nyctaper Recordings

concert discussion and free flac downloads

John Vanderslice: November 5, 2013 Mercury Lounge – Flac/MP3/Streaming

November 13, 2013

For years we’ve espoused the position that John Vanderslice is the nicest guy in music. So it was especially rewarding when we watched his Kickstarter campaign for his new album Dagger Beach easily reach its goal and then quadrupled its target. Apparently, our positive opinion of John is quite ubiquitous. But Vanderslice being who he is, the fans were rewarded for their support — a song-for-song cover of Bowie’s Diamond Dogs available as a bonus to the Dagger Beach package. The tour to support the album has been, as most of John’s tours have become, an artist-fan lovefest. On Tuesday night at Mercury Lounge, Vanderslice played the late show slot to a packed room and the love was flowing. He’s accompanied by drummer/percussionist/electro-wizard Jason Slota and sound engineer Jacob Winik on this tour and the result is that live Vanderslice sounds as if he’s playing with a full band mixed to perfection. At Mercury, the setlist was a nice mix of Dagger Beach material, two Diamond Dogs covers, and a democratic selection of older tracks. The highlights were plentiful, but I’ve chosen to stream a powerful and perfect version of “Kookaburra”. John’s tour continues through Florida this week and then through Texas and ends in California on November 22.

I recorded this set with the Sennheiser cards set up in front of the soundboard booth and mixed with Jacob’s superb board feed. Enjoy!

Stream “Kookaburra”:

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense. The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission. Please respect our request.

John Vanderslice
2013-11-05
Mercury Lounge
New York NY

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Sennheiser MKH-8040s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2 x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, set fades, downsample) > CDWave 1.95 > (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and Tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:31:36]
01 [introduction]
02 The Parade
03 [banter – mega millions]
04 Exodus Damage
05 How the West Was Won
06 Tablespoon of Codeine
07 Time Travel Is Lonely
08 Song for Dana Lok
09 Underneath The Leaves
10 [banter – Dana]
11 Sweet Thing [Bowie]
12 [banter – greatest drummer]
13 Harlequin Press
14 [banter – cannoli]
15 Time To Go
16 [banter – old equipment]
17 Kookaburra
18 [banter – coach]
19 Plymouth Rock
20 White Plains
21 [banter – Mitch]
22 Big Brother [Bowie]
23 Pale Horse
24 White Dove
25 [banter – four mallets]
26 Trance Manual

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, including Dagger Beach from the Shop at his website [HERE].

Hurray For The Riff Raff: November 4, 2013 Mercury Lounge – Flac/MP3/Streaming

November 12, 2013

By nyctaper

[still from this video]

Its been a really exciting couple of years for Hurray For The Riff Raff, and we’ve been lucky to follow along with their progress. From their two superb shows at Mercury in 2012, through a series of television appearances and big tour support slots, the band’s profile continues to grow. We were happy to learn recently that HFTRR signed to ATO Records, and their excellent batch of new songs will see a release in February of 2014 as a new album Small Town Heroes. At the tail end of a full US tour with Spirit Family Reunion, HFTRR added a semi-secret early show at Mercury Lounge last Monday. The set featured a healthy dose of the new album, as had their show we captured at the Knitting Factory in August. We are streaming “Little Black Star” from their superb 2012 release Look Out Mama, a performance that featured multiple guests including their tour mates. Hurray For The Riff Raff will return to NYC on April 3 for a show at Lincoln Center as part of their American Songbook series.

I recorded this set with the Sennheiser set up in front of the soundboard booth and mixed with a excellent board feed from Mercury’s head sound engineer Kevin. The quality is superb. Enjoy!

Stream “Little Black Star”:

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Hurray For The Riff Raff
2013-11-04
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:00:47]
01 New SF Bay Blues
02 Blue Ridge Mountain
03 Instrumental
04 Look Out Mama
05 Slow Walk
06 I Know Its Wrong
07 Ode to John and Yoko
08 The Body Electric
09 Crash on the Highway
10 Lake of Fire
11 St. Roch Blues
12 Small Town Heroes
13 The End of the Line
14 Little Black Star
15 [encore break]
16 Be My Baby [Ronettes]

If you Download this recording from nyctaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Hurray For The Riff Raff, visit their website, and purchase Look Out Mama from the Euclid Records website [HERE].

Built To Spill: November 7, 2013 Irving Plaza – Flac/MP3/Streaming

November 10, 2013

By nyctaper

[photo courtesy of Consequence of Sound]

There was a time earlier in this decade when Built To Spill made regular and frequent visits to NYC — from 2008-10, we recorded them ten times. But BTS has not appeared in New York in three full years, and they were clearly missed. The crowd at Irving Plaza on Thursday night was animated and thoroughly packed into the venue. This might be the most crowded I’ve ever seen Irving, and I’ve been seeing shows there for 29 years. Built To Spill began the set in earnest with a ferocious ten-minute version of “Goin Against Your Mind”, and the energy never really let up. The band played a nice selection of material old and newer, and even included a brand new song “Living Zoo”, and the crowd was there with them throughout the lengthy set. Usually at a show this crowded, people tire of the sardine-like conditions and go to the back, but that never happened on this night. The place never thinned out, and when the encore segment began the audience was awarded for their effort. BTS has been played a series of interesting covers throughout the tour, including the Velvets “Sister Ray”. And although we curiously didn’t get the Lou Reed tribute in NYC, we did get a spot-on cover the Smiths classic “How Soon is Now”, which we’re streaming below. When the band left the stage, Doug Martsch said “see you next year, we hope”, so I expect it won’t be another three years before Built To Spill visit NYC. Meanwhile, BTS will be on tour for much of the next couple of months, dates [here].

I recorded this set with the Sennheiser Cards mounted at 12 feet from the middle of the floor. The sound quality reflects the sound in the venue that night, including a very noisy crowd. With that caveat, enjoy!

Stream “How Soon Is Now” (Smiths cover):

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Built To Spill
2013-11-07
Irving Plaza
New York NY

Digital Master Audience Recording

Sennheiser MKH-8040s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 24bit 48kHz wav file > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:47:37]
01 Goin’ Against Your Mind
02 [tech – tighten the drums]
03 In The Morning
04 Center of the Universe
05 Get a Life
06 Planting Seeds
07 Reasons
08 Strange
09 Living Zoo
10 I Would Hurt a Fly
11 Else
12 [banter]
13 Abba Zaba [Beefheart]
14 Velvet Waltz
15 Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss
16 Carry the Zero
17 [encore break]
18 Don’t Fear The Reaper [Blue Oyster Cult]
19 How Soon Is Now [Smiths]
20 [thanks]
21 Car

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Built To Spill, visit their website, and purchase their official releases from the Official Store at their website [HERE].

Son Lux: November 4, 2013 Joe’s Pub (Late Show) – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

November 8, 2013

By acidjack

It’s a real treat when you see a young artist working in the “popular” realm who is obviously an accomplished student of music. Son Lux, aka Ryan Lott, is one of those indefinable, indefatigable artists who is pushing boundaries with everything he does and unafraid to go far afield from pop’s limiting conventions. His records involve electronics, yes, but what he makes is not “electronic music”. He’s a composer, he’s an arranger, he’s a singer, he’s a pianist; he’s making organic, intricately arranged music that incorporates the full range of his talents and influences to create something uniquely his.

This show at Joe’s Pub was the second of two sets that Lott performed on this night. This one consisted of a full run-through of his latest work, Lanterns, a work originally rendered mainly by electronics, plus an encore for good measure. Here, Lanterns was brought to life as a wonderful digital/analog amalgam, featuring both synced laptop and synth sequences as well as a solo artist playing wine glasses. At time he had a four-member chorus singing along; at others, a more-or-less conventional rock band. It was a triumph of innovation, and of risk. Unlike so many of his contemporaries, Lott seems unconcerned with the niceties of the economic model of his music or snagging easy applause. He is an emotional, florid sort of singer, the kind who you suspect can go to places you didn’t even think of, and his hooks, if less immediate at times, are all the more compelling. Son Lux is truly music of, by, and for the twenty-first century, in the best and most honest of ways.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK4V cardiod microphones and a soundboard feed. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Stream “Lost It To Trying”

Stream “Plan the Escape”

Download the complete show: [MP3] | [FLAC]

Son Lux
2013-11-04
Joe’s Pub
New York, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Schoeps MK4V (ROC, PAS)>KCY>Z-PFA>Sound Devices USBPre2 + Soundboard (mono)>>Edirol R-44 [OCM]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (mix down, fades)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects)>Audacity 2.0.3 (amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time: 55:33]
01 [intro]
02 Alternate World
03 Lost It To Trying
04 Ransom
05 Easy
06 No Crimes
07 Pyre
08 Enough of Our Machines
09 [banter]
10 Plan the Escape
11 Lanterns Lit
12 [encore break]
13 Stay

If you enjoyed this recording, please support Son Lux by visiting his website (where you can also purchase Lanterns) and liking him on facebook.

The Moondoggies: October 17, 2013 NYCTaper CMJ Cake Shop – Flac/MP3/Streaming

November 7, 2013

By nyctaper

[photos by Amanda Hatfield]

The Moondoggies hail from Everett Washington, which means that they don’t get to NYC very often. We were there the last time they played our area — a superb show at the Rock Shop nearly three years ago. So when we learned that their tour coincided with CMJ, we jumped at the chance to have them play at our annual CMJ Day Party. Although the band started their set at 2pm, they still managed to pull in a nice crowd who were attentive throughout the band’s acoustic set. This year the Moondoggies released their third album Adiós I’m a Ghost (Hardly Art Records) and while this album continues the band’s rich Americana music, there’s also a mellower tone on the release. This theme fit the band’s stripped down set at Cake Shop which began with two of the songs from the new album, and included one other new song in the seven song set. We are streaming an excellent cover of the Byrds “Sweet Mary”, which reflects both the band’s influences and their ability to pay tribute to their predecessors. Those qualities are part of the reason why we hope its not another three years before the Moondoggies come back to NYC.

I recorded this set in the same manner as the two previous CMJ recordings (stage-mounted Sennheiser cards + board) and the sound quality is superb. Enjoy!

Stream “Sweet Mary” (Byrds cover):

This Recording is now Available for Download in FLAC and MP3 and to Stream the Entire Show at Archive.org [HERE].

Moondoggies
2013-10-17
NYCTaper CMJ Day Party
Cake Shop
New York, NY

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + On Stage Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Sennheiser MKH-8040s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2 x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper

Setlist:
[Total Time 28:50]
01 Annie Turn Out the Lights
02 Stop Signs
03 Just Makes Sense to Me
04 Empress of the North
05 Pride
06 Sweet Mary [Byrds]
07 Keep Her On The Line

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Moondoggies, visit their website, and purchase their new album Adiós I’m a Ghost from the Hardly Art Records website [HERE].

Field Mouse: October 26, 2013 Backyard Brunch Sessions – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

November 6, 2013

By acidjack

Follow @acidjacknyc

[Photo by Jordan Frazes]

Those familiar with the Brooklyn dream pop band Field Mouse and their intense, guitar-driven wall of sound might wonder how exactly they could play an un-amplified acoustic session in somebody’s backyard. Fortunately for those of us attending this Backyard Brunch Session, the only thing consistent about this installment in the series was the food.

A fully-amped combo of lead guitarist Andrew Futral and vocalist/guitarist Rachel Browne arrived at an apartment on Grand Street in Williamsburg with a guest drummer in tow and their full complement of amps. Other than the absence of bassist Saysha Heinzman, this was going to be an almost full-strength Field Mouse show. And thanks to a scheduling conflict, that wall of sound was going to be ricocheting off the walls of a medium-sized living room. Thankfully our hosts have cool neighbors, because this was not a quiet Saturday afternoon.

Since I first caught the band at Northside Festival last year, their confidence and songwriting have only gotten stronger. After releasing a series of singles, the group is laying down tracks for an album that we expect to see hit the streets next year. Several of the songs played at this session should make their first appearances on it, including the outstanding new track “Asteroid” which is streaming below. While this less-than-full complement of players doesn’t quite give you the full Field Mouse experience, it gives as close of an idea as is possible in a small room in a residential area. Besides their ability to write addictive, hook-laden songs, their trademark sense of humor was on display as well. This is one recording where I don’t advise skipping the “banter” tracks.

I recorded this set with a mid-side combination of Schoeps microphones in the center of the room, with my MBHO cardiods serving as both the vocal mic and miking the vocal PA. I have attempted to give a realistic representation of how the band sounded in the room, while trying to capture the power the band has in a larger setting. I hope you enjoy it!

Field Mouse is playing Cameo Gallery on November 23 and Piano’s on December 18. Check out their live shows.

Stream “Asteroid”

Download the complete show: [MP3] | [FLAC]

[Photo by acidjack. That’s not actually the right running order]

Field Mouse
2013-10-26
Backyard Brunch Sessions
Brooklyn, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Schoeps MK5 (cardiod)+Schoeps MK8 (M-S) + MBHO KA200N>MBP603>Edirol R-44 [OCM]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Voxengo MSED (decode M-S)>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (various effects and mixdown)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects)>Audacity 2.03 (fades, tracking, compression, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 [intro]
02 You Guys Are Gonna Wake Up My Mom
03 [banter]
04 Tomorrow Is Yesterday
05 [banter2]
06 Asteroid
07 Plate Tectonics
08 [banter3]
09 Everyone But You
10 [banter4]
11 Water In the Valley

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Field Mouse, visit their website, and purchase their official releases from the links on their bandcamp page or on iTunes.

Thee Oh Sees: October 29, 2013 Irving Plaza – Flac/MP3/Streaming [TWO Sources]

November 5, 2013

By nyctaper

[photo by acidjack]

Just two days removed from the amazing for-the-ages Thee Oh Sees show at 285 Kent on Sunday, one would expect a let-down of sorts for the band’s Tuesday show at Irving Plaza. But Thee Oh Sees are not a band short on energy or seemingly in need of any particular motivation to deliver a crowd-pleasing garage-rock show. On Tuesday, the band worked through some technical problems throughout much of the show but continually rose above the issues to deliver song after song of high energy numbers. The venue was prepared in advance for the crowd and had installed a metal grating in front of the stage — the floor was completely maniacal, the band played off the crowd’s response. While 285 was the show of this tour, there were transcendent moments at Irving that reached the same peaks. We are streaming two of those highlights, “Tidal Wave” was three minutes of pure punk goodness, and “Dead Energy” was ten minutes of extended psychedelic jamming that rivaled any live band around these days. Thee Oh Sees have become one of today’s must-see live bands, and these two nights confirmed that we must not miss them whenever they’re in town.

We recorded this set from a 12-foot stand in the middle of the floor. Both set of mics were mounted on the same stand inches away from each other. nyctaper used the Neumann TLM-102 large diaphragm cardioids and acidjack utilized Schoeps Cards. We believe the sound is representative of that in the venue that night, which had some issues. Overall, both sources offer slightly different takes on the same show and both are excellent. Enjoy!

Stream “Dead Energy” (nyctaper source):

Stream “Tidal Wave” (acidjack source):

Download the Complete Show:
nyctaper Source [MP3] / [FLAC]
acidjack Source [MP3] / [FLAC]

nyctaper Source:
Thee Oh Sees
2013-10-29
Irving Plaza
New York NY

Digital Master Audience Recording

Neumann TLM-102s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 24bit 48kHz wav file > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:03:44]
01 I Come From The Mountain
02 Toe Cutter – Thumb Buster
03 Block Of Ice
04 Contraption – Soul Desert
05 Tidal Wave
06 The Dream
07 Tunnel Time
08 Strawberries 1 and 2
09 Meat Step Lively
10 Dead Energy
11 Lupine Dominus
12 Minotaur

acidjack Source:
Thee Oh Sees
2013-10-29
Irving Plaza
New York, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Schoeps MK4V (PAS)>KCY>Z-PFA>Sound Devices USBPre2>Sony PCM-D50>24bit/48kHz WAV>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects) > Audacity (set fades, tracking, amplify, balance, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 1:04:09]
01 I Come From The Mountain
02 Toe Cutter – Thumb Buster
03 Block Of Ice
04 Contraption – Soul Desert
05 Tidal Wave
06 The Dream
07 Tunnel Time
08 Strawberries 1 and 2
09 Meat Step Lively
10 Dead Energy
11 Lupine Dominus
12 Minotaur

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Thee Oh Sees, visit their website, and purchase Floating Coffin from Castle Face Records [HERE].

Sebadoh: November 1, 2013 Bowery Ballroom – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

November 3, 2013

By acidjack

Follow @acidjacknyc

[Photos by acidjack]

You don’t have to violate Lou Barlow’s privacy (the way some people did) to figure out the inspiration for Sebadoh‘s first record in 14 years, Defend Yourself. The details are right there in the lyrics, laid bare and sharply observed for all to see. It’s a deeply personal work, the new record. And also, it’s a new Sebadoh record. While the band did some “reunion” shows over the past few years — including an outstanding Maxwell’s show we saw back in 2011 — it is a treat to see current members Barlow, Jason Loewenstein and Bob D’Amico back on the road with new songs in their arsenal, looking forward rather than looking back. Their new tour for Defend Yourself began this Friday night at Bowery Ballroom, where a sold-out crowd sent them off on their mini-tour of the East Coast, Canada and Midwest.

After a measured start (where much tuning was promised), this sprawling hour-and-a-half-plus set delivered over and over, from the a cappella opening bars of “I Will” from Defend Yourself to “Freed Pig” from III. If Defend Yourself has a bit of a glossier sheen compared to the band’s lo-fi beginnings (or even Harmacy), on the stage that’s all stripped away. New songs like “State of Mine” (streaming below) integrated perfectly with old favorites like “Soul and Fire” and “Forced Love”. As more of their contemporaries come out of retirement to play the hits, it was a good and right thing to see Sebadoh prove they have juice to carry them into the future. If anything, Sebadoh have reached that glorious, comfortable place where they can afford to keep it loose, where the know the fans actually want to be there for 100 minutes’ worth of twenty-six songs that they’ll give their full attention. At this point it’s not just about whether there is another sold-out show or getting good reviews. This band has their fan base, and they keep earning their good graces. At this point, they can enjoy the beauty of the ride, and we can hope it continues.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK4V cardiod microphones and an excellent soundboard feed from house engineer Kenny. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Sebadoh will be on tour for several more dates in November. Go see them.

Stream “Brand New Love”

Stream “State of Mine”

Download the complete show: [MP3] | [FLAC]

Sebadoh
2013-11-01
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Schoeps MK4V (PAS)>KCY>Z-PFA>Sound Devices USBPre2 + Soundboard (engineer: Kenny)>>Edirol R-44 [OCM]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (mix down)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects)>Audacity 2.0.3 (fades, tracking, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time: 1:41:58]
01 [Lou Welcome]
02 I Will
03 [tuning1]
04 Oxygen
05 [tuning2]
06 Drama Mine
07 Mind Reader
08 Shit Soup
09 Love to Fight
10 Careful
11 [banter1]
12 Magnet’s Coil
13 Rebound
14 Ocean
15 Arbitrary High
16 On Fire
17 [banter2]
18 Bird in the Hand
19 Final Days
20 My Drugs
21 Drag Down
22 [tuning3]
23 Keep the Boy Alive
24 State of Mine
25 Beauty of the Ride
26 Forced Love
27 [tuning4]
28 Soul And Fire
29 [encore break]
30 Ride the Darker Wave
31 Brand New Love *
32 [banter3]
33 Skull
34 The Freed Pig

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Sebadoh, visit their website, and buy their official releases, including Defend Yourself, [HERE]

The Sheiks: October 24, 2013 Cake Shop – Flac/MP3/Streaming

November 1, 2013

By nyctaper

[still from this video]

The Sheiks are from Memphis, which makes them difficult to google. The “Memphis Sheiks” was one of the alternative names of the Memphis Jug Band, the influential early 20th century African-American roots/bluegrass band that performed for nearly thirty years. The Sheiks was also the name of a regionally successful St. Louis rock band in the 70s and 80s, that played often in Memphis, New Orleans and the Mississippi region. The contemporary band known as The Sheiks is a garage rock band, and a damned good one at that. We caught them at Cake Shop last week and their half-hour set was pretty much everything you want from this genre of music — loud, energetic, fun and a little messy. The Sheiks released Witches + Mystics last Summer and the band performed much of the album, along with a couple of new tracks and one neat cover. We are streaming “Until I Find Her”, the opening track on the album, and a high-speed rave up that represents everything that’s good about this genre and this band in particular.

I recorded this set with the Sennheiser cards mounted above the stage and mixed with DPA omni mounted in front of the stacks. The four mic mix is quite excellent, if a bit low in the vocals. Enjoy!

Stream “Until I Find Her”:

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Sheiks
2013-10-24
Cake Shop
New York NY

Digital Master Recording

Sennheiser MKH-8040s + DPA 4061s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 24bit 48kHz wav file > Soundforge (level adjustments, set fades, downsample) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and Tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper

Setlist:
[Total Time 35:25]
01 Makin Me Scream
02 She Said All Those Things
03 Tip Top
04 Teacher Teach Me
05 Only Daddy That’ll Walk The Line [Waylon Jennings]
06 Queenie
07 She Dances With Fire
08 Keep Me In Mind
09 Picture Frame
10 Shitty Bo Diddley
11 Until I Find Her
12 Fever

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Sheiks, visit their Facebook page, and purchase Witches + Mystics from their Bandcamp page [HERE].

Black Twig Pickers: September 7, 2013 Paradise of Bachelors/WXYC Day Show, Hopscotch Music Festival (Raleigh, NC) – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

October 31, 2013

By acidjack

Follow @acidjacknyc

[Photos courtesy of Paradise of Bachelors]

The great folklorist Alan Lomax always feared that the mass culture would destroy regional styles of music, creating an indistinct, homogenized whole with no sense of place. While his thesis hasn’t totally been proven wrong, the scope of technology and the fervent interest in music fostered in part by it today allow people to reach beyond their borders to preserve such styles, as well as present them to a wider audience.

Enter the Black Twig Pickers, playing Appalachian old-time music of southwest Virginia the way it’s meant to be played. Their music aims to both preserve tradition, as well as expand upon it in ways that distance and lack of technology couldn’t in its earlier years. The Twigs are regulars at the Hopscotch Music Festival, having provided tunes for the Three Lobed/WXDU Day Show the past few years, but this year they were also able to join our friends at Paradise of Bachelors for a full set on their lovely outdoor stage.

The Twigs have had a great year so far, releasing both their excellent Rough Carpenters LP along with a split 7″ with Steve Gunn on Thrill Jockey. Carpenters takes the scope of the Twigs’ music a little farther afield in the Appalachian tradition, bringing in new regional influences and showing more emphasis on dance numbers. This set began in transition from the Pelt set moments before, as Pelt members Mike Gangloff and Nathan Bowles segued the outro drone from that set into the traditional bluegrass number “Dan Friend’s Piece”. From there, we got a short and sweet frolic through the Twigs’ catalog, including “Old Christmas Morning” and “Rough Carpenters” from Rough Carpenters. At a festival that featured everything from black metal to electronically composed ambient music, this was an opportunity to take a brief step back in time to honor a tradition whose influence, even as it has morphed and change, well exceeded its original borders or its original players’ wildest intentions. Were he still alive, Lomax might see a show like this, and find comfort yet.

I recorded this set in the same manner as the other sets at this show, and the sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Stream “Rough Carpenters

Download the complete show: [MP3] | [FLAC]

Black Twig Pickers
2013-09-07
Paradise of Bachelors / WXYC Day Show
Louise “Scottie” Stephenson Amphitheatre
Raleigh, NC USA

Schoeps MK4V>KC5>CMC6 + Soundboard>>Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (mix down, adjustments)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ)>Audacity 2.03 (tracking, fades, amplify, balance, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Dan Friend’s Piece
02 The Route
03 [tuning/banter]
04 Rough Carpenters
05 [tuning]
06 Brushy Fork of John’s Creek
07 Old Christmas Morning
08 Merry Mountain Hoedown

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT the Black Twig Pickers, visit their website, like them on Facebook, and buy Rough Carpenters and their other releases from Thrill Jockey.

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nyctaper Recordings

John Vanderslice: November 5, 2013 Mercury Lounge – Flac/MP3/Streaming

Hurray For The Riff Raff: November 4, 2013 Mercury Lounge – Flac/MP3/Streaming

Built To Spill: November 7, 2013 Irving Plaza – Flac/MP3/Streaming

Son Lux: November 4, 2013 Joe’s Pub (Late Show) – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

The Moondoggies: October 17, 2013 NYCTaper CMJ Cake Shop – Flac/MP3/Streaming

Field Mouse: October 26, 2013 Backyard Brunch Sessions – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

Thee Oh Sees: October 29, 2013 Irving Plaza – Flac/MP3/Streaming [TWO Sources]

Sebadoh: November 1, 2013 Bowery Ballroom – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

The Sheiks: October 24, 2013 Cake Shop – Flac/MP3/Streaming

Black Twig Pickers: September 7, 2013 Paradise of Bachelors/WXYC Day Show, Hopscotch Music Festival (Raleigh, NC) – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

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