Calvin Johnson February 17, 2008 – Bowery Poetry Club – Flac Download

February 20, 2008
By


[photo credit]

Calvin Johnson made a rare but very welcome NYC appearance on Sunday afternoon at the intimate Bowery Poetry Club. At a venue of this nature, Calvin’s sublime personality and dry humor were on intimate display and his songwriting gifts were evident. At the merch table before and after the show he greeted and charmed all comers, and offered a full array of his eclectic catalog. The one-hour performance contained highlights from his solo records, several new numbers, and one Beat Happening song.

The attempt to capture a recording of this event proved extremely difficult. We set up about 30 feet from the stage which was a mistake — we needed to be much closer.  Calvin performed with one microphone in the middle of the stage, and his frequent movements created fluctuations in volume.  Additionally, the quiet of the music was often interrupted by loud sounds from the bar, the audience, and a loud rotating fan. Fortunately, the fan was shut off at Calvin’s request twelve minutes into the show.

As a result, the raw audience recording of this concert was nearly unlistenable. We were extremely fortunate to have met with punkcast.com after the show, and arranged to combine punkcast’s mono soundboard feed with our audience recording. After many hours with the files in Soundforge, we mixed the audience and soundboard sources and edited many of the flaws of the recording. Ultimately, what is offered here is far from perfect, but is a significant improvement from the initial recording. We offer many thanks to punkcast for his generosity, and of course many thanks to Calvin and Chad from dubnarcotic.org for permission to record.

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Calvin Johnson
2008-02-17
Bowery Poetry Club
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard > mono feed > MD + Front of Board Audience Master (30 Feet from Stage)
DPA 4021s (6 ft Stand) > Apogee Mini-Me > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 24bit 48kHz wav files
Matrix Mix:
Soundforge (resample, level adjustments, sync + mix audio sources) > 16bit 44.1kHz wav file > CDWave > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Soundboard Recorded by punkcast
punkcast.com
Audience Recorded by nyctaper
Produced by nyctaper

Setlist:
[total time 1:02:05]
01 When You Are Mine
02 Moaning
03 [banter]
04 Rabbit Blood
05 Hurrying on to Something
06 Sitting Alone At The Movies
07 I’m Down
08 Your Eyes
09 Can I Ask You Something
10 Drive Me Good and Crazy
11 [banter]
12 Apple to the Core
13 Ride With Me
14 [banter]
15 Wrap Me in Cotton

If you email nyctaper to download this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT this outstanding artist and visit Calvin’s website, visit the amazing K Records site, and purchase Calvin Johnson’s official releases (here).

Meredith Monk at Symphony Space – February 15, 2008 (Review)

February 19, 2008
By

Meredith Monk is perhaps the most profoundly unique performer in any genre of music today. She combines the talents of a composer, vocalist, choreographer, performance artist, and musician into a wholly original presentation.

At Symphony Space on Friday night, Meredith led a rare performance of the complete Vocal Ensemble. The Ensemble has changed personnel over the years, but the two talented “arms” of Monk were present. While Allison Sniffin is the solid and reserved musical foundation, the more animated Katie Geissinger projects vocal confidence and charm. Each in their own way represents a different aspect of the musical personality of Meredith herself. The other veteran player, Ching Gonzalez, anchors the Ensemble with a joyous stage presence and deep and rich baritone.

The Symphony Space performance comprised two acts — the first act featured a career retrospective and the second act was a lengthy segment of Monk’s new release Impermanence. First act highlights included “Gotham Lullaby”, which retains its originality after many performances over the last 30 years, and the closing “Waltz in 5’s”, which featured all of Monk’s talents and the complete Ensemble.

The “new” material from Impermanence has been performed in various venues and formats in the last several years, creating a level of familiarity, but the Symphony Space performance was the first as a complete Act. The power of the piece in this presentation was something to behold, as the Ensemble brought this new Monk treasure to fruition. As the stage lights dimmed and the crowd rose to its feet, it became all too apparent that this incredible performer has not lost her touch after 40 years of creativity.

The Program from this concert is available (here). Unfortunately, I did not get an answer to my request to record this performance, and ultimately did not record. This was particularly regrettable because of my perfect location, and the true power of this performance. Symphony Space does offer streaming audio of select performances, so one hopes Monk will eventually be offered to listeners.

Please support Meredith Monk, visit her website and purchase her official releases. Impermanence will be released on March 18, and can be pre-ordered here.

nyctaper – Weekend schedule

February 13, 2008
By

We will be attending three concerts this weekend, and hopefully recording them all.
Here is the schedule:

Friday — February 15, 2008:
Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble
Symphony Space, NYC
The thoroughly unique vocal pioneer, composer, and interdisciplinary artist performs with the Vocal Ensemble for the first time in NYC in two and half years. We have communicated with Meredith Monk’s people and are awaiting a decision on recording permission.


Saturday — February 16, 2008
Citizen Cope
Gilman Opera House, Brooklyn Academy of Music
The compelling cross-genre artist appears at the BAM Brooklyn Next Festival, which celebrates the borough’s diverse musical creators. Cope’s management has approved the recording of the opening number for posting on nyctaper.

Sunday — February 17, 2008
Calvin Johnson
Bowery Poetry Club, NYC
The post-punk pioneer and founder of indie stalwart K Records makes a rare solo appearance in NYC at Bowery Poetry. The dubnarcotic.org people have given permission for nyctaper to capture this event.

The Antlers February 8, 2008 Pianos – Flac Download

February 9, 2008
By

You don’t have to be clairvoyant to predict the obvious. In two or three years I’m fairly certain that if we are still around recording and reviewing shows, I will write a review of The Antlers sold-out show at Music Hall or Irving Plaza or Roseland in support of their brilliant new album on Touch and Go or Thrill Jockey or Barsuk records. And in that review I’ll reminisce about last night’s show at Pianos where approximately 50 people were treated to incredible live renditions of the songs from In The Attic Of The Universe. The live Antlers are a quartet anchored by Peter Silberman’s guitar and vocals, with the powerful drums of Michael Lerner, thundering bass and harmonies by Justin Stivers, and mixed instrumental accompaniment (banjo, trumpet and assorted percussion) by Darby Cicci. When Darby began to play the banjo with a bow, I thought of Jonsi from Sigur Ros, and immediately the opening song (“In the Attic”) began in the vein of Takk, and built to a crescendo where the quartet sounded like an orchestra full of sound and melodic fury. The balance of the all-too-short set was a similar mix of harmonies, hooks and superb songcraft.

This was our second recording at Pianos (we recorded the Meat Puppets in October here), and each time was an excellent experience. We set up directly in front of the soundboard with a clear view towards both stacks of the PA speakers. The sound quality in this small room is outstanding, and we are extremely pleased with the results. Many thanks to Peter for permission to record!

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

The Antlers
2008-02-08
Pianos
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Audience Recording
Recorded with Microphone Stand 20 feet from Stage

Neumann KM-150’s (AK-50 Hypercardiod Capsules) > Apogee Minime > digital coaxial > M-Audio Microtrack > 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (set fades, level adjustment, resampling to 16/44.1) > CD Wave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper
2008-02-09

Setlist:
[total time 36:26]
01 In The Attic
02 On The Roof
03 East River Berlin Wall
04 Uprooted
05 When You Sleep
06 The Universe Is Going To Catch You
07 Stairs To The Attic

If you download this recording PLEASE SUPPORT this terrific band and visit their website. You can purchase In The Attic Of The Universe directly from Fall Records here.

The Antlers – February 8, 2008 at Pianos – Concert Preview

February 5, 2008
By

The Antlers are performing live at Pianos on Ludlow Street at 10 p.m. on Friday, February 8. nyctaper will be there at the invitation of The Antlers to record the concert and offer it at this site.

The Antlers are Peter Silberman’s recording project with a full live band for performances. In November, Antlers released In The Attic Of The Universe, an album of intelligent well-crafted pop songs with hooks and harmonies to spare.

Sample a song from the album (several other tracks are available for download at the Antlers site):
The Antlers — The Universe is Going to Catch You

While In the Attic is one of our favorite albums of 2007, its also a great example of the power of the new forms of internet distribution. In April, Peter offered the album as a free download on their site. In the following months, word of the superb quality of the album spread and the label Fall Records picked it up for release. By November, the album was released in physical form. Purchase the CD directly from Fall Records (here).

Marco Benevento January 31, 2008 – Sullivan Hall – Flac Download

February 2, 2008
By


[photo credit]

Thursday night was the fifth and final night of Marco Benevento’s January residency at Sullivan Hall, and it was a party in more ways than one. The night was a CD release party for Marco’s new CD Invisible Baby, and it featured the twice-performed “Real Morning Party” along with a premiere of the video for the song in between sets. Benevento was joined by the superb bassist Reed Mathis (whose band Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey is featured on nyctaper here), and drummer Andrew Barr (from The Slip). The last half of the second set also featured guitarist Brad Barr (also from The Slip). The band performed two long sets of a superb mix of jazz, prog, jam, rock and pop, all anchored by the unique keyboard and effects of Marco.

The recently upgraded Sullivan Hall continues to be extremely friendly to tapers, and as a result we arrived early and secured a safe position in the upper seating area. While we were not centered, the unimpeded access to the left stack gave us a clear signal, although the crowd continued to be quite chatty. Overall, we are pleased with the results, and extremely happy to have captured this excellent show in its entirety. Enjoy!

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

Marco Benevento
2008-01-31
Sullivan Hall
New York NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Upfront Table Area
15 Feet from Left PA Stack

Neumann KM-150’s (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

Band:
Marco Benevento: piano, keyboards, effects
Reed Mathis: bass guitar
Andrew Barr: drums
Brad Barr: guitar on Set 2 tracks 05 through 09

Recorded and Produced
nyctaper
nyctaper@nyctaper.com

Set 1
[total time 54:22]
01 Bus Ride
02 Record Book
03 The Real Morning Party
04 Twin Killers (Deerhoof)
05 Golden (My Morning Jacket)
06 Atari
07 Ruby
08 Are You The Favorite Person of Anybody?

Set 2
[total time 1:42:26]
01 Fearless (Pink Floyd)
02 If You Keep Asking Me
03 You Must Be A Lion
04 The Real Morning Party
05 Nobody Does It Better (Carly Simon)
06 Jam
07 Mephisto
08 She’s Not There (Zombies)

If you download this recording, Please SUPPORT Marco Benevento and visit his website, where you can pre-order his brand new CD Invisible Baby and purchase all of his official releases (here).

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