High Places to Play Last Minute Show – Death By Audio Tonight!

September 14, 2008
By


High Places at East Village Radio Fest [photo courtesy of Jonny Leather]

High Places is going on tour for the next month or so, throughout the Midwest and West coast. Tour dates are on their MySpace page. As a tour send-off, ToddP and entertainment4every1.net have put together a special show at Death By Audio tonight with High Places.

Here are the details from Todd’s page:

====> SUNDAY 9/14 @ DEATH BY AUDIO <====

|| HIGH PLACES
|||| Soft Circle
|||||| Matteah Baim ——-> mem Metallic Falcons

[ DEATH BY AUDIO ]
49 S 2nd St btwn Wythe & Kent | Williamsburg, Brooklyn
L-Bedford, JM-Marcy, G-Metropolitan | 8pm | $tba | ALL AGES
— MYSPACE –> http://myspace.com/deathbyaudioshows

John Oliver September 7, 2008 East Village Radio Fest – Flac and MP3 Downloads

September 13, 2008
By


[photo courtesy of The Fleece]

Until recently, we were only familiar with John Oliver’s insanely funny comedy from his regular appearances on The Daily Show. In May, when we recorded the Mountain Goats at the Masonic Temple, John Oliver was the act that immediately preceded John Darnielle. As we set up to record about 10 feet from the stage, John Oliver made a not-disapproving reference to the fact that there would be recording of his set — unfortunately, we did not record his hilarious set as we were just connecting and testing the equipment at the time. Given a second chance, at the East Village Radio Fest last Sunday, we took the opportunity to record John’s brief set. Some of the material was the same as the Masonic performance, but John added new political material and some references to the Seaport location.

We recorded from the same location as the other three acts of this set. There is very little wind noise and John’s voice is clear. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

John Oliver
2008-09-07
East Village Radio Festival
South Street Seaport
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Inside Front of Soundboard Tent
Approximately 50 Feet from Stage

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
2008-09-13

Setlist:
[Total time 15:38]
01 [comedy routine]

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT John Oliver, visit his website, visit his MySpace page, and purchase John’s DVD Terrifying Times (not a compensated amazon link-through).

nyctaper Interview: John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats

September 11, 2008
By


[photo credit]

John Darnielle discusses the new Mountain Goats EP Satanic Messiah, live versus studio recordings, flac, DIY releases, and alternative forms of music distribution.

When nyctaper recorded the Mountain Goats in Brooklyn in May, it was a solo John Darnielle concert that featured a large assortment of older and rarer numbers, and one absolutely new debut performance. When a conscientious fan in the Mountain Goats forum suggested that John might not appreciate nyctaper circulating the new song “Wizard Buys a Hat”, John disagreed. In the nyctaper interview with John Darnielle posted in its entirety below, we now understand John’s position.

As the Mountain Goats prepare to offer Satanic Messiah, an EP to be released in a pay-as-you-please method through alternative distribution channels, John discusses the freedom to do “DIY” a release, along with the accompanying uncertainty.

nyctaper: I see that “Wizard Buys a Hat” is to be one of the songs on the new EP, is this the same arrangement as the version at Masonic Temple?

John Darnielle: No, not at all, the recorded version of “Wizard Buys A Hat” is actually very quiet – it kinda starts quiet and then gets super-quiet. It has a sort of Dario Argento build-up-scene feel. Guitar, vocals, a drum, some organ. To me it rules over the “I am nervous so I guess I’ll yell real loud version” but that’s just me. I go through a lot of internal drama about playing new songs live, because people like it when I stomp and yell, but I have no interest in making stomp and yell records, all those bands who try to sound like “yes we are in reckless abandon!” on their records sound silly to me. You know? Ben Harper when we were kids told me he thought a song should always be better live than on record, that live performance is about breaking the recording open, and while I’m not sure I agree 100% – I think I prefer recordings to live music – I do think that recorded music is a collaboration between the listener and the performer, and trying to treat it like it’s an attempt to recreate/emulate a live performance is a mistake. I think of recordings like little Easter-scene sugar eggs: look inside of them, squint, see all the little things hidden in there. A live show is more about everybody just gorging themselves on raw sugar. Both are nice, but they shouldn’t try to be like each other.

nyct: I think its great that you will be using new means of distribution of the EP (direct download, torrent, etc). Will the EP be offered in flac?

JD: Yeah I think so. The original idea was to offer MP3, AAC, AIFF & WAV. In any case, both major compressed formats and at least one big-size format. Still working that stuff out. It is exciting, putting this thing together, I have to say – getting all the stuff organized, thinking about how to do it, thinking about formats, arguing with people who don’t know how to use torrents about whether we oughta host the actual files instead of just seeding a torrent and pointing at it – when you really do absolutely everything yourself, which is what I’m doing with this record, you learn that a lot of the propaganda about being in control really is true. There’s beauty and power in making all your own decisions. At the same time, you know, writing checks to a lot of places and thinking “jeez I hope people actually pay for the songs or I’m gonna be eating ramen for a while,” that feels a little funny. Fingers crossed!

nyct: I’m not sure how one measures “success” on a project like this, but if all goes well, can we anticipate that this new method of EP distribution will be used again by tMG?

JD: I hate talking about money, though this is the second time in two paragraphs I’ve done so, but: the bottom line here is whether people who download the songs decide to pay for them. People talk about “exposure” as an intangible sort of reward, but exposure doesn’t count as payment as far as I’m concerned – most people with jobs will agree, if I tell you that I’m telling other people you’re awesome instead of paying you, you got a raw deal. So, this is an experiment – I already know how much I’d get paid if I did a regular pressing of the EP, I have a good sense of how many I’d sell and what the profit to me would be. I have to admit I’m a tiny bit skeptical about how it’ll go, though I’d love to be proven wrong – people always point to the big-marquee boys (Radiohead, NiN) as if small fish can hope to compare, but those are bands with massive fanbases built on the old model with lots of cash going into the process. If a tenth of the people who download In Rainbows pay, then Radiohead eats good for a year. Not so easy when your craft is tailored to a much smaller audience! If a tenth of the people who I expect will download this EP pay me, then I’ll lose a fair amount of money. So, who knows? Some days I think “hell yes, bold new world, looking forward to being able to release more music more often and put out all the EPs and weird projects I can think of, really be sharing all my ideas with everybody in nearly real-time, that’s gonna be rad.” And then other days I just wanna go back to making tapes. It’s not like I left my label or anything – I just wanted to see how something like this would work for me, and I did it with new studio recordings instead of half-assing it: went the full route from production through mastering and now I’m excited to see how things work out. And really, I’m happy no matter what happens, because think the EP’s good work from me – at the end of the day, all this stuff I’m talking about is just idle chatter: all that matters is the work, and that gives me satisfaction, and if people enjoy it, then that’s doubly satisfying. So, while this very long paragraph probably looks like I’m super-concerned with all this stuff, I’m not – it’s just, like, you asked, and as a working artist trying to make a living, this is the kinda stuff I think about a lot. You know?

The Mountain Goats perform twice in NYC in November as the final dates on a tour with Kaki King:
November 8 – Brooklyn, NY, Music Hall of Williamsburg
November 9 – New York, NY, Webster Hall

Deerhunter September 9, 2008 Le Poisson Rouge – Flac and MP3 Downloads

September 10, 2008
By


[photo credit]

Last night’s Deerhunter show at Le Poisson Rouge was a fairly strange event. The crowd was an odd mix of the band’s fans, curious club-goers, and a large contingent of people from the music business invited by LPR to see the club on an active night. Many of the industry types spent the show at the side and back bars, and many left early. If the scene seemed odd to us, the setting did not disturb Deerhunter, as Bradford Cox chatted amiably between numbers and performed an absolutely blistering set. The soon-to-be-released material from Microcastle was particularly strong, and the double highlights of “Nothing Ever Happened” and “Strange Lights” were two of most intense songs we have seen performed this year.

We recorded from the floor in front of the soundboard area of this venue. The chatty nature of the crowd was a bit of a problem, as was the severe volume of the set. The Neumann mics were able to handle the levels without any distortion but the club acoustics were a bit muddy, so that this is not one of our best captures. With that caveat, enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Deerhunter
2008-09-09
Le Poisson Rouge
New York NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from In Front of Soundboard Booth
Dead Center on Floor

Neumann KM-150s (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

Recorded and Produced
nyctaper
2008-09-10

Setlist
[total time 1:09:46]
01 [Brad banter]
02 Calvary Scars
03 Never Stops
04 [Brad banter]
05 Spring Hall Convert
06 Dr. Glass
07 Hazel St.
08 Saved By Old Times
09 Operation
10 Fluorescent Grey
11 [Brad banter]
12 Nothing Ever Happened [false start]
13 Nothing Ever Happened
14 [encore break/banter]
15 Thirsty and Miserable (Black Flag)
16 Agoraphobia
17 Strange Lights

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Deerhunter, visit their MySpace page, visit the band blog, and purchase their official releases from the Kranky Records site [here].

High Places September 7, 2008 East Village Radio Fest – Flac and MP3 Downloads

September 10, 2008
By


[photo courtesy of Jonny Leather]

In July we first witnessed the live High Places at Stuyvesant Town under very similar circumstances — an outdoor show on a beautiful day, with a diverse crowd containing a large majority of people unfamiliar with the band. The result was the same too. Our favorite electronic fusion-pop duo took the opportunity to impress people who otherwise would not ever have heard their music, and by the end of their set the chatty crowd was moving in time to the carib-burg beats.

We recorded this set from the same location as our Awesome Color, and Vivian Girls recordings. There is some wind noise, and Mary’s microphone is mixed too low, but otherwise its an excellent recording. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

High Places
2008-09-07
East Village Radio Festival
South Street Seaport
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Inside Front of Soundboard Tent
Approximately 50 Feet from Stage

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
2008-09-10

Setlist:
[Total time 29:32]
01 Vision’s The First…
02 Head Spins
03 Oceanus
04 The Storm
05 Gold Coin
06 The Tree
07 Stardust
08 Freaked Flight
09 New Grace

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT High Places, visit their MySpace page, visit their profile page at the Thrill Jockey Records site, and purchase their releases from the links at their MySpace and from Thrill Jockey [here].

Vivian Girls September 7, 2008 East Village Radio Fest – Flac and MP3 Downloads

September 8, 2008
By


[photo courtesy of Jonny Leather]

After a series of near-misses, we finally got the chance to catch the Vivian Girls and the scene could not have been more enjoyable. The band rocked on a beautiful day in the outdoor setting of the East Village Radio Fest and their pop-punk-surf-rave-ups fit the day perfectly. The Vivs managed to pack eleven powerful songs into a too-brief 25 minute set, and left us wanting more. Fortunately, the Vivian Girls are quite active. The official re-release of their album is due on October 7, and they will perform again in NYC at Cake Shop on September 19 (with Awesome Color).

We recorded this set from the same location as our Awesome Color recording, and the sound quality is quite similar except that there was a little more wind at this time. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Vivian Girls
2008-09-07
East Village Radio Festival
South Street Seaport
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Inside Front of Soundboard Tent
Approximately 50 Feet from Stage

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
2008-09-08

Setlist:
[Total time 23:53]
01 All The Time
02 I Can’t Stay
03 Tell The World
04 Never See Me Again
05 I Don’t Wanna
06 [new song]
07 [new song]
08
09
10 Girl Don’t Tell Me (Beach Boys)
11 Wild Eyes

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

SUPPORT NYCTaper




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