Blog Archives

Tom Carter / Barry Weisblat Duo: February 24, 2015 FLAC/MP3/Streaming

March 24, 2015
By

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The guitarist Tom Carter has made a couple of appearances on this site, being one of this city’s most exciting innovators on the instrument. While Carter was already known for his eclectic tastes, both as a solo act and with Charalambides, this combination of Carter and the multi-instrumentalist Barry Weisblat took things further into the out realm. The two appeared at last month’s installment of the “Music From NY Underground: On the Way Out” event held monthly at Freddy’s Bar in Park Slope, and produced an improvisational composition worthy of that title. Weisblat arrived armed with a host of obscure devices able to create a host of tones and textures, to which Carter overlaid his signature guitar sound. The end result was a thought-provoking, almost cinematic drone sequence that was revelatory to see created, but will reward patient repeat listening even more. We are excited to have been able to witness and capture this unique musical interaction, and hope you feel the same.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK5 microphones in the ORTF configuration near the performers, together with a feed from the small PA system mixer. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

For those interested, the next installment of this series happens tonight (March 24, 2015) at Freddy’s. Check it out.

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

Stream the complete set:

Tom Carter/Barry Weisblat Duo
2015-02-24
Freddy’s
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Schoeps MK5 (cardiod, DFC, ORTF)>KC5>CMC6 + Soundboard>>Roland R-26>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (mix down, fades)>Izotope Ozone 5 (light effects and EQ)>Audacity 2.0.5 (amplify, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 33:28]
01 improvisation

If you enjoyed this recording, please support Tom Carter by buying his music from Wholly Other, the “Buy Music” links at the Help Tom Carter page and visiting the Tom Carter page maintained by Kranky, and please support Barry Weisblat by visiting the Q-02 page for him and checking out his work on the Free Music Archive.

 

Ryley Walker: March 15, 2015 Baby’s All Right

March 22, 2015
By

ryley-walker
[photos by Jill Harrison]

There are many good singers, many more good writers of songs. More than enough to fill entire festivals with them year-round, to stuff streaming sites with more than anyone can listen to. But among that vast number, there are a tiny few in whom you can sense that something else, that spark, that undergirding realness, that makes their performance more than just-singing or just-playing-guitar. To see Ryley Walker perform is to experience a man singing to somewhere else, sending sound out to and for souls long since gone. That voice, that sound of his, the ecstatic yelps, those long, punch-drunk runs, threatening to split apart but never quite doing it, is singular. It may resonate with you, or it may not, but if it doesn’t, the thing missing in the equation is what you’re putting into it, not him.

This show at Baby’s All Right, our fourth time seeing Ryley in the last twelve months, finds him at an interesting point. Primrose Green, his tour-de-force second record, releases at month end, and has already found itself hailed in all the right places, turning Walker into a critical darling seemingly overnight. He’ll be at this summer’s Pitchfork Festival, at Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival, at Levitation in Vancouver, and any number of other places in the U.S. and Europe where of-the-moment acts can be seen. It’s hard to know what the effect of the crowds might be on this man, this music that requires him to give so much of himself emotionally every night. There are too many tales about how this part of the music world has split women and men in half.

But our best evidence about Ryley’s part of this story is this night at Baby’s All Right, in a jammed show room on a Sunday night. The 38 minutes of this set consist of just four songs, played this time with a band consisting of Ryley’s Chicago-based musician colleagues on second guitar, upright bass, and keys (over half of the band that we first saw perform in Raleigh back in September). The foursome appeared, as far as I know, only in Chicago and at this New York date — D.C. two nights before was a threesome (minus upright bass), as was Philadelphia just before the Brooklyn show — but their playing reminds you how well they know this material. The band weaved around Ryley’s lead as they reinterpreted Primrose Green songs that most of these fans probably haven’t heard original versions of yet on record. These weren’t idle-minded jams, either, but successful experiments, one after the other, from the new “Funny Thing She Said”, to tour staple “Summer Dress”, to “Primrose Green” to Ryley’s go-to cover song of late, Van Morrison’s “Fair Play” from Veedon Fleece. Shaved, hair clipped, wearing a collar and sweater that even had Ryley laughing at himself, Walker played with all the intensity he’s mustered every time we’ve seen him, but there was a new assuredness there, too, an ability to pull back just when he needed to. These thirty-eight minutes were like all of his sets I have seen: a thing of beauty, something memorable, something unique.

If you go to see one new artist this year because you read about them on this site, I hope Ryley Walker is the one. Nobody, not even him, knows where his story is headed. But this set proved once again where he deserves to be.

Baby’s All Right engineer Harrison Fore recorded and mixed this set live; I mixed this and the house-installed audience mics and mastered the recording in post. The sound quality is outstanding, equal to the quality of the performer you’re listening to. Enjoy.

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

Ryley Walker
2015-03-15
Baby’s All Right
Brooklyn, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and live mixed by Harrison Fore
Produced by acidjack

Soundboard (engineer: Harrison Fore) + Audio Technica 4051>digital multitrack>SD card>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (mix down individual tracks, compression, fades)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, imaging, exciter)>Audacity 2.0.5 (tracking, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time: 38:06]
01 Funny Thing She Said
02 Summer Dress
03 [banter]
04 Primrose Green
05 [banter2]
06 Fair Play [Van Morrison]

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Ryley Walker, like him on Facebook, and buy Primrose Green from Dead Oceans.

ryley-walker-2

Suuns: February 28, 2015 Rough Trade – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

March 13, 2015
By

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[photos by Jill Harrison]

Suuns seem to have almost grown into the current moment, what with their reliance on atmospheric electronics to put a new spin on Joy Division-y guitar rock. We first saw the band in 2011, at south Brooklyn’s tiny-but-sweet Rock Shop, where they proved themselves ready for more. On this night at Rough Trade, coming off their second proper album, Images du Futur, Suuns gave an assured, dialed-in performance. The bill co-featured Chicagoans Disappears, and the pair made a perfect match, with Suuns’ own slow evolution on display right after their contemporaries’. The band’s live approach is an even slower burn than their albums, built together from segue elements that don’t appear on the records, allowing sounds to linger for extra minutes. There wasn’t an encore break on this night, so much as a break in the action while the last notes held on, waiting for the band’s return. Coming from one of the world’s most acclaimed music cities (Montreal), perhaps it’s not surprising that Suuns put so much effort into their live show. Though Images du Futur is still what they’re touring, the band has already moved beyond it, playing four new songs, three of which I believe are tentatively titled “Delay”, “Resistance” and “Pray” (the fourth is anyone’s guess). If those new songs are any guide, Suuns intend to keep doing what they’re doing, only getting better at it over time. It’s no shock that the crowd got most into Images’ strongest track, “2020”, but there were plenty of other good moments, including the closer on “Edie’s Dream”, a hypnotic, almost-pretty song amidst the dark tones in the band’s catalog.

Suuns are off the road for now, but be sure to catch them next time they’re through. It’ll be worth it.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK4V microphones and a soundboard feed from Suuns’ touring engineer, whose name would be appreciated if you know it. The sound quality is the equal of the Disappears recording, meaning it is flawless. Enjoy!

Direct download of the complete show: [FLAC] | [MP3]

Stream the complete show: 

Suuns
2015-02-28
Rough Trade NYC
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Soundboard [Engineer: Suuns FOH (please share name if you have it)] + Schoeps MK4V (inside SBD cage, PAS)>KCY>Z-PFA>Aerco MP-2>> Edirol R-44 [OCM]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, limiter, fades)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, exciter)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 1:09:14]
01 Images du Futur
02 Music Won’t Save You
03 Powers of Ten
04 Delay [new]
05 Sunspot
06 2020
07 Resistance [new]
08 Pray [new]
09 [unknown1] [new]
10 Pie IX
11 Arena
12 [encore break]
13 Edie’s Dream

Note: New song titles may be subject to change.

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Suuns, visit their Facebook page, and buy Images du Futur directly from Secretly Canadian.

Disappears – February 28, 2015 Rough Trade – FLAC/ALAC/MP3/Streaming

March 9, 2015
By

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[photo by enobo]

We’ve been on the Disappears train for a while now, but the band has taken things up another notch with their latest song cycle, Irreal. Backing away from the progression of the last few records, including the excellent Era from 2013, Irreal retreats into the darkness, trading some of the band’s more propulsive melodies for deeper textures and adding to the sense of gloom that’s always been a part of the band’s sound. If that doesn’t sound like the ideal soundtrack for a Saturday night to you, though, you’re wrong.

Disappears and Canadian fellow travelers Suuns sold out this double bill at Rough Trade, and anticipation had peaked by the time Disappears took the stage with the clanging, slow burn of “Interpretation”, the leadoff track from Irreal. It made for a daring but great choice, sucking the crowd in before picking the pace of with Era’s “Elite Typical”. From there, the setlist jumped across the band’s catalog, with the Irreal songs strengthening the older material by providing a change of pace and tone, giving us a chance to appreciate the layers of sound the band built up around Noah Leger’s laser-sharp percussion. But just as soon as a song like “I/O” lulls you into a trance, “Ultra” comes back and smacks you sideways. That dynamic continued for the hour, and gave the show a dimension that will serve them well on the rest of this tour. The band’s current engagements are on the West Coast, with Hookworms, which is another double bill not to be missed.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK4V cardiod microphones, an Aerco custom preamp, and a dialed-in soundboard feed from the Rough Trade engineer Kam Biehl. The sound quality is outstanding, probably our best recording yet from this venue. Enjoy!

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

Stream the complete set:

Disappears
2015-02-28
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>Aerco MP-2 + Soundboard [Engineer: Kam] >> Edirol R-44 [OCM]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, limiter, fades)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, exciter)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Interpretation
02 Elite Typical
03 JOA
04 I/O
05 Ultra
06 Another Thought
07 Minor Patterns
08 Replicate
09 Irreal
10 Halcyon Days

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Disappears, visit their website, and buy Irreal and their other releases here.

Sannhet: February 27, 2015 Saint Vitus – FLAC/MP3/Streaming/Video

March 5, 2015
By

sannhet
[Screen capture from this video (below)]

Nobody can quite figure out how to categorize Sannhet. The two touchstones that get thrown around are “post rock” and “black metal”, but neither is a perfect fit. While virtually every second of their set is heavier than, say, the heavy parts of an Explosions in the Sky song, their all-instrumental music nonetheless features more tonal and textural shifts and structural variation than a full-on black metal band. It really doesn’t matter what you call it, in the end. They’re just phenomenally good, as we first pointed out two years ago.

Sannet just released a new record, Revisionist, which was hailed by no less than the New York Times. Experiencing this set at Saint Vitus last Friday — even if just an opening one — we got a glimpse of what was coming on the record, at the kind of full force and volume only possible in the live setting. Sannhet pummeled through a good chunk of Revionist, plus some older tracks, in less than forty minutes, and it was a dense, emotional ride. Although the band’s set was relentless, there were peaks of intensity even within the surge, when you almost could not imagine drummer Christopher Todd hitting harder, or guitarist John Refano and bassist AJ Annunziata’s fingers keeping time with him. But they did, hurtling through standout tracks like “You Thy__” and the closer “Enemy Victorian”. Coupled with flickering visuals programmed by Annunziata, Sannhet delivered a visceral experience that lingered long after they left the stage. In the NYT review, writer Ben Ratliff called Revisionist “an album for motivation, for the all-day victory”. Perhaps it’s the sound of a band at the height of its powers, who knows they’ve got your attention. They’ll be keeping ours.

I recorded this set in the same manner as the This Will Destroy You recording, with Schoeps MK4V microphones and a soundboard feed from Saint Vitus engineer Nick. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

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

Stream the complete set: 

Video of the complete set:

Sannhet
2015-02-27
St. Vitus
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Schoeps MK4V (LOC, at SBD, PAS)>KCY>Z-PFA>Sound Devices USBPre2 + Soundboard (engineer: Nick)>>Edirol R-44 [OCM]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, adjust levels)>Izotope Ozone 5 (harmonic exciter, EQ, imaging)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Mint Divine
02 Revisionist
03 You Thy__
04 Short Life
05 Moral
06 (Memory barge)
07 Absecon Isle
08 Empty Harbor
09 Enemy Victorian

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Sannhet, visit their facebook page, and buy Revisionist from MidHeaven Mailorder or The Flenser.

Grooms: February 17, 2015 Music Hall of Williamsburg – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

March 3, 2015
By

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Many bands are forced to admit that their best album was probably their first. Grooms can take pleasure in having just released their high watermark four albums in. That album, Comb the Feelings Through Your Hair, marries their sense of melody and pop appeal to a level of musical skill befitting a band that has stayed together long enough to see personnel come and go, but emerge stronger in the process. A three-piece, Grooms manage to make their music rhythmically complex (thanks in no small part to drummer Steve Levine, who recently enjoyed notoriety on TV’s Better Call Saul) without overcomplicating it, and that works especially well live. Watching the three men onstage, you more appreciate how their arrangements leave room to feel what each player is doing.

This show at Music Hall of Williamsburg, on a bill shared with A Place to Bury Strangers (that set here), celebrated the new record’s release, but didn’t park the setlist there. Starting with a rapid succession of new songs, Grooms then dug back in to 2013’s under-toured Infinity Caller and even their debut Rejoicer, the band gave us a sense of the continuity in their music as well as some of the new ideas percolating in Comb the Feelings. While the album itself is the band’s best-produced to date, adding lush electronics to the band’s guitar-bass-drums mix, the live versions proved that the record isn’t just a success on that account. Songs like the title track are more than just well put together; they’re just good songs. Grooms were one of many bands tied to Death By Audio (including A Place to Bury Strangers), and now, like their scene itself, they will enter a different phase. So far, it’s working for them.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK41 microphones in the soundboard cage. The sound quality is quite good for a straight audience recording. Enjoy!

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

Stream “Comb the Feelings Through Your Hair”

Grooms
2015-02-17
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Schoeps MK41 (DFC, at SBD, PAS)>KCY>Z-PFA>Sound Devices USBPre2>Edirol R-44 [OCM]>24bit/48kHz WAV>Izotope Ozone 5 (effects, EQ, imaging)>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (adjust levels)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 37:30]
01 Bed Version
02 Comb the Feelings Through Your Hair
03 Infinity Caller
04 [banter1]
05 Grenadine Scene From Inside
06 Doctor M
07 Lion Name
08 Foster Sister
09 [banter2]
10 Cross Off

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Grooms, visit their Facebook page, and buy Comb the Feelings Through Your Hair here.

This Will Destroy You: February 27, 2015 Saint Vitus – FLAC/MP3/Streaming/Video

March 1, 2015
By

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This Will Destroy You, of San Marcos, TX, just crossed the decade mark as a band last year, with the excellent record Another Language. In the broad sense, they share company with the dynamic instrumental bands that get lumped together as “post-rock” — Mogwai, Explosions In the Sky, Caspian, etc. But if this two-night stand of shows presented by BrooklynVegan at Saint Vitus proved anything, it’s that they don’t let labels stop them. Saint Vitus, best-known as NYC’s destination for the heaviest of heavy music, made a good fit for the band, as they led off with the thunderous “Little Smoke” that pummeled us from start to finish. TWDY may not be a black metal band, but their sonics are definitely toward the darker end of the spectrum, a kind of soundtrack to the end of the world.

But just when you think you’re going to get nothing but 80 minutes of soft-loud dynamics and blaring guitars, TWDY changes things up. Bursts of electronics seep in, between the ratcheting drumbeats and the mournful guitars of “A Three-Legged Workhorse”. Or there’s “Grandfather Clock”, basically a full-on IDM track, followed by the texturally dense standout track from Another Language, “Dustism”. But if the band proved there was more to them than just getting loud, when they were loud, they made it count, as on the climax to “Black Dunes” or “There Are Some Remedies Worse Than The Disease”. This show ran a touch longer than the previous night’s effort, closing with the ironically-titled “Quiet”. This burner of a Friday night show had been anything but.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK4V cardiod microphones and a soundboard feed of the mix by TWDY’s engineer (if you have his name, please give him a shout out). As with everything at Saint Vitus, the sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

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

Stream the complete show:

Video of the complete show:

This Will Destroy You
2015-02-27
St. Vitus
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Schoeps MK4V (LOC, at SBD, PAS)>KCY>Z-PFA>Sound Devices USBPre2 + Soundboard (engineers: Nick + TWDY’s engineer (please provide name if you have it))>>Edirol R-44 [OCM]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, adjust levels)>Izotope Ozone 5 (harmonic exciter, EQ, imaging)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 1:23:24]
01 Little Smoke
02 A Three-Legged Workhorse
03 War Prayer
04 Burial On the Presidio Banks
05 Grandfather Clock
06 Dustism
07 Black Dunes
08 There Are Some Remedies Worse Than the Disease
09 Communal Blood
10 [banter]
11 New Topia
12 Quiet

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT This Will Destroy You, visit their website, and buy Another Language here.

M.C. Taylor & Friends: January 18, 2015 NARAL NC Benefit, The Pinhook (Durham, NC) – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

February 27, 2015
By

hgm2015-01-18
[Screen shot from this YouTube video by Dan Schram]

DONATE TO NARAL PRO-CHOICE NORTH CAROLINA HERE

M.C. Taylor, aka Hiss Golden Messenger, had a hell of a 2014. Among his accomplishments — signing with Merge Records, who released Lateness of Dancers to critical acclaim; appearing on Letterman; touring the U.S. and Europe extensively; serving as de facto lead vocalist for the Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co. tribute shows in honor of Jason Molina; and producing and appearing on Alice Gerrard‘s Grammy-nominated Follow the Music. After being everywhere in 2014, Taylor inaugurated 2015 back on his home turf, with an extravaganza of a show that combined a bunch of his recent activities into one wild ride of an evening. As Hiss Golden Messenger now tours as a full unit, Taylor decided to bill this as “M.C. Taylor and Friends” rather than the band name; the night’s main lineup included some, but not all, of HGM’s touring component. This special show was a benefit for NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina, who have been leading the ongoing fight for choice in North Carolina.

After kicking off with a couple of Poor Moon classics, the “friends” started to come out in force. Gerrard joined Taylor for three numbers, including a cover of Merle Haggard’s “You Take Me For Granted”. Then it was Phil Cook‘s chance at the vocal mike, a turnabout from his normal role in HGM. The lucky crowd then got a second look at Taylor’s collaboration on the Songs: Ohia / Magnolia Electric Co. material, which was first debuted in the Triangle last January. Magnolia Electric Co.’s Jason Groth came up onstage for those three songs, including perhaps Molina’s finest number, “Final Transmission.” Then it was back to HGM for a bit, until the night’s final number, Taylor’s first known cover of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,” shown on the video above.

This performance was recorded by my friend and prolific Triangle-area recordist Dan Schram, whose video is showing below. Dan kindly provided me the audio files, to which I applied a little additional mastering and mixing “sparkle”. The sound quality is outstanding. We hope you enjoy it, and more importantly, that you will support the cause for which the music was made, NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina.

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

Stream and download individual tracks:

Watch “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” on YouTube:

M.C.Taylor and Friends
2015-01-18
NARAL NC Benefit
The Pinhook
Durham, NC USA

Recorded by Dan Schram
Produced by acidjack

Soundboard + Rode NT5>Tascam DR-680>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, compression, reverb on SBD)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, imaging)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 [intro]
02 Call Him Daylight [Hiss Golden Messenger]
03 [banter1]
04 Blue Country Mystic [Hiss Golden Messenger]
05 [banter2]
06 Get Up and Do Right [Alice Gerrard]*
07 [banter3]
08 Follow the Music [Alice Gerrard]*
09 You Take Me For Granted [Merle Haggard]*
10 If I Play With Fire [Alice Gerrard]*
11 [banter4]
12 Leave It There [Charles A. Tindley]
13 Ain’t It Sweet [Phil Cook]&
14 [banter5]
15 What Comes After the Blues [Magnolia Electric Co.]^
16 [banter6]
17 Talk To Me Devin, Again [Magnolia Electric Co.]^
18 Farewell Transmission [Songs: Ohia]^
19 [banter7]
20 Southern Grammar [Hiss Golden Messenger]
21 [encore break]
22 Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door [Bob Dylan]

Band:
M.C. Taylor – vocals, guitar
Kyle Keegan – drums
Brad Cook – bass
Matt Douglas – saxophone

* w/ Alice Gerrard – vocals
& w/ Phil Cook – vocals, guitar
^ w/ Jason Groth

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina. You can buy Hiss Golden Messenger’s records from Paradise of Bachelors and Merge Records, as well as HGM’s online store.

Nathan Bowles: February 12, 2015 Union Pool and January 31, 2015 Silent Barn – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

February 22, 2015
By

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An canny, skilled and unpretentious kind of player, Nathan Bowles is nonetheless important not because of how he plays, but what he plays. There’s no shortage of banjo music circulating these days — the jam-band scene is filled with bands playing their own pabulum and covering the classic rock hits with the instrument, using it to deliver a little authenticity from the extra twang. Bowles’ career is the exact opposite of all of that — not only does he bring a new style and sound to Appalachian music, but he has an intrinsic knowledge of what a worthy song is, whatever its era.

First as a member of legendary Pelt, the multi-instrumentalist helped to make drone-based music that changed the conversation about what “folk” could be. With the Black Twig Pickers, he and his bandmates have gone deep into American history, both excavating and elevating lost and under-appreciated old-time music. Fitting, then, that his solo work, in particular 2014’s Nansemond, does some of both, giving us traditional Appalachian and Piedmont string music that’s infused with the sound and spirit of the modern avant-garde. Though “solo” in name, Nansemond is a full-band effort, allowing Bowles to produce tunes like the album’s bookends, “Sleepy Lake Bike Club” and “Sleepy Lake Tire Swing” that weave rich guitar textures around his virtuosic banjo work.

These sets at Union Pool and Silent Barn were true solo affairs, with Bowles the support act for Joan Shelley and Elisa Ambrogio, respectively. In front of two crowds that couldn’t have been more different, Bowles performed sets that delivered the full range of what’s meaningful about Nansemond. Both were all-Nansemond affairs that included the “Sleepy Lake” pieces and his straightforward medley of “Jonah and the Whale” and “Poor Liza Jane”. At Union Pool we got “Moonshine Is the Sunshine”, closer to the former numbers in tone, while at Silent Barn, Bowles added something more experimental to the reportoire, with “Chuckatuck”, a song in which Tom Carter’s guitar work figures prominently on the record. You could’ve heard a pin drop among the Union Pool crowd, who Nathan thanked, almost baffled, for how respectful they were. If playing for the younger crowd at Silent Barn — who’d already been treated to a couple of punk bands — represented an uphill climb, Bowles didn’t show it; if anything, the spare arrangement of “Chuckatuck”, extended by three minutes versus the album version, ought to go down as one of that song’s best takes.

The Union Pool set was recorded with a soundboard feed from the house engineer Rob together with my Schoeps MK41 supercardiod microphones, while Eric PH recorded the Silent Barn gig with a straight soundboard feed from the engineer Mike, with only a tiny amount of his AKG 480 cardiods mixed in.

Download the Union Pool show [FLAC] | [MP3]

Download the Silent Barn show [FLAC] | [MP3]

Stream the Union Pool show:

Stream the Silent Barn show:

Nathan Bowles
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
01 [intro]
02 Sleepy Lake Bike Club
03 [banter1]
04 Moonshine is the Sunshine [Jeffrey Cain]
05 [banter2]
06 Jonah and the Whale [traditional] / folk medley
07 [banter3]
08 Sleepy Lake Tire Swing
____________________________________________________

Nathan Bowles
2015-01-31
Silent Barn
Brooklyn, NY

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by Eric PH

Soundboard (engineer: Mike) + AKG C480B/CK61 (FOB, PAS) > Roland R-26 > 2xWAV(24/48) > Adobe Audition CC (align, mixdown) > Audacity 2.0.5 (amplify, fades, downsample, dither, tracking, tagging) > FLAC (level 8)

Tracks [45:13]
01. Sleepy Lake Bike Club
02. [banter/tuning]
03. Jonah/Poor Liza Jane
04. [banter/tuning]
05. Sleepy Lake Tire Swing
06. [banter/tuning]
07. Chuckatuck

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Nathan Bowles, visit his website, and buy Nansemond from Paradise of Bachelors.

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A Place to Bury Strangers: February 17, 2015 Music Hall of Williamsburg – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

February 18, 2015
By

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[photos by acidjack]

A Place to Bury Strangers are one of several bands that incubated in the scene (and the sound) that grew up around Death By Audio and its line of effects pedals, making it fitting that they headlined Music Hall of Williamsburg just months after that venue’s untimely end. Though the band arrived on the scene just over ten years ago (in 2003), it feels like it’s been eons in musical terms. Today, their dark tone, blown out guitar sound, and relentless, ambitious live show feels vaguely foreign to the current indie mainstream, but that is as it should be. This kind of music may or may not always be a “trend”, but it will always have the ability to seize a crowd, and keep it.

It’s fitting that the band opened with “We’ve Come So Far”: The number comes from Transfixiation, the brand-new album whose release was being celebrated that night, and it also describes this band’s history. With only one consistent member throughout (frontman Oliver Ackermann), the now-trio has continued to hone a sound much more consistent than its personnel changes would suggest. From the obvious MBV homage of their self-titled 2007 debut, the band has both added layers and stripped them away, leaving them at the more tightly focused Transfixiation, which takes a few steps back from the wall of noise to find some new melodies — and a bit of extra weirdness — underneath.

Not that you’d have been able to tell at the album release show. From the first peals of guitar noise to the militaristic percussion of “So Far Away”, the band blanketed itself in noise, barely pausing between songs. Ackerman, drummer Robi Gonzalez and bassist Dion Lunadon were only intermittently visible in a sea of smoke, pierced by a frenetic light show and backed by abstract visuals. Ackermann and Lunadon hurled themselves around the stage as a mosh pit that churned below them; this was no polite Tuesday night show. It might be fair to say you can’t really get APTBS until you’ve seen them live, or at least, it’s very hard to convey the feeling of their music through a home stereo or some iPhone headphones. APTBS’ sound demands darkness, attention and crowd participation to fully land, and over and over on this night, it did.

Band and crowd literally became one during the encore portion of the set, when the band set up just in front of the venue’s soundboard to play three more songs as the audience closed in around them, the flashes of smartphone cameras replacing the strobe lights that had been up on the stage. If it didn’t quite replicate the intimacy of Death By Audio, it showed that this band deserved to grow to a level well beyond it, and to keep going. They’re the kind of band live music was made for, and they did right by us tonight.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK41 supercardiod microphones set up inside the soundboard cage. APTBS’ FOH, Lex, was in charge of the house mix. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

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

Stream the complete set: 

A Place to Bury Strangers
2015-02-17
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Schoeps MK41 (DFC, at SBD, PAS)>KCY>Z-PFA>Sound Devices USBPre2>Edirol R-44 [OCM]>24bit/48kHz WAV>Izotope Ozone 5 (effects, EQ, imaging)>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (adjust levels)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 57:01]
01 We’ve Come So Far
02 I’m So Clean
03 Drill It Up
04 Fill the Void
05 Deadbeat
06 [instrumental]
07 Love High
08 Now It’s Over
09 I’ve Lived My Life to Stand In the Shadow of Your Heart
10 You Are the One [played from the floor]
11 Straight [played from the floor]
12 So Far Away [played from the floor]

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT A Place to Bury Strangers, visit their website, and buy Transfixiation from Dead Oceans here.

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