Posts Tagged ‘ manhattan ’

Phish: July 29, 2017 – Madison Square Garden

August 3, 2017
By

While EricPH took less than twenty-four hours to post his recording of this show, I’ve taken way too long to make mine available and as a result I’m doing a new post and using the opportunity to gather some thoughts about these shows.

Its pretty amazing watching musical history in the making — as it happens. Now that the “Baker’s Dozen” Phish run at Madison Square Garden is more than halfway done, it has become apparent that this isn’t just a big run of shows at one venue but an event never quite seen before in musical history. The band has dedicated to making sure that no song is repeated during the entire run, created themes for each night, and playing against all of the expectations that come with a band that’s existed for longer than some of its fans have been alive. The first sets aren’t just single song play-throughs, the shorter songs can now be jam vehicles, and there’s no predictable place for a song in the setlist. Add to that a bunch of break-outs, rare numbers and first-time covers, and Phish has pretty much committed themselves to “Baker’s Dozen” perhaps becoming the bell-weather upon which to measure their lengthy career. And as this Uproxx article from earlier today notes, Phish has created a model for fan-friendly artist presentation that most bands with significant fan-bases should follow.

This Saturday night show had some serious highlights as noted by Eric’s review. There was the surprise first set closer of “Walrus”, the twenty-three minute second set opener “Blaze On” that might be the best version of that song the band has ever played, and the set closing Hood. I’ve also always been partial to the band’s goofy anthem “Meatstick” and this version was a hoot. Overall, it was just another prime show in a classic run and we’re lucky to be capturing two more of these nights this coming weekend. Stay tuned.

I recorded this in the exact same place and manner as the July 22 recording (first row taper’s section with cards) and the sound is equally excellent. Enjoy!

Download The Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Stream the Complete Show:

Phish
2017-07-29
Madison Square Garden
New York NY

Digital Master Recording
First Row Tapers Section

Schoeps CCM4u Cardioids > Sound Devices 744t > 24bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge (post production) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper

Setlist:
Set 1
[Total Time 1:16:54]
01 Llama
02 Wilson
03 Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan
04 Ya Mar [Cyril Ferguson]
05 Tela
06 The Birds
07 The Line
08 Water in the Sky
09 Vultures
10 Train Song
11 Horn
12 I Am the Walrus [Beatles]

Set 2:
[Total Time 1:21:51]
13 Blaze On
14 Twenty Years Later
15 Alumni Blues – Letter to Jimmy Page – Alumni Blues
16 Meatstick
17 Dirt
18 Harry Hood
19 [encore break]
20 Cinnamon Girl [Neil Young]

SUPPORT Phish: Website | Store

Phish: July 28, 2017 Madison Square Garden

July 29, 2017
By

The sixth night of Phish’s “Baker’s Dozen” shows at Madison Square Garden was thematically the “double chocolate” donut show. This presented some challenges for song selection as Phish’s vast catalog does not contain a song with the word “chocolate” in its title. But ultimately, in a run of never-ending surprises and first-time covers, Phish chose to open with the 2007 novelty one-hit wonder “Chocolate Rain” by Tay Zonday. The balance of the first set was comprised of fairly short dips through some obscure numbers (“Destiny Unbound”) and the classic material (“Divided Sky”), with the set-closing “Sand” perhaps the highlight of the eleven-song set.

The second set began with another acapella number (The Might Diamonds’ “Have Mercy”) before Phish launched into the first serious jam of the night—a tremendous “Chalkdust Torture.” The chocolate theme appeared again with a cover of Hot Chocolate’s “You Sexy Thing” with Mike on vocals. The second chance to jam was the segues between “Mercury,” “Sexy Thing Reprise” and an extended “Backwards” that ended the set in fine fashion. The encore segment closed with another acapella number, this time an inventive and entertaining version of Bowie’s “Space Oddity.”

Eric PH recorded this set with the AKG CK61’s mounted in the official taper’s section, while acidjack recorded with Schoeps MK4V on the same stand. The sound quality of both is excellent. Enjoy!

Download the complete Show [Schoeps source] [MP3/ALAC/FLAC16/FLAC24]

Download the Complete Show [AKG source] [MP3 / FLAC16 / FLAC24]

Stream the complete show (Schoeps source):

Stream the Complete Show (AKG Source):

Phish
2017-07-28
Madison Square Garden
New York, NY

The Baker’s Dozen

Recorded and produced by Eric PH for nyctaper.com

AKG C480B/CK61 (DIN, OTS, DFC) > Aerco MP-2 > Zoom F8 > WAV (24/48) > Adobe Audition CC (compression, normalize, fades) + Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, exciter) > Audacity 2.0.5 (tracking, tagging) > FLAC (24/48, level 8)

Set 1:
01. Chocolate Rain [Tay Zonday]
02. Ass Handed
03. Free
04. Weigh
05. Undermind
06. The Oh Gee Pa Ceremony
07. The Dogs
08. Destiny Unbound
09. The Divided Sky
10. Things People Do
11. Sand

Set 2:
12. Have Mercy [The Mighty Diamonds]
13. Chalk Dust Torture
14. You Sexy Thing [Hot Chocolate]
15. Mercury > You Sexy Thing
16. Backwards Down the Number Line
17. Rock & Roll [The Velvet Underground]
18. [encore break]
19. Fee
20. Space Oddity [David Bowie]

______________________

Phish
2017-07-28
Madison Square Garden
New York, NY

The Baker’s Dozen

Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Schoeps MK4V (PAS, OTS, DFC) > Sound Devices MixPre6 > WAV (24/48) > Adobe Audition CC (compression, normalize, fades) + Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, exciter) > Audacity 2.0.5 (tracking, tagging) > FLAC (24/48, level 8)

Set 1:
01 Chocolate Rain [Tay Zonday]
02 Ass Handed
03 Free
04 Weigh
05 Undermind
06 The Oh Kee Pah Ceremony
07 The Dogs
08 Destiny Unbound
09 The Divided Sky
10 Things People Do
11 Sand

Set 2:
12 Have Mercy [The Mighty Diamonds]
13 Chalk Dust Torture
14 You Sexy Thing [Hot Chocolate]
15 Mercury > You Sexy Thing
16 Backwards Down the Number Line
17 Rock & Roll [The Velvet Underground]
[encore break clipped]
18 Fee
19 Space Oddity [David Bowie]

SUPPORT Phish: Website | Store

Phish: July 22, 2017 Madison Square Garden

July 23, 2017
By

Phish’s “Baker’s Dozen” at Madison Square Garden is an ambitious concert series that promises an unmatched level of musicianship and inventiveness never before seen in the history of the City’s “Most Famous Arena”. We’ve attended many shows at this formidable arena over the years, but never a series that offered such unique treats. The “Bakers” part of the equation has been taken quite seriously — we were met at the gates of the venue by the gift of a strawberry donut for Saturday night’s show. And this was no coincidence. The theme for this night’s show appeared immediately as Phish’s never-before cover of the Beatles “Strawberry Fields Forever” opened the night.

The first set for Saturday followed another development evident throughout the band’s Summer tour — first sets have become serious jam vehicles no longer relegated to straight song play-throughs. And on this night we were treated to an extended “Moma Dance” and a Page McConnell solo piece to complete the “Squirming Coil” set closer that portended unique events to come. The second set began with a lengthy “Down With Disease” which led into the night’s second major surprise — a cover of the thematically appropriate Brothers Johnson’s “Strawberry Letter 23”. This late-70s psychedelic funk piece offered a perfect vehicle for Phish to exercise its chops. The remainder of the second set followed the pattern for the evening as the band played extended versions of crowd favorites. The encore segment struck home in particular as Phish played a local favorite — The Talking Heads classic “Cities”, among a series of inventive covers. We were met upon the exit of the venue with a downpour of rain that perhaps dampened the night temporarily but given our advantageous taper’s section spot, wasn’t a killjoy for very long. This is uploaded as fast as I can these days, and I hope you enjoy a primo recording of a first-rate Phish show, with many more to come.

We will be attending at least four more Phish shows during this run. Stay tuned.

I recorded this set with the Schoeps cards mounted at twelve feet in the first row of the Taper’s Section. The band’s sound crew did a terrific job in this arena and sound quality is superb. Enjoy!

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Stream the Complete Show:

Phish
2017-07-22
Madison Square Garden
New York NY

Digital Master Recording
First Row Tapers Section

Schoeps CCM4u Cardioids > Sound Devices 744t > 24bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge (post production) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper

Setlist:
Set 1
[Total Time 1:22:03]
01 Strawberry Fields Forever [Beatles]
02 Halley’s Comet
03 The Moma Dance
04 Breath and Burning
05 Funky Bitch [Son Seals]
06 Mound
07 Foam
08 Roggae
09 The Squirming Coil

Set 2
[Total Time 1:22:42]
10 Down With Disease
11 Strawberry Letter 23 [Brothers Johnson]
12 Birds of a Feather
13 I Always Wanted It This Way
14 All of These Dreams
15 Split Open and Melt
16 Down With Disease Reprise
17 Shine a Light [Rolling Stones]
18 [encore break]
19 Peaches en Regalia [Zappa]
20 Cities [Talking Heads]
21 My Sweet One

SUPPORT Phish: Website | Store

Xenia Rubinos: April 13, 2017 Bowery Ballroom

April 26, 2017
By


[photo from Xenia Rubinos Twitter]

There’s no earthly reason why Xenia Rubinos should not be a household name in the very near future. She is an artist of immense talents as a writer, composer and performer and her art is true. The musical genres that are home to Xenia Rubinos’ exemplary music have been previously culturally appropriated by the likes of well-to-do Ivy League grads, a Smith grad from Connecticut, and a guy from Forest Hills. But as a person of color who has lived the bitter mistreatment of her protagonists, Xenia is in a position to present a necessary point of view at a troubling historical time when authenticity is crucial. The world needs more voices like Xenia Rubinos and her time is now.

In July Xenia Rubinos released Black Terry Cat, her first album for the Anti- label and second overall. The album received an 8.0 from Laura Snapes over at Pitchfork and pretty much universally positive reviews worldwide. In support, she’s toured tirelessly throughout the US and this month saw her triumphant return to NYC.

The Bowery Ballroom show was a special night for Xenia. Not only was it her largest show to date, but it was also her mother’s birthday. Given that her first album was in part a tribute to her recently passed father, it was particularly moving that this performer had a close family connection on such an important career night. The other important participants at Bowery were the crowd, who were both voluminous and dancing throughout, and her two accompanying musicians — longtime collaborator and producer Marco Buccelli who played a variety of drums, keys and effects, and for this tour Jack Hill on bass, moog and guitar. The set began with the opening track from Cat before the trio blasted through a fifteen-song set that fully represented Xenia’s catalog thus far. There were multiple pockets of fans who literally did not stop dancing throughout the entire set and were engaged with the performer throughout. But it was Xenia who was the well-deserved center of attention as she pivoted from keys to bass to solo vocals as an unstoppable kinetic ball of energy. At the end of the hour-long set she was called back for multiple encores — a true affirmation that an artist with integrity and abundant talent will ultimately succeed.

Xenia Rubinos just began an extensive eleven-date tour of Europe in April and May before she returns to the US for a variety of Summer shows, dates [HERE].

I recorded this set with the Schoeps cards set up in our usual front balcony position and mixed with an excellent board feed. The sound quality is superb. Enjoy!

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Stream the Complete Show:

Xenia Rubinos
2017-04-13
Bowery Ballroom
New York NY

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Schoeps CCM4u Cardioids > Edirol R-44 (Oade Mod) > 2 x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (post-production) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:10:45]
01 Romeo
02 Lonely Lover
03 Just Like I
04 Help
05 Don’t Wanna Be
06 See Them
07 Right?
08 I Won’t Say
09 Whirlwind
10 Cherry Tree
11 Laugh Clown
12 Black Stars
13 [encore break – Happy Birthday]
14 Pan y Cafe
15 Hair Receding
16 [band introductions]
17 Mexican Chef

PLEASE SUPPORT Xenia Rubinos: Facebook | Bandcamp | Artist Page at Anti- | Purchase Black Terry Cat [HERE]

Chuck Prophet: March 29, 2017 Bowery Ballroom

April 19, 2017
By


[screen shot from this video]

neild reports:
Chuck Prophet is one of those musicians who went from barely-known to me to a perennial favorite in the course of a single song — or really a single riff, as all it took was hearing the opening guitar line from “Sonny Liston’s Blues,” off his terrific 2009 album Let Freedom Ring. Prophet gets described frequently as the “indie rock Tom Petty,” and it certainly fits his vocal style and commitment to old-school rock ’n’ roll, but if anything it sells him short: He combines a heart worn boldly on his sleeve with character observations that are by turns astute and hilarious, sometimes in the course of the same phrase.

This show at the Bowery Ballroom came toward the end of the tour for Prophet’s excellent new album Bobby Fuller Died for Your Sins. Live, not only is Prophet’s dry wit given free rein, but the Mission Express, consisting of guitar wizard James DePrato (here playing even more slide than usual), the superb rhythm section of bassist Kevin White and drummer Vicente Rodriguez, and the unbeatable keyboardist/vocalist (and Prophet’s wife) Stephanie Finch, can spread out songs like “Summertime Thing” and “You Did (Bomp Shooby Dooby Bomp)” into loping jams that would be rock radio staples in an alternate universe. I’ve never seen a bad Chuck Prophet and the Mission Express show, and this was among their best, charging along without letup for nearly two hours.

This recording was made with Church Audio CA-14 cardioid mics from lip of the Bowery Ballroom balcony, mixed with a soundboard feed provided by the Bowery’s supremely talented and helpful new soundperson Danielle.

Please pay what you wish for the download (all proceeds other than Paypal and Bandcamp fees go to the artist), and visit chuckprophet.com for all your merch and info needs — I highly recommend subscribing to his email newsletter, which is always a terrific read even if you’re not interested in finding out when he’s coming to your town (though if you’re not, I don’t know what’s wrong with you).

Download and Stream the Complete Show from our Bandcamp Page [HERE]

Chuck Prophet
2017-03-29
Bowery Ballroom
New York NY

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

CA=14 Cards + Soundboard [engineer Danielle] > Sony PCM-M10 > WAV (24/48) > Sound Studio (light dynamic compression and mixing) > FLAC (16/44.1) > Tag > FLAC

Recorded and Produced by
neild

Setlist:
01 Bobby Fuller Died For Your Sins
02 Ramona Say Yes [Chuck Berry]
03 Lonely Desolation
04 Bad Year for Rock and Roll
05 Temple Beautiful
06 Who Shot John
07 Barely Exist
08 Jesus Was a Social Drinker
09 You Did (Bomp Shooby Dooby Bomp)
10 In The Mausoleum
11 Ford Econoline
12 We Got Up and Played
13 Iodine [Leonard Cohen]
14 Summertime Thing
15 Countrified Inner City Technological Man
16 Wish Me Luck
17 Willie Mays Is Up At Bat
18 Let Her Dance [Bobby Fuller Four]
19 You And Me Baby (Holding On)

PLEASE SUPPORT Chuck Prophet: Website | Purchase Bobby Fuller Died for Your Sins from Yep Roc Records

Son Volt: April 7, 2017 Bowery Ballroom

April 16, 2017
By


[photo by Joe Kelly]

Son Volt is currently on tour in support of their new album Notes of Blue, the band’s ninth record in more than twenty years of work. Despite the early years as torch-carriers for the alt-country/No Depression movement, Son Volt has built a career on solid roots/Americana rock. Like band leader Jay Farrar, there’s nothing particularly flashy about the group, they’re just built on a consistent foundation of high quality music. The new album continues in that vein, if not a tad bit more focused on the “roots” sound more representative of the Son Volt’s recent output.

The Son Volt tour came through NYC last week for a few local dates, and we were fortunate to attend the Bowery Ballroom show which sold out months ago. Like the band, the fans of this band are consistent and faithful — members of our group for the Bowery night came from Ireland, Boston and Missouri to see this show. And the band did not disappoint. After the early set concentrated heavily on Blue material, Son Volt delivered a twenty-six song show with a setlist pulled democratically from all eras of the band. Indeed there were three Uncle Tupelo songs in the encore set, and the night ended with Keith Richards penned Stones cover. Son Volt will be on tour throughout the next two months mostly in the West and Midwest, dates here.

I recorded this set with room mics only, running the Schoeps from our traditional spot in the front center of the balcony. The sound quality reflects the show experience — excellent quality sound supplemented by some feisty fans. Enjoy!

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Stream the Complete Show:

Son Volt
2017-04-07
Bowery Ballroom
New York NY

Digital Master Audience Recording
Recorded at Soundboard Booth

Schoeps CCM4u Cardioids > Sound Devices 744t > 2 x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (post-production) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:39:26]
01 Cherokee St
02 Lost Souls
03 Buzz and Grind
04 Static
05 Damn Shame
06 The Picture
07 Dynamite
08 Tear-Stained Eye
09 Midnight
10 Sinking Down
11 Back Into Your World
12 Catching On
13 Cairo and Southern
14 Ten Second News
15 Promise the World
16 [band introductions]
17 Back Against the Wall
18 Bandages and Scars
19 Driving the View
20 Route
21 Drown
22 Afterglow 61
23 [encore break]
24 Still Be Around
25 Windfall
26 Graveyard Shift
27 Chickamauga
28 [second encore break]
29 Happy [Rolling Stones]

PLEASE SUPPORT Son Volt, visit their website, and purchase Notes of Blue and other official releases directly from the Official Son Volt store [HERE].

Lambchop: March 30, 2017 Bowery Ballroom

April 6, 2017
By


[photo by PSquared Photography]

In my not so humble opinion, Lambchop’s FLOTUS was the best album of 2016. In a similar regard, “In Care of 8675309” is the best song released this decade. What makes it more remarkable is that the album represents for Kurt Wagner a stylistic pivot from a twenty-five year career of eclectic americana. For FLOTUS, Wagner used modern technology juxtaposed with his intimate lyrics to create a masterpiece about the maintenance of an interpersonal connection in a world increasingly enslaved to machines.

We were fortunate to capture the live debut of the FLOTUS material at Hopscotch in September. Since that time Lambchop has toured the world and performed this material more than fifty times in a live setting, so that by the time they arrived at Bowery Ballroom last Friday, we were excited for the development of the songs. Our expectations were met early in the proceedings when Wagner sweetly crooned a subdued version of “NIV” that blended seamlessly into a guitar-driven truncated version of “The Hustle” that was transformed from the hypnotic electronic bifurcated melody on the album to a more unified alt-folk ballad live. “8675309” was placed in the middle of the set but Wagner’s intense vocal performance of the epic number was perhaps the highlight of the evening. The band’s setlist included a handful of older numbers and one cover, but this night was dedicated to FLOTUS and sans the title track, the album was nearly completely performed. The keyboardist Tony Crow provided several ace solos (and some hilarious banter) and the band also includes veteran bassist Matt Swanson and Wye Oak’s percussionist/electronic wiz Andy Stack, whose expert multitasking we’ve noted previously in this pages. But it was Wagner centerstage, and while his abundant use of vocals effects may have startled some of the old guard, the packed house was clearly on board for the FLOTUS sound and hovered on every note. Lambchop’s current tour comes to a close in the next few weeks, and they’re going back to Europe in the Summer festival season, but we expect that they will return to NYC in the Fall.

I recorded this set with the Schoeps mounted in our usual balcony spot and mixed with a flawless soundboard feed. The crowd’s great respect for this performer and this material permitted us to capture the often quiet moments of this set without distraction and as a result the sound quality of this recording is superb. Enjoy!

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Stream the Complete Show:

Lambchop
2017-03-30
Bowery Ballroom
New York NY

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Schoeps CCM4u Cardioids > Edirol R-44 (Oade Mod) > 2 x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (post-production) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:39:16]
01 NIV
02 The Hustle
03 Directions to the Can
04 Poor Bastard
05 Old Masters
06 Writer
07 [banter – physical comedy]
08 In Care Of 8675309
09 [band introductions]
10 The New Cobweb Summer
11 [banter – build character]
12 Howe
13 JFK
14 Relatives #2
15 Harbor Country
16 [encore break]
17 My Blue Wave
18 When You Were Mine [Prince]

PLEASE SUPPORT Lambchop: Website | Buy FLOTUS at Merge Records

Robyn Hitchcock (with Yo La Tengo): March 1, 2017 Bowery Ballroom

March 6, 2017
By


[photos by Ellen]

The night after Robyn Hitchcock’s very memorable Rough Trade show, the performer and backing band performed in Manhattan for what proved to be an entirely different experience from the the previous show. Aside from the fact that the venue is twice the capacity than in Brooklyn, a sold-out show at Bowery Ballroom tends to have a discernible buzz and an energetic crowd. And for this particular special event, many long-time fans and some industry folk were in attendance and let their voices be heard.

As a full album two-set show, it was in the second set where this night diverged from the previous show. After a set of Black Snake Diamond Role in which Robyn bantered more and dealt with some vocal microphone issues, the band returned for a second set that mixed it up quite a bit from the Rough Trade show. At Bowery we got a mini quiet set with “I Often Dream of Trains” as the highlight, a chugging version of Dylan’s “Obviously Five Believers” and a pretty rare Love cover in the encore set. These two nights of prime Robyn Hitchcock and band playing at the peak of their skills were best-of-year quality shows and I expect we will be revisiting them often.

I recorded this set with the Schoeps mounted next to the soundboard booth in the front of the balcony. The sound in the venue was again outstanding and other then some crowd rowdiness, this is another superb recording. Enjoy!

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Stream the Complete Show:

Robyn Hitchcock
with Yo La Tengo
2017-03-01
Bowery Ballroom
New York NY

Digital Master Audience Recording
Recorded at Soundboard Booth

Schoeps CCM4u Cardioids > Sound Devices 744t > 2 x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (post-production) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:46:52]
Set 1 (Black Diamond Snake Role)
01 The Man Who Invented Himself
02 Brenda’s Iron Sledge
03 Do Policemen Sing
04 The Lizard
05 [banter – chocolate]
06 Meat
07 [banter – precision]
08 Acid Bird
09 [banter – New York Rocker]
10 I Watch the Cars
11 [banter – grey dove]
12 Out of the Picture
13 City of Shame
14 Love
Set 2
15 Wey Wey Hep Uh Hole
16 It’s a Mystic Trip
17 Give Me a Spanner Ralph
18 [banter – British Rail]
19 I Often Dream of Trains
20 Winter Love
21 Let There Be More Darkness
22 Obviously Five Believers [Dylan]
23 Going Down to Liverpool [The Waves]
24 Kingdom of Love
25 [banter – thanks]
26 He’s a Reptile
27 [encore break]
28 Rock ‘n’ Roll Toilet
29 Stephanie Knows Who [Love]
30 Airscape

PLEASE SUPPORT Robyn Hitchcock: Website | Twitter | Buy Official Releases

Cloud Nothings: February 1, 2017 Webster Hall

February 6, 2017
By


[photos by Will Oliver of We All Want Someone blog]

Its been nearly seven years since Cloud Nothings last graced the pages of this site. At that point, eighteen-year old Dylan Baldi’s band played an opening slot on a Northside Festival event at Mercury Lounge and stole the show. Our acidjack foresaw big things for Cloud Nothings back then, and he was prescient. This decade the band has released four outstanding albums, including two “Best New Music” awards from Pitchfork, has toured the world, played most major festivals and generally have remained one of indie rock’s most consistently excellent acts.

In January, Cloud Nothings released Life Without Sound (Carpark Records) which represents a bit of a departure for the group. The band brought in legendary engineer/producer John Goodmanson (Death Cab for Cutie, Sleater-Kinney) and the result is a dense and richer sound — long gone are the days when Cloud Nothings could be called “lo-fi” by lazy reviewers. The new album also represents a maturing the Baldi’s songwriting and throughout the tour in support of this record the band has been all business. This past week at Webster Hall, that approach translated into a full-powered set long on songs and short on banter. Cloud Nothings were non-nonsense as they ripped through a setlist that concentrated on Life Without Sound but was also drew from the previous two albums. Baldi’s crunchy guitar and vocals were out front and the packed-in crowd were treated to a set that never let up in energy until the fans called the band back for two encores, including a noise-propelled extended finale of “Wasted Days”. Cloud Nothings will be on tour throughout February across the US, before they play in Europe in March, all dates [HERE].

I recorded this set with the Schoeps clamped out in front of the soundboard booth in the balcony and mixed with a board feed. The sound is clear and upfront. Enjoy!

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Stream the Complete Show:

Cloud Nothings
2017-02-01
Webster Hall
New York NY

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Schoeps CCM4u Cardioids > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert 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 1:11:46]
01 Up to the Surface
02 Pattern Walks
03 Modern Act
04 Sight Unseen
05 Now Hear In
06 Stay Useless
07 Darkened Rings
08 Enter Entirely
09 Psychic Trauma
10 Things Are Right With You
11 Internal World
12 I’m Not Part of Me
13 Realize My Fate
14 [encore break]
15 Fall In
16 Wasted Days

SUPPORT Cloud Nothings: Website | Facebook | Purchase Life Without Sound

Ultimate Painting: December 7, 2016 Bowery Ballroom

December 12, 2016
By

Our own acidjack was early on the bandwagon for Ultimate Painting, as he captured the band back in 2014 and raved about their debut album. The British neo-psych quartet is now three records into their career and just completed a headlining tour with twelve US dates in support of their newest release, Dusk (Trouble In Mind Records). The tour’s final date was last week at Bowery Ballroom and if the crowd was not packed, it was notable for the music luminaries in attendance — Matador Records co-founder Gerard Cosloy, Rolling Stone’s senior editor David Fricke, Stereogum founder Scott Lapatine, and brooklynvegan’s Bill Pearis.

Ultimate Painting’s set was a seventy-minute exercise in precision and synchronicity. The band’s two protagonists, Jack Cooper and James Hoare share vocal and lead-guitar duties and both are superb performers. The other aspect of the band’s success is the songwriting. The songs can be tight and guitar driven psych-pop, but when the band wants to open up and explore, they remain focused and in synch. While Ultimate Painting does borrow stylistically from the mid-60s London scene, the music also shows influences from the US — the Velvets and Television in particular. Among contemporary comparisons, I hear similarities to White Fence and Courtney Barnett (“Central Park Blues” in particular). The band worked through a nice selection of numbers from all three of their albums before ending the set with a sixteen-minute extended version of “Ten Street” that capped off the show in fine fashion.

I recorded this set with the Schoeps cards in the balcony mixed with Kenny’s outstanding feed. The sound quality is superb. Enjoy!

Download and Stream this Recording at our Bandcamp Page:

Ultimate Painting
2016-12-07
Bowery Ballroom
New York NY

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard [Engineer: Kenny Lienhardt] + Schoeps CCM4u Cardioids > Edirol R-44 (Oade Mod) > 2 x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (post-production) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:07:14]
01 Ultimate Painting
02 Rolling in the Deep End
03 Riverside
04 Bills
05 Song for Brian Jones
06 (I’ve Got The) Sanctioned Blues
07 I’m Set Free
08 [banter – band intro]
09 Break the Chain
10 Lead the Way
11 Monday Morning Somewhere Central
12 Central Park Blues
13 Sweet Chris
14 Ten Street

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Ultimate Painting, visit their website, and purchase Dusk from Trouble In Mind Records HERE.

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