[Photo by CharlieTakesPhotos.  See his Flickr stream here]

Los Angeles-based Fol Chen made a perfect opening act for Liars at this packed Sunday night show back in April at Music Hall of Williamsburg.  Though Liars’ style may be a bit heavier, both bands play music that treads outside the boundaries of normal song structure and typical rock style (if such a thing exists these days anyway).  Little that the band does is obvious, with a theatrical, beat-driven sound that isn’t easily categorized. The set kicked off with the catchy and hypnotic “Red Skies Over Garden City”, my favorite from the band’s debut, John Shade, Your Fortune’s Made.  From there, the band played a few songs from their latest record (released this week), Part II: The New December, as well as the unreleased and never-recorded “The Nudibranch Paradox.”  Live, the band’s sound has a much sparer, more rock feel that emphasizes the live drums and the vocal harmonies.  Although it is a departure from their records to an extent, it is a welcome change, showing that the songs can stand on their own without studio wizardry.  We are releasing this recording at this somewhat delayed date at Fol Chen’s request, as they did not want our live recording to “preview” their new songs until they were officially released.  Now that their new record is out, please check out Part II: The New December and find out more about this excellent band.

I recorded this set from our usual spot in the venue.  Other than a few chatterers here and there, the sound is excellent. Thanks to Fol Chen for releasing the recording, and for their help with tracking and song titles.  Enjoy!

Please note that as the Liars performance was being recorded for a live album that will feature the entire April 18th performance.  Therefore, although it was recorded, NYCTaper will not be releasing this recording.  The live album will be worth the wait once released!

Stream “The Nudibranch Paradox”:
[audio:http://www.nyctaper.com/F8140FolChen1020/folchen-nudibranchparadox.mp3]

Stream “Red Skies Over Garden City”:
[audio:http://www.nyctaper.com/F8140FolChen1020/folchen-redskies.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Fol Chen
2010-04-18
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY  USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Equipment: DPA 4021>Naiant littlebox>Sony PCM-M10 (24/44.1)
Position: Clamp to left of sound booth, 11? up, DIN
Mastering: 24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (set fades, EQ, tracking, amplify and balance channels, downsample)>FLAC Level 8

Tracks
01 Red Skies Over Garden City [fades in]
02 Winter, That’s All
03 The Nudibranch Paradox
04 They Came To Me
05 [banter]
06 Men, Beasts or Houses (Parts I and II)
07 Please John, You’re Killing Me
08 Cable TV
09 Ruins (Dawn Patrol Mix)
10 This Is Where the Road Belongs
11 The Holograms

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Fol Chen, visit their website, and purchase Part II: The New December and their other records from Asthmatic Kitty here.

[Photos courtesy of Stephanie Keith]

The Heartless Bastards are one of those acts that are flat-out solid.  With a heavy dose of Midwestern charm (they’re from Cincinnati) and bluesy rock riffs, this is a band that can be counted on, show after show, to give a memorable performance.  Vocalist Erika Wennerstrom’s cigarettes-and-whiskey voice has never sounded better, and this surprisingly boozed up Wednesday night Music Hall of Williamsburg crowd knew it, too, whooping their appreciation for the full 90+ minutes of their set.  This newish lineup (as of 2008) rocks like a bar band made good, but they also have considerable chops.  The Bastards also joined with opening act Peter Wolf Crier (also recorded; coming soon) for a special rendition of “Be So Happy”.  Another highlight was “All This Time”, featuring an extended intro from drummer Dave Colvin.

At the request of the Music Hall staff, Johnny Fried Chicken Boy and I moved our gear to the balcony.  The sound up there tends to have more sound reflection than the floor, but with some further editing to reduce that characteristic, this recording using a four mic combination of Schoeps hypercardiods and the DPA 4021s is of excellent quality (and the crowd is much quieter, too!).

Stream “All This Time”:
[audio:http://www.nyctaper.com/H6602HB9922/HeartlessBastards-AllThisTime.mp3]

Stream “Be So Happy” with Peter Wolf Crier:
[audio:http://www.nyctaper.com/H6602HB9922/HeartlessBastards-BeSoHappy.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Heartless Bastards
2010-07-14
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY  USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Equipment: Schoeps CMC641+DPA 4021>Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) (24/44.1)
Position: Balcony clamp, DFC, DPAs X/Y, Schoeps pointed down at stacks
Mastering: 2×24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, set fades, EQ (trim bass frequencies/room resonances, slight bump at 10kHz), amplify and balance channels, compression on a couple of peaks)>FLAC Level 8

Tracks [Total Time 1:36:54]
01 Into the Open
02 Done Got Old
03 Out at Sea
04 Onions
05 Witchy Poo
06 [banter]
07 Blue Day
08 I Swallowed A Dragon Fly
09 [banter]
10 So Quiet
11 Had To Go
12 All This Time
13 The Mountain
14 Sway
15 Hold Your Head High
16 Swamp Song
17 Nothing Seems the Same
18 Early In the Morning
19 [encore break]
20 Be So Happy (with Peter Wolf Crier)
21 Gray
22 Runnin

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Heartless Bastards, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their official releases and merch from the store at their website [HERE].

[photo courtesy of Ryan Muir]

For Diamond Rings, its only a matter of time. The deadly combination of talent, charisma, catchy songs, and friends in the right places virtually guarantees that by the next time he plays NYC, John O will be riding the buzz wave. Last night at Monster Island, a smallish but enthusiastic crowd saw Diamond Rings brief opening set that included several new songs from his anticipated full-length (September release) and three songs from a series of 12″ releases on One Big Silence Records. The quirky dance number “Show Me Your Stuff” does not in fact show the world all that Diamond Rings has to deliver. John O plays some mean guitar and the track streaming below (“All Yr Songs”) is a better indication of his talents.

We recorded this set with the Neumann microphones attached to the pole set feet from the stage and mixed the room mics with a soundboard feed. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Stream “All Yr Songs”:
[audio:http://www.nyctaper.com/D1807DiamondRings2211/12%20DiamondRings2010-07-18_nyctaper_t12.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Diamond Rings
2010-07-18
Monster Island Basement
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Neumann KM-150s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2x 16bit 44.1kHz wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2010-07-19

Setlist:
[Total Time 33:30]
01 Play By Heart
02 [new song – All I Know?]
03 [banter]
04 Wait & See
05 [banter]
06 [new song]
07 [banter]
08 You and Me
09 [banter]
10 Show Me Your Stuff
11 [banter]
12 All Yr Songs

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Diamond Rings, visit the website, visit the MySpace page, and purchase his debut EP from the One Big Silence website [HERE].

[Photos courtesy of Jessica Amaya and BrooklynVegan]

With but one (excellent) record to their name, Memory Tapes have risen fast, thanks in part to Pitchfork’s love for their debut, but in larger part thanks to their unique, synth-driven sound and a surprisingly rocking live show.  The band had the honor of headlining BrooklynVegan’s showcase for the 2010 Northside Festival at Music Hall of Williamsburg, and they delivered with a free-flowing set backed by a killer light show.  Despite being a two-man act, frontman Dayve Hawk and drummer Matt Maraldo proved able to throw down for the Saturday night crowd.  As with their last show that we recorded back in February, the band drew out the length of several numbers with extended instrumental play.

I recorded this set from the same location as the Twin Sister recording and the sound is excellent.  Enjoy!

Stream the entire show:
[audio:http://www.nyctaper.com/M0302Memory2101/mt2010-06-26mhow_acidjack.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE).

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Memory Tapes
2010-06-26
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY  USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Equipment: Schoeps CMC641+DPA 4021>Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) (24/44.1)
Position: Clamp to left side of sound booth, mics at 8ft, DPAs ORTF, hypers DIN
Mastering: 2×24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, set fades, tracking, EQ, amplify and balance channels, downsample to 16bit)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Bicycle
02 [unknown]
03 Graphics
04 Plain Material
05 Green Knight
06 Stop Talking>Bicycle
07 [unknown]
08 [unknown]

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Memory Tapes, visit the MySpace page, visit Dayve’s blog, and purchase Seek Magic directly from the Acephale Records website (here) or Rough Trade (here).

[photo by nyctaper]

The Backyard Brunch Sessions were moved indoors for the weather last weekend, but the developing themes for the series remained. This past Saturday again featured two bands that had never played a live acoustic session before, and also featured immense talent that was breathtaking to behold up close. The Courtesy Tier is a duo whose standard live show features Omer Leibovitz’s intense bluesy guitar and the aggressive drum work of Layton Weedeman. Saturday’s acoustic set was worlds apart — as Omer played a nylon string classical style guitar and Layton beat a bongo and mini-maraca — but the duo’s talents made it seem as if it was their normal set-up. At just three songs, the show was more a teaser, but certainly bodes well for the flexibility and dynamics of this up and coming and growing band. The Courtesy Tier play this weekend (Saturday July 17) at Rockwood Music Hall, and then next Saturday (July 24) return to Spike Hill.

We recorded this set with four microphones placed strategically around the duo and the sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Stream “Friend”:
[audio:http://www.nyctaper.com/C1070CourtesyTier2211/2%20CourtesyTier2010-07-10_nyctaper_t02.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Courtesy Tier
2010-07-10
Private Backyard Brunch
Brooklyn, NY USA

Four-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Onstage

Neumann KM-150s + DPA 4021’s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2 x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper
2010-07-14

Setlist:
[Total Time 14:10]
01 [introduction]
02 Friend
03 [banter]
04 Calling Out
05 Cold

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Courtesy Tier, visit their website, and purchase their debut EP Map and a Marker from the links at the Music Section of their website [HERE].