Blog Archives

[photo courtesy of twi-ny/mark rifkin]

Almost exactly one year since their last trip to NYC, Camper Van Beethoven returned and performed an outstanding set at the Highline Ballroom on Friday night. As the first band to play on this night of the Cracker/Camper tour, the set was somewhat shorter, but at seventy-five minutes still packed in a full run through the twenty year catalog. The band was supplemented for this tour with sometime-member David Immergluck on pedal steel and mandolin and Immy’s presence added a dimension both to the sound and stage energy.

This set was recorded from directly in front of the soundboard, as the Neumann microphones are supplemented with a feed from the soundboard. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

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

Camper Van Beethoven
2010-01-15
Highline Ballroom
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
2010-01-17

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:16:17]
01 Abundance
02 White Riot (Clash)
03 Wasted (Black Flag)
04 Shut Us Down
05 RnR Uzbekistan
06 Ambiguity Song
07 Take the Skinheads Bowling
08 The Long Plastic Hallway
09 All Her Favorite Fruit
10 Tania
11 Eye Of Fatima
12 Eye Of Fatima Part 2
13 When I Win the Lottery
14 Turquoise Jewelry
15 Joe Stalin’s Cadillac
16 Mao Reminisces About His Days In Southern China
17 The History Of Utah
18 New Roman Times
19 One Of These Days
20 Skinhead Stomp
21 The Day That Lassie Went To The Moon
22 Club Med Sucks
23 Pictures of Matchstick Men
24 Seven Languages

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Camper Van Beethoven, visit their website, and purchase their official releases directly from the store at their website [HERE].

[Joy Formidable at Union Hall the night before Pianos]
[photo courtesy of Erin Friedmann]

I had been aware of the excellent Welsh trio The Joy Formidable for more than a year — following their growth in part through the meticulous documentation of their live shows by some excellent UK tapers. When we learned through an email that the band would make their first trip stateside for three gigs in NYC, I knew that we would have to take in at least one show, and the excellent and intimate Pianos gig was chosen. With the band’s blessing, at last night’s show we set up a four channel mix directly in front of the soundboard and were immediately crushed by the wall to wall crowd. From the very first notes of their set, we were absolutely floored by the intensity, tightness and superb musicality of The Joy Formidable. By the time the band reached the crescendo of the third number “The Last Drop”, repeating the hook “how come its all around me” over sheets of guitar and thundering bass, I was thoroughly addicted to TJF. When the forty-minute set concluded with a wild “Whirring” featuring a full noise and feedback cacophony session, we realized the obvious. The Joy Formidable will be huge. This is a forgone conclusion. The other obvious fact is that the next time the band returns to NYC (guitarist/vocalist Ritzy Bryan promised “later in the year”), the venues will be much larger than Pianos. Last night will be one of those “we saw them back then” nights, and we were lucky to be there.

This set was recorded under the perfect conditions. The main room at Pianos has never sounded better. The location of the microphones and the well balanced feed were mixed in perfect compliment. We are proud to present a recording of this superb quality. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

The Joy Formidable
2010-01-12
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
2010-01-13

Setlist:
[Total Time 41:22]
01 The Greatest Light Is the Greatest Shade
02 Cradle
03 The Last Drop
04 Austere
05 Ostrich
06 Magnifying Glass
07 Anemone
08 [band thanks]
09 Whirring

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Joy Formidable, visit their website, and purchase their debut album A Balloon Called Moaning from Shop link at their website [here].

[photos taken for nyctaper by Kate Ehle – more here]

We will be seeing The Loom again tonight, Saturday January 9 at Mercury Lounge at the late show opening for Rural Alberta Advantage. I remembered that we had not yet posted the recording of their excellent set from the NYCTaper CMJ show at Bruar Falls. It was a busy CMJ week for the Loom, who followed this excellent Thursday afternoon appearance with a gig at brooklynvegan’s loft party on Friday night that earned The Loom some nice buzz. Following CMJ, the band went into the studio to record for their second release and first full length album, which will be released later this year. This CMJ set features all new material, four songs of which we had never seen the band play live before.

The Loom have four more local gigs in January and February before they head to Austin and SXSW in March:
Jan 16 2010 Pianos
Feb 12 2010 The Studio @ Webster Hall
Feb 13 2010 Glasslands
Feb 28 2010 Pianos

This set was recorded with two microphones directly in front of the stage mixed with a soundboard feed. The sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

The Loom
2009-10-22
Bruar Falls
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
2010-01-08

Setlist:
[Total Time 25:05]
01 Middle Distance
02 A Song of Faint Praise
03 For the Hooves that Gallop
04 First Freeze
05 [banter]
06 Helen Marie

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Loom, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their debut EP At Last Light from the links on their MySpace page.

[photo by nyctaper]

Beach Fossils began as a solo recording project of Dustin Payseur but has evolved into a terrific band. At Glasslands on Wednesday, the band performed to an ecstatic crowd of fans who danced with abandon to each of the eight songs performed. This was one of most fun shows we’ve seen in a while, and the band seemed to be having as much fun as the crowd as they bounced joyfully around the stage. Beach Fossils will release their debut album later this year on the excellent Captured Tracks and Woodist Records, with 7″ singles due soon. We expect to see much more of this band in the near future, as this show was a total blast.

We recorded in the same location as the Babies set, and the sound quality is again excellent. Enjoy!

Beach Fossils perform again in NYC at Cake Shop on February 9.

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Beach Fossils
2010-01-06
Glasslands Gallery
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
2010-01-08

Setlist:
[Total Time 27:58]
01 Youth
02 Daydream
03 Sometimes
04 Lazy Day
05 Golden Age
06 [banter/tuning]
07 Vacation
08 The Horse
09 Twelve Roses

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Beach Fossils, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their 7″ and full album releases when they are released soon by Captured Tracks and Woodist Records.

[photo by nyctaper]

Babies is the new band formed by Cassie Ramone of the Vivian Girls and Kevin Morby of Woods. The band’s sound however bears very little stylistic resemblance to either. Last night at Glasslands, the quartet performed a nine-song twenty-seven minute set of straightforward girl-boy vocal guitar rock with an electric stage energy sometimes not seen from their more sedate day job bands. The result was one of the more rambunctious crowds in the many times we have been to this Brooklyn art space venue. While the band’s MySpace page features the two recorded tracks from Babies thus far, last night’s set contained enough solid material for a full length album that we anticipate will see release this year.

We recorded this set from directly in front of the soundboard area and mixed two microphones with a two-channel feed from the board. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Babies
2010-01-06
Glasslands Gallery
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
2010-01-07

Setlist:
[Total Time 26:03]
01 My Name
02 No War
03 All Things Come to Pass
04 Meet Me in the City
05 Sick Kid in the Distance
06 Downtown
07 Somebody Else
08 Breakin’ the Law
09 Caroline

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Babies, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their official release when it appears later this year.

[photo by nyctaper]

After more than a decade of work as a band, at the end of 2007 The Slip went on hiatus. Two years later, they are back. At Sullivan Hall on Saturday night, guitarist/vocalist Brad Barr announced in the middle of their longest show in two years that the band was actively recording new material and would play many shows in 2010. Throughout the two-set show The Slip performed several of these newer songs, but satisfied the packed crowd with best-ever quality versions of the classic material — “Children of December”, “Wolof” and the thirteen-minute “Paper Birds” in particular. If this epic show is any indication, 2010 will be a banner year for The Slip.

We recorded this set from the left side elevated seating area fifteen feet from the PA. While the raised area gave us a direct line to the stacks, albeit off-center, there is persistent crowd chatter on this recording. With that caveat, enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files: (Set 1 HERE) (Set 2 HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

The Slip
2010-01-02
Sullivan Hall
New York, NY USA

Four-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Upfront Left Side – 15 Feet from PA

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
2010-01-04

Setlist:
Set 1:
[Total Time 1:09:26]
01 [introduction]
02 Aurora
03 Broke The Promise Land
04 Gaunt Debutante
05 Give the Devil Back His Heart
06 If You Knew
07 The Soft Machine
08 Happy Snails
09 All I Saw Was You
10 Children of December

Set 2:
[Total Time 1:23:13]
01 [introduction]
02 Paper Birds
03 Motherwolf*
04 [banter]
05 Airplane/Primitive
06 Wolof
07 Suffication Keep
08 [encore break]
09 Let There Be Horses
10 [second encore break]
11 Pass It On
12 Heartbreaker (Zep)*
*with Marco Benevento

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Slip, visit their website, and purchase their official releases from “The Goods” link at their website [here].