Posts Tagged ‘ live music ’

Yo La Tengo: October 10, 2015 Kings Theatre

October 18, 2015

[Photos courtesy of P Squared Photography]

A Yo La Tengo show in New York always feels like a family affair, even if held in the sprawling, gorgeous new Kings Theatre in Flatbush, Brooklyn. (If you haven’t seen this space, it’s so spectacular that it might make the Beacon Theater blush). This tour’s format — an all-acoustic performance that highlights the band’s recent partial-covers album, Stuff Like That There — also lent it that air, as the band clustered together with ample space to spare, surrounded by artwork made by friends and family, plus the friends and family staring back at them from the audience. With this band, you can always count on the unexpected, so while of course they played their new “single,” a cover of The Cure’s “Friday, I’m In Love,” along with other highlights of the record like their covers of Darlene McCrea’s “My Heart’s Not In It” and Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Butchie’s Tune,” and the brand-new songs “Rickety” and “Awhileaway,” their set was more surprises than sure things.

I’d assume the band’s longtime friends in Antietam were floating around in the audience somewhere, so Yo La Tengo rewarded us with a cover of that band’s “Naples.” Okay, fine, maybe one would have anticipated that — but who would have thought the band would follow the ultra-quiet new number “Awhileaway” with a cover of the Minutemen’s “Corona”? And later, as if in a nod to us noiseniks who can’t live without the band’s extended improvisational songs, they gave us an acoustic version of “Pass the Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind.” Of course, Stuff Like That There isn’t the band’s first covers-based album, so they of course had to take us back to the Fakebook days, including an excellent rendition of “Yellow Sarong” by The Scene Is Now. “Our Way To Fall” was as lovely as always, ending the main set on a subtle note. Of course the band came back, and of course it was with another excellent cover, this time Devo’s “Bottled Up,” with James taking his first vocal turn of the night. But the show’s final two numbers that will probably go down as its key moments, as the night’s opener, the famed English musician and songwriter Nick Lowe, joined the band for “Walk Away Renee” and his own song, “Rollers Show.”

As Georgia Hubley handles the vocals on many of the band’s quiet numbers, this format gave her a more prominent role. Added to the band’s arsenal for this tour is longtime partner Dave Schramm on second guitar, while James McNew ably tackled the stand-up bass. The soft/loud dynamic has traditionally been as essential to this band’s sound as their encyclopedic music knowledge, so the choice of an all-acoustic show — following a 2014 tour that had one full acoustic set before the “loud” second set — is a bit of a detour, but I can’t say I’m surprised that it worked. We’ll call this journey to the mellower side of YLT an unqualified success.

I recorded this set with the invaluable assistance of the band’s engineer Mark Luecke and the Kings Theatre staff. The recording is Mark’s mix combined with Schoeps MK41V microphones, and the sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Download the complete set: [MP3/FLAC/Apple Lossless]

Stream the complete set:

Yo La Tengo
2015-10-10
Kings Theatre
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Soundboard (engineer: Mark Luecke) + Schoeps MK41V>KCY>Z-PFA>>Edirol R-44>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (patch first song, align, mix down, amplify, balance)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, image)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Special thanks to Mark Luecke for his assistance and the patched audience portion of the first song.

Tracks
01 Tried So Hard [Gene Clark]*
02 Automatic Doom [Special Pillow]
03 Rickety
04 My Heart’s Not In It [Darlene McCrea]
05 Double Dare
06 Naples [Antietam]
07 Deeper Into Movies
08 Butchie’s Tune [Lovin’ Spoonful]
09 Awhileaway
10 Corona [Minutemen]
11 Today Is the Day
12 Pass The Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind
13 Can’t Forget
14 [banter]
15 Here Comes My Baby [Cat Stevens]
16 Friday I’m In Love [The Cure]
17 Yellow Sarong [The Scene Is Now]
18 Ohm
19 Our Way To Fall
20 [encore break/artwork intro]
21 Bottled Up [Devo]
22 [Nick Lowe intro]
23 Walk Away Renee [The Left Banke]&
24 Rollers Show [Nick Lowe]&

* no soundboard for first 1:20; audience mics are patched from the band’s source
& with Nick Lowe

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Yo La Tengo, visit their website, and buy Stuff Like That There and their many other fine releases from Matador Records.

Ryley Walker: October 9, 2015 Rough Trade NYC (Tompkins Square 10th Anniversary)

October 16, 2015

By acidjack

[photos by Jill Harrison]

For the past decade, Tompkins Square Records has pursued the dual missions of enlightening listeners about the current state of folk and guitar music, as well as unearthing underappreciated classics, such as John Hulburt’s Opus III, compilations of gospel songs, and Harry Taussig’s Fate Is Only Once. But on the first side of that slate — current artists — is where Tompkins Square has stood out the most, offering up records by Daniel Bachman, Shawn David McMillen, and last year’s Grammy-nominated set of music from respected folk singer Alice Gerrard. The biggest single breakout, though, might be Ryley Walker, of Chicago, whose debut album the label released back in 2014. From there, things moved fast, with Walker blowing our minds at a full-band appearance at Hopscotch, releasing his second album, Primrose Green, in 2015 (and a live album with Bill MacKay in August), and ending up on the roster of, among others, the Pitchfork Music Festival, Levitation, and Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival. As followers of this site know, we’ve seen him a slew of times since that Hopscotch show, each revealing new songs and new dimensions of his style.

Fitting, then, that Ryley and his band would headline Tompkins Square’s tenth-anniversary celebration, at the top of a bill that also featured living legend Michael Chapman and the rediscovered D.C. folk musician Bob Brown, playing his first show in 30 years. Ryley said at the outset that he and his band didn’t deserve to be headlining over such company, and even if that wasn’t necessarily true, they certainly were the young guns among their peers. What followed that introduction was a sprawling, hour-plus set consisting of just four songs, all of them non-album material, two of them brand new to us. The band began with “The Roundabout,” a fitting metaphor for a song about possibilities that can just as easily turn into inertia. After that came the night’s sprawling centerpiece, “Sullen Mind,” which we first heard at Le Poisson Rouge back in June. This time, the song became a 25-minute showcase for the band and Ryley’s talents, the natural interplay among them obvious they grinned visibly at the transitions. “Funny Thing She Said” continued in that vein, giving sax man Levon Henry a showcase for his talents before Ryley even got to the first verse. This and “Sullen Mind” underscore how far Walker has come since even that 2014 Hopscotch performance; if one were inclined to accuse him of being a “traditional” folk musician, or some kind of tribute act for Van Morrison and the classics, his recent performances throw those assumptions out the window. What Walker is attempting here is something entirely different, and something that’s a total stranger to the Civil War-wave garbage that passes for modern folk or “indie” music on most stages these days. That he has already attempted it on the biggest stages, such as at Pitchfork, further proves that Walker isn’t taking the easy, commercial way here. More power to him.

After begging from the audience, the band closed with an even-newer tune, “The Great and Undecided,” a slightly more traditional number (so far) that we’re excited to hear develop. As Ryley enlightened us at the outset of this show, Tompkins Square has been delivering “sick nugs” for ten years now. I feel confident saying Ryley Walker will keep doing the same. He represents the best of the future, as well as the past.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed from engineer Dustin Meyers together with Schoeps MK4V microphones. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Download the complete show: [MP3] | [FLAC] | [Apple Lossless]

Stream the complete show (note: banter tracks removed. Enjoy them on the download versions):

Ryley Walker
2015-10-09
Rough Trade NYC
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Soundboard (engineer: Dustin Myers) + Schoeps MK4V (PAS, FOB)>KC5>CMC6>>Edirol R-44>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, fades, compression, limiter)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, imaging, effects)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 1:05:05]
01 [intro banter]
02 The Roundabout
03 Sullen Mind
04 [tuning]
05 Funny Thing She Said
06 [encore break]
07 The Great and Undecided

Band:
Ryley Walker
Ben Boye – Keys
Brian Sulpizio – Guitar
Anton Hatwich – Bass
Ryan Jewell – Drums
Levon Henry – Sax

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Ryley Walker, like him on Facebook, and buy All Kinds of You and The West Wind EP on Tompkins Square and Primrose Green from Dead Oceans. Also, check out Ryley’s new acoustic live album with Bill MacKay, which you can stream and buy here.

The War on Drugs: October 8, 2015 Radio City Music Hall – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

October 11, 2015

By acidjack

[Photo courtesy of Ellen Qbertplaya]

This happened: About a year and seven months ago, in March of 2014, we attended back-to-back performances by The War on Drugs at Bowery Ballroom. Two of us from the site were backstage, where the band had been kind enough to invite us. Frontman Adam Granduciel was surrounded with well-wishers, seeming half-dazed from the adulation. He struck me as an unpretentious and genuinely kind person, nothing like typical “rock stars” of popular lore. Of course, he also wasn’t one yet. What followed a few minutes later was a conversation that has stayed with me since, as the founder of this site got a few minutes to talk to Adam, as he’d been doing since we saw his band take the stage as the opener at places like the Cameo Gallery and the Knitting Factory in Williamsburg. He basically laid out what was about to happen: the band’s popularity would explode, they would be a top draw at festivals around the world, they would be surrounded by new and different types of handlers, they would appear on late night TV shows, and, not far in the future, they would play a huge venue, like Terminal 5. Not to say that represents any unique power of prognostication or insight; to anyone who had watched the band play those shows at Bowery, who had heard Lost In the Dream and its connection to the American rock tradition in the vein of Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen, who could feel the energy oozing from the stage, it should have been clear. The person who seemed most surprised, that night, was Granduciel himself.

The album that made it all happen, Lost In the Dream, prompts even bigger questions than its words themselves ask. How good can you be? Is burrowing deep inside yourself until you’ve turned yourself inside out, hurt and insecurities and questions all on display, apt to give you even more anxiety, or free you from it? Granduciel famously struggled through making this record, a long-term personal project on which he recorded the instruments himself. That period found him dealing with bouts of depression, paranoia and self-doubt, which you can hear all over the record. As Granduciel said in one interview, at one point he found himself, 33 years old and alone, realizing music was all he had. Wondering if this body of work would be finished. If it would be enough.

So maybe it’s not surprising that, even after those two very successful performances, Granduciel didn’t quite believe what was about to happen. But in reality, our prediction ended up undershooting the band’s success by a little. Because, after signing to Atlantic Records, ending up in tabloids, playing the Tonight Show, Kimmel, and Letterman (again), and headlining (soon) or high-billing at a slew of festivals, here they were, back in New York City, not at the 3,000 capacity Terminal 5, but at a true institution, Radio City Music Hall, with a capacity more than twice that. And from the opening notes, you knew that all that love and confidence that had come at them over the past 19 months wasn’t misplaced. These broad stages are where Granduciel’s sound belongs, even if his to-this-day humble, honest, everyman persona doesn’t scream for attention the way his peers’ often do. Tonight’s setlist itself was a sign of the band’s own confidence; rather than kick off with the best-known Lost In A Dream stuff, the band led with “Arms Like Boulders” from 2008’s Wagonwheel Blues, probably owned by a fraction of this crowd, followed by “Baby Missiles” from Slave Ambient. Hearing these songs in this setting, with this band, it’s easier to connect the dots from those albums to Lost In the Dream — while the band’s big breakthrough had much more slick production, the roots of that big-tent sound have always been there. From the day Granduciel started this thing, The War On Drugs have been awesome, and they have been big.

Granduciel’s family was in the audience, and what a joy this must have been for them. Judging by the number of shoutouts and dedications, there were quite a few friends and family there to witness this, as there ought to have been. As they always do, The War On Drugs gave this crowd their all for the full 100 minutes, and the setlist proved surprising at a few points. Sure, we got the ecstatic one-two-three of Lost In the Dream’s best songs — “Red Eyes,” “Eyes to the Wind,” and “Under the Pressure” — but that came about mid-set. After a bit more of Lost In the Dream came a new cover we haven’t heard, Ron Wood’s “Mystifies Me,” which paused mid-song for a dedication to drummer Charlie Hall and his wife, Ann. The main set closed on a mellow note, ending with “Lost In the Dream.” Sometimes it seems strange that such melancholy songs have become such crowd-pleasers. But then, it’s not hard to identify with their sentiments, particularly on Lost In the Dream — that search for something better, the suspicion, but not quite resignation, that the best things have passed. You keep your eyes up, you keep going, and you try to miss what is gone without letting it take you over. To me, it’s always been “Under the Pressure,” the album opener, that sums this part of this band’s story up: that iconic keyboard melody, soaring over the lyrics about being under the pressure, trying not to crack. But even in that first, ecstatic “whoo!” at the beginning, you know that this song is about hope. You know the narrator will make it, even he doesn’t sound so sure.

For an encore, we got probably band’s biggest pre-Lost In the Dream tune, “Brothers,” followed by the Wagonwheel Blues number “Buenos Aires Beach” to finish the night. It seems fitting that the set was bookended with songs from an earlier, simpler time in this band’s cycle. From here on out, The War On Drugs’ world will be something else entirely, as major recording artists on a roster that’s played home to bands like AC/DC and Led Zeppelin. Whatever comes after Lost In the Dream, the weight of expectations on that record will be felt like never before. We don’t know what it will sound like, but we do know that Granduciel has proven up to the greatness that’ll be asked of him. He deserves this, all of it.

This set was recorded with Schoeps MK41V supercardiod microphones to maximize rejection of extra noise and focus on the music. The sound quality is excellent for an audience recording in this venue. Enjoy!

The War On Drugs are on their way to the West Coast to play the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, followed by headlining the Treasure Island Music Festival in San Francisco. Catch them out there.

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

Stream the complete set from the Live Music Archive:

The War On Drugs
2015-10-08
Radio City Music Hall
New York, NY USA

Schoeps MK41V>tinybox v2(OT)>Sony PCM-M10>24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, image, exciter, compression)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 1:39:18]
01 Arms Like Boulders
02 Baby Missiles
03 Comin’ Through
04 An Ocean in Between the Waves
05 Disappearing
06 Red Eyes
07 Eyes To the Wind>
08 Under the Pressure>
09 In Reverse
10 Burning
11 Mystifies Me [Ron Wood]
12 The Animator>Come To the City
13 Lost in the Dream
[encore break removed]
14 Brothers
15 Buenos Aires Beach

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT The War on Drugs, visit their website, and buy Lost In the Dream from Secretly Canadian.

The Vibekillers: September 12, 2015 Hopscotch Music Festival (Raleigh, NC) – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

September 29, 2015

By acidjack

I guess you have to call Raleigh, NC’s The Vibekillers a bar band — their most frequent haunt is, after all, Slim’s in downtown Raleigh, which is a bar. But give a listen to this set, and see that they are so much more than that. And, despite their protestations to the contrary, they make the vibes just fine, thank you. These guys are real players; for example, frontman Chip Robinson hails from the legendary Raleigh band The Backsliders and Skillet Gilmore, the drummer was in Whiskeytown. Hopscotch Music Festival has always respected the local scene, and having this crew kick off the main stage on the festival’s final night was the perfect way to do that. This set consists of well-rendered covers for the most part, including an outstanding version of Dylan’s “I & I” and The Jim Carroll Band’s “The People Who Died.” The festival’s final night had just begun, but the vibe was already right.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed and Audio Technica 4051 microphones. The sound quality is reflective of being outdoors, but is overall quite good. Enjoy!

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

Stream the complete show:

The Vibekillers
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
01 Paradise [Alejandro Escovedo]
02 So Old [Jeff Hart]
03 One of the Boys [Mott The Hoople]
04 I & I [Bob Dylan]
05 The Contenders [The Kinks]
06 Mylow [Chip Robinson]
07 People Who Died [The Jim Carroll Band]

Support the Vibekillers: Facebook

Joan Shelley: February 12, 2015 Union Pool – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

September 4, 2015

By acidjack

Joan Shelley released her excellent new album, Over and Even, today on No Quarter Records. For many, this will be their first time hearing these new songs, unless you checked in with NPR last week. However, the crowd on this chilly night at Union Pool back in February had almost everyone beat by several months, as Shelley decided to use this performance to show off a majority of the new album.

The Kentucky-based singer-songwriter first came to wider attention with her previous effort, Electric Ursa, but it was evident from the get-go that the new songs represent a further refinement of her craft and acknowledgment, but not a caving to, pop sensibility. The extra-approachable riff of the album’s title track sets the tone for the rest of the material, making it no surprise that Stereogum made it an “Album of the Week.” In doing so, they pointed out that Over and Even is more about the setting of a mood than any specific turn of phrase or even specific song, and that’s not a negative. The new work, even in its fledgling form on this night, shows incredible consistency, with each number feeling a bit like an old song you’re being introduced to for the first time. It’s a pastoral, flawlessly crafted album that holds your attention as it takes its time to unfold.

Shelley was joined for this show not only by regular collaborator Nathan Salsburg — a force on the guitar in his own right — as well as Glen Dentinger on bass. Site favorite Nathan Bowles also made an appearance, and he’s always a welcome presence on any stage. None of that can distract from the main event, of course, which is Shelley’s voice and her presence, both of which manage to be delicate but resolute. What Shelley’s live show drives home is just how spare and right her album’s production is, as there is clearly little she needs to embellish what’s already there. As good as the new songs are, Electric Ursa got its due during the show as well, with the title track of that album closing out the night, and one of its most approachable songs, “Something Small,” providing a welcome dose of recognition mid-set. As requested by Joan’s label, we’ve held back this recording until the release of Over and Even, and are thrilled to be able to share this performance on its release day.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed from Union Pool engineer Rob, together with Schoeps MK41 microphones. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

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

Stream the complete set:

Joan Shelley
2015-02-12
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Soundboard (engineer: Rob) + Schoeps MK41 (PAS)>KCY>Z-PFA>Sound Devices USBPre2 >> Edirol R-44 [OCM]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (fades, compression, mix down)>Izotope Ozone 5 (effects, exciter)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 47:00]
01 Brighter Than the Blues
02 Wine and Honey
03 River Low
04 [banter1]
05 Over and Even *
06 Something Small
07 [banter2]
08 Stay on My Shore
09 Easy Now
10 [banter3]
11 Not Over By Half
12 Electric Ursa

Band
Joan Shelley – vocals
Nathan Salsburg – guitar
Glen Dentinger – bass
* Nathan Bowles – guitar

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Joan Shelley, visit her website, and buy Over and Even from No Quarter Records.

Wilco: August 1, 2015 Gathering of the Vibes (Bridgeport, CT) – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

August 3, 2015

By acidjack

[screenshot from this YouTube video]

Wilco has wowed this summer in a few ways — first with their exceptional Solid Sound acoustic performance (which we captured here), then with the surprise free release of Star Wars, easily their finest album in ten years. Here at Gathering of the Vibes on the Bridgeport seaside, the band built on the momentum they created with their full-album performance of Star Wars back at Pitchfork Music Festival with another full-album run through, followed by some of the band’s best-known songs as well as the rarity “Laminated Cat.” As a special treat, Warren Haynes, he of every single guest appearance at northeastern jam festivals, joined for “California Stars” along with Joe Russo to close things out. But lest you think this was a standard-issue performance, Jeff Tweedy and co., buoyed by the presence of Nels Cline, turned even the older tunes into noisier, edgier renditions than we’ve seen recently, perhaps alienating some of this festival’s core audience, but proving that Wilco is returning to what made Yankee Hotel Foxtrot their true landmark album, and what marks them as so much bigger than being the “dad rock” of their detractors. Star Wars has proven that this band has many more good years ahead, and we’ll be thrilled to be a part of them.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK4V microphones in the taper’s section. While distance and being outdoors always impact sound quality, overall this is an excellent effort. Enjoy!

Download the complete set: [MP3] | [FLAC]
Please be kind and do not repost the direct download links.

Stream the complete set (note: the first track is intro music and was played at lower volume than the set itself):

Wilco
2015-08-01
Gathering of the Vibes
Seaside Park
Bridgeport, CT USA

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

Schoeps MK4V (PAS)>KC5>CMC6>Edirol R-44>24bit/48kHz WAV>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects)>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (fades, compression)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 1:52:46]
01 EKG (intro)
02 More…
03 Random Name Generator
04 The Joke Explained
05 You Satellite
06 Taste the Ceiling
07 Pickled Ginger
08 Where Do I Begin
09 Cold Slope
10 King of You
11 Magnetized
12 Handshake Drugs
13 Kamera
14 I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
15 Art of Almost
16 Via Chicago
17 Shouldn’t Be Ashamed
18 Walken
19 I’m the Man Who Loves You
20 Jesus, Etc.
21 Born Alone>
22 Laminated Cat (aka Not For the Season)
23 Impossible Germany
24 Passenger Side
25 [encore break]
26 California Stars*

* w/ Warren Haynes & Joe Russo

If you download this recording from NYCTaper we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Wilco, visit their website, and purchase their Star Wars and their other releases from their website [HERE].

Föllakzoid: May 23, 2015 Rough Trade – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

May 27, 2015

By acidjack

The Chilean band Föllakzoid have a habit of latching you into their deep grooves and not letting up, each song building like a little universe around monotones to create pieces that fall squarely in the post-Krautrock camp. The artist Uwe Schmidt, better known as Atom TM, joined the band for their brand new record, III, and the electronic influence was evident at this show, as the band created trancelike numbers that lent themselves as much to dancing as to chilling out. There are hints of U.S.-based compatriots like Moon Duo here, but this music comes across are more beat-focused and less “rock.”

This show at Rough Trade marked a relatively rare return by the band to the U.S., and that was emphasized by the long line to get in the door. Some were no doubt there early to see Jim Jarmusch and Jozef van Wissem’s Squrl take the stage first, but the crowd only filled in further by the time Föllakzoid took the stage. From single, flickering beats, “Electric” grew into the roiling kickoff track from III that we’ve all come to love, followed by that album’s centerpiece, “Piure.” By the time those two songs ended, the show was already thirty-two minutes in. Those hoping for standard “psychedelic” fare might have wondered what they had walked into at that point; fortunately, the people here got it, and started dancing. From there, they turned back to their excellent previous effort, II, for the last four songs — “99,” “9,” “Trees,” and “Rivers.” The set’s intensity peaked at “Trees,” which felt like the biggest rock number of the bunch, making “Rivers” and its slightly more subdued pace the right way to go out. We hope these guys will be back soon.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK4V cardiod microphones and a soundboard feed from Rough Trade engineer Kameron Biehl. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

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

Stream the complete show:

Föllakzoid
2015-05-23
Rough Trade NYC
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Schoeps MK4V (inside SBD cage, PAS)>KCY>Z-PFA + Soundboard [Engineer: Kameron Biehl] >> Roland R-26>2x24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, compression, fades)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, exciter)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 75:26]
01 Electric
02 Piure
03 99
04 9
05 Trees
06 Rivers

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Föllakzoid, like them on Facebook, and buy their records from Sacred Bones.

Worthless: May 6, 2015 Knitting Factory – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

May 21, 2015

By acidjack

Don’t freak out if you slap the new Worthless LP, All My Friends Are Stone, on the turntable and think your deck has a speed problem. All those sonic contortions are just the band fuckin’ with yr head, man. The LP has already garnered a cult following (look at what the freaky version is going for on Discogs) and there’s a good reason why. This show at the Knitting Factory, a near-seamless presentation that began with the song “Rips”, wound its way back to it during the set, and then closed with it, was a fresh take on improvisational psychedelic rock with a distinct style. Though tonight’s show didn’t feature any visuals, Worthless is the project of Curtis Godino of the incredible Drippy Eye Projections, a crew whose all-analog liquid light shows make every show memorable. Although they are geographically spread out (Florida and Brooklyn) — and haven’t been a proper “band” for that long — Worthless feels every bit the veteran unit, a big, organ-driven sound poised to melt minds at places like “Levitation” (or as I still prefer to call it, Austin Psych Fest). All of these songs appeared to be new (or at least, don’t make an appearance on any of their bandcamp stuff), and I dug the lot of them, especially “Daydreaming Your Life Away”. Their name may be what it is, but there’s nothing worthless about this band. Keep paying attention.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK41V microphones and a soundboard feed from the Knit engineer Mikey. There are a couple of brief moments where you can hear me adjusting the microphones in the first couple of minutes, but it’s smooth sailing after that. Enjoy!

Catch Worthless again on May 29 at King’s County Saloon.

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

Stream the complete show:

Worthless
2015-05-06
Knitting Factory
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Soundboard (engineer: Mikey) + Schoeps MK41V (PAS)>KCY>Z-PFA>Sound Devices USBPre2>>Edirol R-44 [OCM]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, compression)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, imaging)>Audacity 2.0.3 (fades, track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [forgive the tracking; the transitions aren’t always obvious]
01 Rips>
02 Daydreaming Your Life Away>
03 Rips interlude>
04 What’s the Ugliest Part of Your Body>
05 Something Something>
06 Fast Fed>
07 Rips

If you enjoyed this recording, please support Worthless, visit their bandcamp page, and buy All My Friends Are Stone.

Acid Mothers Temple: May 6, 2015 Knitting Factory – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

May 11, 2015

By acidjack

Acid Mothers Temple’s yearly trip to New York has become a similarly regular event for this site, as we’ve caught almost every New York tour since 2010. The Japanese psychedelic rock veterans continue to get better, combining their can’t-miss material with fresh, bizarre and different new explorations of sound. This night at the Knitting Factory (the first of two in NYC, both of which we covered) found the band ready to put on a high-octane show, crossing-guitars in the air, banging their heads, and making jokes. The brand-new “Benzaiten”, from their 2015 CD, is an instant classic, starting with harder, almost-metal tones before veering into free-jazz-like Japanese folk. The band played a total of eight songs (counting one jam number and an as-yet-unnamed new song) that stretched the 90 minutes-plus to the limit. For the first time since I’ve seen them, the band closed out on “Cometary Orbital Drive”, which came on the heels of a spaced-out new jam number. “Cometary” is one of my favorite songs from the band’s catalog, and it made for a perfect way to end the night.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed from the Knit engineer Mikey, together with Schoeps MK41V supercardiod microphones. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

This show is hosted on the Live Music Archive. Here’s its page there. The Thursday night show at Mercury Lounge will be up soon.

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

Stream the complete set:

Acid Mothers Temple
2015-05-06
Knitting Factory
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Tracks [Total Time: 1:34:34]
01 Dark Star Blues, aka Dark Star Blues In the Dazzling Sky
02 Benzaiten
03 Jam>
04 Pink Lady Lemonade>
05 Om Riff>
06 Pink Lady Lemonade
07 [new]>
08 Cometary Orbital Drive

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Acid Mothers Temple, visit their website, and buy their records here.

Waxahatchee: April 9, 2015 Music Hall of Williamsburg – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

April 16, 2015

By acidjack

[photos by Jill Harrison]

We last saw Waxahatchee, aka Katie Crutchfield, in the least ideal of circumstances, after Hurricane Sandy had prevented her band from joining her for the Don Giovanni showcase at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Nonetheless, she played a memorable, vulnerable impromptu solo set that captivated us and had a lot of fans. Now, in 2015, she was back at MHOW with a full band that included her twin sister, Allison (of Swearin‘) and Ashley Arnwine of Bleeding Rainbow and Pinkish, who brought the musical skill to bring her songs to life. An Alabama native, Crutchfield took off with her second album, Cerulean Salt, but it should be her recent Merge Records release, Ivy Tripp, that takes her to the next level, giving her both the biggest sound, and the biggest exposure for it, yet. This show was way sold out, and I suspect that’ll be a trend.

This show kicked off with one of Ivy Tripp‘s best songs, “Breathless”, followed by a more rocking track from that album, “Under A Rock”. From there, the band jumped primarily between the last two albums, including a fiery “Waiting” and the leadoff single to Ivy Tripp, “Air”. Crutchfield’s strength lies in both the phrasing and style of her voice as well as her vocal content; she’s not afraid for her audience to actually hear what she has to say. Her songs can cut you to the quick; they’re personal, rich, and forceful.

In addition to more muscular full-band numbers, Waxahatchee didn’t shy from returning to her solo roots, performing an encore that included two of the standout tracks from her first record, “Grass Stain” and “Noccalula”, along with new track “Summer of Love”. She may have come a long way from her lo-fi solo roots, but what makes Crutchfield great hasn’t changed.

hi and lo recorded this set with Neumann KM140 cardiod microphones and a soundboard feed (please provide the engineer’s name if you’ve got it). The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

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

Stream the complete set:

Waxahatchee
2015-04-09
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by hi and lo

Soundboard (???) + Neumann AK40 > LC3 > PFA > Sonosax SX-M2 >> Sound Devices 744T @ 24 Bit / 48 kHz >> Izotope Ozone 5 (effects) >> Audacity 2.0.3 ( final edits and tracking ) >> FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 55:07]
01 Breathless
02 Under A Rock>
03 Misery Over Dispute
04 Lips and Limbs
05 Waiting
06 Less Than
07 The Dirt
08 Lively
09 Poison
10 Brother Bryan
11 Blue
12 Air>
13 Air
14 Coast To Coast
15 La Loose
16 Peace and Quiet
17 Bonfire
18 [encore break]
19 Grass Stain
20 Summer of Love
21 Noccalula

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Waxahatchee, visit her website, and buy Ivy Tripp here.

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Yo La Tengo: October 10, 2015 Kings Theatre

Ryley Walker: October 9, 2015 Rough Trade NYC (Tompkins Square 10th Anniversary)

The War on Drugs: October 8, 2015 Radio City Music Hall – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

The Vibekillers: September 12, 2015 Hopscotch Music Festival (Raleigh, NC) – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

Joan Shelley: February 12, 2015 Union Pool – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

Wilco: August 1, 2015 Gathering of the Vibes (Bridgeport, CT) – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

Föllakzoid: May 23, 2015 Rough Trade – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

Worthless: May 6, 2015 Knitting Factory – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

Acid Mothers Temple: May 6, 2015 Knitting Factory – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

Waxahatchee: April 9, 2015 Music Hall of Williamsburg – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

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