nyctaper Recordings

[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
nyctaper@nyctaper.com
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
nyctaper@nyctaper.com
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.

[photo credit]

It should always be so easy to wipe out 20 years in a single night. On our way to see Big Dipper at Southpaw in Brooklyn, we read the 20th Anniversary issue of New York Press on the subway, and then entered the club to see an Homestead reunion of sorts, as Great Plains and Antietam performed strong solid sets. When Big Dipper took the stage, the band dispelled any doubts or fears of rust as they ripped through a 90-minute 21-song set that covered their entirely too-brief career.

Merge Records decision to compile the recorded output of this all-but-forgotten great late 80’s post-punk pop band is one of those record company decisions that makes you shake your head at its sheer brilliance. Merge was also responsible for prodding the band to reform for these concerts, and based upon the stunning success and clear musical inspiration exhibited last night, Big Dipper may become the 2008 version of Dinosaur Jr. or Mission of Burma, 80’s reunions turned-working-bands.

Merge Records is also primarily responsible for the existence of this recording. With their forward-looking and web-friendly approach, Merge representatives were extremely courteous to nyctaper, secured permission from the band, and gave us list access. As a result, we arrived early at the venue and set up in the ideal location at Southpaw — in the dead center of the rail area with a 30 foot direct line to the PA and above the crowd. This recording reflects that excellent position, and we are proud of its superior quality. Enjoy!

Antietam was also recorded and will be posted on nyctaper in the near future.

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Big Dipper
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
nyctaper@nyctaper.com
2008-04-26

Setlist:
[total time 1:25:53]
01 Guitar Named Desire
02 Faith Healer
03 Hey! Mr. Lincoln
04 She’s Fetching
05 Easter Eve
06 Lou Gehrig’s Disease
07 San Quentin, CA
08 Meet the Witch
09 Life Inside the Cemetery
10 Lunar Module
11 Bonnie
12 All Going Out Together
13 Making Plans For Bison
14 Bells of Love
15 What in Sam Hill…?
16 The Beast
17 Younger Bums
18 Ron Klaus Wrecked His House
19 Mr. Woods
20 [encore break]
21 Edith
22 A Song to Be Beautiful

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Big Dipper, visit their MySpace page, and purchase the Supercluster Anthology directly from Merge Records (which also offers FLAC downloads).

[photo credit]

mum was well served by the change of venue to Brooklyn on Wednesday night. The loose and festive atmosphere of the Masonic Temple gave the set a playful feel.  Orvar in particular was having quite a bit of fun with the banter and indeed at one point broke out into a goofy verse of Kiss’ “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” at the end of the set. The setlist contained a few changes from Tuesday’s show and the show was 10 minutes longer. In particular, the beautiful version of “Ghosts You Draw On My Back” was breathtaking in its poignant simplicity.

I took a different approach to recording this concert than the Tuesday night outing. Since the “sweet spot” at 30 feet back dead center is inaccessible as its right in the middle of the aisle for seating at Masonic Temple, I decided to get right up front at the PA speakers. This recording was captured from the 4th row, only a few feet from the large right side speakers. The result is a very clear recording, which was perhaps a bit bass and drum heavy — imperfections that were remedied in post-production with a little gentle EQ. The final product is quite excellent. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

mum
2008-04-22
Brooklyn Masonic Temple
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Audience Recording
Recorded from 4th Row
15 Feet from Right PA Stack

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

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper
2008-04-24

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:30:26]
01 I Was Her Horse
02 Moon Pulls
03 Oh, How the Boat Drifts
04 Winter (What We Never Were After All)
05 Sit Down
06 Guilty Rocks
07 Marmalade Fires
08 Blessed Brambles
09 A Little Bit, Sometimes
10 I’m 9 Today
11 Kostrzyn
12 These Eyes are Berries
13 Dancing Behind My Eyelids
14 They Made Frogs Smoke ‘Til They Exploded
15 [encore break]
16 The Ghosts You Draw On My Back
17 We Have a Map of the Piano

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT mum, visit their website, and purchase their official releases at the mum store.

mum returned to NYC last night for the first of two local shows. At the shows last November, it was clear that the “new” lineup had improved since their Icelandic debut at the Sugarcubes reunion. On Tuesday, the band proved that it has truly matured into a superb coordinated musical unit. The new members were more confident and quite comfortable on stage, and while the setlist was quite similar to the November performances, the execution was just simply stronger and more focused.

This recording was captured from the “sweet spot” of the Gramercy Theatre — a venue with an excellent sound system. Additionally, the house sound was mixed quite well so that all the multiple and unique instrumental arrangements were audible. We’re extremely pleased with the quality of this recording. Enjoy!

This recording will be the first to be offered on this site in two formats. 256kb MP3s are available as a direct download below (in a zip folder), as well as FLAC files.

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

mum
2008-04-22
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, modify close clapping, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries)> flac

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper
2008-04-23

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:22:06]
01 Winter (What We Never Were After All)
02 Moon Pulls
03 Oh, How the Boat Drifts
04 Sit Down
05 Marmalade Fires
06 We Have a Map of the Piano
07 Guilty Rocks
08 Blessed Brambles
09 A Little Bit, Sometimes
10 Kostrzyn
11 These Eyes are Berries
12 Dancing Behind My Eyelids
13 They Made Frogs Smoke ‘Til They Exploded
14 [encore break]
15 Smell Memory

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT mum, visit their website, and purchase their official releases at the mum store.

[photo credit]

Hot Buttered Rum are a 5-piece bluegrass (“newgrass”) band from the SF-Bay Area. They performed a 75-minute opening set for Tea Leaf Green at Highline Ballroom on Friday night. An opening set of such length could be seen as indulgent with some bands, but with Hot Buttered Rum the set was well-conceived, expertly performed and ultimately received full crowd support. The five musicians in this group are superb multi-talented craftsman whose approach to bluegrass is both faithful to the genre and also offers a new approach to traditional Americana music.

We were given the taper guest list spot for this show by Hot Buttered Rum, and offer our sincere gratitude to the band and Josh. We set up in the perfect location, clamped to the railing of the upper area (about 10 feet above the soundboard booth) at dead center. This location sits directly in between the main PA speakers and the auxiliary PA for the upper seating area. We arranged the microphones at 110 degrees, which captured output from all four speakers and gives this recording almost a “surround” feel. Please enjoy this excellent recording of an outstanding performance!

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.

This recording is available on the Internet Archive (here)

Hot Buttered Rum
2008-04-18
Highline Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Dead Center
Balcony Railing

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
nyctaper@nyctaper.com
2008-04-19

Setlist:
[total time 1:17:48]
01 Busted In Utah
02 Lighten Up Your Load
03 Firefly
04 Golden Days
05 Song In A Can
06 Beneath The Blossoms
07 Evolution > Molly Put The Kettle On > Evolution
08 Desert Rat
09 Angeline The Baker > Cindy
10 Queen Elizabeth
11 Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right (Dylan)
12 Summertime Gal

**Tracks 11 and 12 with Trevor Garrod from
Tea Leaf Green on keyboards/vocals

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).

[photo credit]

On Friday night, Marco Benevento led a cross-genre and cross-generational all-star quartet through two hours of thoroughly entrancing jazz improvisation. As downtown art-jazz drummer extraordinaire Bobby Previte provided the stop and start beats and Briggan Krauss squonked and bleated the alto sax, multi-keyboardist Marco and Curtis Fowlkes provided thematic structure and a plethora of melodic flourishes. The result was a breathtaking display of superb jazz excellence.

This recording was made from the exact same location at Marco Benevento’s final night of his January residency at Sullivan Hall. The sound quality is quite excellent, marred only by several points where the quiet music is disturbed by a handful of loud chattering audience members who carried on extensive conversations seemingly oblivious to the jazz brilliance unfolding in front of them. Ultimately each instrument was mixed to perfection, and the recording breathes life into this outstanding performance. Enjoy!

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

Marco Benevento
2008-04-11
Sullivan Hall
New York NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Upfront Table Area
15 Feet from Left PA Stack

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

Band:
Marco Benevento: piano, keyboards, effects
Bobby Previte: Drums
Briggan Krauss: alto sax
Curtis Fowlkes: trombone
[on last track:]
Sam Kininger: sax
Nikki Glaspie: drums

Recorded and Produced
nyctaper
nyctaper@nyctaper.com

Set 1
[total time 56:53]
01 Improvisation

Set 2
[total time 1:14:54]
01 Improvisation
02 Big Whopper

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Marco Benevento and visit his website, where you can purchase his new CD Invisible Baby and purchase all of his official releases (here).