nyctaper Recordings

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Howlin’ Rain: February 21, 2020 Union Pool + August 7, 2019 Brooklyn Bowl

March 9, 2020
By

Howlin’ Rain rolled in from the West Coast into Union Pool a few Friday nights ago and proceeded to deliver a lick-filled, thoroughly jam-forward set that gave us all a quick reminder of why the band’s latest record is Under the Wheels: Live From the Coasts Vol 1. Many fewer bands cry out for the live album treatment as compared to those pushing bad-sounding, paint-by-numbers dreck. Rest assured that Howlin’ Rain are solidly among the good guys; not only does the new record boast an almost completely different setlist than this show, it’s also an outstanding recording that foregrounds Ethan Miller’s guitar pyrotechnics. If you attended this show and didn’t grip a copy of Under the Wheels afterward, I hope it’s because you already bought one.

As to this set, the band kept things loose, giving us seventy minutes’ worth of music in the form of seven songs, including a typically extended Calling Lightning Pt. 2″ and “Under the Wheels” — both of which feel like strong candidates for what I have to assume will be an Under the Wheels: Vol 2 at some point in the future.

We’re also offering a bonus recording here, with Eric PH’s capture of a Brooklyn Bowl barnburner from the band’s extended NYC run last year. It take the place of being there, but making a quick date with these recordings and the new LP ought to perk your ears for the band’s next trip through.

I recorded the Union Pool set with Doug Graham’s soundboard feed and Schoeps MK5 microphones; Eric recorded the Brooklyn Bowl show with his MBHO hypercardiods. Both recordings sound great. Enjoy!

Download the Union Pool show from its page on the Live Music Archive: [MP3] | [FLAC]

Download the Brooklyn Bowl show from its page on the Live Music Archive

Howlin’ Rain
2020-02-21
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY USA

Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Schoeps MK5c (XY, at SBD)>KCY>Z-PFA + Soundboard (engineer: Doug Graham)>>Sound Devices MixPre 6>Adobe Audition CC>Izotope Ozone 5>Audacity 3.0>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 1:11:25]
01 Burn Down
02 Under the Wheels
03 Don’t Let the Tears
04 Missouri
05 Calling Lightning pt 2
06 Rotoscope
07 Alligator Bride

Band:
Dan Cervantes: guitar, b. vocs
Jeff McElroy: Bass, b. vocs
Ethan Miller: vocals, guitar
Justin Smith: Drums, B. vocs.

Howlin’ Rain
2019-08-07
Brooklyn Bowl
Brooklyn, NY

Recorded and produced by Eric PH for nyctaper.com
Photos by Christopher Bruno

MBHO KA500/603A > Naiant PFA >> Sound Devices MixPre-6 > WAV (24/48) > Adobe Audition CC (compression, normalize, fades) + Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, imaging, compression) > Audacity 2.0.5 (tracking, tagging) > FLAC (24/48, level 8)

Tracks [1:05:07]
01. Burn Down
02. Under the Wheels
03. Don’t Let the Tears
04. The Wild Boys
05. Rotoscope
06. Calling Lightning, Part 2
07. Alligator Bride

PLEASE SUPPORT HOWLIN’ RAIN: bandcamp| store

High Time: January 20, 2020 Baby’s All Right

February 27, 2020
By
High Time at Brooklyn Bowl last year, courtesy of the band

“Never miss a Sunday show,” they say. It’s a direction local Grateful Dead tribute band High Time have taken entirely to heart, playing almost exclusively Sunday nights throughout Brooklyn venues. Never miss a High Time show is also a pretty good idea: sticking to (let’s face it) the highest quality Dead material from ’65–’74, High Time promise to perform “The Classic Psychedelic Rock N Roll Music of the Grateful Dead.”

I first caught High Time last year during a two-night stand at Union Pool, and on the hottest day of the year the band did some face-melting of their own inside the air-conditioned venue. I finally got to see them again last month at Baby’s All Right where they played matinee and late shows. It didn’t hurt that they brought along a couple of my favorite bands to open, MV & EE and Elkhorn. It’s a real testament to High Time’s engagement with music beyond the Dead—quality openers playing original, Dead-influenced music sadly isn’t the norm for tribute acts. But then again High Time aren’t exactly your run-of-the-mill Dead cover band. They bring a rare energy and spirit to the music, treating it as a living thing instead of putting it behind museum glass with an attempt to create a note-by-note facsimile. Playing intimate venues like Baby’s All Right, this is the closest you’re going to get to seeing the Dead at the Matrix without time travel.

There were many highlights from last month’s shows that I’m excited to share, but the pinnacle of these sets for me was the afternoon’s “Playing in the Band” > “Dark Star” > “Eyes of the World” > “Playing in the Band” suite, an absolute rager and you shoulda been there. But if you weren’t, have no fear because High Time will be back on Sunday (naturally) April 26 at Brooklyn Bowl. Check out the poster below and grab your tickets. A good time is pretty much guaranteed and you’re unlikely to find something better to do than a night of Dead tunes on a Sunday.

Download both Baby’s All Right shows in MP3/FLAC





High Time
2020-01-19
Baby’s All Right
Brooklyn, NY

On stage recording by Eric PH
Set 1 audience recording by Adam from High Time
Set 2 soundboard recording by Alex Harwood

Mixed and produced by Eric PH for nyctaper.com

Aud (set 1)/Soundboard (set 2) + MBHO KA100DK/603A (on stage) > Naiant PFA >> Sound Devices MixPre-6 > WAV (24/48) > Adobe Audition CC + Izotope Ozone 5 > Audacity 2.0.5 > FLAC

Matinee Show [1:21:15]
01. Jack Straw > They Love Each Other
02. Till the Morning Comes
03. Playing in the Band >
04. Dark Star >
05. Eyes of the World >
06. Playing in the Band
07. [encore break]
08. Brown Eyed Women

Late Show [1:35:15]
01. [Intro]
02. New Speedway Boogie
03. Alligator
04. [banter]
05. Truckin’ >
06. The Other One
07. [banter]
08. Scarlet Begonias
09. China Cat Sunflower >
10. I Know You Rider
11. [encore break]
12. Mr. Charlie

MV & EE: January 19, 2020 Baby’s All Right

January 27, 2020
By

It’s been a while since we’ve seen Matt and Erika playing together at MV/EE. Of course Matt’s been busy charting new frequencies with his latest solo record, Preserves, and jamming with his other duo, Wet Tuna. But really there’s nothing nicer than a cosmic Sunday matinee with the classic duo, who drove down from Vermont to open for Dead tribute band High Time. Even the traffic couldn’t dampen their spirits as they took a more relaxed drive with “East Mountain Joint,” followed by “Tea Devil,” and an extended ride on “Shit’s Creek” and “No $.”

This recording is a result of a combined effort—my onstage recording with the MBHO omnis and Baby’s FOH Alex Harwood’s soundboard recording. The sound is outstanding. Enjoy!

Download MP3/FLAC



MV & EE
2020-01-19
Baby’s All Right
Brooklyn, NY

On stage recording by Eric PH
Soundboard recording by Alex Harwood

Mixed and produced by Eric PH for nyctaper.com

Soundboard + MBHO KA100DK/603A (on stage) > Naiant PFA >> Sound Devices MixPre-6 > WAV (24/48) > Adobe Audition CC + Izotope Ozone 5 > Audacity 2.0.5 > FLAC

Tracks [36:06]
01. East Mountain Joint
02. Tea Devil
03. Shit’s Creek > Jam > No $ > Shit’s Creek

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT MV & EE: Their Website | Buy Root/Void from Woodsist | Twitter

Stuart Bogie, Jon Goldberger, Andy Hess, and Ryan Jewell: January 5, 2020 Nublu

January 7, 2020
By

Oh, what a night. This was seventy minutes of pure improvisational bliss. These four incredibly talented musicians have played together before in various combinations, but never as a quartet. Ryan Jewell should be familiar with the readers of these pages in his many outings with Chris Forsyth and with Ryley Walker, and a few months back we posted a five-piece improv set that featured Stuart Bogie and Jonathan Goldberger. Andy Hess has only appeared here with Govt Mule (2007), but has played with a plethora of area musicians over the years.

On this night, the quartet performed an unrehearsed improvisation set that extended to almost an hour before starting another shorter piece as an encore of sorts. Generally speaking, these types of events lean towards the avant and noisy side, but these four folks naturally seemed to be able to instantaneously conjure up chunky nuggets of melody interspersed with tasty bits of effects, some quiet interludes, and some squonk. Ultimately, this was an exceptionally satisfying night of music, and one that I hope gets repeated again.

I recorded this set with a pair of Schoeps mounted at the front of the stage, and mixed with a board feed. The onstage recording was so crystal clear so that the board mix is only used as some fortification and also to soften the hard pans of the stage capture. The mix is superb. Enjoy!

Download the Complete Set [MP3] / [FLAC]

Stream the Complete Set:

Bogie Goldberger Hess Jewell
2020-01-05
Nublu
New York NY

Digital Master Recording
On Stage + Soundboard

Schoeps CCM4u’s + Soundboard > Sound Devices 744t > 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (post production) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:08:26]
01 Improvisation 1
02 Improvisation 2

Stuart Bogie – Tenor Sax Clarinet Flute
Jonathan Goldberger – Guitar
Andy Hess – Bass
Ryan Jewell – Percussion\

PLEASE SUPPORT these outstanding Musicians and visit their websites linked above.

Garcia Peoples: October 24, 2019 Nublu 151

December 6, 2019
By

We’re close to winding down on Garcia Peoples residency shows. Here’s week number 4 and things are still running hot. Like the previous week, the band shares a couple new tracks: “Gliding Through,” which we heard first over the summer at Brooklyn Bowl, along with “Wasted Time” and its intro jam. This was also our first chance to see “Hourglass” live. That one came out on the Hans Chew & Garcia Peoples collaboration and features some live vocals from Andy Cush. Finally, the band closes with a monster version of “Rolling Tides” that was so great we forgave them for repeating the track during their residency.

Meanwhile, One Step Behind is still fresh and is popping up on lots of year-end lists all over. If you haven’t done so, grab one! Garcia Peoples also have a ton of shows coming up throughout the US. Check out their tour dates for a show near you!

I recorded this from our usual location at Nublu. The sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Downloads available at the Live Music Archive



Garcia Peoples
2019-10-24
Nublu 151
New York, NY

Recorded and produced by Eric PH for nyctaper.com

MBHO KA200N/603A > Naiant PFA >> Sound Devices MixPre-6 > WAV > Adobe Audition CC + Izotope Ozone 5 > Audacity 2.0.5 > FLAC

Tracks [45:30]
01. Gliding Through
02. Hourglass
03. Hangin’ On
04. Jam >
05. Wasted Time
06. Rolling Tides

Garcia Peoples: Cesar Arakaki, Danny Arakaki, Andy Cush, Pat Gubler, Tom Malach

Phish: December 1, 2019 Nassau Coliseum

December 4, 2019
By
Photo by @LazyLightning

I’m not going to say anything about this Phish show that is going to give any more information or insight than the experts. Consult Phish.net for that kind of coverage. Suffice to say, this Sunday night show at a venue near which I grew up, and where I’ve attended many shows, sports games, and various entertainment events, was special for a variety of reasons. In terms of Phish, the only other time I saw the band at Nassau was almost exactly 20 years ago, when Phish lyricist Tom Marshall joined the band to sing a Who cover. This show wasn’t a novelty like that, this was a band operating at full powers and playing a serious set of expertly performed material old and new. I’m hoping for a similar experience at the Garden shows during New Year’s week, and fully suspect that excellence will continue.

I recorded this set with the trust Schoeps cards from the front rail of the Official Taper’s Section, and although we were placed pretty far back on the floor, I’m generally pretty pleased with the quality of this capture. Enjoy!

Download the Complete Show MP3 | FLAC

Stream the Complete Show:

Phish
2019-12-01
Nassau Coliseum
Uniondale NY

Digital Master Recording
First Row Tapers Section

Schoeps CCM4u Cardioids > Sound Devices 744t > 24bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge (post production) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper

Setlist:
Set 1 [Total Time 1:19:30]
01 Ghost
02 Rift
03 The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday
04 Avenu Malkanu
05 The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday Reprise
06 The Wedge
07 Martian Monster
08 Timber
09 Cool it Down [Velvets]
10 Roggae
11 Poor Heart
12 Tube
13 Character Zero

Set 2 [Total Time 1:33:35]
14 Everything’s Right
15 Down With Disease
16 Cities [Talking Heads]
17 Carini
18 Ruby Waves
19 Twenty Years Later
20 Backwards Down the Number Line
21 Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.
22 [encore break]
23 Roses Are Free
24 Slave To The Traffic Light

SUPPORT Phish: Website | Store

Prince Rupert’s Drops: October 24, 2019 Nublu 151

December 1, 2019
By

Prince Rupert’s Drops delivered a real blast from the (sorta recent) NYC psych scene past as they reformed in October—one night only!—to open for Garcia Peoples during their Nublu residency. For those new to the band, they were part of Beyond Beyond is Beyond’s early roster, as well as a fixture at NYC venues legal and not-so-much. They even played our 5th Anniversary shindig at 285 Kent. How’s that for we knew them when? Whether you were going out to see PRD headline a show or found them somewhere in the middle of a bill, they were always solid and maybe taken for granted. That is until they were gone, having begun a hiatus around 2014/5 or so after releasing the truly excellent Climbing Light. But here they are back, briefly, playing for a nostalgic crowd but not sounding at all nostalgic themselves. Certainly it’s time for some appreciation for Prince Rupert’s Drops and maybe they can be convinced to stick around a little longer.

I recorded this from our usual location at Nublu. The sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Download MP3/FLAC files



Prince Rupert’s Drops
2019-10-24
Nublu 151
New York, NY

Recorded and produced by Eric PH for nyctaper.com

MBHO KA200N/603A > Naiant PFA >> Sound Devices MixPre-6 > WAV > Adobe Audition CC + Izotope Ozone 5 > Audacity 2.0.5 > FLAC

Tracks [42:57]
01. Follow Me
02. Doldrums
03. Pillar to Post
04. Almond Man
05. Rosy Red
06. Lungs
07. Plague Ride

Buy Prince Rupert’s Drops albums via Bandcamp

Garcia Peoples: October 17, 2019 Nublu 151

November 20, 2019
By
Photo by Drew Gardner

Whereas week two of Garcia Peoples’ Nublu residency celebrated One Step Behind with an extra-long outing of its title track, the band gets back to the shorter tunes in the third week. With Danny Arakaki handling most of the vocals, the band debuts two new songs: “This Place” and the embryonic “Terry” with some improvised vocals. The real standout though is the opening “Total Yang” into “I Ain’t Hurt.” Neither song has ever sounded as sweet as they do here.

Garcia Peoples have a ton of shows coming up throughout the US. Check out their tour dates for a show near you!

I recorded this from our usual location at Nublu. The sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Downloads available at the Live Music Archive


Garcia Peoples
2019-10-17
Nublu 151
New York, NY

Recorded and produced by Eric PH for nyctaper.com

MBHO KA200N/603A > Naiant PFA >> Sound Devices MixPre-6 > WAV > Adobe Audition CC + Izotope Ozone 5 > Audacity 2.0.5 > FLAC

Tracks [43:25]
01. Total Yang > I Ain’t Hurt
02. The Spiraling > This Place
03. Terry
04. The Sweet Lie

Garcia Peoples: Cesar Arakaki, Danny Arakaki, Andy Cush, Pat Gubler, Tom Malach

Kikagaku Moyo: November 15, 2019 Warsaw

November 18, 2019
By

If you’re like me, it was our friends at Beyond Beyond Is Beyond who first turned you onto Tokyo’s Kikagaku Moyo with their stateside release of the band’s second album, Forest of Lost Children. Judging by the sold-out crowd at venerable Greenpoint venue Warsaw this past Friday, quite a lot of people have now gotten the message. Besides the obvious (musicianship, attention to melody), one of the things that makes this band so special is their comfort with different styles, from instrumental jammers like “Dripping Sun” from their current LP Masana Temples, to delicate folk numbers like “Cardigan Song,” which they played acoustically along with an unreleased new song they’ve been working on during this tour. Those barely scratch the surface of all there is to love in this 80-minute set as this band’s virtuosity hits its peak, as they draw from both their compatriot forebears like Ghost to the wide world of American classic rock. This night felt like another step in these guys’ slow-built success (we saw them at Sunnyvale not that long ago), and we can’t wait to hear some of these new tunes laid down on record.

I recorded this set with touring FOH Eric Lemke’s feed, plus Schoeps MK41V hypercardiod mics. All credit here goes to Eric, as this room may never have sounded as good as it did for this set. Enjoy!

Download the complete show at the Live Music Archive in MP3/FLAC. Download the Apple Lossless version here: [ALAC].

Kikagaku Moyo
2019-11-15
Warsaw
Brooklyn, NY

Recorded and produced by acidjack

Soundboard (engineer: Eric Lemke) + Schoeps MK41V>KCY>Z-PFA>>Sound Devices MixPre6>24/48 polyWAV>Adobe Audition CC>Izotope Ozone 5>Audacity 2.3.0>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Tree Smoke
02 Nazo Nazo
03 Green Sugar
04 [unknown1]
05 [tuning/banter]
06 unknown2
07 Cardigan Song (acoustic)
08 Entrance
09 Dripping Sun
10 Gatherings
11 [encore break]
12 [unknown3]
13 Smoke and Mirrors
14 [unknown4]

PLEASE SUPPORT KIKAGAKU MOYO & BUY THEIR RECORDS: GuruGuruBrain | Beyond Beyond Is Beyond

Garcia Peoples: October 10, 2019 Nublu 151

November 11, 2019
By
Photo by Bryon Whitley

Garcia Peoples’ October residency at Nublu was a resounding success. For five Thursdays the band brought out old songs, new songs, special guests, and terrific openers. Night one of the residency was posted last month and in the next week or so we’ll be sharing the rest of the recordings.

Night two was the record release show for One Step Behind, their most ambitious record yet. Just two songs, with the title track clocking in at 30 minutes and featuring Tom’s father Bob Malach on saxophone. Of all the residency shows, this night was my most anticipated, not only because it was a chance again to hear “One Step Behind” after a long absence from setlists, but also because the elder Malach would be joining them on saxophone to bring the record to life. It did not disappoint, to say the very least. Stretching the track to nearly 50 minutes, the band improvises in each of the song’s parts, once more reminding us how great this band is and how thrilling and worthwhile live music can be.

Garcia Peoples have a ton of shows coming up throughout the US. Check out their tour dates for a show near you!

I recorded this from our usual location at Nublu. The sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Downloads available at the Live Music Archive


Photo by @BBiB

Garcia Peoples
2019-10-10
Nublu 151
New York, NY

Recorded and produced by Eric PH for nyctaper.com

MBHO KA200N/603A > Naiant PFA >> Sound Devices MixPre-6 > WAV > Adobe Audition CC + Izotope Ozone 5 > Audacity 2.0.5 > FLAC

Tracks [58:02]
01. One Step Behind
02. Show Your Troubles Out

Garcia Peoples: Cesar Arakaki, Danny Arakaki, Andy Cush, Pat Gubler, Tom Malach
With Bob Malach on Saxophone

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