[photo by soundbites blog]

Oh! Custer is one of those rare bands who immediately caught our ear when we first heard them in a promotional email. Their CDs are released in the US through an independent label called Series Two Records. When we learned that Oh! Custer would play the NYC Popfest, we reached out to Series Two and the Popfest and received permission to record the performance.

The duo play a unique lo-fi guitar-oriented Swedish pop with Josef providing melodic electric guitar lines to Esbjörn’s vocals and rhythm guitar, and backed by laptop beats and ambient sounds. As the middle band in a 5-band bill on the opening night of the NYC Popfest, Oh! Custer had the unenviable task of keeping the momentum. With a persistent beat, strong songs and funny/friendly banter, Oh! Custer kept the crowd into the show and earned some new fans.

We recorded from the identical location as the Love Is All recording from later in the evening, but during Oh! Custer we moved the microphones to avoid the draft from the air conditioning duct. There is a some rumble from the air in the first 3 songs, but that is greatly decreased when the mics were moved. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Oh! Custer
2008-06-12
Cake Shop
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Upfront
10 Feet from the PA

DPA 4021s > Edirol UA-5 (Oade Digimod) > digital coaxial > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 24bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge 8.0 (level adjustments, downsample 16/44) > CD Wave > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-06-19

Setlist:
[Total time 41:09]
01 Others
02 Keep it Coming
03 Late
04 Secrets
05 So Much Better
06 States
07 October
08 Post
09 Fields of Autumn
10 Spoiler
11 Your Name
12 Be Mine (Robyn cover)

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Oh! Custer, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their CDs directly from the Series Two Records site.

[photo credit]

As we reported a couple of weeks ago, on May 31 Antietam played in a library with a special guest and a setlist organized by the Dewey Decimal System. Our intrepid nyctaper correspondent Neil d was there to witness the event and recorded it for the site. As we learned that night, due to thunderstorms the show was moved inside at the last moment, and the bands (Ladybug Transistor opened) performed in the Brooklyn Public Library‘s new auditorium.

The multi-generational and multi-ethnic crowd witnessed the “expanded five-piece Antietam,” with Josh Clark on second guitar and Ira Kaplan on keyboards. Guests also included Mark Howell on trumpet and Ladybug bassist Julia Rydholm on violin. The unique setlist idea featured a sketch pad mounted on the stage that included the name of each song, where to find its topic in the Dewey Decimal System, and a couple of Brooklyn neighborhoods for which each song was dedicated.

Neil recorded from upfront with a stereo Griffin I-Talk microphone into an I-Pod at lossless 16-bit. The quality of this recording is surprisingly good considering the basic nature of the equipment and the acoustics of a library auditorium not built for post-punk rock music. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Antietam
(with Ira Kaplan)
2008-05-31
Brooklyn Public Library Auditorium
Brooklyn NY USA

Digital Master Recording

Griffin I-Talk Stereo Microphone > I-Pod > 16bit 44.1 kHz wav file > Soundforge 8.0 (set fades, level adjustments) > CD Wave (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded by neil d
with permission from Antietam (thanks Tara!)
Produced by nyctaper
2008-06-17

Setlist:
[total time 1:31:30]
01 [introduction]
02 RPM
03 Time Creeps
04 Shipshape
05 Pennants and Flags
06 Turn It On Me
07 Miss Me Bliss
08 Needle and the Eye
09 1-2-1
10 The Moor
11 [instrumental]
12 Hasten
13 I Swear
14 Tranquility Base
15 The Gate Closed
16 New Parade
17 V.O.B.
18 That’s the Way It Is
19
20 You/I
21 Arrowhead Syrup
22

The nyctaper recording of Antietam in April at Southpaw is still available [HERE]

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 by soundbites blog]

On one of the busiest calendar days in the history of NYC live music, the closing night of the NYC Popfest at Music Hall of Williamsburg was understandably under capacity. Thematically, the attendance fit well with one of the most under-appreciated bands in music today. The Ladybug Transistor has released a series of excellent CDs over a 10 year career and yet their catalog has basically gone under the radar. Gary Olson crafts intelligent pop songs, and the live execution of the material is tight and focused. The band has performed infrequently this year, after an extensive tour in the Fall in support of the superb 2007 release Can’t Wait Another Day on Merge Records. The performance on Saturday night drew heavily from the Can’t Wait release, and the band’s relaxed energy and playfulness served the material well.

We are again indebted to our friends at Merge for the existence of this recording. Arrangements were made through Merge, and ultimately we received friendly emails with permission from Gary. This recording was captured from the prime location in this venue with our best mobile rig and we are very pleased with the results. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Ladybug Transistor
2008-06-14
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from FOB
Dead Center 30 Feet from PA

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

Recorded and Produced by
nyctaper
2008-06-16

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:05:53]
01 Lord, Don’t Pass Me By
02 Song For Ending
03 Like A Summer Rain
04 I’m Not Mad Enough
05 Nico Norte
06 Gospel
07 The Reclusive Hero
08 A Burial At Sea
09 NY-San Anton
10 In-Between
11 Terry
12 Three Days From Now
13 Always On The Telephone
14 Rushes Of Pure Spring
15 [encore break]
16 Please Don’t Be Long
17 Different Drummer

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Ladybug Transistor, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their CDs directly from their website or from the store at Merge Records.