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[photo by nyctaper]

The best sign for the continued viability of a band that has moved beyond its initial “buzz” is their ability to write quality material and mature in their live act. Real Estate has accomplished both and proved it as the headliner of the Woodist showcase at the Northside Festival. The band continues to play tighter and more focused sets. On Friday, Real Estate opened with a new-ish song “All Out of Tune”, and played two other new numbers, including perhaps the strongest song of the set — an untitled number (“Nothing to Lose”? — sampled as Track 09 below) that premiered at Monster Island in April and for which we mixed the audio of this video of that performance. The song’s guitar line recalls “Fake Blues” but with a stronger melody and representative Real Estate style lyrics — perhaps a perfect new single for the band.

Real Estate perform again in NYC on July 9 at Le Poisson Rouge, at the outset of their extensive tour with Kurt Vile. They return again to NYC in mid-August to open for Deerhunter at Pier 54.

I recorded this set with the four microphone rig from the left front corner of the soundboard. The house mix was quite excellent and the sound quality of this recording is outstanding. Enjoy!

Sample “Fake Blues”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/R2410RealEstate9229/05%20RealEstate2010-06-25_nyctaper_t05.mp3]

Sample “New Song” (Track 09):
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/R2410RealEstate9229/09%20RealEstate2010-06-25_nyctaper_t09.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Real Estate
2010-06-25
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, 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
2010-06-28

Setlist:
[Total Time 53:51]
01 All Out of Tune
02 Green River [false start]
03 Green River
04 Suburban Beverage
05 Fake Blues
06 Pool Swimmers
07 [banter]
08 Basement
09 [new song]
10 Suburban Dogs
11 [new song]
12 Atlantic City
13 Beach Comber
14 [encore break]
15 Black Lake
16 Younger Than Yesterday

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Real Estate, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their releases from Woodist Records, Half Machine Records, and Underwater Peoples (currently sold out).

[photo by nyctaper]

The Fiery Furnaces played three nights in the NYC area this weekend, but we only managed to catch the final show. From the scuttlebutt after their set, it seems like we picked the right night. From the very outset, the quartet was just electrifying. This tour’s setlist wrinkle is the twenty-eight song segue. The Furnaces opened with a little instrumental interlude which they would revisit several times during the set, and then immediately pounced on “Tropical Iceland”. For the next sixty-five minutes, the band never let up as they flowed complete and partial versions of cherry-picked multiple reworked numbers from their vast catalog one into the next. Highlights included the extra-melodic newest take on “Quay Cur” (stream below) and several songs from the under-appreciated masterpiece Bitter Tea. This show also featured a complete rarity — Eleanor’s mishandling of lyrics (“Straight Street”) — the shocking nature of the faux pas is a testament of her uncanny ability to master the voluminous and difficult word-strings that are Furnaces lyrics. The Furnaces also performed two new numbers which fit seamlessly into the massive segue — a good sign of things to come for the band.

This recording was captured with the Neumann microphones on a stand at the soundboard booth mixed with a soundboard feed. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Stream “Black Hearted Boy”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/F7609FieryFurnaces5632/08%20FieryFurnaces2010-06-26_nyctaper_t08.mp3]

Stream “Quay Cur”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/F7609FieryFurnaces5632/14%20FieryFurnaces2010-06-26_nyctaper_t14.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Fiery Furnaces
2010-06-26
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
2009-06-27

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:14:59]
01 Tropical Iceland
02 Single Again
03 The Wayward Granddaughter
04 Benton Harbor Blues
05 Worry Worry
06 Wolf Notes
07 The Philadelphia Grand Jury
08 Black Hearted Boy
09 My Egyptian Grammar
10 Teach Me Sweetheart
11 Slavin’ Away
12 Even in the Rain
13 Take Me Round Again
14 Quay Cur
15 Clear Signal from Cairo
16 Keep Me in the Dark
17 Clothes Make The Man [new song]
18 I’m In No Mood To Comb My Hair
19 Restorative Beer
20 South Is Only A Home
21 Charmaine Champagne
22 Doctor in the Dungeon [new song]
23 I’m Going Away
24 My Little Thatched Hut
25 My Dog Was Lost But Now He’s Found
26 Straight Street
27 Bitter Tea
28 Chris Michaels
29 [band introductions / encore break]
30 Two Fat Feet
31 Asthma Attack
32 Japanese Slippers

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Fiery Furnaces, visit their website, and purchase their official releases from the Thrill Jockey Records site.

[photo by nyctaper]

Talent is an amazing thing to behold up close. When it comes to professional athletes, when you see them in person their amazing physicality is intimidating. Television does not do them justice. Its the same with musical performers. On Saturday, we were invited to capture a private performance at a “backyard brunch” series being presented weekly this summer. Nicole Atkins is a performer of some renowned, as Neptune City her 2007 release on Columbia Records reached number 20 in the Billboard “heatseeker” chart. But from five feet away in a relaxed backyard setting, Nicole’s talent is breathtaking. The Backyard Brunch series is unamplified, and yet even without the benefit of a sound system, her sweet yet powerful voice carried through all the ambient noise of a Saturday afternoon in Williamsburg to thoroughly entertain the intimate crowd. Nicole set included two songs from Neptune City and several songs that we anticipate will appear on her forthcoming album. Nicole Atkins performs again in NYC at the City Winery on August 7, when she returns from an extensive European tour.

I recorded this set with four microphones placed within a few feet of the artist. Other than a few moments of wind and some outside noise, this is quite an exceptional capture. Enjoy!

Stream “Call Me The Witch”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/N1906NicoleAtkins1020/3%20NicoleAtkins2010-06-19_nyctaper_t03.mp3]

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

Nicole Atkins
2010-06-19
Private Backyard Barbeque
Brooklyn, NY USA

Four-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Onstage

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
2010-06-20

Setlist:
[Total Time 34:50]
01 The Way It Is
02 Cry Cry Cry
03 Call Me The Witch
04 [tuning/banter]
05 Monterey Honey
06 Baby Don’t Lie
07 Hotel Plaster
08 The Tower
09 Neptune City

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Nicole Atkins, visit her website, and purchase her official releases and other merch [HERE].

[photo by nyctaper]

Wild Nothing is a band who we have been hearing much about lately. They are scheduled to play one of the free Governor’s Island shows tomorrow (Saturday June 19), after having played a “secret show” last night at Death By Audio. We had the opportunity to catch this current buzz band twice during the winter, and left impressed by their skillful presentation of 80’s influenced dream pop. After Wild Nothing was discovered and signed by Captured Tracks’ Mike Sniper, Jack Tatum’s Virginia-based bedroom songs formed a four-piece live band and came to NYC in February to play two shows at Monster Island. The second night lineup including sets previously featured at nyctaper by Frankie Rose and So Cow. These two debut NYC shows were in conjunction with the release of their single “Summer Holiday”, which closed the set. A month later, we saw Wild Nothing at a much larger venue, opening for Woods and Real Estate (also previously featured on nyctaper) at Music Hall of Williamsburg. In June, the band’s debut full length was released and received “best new music” from Pitchfork, and glowing reviews elsewhere. These two recordings were captured at divergent sized and sounding venues, but give an excellent indication that Wild Nothing is worthy of such neat praise.

The Monster Island set was recorded with microphones mounted ten feet from the stage and a direct soundboard line. The four-track mixdown enhances the strengths of both feeds. The Music Hall set was recorded with four microphones at the front corner of the soundboard. Both recordings, although quite different in feel, have outstanding sound quality. Enjoy!

Streaming Samples of Wild Nothing:
“O Lilac” at Monster Island
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/W1302WildNothing1020/5%20WildNothing2010-02-13_nyctaper_t05.mp3]
“Summer Holiday” at Music Hall
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/W1302WildNothing1020/6%20WildNothing2010-03-12_nyctaper_t06.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files:
Monster Island (HERE)
Music Hall (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC:
Monster Island [HERE]
Music Hall [HERE]

Wild Nothing
2010-02-13
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
2010-06-13

Setlist:
[Total Time 30:22]
01 Confirmation
02 Live In Dreams
03 Nothing’s Wrong
04 The Witching Hour
05 O Lilac
06 Gemini
07 Summer Holiday

*******

Wild Nothing
2010-03-12
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, 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
2010-06-13

Setlist:
[Total Time 26:53]
01 Nothing’s Wrong
02 The Witching Hour
03
04 O Lilac
05 Gemini
06 Summer Holiday

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Wild Nothing, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their debut album Gemini from the Captured Tracks website [HERE].

[photo courtesy of Patrice Jackson]

I rectified two major oversights last night when I caught JEFF The Brotherhood at Santos Party House. Although we’ve both been around for a few years now, nyctaper had not previously recorded a show at Santos. Which is a shame, because the venue was extremely courteous and accommodating to me and the sound system is terrific. And although JEFF previously appeared on nyctaper in December, acidjack captured that show and so I had also never seen JEFF. The show began with an extended solo by Jake and a dramatic entrance by Jamin to begin the the first number. Midway through the too-short set, Jake took a leap from the stage to the bar and worked his way briefly along the bar. Later, he would work through the crowd from front to back while performing the outstanding extended jam to end the set. These antics did not detract from the show, but rather enhanced the two-brothers-just-playing-rock-and-having-fun vibe that permeates JEFF’s live performances. While the middle-bill thirty-five minute set was over far too quickly, we expect to see JEFF playing longer sets in larger venues in the near future. The size and enthusiasm of the Santos crowd would agree.

I recorded this set with a simple two-channel plug-in to the side-stage inputs. As a straight soundboard feed, the sound quality is crystal clear, if a bit “in your face”. One caveat: there is some crackling in the guitar near the end of the first song. Enjoy!

Stream “U Got The Look”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/J6012JEFF9922/02%20JEFF2010-06-13_nyctaper_t02.mp3]
Stream “Bone Jam”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/J6012JEFF9922/09%20JEFF2010-06-13_nyctaper_t09.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

JEFF The Brotherhood
2010-06-13
Santos Party House
New York, NY USA

Digital Stereo Soundboard Master Recording

Digital Soundboard > XLR Cables > Edirol R-44 > 24bit 48kHz wav file > Soundforge (level adjustments, set fades, downsample) > CD Wave (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper
2010-06-14

Setlist:
[Total Time 35:06]
01
02 U Got the Look
03 [tuning/banter]
04 Mind Ride
05 [tuning/banter]
06
07
08 [tuning/banter]
09 Bone Jam
10

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT JEFF the Brotherhood, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their new album Heavy Days from the Infinity Cat Records website [HERE].

[photo courtesy of Aquarium Drunkard]

As one of the most accomplished songwriters of the last two decades, including his work with Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt, the recent collaboration with indie-darling Ben Gibbard, and his solo career, Jay Farrar has cached enough cred to deserve abundant respect. Last Friday at Maxwell’s, that was sadly not the case. As this recording unfortunately details, the superb music emanating from the stage was seemingly mere background music to a social event. The unabashed high volume chatter at this show is simply an outrage — thoroughly disrespectful to this excellent artist and also to one of the metro area’s greatest venues. If you can’t shut up for 90 minutes, stay home.

In terms of the performance, for this tour Jay has been accompanied by multi-instrument virtuoso Mark Spencer. While the setlist is quite similar to the Son Volt show featured on nyctaper in September, Jay added a few more of the Big Sur numbers, performed a very special rare Uncle Tupelo number (“Still Be Around”), and encored a rocking Townes Van Zandt cover.

This show was recorded with acidjack’s new Schoeps microphones at the front corner of the soundboard. While we often mix four channels of audience and soundboard at this venue, Jay’s taping policy does not permit board feeds, so this is a straight audience recording that suffers from the obvious persistent and rude crowd chatter. There is also one brief battery-change splice in “Still Be Around”. With those caveats, enjoy!

Stream Jay Farrar “Cocaine and Ashes” live at Maxwell’s:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/S1790SonVolt9290/JayFarrar_Cocaine&Ashes_2010-06-04.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Jay Farrar
2010-06-04
Maxwell’s
Hoboken, NJ USA

Digital Master Audience Recording
Recorded from Front and Center of Soundboard

Schoeps CMC6/MK41 > Naiant Littlebox > Sony PCM-M10 > 24bit 44.1kHz wav file > Soundforge (level adjustments, close clapping reduction, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded by acidjack
Produced by nyctaper
2010-06-08

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:31:05]
01 Down To The Wire
02 The Picture
03 Feel Free
04 When The Wheels Don’t Move
05 Cocaine and Ashes
06 Dust of Daylight
07 Pushed Too Far
08 No Turning Back
09 Big Sur
10 Methamphetamine
11 Strength and Doubt
12 San Francisco
13 Dynamite
14 Bandages & Scars
15 Breathe Our Iodine
16 Tear Stained Eye
17 Damn Shame
18 Still Be Around
19 Windfall
20 Afterglow 61
21 [encore break]
22 White Freightliner Blues (Townes Van Zandt)

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Jay Farrar, visit his website, and purchase his official releases directly from the Jay Farrar Official Store [HERE].

[photo credit]

For good or bad, Brooklyn Bowl is the perfect venue for a Les Claypool show in NYC. First, the good. The superior sound system at The Bowl presented all the intricacies of the band — bass, electric cello, xylophone, drums — with superb clarity. Every plucked and slapped note on Claypool’s bass was pristine. The venue’s odd juxtaposition of music and sport also provided Les with comedic fodder. Finally, the room seemed to be the perfect size for this crowd. While the show was sold out, it was also not so packed as to be uncomfortable. Then, there was the bad. Brooklyn Bowl has an outstanding beer selection, primarily from their neighbors the Brooklyn Brewery and Red Hook’s craft beer wizards at Six Point. The potency of some of these fine beers though was too much for a good portion of the crowd. The end result was puddles of beer and broken glass on the floor and some seriously strange behavior (somewhat noticeable on the recording). Les actually stopped playing in the middle of “Duchess” to chide “Mr. Bald Headed Guy” who was harassing women up front. However, the set itself was a seriously outstanding Claypool show, which touched on his Primus work and his various solo incarnations. “Makalaster > Pachyderm > Makalaster” was an extended exercise in true collaborative improvisation, and the “One Better” medley featured Les at his best. Ever the cut-up, he introduced the Rush cover encore as a “Sly and the Family Stone tune” that takes him back to the “Oakland soul” citing as his “only true source of information” — Wikipedia.

I recorded this set with the Neumann microphones pointed directly up at the stacks at about 30 feet from the stage. The sound quality in the venue was superb and this recording reflects that quality, along with the boisterous crowd. Enjoy!

Stream Les Claypool’s cover of “The Spirit Of Radio” (Rush) Live at Brooklyn Bowl:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/C1006Claypool2110/14%20LesClaypool2010-06-08_nyctaper_t14.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Les Claypool
2010-06-08
Brooklyn Bowl
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded Upfront 30 Feet from Stage

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

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2010-06-09

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:45:04]
01 Highball with the Devil
02 Duchess And The Proverbial Mind Spread
03 Amanitas
04 David Makalaster I
05 Southbound Pachyderm
06 David Makalaster I
07 Red State Girl
08 Precipitation
09 Jam/Drums
10 Booneville Stomp
11 One Better / The Awakening / One Better
12 Riddles Are Abound Tonight
13 [encore break]
14 The Spirit Of Radio (Rush)

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Les Claypool, visit his website, and purchase his official releases directly from Club Bastardo [HERE].

[photos taken for nyctaper by David Andrako]

Natureboy was fresh off their well-received Truck America Festival appearance when they returned to NYC to play the NYCTaper 3rd Anniversary show a couple of weeks ago. While the late-arriving crowd meant the band played half their set to a handful of people, by the time Sara Kerminshahi grabbed the acoustic guitar for a superb solo rendition of the Dylan-via-Nico classic “I’ll Keep It With Mine”, the room was packed. And lucky for them. Sara’s intense performance was one of the highlights of the evening. The entire Natureboy set was a strong run through a mix of material from their excellent self-titled 2009 debut and two promising new numbers. Natureboy will play a couple of shows in Brooklyn this month, at Zebulon on June 13, and another Kevchino show at Knitting Factory on June 16.

We recorded this set with the same mix as the Dinosaur Feathers set from this night and the sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Natureboy
2010-05-15
NYCTaper 3rd Anniversary Concert
Pianos
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
2010-05-30

Setlist:
[Total Time 32:22]
01 A Flame
02 Ode to Merry Maid
03 Dither
04 Don’t Worry
05 [new song]
06 Pariah
07 [new song]
08 I’ll Keep It With Mine (Dylan/Nico)

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Natureboy, visit their MySpace page, and purchase Sara’s self-released debut album by following the links to amazon.com mp3s and Itunes at the Natureboy MySpace page.