Posts Tagged ‘ americana ’

Hiss Golden Messenger: December 8, 2017 The Bowery Ballroom

December 12, 2017
By


Hiss Golden Messenger’s second night at The Bowery Ballroom not only picked up where the first two-hour show left off, but gathered steam. If the first night–in front of a slew of friends and local musicians–felt like a more intimate, freewheeling affair, this show situated the current version of the band as the confident rock n’ roll outfit they are, playing about fifty percent different material from the first show, improving on several of the repeats, and delivering crowd-pleasing covers that are red meat to a weekend crowd. After opening with the contemplative “When the Wall Comes Down” from Hallelujah Anyhow, the tempo picked up and stayed hot through the first hour. I was moved by this version of “Blue Country Mystic,” which hewed closer in tempo and style to the Poor Moon original than some of the recent versions I’ve seen, and likewise, the “Red Rose Nantahala” we saw both tonight and the night before felt closer to the version from Haw than some of the recent versions we’ve heard. The new songs haven’t given the band as many chances at new arrangements, but it’s safe to say that “Like A Mirror Loves A Hammer,” shows great potential as a mid-set jam song.

After a heartfelt mid-set version of “Caledonia, My Love” — introduced by Phil Cook as his favorite HGM song — it was back to the rock, with the band letting loose with a fine cover of “I Won’t Back Down” followed by “Lost Out In the Darkness” and the party jam “I’m A Raven (Shake Children).” This is a band that knows their crowd, and the upbeat rockers matched the mood in the room, as the weekend warriors and the repeat customers from last night both had come ready to celebrate the weekend and the band’s success. Instead of last night’s heartfelt retelling of the band’s origin story, we got some hilarious riffs about the band’s long night out last night, including an encounter with some pretzel chips. But if they were physically running on fumes, HGM didn’t show it. If anything, I found most versions of what they played even sharper and more emphatic than the previous show. In lieu of an encore break, the band accepted some pretzel chips from a fan and passed them around the crowd, ending the night with Pops Staples’ “Friendship” followed by “Drum.” This wasn’t quite the end of HGM year — they headed to Philly the following night, and D.C. after that — but it felt valedictory nonetheless, an exclamation point on a year well spent.

I recorded this set in the same manner as the previous night, with a soundboard feed from the band’s engineer Tim and Schoeps MK22 microphones. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Download the complete show: [MP3/FLAC/ALAC]

Hiss Golden Messenger
2017-12-08
The Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Schoeps MK22 (at SBD, PAS bar)>KCY>Z-PFA + Soundboard (engineer: Tim)>Sound Devices MixPre 6>24/48 WAV>Adobe Audition CC (align, mix down, limiter)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 2:02:30]
01 When the Wall Comes Down
02 Saturday’s Song
03 Jenny of the Roses
04 [banter1]
05 Biloxi
06 Gulfport You’ve Been On My Mind
07 Blue Country Mystic
08 Mahogany Dread
09 Don’t Let Me Down [Beatles]
10 Like A Mirror Loves A Hammer
11 Red Rose Nantahala
12 [banter2]
13 Highland Grace
14 [banter3]
15 Caledonia, My Love
16 Domino
17 I Won’t Back Down [Tom Petty]
18 Lost Out In the Darkness
19 I’m A Raven (Shake Children)
20 I Am the Song
21 [banter4-band intros]
22 Southern Grammar
23 [banter5]
24 John the Gun
25 [pretzel break]
26 Friendship [Pops Staples]
27 Drum

Band:
M.C. Taylor – vocals, guitar
Phil Cook – keyboards, harmonica
Mike Lewis – saxophone
Skylar Gudasz – vocals
James Wallace – organ, percussion
Ryan Gustafson – guitar
Michael Libramento – bass
Darren Jesse – drums

PLEASE SUPPORT Hiss Golden Messenger: Website | Twitter | Buy Hallelujah Anyhow

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers: September 6, 2014 Lockn Festival

October 11, 2017
By


[screen shot from this video]

Since the sad and untimely death of the great Tom Petty, the tributes and remembrances have come in from all corners. Of those I was fortunate to read, the first-person tribute from Lucinda Williams seemed particularly heartfelt and authentic. Of the “fan” tributes, the writing of Patterson Hood from the Drive By Truckers seemed to mostly mirror my own personal experiences. Petty’s music provided a soundtrack of sorts for multiple periods of my life — from his early power-pop hits to his mid career LA-based American folk. He produced songs that instantaneously transport the listener back to that time in their life that the song represents. For me, the Full Moon Fever album represented my return to NYC to live full time and those songs bring me back to my first apartment in Sheridan Square. Oh, the days.

This performance at the second annual Lockn Festival is vintage Petty. The nearly two-hour Fest set draws from all periods in his career and while the tour was ostensibly to promote his then-new album Hypnotic Eye, which would sadly be his last album with The Heartbreakers, he didn’t rely heavily on new material performing just four songs from the record. The rest were the hits and some moderately deep cuts that had the crowd singing, swaying and cheering. This recording is our way to remember this truly great artist who left us all too soon.

The “legality” of NYCTaper hosting this recording is quite simple. The Lockn Festival is an open taping Festival, and indeed in 2014 the Fest’s website contained language that taping was “encouraged” and recordings could be distributed through free channels. With a written clear policy, Lockn Festival undoubtedly contracted with the artists who consented through their concert riders.

This excellent recording was captured by Kubacheck with the same equipment and location from the Wilco recording from this Festival posted on this site three years ago. Enjoy!

Download the Complete Set [MP3] / [FLAC]

Stream “Runnin’ Down A Dream”:

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
2014-09-06
Lockn Festival
Arrington VA

Digital Master Audience Recording
Recorded at Taper’s Section

MBHO 603a – KA-500 > Naiant Tinybox > Roland R-05 > 24bit 48kHz wav file > Soundforge (level adjustments, EQ, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac
(320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded by Kubacheck
Produced by nyctaper

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:43:21]
01 So You Want to Be a Rock N Roll Star [Byrds]
02 Mary Jane’s Last Dance
03 American Dream Plan B
04 Into the Great Wide Open
05 Forgotten Man
06 [banter – happy birthday]
07 I Won’t Back Down
08 Free Fallin
09 [band introductions]
10 A Woman in Love
11 U Get Me High
12 Rebels
13 Yer So Bad
14 Learning to Fly
15 Shadow People
16 I Should Have Known It
17 Refugee
18 Runnin Down a Dream
19 [encore break]
20 You Wreck Me
21 American Girl

SUPPORT the legend of Tom Petty: Website | Store

Phil Cook: September 23, 2015 Rough Trade NYC + September 10, 2015 Hopscotch Music Festival (Raleigh, NC) – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

October 7, 2015
By

hopscotch-festival-2015-31kennethbachor
[Hopscotch photo courtesy of Kenneth Bachor]

Phil Cook is a very easy person to like. If there’s a musician — or heck, a human in general — who is more affable, good-hearted and filled with positivity, I have yet to see them. Cook has been the dutiful bassist, the cheerful sidekick, the go-to-guy for a slew of bands, including Megafaun, with his brother Brad, Hiss Golden Messenger, Akron/Family, Gayngs, and DeYarmond Edison. As Phil pointed out himself, he’s had a long career of doing what other people told him — showing up on time, hitting the right notes, being a get-along guy. The new album Southland Mission represents his first foray into the world of the frontman. The microphone is his now, and the shots are his to call. So he’s assembled an eight-piece band, complete with backup singers, bass, second guitar, and keys, and he’s the one who decides when practice is, where to go, what to do. Suffice it say, most of us would be lucky to have such a genial boss. Southland Mission wears its influences on its sleeve — much as Cook literally wore a Staples Singers shirt this night — and Cook’s devotion to the gospel, soul, R&B and blues music of an earlier era is both obvious and genuine. “Lowly Road” offers a gospel-style chorus, while the loping blues of “Sitting On A Fence” could’ve come from Chicago in the 1960s.

These sets followed a relatively similar course, though with somewhat different vibes. The first, at Hopscotch, came on the day before the release of Southland Mission, and was the first time that Cook played the material in public, together with his band The Guitarheels. Staged in the grand Fletcher Opera Theater, with a band banner at his back (along with an inappropriately large ad for festival sponsor Mini), the setting felt appropriate to the moment. Packed with a fawning hometown crowd, Cook’s material was greeted at every step with roars and encouraging shouts from people he probably sees at the same shows every night (I had to reduce between-song volume to account for it, but trust me). When the band kicked off with one of the album’s most direct and best tunes, “Ain’t It Sweet,” the easy answer had to be yes — and the applause showed it. All of Southland Mission was played, not quite in album order, and the band chose to close with a country song, Jerry Jeff Walker’s “Northeast Texas Women.” As he would in New York, Cook complimented the band profusely, calling them a collection of the finest musicians he had worked with. It being the insular Triangle scene, it’s a reasonable guess that many of the people in the crowd knew them, too. Appropriate to the location, the show’s pace was leisurely and relaxed, with long breaks between songs that felt like Phil having a chat with friends. Both “Great Tide” and “Sitting on a Fence” proved to be opportunities for the band to stretch its legs, with guitar breakdowns that took them into longer territory than the tight album versions.

In New York, Phil and the Guitarheels could still welcome a crowd of friends from previous work, though in the club-like, intimate atmosphere of Rough Trade NYC. Phil may have had to exhort this crowd to stop standing so still (clearly he hasn’t seen as many shows in New York as I have), but against the odds, he got what he asked for. It remained an intimate and chatty show, and Phil’s own speech about getting to finally “be the frontman” was a touching one. Similarly, true to the album’s roots, Cook also talked a good bit about his love for the Staples singers (even wearing the T-shirt), and that’s another influence you can feel throughout these songs. For ease of listening, most of the banter tracks aren’t on the streaming versions below, but I’d urge you to download the full sets to get a better flavor of what Cook is about. While there are only so many ways to mix up the tracks on a single album, we got two brand-new covers this time: first, the Blind Boys of Alabama’s “Take Your Burden To the Lord and Leave It There,” and then Curtis Mayfield’s “Talking About My Baby.” Throughout this show, as in North Carolina, you couldn’t have forced the broad smile off of Phil Cook’s face at gunpoint. If there’s a world where nice guys finish first, well, Phil Cook is in pole position, folks.

I recorded the NYC set with a soundboard feed from Rough Trade engineer Danielle DePalma and Schoeps MK4V microphones; the Hopscotch set was recorded by our friend Larry Tucker with Peluso wide-cardiod microphones. The sound quality of both recordings is excellent. Enjoy!

Download the Rough Trade NYC set: [MP3] | [FLAC]

Download the Hopscotch set: [MP3] | [FLAC]

Stream the Rough Trade NYC set:

Stream the Hopscotch set: 

Phil Cook
2015-06-26
Rough Trade NYC
Brooklyn, NY

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Soundboard (engineer: Danielle DePalma) + Schoeps MK4V (FOB, DFC, PAS)>KC5>CMC6>Edirol R-44>24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (mix down, fades, compression)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, dither, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time: 1:10:38]
01 Ain’t It Sweet
02 [banter1]
03 1922
04 [banter2]
05 Belong
06 Sitting On A Fence
07 [banter3-band intros]
08 Time To Wake
09 Anybody Else
10 [banter4]
11 Gone
12 [banter5–speech]
13 Lowly Road
14 [banter6]
15 Great Tide
16 [encore break]
17 Take Your Burden To The Lord and Leave It There [Blind Boys of Alabama]
18 Talking About My Baby [Curtis Mayfield]

________________________________________________
Phil Cook
2015-09-10
Hopscotch Music Festival
Fletcher Opera Theater
Raleigh, NC USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded by Larry Tucker
Produced by acidjack

Peluso CEMC6-CK21 (subcardiod) (Room center hung from balcony rail)>Fostex FR2-LE>24bit/48kHz WAV>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Ain’t It Sweet
02 1922
03 Belong
04 [banter1]
05 Sitting On A Fence
06 [banter2]
07 Lowly Road
08 [banter3]
09 Time To Wake
10 Anybody Else
11 [banter4]
12 Gone
13 [banter5]
14 Great Tide
15 [banter6]
16 Northeast Texas Women [Jerry Jeff Walker]

If you enjoyed these recordings, PLEASE SUPPORT Phil Cook, visit his website, and buy Southland Mission from his online store.

IMG_3195

American Aquarium: September 12, 2015 Hopscotch Music Festival – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

September 30, 2015
By

hopscotch-festival-2015-20
[photos courtesy of Kenneth Bachor for BrooklynVegan]

In keeping with the local-oriented theme of Hopscotch’s main stage on its final night, Raleigh fixtures American Aquarium — who have played every year of the festival — took to their biggest stage here yet and proved why they belonged there. Well-known to followers of the rootsy Americana they’re most known for (the band is named for the line in Wilco’s “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart”), this band has been slogging it out on tour, especially in the South, for nearly a decade. Their volatile frontman BJ Barham’s songs reflect that grizzled spirit — his first number was about the casualties of rock n’ roll, after all. By some measures, American Aquarium shouldn’t have even been here at all — the band has claimed they were ready to hang it up until their previous record, Burn.Flicker.Die took them to the next level and rescued them from obscurity’s precipice.

So, this year, they released Wolves, which is filled with songs that reflect Barham’s ambivalence about his life choices. Just look at some titles from this set: “Southern Sadness,” “Family Problems,” “The Losing Side of Twenty-Five,” and “Man I’m Supposed To Be” (it’s about how he isn’t that). Plenty of other bands traffic in the whiskey-swilling-Southern-white-guy-blues thing, but American Aquarium, not unlike fellow traveler Patterson Hood, actually sound like they mean it. “Man I’m Supposed To Be” may wear its heart on its sleeve, but it also makes a point that many a married man can identify with. The bottle suffuses this band’s work, and you can’t help but nod at how Barham has started to come to terms with his self-set traps. There’s no need to get clinical to figure out how the lifestyle, and the ways that you both generate and come to terms with the emotions you share with your audience, almost demands that you not stop. Hopscotch founder and former organizer Grayson Haver Currin called Wolves a breakthrough record for the band, and he was absolutely right. So here they are, after playing day shows and bigger and bigger night stages, finally on the festival’s biggest platform. Let’s hope they keep it up, and make their next chapter a bright one.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed together with Audio Technica 4051 microphones. The board feed kicks in about two minutes into the first song. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Download the complete set from the Live Music Archive: [MP3] | [FLAC]

Stream the complete set:

American Aquarium
2015-09-12
Hopscotch Music Festival
City Plaza
Raleigh, NC USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Soundboard + Audio Technica 4051 (FOB, PAS)>Edirol R-44>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, expansion, effects)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 43:55]
01 Casualties
02 St. Marys
03 Wolves
04 Southern Sadness
05 Hurricane
06 [banter]
07 The Losing Side of 25
08 Spanish Pipedream (Blow Up Your TV) [John Prine]
09 [banter2]
10 Man I’m Supposed To Be
11 Family Problems

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT American Aquarium, visit their website, and buy Wolves there.

Elephant Micah: July 16, 2015 The Living Room – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

July 22, 2015
By

elephantmicah

Elephant Micah, aka Joseph O’Connell, is one of several welcome transplants to the North Carolina music scene over the past few years. The formerly Indiana-based songwriter has flourished of late, releasing his well-received Where In Our Woods in 2015. While O’Connell has put out a slew of material over his 14-year career, many of those offerings (save Woods and 2012’s Louder Than Thou, in particular) have been of the more DIY variety, meaning many listeners still aren’t as acquainted with him as they should be. So here’s some quick catch-up: O’Connell released a 7-inch with Hiss Golden Messenger in 2012, and spent some time touring with Magnolia Electric Co. before that. Those artists should be an indication of his quality; he belongs in that company. His songwriting brings to bear a formidable understanding of American folkloric tradition and the chops to translate it to modern ears, while his voice reminds me a bit of Richard Buckner in its tone and emotional reach. These features suited this particular performance especially well.

The Living Room moved from the Lower East Side to Williamsburg recently, and this well-appointed, professionally-run venue suits the 2015 version of this neighborhood. With the move came a bold expansion of the space that, critically, did not diminish its original purpose. There’s now a large roof deck with DJs, and a well-appointed front bar, but there remains a dedicated, quiet, great-sounding music space in the back. It was here that Elephant Micah (as a full band) laid down a set that was, in his own words, reflective of “doing a lot of podcasts.” In his mind, that seems to have meant a darker tone, as the band played just one solitary Where In Our Woods song (“Albino Animals”) amidst a fascinating set of older material and traditional folk. The traditional numbers won the day here, particularly the scorching “The Ballad of the Lawson Family,” whose mournful lyrics gave way to a crescendo of electric noise. This was every bit a freeform set, off-the-cuff and true to the traditions that O’Connell does proud. If you haven’t experienced O’Connell’s fine work yet, start with Where In Our Woods, then work back to the recorded roots of these songs. You can see where this artist has been, and how he has grown. Then listen to this set again, and realize the beauty of him putting it all together. If you haven’t been, start paying attention.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed from the Living Room FOH Kevin, together with Schoeps MK41V microphones. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Download the complete set: [MP3] | [FLAC]

Stream the complete set: 

Elephant Micah
2015-07-16
Living Room
Brooklyn, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Soundboard (engineer: Kevin) + Schoeps MK41V>KC5>CMC6>>Edirol R-44>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS5.5 (align, mix down, fades, compress SBD)>Izotope Ozone 5 (effects, EQ)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Hidden River Run
02 Albino Animals
03 [banter1]
04 Another Fire
05 Still Life Blues
06 [banter2]
07 The Ballad of the Lawson Family [traditional]
08 [banter3]
09 Pearl Bryan [traditional]

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Elephant Micah, visit his website, and buy his records from his bandcamp page.

Hurray For The Riff Raff: April 2, 2014 Knitting Factory – Flac/MP3/Streaming

April 7, 2014
By

HFTRR LC

In February, Hurray For The Riff Raff released Small Town Heroes, their first album for ATO Records. As we’ve followed the band closely for several years, the last five recordings of HFTRR on this site have also followed the growth and development of these songs over time. The album is a brilliant dose of Americana but the songcraft is truly what shines in the collection of inspired tracks. There’s the Carter Family influenced old country of “Blue Ridge Mountain”, country-rock in “End Of The Line”, New Orleans blues of “St Roch Blues”, the John Prine-ish title track, and the reverse/revenge murder ballad “The Body Electric” — all of which are authentic interpretations of the best of American music. HFTRR recently had a major personnel change when Sam Doores returned to his own excellent band The Deslondes. Our previous HFTRR experience featured Deslondes as the opening band, and Sam guested on several tracks. This past week at Knitting Factory was our first HFTRR show where Alynda Lee was the sole front-person and the growth in both her stage maturity and ease in the spotlight continue to impress. But she’s still a kid at heart and it brought smiles when she told of her shyness at meeting one of her idols Lucinda Williams at SXSW this year. I couldn’t help but think that ten years or so from now young performers will approach their idol Alynda Lee with the same timidity. We’re streaming the Lucinda cover played this night. Hurray For The Riff Raff are currently on tour in selected US cities throughout April before they head to Europe for a handful of shows in May.

I recorded this set in our usual manner in this venue — Sennheiser cards at the soundboard mixed with a feed from talented house FOH Rob. The sound quality is superb. Enjoy!

Stream “People Talkin” (Lucinda Williams cover):

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense. The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission. Please respect our request.

Hurray For The Riff Raff
2014-04-02
Knitting Factory
Brooklyn NY

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard [engineer Rob] + Sennheiser 8040 Cardioids > Edirol R-44 (Oade Mod) > 2 x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, EQ, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:15:52]
01 The New SF Bay Blues
02 Blue Ridge Mountain
03 Instrumental
04 Look Out Mama
05 Slow Walk
06 When I Was A Cowboy [Leadbelly]
07 Levon’s Dream
08 I Know Its Wrong
09 Ode To John And Yoko
10 [Body Electric intro]
11 The Body Electric
12 [banter – Benjamin Booker]
13 Crash on the Highway
14 Lake Of Fire
15 End Of The Line
16 [banter – happy birthday]
17 Daniella
18 Everybody Knows
19 Here It Comes
20 Little Black Star
21 [encore break]
22 People Talkin [Lucinda Williams]
23 Fiddlesticks

If you Download this recording from nyctaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Hurray For The Riff Raff, visit their website, and purchase Small Town Heroes from the ATO Records website [HERE].

The Lawsuits: October 26, 2013 Backyard Brunch Sessions – FLAC/MP3/Streaming Full Set

November 22, 2013
By


IMG_2771
[Photo by Steve Alexandre]

Philly’s The Lawsuits are just straight up quality. This young act, who have established a reputation in their hometown that is growing around the East Coast, are one of those bands so ready for primetime that you can’t believe you’re seeing them in someone’s living room. Such are the advantages of living in New York City, I suppose.

This Backyard Brunch Session, like the Field Mouse set from later in the day, wasn’t exactly true to the format in terms of being (a) in a backyard or (b) acoustic, but The Lawsuits played this backup location the same way I’m sure they’d have played Bowery Ballroom. Dual lead vocalists Brian Dale Allen Strouse (also guitarist/keyboardist and lead songwriter) and Vanessa Winters give the band a wide palette to choose from vocally, and the core rhythm section of Brendan Cunningham on bass and Josh Friedman on drums (joined for this set by guitarist Joe Bisirri) give power and structure to the intricate arrangements. As a unit, the band’s highlight was probably “Love Is Weight”. With its hooky keyboard backing and catchy chorus, the song would be as at home in any of the last four decades, and it’s a home run now. The strongest individual performance could well have been Winters’ on the country-blues number “Long Drive Home”, where her vocals soared in the room without need of amplification. But it’s hard to be partial to any one performance out of this excellent set — even the impromptu, unrehearsed cover of Tom Petty’s “American Girl” brought a huge smile to everyone’s face. If a choice of cover song could fully encapsulate the spirit, style and vibe of a band, the choice of that song by The Lawsuits might well be it. The band has shows in Philly on December 6 and New Year’s Eve, and should be touring New York again next year. Don’t miss them.

I recorded set with MBHO microphones on each of the lead vocalists with a mid-side pair of Schoeps MK5 and MK8 in the middle of the room. Of all of the site’s Backyard Brunch recordings, I believe this is the finest quality one yet. Enjoy!

Stream the full set (with banter removed):

The incorrect version of “You Won’t Love Me If You Won’t” has been replaced with the right song.

Download the full set: [MP3] | [FLAC]

Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense. The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission. Please respect our request.

unnamed2
[Photo by Paul Dryden]

The Lawsuits
2013-10-26
Backyard Brunch Sessions
Brooklyn, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com and backyardbrunchsessions.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Schoeps MK5 (cardiod)+Schoeps MK8 (M-S) + MBHO KA200N>MBP603>Edirol R-44 [OCM]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Voxengo MSED (decode M-S)>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (various effects and mixdown)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects)>Audacity 2.03 (fades, tracking, light compression, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 [intro]
02 Fine Quality
03 Ebony Rose
04 Long Drive Home
05 [banter]
06 Dreaming #26
07 [banter2]
08 Onion
09 Love Is Weight
10 [banter3]
11 You Won’t Love Me If You Don’t
12 American Girl [Tom Petty]

Players:
Brian Dale Allen Strouse (vocals, keys, guitar)
Vanessa Winters (vocals)
Brendan Cunningham (bass)
Josh Friedman (drums)
Joe Bisirri (guitar)

If you enjoyed this recording, please support The Lawsuits, visit their website and buy Cool Cool Cool and their merchandise from their online store.

Trapper Schoepp and The Shades: June 27, 2013 Brooklyn Bowl – Flac/MP3/Streaming

July 14, 2013
By

Trapper Schoepp - Vernon Webb
[photo courtesy of Vernon Webb Photography]

Trapper Schoepp and The Shades is the kind of band that you see and immediately know that they are going places. At Brooklyn Bowl a couple of weeks back, they opened the first night of the Old 97s three-peat and immediately grabbed the attention of the incoming crowd. Trapper and the band hail from Wisconsin, but their music is pure Americana as comfortable in the Midwest, the South or even NYC. Their album Run, Engine, Run was released last Fall, and the setlist consisted of primarily tracks from the album, but also a couple of strong new songs. Trapper and his bandmates have a natural ease and a positive vibe on stage and their talents are obvious. Like many of today’s bigger Americana bands, if they are willing to be road warriors, in the coming years the crowds and the venues will continue to grow. Trapper Schoepp and The Shades will be playing mostly midwest dates this Summer, but when they come East again we’ll be there.

I recorded this same in the same manner as the Old 97s show and the sound quality is equally superb. Enjoy!

Stream “I-94”:

Download the Complete show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense. The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission. Please respect our request.

Trapper Schoepp and the Shades
2013-06-27
Brooklyn Bowl
Brooklyn NY

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Sennheiser MKH-8040s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2 x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades, EQ) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper 2013-07-11

Setlist:
[Total Time 45:32]
01 Mercy Blues
02 Wishing Well
03 Pins and Needles
04 Nighthawk
05 So Long
06 Cold Deck
07 Between the Lines
08 Run Engine Run
09 Ballad of Olof Johnson
10 I-94
11 Settlin or Sleepin Around
12 Dear Prospect

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Trapper Schoepp and The Shades, visit their website, and purchase their album Run, Engine, Run at the Side One Dummy Records website [HERE].

The Wood Brothers: March 1, 2013 Bowery Ballroom – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

March 5, 2013
By

woodbros2013-03-01-1
[Photos by acidjack]

The surge in interest of late in traditional American roots music has generated new heat for a number of acts, some more worthy and authentic than others.  The Wood Brothers fall solidly into the former camp, being the project of brothers Oliver and Chris  Wood, who pursued separate music interests (Chris with the legendary NYC jazz unit Medeski, Martin & Wood, Oliver as a guitarist for bluesman Tinsley Ellis and later with the band King Johnson) before coming together to perform the music they grew up with.  After playing to an audience of 900 the night before in Boston, the Brothers hit the cozier Bowery Ballroom here in New York on a Friday night for a very, very sold out show so packed that folks were three- or four-deep on the balcony.  This nearly two-hour show, played as a single set, showed what makes The Wood Brothers so special – stylistic range, a flair for entertainment, skill at their instruments, and a sound that respects its source material.  Indeed, the Brothers’ vision for this band hasn’t been to slavishly clone one genre, but to create a sound that shows their deep knowledge across American music of the last two centuries.  Thus, songs like “Atlas” have a gospel-country feel, while songs like “Spirit” and “Twisted” marry that country twang with electric blues.  Then there are the rockers – especially popular on a Friday night – like “Honey Spoon”.  The Brothers also paused mid-set for a quiet pair of songs performed in the old bluegrass tradition, with the performers surrounding a single onstage microphone.  Even with the amount of money Bowery was making at the bar that night, the crowd paused the revelry long enough to respect a lovely rendition of “Muse” and another new song I did not know.

Fittingly, the band was touring to support their 2012 live record, available now as a two-volume LP package entitled Vol. 1: Sky High and Vol. 2: Nail and Tooth.  We saw many of those songs played here, along with several numbers that should be on their way for the band’s next LP (if you can identify some of the titles I didn’t know, please assist).  This set arguably peaked with three songs that are on the live record, when they followed their classic “Luckiest Man” with an extended jam on “One More Day”, and went into “Glad”.  After that, just before the encore, we got a duo of “sweet” songs in “Chocolate On My Tongue” and “Shoo Fly Pie”.  The set easily could have ended there, but the Brothers went ahead and treated us to a double encore anyway, in the form of a cover of the country classic “Fox On the Run” and the defiant closer, a cover of Allen Touissant’s “Get Out of My Life Woman”.  The band left the stage and headed down to the Bowery Ballroom bar to chat with fans and sign newly-bought copies of their records. The Wood Brothers are that type of band.

Download the complete show on the Live Music Archive: [MP3] | [FLAC]

The Wood Brothers
2013-03-01
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Schoeps MK41 (DINa, balcony, ROC)>KCY>Z-PFA>Roland R-26>24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (pan R channel slightly)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ)>Audacity (set fades, tracking, additional EQ, amplify, balance, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time: 1:49:56]
01 [intro]
02 Sing
03 Keep Me Around
04 Atlas
05 [banter1]
06 Mary Anna
07 Smoke Ring Halo
08 [banter2]
09 Spirit
10 Twisted
11 [banter3]
12 Postcards From Hell
13 [unknown1]
14 Honey Spoon
15 [banter4]
16 Muse
17 [banter5]
18 [unknown2]
19 Little Liza Jane
20 [banter6]
21 Luckiest Man
22 One More Day>jam>One More Day
23 Glad
24 [banter7]
25 Chocolate On My Tongue
26 Shoo Fly Pie
27 [encore break 1]
28 Fox On the Run [Allen Touissant]
29 [encore break 2]
30 Get Out of My Life Woman

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT The Wood Brothers, visit their website, and buy their records and merchandise from their official store [HERE]

William Tyler: September 6 and 7, 2012 Hopscotch Festival (2 performances!) – FLAC / MP3 / Streaming

September 13, 2012
By


[Photo from the Three Lobed/WXDU show by Abby Nardo. All rights reserved.]

The Nashville-based guitarist William Tyler was everywhere during this year’s Hopscotch Music Festival. Much like improviser-in-residence Chris Corsano, festivalgoers might see Tyler pop onstage with any number of bands – and we saw his join several, including Megafaun and Hiss Golden Messenger, as well as his own Lambchop. But folks also know Tyler as a solo artist of some renown, especially after his 2010 full length, Behold the Spirit.  Tyler’s playing runs the gamut of influences, from American-style finger picking to Indian ragas, and any given show of his is likely to wow even the most seasoned veteran of the instrument.

I first saw Tyler last year at Glasslands,  and was excited to catch two additional sets at Hopscotch down in Raleigh, NC. The first, an intimate performance on a tiny upstairs stage of the Raleigh restaurant and bar Busy Bee, was a mostly-different setlist than the 2011 show we saw, and included the new song “Oahspe” from Tyler’s 2012 seven-inch release. Any chance to witness Tyler’s virtuosity on his instrument is a can’t-miss, so I was thrilled that my friend Cory Rayborn had managed to book Tyler as part of his Three Lobed Recordings/WXDU Day Show the following day at the Raleigh venue King’s Barcade. That shorter set reprised “Oahspe” plus “Crystal Palace, Sea of Glass”, “Tears and Saints” and “Impossible Truth”. Tyler was clearly among friends at the day show, which was full with like-minded musicians from various corners of the avant-Americana galaxy and beyond. I would not be surprised to find Tyler himself as a future “improviser in residence” given what we saw here.

I recorded the Busy Bee set with a very simple stereo recorder placed in front of Tyler onstage, and the Three Lobed/WXDU show with Schoeps MK5 microphones in the omnidirectional setting onstage, plus a soundboard feed provided by the outstanding engineers at King’s.  Both are excellent renditions of their respective performances. Enjoy!

Stream “Cult of the Peacock Angel” from Busy Bee:

Stream “Oahspe” from the Three Lobed/WXDU show:

Direct downloads:

Busy Bee MP3 files [HERE] | Busy Bee FLAC files [HERE]

Three Lobed/WXDU MP3 files [HERE] | Three Lobed/WXDU FLAC files [HERE]

If the FLAC link is no longer working, email nyctaper for the FLAC files

Check out all of NYCTaper’s Hopscotch Festival recordings

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Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense. The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission. Please respect our request.


[Photo from Busy Bee by PJ Sykes]

William Tyler
2012-09-06
Hopscotch Music Festival
The Hive at Busy Bee
Raleigh, NC USA

Recorded and produced by acidjack

Tascam DR-40 (internal mics, onstage, ORTF)>24bit/48kHz WAV>Audacity (set fades, tracking, DR compression, amplify, balance, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Tears and Saints
02 Impossible Truth
03 [banter]
04 Oahspe
05 Missionary Ridge
06 [banter]
07 Cult of the Peacock Angel
08 A Portrait of Sarah

________________________

William Tyler
2012-09-07
Three Lobed/WXDU Day Show
King’s
Raleigh, NC USA

Recorded and produced by acidjack

Soundboard + Schoeps MK5 (omni, onstage, split)>KC5>CMC6>>Edirol R-44 [OCM]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Audition CS 5.5 (mixdown)>Audacity (set fades, tracking, amplify, balance, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 [intro]
02 Oahspe
03 Tears and Saints
04 Impossible Truth
05 Crystal Palace, Sea of Glass

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT William Tyler, visit his website, and purchase Behold the Spirit from Amazon or your favorite retailer. Find more information about Three Lobed Recordings [HERE]

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