Alabama Shakes: April 11, 2012 Bowery Ballroom – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

April 17, 2012
By


[Photo courtesy of Eric Groom.  See more of his excellent work HERE.]

Alabama Shakes recent rise in popularity can be described as nothing short of meteoric.  Less than a year ago, they were virtually unknown outside of a handful of bars in the southeastern United States.  Getting a push via the internet, word of mouth and their Alabama brethren, Drive-By Truckers, the group began to blow up, playing gigs with DBT and flooring attendees at their NYC debut this past October as part of the CMJ Music Marathon.  After a follow up at the intimate Mercury Lounge in December, Alabama Shakes blitzed our city again with sold out, back-to-back shows at the Studio at Webster Hall, Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall of Williamsburg to coincide with the release of their first full-length album, ‘Boys & Girls‘.

The band took the stage of Bowery Ballroom to an exuberant crowd that was practically humming with anticipation.  And frontwoman Brittany Howard, bassist Zac Cockrell, guitarist Heath Fogg, drummer Steve Johnson, and keyboardist Ben Tanner brought their A-game.  With their blistering mix of soul, R&B and good old fashioned, kick-ass rock ‘n’ roll, the house was treated to a nearly non-stop set that left us smiling and wishing there were more songs for them to play.  On their current trajectory, I suspect that Alabama Shakes won’t be playing small venues for too much longer.  Definitely check them out when you can.

At the great sounding Bowery Ballroom, Alabama Shakes engineer Shane and house engineer Kenny had the sound perfectly dialed in on this night.  Set up in our usual balcony spot, we had a board feed to combine with our microphones and it has resulted in an excellent recording.  We hope you like what you hear as much as we did.  Enjoy!

Stream “Hang Loose”: [audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/A2210AlabamaShakes1410/Alabama_Shakes_-_Hang_Loose.mp3]

Stream “Boys & Girls”: [audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/A2210AlabamaShakes1410/Alabama_Shakes_-_Boys_and_Girls.mp3]

Download the MP3 / FLAC files and stream this entire show on the Live Music Archive [HERE]

Follow Johnny Fried Chicken Boy on Twitter.

Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense.  The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission.  Please respect our request.

Alabama Shakes
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY, USA

Source: SBD + Audio-Technica AT3031’s > Edirol R-44 (WAV @ 24-bit/48kHz)
Lineage: R-44 > PC > Adobe Audition (mixdown, downsample, dither, tracking) > WAV (16-bit/44.1kHz) > TLH (check/fix SBE’s, FLAC conversion) > FLAC ( level 8 )
Alabama Shakes’ sound engineer: Shane
Bowery Ballroom house engineer: Kenny
Recorded by: acidjack and Johnny Fried Chicken Boy
Produced by: Johnny Fried Chicken Boy

SETLIST:
[Total time: 1:06:00]
01. Goin’ to the Party
02. Hang Loose
03. Hold On
04. I Found You
05. Always Alright
06. Boys & Girls
07. Be Mine
08. Hurricane Strut
09. Mama
10. Making Me Itch
11. You Ain’t Alone
12. On Your Way
13. Rise to the Sun
14. Heavy Chevy
15. encore break
16. I Ain’t the Same
17. Heat Lightning

If you download this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Alabama Shakes, go see their shows, visit their website, visit their Facebook and MySpace pages, and purchase their album, ‘Boys & Girls’, and merchandise [HERE].

Yellow Ostrich: April 12, 2012 Mercury Lounge – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

April 16, 2012
By


[Photos by acidjack]

Yellow Ostrich was the first band I saw last year, at this same venue (Mercury Lounge). Back then, the band consisted of creative mastermind and frontman Alex Schaaf and drummer Michael Tapper, working hard to produce an on-stage re-recreation of the simple magic of the band’s then-current release, The Mistress. That record was one of those indie gems you might miss if you didn’t pay attention to the CMJ showcase circuit and the right blogs; it was a lo-fi, low-profile recording offered on Schaaf’s bandcamp page for free, and it was as simple and unadorned as a record could get. That sold-out show found Schaaf still finding his footing creatively and and as a performer; he was still a bit raw, but already compelling.

Much has changed since then.

The Mistress and its stellar reviews attracted wider notice, as good records tend to, and Schaaf signed to the Northwest imprint Barsuk Records, who obligingly remastered and re-released The Mistress, along with bankrolling the band’s new release of last month, Strange Land. Since that Mercury Lounge show last January, Schaaf has performed around the country in front of hundreds of audiences, and the band has added a critical third member, Jon Natchez, who has played with Beirut, Camera Obscura, Okkervil River, and The Antlers. What was once your favorite little indie bedroom project has grown into a full-fledged rock band with the songs to prove it.

This sold-out Mercury Lounge show was a valedictory one for the band, coming on the heels of a U.S. tour that took them to all corners of the country, not to mention its great middle (Wisconsin is where Schaaf calls home, and they have a serious following in flyover country). Not only are the standout tracks on Strange Land like “Marathon Runner” and “I Got No Time For You” already in top form, but older tracks like the quirky “WHALE” that first drew me to the band have been reworked with more layers of sound. Schaaf’s sweet, somewhat nasal voice and quirky songcraft have always recalled, for me, innovators like John Darnielle and Jeff Mangum. Schaaf, like Darnielle, has found a way to embrace a full-bodied, at-times-lush rock sound without losing the qualities of his music that make it unique. It’s appropriate, then, that he closed the set with one of the simplest and most plaintive tracks off of The Mistress, “Mary”. Even with all his new musical toys, Schaaf can be a pretty damn compelling performer without them.

I recorded this set in the same manner as I recorded Yellow Ostrich last year, with Schoeps MK41 microphones and a perfect soundboard feed from the Mercury Lounge head FOH. The sound quality, as with the last recording, is outstanding.  Enjoy!

Check out Yellow Ostrich on tour this summer with Los Campesinos! and at several festivals (including Lollapalooza).  Their next NYC dates are June 21 at Maxwell’s, June 22 at Le Poisson Rouge and June 23 at Brooklyn Bowl, each with Los Campesinos!  Thanks to the band for their support of NYCTaper.

Stream “Marathon Runner”
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/Y1400YellowOstrich2110/09 Marathon Runner.mp3]

Stream “Heaven [The Talking Heads]”
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/Y1400YellowOstrich2110/13 Heaven.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE] | Direct download of FLAC files [HERE]

Follow acidjack on twitter

Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense.  The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission. Please respect our request.

Yellow Ostrich
2012-04-12
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Soundboard + Schoeps MK41 (ROC, PAS, 8ft)>CMC6>Aerco MP-2>>Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Audacity (patch 25sec of one channel)>Adobe Audition CS 5.5(mixdown, EQ)>Audacity (set fades, tracking, amplify and balance, downsample)>FLAC Level 8

Tracks
01 WHALE
02 Up in the Mountains
03 I Got No Time For You
04 Hold On
05 Daughter
06 Campaign
07 Wear Suits
08 [banter]
09 Marathon Runner
10 Elephant King
11 The Shakedown
12 [encore break]
13 Heaven [Talking Heads]
14 Mary

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Yellow Ostrich, visit their website, see them on tour with Los Campesinos! and at the other festivals they’re playing this summer, and purchase Strange Land and The Mistress directly from Barsuk [HERE].

The War On Drugs: April 8, 2012 Bowery Ballroom – Flac and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

April 12, 2012
By


[photo by David Andrako]

Its hard to be objective when a band personally dedicates a song to you by name from the stage of Bowery Ballroom, but The War On Drugs show at Bowery was beyond the need for personal puffery. At an hour and forty minutes, and including in the setlist virtually everything the band has recorded, this War On Drugs set was epic. While David Hartley’s bass guitar has always been the backbone of the live band and his work on this night was superb, its hard to fathom the extent of the confidence and maturity that has Adam Granduciel now exhibits. Throughout the show, Adam’s delivery of each song was intense. While the band has reached a level of proficiency that often follows groups that tour extensively, the recent success seems to have propelled their energy to the next level. Opening with the double whammy of “Arms Like Boulders” and “Baby Missiles”, the momentum never let up. Slave Ambient was universally acknowledged as one of the best albums of 2011, and its prominence in the song selection was no surprise. But it was the development of the songs in the live setting that impressed — “Your Love / Animator / Come To the City” is now a twenty-plus minute segue, while “Best Night” (streaming below) is now charged up enough to be the next song that WOD plays on television. The show would not be complete without an inventive cover, and on this night it was from the Scottish indie troubadours The Waterboys, the classic “A Pagan Place” (also streaming below). The War On Drugs will be active on the Festival circuit this Spring and Summer, dates are here.

I recorded this set from our standard balcony location with the Sennheiser 8040s mixed with an outstanding board feed and the sound quality is superb. Enjoy!

Stream “Best Night”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/W1008WOD2101/09.%20Best%20Night.mp3]

Stream “A Pagan Place” (Waterboys cover):
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/W1008WOD2101/15.%20A%20Pagan%20Place%20%5bWaterboys%5d.mp3]

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

War On Drugs
2012-04-08
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Sennheiser 8040 Cardioids > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2 x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper 2012-04-11

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:39:35]
01 [introduction]
02 Arms Like Boulders
03 Baby Missiles
04 [banter – quit smoking]
05 Comin’ Through
06 Your Love Is Calling My Name
07 The Animator
08 Come To The City
09 Best Night
10 [banter – Doug Keith]
11 Brothers
12 Taking the Farm
13 I Was There
14 [banter – Mike Scott]
15 A Pagan Place [Waterboys]
16 The History of Plastic
17 [encore break]
18 Black Water Falls
19 [banter – brisket]
20 Buenos Aires Beach
21 Its Your Destiny

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The War On Drugs, visit their website,  and purchase their new album Slave Ambient from Secretly Canadian Records [HERE].

Caged Animals: March 30, 2012 Union Pool – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

April 11, 2012
By


[photos by Johnny Fried Chicken Boy]

We have been big fans of Vincent Cacchione’s music ever since I saw an incredible backyard performance by Vince’s other main project, Soft Black, back in 2010. While Soft Black continues to move forward with mastering a new record, Cacchione has delivered another record with Caged Animals. Where Soft Black is classic, organic rock n’ roll with a post-punk twist and a gloomy outlook, Caged Animals is a more au courant style of act, all heavy synths and reverbed vocals, taking cues from electronica and the “PBR&B” style of bands like The Weeknd. Perhaps it’s not surprising that Caged Animals were asked to put out their second record, Eat Their Own, on Lucky Number Music. It’s the type of project that needs to be on shelves, now.

The live version of Caged Animals, on excellent display at the Kevchino/NYCTaper-sponsored show at Union Pool on a Friday night, was a bit more organic affair than the band’s record, and I’ll admit that I’m cool with that.  Cacchione has a memorable voice, and it was a pleasure to hear it raw on songs like “Lips That Turn the Light to Fire”, one of the more Soft Black-ish songs from Caged Animals. Newer-style songs like “The NJ Turnpike” and “Instant <3 Breaker” also worked well, though.  Another of my personal favorite Cacchione songs (not played on this night) is Caged Animals’ “Teflon Heart”. This particular set ended abruptly thanks to Union Pool’s curfew, but the band still had enough time for a rocking closer, “Pink People”, from their self-titled debut.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK22 open-cardioid microphones and a nicely balanced soundboard feed from the Union Pool staff.  The quality is superb.  Enjoy!

Stream “Lips That Turn the Light To Fire”
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/C3030CagedAnimals0212/07 Lips That Turn the Light to Fire.mp3]

Stream “The NJ Turnpike”
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/C3030CagedAnimals0212/02 The NJ Turnpike.mp3]

Direct download of the MP3 files [HERE] | Direct Download of the FLAC files [HERE]

Follow acidjack on twitter

Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense.  The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission.  Please respect our request.

Caged Animals
2012-03-30
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Schoeps MK22 (STC 22g, DFC, at SBD)>KCY>Z-PFA>Sound Devices USBPre2 + Soundboard >> Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod]>Audacity 2.0 (mixdown, downsample, set fades, adjust levels, light EQ, tracking)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Instant <3 Breaker
02 The NJ Turnpike
03 Eat Your Own
04 Teenagers In Heat
05 All the Beautiful Things in the World
06 Sun Blind
07 Lips That Turn the Light To Fire
08 Pink People

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Caged Animals, visit their Facebook page, and purchase their records from Lucky Number Music [HERE]

Heartless Bastards: March 17, 2012 SXSW at Hotel Vegan Austin TX – Flac and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

April 9, 2012
By


[photo courtesy of Amanda Hatfield]

We are all big fans of Heartless Bastards over here at nyctaper, as well we’re quite fond of Partisan Records. When the two got together earlier this year and released HB’s strongest record to date, Arrow, acidjack and John got to celebrate with the band at their sold out Webster Hall show in February. That triumphant 90+ minute show was a watershed moment of sorts, but it was not too long before we were able to catch them again. This time it was the packed bill of Hotel Vegan’s final day. Playing after Lucero and before Diamond Rugs (coming soon), Heartless Bastards delivered a powerful forty-minute set that began with a stunning version of epic song of the year candidate “Down In The Canyon”, and never let up. The new songs were primarily featured, but we’re streaming an HB classic “Nothing Seems the Same” which ended the show on a high note.

I recorded this set in the same manner as the Lucero set with the Sennheiser cards mixed with a board feed, and the sound quality is excellent despite the many distractions the setting contained. Enjoy!

Stream “Nothing Seems the Same”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/H6602HB9922/07.%20Nothing%20Seems%20the%20Same.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense. The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission. Please respect our request.

Heartless Bastards
2012-03-17
Hotel Vegan – SXSW
Austin, TX USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Sennheiser MKH-8040 Cardioids > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2 x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper 2012-04-06

Setlist:
[Total Time 37:50]
01 Down In The Canyon
02 Late In The Night
03 Parted Ways
04 Got To Have Rock And Roll
05 Simple Feeling
06 Hold Your Head High
07 Nothing Seems the Same

If you download this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Heartless Bastards, visit their website, and purchase Arrow from Partisan Records [HERE]

Natureboy: March 30, 2012 Union Pool – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

April 4, 2012
By


[Photos by acidjack and Johnny Fried Chicken Boy]

Natureboy ranks high among bands that we have been pulling for on this site.  While we have hosted shows that featured the band before, we were thrilled to have the chance to co-sponsor this show at Union Pool with Kevchino.  We are pleased to report that the band we saw was more mature and even sharper musically than before.  Since we last saw the band, they have added a drummer and keyboardist to give their Dylan-inspired folk-rock sound more muscle and rock n’ roll presence.  Founder and frontwoman Sara Kermanshahi and the band have recorded a new, as-yet-untitled release at fellow bandmember Cedar Apffel’s studio, and they served up a generous portion of that record with this set, including a favorite we had seen before and craved seeing again, “A Flame”.  The band’s newly-found live energy was palpable, and the five players easily filled the room with sound as Sara’s voice remained, as it should be, the centerpiece.

Natureboy is exploring options for the release of this new record, and we expect a label to snap this up before they miss the chance. As they closed this set with the Smiths’ “Back to the Old House” – one of many great covers we have heard from them – it was evident how Kermanshahi’s unique singing style and vision is a perfect compliment to the band’s now-classic sound.

I recorded this set with an excellent soundboard feed from the Union Pool FOH, plus Schoeps MK22 open cardiod mics.  The results are excellent.  Enjoy!

Thanks to Union Pool for their hospitality and to Kevchino for co-hosting the show and developing this great bill. 

Stream “Head to Toe”
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/N1107Natureboy2299/08 Head to Toe.mp3]

Stream “Back to the Old House”
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/N1107Natureboy2299/12 Back to the Old House.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE] | Direct Download of the FLAC files [HERE]

Follow acidjack on twitter

Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense.  The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission.  Please respect our request.

Natureboy
2012-03-30
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Schoeps MK22 (ORTF, DFC, at SBD)>KCY>PFA>Sound Devices USBPre2 + Soundboard >> Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod]>Audacity (mixdown, downsample, set fades, adjust levels, light EQ, tracking)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Pariah
02 A Flame
03 [tuning]
04 Lexies
05 [banter/tuning]
06 Blow To the Head
07 Don’t Worry
08 Head to Toe
09 Sight to See
10 Heart to Fool
11 [encore break]
12 Back to the Old House [The Smiths]

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Natureboy, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their debut album from Bleek Records [HERE]

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