nyctaper Recordings

[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

[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.

The Black Crowes: October 26, 2013 Terminal 5 – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

October 30, 2013

[Photos by acidjack]

That this two-hour show counts as a “short set” by Black Crowes standards says a lot about the generosity of this band. For their twenty-plus-year career, the Robinson brothers and their bandmates have gone out there and given it their all, even when their personal issues clouded the situation offstage. Even if these were the band’s “last area shows” for this year and next (according to them) I’d say it’s a certainty they’ll be back at it in 2015. This band wouldn’t still be around if these guys didn’t love to play.

If the acoustic set we recorded last week was a bit longer, it also had a more languid pace than this all-business run-through that included more than its fair share of guitar pyrotechnics and uncommonly played offerings, but very little in the way of tuning pauses or stage banter. Even if the Led Zeppelin cover “Hey, Hey, What Can I Do” signaled a night that ended a bit too soon, nobody was denying how pumped they were to hear it. Similarly, the band’s cover of Stephen Stills’ “Isn’t It About Time?” had the entirety of Terminal 5 rocking. So did the one-two combo of “Hard To Handle” directly into Deep Purple’s “Hush” and a searing rendition of “Exit” from The Tall Sessions, among other moments that put this show up there with any Crowes gig I’ve seen.

So don’t worry — if you missed them at any of the numerous NYC dates they just played, expect them to be back. Until then, these fine captures should tide you over.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK41 supercardiod microphones in a tight configuration from our usual spot in the venue. Johnny Fried Chicken Boy was next to me with his Milab VM-44 Links. Both recordings are on offer here and both are excellent. Enjoy!

Stream “Hard to Handle>Hush”

Stream “Black Moon Creeping”

Download acidjack’s Schoeps MK41 source: [MP3] | [FLAC (16/44.1)] | [FLAC (24/48)]
(Users intending to burn to disc should download the 16bit, 44.1kHz FLAC files. 24bit/48kHz FLAC files cannot be burned to CD)

Download JFCB’s Milab VM-44 source: [MP3] | [FLAC]

acidjack’s source:

The Black Crowes
2013-10-26
Terminal 5
New York, NY USA

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

Schoeps MK41 (PAS)>KCY>tinybox v2>Sony PCM-D50>24bit/48kHz WAV>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, exciter, stereo imaging)>Audacity 2.0.3 (tracking, fades, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 1:54:02]
01 Under A Mountain
02 Gone
03 Exit
04 No Use Lying
05 Black Moon Creeping
06 Virtue & Vice
07 Sister Luck
08 Thorn In My Pride
09 Nonfiction
10 Isn’t It About Time [Stephen Stills]
11 Soul Singing
12 Sting Me >
13 Twice As Hard
14 Hard To Handle [Otis Redding] >Hush [Deep Purple]
15 [encore break]
16 Wee Who See The Deep
17 Hey Hey What Can I Do [Led Zeppelin]

JFCB’s source:

The Black Crowes
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Terminal 5
New York, NY, USA

Source: AUD > Milab VM-44 Links (cardioid) > Edirol R-44 (WAV @ 24-bit/48kHz)
Lineage: R-44 > PC > Adobe Audition (mixdown, downsample, dither, tracking) > WAV (16-bit/44.1kHz) > TLH (check/fix SBEs, FLAC conversion) > FLAC (level 8)
Recorded and produced by: Johnny Fried Chicken Boy
Premiere download offered at: https://www.nyctaper.com/

SETLIST:
01. Under a Mountain
02. Gone
03. Exit
04. No Use Lying
05. Black Moon Creeping
06. Virtue and Vice
07. Sister Luck
08. -Jam-
09. Thorn in My Pride
10. Nonfiction
11. Isn’t It About Time [Stephen Stills / Manassas]
12. Soul Singing
13. Sting Me
14. Twice As Hard
15. Hard to Handle [Otis Redding / Al Bell / Allen Jones] > Hush [Billy Joe Royal / Deep Purple] > Hard to Handle
16. [encore break]
17. Wee Who See the Deep
18. Hey Hey What Can I Do [Led Zeppelin]
———————-
Total time: 1:53:32

If you download this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Black Crowes, visit their website, visit their Facebook page, and purchase their official releases and merchandise [HERE], at Amazon and at iTunes.

Ovlov: October 15, 2013 Oh My Rockness CMJ Show, Cameo Gallery – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

October 30, 2013

[Photos by acidjack]

It’s always gratifying when you run into a friend at a show that you didn’t plan to see, and their first reaction to the band you came to see is “holy shit, these guys are good”. The Connecticut band Ovlov, comprised of three brothers, were one of my most anticipated acts of this year’s CMJ Music Marathon, and they brought everything they had for this Oh My Rockness-sponsored set at Cameo Gallery. For those who didn’t already know how good they were, they surprised them.

Ovlov synthesizes influences from a number of big-time ’90s touchstones, the most obvious being Dinosaur Jr., abetted by vocalist Steve Hartlett’s incredible resemblance to J Mascis’ vocal delivery. If you closed your eyes, their song “The Well” could almost be Dinosaur Jr. circa 1991. The band’s latest record, Am, doesn’t shy from these influences, nor should it. It’s no accident that Ovlov might well share a record collection with well-loved contemporaries like Speedy Ortiz; Sadie Dupuis does guest vocals on Am. As with any correct CMJ show, this one offered a glimpse into what this band had to offer, and they maximized the punch of their eight-song set, with many Am wonders combined with some slightly deeper cuts. CMJ did exactly what it should for this band — give them a shot at a wider audience. I have no doubt that Ovlov have earned it.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed from the Cameo engineer and friend of the site Gary Atturio, plus Schoeps MK4V cardiod microphones ideal for this kind of room. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Stream “The Well” and “There’s My Dini!”

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

Ovlov
2013-10-17
Oh My Rockness CMJ Showcase
Cameo Gallery
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Soundboard (engineer: Gary Atturio) + Schoeps MK4V>KC5>CMC6>Sound Devices USBPre2>>Edirol R-44 [OCM]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down)>Izotope Ozone 5 (effects, EQ)>Audacity 2.0.3 (fades, tracking, amplify, balance)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 32:26]
01 The City
02 The Well
03 Nü Pünk
04 Really Bees
05 There’s My Dini!
06 I Got Well
07 Blue Baby
08 Moth Rock

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Ovlov, visit their bandcamp page, and purchase Am from Exploding In Sound records [HERE]

Thee Oh Sees: October 27, 2013 285 Kent – Flac/MP3/Streaming

October 28, 2013

[photo courtesy of We All Want Someone To Shout For blog]

Lou Reed died on Sunday morning, October 27, 2013. If that fact is important to you, then by now you’ve read the hundreds of excellent tributes across the web. The man was complicated, but one thing is for certain — his vast and ubiquitous influence over multiple genres of music and musical lifestyles will be felt for generations to come. So it was abundantly appropriate that on the night of his death, one of New York’s premiere DIY venues — in a warehouse no less — hosted one of the country’s premiere garage-rock bands. I don’t think its a reach to say that if Lou Reed’s life had not taken the path he began nearly fifty years ago, 285 Kent and Thee Oh Sees would not exist, or at least exist in the way they do now. ToddP recognized the importance of the evening, as his house music was all-Reed for virtually the entire night. And as Thee Oh Sees were about to take the stage, the ipod mix queued up “Walk On The Wild Side”, and a natural and spontaneous cheer arose from the packed house. As John Dwyer approached the mic, he dedicated the set to Lou, and began to play. And play they did. Thee Oh Sees are one of today’s most engaging live acts, but this performance was special. Each song was a bundle of kinetic energy and it seemed as if the crowd was of one mind, moshing in beat to every single song for this meaty and lengthy set. The band is on tour to support their latest album Floating Coffin, and while the setlist included more than half the album, there were also plenty of old favorites. Thee Oh Sees play locally again tonight (Tuesday October 29), at Irving Plaza. As of this writing, there are less than 100 tickets left. We’ll be there, and if you’re reading this, hopefully you will be too.

I recorded this set by mounting the Sennheiser cards on the beam ten feet from the stage and mixed it with a fine board mix. The sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Stream “Block of Ice”:

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Thee Oh Sees
2013-10-27
285 Kent
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Sennheiser MKH-8040s > 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 1:24:54]
01 I Come From The Mountain
02 Toe Cutter – Thumb Buster
03 Block of Ice
04 Contraption – Soul Desert
05 The Dream
06 Tidal Wave
07 Tunnel Time
08 What’s Over There
09 Strawberries 1 and 2
10 Meat Step Lively
11 [tech break – bad cable]
12 No Spell
13 [tech break – power strip]
14 Dead Energy
15 Minotaur
16 Lupine Dominus
17 [encore break]
18 Carrion Crawler

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].

Caged Animals: October 17, 2013 NYCTaper CMJ Cake Shop – Flac/MP3/Streaming

October 28, 2013

[photos by Amanda Hatfield]

The Sixth Annual NYCTaper CMJ Day Party at Cake Shop was headlined by a band fronted by one of our favorite people in the music world. Vincent Cacchione has been a friend of the site for years, going all the way back to his days as guitarist in Shilpa Ray’s band, through the emergence of Soft Black, and ultimately his current project Caged Animals. 2013 has been a big year for the band, as Caged Animals released a universally praised new album In The Land of Giants in September. Their set at our Day Party was a celebratory affair, with the band asking and receiving crowd participation throughout. Vincent’s engaging personality is infectious but the other members of the quartet, including his sister bassist Talia, keyboardist/vocalist Magali Francoise and drummer Patrick Curry were all involved in the party atmosphere. The band performed songs from all of their releases including “Teflon Heart” that we’re streaming below. Sadly, as our show ran up into the night show, Caged Animals were only able to play their allotted 30 minutes — next time we’ll hope for more.

I recorded this set in the same manner at the J Fernandez set and the sound quality is superb. Enjoy!

Stream “Teflon Heart”:

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Caged Animals
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 [intro]
02 Too Much Dark
03 A Psychic Lasso
04 The Sound of Thunder
05 Girls on Medication
06 This Summer I’ll Make It Up To You
07 Blood Money
08 The Mute and The Mindreader
09 We’re Playing With Fire
10 [banter]
11 Teflon Heart

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Caged Animals, visit their website, and purchase In The Land Of Giants from their Bandcamp page [HERE] or from the links at the Lucky Number Music website [HERE].

J Fernandez: October 17, 2013 NYCTaper CMJ at Cake Shop – Flac/MP3/Streaming

October 25, 2013

[photos by Amanda Hatfield / Soundcloud photo from Six Point Twitter]

The plethora of good bedroom recording artists presents an enigma for booking shows. For every successful transition to excellent live band (Wild Nothing, Purling Hiss) there are a dozen or more who can’t get beyond solo-guy-with-laptop on stage. When we learned that the excellent Chicago dream-pop artist J Fernandez was coming to NYC for CMJ shows, we jumped at the chance to book him. Fernandez has been releasing a series of singles over the last few years on local labels, and last year Morning Ritual Recordings compiled them all on an excellent release No Luck / Olympic Village. But we had no idea what he’d be like live. It was within the first thirty seconds of the first song that I quickly realized that J Fernandez isn’t just a bedroom pop act, but indeed a superb live band with abundant talent and stage presence. Justin and the band paced through many of the tunes from the compilation and a few new ones, and live the tunes took on a very tasty psychedelic feel not prevalent on the more two-dimensional recorded tracks. We are streaming “No Luck”, the title track of one of the EPs and a featured track. Given the quality of this performance, we hope that J Fernandez and the band come East more often.

I recorded this set with the Sennheiser cardioids mounted above the front of the stage and mixed with a soundboard feed. The sound quality is superb. Enjoy!

Stream “No Luck”:

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

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

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + On Stage Audience Matrix

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper

Setlist:
[Total Time 30:08]
01 Between the Channels
02 Malleable
03 Read My Mind
04 Casual Encounter
05 No Luck
06 Wasting the New Year
07 Fading Out

If you download this recording from NYCTaper PLEASE SUPPORT J Fernandez, visit his blog, and purchase No Luck / Olympic Village from the links at Soundcloud [HERE].

The Black Crowes: October 19, 2013 The Capitol Theatre – FLAC / MP3 / Streaming Songs (Two Sources)

October 24, 2013

By JFCB

[Photos from the 10/21 show courtesy of Joe Madonna.]

If there are two things that can be said about The Black Crowes’ live shows it’s that they’re consistent and damn good. Being a fan since their first album, I can attest to having seen more than my fair share of BC concerts that have stuck in my memory and been added to my personal “best of” list. Their acoustic shows, however, have been few and far between and I relish them like the rare fruits they are. In addition to hearing old favorites in new arrangements that translate beautifully from the electric counterparts, I’ve noticed that the gents seem to take more risks and extend their collective reach a bit when playing these “unplugged” gigs. The recent four-date run at The Capitol Theatre was certainly no exception. With their vast catalog of original tracks and mining some deep and obscure material from the likes of Crazy Horse, The Flying Burrito Brothers and Pink Floyd, there were distinct surprises to be had on this evening. The band itself had also expanded with performers Larry Campbell, Sam Bush and Joe Russo joining the group for the night, as well as Neal Casal and John Fullbright jumping in for the encore. Between the added instrumentation, new songs and solid chops on display, the Crowes continue to be a potent live experience.

Set up in the taper’s section behind the soundboard at The Capitol Theatre, we were able to pull great recordings, albeit with a little more crowd noise than we like during some of the quieter songs. As a result, we are offering both of our excellent quality sources for download: my Milab VM-44 Link cardioids and acidjack’s Schoeps MK41 supercardioids paired with his warm Aerco MP-2 preamp. Enjoy!

The Black Crowes will be playing a series of electric shows at Terminal 5 beginning tonight. We will be recording at least one of them and posting it next week.

Stream “Torn and Frayed” (Milab VM-44 Link source):

Stream “Wiser Time” (Schoeps MK41 source):

Milab VM-44 Link source
Direct download of the complete show in MP3 [HERE]
Direct download of the complete show in FLAC [HERE]

Schoeps MK41 source
Direct download of the complete show in MP3 [HERE]
Direct download of the complete show in FLAC [HERE]

If any of the links are no longer working, email nyctaper with a request for the download location of the files.

Follow Johnny Fried Chicken Boy on Twitter

The Black Crowes
Saturday, October 19, 2013
The Capitol Theatre
Port Chester, NY, USA

Johnny’s source
Source: AUD > Milab VM-44 Links (cardioid) > Edirol R-44 (WAV @ 24-bit/48kHz)
Lineage: R-44 > PC > Adobe Audition (mixdown, downsample, dither, tracking) > WAV (16-bit/44.1kHz) > TLH (check/fix SBE’s, FLAC conversion) > FLAC ( level 8 )
Recorded and produced by: Johnny Fried Chicken Boy

acidjack’s source
Schoeps MK41 (BOB, PAS)>KC5>CMC6>Aerco MP-2>Sony PCM-D50>24bit/48kHz WAV>Izotope Ozone 5 (effects, EQ)>Audacity (tracking, fades, amplify, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )
Recorded and produced by acidjack

SETLIST:
[Total time: 2:15:53]
01. [intro]
02. Torn and Frayed [The Rolling Stones]
03. Downtown Money Waster
04. Good Friday
05. [tuning]
06. I Don’t Want to Talk About It [Danny Whitten / Crazy Horse]
07. Fork in the River
08. [tuning]
09. So Many Times [Chris Hillman / Stephen Stills]
10. Just An Old Hobo
11. There’s Gold in Them Hills
12. Wiser Time
13. [intros / banter]
14. The Gnome [Pink Floyd]
15. Chapter 24 [Pink Floyd]
16. She Talks to Angels
17. [tuning]
18. Appaloosa
19. Milk Cow Blues [Kokomo Arnold]
20. Lost and Found
21. Like a Tumbleweed in Eden
22. [tuning]
23. The Last Place That Love Lives
24. Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn) [Bob Dylan]
25. Soul Singing
26. [encore break / banter]
27. Hot Burrito #1 [The Flying Burrito Brothers]
28. Hot Burrito #2 [The Flying Burrito Brothers]
29. [tuning]
30. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down [The Band]

If you download this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Black Crowes, visit their website, visit their Facebook and MySpace pages, and purchase their official releases and merchandise [HERE], at Amazon and at iTunes.

Modern Merchant: September 22, 2013 Backyard Brunch Sessions – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

October 23, 2013