The Diggs – New CD Release and Concert Preview

March 19, 2008
By


[photo credit]

One of the fringe benefits of operating a music blog is the vast amount of promotional music we receive on a daily basis. Interestingly, much of the material is quite good, while a very small percentage is simply awful. And then there are a handful of bands who absolutely jump off the computer screen and grab us by the ears and demand more attention. Of those few bands, The Diggs may be the new album that jumped the highest.

The Diggs are trio from Brooklyn and Long Island who make intelligent and powerful guitar-driven alt-pop. The songs from their new album ctrl-alt-del (released March 11, 2008 on Sugarspun Records) are crunchy and melodic with addictive earworm hooks that continuously bring me back for more listening sessions. Readers can sample two outstanding songs from this album below:

The Diggs
From ctrl-alt-del

As a live music blog, when we hear music of such quality our first task is to determine if the band is playing live in NYC in the near future, and then whether the artist permits recording of their live shows. Fortunately with The Diggs, we hit the jackpot.

The Diggs are performing at Union Hall on March 28, 2008. This is a record release party. When we contacted management, we were informed that they were fans of nyctaper, and of course we would be permitted to record the concert and post on the site.

Who: The Diggs
Where: Union Hall, Brooklyn [map]
When: Friday, March 28, 2008 8 p.m.

PLEASE SUPPORT The Diggs, visit their website, and purchase ctrl-alt-del directly from their website or from the Sugarspun Records website.

nyctaper new upcoming events

March 18, 2008
By


[image by songbirdnest]

We continue to add new dates and events!

Upcoming nyctaper Events:

Oneida:
March 22, 2008, Market Hotel, Brooklyn, NY

Drive By Truckers:
March 26, 2008, Terminal 5, NYC

The Diggs:
March 28, 2008, Union Hall, Brooklyn NY (CD Release Party)

U-Melt:
March 29, 2008, Sullivan Hall NYC

The Antlers:
April 2, 2008, Club Midway, NYC

Spanish Prisoners:
April 5, 2008, Union Hall, Brooklyn, NY

Kimya Dawson:
April 6, 2008, Webster Hall, NYC

Explosions in the Sky:
April 8, 2008, Terminal 5

Saul Williams:
April 9, 2008, Irving Plaza

Marco Benevento:
April 11, 2008, Sullivan Hall, NYC
April 12, 2008, Sullivan Hall, NYC

Colin Meloy:
April 17, 2008, Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY

Tea Leaf Green/Hot Buttered Rum:
April 18, 2008, Highline Ballroom, NYC

mum:
April 22, 2008, Gramercy Theatre, NYC
April 23, 2008, Masonic Temple, Brooklyn, NY

Big Dipper:
April 25, 2008, Southpaw, Brooklyn, NY (tentative — pending permission request)

Awesome Color:
May 2, 2008, Glasslands Gallery, Brooklyn NY (CD Release Party)

British Sea Power:
May 10, 2008, Bowery Ballroom, NYC

nyctaper Anniversary Bash:
May 11, 2008, Piano’s, NYC (Artists TBA)

Oh! Custer:
June 13, 2008, NY Popfest (venue TBA)

Mark Knopfler:
July 23, 2008, Central Park Summerstage, NYC

_______________________

We continue to receive offers of sponsorship (tickets/guest list) from artists and readers who would enjoy our work. Thank you to those artists and readers.

Feel free to email nyctaper if you’d like to make suggestion, ask a question, enter a complaint, introduce us to new music, encourage us, or even make a donation. We enjoy the interaction with our readers.

Pierce Turner March 16, 2008 Puck Fair – Flac Download

March 18, 2008
By


[photo credit]

Sunday night at Puck Fair seemed like a reunion of sorts. It was as if every Pierce Turner fan in New York City came out and packed the venue — we think we vaguely recognized every face in the place from some deep Guinness-hazed fifteen to twenty year old memory. The person we most certainly recognized was energized to levels of performance that we had not witnessed in a good long while — Mr. Pierce Turner at his absolute peak.

At the outset, a fan asked Pierce to “fix the buzz” in the sound system. And for two solid hours of performance, Mr. Turner did indeed create his own buzz as he reached into his catalog for both old and new tunes, danced on the bar and tables, stood inside the packed crowd, and generally made a physically uncomfortable tight situation a metaphysical pleasure.

The highlights include Pierce’s rare rendition of the Irish classic “The Foggy Dew” which segued neatly into “Mayhem” from The Sky and The Ground, a rollicking “Musha”, and the chilling “Zero Here”.

Thanks to Pierce’s courtesy, we sat above the crowd positioned on the elevated stage. We directed the right channel microphone towards the string quartet, and the left channel microphone was placed between two speakers and towards the audience. The result is a true stereo recording, with Pierce’s vocals captured both through the PA and directly from his proximity to the microphones, and the string quartet captured through the system and through the natural amplification of the instruments, as we sat only a few feet from the band. This is a truly wonderful listen to a remarkable performance. Enjoy!

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

Pierce Turner
2008-03-16
Puck Fair
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded On Stage

DPA 4021’s > Edirol UA-5 (Oade Digimod) > 24bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge (level boost, set fades, resample) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-03-17

Setlist
[Total Time 1:56:10]
01 [introduction – fix the buzz]
02 Don’t Want Her to Feel That Way
03 The Foggy Dew > Mayhem
04 Oh Ireland
05 Not a Bad Day for a Wednesday
06 Holy Ground
07 Moonbeam Josephine
08 Say You Don’t Mind
09 You Can Never Know
10 Jazz
11 Dirty Old Town
12 Snakes and Ladders (Ball & Chain)
13 Carrigfergus
14 Manana in Manhattan
15 Wicklow Hills
16 [encore break]
17 Zero Here
18 Band of Gold
19 Musha God Help Her
20 [second encore break]
21 Orange Coloured Sun
22 Mr. Smith

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Pierce Turner, visit his website, and purchase his releases directly from the online store at his website.

Oakley Hall March 15, 2008 Glasslands – Flac Download

March 16, 2008
By


[photo by Robert Loerzel]

On a night when it seemed as if the rest of the NYC bloggerati were attending the South By Southwest Festival in Texas, we were fortunate to be in South by Southwest Williamsburg to see one of our new favorite bands play at one of our favorite venues. The combination of Brooklyn’s Oakley Hall performing among friends at Brooklyn’s best venue Glasslands Gallery was a sight to behold — it was as if the best of the borough’s musicians had a private party and we were invited.

Oakley Hall worked through a similar setlist to the Knitting Factory show, but added a Dylan cover and re-worked the list for a better flow. The highlights were many, but the set closing run of Rue the Blues, Volume Rambler, and Having Fun Again (with Derek from Awesome Color guesting on guitar) was fearsome and intense.

This recording was made again with the permission of Pat and Jesse from Oakley Hall. We improved on our mix from the last Glasslands recording, capturing just the right balance of soundboard feed and audience microphones. This recording is also a vast improvement over the previous Oakley Hall recording on nyctaper from the Knitting Factory. We are extremely pleased with the results. Enjoy!

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Oakley Hall
2008-03-15
Glasslands Gallery
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard/Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Front of Board Neumann KM-150s > Edirol UA-5 (Oade Digimod) > digital coaxial > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 24bit 48kHz wav file > Soundforge (set fades, downsample) > CD Wave 1.95 > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-03-16

Setlist:
[total time 1:04:40]
01 If You Can See Them, They Can See You
02 Eyes, Lock and Steel
03 No Dreams
04 All the Way Down
05 She Belongs to Me (Dylan)
06 Hiway
07 Superpower
08 If I Was in El Dorado
09 Confidence Man
10 Rue the Blues
11 Volume Rambler
12 Having Fun Again*

*with Derek Stanton from Awesome Color on guitar

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Oakley Hall, visit their webpage, and purchase I’ll Follow You directly from the Merge Records website.

Experience Oakley Hall when they tour in the latter half of April:
Fri-Apr 18 Boston TT the Bear’s
Sat-Apr 19 TBA
Sun-Apr 20 Philadelphia Johnny Brenda’s
Mon-Apr 21 Washington DC Rock n Roll Hotel
Tues-Apr 22 Cleveland Grog Shop
Wed-Apr 23 TBA
Thurs-Apr 24 Chicago Empty Bottle
Fri-Apr 25 Pontiac MI Pike Room
Sat-Apr 26 TBA

Pierce Turner at Puck Fair March 16, 2008 – Concert Preview

March 13, 2008
By

In the interest of full disclosure, Pierce Turner is a long time personal friend. That he also happens to be an immensely talented songwriter, compelling performer, and thoroughly entertaining stage presence is a matter of public record as well as personal opinion. The superlatives flow, and yet traditional “success” in the old music business definition has always eluded him — including the criminally under-appreciated most recent release The Boy to Be With. But as the music business has been turned upside down, the non-traditional performers have thrived. Pierce continues to pack houses in Dublin, Wexford and counties West in the part of the year when he resides in Ireland, and sells out venues like Joe’s Pub during his all-too-infrequent New York time.

This week a rare Pierce Turner experience awaits the music lovers who shed the shackles of St. Patrick’s day cliche, and find the most genuine Irish performer of this generation. Pierce returns to Puck Fair, the locale of his 2000-2001 residency, and performs again with the String Quartet with whom he enraptured Swift’s throughout his 1996-1999 residence. The atmosphere promises to be abuzz and the setlist will contain some old and rare chestnuts. nyctaper will be there with the microphones, a pint of Guinness, and a smile.

When: Sunday March 16, 2008
Time: 6 p.m.
Where: Puck Fair
Address: 298 Lafayette Street (half block below Houston) [map]

PLEASE SUPPORT Pierce Turner and purchase his releases directly from the online store at his website.

nyctaper Anniversary Bash news

March 13, 2008
By

Save the date!
Sunday May 11, 2008 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The anniversary bash celebrating one year of nyctaper is going to happen! Its all coming together very quickly. We have a venue booked (in NYC of course), and we have two bands committed. We are currently in negotiations with a third (headliner) band. We also have one major blog to photograph and review the event, and perhaps several more.

As soon as the headliner is booked, we will announce all the details.

SUPPORT NYCTaper




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DISCLAIMER and LEGAL NOTICE

nyctaper.com is a live music blog that offers a new paradigm of music distribution on the web. The recordings are offered for free on this site as are the music posts, reviews and links to artist sites. All recordings are posted with artist permission or artists with an existing pro-taping policy.

All recordings and original content posted on this site are @nyctaper.com as live recordings pursuant to 17 U.S.C. Section 106, et. seq. Redistribution of nyctaper recordings without consent of nyctaper.com is strictly prohibited.

nyctaper.com hereby waives all copyright claims to any and all recordings posted on this site to THE PERFORMERS ONLY. If any artist posted on this site requests that recordings be removed, those recordings will be removed forthwith.