Blog Archives

Hiss Golden Messenger: November 19, 2015 Baby’s All Right

November 25, 2015

Continuing with the “running out of things to say” theme, I think even the band is starting to wonder if I do much of anything besides attend Hiss Golden Messenger concerts. If you read about the band’s doings in Durham, NC earlier last week, you’d know they debuted Heart Like A Levee, an entire new album, before two successive nights of attendees at Duke University. That album should be appearing on Merge Records in due time.

Well, this show at Baby’s All Right wasn’t that, but that’s not to take anything away from this sweaty, raucous show before a sell-out crowd. M.C. Taylor was joined on this jaunt by most of his regular band — the Cook brothers on keys and guitars, Matt McCaughan on drums — with Josh Kaufman taking up additional guitar duties. This show sounded like one by people who’ve fallen into a comfortable groove, and despite the extremely unpleasant temperature (how you make a club over 100 degrees indoors in the middle of November is a mystery to me) the band sweated through some strong versions of their tour favorites, plus less-heard numbers like “Mahogany Dread,” off of Lateness of Dancers, Poor Moon‘s “Super Blue (Two Days Clean)” and a newly-rocking version of “Brother, Do You Know the Road?” Perhaps out of a sense of self-preservation (the band were so hot their guitars were covered in sweat), we only got one encore, but it was a keeper — Waylon Jennings’ “Lonesome, On’ry and Mean.”

So, forgive the brevity of this writeup, but if you’re already on the train, you can read any of my reviews of recent shows to get a pretty good idea where things are headed. If you’re new to the band, well, this is a fine, fine way to take the plunge.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK5 cardiod microphones at the stage lip, together with Harrison Fore’s soundboard feed. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Download the complete show: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the complete show:

Hiss Golden Messenger
2015-11-19
Baby’s All Right
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Soundboard (engineer: Harrison Fore) + Schoeps MK5c (onstage, ORTF)>KCY>Z-PFA>Roland R-26 (2x24bit/48kHz WAV)>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (adjust stereo mix of onstage mics, compression, fades)>Izotope Ozone 5 (effects, EQ)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( Level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 1:19:17]
01 Saturday’s Song
02 Lucia
03 Call Him Daylight
04 Super Blue (Two Days Clean)
05 Mahogany Dread
06 I’ve Got A Name for the Newborn Child
07 Day O Day (A Love So Free)
08 Brother, Do You Know the Road?
09 I’m A Raven (Shake Children)
10 Blue Country Mystic
11 Southern Grammar
12 [encore break]
13 Lonesome, On’ry and Mean [Waylon Jennings]

Band:
MC Taylor
Phil Cook – Keyboards, Guitar
Brad Cook – Bass
Josh Kaufman – Guitar
Matt McCaughan – Drums

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SHOW YOUR SUPPORT by buying Hiss Golden Messenger’s records from Paradise of Bachelors and Merge Records, as well as HGM’s online store.

The Loom: November 1, 2015 Union Pool

November 12, 2015

By acidjack

It’s never an easy feat, as a band, to shift stylistically without losing your soul. There are examples, of course — Radiohead’s hard-left from mainstream Britpop to IDM weirdos stands out as a major one — but it’s a huge challenge to court a new fan base while keeping the one you have. NYCTaper and The Loom go back to 2008, when it’d be fair to say they were a mellow-hued folk band. When I caught them in a backyard in 2010, it seemed well within reason that they’d be playing acoustic, with a homemade washtub bass and Lis Rubard’s horns wafting over John Fanning and Sarah Renfro’s dual vocals. In 2012, at Glasslands, it was clear that things were changing — their tastes in who they shared the stage with, for one — but you’d still have recognized that band you heard about from 2008.

Fast forward to Union Pool at the end of 2015, with a new bassist and drummer and two albums’ worth of material awaiting release. This band opened for Moon Duo recently, and you can see the shift in emphasis in everything from Fanning’s cranked vocal reverb to the darker, psychedelic guitar tone. The two new players, John Mosloskie on bass and Mike Rasimas on drums, change that dynamic as well, providing a more emphatic and punchy backbeat to go with the overall heavier sound. Rubard’s horns haven’t been jettisoned, thankfully, but in the new context they add a ghostly mourn under the swirl of guitars, bass, drums and Rubard’s keyboards, rather than taking center stage. This set showed off amped-up versions of new songs we’d heard before (“Fire Makes,” “Like Lamp Glow,” “The Reading Room”) as well as brand-new compositions such as “I Am Not Young,” perhaps the definitive statement on the band’s new direction. Even on the Sunday after Halloween, or as one might call it, “the worst possible night for a show ever other than Christmas Eve,” The Loom proved their mettle by drawing a crowd of the faithful who seemed fully committed to the new direction. If anyone was put off by the unabashed rocking-ness of “Your Wilderness Years,” for example, they didn’t show it — and I might’ve seen a few air guitars going in that audience, too. At this point, this is a veteran band, and it’s a reward to see them stretch their wings, especially after a period of introspection by Fanning as lead songwriter. The result, along with a more muscular sound, has been two fully recorded and produced albums that are awaiting a label home. Even if you were aware of the band, this is The Loom you haven’t heard before — and it’s time to get reacquainted.

I recorded this set with an excellent soundboard feed by Kyle Lawrence, coupled with Schoeps MK41V supercardiod microphones. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Download the complete show: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the complete show:

The Loom
2015-11-01
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Soundboard (engineer: Kyle Lawrence) + Schoeps MK41V (at SBD, PAS)>Roland R-26>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, compress SBD)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, image)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Fire Makes
02 I Am Not Young
03 Kindling
04 Like Lamp Glow
05 Here In the Deadlights
06 Your Wilderness Years
07 The Reading Room
08 Morning Song, Mountain Song

If you enjoyed this set, please like The Loom on facebook and check out their website, and buy their records directly from their bandcamp page.

Pity Sex: October 17, 2015 Ad Hoc Car Wash + March 19, 2015 Long Branch Inn (SXSW – Austin, TX)

November 10, 2015

By acidjack

[photos courtesy of Edwina Hay for Impose Magazine]

The Ann Arbor, MI-based band Pity Sex have done their homework. You’ll hear pieces of a number of 90s acts woven into their sound, which takes advantage of three band members (drummer Sean St. Charles and guitarists Brennan Greaves and Britty Drake) as vocalists and packs a suitably slacker attitude to go with wry-but-serious hooks. It’s pop-punk under a shoegaze haze, with lyrics that echo the band name — tales of breakups and half-assed hookups, self-loathing and dejection. Not to say that, when played to a teeming converted car wash full of what some tourist probably calls “Brooklyn hipsters” on a Saturday afternoon, Pity Sex’s sound isn’t a lot of fun. Joining at-times labelmates LVL UP and a number of like-minded others, Pity Sex delivered some of the best songs off of their current slate (2013’s Feast of Love and the Dark World EP that preceded it), plus their latest stuff, including the buzzed-about new single “What Might Soothe You?” On that note, for fans who’ve been clamoring for new material beyond just the single, there’s good news there, too: Pity Sex have a new record, White Hot Moon, coming out on Run For Cover records in 2016. Having caught this band at SXSW back in the spring, we were excited to see their progress since then at the car wash, and are sure more good things are in store for 2016.

I recorded this set in the same manner as the other recordings of the day, with AT 4051 microphones and a soundboard feed. The SXSW set was recorded with Sennheiser cardiods and a soundboard feed. In both cases, the sound is good, but keep in mind that it’s reflective of the “DIY” nature of the events.

Download the Ad Hoc Car Wash set: [MP3] [FLAC]

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

Stream the Ad Hoc Car Wash set:

Stream the SXSW set:

Pity Sex
2015-10-17
Ad Hoc Car Wash
Hand & Detail Car Wash Center
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Audio Technica 4051 (LOC, FOB, PAS) + Soundboard>Roland R-26>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, edit SBD)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, image)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 30:42]
01 What Might Soothe You?
02 Drown Me Out
03 Keep
04 “Burden You” [title unknown]
05 Acid Reflux
06 Coca Cola
07 Wind-Up
08 Dogwalk

Personnel:
Sean St. Charles – Drums, vocals
Britty Drake – Guitars, vocals
Brennan Greaves – Guitars, vocals
Brandan Pierce – Bass

_________________

Pity Sex
2015-03-19
Long Branch Inn – Impose SXSW
Austin, TX USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Sennheiser MKH-8040 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 25:55]
01 Keep
02 Acid Reflux
03 Wind-Up
04 Drown Me Out
05 Drawstring
06 Honey Pot
07 Fold
08 Dogwalk

If you enjoyed these recordings, PLEASE SUPPORT Pity Sex, like them on facebook, and buy their albums on their bandcamp page.

Destruction Unit: October 17, 2015 Ad Hoc Car Wash

November 4, 2015

By acidjack

[photos courtesy of Edwina Hay for Impose Magazine]

I’m pretty sure I can say that Destruction Unit has the best band name of anyone I saw this year. It’s not only catchy in its own right, but describes perfectly the maelstrom of noise that this postmodern Arizona punk band will rain down on you until you either risk your skull in the mosh pit or haul your ass to the exits. Destruction Unit is the kind of experience that’s polarizing, intimidating, and absolutely perfect to close out a show like Ad Hoc’s epic post-CMJ show in a Williamsburg car wash. By the time the band took the stage to close out the evening, the humble PA system was positively shredded, the house team fighting to keep the sound going. The band took things well past the limit, with a long lead-in to the pummeling track “Destruct.” This set stuck entirely to the band’s latest record, Negative Feedback Resistor, their second for Sacred Bones Records, though many of the songs found themselves extended for a few measures. The band was rightly hailed by Newsweek as the best band they saw at CMJ, and it’s hard to argue with that after seeing their live show. Even with the vocals buried under the beating being taken by the PA (you can hear them much better on this recording than you could in the room), it didn’t matter to the crowd, which erupted into a mosh pit early and didn’t let up for the entire, pummeling 35 minutes of this set. If you’re going to make a trip out east to slog your way through a bunch of CMJ shows, you ought to make it count. No question that Destruction Unit did that and more.

I recorded this set in the same manner as the day’s other recordings, with AT 4051 microphones and a soundboard feed. The sound quality is reflective of the setting and the style, and represents it quite well. Enjoy!

Download the complete set: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the complete set:

Destruction Unit
2015-10-17
Ad Hoc Car Wash
Hand & Detail Car Wash Center
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Audio Technica 4051 (LOC, FOB, PAS) + Soundboard>Roland R-26>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, edit SBD, compression)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, image)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Disinfect
02 Salvation
03 Chemical Reaction/Chemical Delight
04 If Death Ever Slept
05 The Upper Hand

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Destruction Unit, like them on facebook, and buy their records from Sacred Bones Records.

Michael Chapman: October 9, 2015 Tompkins Square 10th Anniversary (Rough Trade NYC)

November 3, 2015

By acidjack

[photos by Jill Harrison]

The English folk artist Michael Chapman is a true survivor (as one of his album titles suggests), with a 30+ album catalog spanning six decades. From Rainmaker, his 1969 debut, to today, Chapman has explored both more traditional folk and rock music as well as contemporary and jazz guitar, bringing his unique, emotional style of playing to each. Reissue labels like Seattle’s Light in the Attic are furiously re-releasing Chapman’s early catalog, giving fans access to a body of work that belongs in the hands of any devotee of his styles. Chapman’s most recent release of new music, Fish, came out on the Tompkins Square label, and the 74-year old singer captivated the audience for the label’s 10th anniversary show at Rough Trade NYC.

Even with such a massive catalog, this set still managed to feature material that’s only seen the light of day on the live circuit, such as the opener “Two Trains.” There was the song “Fahey’s Flag,” too, a tribute to the American guitar great, who of course Chapman knew personally. That followed with a new vocal track that remains as-yet untitled, followed by another very special treat — “Another Story,” which appears on the forthcoming Parallelogram box set by Three Lobed Recordings (sharing an LP with Hiss Golden Messenger, I might add). Chapman closed with 2000’s “Shuffleboat River Farewell,” followed by the Spanish-inspired tune “La Madrugada,” which first appeared on 2002’s Americana II. The whole of this performance was deeply affecting, notable both for its breadth and intensity. Chapman’s not just a fully qualified survivor, but an innovator at his art.

I recorded this set with Dustin Myer’s soundboard feed combined with Schoeps MK4V microphones. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Download the complete set: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the complete set (minus banter tracks):

Michael Chapman
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
01 Two Trains
02 [banter1]
03 Caddo Lake
04 [banter2]
05 Fahey’s Flag
06 [unknown]
07 [banter3]
08 Another Story
09 Shuffleboat River Farewell
10 [banter4]
11 La Madrugada

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE visit Michael Chapman’s website, buy Fish from Tompkins Square, and buy his other releases here.

Bob Brown: October 9, 2015 Tompkins Square 10th Anniversary, Rough Trade NYC

November 2, 2015

By acidjack

[photos by Jill Harrison]

To kick off Tompkins Square’s tenth anniversary celebration at Rough Trade NYC, we were treated to a very special performance by Bob Brown, performing for the first time in 33 years. A longtime friend of Richie Havens, who produced Brown’s first LP, The Wall I Built Myself, Brown is what you might call a cult folk singer of astonishing quality. The “cult” part has more to do with that old bugbear, record labels, than the quality of his work. Brown has shared the stage with a number of noted musicians, including Tim Harden, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Eric Anderson, and Havens. Though identified primarily with the D.C. scene, Brown recorded his debut here in New York, crashing at the time at the Chelsea Hotel. His label, Havens’ Stormy Forest, got lost in the shuffle of big-label mergers, making further releases a challenge. As is so often the case, but not always deservedly so, Brown eventually retired from music, and his albums went out of print.

Doing what these boutique labels do best, Tompkins Square will be reissuing both The Wall I Built Myself and Willoughby’s Lament next year, finally bringing these masterpieces back to life. But for those lucky ones of us who attended this event, we got the even-rarer treat of seeing this music back on stage. Had he not said the moment was 33 years in the making, you wouldn’t have known it, as Brown capably and beautifully rendered five of his songs, spanning several of his key albums. Helping the cause was Ryley Walker’s crack jazz unit (who would return later in the evening with him), and even with only one rehearsal behind them, they captured the spirit of Brown’s work like the pros they are. Brown’s songs are pastoral, delicate affairs, often with a directness that makes them feel like missives to someone from Brown’s past. Even 45 years after it was written, a song like “Winds of Change” resonates even from its opening line, but each of the five songs played was special. You can hear the first three of the ones from these night on the two reissued albums; “Like A Fawn” is still in print, as is “Perfect Song” from Brown’s collaboration with Aleta Greene, Let Me Be Your Love. What a gift Tompkins Square will give us by letting us hear these original recordings again. We can only hope that Brown follows suit and pays us some future visits.

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]

Stream the complete show:

Bob Brown
2015-10-09
Rough Trade NYC
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Tracks
01 It Takes the World to Make a Feather Fall
02 Winds of Change
03 Quiet Waterfall
04 Like A Fawn
05 Perfect Song

If you enjoyed this recording, please learn more about Bob Brown on his website, and visit Tompkins Square in 2016 to buy his records.

LVL UP: October 17, 2015 Ad Hoc Car Wash

October 30, 2015

By acidjack

[photos courtesy of Edwina Hay for Impose Magazine]

NY band LVL UP joined the merry mix of locals and out-of-towners for Ad Hoc’s post-CMJ car wash show, and delivered a tight eight-songs that included some of the ones that led Stereogum to call their 2014 album on Double Double Whammy/Exploding in Sound Records, HOODWINK’D, one of the best albums of the year. The band makes what I’d call straight-ahead alt-rock, with a dual vocal attack on top of minor-chord-driven guitars. This is a band that knows how to write a hook, with songs that are rainy-day intimate but fun to listen to. The band has cited Superchunk and Jawbreaker as influences, among others, and that feels right. Certainly, this show, inside of an abandoned car wash, had the feel of an independent rock show during those bands’ rise, with the amps cranked and the overwhelming feeling of the sound the most important thing. The band served up two of the three songs from their 2015 7″ EP, “Blur” and “The Closing Door,” and the two had a different but complimentary feel, with the former a short burst of pop energy, the latter a more considered coda. You can catch LVL UP at plenty of shows at all of Bushwick and Williamsburg’s better-known haunts, and we’d recommend you do that. In fact, they’ve got a show coming up on December 1 at Shea Stadium.

I recorded this set with Audio Technica 4051 microphones and a soundboard feed. The sound quality is reflective of the “DIY” nature of the space, but is still a good listen. Enjoy!

Download the complete set: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the complete set:

LVL UP
2015-10-17
Ad Hoc Car Wash
Hand & Detail Car Wash Center
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Tracks
01 Five Men On the Ridge
02 Pain
03 Soft Power
04 DBTS
05 Blur
06 Angel From Space
07 I Feel Extra Natural
08 The Closing Door

If you enjoyed this recording, please like LVL UP on Facebook, go see their shows, and buy their records on their bandcamp page.

Jake Xerxes Fussell: September 10, 2015 Hopscotch Music Festival (Raleigh, NC)

October 28, 2015

By acidjack

[photos courtesy of Kenneth Bachor for BrooklynVegan]

Jake Xerxes Fussell occupies a slightly different niche among his contemporary folk counterparts. Rather than reinterpreting old traditions into new sounds, Fussell is more of an archivist and explorer, one who gives listeners a window into the original experience of the tunes being played. The Durham, NC-based singer appeared on the very Durham-friendly bill on the first night of Hopscotch Music Festival at the Fletcher Opera Theater, one slot before Phil Cook took the stage (that recording here). Fussell isn’t some latecomer or dilettante to the Southern material that’s on his mind; much like Alan Lomax followed in the footsteps of his father John, Fussell grew up with Fred C. Fussell, a folklorist whose work took him, and often young Jake, across the South, bringing them into contact with many traditional musicians in the process.

Paradise of Bachelors just releases Fussell’s debut record this year, produced by William Tyler, and as you’d expect, this set paid some attention to it. But there was more than that, too, owing to Fussell’s encyclopedic knowledge of the pool from which he draws, which one album can hardly contain. So we got versions of “Man At the Mill” and “Push Boat” from the album, we we also heard some classic Pete Seeger, in the form of “The Bells of Rhymney” and Virginian folk singer Helen Cockram’s “Pinnacle Mountain Silver Mine.” Fussell didn’t need much in the way of flash to get his point across, as he sat along on the broad semicircular stage in front of Cook’s ample stage set. It felt more like a fireside sing-a-long, as given by the kind of music professor you always wished you could’ve had.

Our friend Larry Tucker recorded this set with a soundboard feed together with Peluso subcardiod microphones. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

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

Stream the complete set:

Jake Xerxes Fussell
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

Soundboard>PCM-M10 + 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 If I Lose Let Me Loose [John Lee Ziegler] (cuts in)
02 The Bells of Rhymney [Pete Seeger]
03 Pinnacle Mountain Silver Mine [Helen Cockram]
04 Man At the Mill [traditional]
05 Push Boat [traditional]
06 Jump For Joy [Duke Ellington]
07 Raggy Levy [Georgia Sea Island Singers]
08 Copper Kettle [Albert Frank Beddoe]
09 Pork and Beans [Rosa Lee Hill]

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Jake Xerxes Fussell, like him on Facebook, and buy his debut album from Paradise of Bachelors.

Mothers: October 15, 2015 NYCTaper Unofficial CMJ Show, Cake Shop

October 26, 2015

By acidjack

The “taping” community is not a large one, and among people who have similar tastes to us that do it, the number is even smaller. We’ve long-respected the Athens/Atlanta site Southern Shelter for both its excellent taste in music and its high-quality recordings, and we look to each other for inspiration for the next bands to check out. The Athens band Mothers is one that Southern Shelter has talked up for a while, making us extra-stoked to be able to include them in our unofficial CMJ day show. Other sites caught on in the meantime, with Stereogum naming them a “band to watch” just a day before our show.

The Cake Shop room was at capacity for this set, and it’s no wonder why: Mothers, whose debut LP is anticipated in 2016, truly are an up-and-comer you can’t miss. Frontwoman and songwriter Kristine Leschper’s songs have a depth, breadth and ingenuity that sets them apart. In addition to her powerful voice, the songs feature complex arrangements that at times recall math and noise rock — a part of Leschper’s evolution as a songwriter as the band’s debut has come closer to fruition. This band, like many these days, began as Leschper’s solo project, but its expansion makes it more than the sum of those parts. She’s got an excellent team around her, and during the four-song span of our show, they gave us a taste of their range. “It Hurts Until It Doesn’t” is emblematic of Mothers’ evolution as a full band, whereas “No Crying In Baseball,” one of few songs actually released and this set’s closer, is considered an outlier to the rest of the band’s style. We hear the influence of some classic Athens bands in their sound, including the New Wavers Pylon (who we’ve recorded twice) and Warehouse (who we caught this year). It’s easy to see why they’ve caught on, making several “best of CMJ” lists this year, as this is one of those lucky few acts that lives up to the hype.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK4V microphones in front of the stage together with a soundboard feed from the Cake Shop engineer Jeff. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Download the complete set: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the complete set:

Mothers
2015-10-15
NYCTaper Unofficial CMJ Show
Cake Shop
New York, NY USA

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

Schoeps MK4V (onstage)>KC5>CMC6 + Soundboard (engineer: Jeff)>>Edirol R-44>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, fades, compression)>Izotope Ozone 5 (effects, EQ, image)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Copper Mines
02 It Hurts Until It Doesn’t
03 Hold Your Own
04 No Crying In Baseball

If you enjoyed this recording, please like Mothers on facebook and check out their songs on Soundcloud.

Protomartyr: October 17, 2015 Ad Hoc Car Wash

October 23, 2015

By acidjack

[photos courtesy of Edwina Hay as featured in Impose Magazine]

This was the week of the overwhelming, PR-driven quasi-festival known as the CMJ Music Marathon, meaning there were hordes of tired concertgoers and touring bands around by the time the week wrapped. Taking advantage of that, and perhaps bringing the vibes of our own scene back to earth were the already-legendary concert promoters/magazine Ad Hoc, who rented out a vacant car wash (and its adjoining parking lot) to put on a sprawling ten-band bill that boasted the best of local and touring acts. This event felt like an appropriate evolution for the neighborhood that once housed the best-known DIY venues of the prior decade: Here you had an unused commercial space converted to creative purposes, albeit this time with plenty of bathrooms, quality (and cheap and cold) beer by the can, and even a couple of food trucks.

If you went to a CMJ event this year, chances are you might have caught Protomartyr, who were all over the place at this year’s fest making the case for their recently-released third record The Agent Intellect. The Detroit band saw some heat from their last album, Under Color of Official Right, but consensus seems to be that it’s this new offering that is going to break them into wider consciousness. That’d be a more than fair outcome, as this thirty-minute, ten-song set showed off the best of their material, including “Scum, Rise!” from their previous record and a decent chunk of the new album. Frontman Joe Casey doesn’t exactly match the band’s sound or words, performing as he does in a weirdly-dapper dark blazer and sunglasses, but beneath that veneer boil bleak, personal tales set against the backdrop of the band’s hometown, such as the signature track “Pontiac ’87”. Though you could see the daylight streaming through behind the band (filtered only by the yellow car wash sign), they held the atmosphere where it needed to be, trapping the nervous energy within the stripped brick walls. Compared to some of their harder-edged peers who would share the stage throughout the day, Protomartyr were a bit more “musical” band than some of the other fare, and that’s part of what makes them special. If this CMJ was “their year,” then I say they’ve earned it.

I recorded this set with Audio Technica 4051 microphones and a soundboard feed from Ad Hoc’s staff. The sound quality reflects the “DIY” nature of the venue, but is still quite good. Enjoy!

Download the complete set: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the complete set:

Protomartyr
2015-10-17
Ad Hoc Car Wash
Hand & Detail Car Wash Center
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Tracks [Total Time 30:45]
01 Devil In His Youth
02 Cowards Starve
03 I Forgive You
04 Ain’t So Simple
05 Want Remover
06 Scum, Rise!
07 Pontiac 87
08 The Hermit>
09 Clandestine Time
10 Why Does It Shake?

If you enjoyed this recording, please like Protomartyr on facebook and buy their records from Hardly Art.

Page 18 of 89

« 1 … 16 17 18 19 20 … 89 »

Categories

Recent Comments

Blogroll

Music Sites

Taper Blog Fraternity

Archives

Blog Archives

Hiss Golden Messenger: November 19, 2015 Baby’s All Right

The Loom: November 1, 2015 Union Pool

Pity Sex: October 17, 2015 Ad Hoc Car Wash + March 19, 2015 Long Branch Inn (SXSW – Austin, TX)

Destruction Unit: October 17, 2015 Ad Hoc Car Wash

Michael Chapman: October 9, 2015 Tompkins Square 10th Anniversary (Rough Trade NYC)

Bob Brown: October 9, 2015 Tompkins Square 10th Anniversary, Rough Trade NYC

LVL UP: October 17, 2015 Ad Hoc Car Wash

Jake Xerxes Fussell: September 10, 2015 Hopscotch Music Festival (Raleigh, NC)

Mothers: October 15, 2015 NYCTaper Unofficial CMJ Show, Cake Shop

Protomartyr: October 17, 2015 Ad Hoc Car Wash

Email

Recent Posts

DISCLAIMER and LEGAL NOTICE