nyctaper Recordings

[photo credit]

Olga Bell opened the After the Jump Fest in very appropriate fashion — starting a few minutes late because she was welcoming fans and friends with the donuts she brought to the show. Shortly thereafter, the sugar buzz was replaced by the buzz of a performer whose unique and entrancing songs captivated the daytime crowd. Bell’s self-released EP has received positive reviews in all the right places, including Spin Magazine, on the cover of Tripwire, and our friends at the Ear Farm blog — with more attention certain to follow.

This recording is from the Galapagos main stage matrix rig. The quality is superb. Enjoy!

After The Jump is a charitable organization of NYC music bloggers who donate all proceeds of their events to the advancement of music in NYC schools. nyctaper requests that if you download this recording, that you support this cause. Selected tracks from the recordings to be featured on this site from the ATJ Festival will be produced into a compilation, with all proceeds being donated to the music programs in NYC schools. When the compilation becomes available, all nyctaper readers who downloaded ATJ sets will be expected to purchase the release.

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Bell
2008-06-21
Galapagos Main Stage
After The Jump Festival
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard/Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Front of Board Neumann KM-150s > Edirol UA-5 (Oade Digimod) > digital coaxial > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 16bit 44.1kHz wav file > Soundforge (set fades, level adjustments) > CD Wave 1.95 > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-07-17

Setlist:
[total time 30:38]
01 Hero
02 Miner
03 Brown Bear
04 House Fire
05 Echinacea
06 Suerte Loca

Olga Bell performs again at Joe’s Pub on Friday July 25th.

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Olga Bell, visit her MySpace page, and purchase her EP directly from her website.

[photo by Bob Sanderson]

Pela‘s set at After the Jump Fest in June was inspirational for all the right reasons — perseverance, tenacity and positive energy — in a year when the band was in the news for all the wrong reasons. In March, vocalist/guitarist Billy McCarthy had a terrible accident at a show in Chicago that left him without use of his left hand and which required surgery. The medical bills were so overwhelming that a fund was set up to help out Billy.

On the main street stage in Williamsburg redemption was at hand. Pela performed the longest set of the Festival based primarily on songs from their excellent 2007 release Anytown Graffiti. After a rousing “Cavalry”, the standard set closer and the song during which he was injured in Chicago, Billy thanked the fans for their generous support and well-wishes. It was a moment of poignant sincerity that spoke well for the grassroots appeal of this superb band.

We recorded from in front of the soundboard booth at the outdoor stage. The location and sound were quite good, except for some wind noise, crowd noise and the humming sound of a generator behind the stage. Overall this is an excellent capture under the circumstances, and we’re happy with the results. Enjoy!

After The Jump is a charitable organization of NYC music bloggers who donate all proceeds of their events to the advancement of music in NYC schools. nyctaper requests that if you download this recording, that you support this cause. Selected tracks from the recordings to be featured on this site from the ATJ Festival will be produced into a compilation, with all proceeds being donated to the music programs in NYC schools. When the compilation becomes available, all nyctaper readers who downloaded ATJ sets will be expected to purchase the release.

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Pela
2008-06-21
After the Jump Festival
Main Stage (on N. 6th Street)
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from in Front of Soundboard Booth

Neumann KM-150s (AK-50 Hypercardiod Capsules) > Monster XLR cables > Apogee Minime > digital coaxial > M-Audio Microtrack > 16bit 44.1kHz wav file > Soundforge 8.0 (set fades, slight level adjustments) > CD Wave 1.95 > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-07-16

Setlist:
[Total time 1:03:52]
01 [soundcheck]
02 Waiting On The Stairs
03 Lost To The Lonesome
04 Drop Me Off
05 The Trouble With River Cities
06 Song Writes Itself
07 California’s Son
08 Your Desert’s Not a Desert at All
09 Philadelphia
10
11
12 Tenement Teeth
13 Cavalry
14 [banter]
15 Juarez

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

[photo credit]

After Ponytail‘s excellent set at Mercury Lounge on Sunday night, we experienced a first for nyctaper — our own personal handwritten setlist. We spoke at length with guitarist Ken Seeno, who was so refreshingly enthusiastic about our recordings and our support of the band that he grabbed a cocktail napkin and a pen and wrote out a setlist (see below) and left us with huge smile. This is the kind of positive energy that emanates from the stage when Ponytail unleashes its sonic overdrive and all four instruments coalesce as one, as Sunday night’s set was thirty-four minutes of pure musical exuberance.

We recorded from our standard location in this venue, at the right and slightly in front of the soundboard booth. The sound quality in the venue was outstanding as the Mercury board was manned by an experienced pro technician. We raised the pole to maximum length and avoided all crowd noise with a direct line to the speakers. We are extremely pleased with the quality of this recording. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Ponytail
2008-07-13
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Front of Board

Neumann KM-150’s > Monster Cable > Apogee Mini-Me > digital coax > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 24bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge 8.0 (level adjustments, downsample) > CD Wave 1.75 > Flac Frontend (level 7) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-07-15

Setlist:
[Total time 33:41]
01 Sky Drool
02 Small Wevs
03 G Shock
04 Celebrate the Body Electric (It Came From an Angel)
05 Music Tunes
06 7 Souls
07 Beg Waves

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Ponytail, visit their myspace page, and purchase their official releases [HERE] and [HERE].

[photo credit]

One of the nice things about the atmosphere at After The Jump Fest in June was the camaraderie among the musicians and the staff. Several hours after their set ended, late in the afternoon I ran into the guys from Bridges and Powerlines who were watching other performances and we chatted about the Fest, their set and other assorted tidbits. Andrew in particular was pretty stoked about their performance and when I went back to review the recordings he was right. Bridges and Powerlines played the ATJ Fest with energy and proficiency that at previous gigs they had only hinted. This was their unique power pop at its best.

We recorded this matrix recording from the same equipment and location as all the Galapagos stage sets. Enjoy!

After The Jump is a charitable organization of NYC music bloggers who donate all proceeds of their events to the advancement of music in NYC schools. nyctaper requests that if you download this recording, that you support this cause. Selected tracks from the recordings to be featured on this site from the ATJ Festival will be produced into a compilation, with all proceeds being donated to the music programs in NYC schools. When the compilation becomes available, all nyctaper readers who downloaded ATJ sets will be expected to purchase the release.

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Bridges and Powerlines
2008-06-21
Galapagos Main Stage
After The Jump Festival
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard/Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Front of Board Neumann KM-150s > Edirol UA-5 (Oade Digimod) > digital coaxial > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 16bit 44.1kHz wav file > Soundforge (set fades, level adjustments) > CD Wave 1.95 > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-07-14

Setlist:
[total time 26:26]
01 Middle Child
02 The Cave-In
03 Half a Cent
04 Carmen
05 Uncalibrated
06 The Beach Animals
07 The Golden Age

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Bridges and Powerlines, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase the new CD Ghost Types directly from the Citybird records webpage.

[photo credit]

We have posted about Sharon Van Etten quite a bit in the last couple of months. This is no coincidence. At nyctaper, we believe that Sharon is one of the most gifted performers we have encountered in quite some time. The exciting aspect is that her career is just beginning — she has lived in Brooklyn for about a year, her first CD has not been released (its expected soon), and she is currently on her first extensive tour.

We took the opportunity last week to experience Sharon in the venue where she began to make her name in NYC — the charming and intimate Zebulon in Williamsburg. As expected, when Sharon began her set the venue was packed, to the point that there were three rows of people sitting in front of the stage. On hand in support were three members of the Antlers, and we saw Kyp Malone from TV on the Radio when we were leaving.

For the recording, we were among the seated throng, and attached the right channel microphone to the front of the stage and the left channel in front of the PA left speaker. Only Sharon’s voice was amplified through the system as the guitar was amped on stage. As a result, our high clarity recording is vocal-heavy in the left channel and guitar-heavy in the right channel, and offers a unique perspective of this superb artist. Some guitar tech issues were edited in between songs. Enjoy!

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

Sharon Van Etten
2008-06-25
Zebulon
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Upfront & On Stage
Left Channel 10 Feet from the PA, Right Channel on Stage Lip

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

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-07-09

Setlist:
[Total time 29:45]
01 I Wish I Knew
02 Strong
03 Have You Seen
04 Carry On
05 You Didn’t Really Do That
06 For You
07 Consolation Prize
08 Tornado

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, purchase one of her custom-made self-released CDs directly from her website, and purchase her new CD Because I Was In Love when it is released this summer.

The aptly-named Bloodsugars performed a short but, um, sweet set at the After The Jump Fest indoor Galapagos stage on June 21. The silky-smooth tenor belongs to lead vocalist Jason Rabinowitz, whose life-long battle with diabetes provides the basis for name of the band. The new 2008 release EP on Engine Room is entitled BQEP, and features six songs of addictive power-pop. The nyctaper recording offered below features five unreleased songs, the high quality of which bodes well for an anticipated full-length release.

This outstanding capture is a soundboard/audience “matrix” mix recorded in the same location and with the same equipment as our Brilliant Sweaters recording featured here a couple of weeks ago. Enjoy!

After The Jump is a charitable organization of NYC music bloggers who donate all proceeds of their events to the advancement of music in NYC schools. nyctaper requests that if you download this recording, that you support this cause. Selected tracks from the recordings to be featured on this site from the ATJ Festival will be produced into a compilation, with all proceeds being donated to the music programs in NYC schools. When the compilation becomes available, all nyctaper readers who downloaded ATJ sets will be expected to purchase the release.

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Bloodsugars
2008-06-21
Galapagos Main Stage
After The Jump Festival
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard/Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Front of Board Neumann KM-150s > Edirol UA-5 (Oade Digimod) > digital coaxial > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 16bit 44.1kHz wav file > Soundforge (set fades, level adjustments) > CD Wave 1.95 > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-06-29

Setlist:
[total time 27:29]
01 Falling Makes You Blue
02 Priorities
03 You’ve Gone Wrong
04 Happiness
05 I Want It Back
06 Bloody Mary

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Bloodsugars, visit their website, visit their myspace page, and purchase their new EP BQEP directly from the Bloodsugars Store or the Engine Room Store.

Last Wednesday, High Places performed outside of their standard Brooklyn DIY and club scene. The Oval at Stuyvesant Town has had weekly Wednesday concerts for quite some time, but for years the bands have been local acts and cover bands. As the community has gone through some substantial upgrades, the Summer music series booked its first legitimate act.

The video embedded above appeared on youtube yesterday, and has created a bit of stir in the blogs. While the video seems to indicate that High Places only performed to a group of toddlers, the shot is quite misleading. This footage was taken during the day when High Places did their soundcheck to the afternoon crowd at the Oval — primarily children and older people. When the actual performance took place, the grass area in front of the stage was filled with people of all ages who included many fans of the band, local residents and curious onlookers — all very supportive of the interesting and excellent music on stage.

High Places is a taper friendly band, as our friend baltimore-taper recorded them last year. We recorded this set with a direct line from the soundboard. The signal is fairly clear, but there is a noticeable hum/buzz from the board that also was apparent in the PA stacks. During louder moments the well mixed board is outstanding, while during the quieter points the hum can be distracting. With that caveat enjoy this excellent band!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

High Places
2008-07-02
Stuyvesant Town Oval
New York, NY USA

Digital Soundboard Master

Soundboard > Edirol UA-5 (Oade Digimod) > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 24bit 48kHz wav file > Soundforge 8.0 (level adjustment, downsample, dither, EQ) > CD Wave (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced
nyctaper
[email protected]
2008-07-07

Setlist:
[total time 39:18]
01 /Banana Slugs
02 Sandy Feat
03 The Storm
04 Golden
05 The Tree
06 Oceanus
07 Head Spins
08 Namer
09 Gold Coin
10 New Grace
11 Stardust
12 Vision’s The First…
13 Universe
14 Freaked Flight

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT High Places and visit their MySpace page, where you can follow the links to buy official releases. The High Places artist page on Thrill Jockey Records is (here). You can purchase High Places CD 03/07 – 09/07 at Emusic (here).

[photo by neil d] [higher resolution photos (HERE) and (HERE)]

Our Intrepid Correspondent Reports:

The weather report was for a high of 80 with a 50% chance of thunderstorms — so of course the day turned out to be hot and muggy with almost no rain to speak of. I arrived at 12:45 for 2 pm doors, expecting a huge crowd wanting to get there early for the Feelies. Instead, I was maybe the 50th person on line, and got a prime spot about 30 feet from the stage, right in front of the stage-right speakers.

The Feelies were just great – I’d never seen them live before except on video, but it didn’t seem like they’d missed a beat after their 16-year layoff. Watching Dave Weckerman play whatever bit of percussion he was responsible for at any moment (a tambourine, a maraca) as if it took every fiber of his being was especially great fun. Ira Kaplan was about ten feet directly in front of us, rocking out for the entire Feelies set.

Sonic Youth were excellent as well, with a set heavy on songs from Daydream Nation. (Hey Joni, Silver Rocket… several others, I forget which right now.) Kim Gordon looks amazing for a 55-year-old. Anyway, you can hear the SY set on WFMU’s site, if you haven’t already.

Afterwards, we sat on the Battery Park lawn finishing our picnic food and watching the eight billion fireflies, then headed over to the East River for the fireworks. The fireworks themselves were great, though, so hard to complain about any part of the day.

A regular nyctaper reader pointed us to his ebay auction for a Feelies rarity — the limited edition promotional Away EP autographed by all of the Feelies. All proceeds from this auction will be donated to the charity of choice of the winning bidder!

The Recording:
As our recorder noted to me, the stacks were very bass heavy, and as a result quite a bit of EQ was applied in post-production. This is a clear upfront recording which is subject only to the limitations of the sound system and the outdoor conditions. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

The Feelies
2008-07-04
Battery Park
New York, NY USA

Digital Audience Master Recording
Recorded 30 Feet from Right PA Stacks

CoreSound Binaurals > MM-EBM-1 battery box > Sony MZ-NH900 > Audiophile 2496 > Sound Studio > 16bit 44kHz wav file > Soundforge 8.0 (set fades, level adjustments, EQ) > CD Wave (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded by neil d
Produced by nyctaper
2008-07-06

Setlist
[total time 46:22]
01 [introduction]
02 On The Roof
03 The High Road
04 Nobody Knows
05 Let’s Go
06 Higher Ground
07 Away
08 Time is Right
09 Slipping (Into Something)
10 Doin’ It Again
11 Raised Eyebrows
12 Crazy Rhythms
13 [encore break]
14 Outdoor Miner (Wire)
15 Fa Ce-La

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Feelies and visit their official MySpace page, and purchase their official releases at various commercial outlets. They are working on new songs. Purchase their new CD when it is released!

[photo by Ryan Muir]

In our critical post about Dan Deacon‘s set from this concert, the comments suggested that somehow we did not understand the concept of fun. The truth is that we understand the difference between foolishness and the Tom Tom Club‘s “fun natural fun”. The set that immediately followed Deacon’s nonsense was the return of Tom Tom Club to NYC, the place where 30 years earlier Tina Weymouth and Chris Franz had literally been the rhythm section for one of the most influential bands in the history of modern music. The stark contrast and upgrade in musical quality when Tom Tom Club took the stage helped elucidate the fact that Tina and Chris’s “other band” has had its own profound musical influence.

In their hour-long set at McCarren Pool last week, Tom Tom Club performed their best known songs with two interesting covers, a goofy 70s Brit-dance hit and one of the staples of The Talking Heads repertoire. The obvious highlight was “Genius of Love“, a song with an earworm melody that has worked its way into the lexicon of music and is perhaps the most sampled song in music today.

We recorded from the same location as the Devo set, but there was more wind during this set which can be heard primarily in the stage microphones. We avoided much of the gusts and as a result while there is some phasing on this recording, it has exceptionally clarity considering the outdoor conditions. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Tom Tom Club
2008-06-26
McCarren Park Pool
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Audience Recording
Recorded from FOB Dead Center
50 Feet from Stage

DPA 4021s > Marantz PMD-660 (Oade BCM Mod) > 16bit 44.1kHz wav > Soundforge (level adjustments, slight EQ, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries)> flac

Many Thanks to Chris and Tina for permission to record this performance!

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper
2008-07-03

Setlist
[total time 59:14]
01 Suboceana
02 Punk Lolita
03 L’Elephant
04 She’s Dangerous
05 Time To Bounce
06 The Man With the 4-Way Hips
07 [band introductions]
08 Genius of Love
09 You Sexy Thing (Hot Chocolate)
10 Wordy Rappinghood
11 Take Me To The River

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Tom Tom Club, visit their website, where you can purchase their official releases at the Tom Tom Club Store.

[photo credit]

Twenty years seems to be the magic number. Last night at Maxwell’s, The Feelies became the latest in a long of line of bands to stretch out over two decades and reclaim old magic. The band was tight as always, and performed two sets of nearly two hours of flawless music which included 5 encores. We last saw the Feelies at the old Ritz in 1988 when interestingly Big Dipper was the opener. In the last year, we have experienced Dinosaur Jr., Mission of Burma, Was Not Was, and of course Big Dipper turn back the hands of time, but for The Feelies this show had the added dimension of taking place at their old regular stomping grounds — the equally legendary Maxwell’s.

The crowd (which included such local luminaries at Yo La Tengo‘s Ira Kaplan) were almost reverential. Between each number, after the audience cheered there was an eerie silence as The Feelies tuned for their next number. When a rowdy patron near the bar was chatting too loud he was actually shushed by members of the audience. In the end, the church of the Feelies would not be denied after three encores, and called the band back for a second two-song encore.

The setlist was quite comprehensive as the band worked through much of their recorded material and sprinkled in some standard covers (two Velvet Underground staples) along with one interesting Neil Young number (“Barstool Blues”).

We arrived during the first song, so that we were not able to set up and record the first set. In between sets we assumed our usual location in this venue and recorded a matrix with the Neumanns and a soundboard feed of the entire second half and encores. The sound quality in the venue was absolutely superb and The Feelies crew did an outstanding job. We were fortunate to capture that quality. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete 2nd Set recording in FLAC [HERE].

Feelies
2008-07-01
Maxwell’s
Hoboken, NJ USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard/Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Front of Board Neumann KM-150s > Edirol UA-5 (Oade Digimod) > digital coaxial > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 24bit 48kHz wav file > Soundforge (set fades, slight level boost, downsample, dither) > CD Wave 1.95 > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by
nyctaper
2008-07-02

Setlist:
[First Set was Not Recorded]
Second Set:
[Total Time 51:21]
01 Dancing Barefoot (Patti Smith)
02 Original Love
03 Deep Fascination
04 Outdoor Miner (Wire)
05 The Final Word
06 Sooner Or Later
07 Too Far Gone
08 Time is Right
09 Fa Cé-La
10 [encore break]
11 She Said (Beatles)
12 Barstool Blues (Neil Young)
13 We’re Gonna Have a Real Good Time Together (VU)
14 [second encore break]
15 Fun To Be Happy (Love Tractor)
16 What Goes On (VU)

CD Cover Art [HERE] (Thanks Mark!)

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Feelies and visit their official MySpace page, and purchase their official releases at various commercial outlets. While all Feelies albums are out of print, and there are no plans to tour beyond this week of shows, they are working on new songs. Purchase their new CD when it is released!