Sigur Ros are set to release Heima, the documentary about their 2006 tour through all of Iceland. Advanced screenings have been available in half-dozen cities worldwide, and last night New York was treated to 2 screenings, a 7pm and a Midnight show. I was fortunate to get a ticket to the late show, which was announced just a few days ago. The bonus for all the screenings has been a brief 3-song live acoustic set by Sigur Ros.

The documentary contains a stunning visual portrayal of Iceland–a unique magical land–with a soundtrack of powerful live performances by Sigur Ros. The majority of the film follows Sigur Ros through the unpopulated upper regions of Iceland, where they perform in locales such as an open field, a town square, and an abandoned fish factory. The band discusses their experiences with detail, humor, and true appreciation for their homeland. This film is due to be released on DVD in November and is undoubtedly a must buy for even the most casual fan of Sigur Ros or Iceland in general. Watch the trailer here.

I recorded the 3-song acoustic set, and offer it for download below. Unfortunately, I did a below average job of capturing this performance. I did not re-set my levels from the Fiery Furnaces concert I had recorded hours ago (from 10 feet in front of the PA), and as a result the master recording has extremely low levels. When I raised levels significantly in post-production, obvious hiss was present. Caveat listener.

Download the complete performance in FLAC [HERE].

Sigur Ros
2007-10-06
Midnight Show
Florence Gould Hall
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from 15th Row Center

DPA 4021’s > Marantz PMD-660 (Oade BCM) > 16bit 44.1 .wav > Soundforge (level boosts and balance, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by
nyctaper
2007-10-07

Setlist
[Total Time 17:40]
01 Ágætis Byrjun
02 Heima
03 Njósnavélin

As with all artists featured at this site, if you download this recording PLEASE SUPPORT Sigur Ros and purchase the DVD in November.

The Mekons 30th Anniversary tour rolled into New York on Wednesday with a rousing and lengthy concert by the British legends. While the set did feature several numbers from their new album Natural, the set also was fine retrospective of their material. The set was punctuated with the standard Mekons oeuvre — extensive stage banter, some alcohol, and much humor.

The Mekons permit fan recording. As a result I was able to position myself in the identical location as the Bjorkestra / Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey recordings from last week, and use my best equipment. The results are outstanding, and a fine representation of this entertaining and enjoyable performance.

The photograph posted above is courtesy of twi-ny. There are more excellent high-resolution photos from this concert here. Thanks also to Club Mekon for advice and assistance. Visit Club Mekon here.

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

Mekons
2007-10-03
Blender Theatre at Gramercy
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from 1st Row of Seating Area
Directly Behind Soundboard

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

Please support the Mekons
http://www.mekons.de/mekonhom.htm

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper
2007-10-05

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:57:52]
01 [introduction]
02 Beaten and Broken
03 Dickie Chalkie and Nobby
04 [banter]
05 Wine or Money
06 Fletcher Christian
07 Thee Olde Trip to Jerusalem
08 The Hope and The Anchor
09 [banter]
10 Tina
11 [banter]
12 Diamonds
13 [banter]
14 Hey! Susan
15 [banter]
16 Cockermouth
17 Dark Dark Dark
18 Ghosts Of American Astronauts
19 Last Dance
20 Lonely and Wet
21 Lost Highway
22 Perfect Mirror
23 Curse of the Mekons
Encores
24 [banter]
25 Heaven and Back
26 The Letter
27 Hard to be Human
28 [banter]
[last encore Wild and Blue not recorded]

As with all artists featured at this site, if you download this recording PLEASE SUPPORT The Mekons and purchase their latest release:

What a difference a day makes. Animal Collective’s Monday night show at Webster Hall was consistently focused, mixed well, and was 30 minutes longer than Sunday’s “disaster” (Avey’s word). The highlight was the powerful 14-minute Fireworks/Essplode/Fireworks, the exact location in the set where Sunday’s show went wrong.

My recording location was about 5 feet to the left of Sunday’s night’s spot. The same equipment was used, but this recording is even better simply because the sound in the venue was much improved.

This recording is now available for download in FLAC or MP3 format [HERE].

Animal Collective
2007-10-01
Webster Hall
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Balcony First Row Center
Directly Behind Soundboard

DPA 4021’s > Marantz PMD-660 (Oade BCM) > 16bit 44.1 .wav >
Soundforge (level boosts and balance, softening and some removal
of audience noise, EQ, set fades) > flac

Recorded and Produced by
nyctaper
2007-10-02

Setlist:
[total time 1:44:39]
01 Dancer
02 Material Things
03 Peacebone
04 Leaf House
05 Bearhug
06 Song for Ariel
07 Unsolved Mysteries
08 Daily Routine
09 Fireworks/Essplode/Fireworks
10 Brother Sport
11 Grace
12 Chores
13 We Tigers
14 [encore break]
15 No More Running
16 Derek

As with all artists featured on this site, if you download this recording, please support Animal Collective and the Paw Tracks website.

The Animal Collective tour in support of their new release Strawberry Jam came to New York tonight for the first of two shows at Webster Hall. This was an off night. The band seemed somewhat out of sync, and the show came to a screeching halt when Avey Tare stopped “Fireworks” in the middle because it was “too bass-y”. Three truncated songs later, no encore, and the show was over in a little over 70 minutes. We hope tomorrow will be better.

The recording offered for download below has superior sound quality. Avey was right about the bass, and as a result I equalized the low-end in post-production. I had an excellent place for recording, and used DPA microphones that can handle the booming bass of this concert without distortion or saturation.

This recording is now available as a direct download in FLAC or MP3 [HERE].

Animal Collective
2007-09-30
Webster Hall
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Balcony First Row Center
Directly Behind Soundboard

DPA 4021’s > Marantz PMD-660 (Oade BCM) > 16bit 44.1 .wav >
Soundforge > flac

Recorded and Produced by
nyctaper
2007-09-30

Premiere Download offered at
http://www.nyctaper.com
nyctaper@nyctaper.com

Setlist:
[total time 1:14:11]
01 #1
02 Bearhug
03 Song for Ariel
04 Peacebone
05 Who Could Win a Rabbit
06 Daily Routine
07 Unsolved Mysteries
08 Dreamer
09 Firewords/Essplode
10 Brother Sport
11 Grace
12 Leaf House

As with all artists featured on this site, if you download this recording, please support Animal Collective and the Paw Tracks website.

Bjorkestra at Bowery Ballroom
January 20, 2006

Travis Sullivan’s Bjorkestra headlined the Blender Theatre last Saturday with a ninety minute set of jazz excellence. In anticipation of the release of their first CD (to be entitled Enjoy and due for release in January), Bjorkestra went on a brief tour in the Northeast. The Blender show featured the addition of a track from Bjork’s Volta album in the setlist.

The sound quality in the venue was outstanding, and my equipment and positioning were ideal. This recording accurately reflects the excellent venue sound, but perhaps the horn section was mixed too low. Thanks again to Travis for permission to record.

This is the third time I have recorded Bjorkestra. Excellent recordings of the February (here) and the June (here) performances are still available for download in the archives of nyctaper.

Direct download of the complete show in FLAC is [HERE].

Travis Sullivan’s Bjorkestra
2007-09-22
Blender Theatre at Gramercy
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from 1st Row of Seating Area
Directly Behind Soundboard

Neumann KM-150’s (AK-50 Hypercardiod Capsules) > Apogee Minime > digital coaxial > M-Audio Microtrack > flac

Many thanks to Travis for permission to record.

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:38:09]
01 Overture
02 Hyperballad
03 Alarm Call
04 Enjoy
05 Jòga
06 Army of Me
07 Pneumonia
08 Pluto
09 Show Me Forgiveness
10 Hunter
11 Who Is It
12 Cocoon
13 Human Behavior

Please support this unique and compelling interpretation of the music of Bjork and visit the Bjorkestra website.