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The Felice Brothers: May 18, 2011 Bell House – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

May 24, 2011
By

Felice Bell
[Video screenshot courtesy of D.F. Yonkman of Dead Elm]

From busking in NYC subway stations six years ago to selling out the Bell House two nights in a row this week, life for The Felice Brothers keeps evolving in a positive direction. Although they effectively got their start here in New York City, their sound and their approach are more informed by their hometown of Palenville, in the Catskill Mountains upstate. Their country-inflected rock is full of grit, with primary vocalist Ian Felice drawling out his lines in whiskey-drenched full throat, reminiscent at times of early Dylan, and brother James Felice adding meat to their delivery with his brawny vocals (plus his accordion, and piano work). The third brother, Simon Felice, left the band several years ago and tours on his own, but rest assured, the non-related remaining members of the band do an excellent job here, too. Their music isn’t prettified or trendy or arch; these are songs born for the barroom, suitable to a night of melancholy or getting ripshit with your oldest friends. Their lyrics brim with casual violence and the desolation of America’s darkest corners; a guy running an upstate meth lab might or might not listen to this, but these songs are often perilously close to his story.

These Brooklyn shows heralded the release of the band’s pathbreaking new record, Celebration, Florida (even the name of this central Florida planned town evokes something twisted). The new record takes a dramatic push beyond the basic strictures of the country/rock genome, incorporating such varied instrumentation as synths, a horn section, and drum machines, as well as some found sounds. The show kicked off with the first track from the album, “Fire At the Pageant,” and it was immediately evident that the new direction, while maybe a bit jarring at first listen, works to broaden the band’s palette without detracting from the raw, elemental sound that made fans fall in love. The band’s first new single, “Ponzi”, also demonstrated the new approach well, with its synth beats and politically current subject matter (you can probably guess from the title). Several special guests came out to show their love for the band, including former tourmate Conor Oberst on “Wonderful Life” (streaming below) and the searing finale, the fan favorite “Frankie’s Gun”, which also featured Deer Tick‘s Ian O’Neill and the opening act for the evening, South Carolina’s Shovels and Rope. The song, with the stage packed with musicians and friends of the band, was a fitting end to this first of two evenings in Brooklyn. Clearly, the Felice Brothers have plenty of friends here.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed from the Bell House engineer Jeff, together with the Schoeps microphones. The recording is outstanding, and this audio will be featured in upcoming video footage from Dead Elm.

Special thanks to the band’s management, Ravenhouse Ltd, for inviting us to the performance!

Stream “Wonderful Life”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/F1805FeliceBrothers0211/15 Wonderful Life.mp3]

Stream “Ponzi”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/F1805FeliceBrothers0211/06 Ponzi.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Direct download of FLAC files [HERE]

PLEASE DO NOT REPOST DIRECT LINKS TO EITHER THE MP3 OR FLAC FILES

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The Felice Brothers
2011-05-18
The Bell House
Brooklyn, NY USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Equipment: Soundboard + Schoeps Mk41>CMC6>Sound Devices USBpre2 >> Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod] (24/48)
Position: Clamp to soundboard booth, about 9ft up, PAS
Mastering: 2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, downsample to 44.1kHz, set fades, tracking, amplify and balance, smooth peaks, downsample to 16bit)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 1:21:46]
01 intro
02 Fire at the Pageant
03 Run Chicken Run
04 White Limousine
06 Hey Hey Revolver
06 Ponzi>
07 Take This Bread
08 Back In the Dancehalls
09 Got What I Need
10 Iron Mike
11 Honda Civic
12 Greatest Show On Earth
13 The Big Surprise
14 [banter]
15 Wonderful Life
16 Love Me Tenderly
17 Stepdad
18 River Jordan
19 [encore break]
20 Whiskey In My Whiskey
21 Frankie’s Gun

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Felice Brothers, visit their website, and purchase their official releases directly from their web store [HERE]

The Antlers: May 19, 2011 Music Hall of Williamsburg – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

May 22, 2011
By


[Photo courtesy of Amanda Hatfield]

After a surprise midnight show a few weeks ago at the Knitting Factory (that recording here), The Antlers came back for a duo of proper hometown performances. The first of these, at the incredible-sounding Music Hall of Williamsburg, had the manic energy and theatricality (complete with billowing stage smoke and a happyface balloon tower) that I have come to expect from triumphant returns by Brooklyn bands in this venue. The Antlers won’t be staying in town long; they are back on the road for festivals on the West Coast at the end of this month, as well as a rigorous tour swing through the U.S. and Canada in June. With the new record Burst Apart now in stores and critically acclaimed, the band are delivering its songs live as if they’ve been playing these songs for years. The set focused heavily on the new material, including the standout first single, the Radiohead-referencing “Parentheses” and one of my personal favorites, “Rolled Together”. Peter Silberman’s voice soared to its usual operatic heights, and the band seems to enjoy sinking their teeth into the more rocking new material. The four-song encore including three of the strongest tracks from their breakout album Hospice – my personal favorite “Kettering,” the narrative masterpiece “Two,” and the set closer, “Wake.” As great as they are, the Hospice numbers didn’t overshadow the new songs; that record, and those songs, are incredible, but Burst Apart, as this show proved, stands on its own – and is possibly the better record to play live, with its denser atmospherics and slightly harder edge. Three albums in, The Antlers are still a young band, and one that, we are sure, will continue to evolve and grow.

We recorded this set from the center of the balcony with the Schoeps microphones on an extension arm lowered toward the stacks, running into an analog preamp to provide natural warmth. The DPA microphones were also used in a small amount to add some atmosphere and room feel to the recording. We are very pleased with the results. Enjoy!

The May 20 show at Bowery Ballroom was also recorded and will be posted shortly.

Stream “Rolled Together”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/A3398Antlers3200/06 Rolled Together.mp3]

Stream “Kettering”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/A3398Antlers3200/14 Kettering.mp3]

This recording is now available for download as FLAC or MP3 at Archive.org [HERE].

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The Antlers
2011-05-19
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Equipment: Schoeps Mk41>CMC6>Oade M248 + DPA 4021 >> Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod] (24/48)
Position: Center balcony, on extension arm/clamps, DPA X/Y, Schoeps PAS
Mastering: 2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Audacity (EQ DPA source, mixdown, smooth peaks, set fades, amplify and balance, smooth peaks, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 1:32:11]
01 I Don’t Want Love
02 [banter]
03 No Widows
04 Parentheses
05 French Exit
06 Rolled Together
07 Bear
08 [banter]
09 Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out
10 [banter]
11 Hounds
12 Putting the Dog to Sleep
13 [encore break]
14 Kettering
15 Corsicana
16 Two
17 [banter]
18 Wake

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Antlers, visit their website, and order Burst Apart from their site [HERE].

John Vanderslice: May 12, 2011 Mercury Lounge – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

May 19, 2011
By


[Photos courtesy of Elizabeth Weinberg.  See her outstanding photography here]

John Vanderslice has been another steady favorite of this site (one of his performances from back in October appeared in our Top 25 Concert Moments of 2010) and that status is well-earned through his universally strong performances, outstanding songwriting, and engaging rapport with his crowds.  Those qualities were all on display during this recent show at the Mercury Lounge, an epic 90+ minute performance that showed off some stripped-down versions of songs from his 2011 release, White Wilderness, including the brooding “Overcoat” with its boombox accompaniment, streaming below.  As some fans sat onstage (Vanderslice set up extra chairs so some of the more vertically challenged could see), the veteran, together with percussionist Jason Slota, gave an outstanding set filled with classic hits and other highlights.  Vanderslice kept things loose, chatting at times even during songs, and stopping once or twice to fix mistakes.  No less than six guests jointed him onstage at various points, including opener Damien Jurado during the encore, and Ian Bjornstad during “Underneath the Leaves.”  The show ended, in classic Mercury Lounge fashion, with Vanderslice, Slota and Jurado playing four songs unplugged from the center of the floor.  Jurado proclaimed it “the best show of the tour,” and why should we disagree?

hi and lo recorded this set from our usual location in the venue with the Schoeps microphones.  The sound quality is excellent, with the caveat that the four encore songs at the end, being unplugged and in the middle of the floor, are harder to hear and suffer from more crowd noise than the main set. Enjoy!

Stream “Overcoat”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/J8030JohnVanderslice3030/06 Overcoat.mp3]

Stream “Up Above the Sea”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/J8030JohnVanderslice3030/12 Up Above the Sea.mp3]

This Recording is now available to Download in FLAC or MP3 at Archive.org [HERE].

John Vanderslice
2011-05-12
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY, US

Digital Master Audience Recording
Recorded and produced by hi and lo for nyctaper.com

Equipment: Schoeps MK4v > Nbox+ > Sony PCM-M10 @ 24 bit / 44.1 kHz
Location: ~20 ft from stage, at right stack
Mastering: 24bit/44.1kHz WAV>WaveLab 5 (eq/fades/dither)>FLAC v1.2.1 (Level 8) with TLH v2.6.0 (Build 168)

Tracks [Run Time 1:38:01]

01. Intro
02. Scorpio Rising
03. Convict Lake
04. The Parade
05. White Plains
06. Overcoat
07. Trance Manual
08. Pale Horses
09. Exodus Damage
10. Kookaburra
11. Do You Remember
12. Up Above the Sea
13. I’ll Never Live Up to You
14. Too Much Time
15. Underneath the Leaves
16. Thule Fog
17. White Dove
18. It’s Time to Go
19. (Encore Call)
20. Nikki Oh Nikki

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT John Vanderslice, visit his website, and purchase his official releases from the links at his website [HERE].

Yo La Tengo: May 11, 2011 Bell House – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

May 15, 2011
By


[Photo from the 5/10 show courtesy of Chris Gerbeck at fucking nostalgic]

After an epic Tuesday night “Spin the Wheel” show that found Yo La Tengo playing a special “Name Game” first set, the second night kicked off with “I’d Like To Buy A Vowel,” a new wheel item that requires the band to play only songs of theirs that begin in vowels. In other words, the fans got some great music, but compared to having to, say, perform a classic sitcom, it was a fairly lucky and safe choice for the band. The safe moves ended after that, though, as they kicked off with the punked-up “Artificial Heart” that transitioned seamlessly into their more mellow classic, “Autumn Sweater.” From there the band played through the low-key trio of “If It’s True,” “I’m On My Way” and “Alyda” before kicking the tempo back up with the explosive (and rarely played) “86-Second Blowout” from 1992’s May I Sing With Me. After an inspired, noise-drenched “Outsmartener”, the band launched into an insane 14-minute version of “I Heard You Looking” that left it all on the stage. It was hard to imagine a band not finishing an entire show, let alone a set, after such a monster performance, but this being Yo La Tengo, they let us come down easy, wrapping up set one with the subdued Lou Reed cover, “It’s Alright (The Way That You Live).”

In general, I felt like the sequencing of this show was a slight improvement over the previous night, though we have seen so many Yo La Tengo shows in the past 12 months, it is hard to play favorites. Still, the second set of this show felt incredibly cohesive, kicking off with “Walking Away From You,” a 12-minute “More Stars Than There Are In Heaven” and “False Alarm” all presented as a virtually seamless composition. The noisy side of Yo La Tengo has always been my favorite, so this trifecta pushed all the right buttons for me. Set 2 ended with another awesome 23-minute three-song series, of a monster “Big Day Coming” that found Ira in top form on guitar, jamming straight into “Tom Courtenay” and ending with the band’s reimagined version of Beach Boys’ “Little Honda”.

Perhaps feeling sheepish that they hadn’t been forced to play anything ridiculously out-of-the-box during their two Brooklyn shows, for the encore, the band decided to play a mini-set of three songs in their alter ego cover band mode, Condo Fucks. As with the first set, the encore ended on a quiet note, with another May I Sing With Me number, “Detouring America With Horns.” Few bands get the chance to do truly do whatever the want night after night in front of sell-out crowds, and Yo La Tengo have done everything possible to earn it. No matter how many shows you see, there are always new dimensions, new twists, new laughs, and new songs to be impressed and surprised by, and these two nights exemplified that perfectly.

I recorded this set with the Schoeps microphones running into an ultraquiet digital preamp, combined with an excellent soundboard feed. The results are outstanding. Enjoy!

Stream “86-Second Blowout”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/Y6644YLT9879/08 86 Second Blowout.mp3]

Stream “It’s Alright (The Way That You Live) [Lou Reed]”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/Y6644YLT9879/11 It’s Alright (The Way That You Live).mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Yo La Tengo
2011-05-11
The Bell House
Brooklyn, NY USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Equipment: SBD+Schoeps Mk41>CMC6>Sound Devices USBpre2>Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod] (24/48)
Position: At soundboard, DFC, mics pointed at stacks
Mastering: 2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, set fades, tracking, smooth peaks, amplify and balance, downsample to 16bit/44.1kHz)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
Set I: I’d Like To Buy A Vowel
01 Game Show Intro
02 Artificial Heart>
03 Autumn Sweater
04 If It’s True
05 I’m On My Way
06 [banter]
07 Alyda
08 86 Second Blowout
09 Outsmartener
10 I Heard You Looking
11 It’s Alright (The Way That You Live) [Lou Reed]

Set II
12 Walking Away From You>
13 More Stars Than There Are In Heaven>
14 False Alarm
15 [banter]
16 The Weakest Part
17 [banter]
18 Mr. Tough
19 Satellite>Big Day Coming>
20 Tom Courtenay
21 Little Honda [Beach Boys]
22 [encore break]

Encore: (Mostly) Condo Fucks Set
23 Whatcha Gonna Do [Small Faces]
24 Come On Baby [Young Rascals]
25 Dog Meat [Flamin’ Groovies]
26 Detouring America With Horns

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Yo La Tengo, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their official releases from the store at their website [HERE].

Jukebox the Ghost: May 4, 2011 Rock Shop – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

May 12, 2011
By


[Photo courtesy of The Wild Honey Pie]

Things seem to be going well for Philly’s Jukebox the Ghost – not long after they booked this show at the intimate Rock Shop as the support act for tourmates Wakey Wakey!, they found themselves at the top of the bill at Bowery Ballroom the following night. It isn’t terribly surprising: Since their founding in their present incarnation in 2005, the band has toured extensively behind big name, accessible pop-rock acts like Ben Folds and Barenaked Ladies and released two strong albums, their 2008 debut, Let Live and Let Ghosts, and its 2010 followup, Everything Under the Sun, and in that time, they have made a name for themselves as a bouncy, fun and consistent pop act.  Much like Ben Folds Five, their music revolves around classically-trained keyboardist/vocalist Ben Thornewill’s upbeat piano melodies and the sugar-sweet vocal harmony of lead vocalists Tommy Siegel and Thornewill.  Songs like “Empire” are reminders of the power of a perfect pop song; JTG are neither angst-ridden nor ironic, nor even particularly earnest – their pop is served without pretension or anxiety. I heard several people in the crowd, who didn’t know the band at all, talking about how much they enjoyed the show – and how could you not? Jukebox the Ghost are pros, ladies and gentlemen, and they have the power to deliver a nice injection of optimism into a jaded city crowd. All that said, it’s hard to deny the highlight of the show – an only-somewhat-ironic cover, a mean version of Huey Lewis & the News’ “Power of Love”, the theme song from Back to the Future (with a little jam of the theme from Ghostbusters in there – it was an 80s kind of night, I guess).

I recorded this set in the same manner as the Wakey Wakey! recording, and the sound quality is once again outstanding. Enjoy!

Stream “Empire”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/J4005JukeboxGhost2011/06 Empire.mp3]

Stream “The Power of Love [Huey Lewis and the News]”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/J4005JukeboxGhost2011/15 The Power of Love.mp3]

This Recording is now available for Download in FLAC and MP3 and to Stream at Archive.org [HERE].

Follow acidjack on Twitter

Jukebox the Ghost
2011-05-04
Rock Shop
Brooklyn, NY USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Equipment: DPA 4021>Sound Devices USBpre2+Soundboard>>Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod] (24/44.1)
Position: LOC, mics at 7.5ft, pointed at stacks
Mastering: 2x24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (balance, EQ right channel, mixdown, set fades, tracking, amplify and balance)>FLAC ( level 8 )

01 Mistletoe
02 Half Crazy
03 Hold It In
04 [banter]
05 The Stars
06 Empire
07 Summer Sun
08 [banter]
09 Don’t Let Me Fall Behind [new]
10 Nobody
11 Say When
12 Good Day
13 Static to the Heart
14 [banter]
15 The Power of Love [Huey Lewis & the News]
16 Schizophrenia

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Jukebox the Ghost, visit their website, and purchase Everything Under the Sun and their other official releases from the Yep Roc Records store [HERE]

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: May 6, 2011 Webster Hall – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

May 10, 2011
By

Pains
[Photo by acidjack]

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are one of the latter half of the last decade’s local success stories. They’re a band that has a hard-won and devoted following that hangs on every word, and rightly so. Their well-crafted and well-written songs of love, yearning and loss may stylistically reference an earlier era, but they make a timeless point. Lyrically, of course, these subjects never grow old, but musically, a tightly written, approachable indiepop song never does, either. Pains are the kind of band you root for – obviously nice people, talented, enthusiastic musicians, and a band that still has more to say. Following up on their eponymous debut, their new record, Belong, continues to display their abilities at songcraft, from the title track to other strong numbers like “Heart In Your Heartbreak” and “Strange”. While a lot of bands fail to make the transition from the smaller clubs – or even the mid-size venues like Bowery Ballroom – to the larger spaces like Webster Hall, Pains easily dominated the room with a dense sound and an enthusiastic, energized performance that balanced their new and old material equally. The band closed with their eponymous anthem, “The Pains of Being Pure At Heart”. The power of that signature chorus ringing out out through the cavernous old theater – “We will never die, no, no, we will never die” – was so powerful, it almost made you believe it. They couldn’t have asked for a better end to another national tour.

Because my usual spot in the venue was not available, I recorded this set from the right balcony close to the right speaker stack, giving more of an “upfront” sound than many recordings from this site, which offers excellent clarity but little sense of the room. Enjoy!

Thanks to Slumberland Records for allowing us to record this performance. Please support Slumberland and the band by purchasing Belong from the links below.

Stream “Heart In Your Heartbreak”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/P1411Pains2292/05 Heart In Your Heartbreak.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Follow acidjack on Twitter

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
2011-05-06
Webster Hall
New York, NY USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Equipment: DPA 4021>Oade M248>Sony PCM-M10 (24/44.1)
Position: Right balcony, about 20 ft from right stack
Mastering: 24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (set fades, tracking, EQ, downsample to 16bit)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 56:29]
01 Belong
02 This Love is Fucking Right
03 A Teenager in Love
04 [banter]
05 Heart In Your Heartbreak
06 The Body
07 Heaven’s Gonna Happen Now
08 Stay Alive
09 My Terrible Friend
10 [banter]
11 Come Saturday
12 Young Adult Friction
13 [banter]
14 Strange
15 [encore break]>Contender
16 Everything With You
17 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, visit their website, and purchase Belong directly from Slumberland Records [HERE].

Wakey Wakey!: May 4, 2011 Rock Shop – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

May 9, 2011
By


[Wakey Wakey! at SXSW 2011. Photos courtesy of James Buchan – check out his Flickr stream [HERE]]

A lot can be learned about Brooklyn’s Wakey Wakey! by considering the following anecdote from last Wednesday’s show at Rock Shop. It was the third song in their headlining set, following an outstanding set from tourmates Jukebox the Ghost. Keyboardist/vocalist/frontman Mike Grubbs dismisses the band from the stage and launches into a quiet solo number. As he sings the first line, peals of laughter erupt – he is covering Madonna’s Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.” But what is more surprising and refreshing about this tour staple is the fact that Mike completely transforms the song, finding a sad, wistful undercurrent to what has to be one of the most bouncy, ridiculous songs of the 1980s. Plus, he just sings the hell out of it. With folk/pop music like this that can at times veer into melancholy territory, that very lack of self-seriousness, and the willingness to have fun, are essential ingredients. This set – a homecoming for the band after a long tour – was strong throughout, with Grubbs and his bandmates on-point musically and loose with the crowd, having fun with this intimate group before their big night at Bowery Ballroom the following evening. This show was so intimate, in fact, that one couple got a chance to talk to Mike about how they got engaged just before the show!

I recorded this set from our usual location in the venue with the DPA microphones and an outstanding soundboard feed from the house engineer, Shane. The quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Stream “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun [Cyndi Lauper]”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/W0504WakeyWakey2011/06 Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.mp3]

Stream “War Sweater”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/W0504WakeyWakey2011/03 War Sweater.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Direct download of FLAC files [HERE].

Follow acidjack on Twitter

Wakey Wakey!
2011-05-04
Rock Shop
Brooklyn, NY USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Equipment: DPA 4021>Sound Devices USBpre2+Soundboard>>Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod] (24/44.1)
Position: LOC, mics at 7.5ft, pointed at stacks
Mastering: 2x24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (balance, mixdown, set fades, tracking, downsample)

Tracks [Total Time 51:58]
01 [intro]
02 Square Peg, Round Hole
03 War Sweater
04 Light Outside
05 [banter]
06 Girls Just Wanna Have Fun [Madonna] [Cyndi Lauper]
07 [banter]
08 Got It All Wrong
09 [banter]
10 Dance So Good
11 1876
12 Feral Love
13 Take It Like A Man
14 [banter]
15 Brooklyn
16 [banter]
17 Almost Everything
18 [banter]
19 Car Crash

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Wakey Wakey!, visit their website, and buy their latest releases from Family Records [HERE]

Lyonnais: April 15, 2011 Glasslands – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

May 7, 2011
By

lyonnais
[Photo from Lyonnais MySpace page]

I fully admit to knowing next to nothing about the Atlanta band Lyonnais – except that they rock. The four piece began in 2008 as a project between two WRAL-Atlanta music directors, Farbod Kokabi and Farzad Moghaddam, and the two clearly have an affinity for drone, psychedelic and post-rock, as they layer on the heavy reverb and distortion without apology. Their music has become increasingly experimental, focusing on longer compositions that defy the traditional 3-to-6 minute format.

This show at Glasslands, opening for Eternal Summers (that recording here), gave Lyonnais a chance to thrive in what might be a more natural environment for a band of their style – Williamsburg. These five songs – mostly longer-form compositions – showcased their ability to combine dense, reverb-heavy guitar jams with surprisingly accessible hooks. Although all of the material was new to me, I hope it will become more familiar as the band progresses to the album release stage in the (hopefully) near future (their debt album is being shopped to labels at present).

I recorded this set from the same location as the Eternal Summers recording, and the sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Please help out with the setlist – as the band does not appear to have any releases, the only source of song info I could find was their MySpace page.

Stream “Friendly Fires”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/L1540Lyonnais0211/04 Friendly Fires.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Follow acidjack on Twitter

Lyonnais
2011-04-15
Glasslands
Brooklyn, NY USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Equipment: DPA 4021>Oade M248+Soundboard>>Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod] (24/44.1)
Position: Center pole, 11′ up, X/Y
Mastering: 2x24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, EQ audience source, set fades, tracking, amplify and balance)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 [unknown]
02 The Fatalist
03 [unknown]
04 Friendly Fires
05 [unknown]

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Lyonnais, visit their MySpace page, and find out more about the band (including their forthcoming album release date) from Tell All Your Friends.

…And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead: April 29, 2011 Bowery Ballroom – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

May 3, 2011
By


[Photo by EardrumNYC]

Starting with their band name, Austin’s …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead have never been concerned with doing things the way that other bands do them. They are the kind of band that opens a co-headlining (yet nonetheless, technically opening) set at the Bowery Ballroom on a Friday night with a fifteen minute song (“Strange News From Another Planet”) from a new record (2011’s Tao of the Dead) that likely even the fans in attendance knew less well than their classic material. They are also the kind of band who, when they do that, cause the crowd to go apeshit.

Indeed, for the younger generation that was there to see the co-headliner Surfer Blood, this intense hour of no-compromise punk/art-rock may have been a departure from their usual Friday night fare. Surfer Blood is a great band, but Trail of Dead is many things they are not: loud, audacious, and visceral. But whether you came for Trail of Dead or not, they had to have won you over by the time they left the stage; frontman Conrad Keely bounced and pogo’d all over the stage while Jason Reece and Jamie Miller traded turns playing guitar and hammering the skins. With Autry Fulbright, also of Midnight Masses, joining on bass, the band has a killer lineup, even compared to the many variously-sized ones they have had. They were clearly enjoying themselves, as well as the energy from the crowd, which peaked in size during their set. The set covered a wide range of the band’s material, from the new material to classics such as “It Was There That I Saw You”, the leadoff track to their Pitchfork “perfect 10” album, Source Tags & Codes. The soaring song about intoxicating, damaged love is both jubilant and sad, a classic whether you’re hearing it for the first or fiftieth time. It also made for a tight under-four-minute contrast to some of the more epic numbers that bookended the set (including a 7+ minute “Perfect Teenhood” from Madonna to close out the set) …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead don’t just defy expectations – they exceed them.

I recorded this set with the DPA microphones and a handmade analog preamp from my usual spot in the venue. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Please note that the Surfer Blood set was recorded, but per our agreement with Kanine Records, will not be posted until the release of Surfer Blood’s forthcoming EP.

Stream “It Was There That I Saw You”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/T2402TrailOfDead1122/09 It Was There That I Saw You.mp3]

This Recording is now available to Download in FLAC and MP3 and to Stream at Archive.org [HERE].

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And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead
2011-04-29
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY  USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Equipment: DPA 4021>Oade M248>Sony PCM-M10 (24/44.1)
Position: Slightly LOC, clamp to balcony rail at engineers’ head level, pointed at stacks
Mastering: 24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (set fades, amplify and balance, light EQ (-1dB at 150-200Hz), smooth peaks, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 59:27]
01 [intro]
02 Strange News From Another Planet
03 Summer of All Dead Souls
04 [banter]
05 Ebb Away
06 Will You Smile Again
07 Caterwaul
08 [banter]
09 It Was There That I Saw You
10 [banter]
11 Relative Ways
12 Fake Fake Eyes
13 A Perfect Teenhood

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Trail of Dead, visit their website, and purchase Tao of the Dead at your favorite retailer, including here.

Low: April 27, 2011 Bowery Ballroom – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

May 2, 2011
By


[Photos by wagz2it and courtesy of A Heart Is A Spade]

Low are perhaps the best musical example of the value of speaking softly.  Since 1993, they have been playing perfectly expressed, understated American music with a deftness and grace that eludes all but the very best artists.  Much is made of the fact that, throughout a musical period where brash, loud and reckless are the touchstones of popular indie bands, they have won legions of fans with songs that are none of those things.  Indeed, their songs are tightly written concoctions; their primary strength lies in the singular vocal harmonies of guitarist Alan Sparhawk and drummer Mimi Parker, who plays a limited set of drums standing up. But really, being different is not what makes Low stand out.  What makes people pay attention to them – to cause them to watch their entire 90-minute performance in stunned rapture, punctuated only by bouts of furious applause – is what should always make people pay attention to anything.  That is, that they are excellent at what they do, phenomenally talented, dedicated and musically almost perfect (one little false start notwithstanding).  Although the band have many, many fine albums under their collective belt at this point, their recent release C’mon nonetheless represents another high watermark for the band, as it is not only contains some amazing new numbers like “Witches” and the expansive rocker “Nothing But Heart,” but is flawlessly recorded in an old church that captures the warmth of the band’s sound ideally.

This being a Wednesday night, the band was rewarded with an attentive and devoted Bowery Ballroom crowd that watched Sparhawk, Parker and bassist Steve Garrington give a majestic performance that was one of the best I have seen in my entire life.  What struck me most about Low was their level of control; Sparhawk and Parker are a seamless vocal instrument, such as on the lovely first encore, “Sunflower” from 2001’s Things We Lost In the Fire, and their command of their material a pleasure to watch unfold in the live setting.  The venue was ideal for the band – intimate enough for us to be able to hang on every word, but large enough to let them unleash the power of their more soaring songs, including the epic quiet/loud combo on their second encore, “When I Go Deaf”.  That they played a second encore is a sign of what a rich and outstanding show this was; everything was going right. At a quiet show like this, you often worry about people not paying attention, talking, and generally distracting other listeners; Low don’t seem to have that problem. It is impossible to be torn away. Sometimes, there is value in speaking softly.

I recorded this set with the DPA microphones in my usual location in the venue with a hand-built analog preamp for added warmth and detail. Because the band was playing very quietly at certain points, there are some moments of perceptible hiss from both the venue PA and my equipment, as well as some spots of light wind noise from the venue’s HVAC system that are almost never audible during louder shows.  Despite these minor flaws, I think this is overall an excellent recording and a great capture of the evening  (including the very respectful and very enthusiastic crowd).

 

Download the MP3 and FLAC files on the Live Music Archive [HERE]

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Low
2011-04-27
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Equipment: DPA 4021>Oade M248>Sony PCM-M10 (24/44.1)
Position: Slightly ROC, clamp to balcony rail, pointed at stacks
Mastering: 24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (set fades, amplify and balance, select noise reduction, smooth peaks, hard limit clapping, balance and amplify individual tracks, amplify entire performance, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 1:27:24]

01 Point of Disgust
02 Breaker
03 Try to Sleep
04 You See Everything
05 Monkey
06 Silver Rider
07 Witches
08 Especially Me
09 Last Snowstorm of the Year
10 $20
11 Majesty/Magic
12 Nightingale
13 Nothing But Heart
14 Something’s Turning Over
15 [false start]
16 Murderer
17 [encore break 1]
18 Sunflower
19 Violent Past
20 Cue the Strings
21 [encore break 2]
22 When I Go Deaf

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Low, like them on Facebook, and purchase C’mon directly from SubPop Records [HERE]

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