nyctaper Recordings

[photo credit]

As the full moon rose over Hoboken last night, madness reigned. On the final night of their 3-month US tour in support of Do You Like Rock Music?, British Sea Power performed an energetic and alcohol-fueled show at the smallest venue of their entire tour — a late-added date at the classic Maxwell’s. Yan remarked that the gig was like an office party, and true to the cliched script of drunken officemate party-enders, the show’s finale was complete mayhem. “Rock in A” devolved from musical improv into a mass stage and crowd diving spectacle as audience members, crew, and band all lost all semblance of order. As British Sea Power has grown into an international success on the heels of three outstanding albums, its refreshing to witness the band truly enjoy themselves and give their fans a crazy night of fun and frenzy.

We recorded from our standard location at Maxwell’s, and mixed the prime Neumann’s with a feed from the board for an outstanding matrix mix. This is well-balanced recording with extraordinary clarity — perhaps the best British Sea Power unofficial live recording that a fan will ever hear. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

British Sea Power
2008-05-19
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 > 16bit 44.1kHz wav file > Soundforge (set fades, slight level boost, no EQ) > CD Wave 1.95 > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by
nyctaper
2008-05-20

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:29:56]
01 [introduction]
02 Atom
03 Carrion
04 Oh Larsen B
05 Down on the Ground
06 Open The Door
07 Waving Flags
08 The Great Skua
09 Canvey Island
10 Lights Out For Darker Skies
11 Trip Out
12 No Lucifer
13 Remember Me
14 The Spirit of St. Louis
15 Rock in A

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT British Sea Power, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their new release Do You Like Rock Music? directly from their website.

[photo credit]

The Mountain Goats stepped back in time last night at the Masonic Temple in Brooklyn. In 90s fashion, John Darnielle performed solo as bassist Peter Hughes and drummer Jon Wurster did not make the trip to NYC for this Aids Walk Benefit. John performed no songs from the Mountain Goats 2008 release Heretic Pride, dipping into the older catalog for such early chestnuts as “Young Caesar 2000”, “Going to Scotland” “The Last Day of Jimi Hendrix’s Life” and “Baboon”. The result was an extraordinary and unique Mountain Goats concert for the year 2008.

We recorded from literally 10 feet in front of the right PA stacks with the hyper-directional DPA microphones. The recording is very clear and contains almost no crowd noise during songs. The only “flaws” are the two songs where John sang in the front of the crowd and away from the vocal microphone and we were able to capture very little vocal audio. Other than those two numbers, this is a recording of outstanding clarity and balance. Enjoy!

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

Mountain Goats
2008-05-16
Brooklyn Masonic Temple
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded 10 Feet from Right PA Stacks

DPA 4021’s > Edirol UA-5 (Oade Digimod) > 24bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge (level boost, set fades, resample) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-05-17

Setlist
[Total Time 1:10:10]
01 [introduction]
02 Transjordanian Blues
03 Dinu Lipatti’s Bones
04 Up The Wolves*
05 Balance
06 [banter]
07 Wizard Buys a Hat
08 Cotton
09 Young Caesar 2000
10 The Last Day of Jimi Hendrix’s Life
11 [banter]
12 Alibi
13 Song For an Old Friend
14 Wild Sage**
15 Going to Scotland
16 Song for Dennis Brown**
17 Baboon
18 Best Ever Death Metal Band
19 [encore break]
20 This Year

*Including “the thing where he forgets the first line”
**Vocals off microphone

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 credit]

Of the four bands who performed at the nyctaper Anniversary Concert last Sunday, The Loom was the band with whom we were the least familiar. To say that The Loom’s performance was a revelation would be to understate the significance of this unit. They combine musical talent, strong writing, and an abundant amount of band camaraderie into an intense amalgam of folk, americana, bluegrass and alt-country. The Loom are releasing their debut EP in the next month, and as we told vocalist/guitarist John Fanning after show the not-yet-finished recordings on their site do not do them justice. We hope that the final product captures the spirit we experienced on Sunday.

As this was an nyctaper-produced event, we were not in a position to run microphones for this recording. We patched out of the soundboard into a digital pre-amp and captured the raw board feed. The soundboard mixes in small clubs tend to be quite heavy in vocals and kick drum, and this recording tends towards that mix but also contains acceptable amounts of the other instruments in this six-piece band. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

The Loom
2008-05-11
nyctaper Anniversary Concert
Pianos
New York, NY USA

Digital Soundboard Master

Soundboard > Edirol UA-5 (Oade Digimod) > digital coaxial > M-Audio Microtrack > 16bit 44.1 wav > Soundforge (level adjustments, set fades) > CD Wave (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by
nyctaper
2008-05-11

Setlist:
[Total Time 46:06]
01 Patience for Books
02 Red Devil
03 Vampires
04 Montreal
05 This Savage City
06 Of Vegas and Vanity
07 True Believers All
08 All Your Famous Friends
09 Song for the Winter Sun
10 New Blood for Old Hearts

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Loom, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase the new EP when it is released.

[photo credit]

On some level, it has to be quite disconcerting to play a room the size of Maxwell’s and have literally every single person in the room singing along with every classic song. At Maxwell’s Tuesday night, Chris Difford seemed relaxed and slightly amused at the fan participation, and indeed borrowed the crowd to help him through some of the harder Squeeze vocals normally assigned to Glen Tilbrook’s tenor. Difford’s new album The Last Temptation of Chris features several strong numbers that were performed, including the poignant “Battersea Boys”, but the intimate setting was most powerful during the crowd’s many singalongs.

There is a story behind my permission to record this show. My initial email to Chris was during the Squeeze tour last year, and he wondered whether I meant taping “like the deadhead way”. Later, when I explained the interactive and promotional aspects of the site, he was for the idea. So thanks to Mr. Difford and to the Maxwell’s crew. The recording is a fine mix of the very boisterous audience and the very well-mixed soundboard. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Chris Difford
2008-05-13
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 > 16bit 44.1kHz wav file > Soundforge (set fades, slight level boost, no EQ) > CD Wave 1.95 > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by
nyctaper
2008-05-14

Setlist:
[total time 1:06:04]
01 [introduction]
02 Slap and Tickle
03 Cool For Cats
04 Fat As A Fiddle
05 Battersea Boys
06 My Mother’s Handbag
07 Take Me I’m Yours
08 Lamas Fayre
09 Tempted
10 Cowboys are My Weakness
11 Never Coming Back
12 Slaughtered, Gutted and Heartbroken
13 Up The Junction
14 Is That Love?
15 Black Coffee in Bed
16 Goodbye Girl

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Chris Difford, visit his website, visit his MySpace page, and purchase The Last Temptation of Chris directly from the links at his website.

[photo credit]

British Sea Power are currently on tour in support of their excellent new release Do You Like Rock Music?. Last night’s show at Bowery Ballroom was a tight and straightforward set of primarily new material (9 of 15 songs), which while it lacked the classic BSP histrionics, more than compensated with outstanding performances. The band let loose on the final number — the traditional improvised Rock in A — and ended the show with a flood of feedback, sans encore.

We were pleased to learn that BSP management informed fans at both the Seattle and Chicago shows that the band was fine with tapers. We recorded this concert from the perfect location in this venue, which has perhaps the most outstanding sound system of any venue in NYC. The location was identical to our superb Richard Hawley recording, except that the volume of this set drowned out any crowd chatter and provides excellent clarity. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

British Sea Power
2008-05-10
Bowery Ballroom
New York, 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
2008-05-11

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:20:20]
01 [introduction]
02 Lights Out For Darker Skies
03 Atom
04 Remember Me
05 Down on the Ground
06 Leaving Here
07 A Trip Out
08 Canvey Island
09 Waving Flags
10 The Great Skua
11 Oh Larsen B
12 No Lucifer
13 True Adventures
14 The Spirit of St. Louis
15 Carrion
16 Rock in A (“Rokend” on written setlist)

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT British Sea Power, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their new release Do You Like Rock Music? directly from their website.

[photo credit]

Tall Firs opened the CD Release Party for Awesome Color on Friday night with a 35 minute set of their compelling self-described underground electric folk. The set drew primarily from their new release Too Old To Die Young on Ecstatic Peace records. The intelligent interweaving of the dual-guitars of Aaron Mullen and Dave Mies provides the melodic forefront, while Ryan Sawyer’s driving powerful drumming is the backbone of this superb trio.

Many thanks to Aaron for permission to record the set. Our equipment was set up in advance and this was recorded from the same position as the Awesome Color set. The quality is equally superb. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Tall Firs
2008-05-02
Glasslands Gallery
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 > 24bit 48kHz wav file > Soundforge (set fades, downsample) > CD Wave 1.95 > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-05-05

Setlist:
[total time 35:35]
01 Blue in the Dark
02 More to Come
03 Hairdo
04 Lookout
05 Pretender
06 Loveless
07 Slaughterhouse
08 Hippies

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Tall Firs, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their new release Too Old To Die Young directly from the Ecstatic Peace website.

[photocredit]

Antietam’s set opening for Big Dipper at Southpaw last Friday was similar to the last time I saw them live, opening for Pylon at the Mercury in November. The trio performed a strong 40 minute set of recent material with a strong emphasis on Tara Key’s incendiary guitar work, and Tim Harris’ thundering bass. We have very little memory of our first live experience of Antietam in ’88 or ’89 (probably at CBGB’s), but in the two decades since, they have worked with such artists as Eleventh Dream Day and Yo La Tengo, and have established an excellent catalog of material. The recent 2-CD set Opus Mixtum (Carrot Top Records) is perhaps their strongest release and is featured in 9 of the 11 tracks of this recording.

We were fortunate to speak briefly with Tara at the end of their set regarding this recording. Thanks for her permission. This recording was captured from the identical location as Big Dipper, and we are very pleased with the quality. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Antietam
2008-04-25
Southpaw
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Dead Center
Front of Board — Front Railing at 30 Feet

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]
2008-05-04

Setlist:
[total time 40:51]
01 RPM
02 Time Creeps
03 Shipshape
04 Pennants and Flags
05 Turn It On Me
06 That’s the Way It Is
07 Needle and The Eye
08 1-2-1
09 Stowaway
10 The Moor
11 Orange Song

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Antietam, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase the new release Opus Mixtum directly from the Carrot Top Records website.

[photo credit]

As regular readers are aware, Glasslands is one of my favorite music venues in NYC. Last night, one of the “family bands”, Awesome Color, hosted a CD Release party for their new album on Ecstatic Peace Records Electric Aborigines. Awesome Color’s sophomore release follows the band’s evolution from buzz-saw garage guitar rave-ups to psychedelic crunch noise. The premiere track “Eyes of Light” begins with a burst of guitar feedback and drum cacophony that quickly develops into a focused and intense song exhibiting positive influences of guitar luminaries from Husker Du to Black Mountain.

The live Awesome Color experience is quite another story. Last night, the “party” aspect of the show was taken literally, as the band hosted quite a number of friend and fan participation numbers — the vocal microphone passed around like a peace pipe. The one-hour set featured some straight-forward performances of tracks from the new album, and several older numbers with “guests”. However, despite the craziness, Awesome Color kept their musical performances and show together — all delivered with a good natured smile.

We were lucky to have chatted with band leader Derek on several prior visits to Glasslands, and when this CD Release Party was announced, he was kind enough to offer us guest list and early access to record the show. We solved the past problem of the placement of microphone stand picking up too much crowd and bar noise. Prior to the crowd arrival, we mounted the Neumann’s to the balcony railing with the microphones literally pointed face-level at the PA stacks from about 15 feet away. Again we mixed the board feed with the audience capture for a “matrix” recording, which reflects the positive aspects of both. The only “flaw” in this recording is some peak volume bursts during some of the “guest” vocals. Overall this is an accurate representation of this frolicking show. Enjoy!

Tall Firs were also recorded and will be featured in the coming days.

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Awesome Color
2008-05-02
Glasslands Gallery
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 > 24bit 48kHz wav file > Soundforge (set fades, downsample) > CD Wave 1.95 > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Many thanks Derek for permission and access.

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-05-03

Setlist:
[total time 1:03:42]
01  Flying
02  Already Down
03  Eyes of Light
04
05  Slaughterhouse
06  Hat Energy
07  Ridin’
08  Burning
09  It’s Your Time
10  Free Man
11  Shoegazer
12  Grown
13  The Moon

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Awesome Color, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their new release Electric Aborigines directly from the Ecstatic Peace website.

Was (Not Was) returned to NYC last night after an 18 year hiatus, during which time Don Was (Don Fagenson) became a prolific grammy-winning producer and award winning film/music director, while the other band members enjoyed similarly good fortune. Re-uniting for a tour in support of the new Was (Not Was) album Boo!, the touring band consists of original members the Was “brothers” Don and David, guitarist Randy Jacobs, keyboardist Jamie Muhoberac, and the three lead singers Sweet Pea Atkinson, Sir Harry Bowens, and Donald Ray Mitchell, along with a touring drummer and saxophonist.

Despite the break, Was (Not Was) performed a tight set of career-long material, including a terrific extended version of “Walk the Dinosaur” with excellent work by Randy, and the 4-song 80s-dance medley that culminated in the classic “Out Come the Freaks”. Sweet Pea was in excellent voice, and Sir Harry danced and shimmied throughout the set. Although we would have preferred David’s sardonic “Earth to Doris”, we settled for the less surreal although equally Waits-like “I Feel Better Than James Brown”.

We were pleased to read of Was (Not Was) taping policy in the weeks leading up to this show. We recorded from the “sweet spot” again at this venue — center floor about 30 feet back. The instrumental mix was excellent and the room features outstanding sound. We are pleased with the representation of this excellent band. Enjoy!

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

Was (Not Was)
2008-05-01
Blender Theatre at Gramercy
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Audience Recording
Recorded from Center of Floor
30 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

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper
2008-05-02

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:18:30]
01 Hello Operator
02 Papa Was a Rolling Stone
03 I Blew Up the United States
04 Sunshine Superfly
05 I Blew Up the United States
06 [band introductions]
07 Where Did Your Heart Go
08 Your Luck Won’t Last
09 From the Head to the Heart
10 Semi Interesting Week
11 [band introductions]
12 Walk the Dinosaur
13 I Feel Better Than James Brown
14 Tell Me That I’m Dreaming
15 Robot Girl
16 Wheel Me Out
17 Out Come the Freaks
18 Crazy Water
19 11 MPH
20 Knocked Down Made Small

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Was (Not Was), visit their website, and purchase their new release Boo! from their website.

[photo credit]

The Fiery Furnaces threw another curveball at Southpaw last night. The touring band has changed, the arrangements for the Widow City material have changed, and some fairly obscure older songs have returned to the repertoire. All of these new developments are welcome adjustments to Furnaces live act — as they continue to offer interesting and fresh approaches to their recorded material. Jason Lowenstein, who played guitar on the Bitter Tea tour and bass on the Widow City tour has been replaced by Kyle Hollingsworth — the multi-talented keyboardist of the now-defunct jamband String Cheese Incident. The move to a two-keyboard approach added interesting prog-like elements to the material, and opened a slot for Eleanor to return to guitar — an instrument that she has not played live in several years.

Although the multiple format and arrangement changes offer a challenge to the listener, upon listening back to this recording each makes abundant sense. Eleanor is clearly proficient at guitar and the many effects of Matt and Kyle add dimensions to these songs that we have not heard before. The result was a 90 minute set of intelligent and uniquely satisfying Fiery Furnaces live material.

This recording was captured from the identical location and equipment as the previous night’s Big Dipper set. The quality is superb. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Fiery Furnaces
2008-04-26
Southpaw
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Dead Center
Front of Board — Front Railing at 30 Feet

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]
2008-04-27

Setlist:
[total time 1:25:27]
01 Single Again
02 Smelling Cigarettes
03 My Dog Was Lost But Now He’s Found
04 Whistle Rhapsody
05 Evergreen
06 Duplexes of the Dead
07 Automatic Husband
08 Ex-Guru
09 Navy Nurse
10 Pricked in the Heart
11 Up in the North
12 Straight Street
13 Japanese Slippers
14 Benton Harbor Blues
15 Philadelphia Grand Jury
16 Clear Signal From Cairo
17 Police Sweater Blood Vow**
18 South Is Only a Home
19 Oh Sweet Woods
20 Slavin’ Away
21 Chief Inspector Blancheflower
22 Rub-Alcohol Blues
23 In My Little Thatched Hut
24 I’m In No Mood to Comb My Hair
25 Teach Me Sweetheart
26 In My Little Thatched Hut
27 [encore break]
28 Right By Conquest

**Matt on vocals and Eleanor on drums, only one verse

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Fiery Furnaces, visit their website, and purchase their official releases from The Fiery Furnaces Store.