[photo credit]

2007 has been an excellent year for Richard Hawley. His outstanding new release Lady’s Bridge has appeared on nearly every Best of 2007 list, and last night he began a triumphant return to the US with a sold-out concert at Bowery Ballroom. Hawley worked through a tight set of primarily Lady’s Bridge and Coles Corner material with confidence, and he entertained with quite humorous between-song banter. The closing number, “The Ocean”, reached a remarkable crescendo and featured some outstanding Hawley lead guitar work. The US tour continues through December with dates in Philadelphia, Toronto, Chicago, LA, and San Francisco, with a British tour planned for February of 2008.

This recording was made from the ideal location at this venue, in the center of the floor. While there is a minor amount of chatter from the sold-out crowd, the results are superb.

Hawley’s management responded to a pre-show email request to record. While permission was not granted, the response said “its your choice if you bring it [a recorder] or not”, which indicated a resigned ambivalence to the idea of a fan recording. nyctaper posts this recording in the spirit of fostering a positive relationship between Hawley and his fans, and also with the intent of exposing this amazing talent to readers of this site who may not be familiar with his work. As our disclaimer states, any recording will be removed immediately at the request of an artist. We hope that Richard Hawley will allow this recording to remain at nyctaper when the good intentions and positive mission of this site are understood.

Direct Download of the complete show in FLAC [here] and MP3 [here].

Richard Hawley
2007-12-01
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from FOB
Dead Center 20 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
2007-12-01

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:27:22]
01 [introduction]
02 Valentine
03 Roll River Roll
04 Just Like the Rain
05 Dark Road
06 Coles Corner
07 Tonight The Streets Are Ours
08 Lady’s Bridge
09 Hotel Room
10 Serious
11 Darlin’ Wait For Me
12 Our Darkness
13 The Sea Calls
14 Born Under A Bad Sign
15 Something Is…!
16 I’m Looking For Someone To Find Me
17 [encore break]
18 Tonight
19 The Ocean

If you download this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Richard Hawley and visit his website.

[photo credit]

The quartet So Percussion performed a free concert in the Wintergarden at the World Financial Center on Tuesday night. The troupe performed three distinct pieces, a US premiere of an Arvo Part piece, a world premiere of Martin Bresnick’s newest work, and the NYC premiere of Paul Lansky’s Threads. Each piece utilized the many and unique talents of So to create a rich layered texture of beats that communicated a variety of emotions.

It was quite a challenge to record this concert. The Wintergarden is a enclave in the western corner of the World Financial Center, and is essentially in the midst of a shopping center. The extraneous noise of foot traffic, shoppers, workers, and general commotion created a significantly less than ideal sonic setting. Additionally, the PA volume was quite low, as to not disturb the other inhabitants of WFC. As a result, this recording has many flaws which have been reduced but not removed through post-production. If the listener can focus on the magic of So Percussion, enjoyment is within reach.

This recording is no longer available at nyctaper. The sound quality does not meet our current standards.

So Percussion
2007-11-20
Wintergarden
World Financial Center
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Inside Soundboard Booth
at Rear of Venue

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

A venue with terrible acoustics, extraneous noise, low PA levels, and recorded
from the rear. Caveat Listener.

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper
2007-11-21

Many thanks to So Percussion (Adam) for permission to record.

Setlist:
[total time 1:32:29]
01 Fratres for Percussion Quartet (Arvo Part)
02 [interview with Martin Bresnick]
03 Caprichos Enfáticos (Martin Bresnick)
04 [interview with Paul Lansky]
05 Threads (Paul Lansky)

Information:
txt file

Verification:
md5 file

If you download this recording, please support So Percussion and visit their website.

[photo credit]

Yo La Tengo appeared Friday night at the Music Hall for the final night of their “Freewheeling Tour”. The band fielded questions, requests and general banter from the audience, and responded with humor and some interesting song selections and performed a primarily acoustic concert. The highlights included Georgia’s beautiful cover of Dylan’s 4th Time Around, and the humorously persistent audience member’s request for Blue Line Swinger–which was eventually granted (Ira: “Is that Fred Armisen?”).

The recording of this concert was a difficult affair. This was my first event at the Music Hall, and I gravitated towards the balcony for a better view and more direct line to the PA speakers. Unfortunately, the acoustic nature of the concert, drastic variations in volume, and the inattentive nature of the balcony crowd created certain impediments to a clear recording. At times, this recording can be outstanding, at other times, the stage volume is too low and the ambient noise too great. Overall, its a nice listen of an interesting concert, and the apparently the only circulated recording of this mini-tour. Enjoy!

Yo La Tengo
2007-11-16
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Balcony Railing Left
15 Feet from Left PA Speaker

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

Recorded and Produced by
nyctaper
2007-11-17

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:56:04]
01 Introduction
02 The Weakest Part
03 Moby Octopad
04 [questions and banter]
05 Sometimes I Don’t Get You
06 Deeper Into Movies
07 [questions and banter]
08 I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party
09 Tom Courtenay
10 [questions and banter]
11 Magnet
12 The Summer
13 [questions and banter]
14 4th Time Around
15 [questions and banter]
16 Looney Tunes
17 [questions and banter]
18 Black Flowers
19 [questions and banter]
20 Dreaming
21 [questions and banter]
22 Blue Line Swinger
23 [questions and banter]
24 Hanky Panky Nohow
25 [questions and banter]
26 Somebody’s Baby
27 Griselda
28 The Story of Yo La Tango
29 You Can Have it All
30 [encore break]
31 Stockholm Syndrome
32 Big Day Coming
33 Flowers of the Forest

If you download this recording PLEASE SUPPORT Yo La Tengo. Visit their excellent website.

[photo credit]

mum performed another outstanding set on Saturday night at the Concert Hall of the Society for Ethical Culture. The venue was a classic structure with superb acoustics that fit the layered sound structure of mum perfectly. As this was the last night of the U.S. tour, the band was in good spirits, playful, and clearly enjoying themselves.

The other “star” of the excellent 2-night stand was the Wordless Music Series itself. Wordless had the foresight to book mum for two concerts in two very distinct but appropriate venues. The brainchild of Ronen Givony, Wordless presents diverse and yet inter-related musical genres and performers. The Series is well-researched and presented with meticulous attention to detail.

I recorded this concert, again with kind permission from Gunni (and Wordless), from the 5th row of the balcony, far right. This is not an ideal location, but the venue’s acoustics transcended space limitations, and delivered a fine recording. Again the PA speakers had some hiss, but this is only noticeable during quiet passages. Enjoy!

Download the complete show in FLAC [HERE].

mum
2007-11-10
The Wordless Music Series
Concert Hall at the Society for Ethical Culture
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Balcony
5th Row far Right

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

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper
2007-11-11

Many thanks to Gunni for permission to record.

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:27:14]
01 Winter (What We Never Were After All)
02 Moon Pulls
03 Oh, How the Boat Drifts
04 I Was Her Horse
05 Sit Down
06 Guilty Rocks
07 Blessed Brambles
08 I’m 9 Today
09 Marmalade Fires
10 A Little Bit, Sometimes
11 Kostrzyn
12 These Eyes are Berries
13 Dancing Behind My Eyelids
14 They Made Frogs Smoke ‘Til They Exploded
Encores:
15 The Ghosts You Draw On My Back
16 Smell Memory

If you download this recording PLEASE SUPPORT mum. Visit their myspace page, the mumweb fansite, mumweb forum, and buy mum official releases