[photo by Robert Loerzel]

In the spirit of the primary season, the Fiery Furnaces are accepting ballots from the fans attending their Winter tour. The songs with the most votes are performed in order at the end of the standard set. At Maxwell’s last night, the ballots were cast and the fans were the winners, as we were treated to rare numbers not performed in years. When I spoke to Matt after the show, he said that he and Eleanor had gone back and re-learned all of the old numbers in anticipation of any request.

So we braved the horrendous weather to see our favorite band at our favorite venue and we were not disappointed. Although it was the first night of the tour, the Furnaces were in fine form and worked flawlessly through a rearranged setlist before counting the ballots. Despite the surprise winners (Eleanor: “I told Matt, no one is going to request that”), the request numbers were performed in their entirety. We even got to hear Matt sing for the first time in a couple of years.

The recording offered here is another first for this site. We mixed our DPA microphones (positioned in the ideal location) with a feed from the soundboard in a “matrix” mix through the Edirol UA-5 which permits four channels of input. We believe that in the past our small club recordings of the Furnaces were perhaps too drum heavy, and the board feed permitted us to correctly mix the vocals and keyboards with the rhythm section. This is the best possible recording of this band, and we are extremely pleased with the results. Many thanks to Matt for his continued permission to record and his support of this site, and of course to Maxwell’s and its talented sound crew. Enjoy!

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Fiery Furnaces
2008-01-17
Maxwell’s
Hoboken, NJ USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard/Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Front of Board DPA 4021 > Edirol UA-5 (Oade Digimod) > digital coaxial > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 16bit 44.1kHz wav file > Soundforge (set fades, slight level boost, no EQ) > CD Wave 1.95 > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by
nyctaper
2008-01-18

Setlist:
[total time 1:12:02]
Democ-rock Set:
01 Navy Nurse
02 Japanese Slippers
03 The Garfield El
04 A Candymaker’s Knife in My Handbag
05 Forty-Eight Twenty-Three Twenty-Second Street
06 Seven Silver Curses
07 Slavin’ Away
08 Duplexes of the Dead
09 Automatic Husband
10 Ex-Guru
11 Blueberry Boat
12 Right By Conquest
13 Mandolin and Maracas
14 Waiting to Know You
15 Philadelphia Grand Jury
16 Clear Signal From Cairo
Roll the Dice Set:
17 Two Fat Feet
18 Chief Inspector Blancheflower
19 Benton Harbor Blues
20 Paw Paw Tree
21 Asthma Attack

If you download this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Fiery Furnaces visit their website, and purchase their official releases including their brilliant new album Widow City.

The Fiery Furnaces Winter Tour continues:
1/18 South Burlington, VT / Higher Ground / All Ages / $12
1/19 Portland, ME / Space Gallery / 18+ / $12
1/21 Rochester, NY / The Bug Jar / 18+ / $12
1/22 Buffalo, NY / The Tralf / All Ages / $12
1/23 State College, PA / Lulu’s / All Ages / $12
1/24 Columbus, OH / The Basement / All Ages / $12
1/25 Baltimore, MD / Ottobar / All Ages / $12
1/26 Charlottesville, VA / Satellite Ballroom / All Ages / $15
1/27 Washington, DC / 9:30 Club / All Ages / $15 w/ Super Furry Animals
1/29 Carrboro, NC / Cat’s Cradle / All Ages / $15 w/ Super Furry Animals
1/30 Atlanta, GA / Variety Playhouse / All Ages / $15 w/ Super Furry Animals
1/31 New Orleans, LA / The Republic / 18+ / $15 w/ Super Furry Animals
FEBRUARY
2/1 Dallas, TX / Granada Theater / All Ages / $15 w/ Super Furry Animals
2/2 Houston, TX / The Proletariat / All Ages / $12
2/4 Memphis, TN / Hi-Tone Cafe / 18+ / $10
2/5 Oxford, MS / Proud Larry’s / 18+ / $10
2/6 Nashville, TN / Exit/In / 18+ / $14
2/7 Birmingham, AL / Bottletree / 18+
2/8 Asheville, NC / Grey Eagle Tavern / $13
2/9 Knoxville, TN / Pilot Light / 18+

[photo credit]

Its heartwarming when great things happen to nice people. Its also incredibly reassuring when an artist like Kimya Dawson, whose thoroughly unique and engaging singing and songwriting have entranced small audiences for more than a decade, reaches a wider audience. The sold-out Southpaw gig was a triumphant return “home” for Kimya, and she seemed genuinely touched and perhaps a little “freaked” (her word) by the overwhelmingly positive reception.

In a nice lesson in you reap what you sow, Kimya’s fans also happen to be a diverse crowd of genuinely nice people. This kind of feeling came to fruition when Kimya organized a post-show massive hand-circle and hug which included much of the crowd. If this sounds a bit too hokey for the average Brooklyn anti-folk fan, bear in mind that Kimya’s songs deal with a wide variety of serious issues, or “tough shit” as she said during some concert banter this afternoon. This concert featured a nice run through the strength of her catalog along with some new numbers from an upcoming “children’s album”.

Prior to this concert, Kimya responded promptly and positively to an email from nyctaper regarding recording the performance. We set up at the rail in the front, at the center of the venue above the crowd. Thanks to co-taper Brian, our microphones were positioned in the perfect location. Kimya’s “low-fi” audio perhaps prevents a perfect recording, but this one captures the true natural atmosphere of the venue and the performance and the magic we all experienced. Enjoy!

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

Kimya Dawson
2008-01-13
Southpaw
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Audience Master Recording
Recorded from Front of Board Dead Center
30 Feet from PA Stacks at Railing

DPA 4021s (9 ft Stand) > Edirol UA-5 (Oade Digimod) > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 16bit 44.1kHz wav > Soundforge (level adjustments, modify close clapping, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries)> flac

Many thanks to Kimya for permission to record, Southpaw for being
a excellent friendly venue, and Brian for the mic stand clamp.

Recorded and Produced by
nyctaper
2008-01-13

Setlist:
[total time 58:55]
01 Tire Swing
02 Being Cool
03 Eleventeen
04 Underground
05 Chemistry
06 Fire
07 Henry Kelly
08 Little Monster Babies
09 Bobbio
10 Seven Hungry Tigers
11 The Smoothie Song
12 Little Panda Bear
13 Alpha Butt
14 Weatherman
15 Beer
16 Viva La Persistence
17 Singing Machine
18 I Like Giants
19 Loose Lips

If you download this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Kimya Dawson and visit her website. Kimya works with the independent record label K-Records. You can purchase her wonderful official releases by following the links to K-Records (here).

[photo credit]

Marco Benevento has invited an interesting and varied roster of guest performers for his Thursday night January residency at Sullivan Hall. This past Thursday was the second installment and featured his standard partner Joe Russo (drums) in addition to Brad Barr from The Slip on guitar. The improvisation was top notch, and combined elements of prog, jazz, fusion and trance. The open ended nature of the sessions allow each artist to stretch out the limits of the space and be free of genres.

Sullivan Hall is the old Lion’s Den after a complete over-hall. The inside layout is quite similar, but the changes resulted in serious upgrades to the sound system and facilities. The venue is extremely friendly to tapers, and Marco Benevento permits open taping.

Unfortunately, I arrived fairly late at the venue, and the crowd was packed. As a result, I set up in a very busy location which became unworkable about 30 minutes after Benevento & Guests began their set. I recorded a segment of the first set and offer it as a sample of the magic produced this night. I will be returning on the 31st to record the closing night of the Benevento residency. The sound of this recording is outstanding (except for the massive crowd and its chatter). I expect the quality will be superior on the 31st, as well as a complete concert recording. Enjoy this sample as a preview of the excellent music available at these shows. See the last three!

Marco Benevento continues with unique guests each Thursday for the remainder of the month:
January 17: with Stanton Moore and Marc Friedman
January 24: with Billy Martin, Calvin Weston, and Skerik
January 31: with Reed Mathis and Andrew Barr

Download this recording in FLAC [HERE].

Marco Benevento & Guests
2008-01-10
Sullivan Hall
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded Front of Board Left Center

DPA 4021s > Edirol UA-5 (Oade Digimod) > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 16bit 44.1kHz wav file > Soundforge (levels and fades) > Flac Frontend

Recorded by nyctaper
Premiere download offered at
https://www.nyctaper.com

Partial First Set:
[total time 20:26]
01 Jam

Please SUPPORT Marco Benevento and visit his website, where you can purchase his official releases (here).