Blog Archives

[photo courtesy of podbay]

In their twenty-five year existence, Buffalo Tom has run the gamut of band identities — from late-80s up-and-comers taken under the wing of Dinosaur Jr., to early-mid 90s major label alt-rock juggernaut, to early an 00s hiatus, and ultimately as a current rejuvenated success story. At a packed Mercury Lounge for last Thursday’s early show, the Tom revealed that early 2011 will see the release of a new album. Several new songs were unveiled throughout the set, including rockers “Guilty Girls” and “Down”, and the quality of the new material holds up well to the classics featured during the show — “Taillights Fade”, “Sodajerk” and “Staples” (streaming below). Bill spent much of the show engaged in comedic and good-natured banter with the crowd, who sang along throughout the show. As a band that’s truly comfortable in their skin, Buffalo Tom shows no signs of moving onto any nostalgia phase, but continue to make engaging and relevant music.

I recorded this set with the four microphone rig placed at the front right corner of the soundboard booth. While there is some chatter during the quieter numbers, the rich bass presence and vocal clarity of this recording make it an excellent listen. Enjoy!

Stream “Staples”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/B1811BuffaloTom2010/Buffalo%20Tom%20-%20Staples%20(Live)%202010-11-18.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Buffalo Tom
2010-11-18
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY USA

Four-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Front of Soundboard Booth

Neumann KM-150s + DPA 4021’s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper
2010-11-21

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:25:01]
01 Rachael
02 Guilty Girls
03 [banter]
04 Larry
05 I’m Allowed
06 Tree House
07 [banter]
08 Summer
09 [banter]
10 Arise, Watch
11 Think About It
12 You’ll Never Catch Him
13 [banter]
14 Kitchen Door
15 [Cortez The Killer intro]
16 Taillights Fade
17 Staples
18 [banter]
19 Frozen Lake
20 [banter]
21 Clobbered
22 [banter]
23 Down
24 Crutch
25 [encore break]
26 Tangerine
27 Sodajerk
28 Late At Night
29 [banter]
30 Death Party [Gun Club]

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Buffalo Tom, visit their website, and purchase their official releases from the Store at their website [HERE] or from the New West Records website [HERE].

[photo by nyctaper]

In his thirty years in the music industry, Richard Barone has played just about every role imaginable — singer, writer, producer, director, promoter, musical director, and author. Last Saturday, he returned to the place where it all began, Maxwell’s. Barone led the very first band to perform in the venue in 1980, and his Bongos appeared there more than any other band over the years. The occasion last weekend was the release of Richard’s album Glow. Co-produced by the legendary Tony Visconti, Glow is a stunning achievement — his first studio album in seventeen years and an album which rivals the pop brilliance of his best work, 1987’s Cool Blue Halo. The show opened with the first two tracks from the album, and for the next seventy minutes, the crowd was treated to much of the new material along with career highlights. The set also contained three Bongos songs, including “Numbers With Wings” (streaming below) and the classic “Barbarella” as the encore. Several times, Richard noted the outstanding performance of his band, which includes long time collaborator Nick Celeste, and the excellent electric violinist Deni Bonet. Richard Barone is currently on tour, but returns to NYC on December 1, for a special show at St. Mark’s Church in the East Village.

We recorded this set as we do most of the captures from Maxwells, with the mic stand mounted inside the right front corner of the soundboard booth and mixed with a soundboard feed. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Stream “Numbers With Wings”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/R1312RichardBarone1020/Richard%20Barone%20Numbers%20With%20Wings%20(Live)%202010-11-13.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Richard Barone
2010-11-13
Maxwell’s
Hoboken, NJ USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + DPA 4021s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2010-11-18

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:09:50]
01 [introduction]
02 Gravity’s Pull
03 Glow
04 [banter]
05 Girl (T Rex)
06 Tiger Nights
07 Odd Girl Out
08 [banter]
09 I Belong To Me
10 Flew A Falcon
11 Radio Silence
12 Satellite of Love (Lou Reed)
13 River To River
14 Its Only Love (Beatles)
15 [banter]
16 Candied Babes
17 Numbers With Wings
18 [banter/band introductions]
19 Yet Another Midnight
20 Glow
21 Barbarella

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Richard Barone, visit his website, and purchase Glow from the Bar-None Records website [HERE].

[photo by PP]

This photo is taken from the stage at last month’s Lightning Bolt show at Ridgewood Masonic Temple and fairly portrays the crowd and the music that night. We’ve previously posted the Dan Deacon set, but this Lightning Bolt performance was a challenge — the recording has some technical issues that needed to be resolved, and we frankly didn’t know what to make the performance itself. Its very hard to describe Lightning Bolt. The common moniker “noise rock” does not really describe anything they do. While drummer Brian Chippendale wears a mask (see photo) that holds an amplified telephone mouthpiece for vocals, he is accompanied by Brian Gibson’s aggressive bass that sound nothing like a bass guitar. Lightning Bolt does not play conventional songs, nor are the songs played the same way twice. Although the band is noted for leaving the stage and playing from within the crowd, on this night in Brooklyn Lightning Bolt remained on the stage for their hour-long set. The setlist is consistent with other recent shows and includes songs from the last two albums and some new material, perhaps for a planned followup to 2009’s Earthly Delights.

I recorded this set in the same manner at the Dan Deacon set. The audience mics were placed at the rear of the venue in front of the soundboard area, and near the back of four speakers. The soundboard feed for this particular set was marred by inconsistent levels on the drums, and the last half of the feed was excluded entirely due to overamplification of the snare drum. The levels of the set were made consistent and some severe peaks were softened. The final result is a very listenable recording. Enjoy!

Stream “Dead Cowboy”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/L1510LightningBolt0201/Lightning%20Bolt%20DEAD%20COWBOY%20Live%202010-10-15.mp3]

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

Lightning Bolt
2010-10-15
Ridgewood Masonic Temple
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Neumann KM-150s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2010-11-12

Setlist:
[Total Time 55:31]
01 2 Morro Morro Land
02 Sound Guardians
03 Horsepower
04 Megaghost
05 [new song / improvisation]
06 Colossus
07 [new song]
08 [encore break]
09 Dead Cowboy

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Lightning Bolt, visit their website, and purchase their official releases from the Load Records website [HERE].

[photo by Johnny]

Before there was Drive-By Truckers, there was Drivin’ N Cryin’ — unabashed country rock with identifiable punk influences. When Kevin Kinney left his punk band in Milwaukee and moved to Atlanta in the mid-80s, he and Tim Nielsen would ultimately go on to establish a group that melded divergent genres to create a sound that would influence a generation of southern rockers. Now celebrating their 25th year as a band, Drivin’ N Cryin’ continues to make excellent music and still wears its punk pedigree on its sleeve. 2009’s Great American Bubble Factory contains everything from country-tinged working class odes to a cover of The Dictators. The album opens with “Detroit City”, a live show-stopper that references Iggy and the Stooges and MC5, and closes with “This Town”, a poignant Guthrie/Dylan styled folk number. On Saturday night at Mercury Lounge, both songs were performed in key spots in the setlist, along with nearly two hours of the best of the band’s extensive catalog. Other highlights included a huge “Fly Me Courageous” (streaming below) and the show-closing epic twelve-minute “Straight to Hell”.

Kevin Kinney will perform a series of solo shows at The Living Room for three consecutive Tuesday nights in December.

I recorded this set from my standard location in this venue, at the front right corner of the soundboard. I utilized the DPA microphones and mixed them with a feed from the soundboard. The sound quality of this recording is outstanding. Enjoy!

Stream “Fly Me Courageous”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/D6011DrivinNCryin1020/Drivin%20N%20Cryin%20FLY%20ME%20COURAGEOUS%20Live%202010-11-06.mp3]

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

Drivin’ N Cryin’
2010-11-06
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + DPA 4021s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2009-11-09

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:49:04]
01 [introduction]
02 Honeysuckle Blue
03 (Whatever Happened to The) Great American Bubble Factory?
04 Scarred But Smarter
05 Preapproved, Predenied
06 The Innocent
07 Build A Fire
08 I Stand Tall (The Dictators)
09 [banter]
10 Midwestern Blues
11 Peacemaker
12 [banter]
13 Back Roads And Rainy Days
14 With The People
15 Let’s Go Dancing
16 Detroit City
17 Fly Me Courageous*
18 [crowd/banter]
19 Blues on Top of Blues
20 [encore break]
21 This Town
22 Which Jesus
23 Straight to Hell**
24 [outro]
*with a verse of Smoke On The Water
**with a verse of Why Don’t We Do It In The Road

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Drivin’ N Cryin’, visit their website, and purchase their official releases at the Store on their website [HERE].

[photo courtesy of pierceturner.com]

I saw Pierce Turner at Joe’s Pub a couple of weeks back, and it was the first time I’ve seen him in two years. The show was a delightful performance that proved that although he may have slowed a bit, Turner is still capable of charming an audience and energizing the fans. The aftershow conversation steered towards the past, and I was reminded of the archive of outstanding Pierce Turner performances that I have recorded over the years.

Throughout the 90s, Pierce did a series of “residencies” at local Irish clubs. In the early part of the decade, his Friday nights at Nevada Smiths were legendary and led to the release of the live album Manana in Manhattan, recorded at Smiths on a crazy Monday night in 1994. Later, his “Sunday mass” at Swift Hibernian Lounge drew an eclectic Sunday afternoon crowd and continued from 1996 until early 1998. When the Swift residency ended, Pierce moved the Sunday shows to Fiddlesticks, which is an enormous Irish pub on Greenwich Avenue that had recently opened back in ’98.

The recording posted here was the very first night of Sunday’s at Fiddlesticks, a series of shows that would continue for about six months. On this opening night, Pierce brought out all the stops, and played a nearly two-hour show packed with all of his best material and several rarities. The band consisted of the regular string quartet and drummer Michael Dawe, although regular cellist Tomas Ulrich was unavailable on this particular night. Pierce opened the show with “I Set You Up to Shake” from US version of The Sky and the Ground, accompanied only by backing tapes as he walked on top of the bar and the tables. It was a song he had not performed live in several years. “Groovy Hearts”, a song that appeared on Turner’s first album but was originally recorded for the final (never released) Major Thinkers album was a special rare treat. Five encores and a couple of hours later, the show ended with promises to return, which Pierce honored for months.

I recorded this set with a feed from the soundboard into my Sony M-1 DAT deck. Pierce’s live sound at the time was mixed by a talented engineer named Scott Whitney with whom I’ve unfortunately lost touch. Scott mixed the show superbly on this evening and the result is an excellent recording and listening experience. Enjoy!

Stream the entire concert:

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Direct download of the FLAC files available at Archive.org Link (HERE)

Pierce Turner
1998-02-15
Fiddlesticks
New York, New York USA

Master Digital Soundboard Recording

Soundboard > Sony M-1 DAT
DAT Master > Panasonic SV-3800 > digital coaxial > Audigy 2 ZS Platinum > Soundforge (level adjustments, set fades) > 16 bit 44.1 wav > CD Wave (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded by nyctaper in 1998
Produced by nyctaper 2010-11-08

Setlist:
[total time: 1:55:59]
01 I Set You Up To Shake
02 Thunderstorm
03 Moonbeam Josephine
04 Don’t Want Her To Feel That Way
05 [banter]
06 Say You Don’t Mind [Colin Blunstone]
07 You Can Never Know
08 [banter]
09 Ball and Chain (Snakes and Ladders)
10 Who’s Your Advisor
11 [banter]
12 Groovy Hearts
13 Oh Ireland
14 Mr. Smith
15 Lithium [Nirvana]
16 [banter]
17 For No One [Beatles]
18 [banter]
19 Manana In Manhattan
20 Not A Bad Day For A Wednesday
21 [band introductions]
22 Wicklow Hills
23 [encore break]
24 God Only Knows [Beach Boys]
25 [banter]
26 Band Of Gold [Freda Payne]
27 Musha God Help Her
28 [second encore break]
29 Big Big Bruise
30 [banter]
31 Orange Coloured Sun

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Pierce Turner, visit his website, and purchase his releases directly from the online store at his website.

[photo by nyctaper]

I was enamored with the music of the late great Ponytail, Baltimore’s art-rock collective that came to an unfortunate and untimely demise earlier this year. Dustin Wong’s work with Ponytail was breathtaking — intricate and hyper guitar lines that propelled the swirling melodies. As a live performer in Ponytail, Dustin yielded the front spot to Molly Siegel’s spastic vocal yelps, but fans in know understood that he was the band’s leader. As a solo performer, Dustin has literally taken a seat, taken a deep breath and now focuses on creating multi-layered musical tapestries. At Monster Island last Tuesday, he performed solo and seated to a smallish but rapt crowd. The set began with “Sisters” from his excellent new Thrill Jockey release Infinite Love but moved onto a series of new and developing melodies. The material is instantly recognizable as Dustin’s guitar style, but with the looping and layering takes on a unique character. The crowd did not utter a peep until the short set was over, but showered Dustin with some well deserved praise at its conclusion. We will continue to follow this extremely talented artist as he weaves his way along an interesting and compelling career path.

This set was recorded with the Neumann mics mounted ten feet from the stage and mixed with a well balanced soundboard feed. The sound quality is superb. Enjoy!

Stream an Excerpt from this set:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/P6621Ponytail2121/Dustin%20Wong%20LIVE%20EXCERPT%202010-11-02.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Dustin Wong
2010-11-02
Monster Island Basement
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Neumann KM-150s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2x 16bit 44.1kHz wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2010-11-06

Setlist:
[Total Time 30:23]
01 Track
(songs included “Sisters” and a series of new melodies)

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Dustin Wong, visit his artist page at the Thrill Jockey Records website, and purchase his official releases from the Merge Records website [HERE].

[photo courtesy of Amanda Hatfield]

At the Thursday night Mercury Lounge show, John Darnielle described The Extra Lens material as the songs that he has written that amuse bandmate Franklin Bruno. Although the songs certainly resemble Darnielle’s Mountain Goats material (with three “Going to…” titles), The Extra Lens songs do move lyrically towards a lighter and more satiric tone. Last week, the band released Undercard — their first album in eight years — and the Mercury setlist began with mostly the new material but covered most of the band’s output and even included a few Mountain Goats songs. Highlights included early single “I Hear The Planets”, first album closer “Going to Marrakesh” (streaming below) and their cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Memories” (also from the first album) that featured John mingling among the crowd. Darnielle will return to NYC with the Mountain Goats this coming Spring.

The set was captured in the same manner as the Vanderslice recording, and the sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Stream “Going to Marrakesh”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/M1616MountainGoats8080/The%20Extra%20Lens%20GOING%20TO%20MARRAKESH%202010-10-21.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Extra Lens
2010-10-21
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Neumann KM-150s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2009-10-25

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:06:06]
01 [introduction]
02 The River Song
03 [tuning/banter]
04 Adultery
05 Rockin’ Rockin’ Twilight Of The Gods
06 [banter]
07 Baltimore
08 Ambivalent Landscape Z
09 Dogs of Clinic 17
10 [banter]
11 Programmed Cell Death
12 I Hear The Planets
13 Going to Marrakesh
14 [banter]
15 Only Existing Footage
16 [banter]
17 How I Left The Ministry
18 Cruiserweights
19 [banter]
20 Infidelity
21 Going To Michigan
22 Carmen Cicero
23 Houseguest
24 [encore break]
25 Memories (Leonard Cohen)

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Extra Lens, visit their artist page at the Merge Records website, and purchase Undercard from the Merge Records website [HERE].

[photo courtesy of Amanda Hatfield]

Early in his show on Thursday night at Mercury Lounge, John Vanderslice coaxed an ovation from the crowd for this site and myself. I’ve contended for a while that John is the nicest guy I’ve ever met in the music industry, but this kind of dedication was unexpected, humbling and quite touching. John’s forty-minute set contained similarly good will for the rest of the crowd, as he bantered with fans, told stories, and performed the best of his extensive catalog. The set highlights included “The Parade” (streaming below), my personal request and a song John said he’d only done three times, and the haunting “White Dove”. For the set closing “Numbered Lithograph”, John was joined by Franklin Bruno of Extra Lens who added tasty and well-placed melodic piano lines. Vanderslice will return to NYC in March when he promised a new release on Dead Oceans Records.

I recorded this set with the Neumann microphones on a stand in front of the cage and mixed with a soundboard feed. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Stream “The Parade”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/J8030JohnVanderslice3030/John%20Vanderslice%202010-10-21%20THE%20PARADE.mp3]

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

John Vanderslice
2010-10-21
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Neumann KM-150s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2009-10-23

Setlist:
[Total Time 37:48]
01 [introduction]
02 D.I.A.L.O.
03 [banter]
04 The Parade
05 [banter]
06 Time To Go
07 Scorpio Rising
08 Pale Horse
09 [banter]
10 White Plains
11 Sunken Union Boat
12 Radiant with Terror
13 White Dove
14 [banter]
15 Trance Manual
16 [banter]
17 Numbered Lithograph

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