Blog Archives

North Mississippi AllStars: April 9, 2009 Highline Ballroom – Flac and MP3 Downloads

April 18, 2009
By


[photo courtesy of fretsman from The Bluff]

At Highline Ballroom on Thursday last, The North Mississippi AllStars performed a mammoth two-and-a-half hour set of their outstanding blues-rock that was truly a family affair in more ways than one. The trio was joined on stage by a revolving group of guests from openers Hill Country Revue, that culminated in an appearance by long-time collaborator Robert Randolph. As Hill Country Revue also contains two members of NMAS, the entire night was essentially a four-hour smorgasbord of country, boogie, blues and honky tonk.

We recorded this set from directly in front of the soundboard, centered between the two main PA speakers. The four-track R-44 was utilized again, but this time to its maximum value. We positioned the Neumanns directly at the stacks and spread the DPAs in a 110 degree placement to capture a full round spectrum of sound available at this venue. We are extremely pleased with the outcome. Enjoy!

This show is now available to download as FLAC or MP3 at archive.org [HERE].

North Mississippi AllStars
2009-04-09
Highline Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Four-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Front of Board Center

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
2008-04-18

Setlist:
[Total Time 2:17:50]
01 Brooks Run to the Ocean
02 Sugartown
03 Shake
04 I’d Love to be a Hippy
05 I’m in Jail
06 No Mo
07 Mean Ol Wind Died Down
08 Po Black Maddie/Skinny Woman/Po Black Maddie/Drums
09 Shake Em on Down
10 Ghetto
11 Goin Home Part One
12 Lonesome Road
13 Moonshine
14 Boogie (with Robert Randolph)
15 Jam (with Robert Randolph)
16 Mississippi Boweevil (with Robert Randolph)
17 Joyful Sounds (with Robert Randolph)
18 Meet Me in the City
19 Snake Drive
20 [encore break]
21 Stay All Night
22 Keep The Devil Down
23 Freedom Highway

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT North Mississippi AllStars, visit their website, and purchase their available releases through The Store at their website [HERE].

Spanish Prisoners Release New EP + NYCTaper Interview

April 14, 2009
By

Spanish Prisoners are set to release their first new music since 2007’s Songs To Forget, an album that came out of nowhere to garner significant critical praise and which earned Spanish Prisoners gigs opening for the likes of John Vanderslice and Daniel Johnston. This month, the new EP Los Angeles Guitar Dream will drop, and Spanish Prisoners will perform their EP release show at Crash Mansion on April 25.

After the success of Songs to Forget, the Fall of 2008 saw several personnel changes in the band. When Leo Maymind returned to writing and recording, the three-song EP that resulted was a pronounced creative leap for the band. While Songs was a lyrically rich pop side of anti-folk, Los Angeles Guitar Dream contains songs of a dreamy textured guitar-oriented rock. We spoke to Leo regarding some of the changes in the band and the sound.

NYCTaper: Hi Leo, I’ve listened to the new EP a few times through already, and there seems to be a real departure from the Songs to Forget. Almost as if you took the last Spanish Prisoners album title literally and drew a line in the sand. Can you walk us through the evolution of the band over the last two years?

Leo Maymind: It certainly is true that this EP is a departure from the previous record. When I listen back to “Songs to Forget” there are things I still really enjoy and things I don’t see doing ever again. I think I’ve also really evolved as a musician and home recording engineer. The band has gone through several different lineup changes since I moved to Brooklyn and that record came out, but none of the people that went in and out of the band actually recorded with me or really made an indelible mark on the “sound” of Spanish Prisoners. I was sort of having a hard time finding people that I felt compatible with, but the current lineup of the band (myself, Amberly Hungerford, Tim McCoy, and Turner Stough) feels like what I was searching for and I’m really excited for us all to work more on writing and recording as a group, which we’ve already been doing a little of.

NYCT: One of the more interesting elements of Spanish Prisoners for me has always been that authentic vulnerability of your vocals — which seemed to accurately capture the raw truths in the lyrics. On this EP you seem to have purposefully added quite a bit of effects and layers to the vocals. Can you explain the stylistic decision to change the vocal sound?

LM: I’ve always liked a layered, effected vocal sound! I think on the first record I was more interested in making sure everyone understood the lyrics, but this time I wanted the vocals to just be a part of the overall picture and not the main focus, even though I think the lyrics are intelligible if you try to understand them.

NYCT: Another surprising aspect of this EP for me is the guitar playing. Previously, you had not really brought your instrumental abilities to the forefront, but the new material has some really outstanding guitar work. Why were you hiding this from us?!

LM: I guess I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with the guitar and I usually sought to replace it with other textures (strings, synths, banjo, etc). Recently I re-evaluated my playing and gave it much more thought than I did in the past. I used to just consider myself a songwriter who played the guitar as a tool, but I’m changing the way I think about the instrument. My favorite guitar players (Isaac Brock, Dean Wareham, Johnny Marr, Daniel Rossen) all do things outside of the normal realm of guitar playing and that was something I tried to emulate more on this EP.

NYCTaper was there to record the Songs to Forget CD Release show in 2008.

Benefit Concert for Hearing Impaired at Bell House April 22

April 10, 2009
By

We are happy to notify our readers about another of Johnny Leather’s series of benefit concerts.

Good for You’s Good For Me presents
A Benefit for Hearing-Impaired
Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers11pm
Depreciation Guild 10pm
Hooray For Earth 9pm
Kino 8pm

Wednesday April 22nd @ Bell House
149 7th Street between 2nd & 3rd Avenues, Brooklyn, NY
Doors: 7:30
$10

Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers – “Filthy & Free” mp3

Depreciation Guild – “Butterfly Kisses” mp3

Hooray For Earth – “Take Care” mp3

Kino – “Won’t Do” mp3

Wavves: March 30, 2009 Mercury Lounge – Flac and MP3 Downloads

April 10, 2009
By


[photo by the Starks]

Less than two months after their NYC debut, Wavves returned to play three shows in three venues last weekend. We were able to capture the last of those three — Monday night at the Merc. In the interim, Wavves has toured extensively through Europe, performed at nine SXSW showcases, and released Wavvves through Fat Possum Records. Wavves has survived the initial manic buzz, and the good news is that the band’s current popularity seems more based on its music rather than the hype. NYCTaper correspondent acidjack reports that there was an extensive line to get into Mercury Lounge this night, but as we can hear on the recording, the packed house spent most of the set listening rather than yapping.

This is a superior recording to the February nyctaper recording from Market Hotel. The live Wavves sound is significantly less saturated than the albums, and the result is a clear listening experience. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Wavves
2009-03-30
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Front of Board Center

DPA 4061 (Coresound HEB) > CoreSound Battery Box (no bass Rolloff)> Edirol R-09HR > 24bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge 8.0 (level adjustments, set fades) > CD Wave > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded by acidjack
Produced by nyctaper
2009-04-08

Setlist:
[Total time 24:28]
01 Beach Demon
02 Summer Goth
03 So Bored
04 California Goths
05 To The Dregs
06 Friends Were Gone [unreleased — soon to be released on Fader 7′ Series]
07 No Hope Kids
08 Wavves

setlist help from MikeG

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Wavves, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their available releases through links at the Wavves MySpace page, and at Fat Possum Records site [here].

Mountain Goats to Play Zoop Festival 2009 at Farm Sanctuary – Official Announcement Coming Soon

April 8, 2009
By


[photo by no3rdw]

In June of 2007, The Mountain Goats organized and appeared at Zoop — a two-day Benefit/Festival at the Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, NY. The Farm Sanctuary is a national non-profit group that rescues farm animals and engages in animal rights advocacy and education. The weekend has become legendary among Mountain Goats fans as perhaps the most enjoyable and original shows ever performed, and the benefit was a resounding success in its efforts to assist the Farm Sanctuary.

Amidst the recent tour, John Darnielle posted in the Mountain Goats forum that there would be a special announcement regarding a Zoop “sequel” when the tour was completed (April 6). We have learned that there will be a Zoop 2, and we have unofficial dates — but we won’t spoil the surprise. Watch the band’s main page for the announcement “soon”.

NYCTaper Update: April through June

April 6, 2009
By

63_taperbird
[image by Songbirdnest]

We had a nice bit of recognition this week from some traditional media — the Village Voice covered our recording of The Mountain Goats show on March 27, and the Wall Street Journal online edition had a little blurb about nyctaper.com.

We also have permission to record the Dead Milkmen show at Warsaw on Friday April 16, and a free ticket to give away to any taper willing to catch the show for the site. I will be away and our correspondents are also unavailable that night so need a taper to cover the show.

Upcoming Shows:

North Mississippi All-Stars:
April 9, 2009 Highline Ballroom NYC

Of Montreal: (correspondent)
April 15, 2009 Music Hall of Williamsburg

Crystal Stilts/Mahogany/Motel Motel (Music Snobbery Anniversary Show):
April 26, 2009 Maxwell’s Hoboken NJ

Mike Watt:
May 7, 2009 Maxwell’s Hoboken NJ

Dirty Projectors:
May 8, 2009 Housing Works Bookstore Cafe NYC

Thao With The Get Down Stay Down:
May 14, 2009 Bowery Ballroom NYC

Iron and Wine:
May 17 and May 18, 2009 Abrons Art Center NYC

Grizzly Bear:
May 28, 2009, Town Hall NYC

Decemberists:
June 10, 2009 Radio City Music Hall NYC

The Meat Puppets:
June 11, 2009, Mercury Lounge NYC

The Northside Festival:
June 11-14: Various Williamsburg/Greenpoint Venues (This “festival” is a disorganized fiasco)

Thunder Power / El Jezel / Coyote Eyes, The Rest:
June 19, 2009 NYCTaper Presents – Venue TBA

Oneida:
July 10, 2009 Maxwell’s Hoboken NJ

John Vanderslice: March 27, 2009 Ethical Culture Hall – Flac and MP3 Downloads

April 4, 2009
By


[photo courtesy of dollabill and Thom – more here]

This is an exciting time for fans of John Vanderslice. He is currently on tour with one of his compatriots, John Darnielle, with whom he will soon release an EP (Moon Colony Bloodbath). On May 19, JV will release his first full-length album in two years, the much-anticipated Romanian Names, and in May, he will tour with a band in support of the new album.

On Friday last, the “Gone Primitive” tour with The Mountain Goats came to NYC and JV’s short but sweet opening set featured several songs from Romanian Names, a track the Moon Colony EP, and some of John’s classic numbers. John also chatted amiably with the crowd and told a few stories. Its always a pleasure to attend a Vanderslice show and this night was no exception.

We recorded this set from the same location as The Mountain Goats recording, and while the same volume fluctuation problems exist, the issues were not as drastic for this set. There was still quite a bit of post-production work necessary, but we feel the work has given our readers a quite enjoyable listen of this excellent artist. Enjoy!

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

John Vanderslice
2009-03-27
The Music Hall at The Society for Ethical Culture
New York, NY USA

Four-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Balcony Rail Center

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

Recorded and Produced by
nyctaper
2008-04-02

Setlist:
[Total Time 43:52]
01 My Old Flame
02 Sunken Union Boat
03 Too Much Time
04 Angela
05 Numbered Lithograph
06 Dead Slate Pacific
07 White Plains
08 [banter – mangos]
09 Oblivion
10 Lucifer Rising
11 [banter – drunk driver]
12 Nikki Oh Nikki
13 Trance Manual
14 Pale Horse

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT John Vanderslice, visit his website, visit his MySpace page, and purchase his official release, including Romanian Names in May, from the links at his website [HERE].

The Mountain Goats: March 27, 2009 Ethical Culture Hall – Flac and MP3 Downloads

April 1, 2009
By


[photo courtesy of dollabill and Thom – more here]

The Mountain Goats show on Friday night was a fan’s dream but a taper’s nightmare. John Darnielle entertained the crowd with much banter, off-microphone songs, and accepted a series of obscure requests from the diehards. While the highlight of the show for many of those in attendance was the infrequently played “Ontario”, we were particularly moved by the story lead-in and the version of the beautiful “From TG&Y”, and John’s proclaimed first public piano performance (“1 John 4:16”) since childhood.

The Concert Hall at The Society for Ethical Culture is a beautiful and classic old theatre, but it sits in a residential neighborhood and the volume of the show is purposefully limited. Additionally, the high ceilings create reverberations that are particularly noticeable in an acoustic performance. The difficulties of the venue were magnified by a series of technical problems and John’s penchant to play several songs completely unamplified.

This was the maiden voyage of our new Edirol R-44, a high resolution four-track recorder (professionally upgraded for concert recording). We used our four best microphones in a configuration that decreased the echo in the venue. Due to the many issues in the capture of this show, the post-production for this recording was a major undertaking. We believe that we have maximized the sound quality of this difficult recording to create a fine listening experience for our readers. Enjoy!

The John Vanderslice [JV] recording was also recorded and will be posted in the next few days.

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

The Mountain Goats
2009-03-27
The Music Hall at The Society for Ethical Culture
New York, NY USA

Four-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Balcony Rail Center

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

Recorded and Produced by
nyctaper
2008-03-31

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:25:02]
01 [introduction]
02 1 John 4:16
03 Woke Up New
04 [technical problems]
05 Song For Tura Satana
06 Cobscook Bay
07 Going to Lebanon
08 Un Rêve Plus Long Que la Nuit
09 Going To Kansas
10 The Last Limit of Bhakti
11 You or Your Memory
12 Going to Queens
13 [banter]
14 From TG&Y
15 Dance Music
16 [banter]
17 The Day The Aliens Came (or: Hawaiian Feeling)
18 Ontario
19 So Desperate
20 Color in Your Cheeks
21 Sign of the Crow 2
22 Steps Columns Pillars [JV]
23 [banter]
24 Surrounded [JV]
25 See America Right [JV]
26 No Children
27 [encore break]
28 The Sign (Ace of Base)

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Mountain Goats, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase Mountain Goats official releases from their website.

Crystal Stilts: March 14, 2009 Music Hall – Flac and MP3 Downloads

March 28, 2009
By


[photo courtesy of jen ballera]

Crystal Stilts released a new 7″ this week “Love Is A Wave” which caused on odd occurrence at nyctaper — a renewed interest in our December recording of Crystal Stilts at Bowery which contains the only recorded live version of the song. At Music Hall a couple of weeks ago, acidjack was there to capture the second live version of the song along with a complete Crystal Stilts headliner set. This concert was significantly longer than the December set and included two fairly obscure covers of The Gun Club and a standard Velvet Underground cover at the closer.

Our correspondent recorded from the same location as the Women and Blank Dogs recordings from this night. We can hear that the band had some issues with the mix, and perhaps because of the heavy use of reverb, the house mix is somewhat muddy. Overall, though this is a fine listen to the longest live recording of this excellent band to date. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Crystal Stilts
2009-03-14
The Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Audience Recording
Recorded from Front of Board Center
30 Feet from Stage

SP-CMC-8 (Audio Technica U853 Cardiod Capsules)> SP-SB-8 > Edirol R-09HR > 24bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge (set fades, slight level adjustments, downsample, slight EQ) > CD Wave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded by acidjack
Produced by nyctaper
2009-03-25

Setlist:
[Total Time 50:48]
01 Through The Floor
02 The Dazzled
03 Mother Of Earth (Gun Club)
04 Crippled Croon
05 Prismatic Room
06 SinKing
07 [technical problems]
08 Seeds
09 Converging in the Quiet
10 Sugar Baby
11 For The Love Of Ivy (Gun Club)
12 Love is a Wave
13 [encore break]
14 The City in the Sea
15 Temptation Inside Your Heart (Velvets)

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Crystal Stilts, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their latest album Alight of Night from links at their MySpace page, including at Insound [here] and purchase their new single “Love Is a Wave” at InSound [here].

The Dismemberment Plan: November 23, 1999 Knitting Factory – Flac and MP3 Downloads

March 24, 2009
By


[vintage Plan photo courtesy of Chris]

Travis Morrison, the former leader of the Dismemberment Plan, played a show at Bell House last weekend and we were not there to record. However, in tribute we offer this vintage Plan show from 1999, which was about half-way through the legendary band’s existence, but about a year before they “hit”. Dismemberment Plan were actually the opening band on this triple bill. The other acts on the bill were the both-now-also-defunct Promise Ring and Burning Airlines. After the breakup of both bands, members of the D Plan and Promise Ring would go on to form the short-lived Maritime. This short set features primarily material from Emergency & I, released a couple of months before this show took place, and which is the album that ultimately propelled the band to larger gigs and increased popularity. Emergency & I was selected as number 16 of Pitchfork’s Top 100 albums of the 1990s. We have searched the archive and this may in fact be the earliest Dismemberment Plan recording in circulation.

The post of this recording was inspired one of our favorite music writers on the web, Soren deSelby-Bowen — formerly of the Well and currently of the excellent Parlando blog. After a lengthy serious illness, Soren returned to writing this week with a piece about the Dismemberment Plan.

The sound quality on this recording is really quite outstanding. This was recorded by xcrex with DPA 4061 miniature omnidirectional microphones and has an excellent soundstage. The volume of the band eliminates any crowd noise and provided a signal of great clarity. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Dismemberment Plan
1999-11-23
Knitting Factory
New York, NY USA

Digital Audience Master Recording
Recorded from FOB

Recording: DPA 4061s > SBM-M1 > Sony D-8 DAT Master
Transfer: DAT Master > Panasonic SV-3800 > digital coaxial > Audigy 2 ZS Platinum > 16bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge (slight level boost, downsample 44.1) > CD Wave (tracking) > Flac Frontend  (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded by xcxre9
DAT Extraction and Post-Production by nyctaper 2009-03-23

Setlist:
[total time 31:59]
01 Do The Standing Still
02 Onward, Fat Girl
03 Girl O’Clock
04 Gyroscope
05 The Dismemberment Plan Gets Rich
06 Spider in the Snow
07 A Life Of Possibilities
08 The City
09 What Do You Want Me To Say?

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT the members of The Dismemberment Plan. Although the band has been defunct for several years, visit the website and follow the members, and purchase the releases of Travis Morrison who has an active solo career [here].

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nyctaper.com is a live music blog that offers a new paradigm of music distribution on the web. The recordings are offered for free on this site as are the music posts, reviews and links to artist sites. All recordings are posted with artist permission or artists with an existing pro-taping policy.

All recordings and original content posted on this site are @nyctaper.com as live recordings pursuant to 17 U.S.C. Section 106, et. seq. Redistribution of nyctaper recordings without consent of nyctaper.com is strictly prohibited.

nyctaper.com hereby waives all copyright claims to any and all recordings posted on this site to THE PERFORMERS ONLY. If any artist posted on this site requests that recordings be removed, those recordings will be removed forthwith.