nyctaper Recordings

[photo by Amanda Hatfield – courtesy of Matt at A Heart Is A Spade]

When we last saw Wye Oak in January, they were wowing as the openers for The Decemberists and then playing an intimate surprise show at Rock Shop in anticipation of the release of their new album. As acidjack predicted based upon the Rock Shop performance, Civilian (Merge Records) has been the well-deserved breakout release for Wye Oak. At Bowery Ballroom on Thursday, the band seemed propelled by the sell-out crowd and exuded confidence and focus. Jenn Wasner has developed a great stage presence as she aggressively handles her axe while her bright blonde hair swirls about — all while providing vocals with depth and personality. Meanwhile, Andy Stack drums and plays keyboards and effects simultaneously — a musical accomplishment that must require intense concentration. Their set at Bowery contained eight of the ten songs from Civilian, along with two songs from their 2010 EP (“I Hope You Die” is streaming below), several songs from The Knot, and a wild Danzig cover. As the band reached the powerful climax of the set closing “For Prayer” it was obvious to all present that Wye Oak have truly arrived.

I recorded this set with the four microphone rig from our standard balcony rail location and the sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Stream “I Hope You Die”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/W2701WyeOak2011/16.%20I%20Hope%20You%20Die.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Wye Oak
2011-04-14
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Four-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded Balcony Railing

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2011-04-15

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:07:15]
01 The Alter
02 Holy Holy
03 [banter]
04 Plains
05 [banter2]
06 Hot As Day
07 My Creator
08 Dogs Eyes
09 Civilian
10 That I Do
11 [banter3]
12 Mother [Danzig]
13 Take It In
14 We Were Wealth
15 [banter4]
16 I Hope You Die
17 [encore break]
18 Doubt
19 For Prayer

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Wye Oak, visit their website, and purchase Civilian from Merge Records here.

Eternal Summers: April 15, 2011 Glasslands – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

April 18, 2011

[Photo by Jessica Amaya]

I was a bit surprised that my first experience in the upgraded/redesigned Glasslands – complete with better sightlines, more bars, more bathrooms, better sound, and better light – was actually a band that wasn’t from NYC. But Roanoke, VA-based Eternal Summers certainly have their finger on the pulse of the sensibilities of the moment, whatever their geographic orientation. They make the kind of smart, plaintive pop-punk that would have fit well into the early 90s scene in DC and Arlington, VA. With a record, Silver on Kanine Records that has been extremely well received, as well as a slew of EPs, the duo of Nicole Yun and Daniel Cundiff (now also with a touring bassist) has been hitting New York with regularity. This show, presented by PopGun Booking and Tell All Your Friends PR, celebrated the band’s latest release on Kanine, the Prisoner EP. Rounding out an excellent four-act bill, Eternal Summers didn’t spend much of their economical set chatting, instead focusing on playing fiery renditions of songs from all over their catalog. My favorite was the bouncy title track from Silver. It is worth noting that Eternal Summers are part of a loosely affiliated local collective (in which Cundiff is a serial participant) known as the Magic Twig Community. If the rest of Roanoke’s progressive scene bears any relationship to the quality of this band, I need to take a trip to Virginia as soon as possible.

I recorded this set with an excellent soundboard feed from Josh of Glasslands combined with the DPA mics mounted in an optimum new location in the venue. The results are excellent. Enjoy!

Stream “Silver”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/E1504EternalSummers2011/04 Silver.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Eternal Summers
2011-04-15
Glasslands
Brooklyn, NY USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Equipment: DPA 4021>Oade M248+Soundboard>>Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod] (24/44.1)
Position: Center pole, 11′ up, X/Y
Mastering: 2x24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, EQ audience source, set fades, tracking, amplify and balance)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Prisoner
02 [unknown]
03 Able To
04 Silver
05 World’s Away
06 Safe At Home
07 I Know Now
08 [unknown]
09 [unknown]
10 [unknown]
11 Girls In the City
12 What Do You Do (?)
13 [unknown]

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Eternal Summers, visit their MySpace page, and purchase Prisoner directly from Kanine Records [HERE]

Sharon Van Etten: April 16, 2011 Music Hall of Williamsburg – Flac and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

April 17, 2011

[photos by Amanda Hatfield]

After months on the road playing to bigger crowds in bigger venues than she has ever seen, Sharon Van Etten came home last night to a vocally adoring local crowd. Music Hall of Williamsburg was sold out (as she had done at Bowery in January), and the floor was packed. From my vantage point in the front right of the balcony, I could see the faces of the rapt fans in the first ten rows. On this recording, you can hear the calls of adoration in between each song. Sharon’s music has always spoken (almost brutally) honestly about real emotions, and as her popularity grows its inevitable that she’s going to connect on a deeper level with fans who relate to those emotions. But fortunately for Sharon, she seems to have truly grasped a perspective on this phenomenon both on stage and off, and keeps a healthy distance from the adoration. Last night’s set contained most of what has catapulted her to this success, the 2010 release Epic, along with an abundant amount of strong new material and some solo classics. The night also featured two special guests — Jessica Larabee from show opener She Keeps Bees (recording of their set coming soon) on “Save Yourself”, and Aly Spaltro (Lady Lamb The Beekeeper) on “For You”. I am privy to some news about Sharon, but can only say to expect an exciting announcement from the Van Etten camp soon. In that vein, we’re streaming one of the newer songs “Tell Me”, which has developed since its August debut into a powerful number that will likely be featured on any new release.

I recorded this set from the front right of the balcony about fifteen feet from the right PA speaker, and used the hyper-directional Neumanns for what is known as a “stack tape”. The clarity is outstanding, but there is less depth than the recording from January. Additionally, the balcony at Music Hall has always had lower vocals in the mix than can be heard on the floor, and this recording is no exception. With those caveats, enjoy!

Stream “Tell Me”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/S0606SharonVE8008/10.%20Tell%20Me.mp3]

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

Sharon Van Etten
2011-04-16
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Audience Recording
Recorded from Balcony Rail
Far Right 15 feet from Stacks

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

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2011-04-17

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:17:42]
01 Heart In The Ground
02 I Am Bad
03 [banter]
04 Peace Signs
05 Save Yourself
06 Don’t Do It
07 [banter2]
08 One Day
09 [banter3]
10 Tell Me
11 [banter4]
12 Tornado
13 [banter5]
14 All I Can
15 [banter6]
16 For You
17 [banter7]
18 Love More
19 [encore break]
20 Damn Right
21 Kevin’s
22 [banter8]
23 A Joke Or A Lie

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Sharon Van Etten, visit her website, and purchase her new CD epic from Bada Bing Records [HERE].

PS I Love You: March 30, 2011 Mercury Lounge – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

April 13, 2011

[Photos courtesy of Geoffrey Dicker for According to G]

I don’t know what’s in the water up in Ontario, Canada these days, but a serious music scene is percolating in Toronto that is fresh, exciting and varied. PS I Love You are from the college town of Kingston, about three hours from Toronto, but they belong with their Toronto-based brethren when it comes to being part of this burgeoning Canadian scene. This set, opening for NYCTaper favorites Diamond Rings, showed off the chops of guitarist/vocals Paul Saulnier and drummer Benjamin Nelson admirably, as they delivered a tight set that consisted primarily of songs from their rave-reviewed 2010 effort, Meet Me At the Muster Station, as well as a couple of new songs. The set closer, “Leftovers,” off of a recent 7″ with Diamond Rings, spanned nearly twice the time of the rest of Saulnier’s focused tunes, and found John O’Regan himself joining the band in the effort. Saulnier, who began the band as a solo project, gives voice to his angst live even more palpably than on the band’s studio outings, and he and Nelson can shred with the best of them. Beneath Saulnier’s pitched yowl and the squalls of feedback, it’s not hard to hear the real musicianship of PS I Love You; they may be a two-man band, but I would not call them a “garage rock duo.” We were sorry to miss the second post-midnight set that the band performed after Diamond Rings’ performance, but this 40-minute set was an excellent introduction to another talented new act. Montreal had an incredible run of acts coming up in the late 90s and early 2000s, but they’d better watch out – their brethren to the west are the trailblazers these days.

hi and lo recorded this set with the Schoeps microphones and a soundboard feed from Kevin at Mercury Lounge. Other than a few glitches in a connection during the first song and occasional spots of chatter toward the end of the set, this recording is flawless. Thanks to PS I Love You and Paper Bag Records for permitting us to make and share this recording. Enjoy!

The Diamond Rings set was also recorded and will be posted once approval is received from their management.

Stream “Facelove”:

[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/P0330PSILoveYou2011/10 Facelove.mp3]

Stream “Leftovers [feat. Diamond Rings]”
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/P0330PSILoveYou2011/12 Leftovers.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

PS I Love You
2011-03-30
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY USA

Premiere download offered at www.nyctaper.com
Recorded by hi and lo
Produced by acidjack

Equipment: Schoeps Mk5 (cardiod)>Schoeps CMBI>EAA PSP2+Soundboard>>Tascam DR-680 (24/44.1)
Position: Clamp to soundboard, slightly ROC
Mastering: 2x24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, set fades, tracking, amplify and balance)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 39:30]
01 Meet Me At the Muster Station
02 Breadends
03 2012
04 Little Spoon
05 CBEZ
06 [unknown]
07 Starfield
08 [new song]
09 [unknown]
10 Facelove
11 [banter]
12 Leftovers [with Diamond Rings]

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT PS I Love You, visit them on Facebook, and purchase their music directly from Paper Bag Records [HERE]

Black Angels: April 8, 2011 Bowery Ballroom – Flac and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

April 11, 2011

[photo courtesy of Ben at I Have 19 Voices]

The Black Angels take their psychedelia very seriously. As the hosts of Austin Psych Fest and one time backing band for Psych legend Roky Erickson (13th Floor Elevators), the band certainly has the pedigree. But as we saw on Friday night at Bowery Ballroom, Black Angels also have the songs, the stage show, and the sound. From the opening intro music of “Good Vibrations” that warped into a reverbed and looped mutation of the song before the band dropped right into their own “Bad Vibrations” opener, it was quite clear that this would be more than just a “trippy” adventure, but a true journey through an authentic ninety-minute psychedelic musical show. The band has the obvious 60’s influences, including Roky and also some of the California sound, but also draws heavily from the eighties revivalists like The Cramps and The Gun Club. Each song provided a sonic burst of reverb and effects accompanied by a mesmerizing light show. The setlist included a nice selection from the band’s three full length albums, including seven songs from 2010’s Phosphene Dream (although oddly not the title track), and five songs from the debut album (stream “Black Grease” below). The persistent hum of the drone machine melded each song into the next before the close of the main set. The band was called back for three encores and closed with a feedback drenched “You in Color”.

I recorded this set with the four microphone rig from the standard balcony rail location, and this recording is an authentic capture of the sound in the venue that evening. Enjoy!

Stream “Black Grease”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/B0904BlackAngels2101/12.%20Black%20Grease.mp3]

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

Black Angels
2011-04-08
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Four-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded Balcony Railing

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2011-04-11

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:26:54]
01 [introduction]
02 Bad Vibrations
03 Entrance Song
04 The Prodigal Sun
05 Sniper At The Gates Of Heaven
06 The Sniper
07 [banter]
08 Haunting at 1300 McKinley
09 Surf City Revisited
10 Science Killer
11 Yellow Elevator #2
12 Black Grease
13 [banter2]
14 You on the Run
15 Telephone
16 True Believers
17 [banter3]
18 Young Men Dead
19 [encore break]
20 My Boat Is Sinking
21 [banter4]
22 Bloodhounds On My Trail
23 You in Color

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Black Angels, visit their website, purchase Phosphene Dream directly from the band at the front page of their website [HERE].

Explosions In the Sky: April 6, 2011 Radio City Music Hall – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

April 11, 2011

[photo courtesy of Brian C. Reilly and Bowery Houselist]

It’s no longer news when an “indie” band sells out a mega-sized venue. But the story of Explosions In the Sky – an instrumental rock band on the tiny (and uniformly outstanding) label Temporary Residence Limited – has got to be one of the strangest of all. Sure, EITS are an absolutely killer live band, and their music is incredible – but that could also be said of their brethren in the instrumental rock scene, the next-most-popular of whom isn’t selling out venues one third this size. No, it was a bit of a quirk of fate that EITS’ music ended up becoming the soundtrack for the football movie Friday Night Lights and, perhaps more importantly, the surprisingly good TV series based on the movie that followed. Now, their eight-minute rock mini-symphonies may forever be associated with sandblown prairie, abandoned oil rigs, and of course, football fields set against the lonely Texas sky, but they are fitting-enough images for a style of music that is so grand in its sweep. In one song, EITS can be capture the mute pain of loneliness, the thrill of motion, and the ecstasy of victory. I don’t doubt that they take inspiration from the outsize land from which they came, from Friday night lights and the great swaths of darkness in between.

As to this set, its most exciting aspect was that it gave EITS a chance to debut songs from their forthcoming album, Take Care, Take Care, Take Care, which, if pre-release hype is any indication, will be their most massive yet. They led off with the new number “Postcard From 1952,” a classic slow-builder in the usual EITS style, that wraps up with cascading waves of feedback. Also on display were the mellower “Let Me Back In” and the closer, the short-burst rocker “Trembling Hands,” which may well end up being their bid for radio airplay. As EITS sets go, this one was a bit short, topping out at only 75 minutes, but the band made them count, adding to the new songs some of their biggest classics like “The Only Moment We Were Alone” and “Your Hand In Mine”. But perhaps the most moving part of the performance for me wasn’t what happened during the music, but the sincere gratitude the band showed both before and after the show in their thanks to the fans. A lot of bands can give the perfunctory “thanks for coming” etc. and you may or may not believe them; for EITS, it was evident how incredible this unlikely achievement was for them. As a truly great group of guys as well as outstanding musicians, this success couldn’t have happened to a better group of people. Good for them, and good for us.

I recorded this set with the DPA microphones. My location in the venue was not optimal, but Radio City is a beautiful-sounding venue, so the sound is still good after a bit of tweaking. The crowd was very respectful, and therefore crowd noise is minimal. I apologize in advance for any tracking errors. Enjoy!

Stream “Trembling Hands”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/E3060EITS9992/10 Trembling Hands.mp3]

Download the MP3 and FLAC files and stream the entire show on the Live Music Archive [HERE]

Explosions In the Sky
2011-04-06
Radio City Music Hall
New York, NY USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Equipment: DPA 4021>Denecke PS/2>Sony PCM-M10 (24/44.1)
Mastering: 24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (EQ, set fades, tracking, amplify and balance, downsample to 16bit)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 1:15:48]
01 Intro
02 Postcard From 1952
03 The Birth and Death of the Day
04 Yasmin the Light
05 Last Known Surroundings
06 The Only Moment We Were Alone
07 Catastrophe and the Cure
08 Let Me Back In
09 Your Hand In Mine
10 Trembling Hands

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Explosions in the Sky, visit their website, and pre-order Take Care, Take Care, Take Care directly from their online store [HERE]

The Mountain Goats – March 30, 2011 Bowery Ballroom – Flac and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

April 10, 2011

[photo by Maryanne Ventrice – courtesy of Prefix Magazine]

The final night of the Mountain Goats outstanding three-show run at Bowery Ballroom was the shortest set of the week, but certainly did not lack in the intensity or good feeling of the previous two. John referenced the ease of staying several days in one town and perhaps because the band knew it would have to travel that night, the set contained significantly less “banter” than the earlier shows. However, the music was as rich as ever, and Craig Finn returned for an encore guest performance, this time singing on both “Palmcorder Yajna” (streaming below), and “This Year”, where the entire Megafaun band joined on stage for the first time. Other set highlights included rarities “Ontario”, “Love Love Love” and “Prowl Great Cain”. The Mountain Goats tour is continuing through this week, and returns to the Northeast for a Philadelphia show on April 15 — a show I’m considering attending on a lark. The NYC experience was that good.

I recorded this set in the same manner as the previous two nights, and the sound quality is again superb. Enjoy!

Stream “Palmcorder Yajna” (with Craig Finn):
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/M1616MountainGoats8080/22.%20Palmcorder%20Yajna.mp3]

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

The Mountain Goats
2011-03-30
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Neumann KM-150s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2 x 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
2011-04-08

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:31:59]
01 [introduction]
02 Liza Forever Minnelli
03 Jeff Davis County Blues
04 Southwood Plantation Road
05 Dinu Lipatti’s Bones
06 Goddamn These Vampires
07 [banter]
08 Seeing Daylight
09 Outer Scorpion Squadron
10 [banter2]
11 You Were Cool
12 Love Love Love
13 Matthew 25:21
14 Age of Kings
15 [banter3]
16 Broom People
17 [banter4]
18 Prowl Great Cain
19 Ontario
20 Snow Crush Goddamn Killing Song
21 Never Quite Free
22 Palmcorder Yajna
23 [encore break]
24 No Children
25 [banter5]
26 This Year
27 [second encore break]
28 The Best Ever Death Metal Band from Denton

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Mountain Goats, visit their website, purchase All Eternals Deck from the Merge Records website [HERE], and purchase other Mountain Goats official releases from their website.

The War On Drugs: April 3, 2011 Webster Hall – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

April 9, 2011

[Photos by acidjack]

The War On Drugs are an instant classic. That is to say, depending upon what show you go to, you may feel like you’ve heard The War On Drugs before, and in a sense you would be right. Vocalist Adam Granduciel fronts with an unabashedly Dylanesque style, and the band’s 60s/70s influences – from Dylan to Springsteen to Led Zeppelin – are worn on their sleeve. But then things take a turn for the psychedelic (with a name like that, who’d have thought otherwise?) and you can find yourself in a completely different place than you might be listening to, say, Highway 61 Revisited. Take the mid-set number, “It’s Your Destiny,” for example, with its shimmering guitars and Granduciel’s languid delivery. This particular set, opening for Destroyer (available for download on the site [HERE]), leaned more toward the Americana end of things than, for example, the set we saw opening for Black Mountain at the Knitting Factory recently, perhaps owing to the mellower vibe of the headliner. Songs like “Buenos Aires Beach” and “Brothers” unpack their narratives beautifully, with words that are easy to follow and an expansive, breezy vibe that leaves you yearning for the sun. The band’s songs feel so comfortable that you have to imagine they have been together for years; in fact, they began with Kurt Vile and Granduciel playing together in 2005, before the band reconfigured (and Vile went solo) in 2008. With just one full-length, the excellent Wagonwheel Blues, the almost-full-length Future Weather from 2008, and another EP to their credit thus far, and another full album on the way this year, the band have tons of room to grow on the album front, as they continue to prove themselves night after night with their live show. We can’t wait for their next release.

hi and lo and I recorded this set in the same manner as the Destroyer recording, with a combination of four Schoeps microphones. The results are outstanding. Enjoy!

Stream “Brothers”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/W1008WOD2101/07 Brothers.mp3]

This recording is now available as a direct download in FLAC or MP3 from archive.org [HERE]

The War On Drugs
2011-04-03
Webster Hall
New York, NY USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded by acidjack and hi and lo
Produced by acidjack

Equipment: Schoeps CMC6U/mk41>Sound Devices USBpre2+Schoeps mk4v>NBox>>Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod] (24/48)
Position: Balcony, immediate left of soundboard, on clamps pointing at stacks
Mastering: 2Ã—24bit/48kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, set fades, tracking, light EQ (less than -1dB cut at 160, 200, and 250Hz), amplify and balance)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Best Night
02 Baby Missiles
03 Buenos Aires Beach
04 I Was There
05 It’s Your Destiny
06 [banter]
07 Brothers
08 Comin’ Through
09 Arms Like Boulders

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The War On Drugs, visit their website, and purchase their official releases from Secretly Canadian Records [HERE].

Oneida: April 2, 2011 Ocropolis IV – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Sample

April 7, 2011