs from 1997’s Full Force Galesburg — including “New Britain” which had only been performed once previously. Of the twenty-four songs in the nearly two-hour show, a full twelve were different from the previous night, and included such rare gems as “Going to Georgia”, “Minnesota”, and “Game Shows Touch Our Lives”. After two encore segments of six songs, at the close of the night, John spoke eloquently and genuinely when he thanked the audience for their support. We thank John, Kaki and the bands for two very special evenings of music.

This concert was recorded from the prime location in this venue, in the center of the floor, equidistant from the two large PA stacks. While the mix was perhaps a bit too bass heavy (we EQ’d slightly in post-production), this recording is another excellent capture of a superb band. Enjoy!

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

The Mountain Goats
2008-11-09
Webster Hall
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from FOB
Dead Center 20 Feet from Stage

DPA 4021’s > Marantz PMD-660 (Oade BCM) > 16bit 44.1 wav > Soundforge (set fades, level boost, slight eq) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by
nyctaper
2008-11-10

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:50:55]
01 [introduction]
02 Have to Explode
03 Heretic Pride
04 The House That Dripped Blood
05 Moon Over Goldsboro
06 Slow West Vultures
07 New Zion
08 [banter]
09 New Britain
10 It’s All Here In Brownsville
11 Minnesota
12 [banter]
13 Black Pear Tree
14 Bring Our Curses Home
15 Mosquito Repellent
16 Suedehead (Morrissey)
17 Supergenesis
18 San Bernadino
19 Sept 15 1983
20 Game Shows Touch Our Lives
21 This Year
22 [encore break]
23 Houseguest
24 Going To Georgia
25 No Children
26 [second encore break]
27 Palmcoder Yajna
28 The Sign (Ace of Base)
29 The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Mountain Goats, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase Mountain Goats official releases from their website.

[photo by Thom – more here]

Sometimes its a charmed life to be nyctaper. Less than 24 hours after an amazing Deerhunter concert, we were back inside Music Hall of Williamsburg for a show we had been anticipating for months — The Mountain Goats return to NYC. When Brooklyn last saw John Darnielle, he performed an outstanding solo set at the Masonic Temple that included one brand new song. That song, “Wizard Buys a Hat” would later appear on the new Satanic Messiah EP, which along with the Kaki King-collaboration Black Pear Tree comprise the two new EPs released this Fall.

Last night’s set included five of the six songs from Black Pear Tree, but unfortunately none of the four Satanic Messiah tracks. Nevertheless, the setlist was democratically distributed among The Mountain Goats catalog and was performed with precision and much energy. John was perhaps less manic and chatty than previous appearances, but that focus served us well — the hundred-minute set was packed with twenty songs and four encores. When we attend the Webster Hall show tonight, a different setlist is expected which will complete a thoroughly enjoyable two-night Mountain Goats experience.

We recorded from the identical prime location from previous events at this venue, and the sound quality is truly superb. You have not heard, nor may you ever again hear another unofficial live recording of The Mountain Goats of this quality. We are proud to present this exceptional capture of this particular artist. Enjoy!

Read the NYCTaper Interview of John Darnielle [here].

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

The Mountain Goats
2008-11-08
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from FOB
Dead Center 30 Feet from PA

DPA 4021’s > Marantz PMD-660 (Oade BCM) > 16bit 44.1 wav > Soundforge (set fades, level boost, slight eq) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by
nyctaper
2008-11-09

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:33:42]
01 [introduction]
02 Have to Explode
03 Heretic Pride
04 Pigs That Ran Straightaway Into The Water, Triumph Of
05 Moon over Goldsboro
06 Quito
07 How To Embrace A Swamp Creature
08 The Recognition Scene
09 [Mario introduction]
10 Thank You Mario But Our Princess Is In Another Castle
11 Black Pear Tree
12 Bring Our Curses Home
13 Mosquito Repellent
14 Suedehead (Morrissey)
15 Supergenesis
16 Sept 15 1983
17 No Children
18 This Year
19 [encore break]
20 Hast Thou Considered The Tetrapod
21 Dance Music
22 The Mess Inside
23 [second encore break]
24 Palmcoder Yajna

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Mountain Goats, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase Mountain Goats official releases from their website.

[photo (c) 2008 Taryn Looney — more here]

Last night’s performance by Deerhunter at the Music Hall of Williamsburg instantly catapulted into my Top Ten concerts list for 2008. As Deerhunter tours on the heels of their brilliant new CD Microcastle, the band is performing with relaxed confidence assured that their well-deserved rave reviews are reaching the right eyes and ears. We took particular note that on several occasions Bradford stepped back to the let the band shine — Moses drum work and Josh’s bass playing were outstanding. During the encore sequence, Bradford also took time to give Whitney her proper due and praised Lockett. In perfect sync, the band worked through a set heavy on Microcastle material sprinkled with a few rare nuggets, before awarding the crowd with five encores.

The audience at this concert was engaged and attentive, and the sound quality in the venue was as per usual absolutely superb. The sound tech for Deerhunter mixed the band to perfection. We recorded from the prime location in the venue and the sound quality is outstanding — a marked improvement over our September recording of Deerhunter. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Deerhunter
2008-11-07
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from FOB
Dead Center 20 Feet from PA

DPA 4021’s > Marantz PMD-660 (Oade BCM) > 16bit 44.1 wav > Soundforge (set fades, level boost, slight eq) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by
nyctaper
2008-11-08

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:24:23]
01 Cryptograms
02 Never Stops
03 Dr. Glass
04 Hazel St.
05 Nothing Ever Happened
06 Microcastle
07 Vox Celeste
08 Saved By Old Times
09 Fluorescent Grey
10 Calvary Scars II > Aux Out [encore break]
11 Microcastle Intro
12 Agoraphobia
13 [banter – Whitney blues and headstand]
14 Twilight At Carbon Lake
15 [banter]
16 Heatherwood
17 [banter – Moses come back]
18 Operation

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Deerhunter, visit their MySpace page, visit the band blog, and purchase Microcastle [here], their official releases from the Kranky Records site [here].