nyctaper Recordings

concert discussion and free flac downloads

Godspeed You! Black Emperor: March 15, 2011 Brooklyn Masonic Temple – Flac and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

March 19, 2011
By


[photo courtesy of Adam B]

Acidjack reports:
Godspeed You! Black Emperor returned to New York after a nine-year break from our city. How the world has changed since then. When the band last played here, their music could have been the soundtrack to those times – a soundtrack to an era of real fear – not of something to do with esoteric finance – but a visceral, inescapable apprehension of a decaying world. GYBE are an unabashedly political band, and their music, as well as the intense visuals that their live performances soundtrack, are political in a mostly-abstract way. The visuals are mash-ups that evoke the world’s extremes; majesty and beauty in the midst of nascent dread. Here you see the fires of smoldering factories soundtracked by a plaintive surge of sound, where the sound of even the lowly triangle can take on menace. But there is beauty there, as there is in an unmolested glen; in a snippet of a nostalgic ramble that is both endearing and creepy. During the two and a half hour opus that was this phenomenal return to Brooklyn at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple (which followed a night at Terminal 5, and was followed by another night at the Masonic Temple), we were reminded that out of each paroxysm of suffering and bout of anxiety, there remains the zeal and fervor of hope. As one song flowed seamlessly into the next, it was impossible not to be taken over by it all, consumed by the vision of these masterful Montreal-based players.

When they left the stage the images endured; the fire and the pity and the violence and the hope; the precious and the profane. There are few musical acts that can cause such waves of emotion. Godspeed You Black Emperor! is one of them. Welcome back.

I recorded this set with the Schoeps microphones on a high pole in the center of the room. Thank you to Si for the excellent house mix and her support. Enjoy!”

Thanks to Ronen and the Wordless Music Series for their generosity and support!

All four of the Masonic Temple and St. Paul’s concerts were recorded and will be posted in the coming days.

Stream “The Cowboy”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/G3015GYBE0121/07.%20The%20Cowboy.mp3]

Direct Download of this show is now available in FLAC or MP3 format at Archive.org [HERE]

Godspeed You! Black Emperor
2011-03-15
Brooklyn Masonic Temple
Brooklyn, NY USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded by acidjack
Produced by nyctaper

Equipment: Schoeps CMC6/mk41>Sound Devices USBpre2>Edirol R-44 [Oade Mod] (24/48)
Position: Slightly ROC, mics at 12ft, roughly DIN

Mastering: 24bit/48kHz WAV> Soundforge (set fades, level adjustments, downsample)> CD Wave (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > FLAC

Tracks [Total Time 2:24:46]
01 Gorecki
02 Albanian
03 Gathering Storm
04 12-28-99
05 Chart #3
06 World Police and Friendly Fire
07 The Cowboy
08 Tazer Floyd
09 The Sad Mafioso

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Godspeed You! Black Emperor, visit their website, and purchase their official releases from Constellation Records [HERE].

Harvey Milk: March 15, 2011 Union Pool – Flac and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

March 16, 2011
By


[photo courtesy of John Ruscher and Eardrum NYC]

Harvey Milk has been described as metal, sludge, sludge-core, noise rock, and experimental noise. Labels aside, this is an unabashed rock band — one that plays at an extreme volumes, draws from countless influences, and plays without the slightest pretense. Last night was the closing of their three-show residency at Union Pool, and while the previous shows had featured complete album performances, Tuesday’s set was a representative mix of their material split evenly between the old and new. Harvey Milk reached all the way back to 1994 and the first album (“Merlin is Magic”), and performed four songs from 1997’s The Pleaser, including “Anthem” (streaming below). The newer material included several songs from Special Wishes (2006) and Life (2008), but skipped 2010’s Small Turn, which has been performed in full on the first night of the run. Lead guitarist Creston Spiers was armed with two huge dual guitar amps and his ax filled the small room easily — each song providing ear-splitting chunks of sonic goodness. As the set came to a close, the band dispensed with theatrics and played through the encore songs without leaving the stage. If any single act could encompass the power of this evening, it occurred before the final crush of guitar in the set’s closer (“Death”) when Spiers retreated to his amps and turned the volumes of all the dials up to the max in one fluid motion before returning to the microphone to finish the set. Turn it up, indeed.

We recorded this set from the elevated soundboard area. We attached the Neumann’s to the rail and pointed them at the stage amps and mixed in a slight board feed (75/25). The soundboard mix provides mostly vocals and drums to counteract the high volume of guitars in the room. The final product is a superb balanced mix of this amazing show. Enjoy!

Stream “Anthem”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/H1503HarveyMilk2222/13.%20Anthem.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Harvey Milk
2011-03-15
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Four Channel Soundboard + Audience Matrix

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

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2011-03-16

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:17:21]
01 Crush Them All
02 War
03 I Dont Know How To Live My Life
04 Merlin Is Magic
05 Motown
06 A Maelstrom Of Bad Decisions
07 In The Ground
08 [banter]
09 D Block
10 Goodbye Blues
11 Lay My Head Down
12 What I Want
13 Anthem
14 [unknown – Goodness Gracious]
15 Shame
16 Death Goes To The Winner

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Harvey Milk, visit their website, and purchase their official releases from Hydra Head Records [HERE] and from Chunklet [HERE].

La Sera: March 2, 2011 Bowery Ballroom – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

March 15, 2011
By


[Photos by Geoffrey Dicker for According2G]

La Sera is the new LA-based project from Katy Goodman, best known for her work with the Vivian Girls. La Sera may be an LA band but the Bowery Ballroom crowd welcomed Katy and her new band with open arms, and well they should have. La Sera more or less picks up where the Vivians left off, but adds a lighter California twist that befits their hometown. La Sera songs, compared to the Vivians, are suffused with a sunnier tone that borrows from the girl groups of the 60s and California surf rock, with the Vivians’ layers of feedback stripped away. That leaves Goodman’s voice and her pretty, spare arrangements, which is all to the good, as she can sing the hell out of these songs. This set included a number of new songs – impressive considering that Goodman release La Sera’s debut LP, La Sera, just earlier this year – as well as a spot-on cover of the Mamas and the Papas’ “Dedicated to the One I Love.” Despite her use of rotating touring bands (because Goodman continues as a member of the Vivian Girls, she cannot consistently keep one La Sera together), this band delivered the songs confidently, setting the stage perfectly for the headliner, Tennis (also recorded).

I recorded this set from the same location as the Tennis recording, but utilized only the Microtech-Gefell microphones. The sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Stream “Beating Heart”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/L3002LaSera0211/17 Beating Heart.mp3]

Stream “Dedicated to the One I Love”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/L3002LaSera0211/13 Dedicated to the One I Love.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

La Sera
2011-03-02
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

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

Equipment: Microtech-Gefell M210s>Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod] (24/48)
Position: LOC, at soundboard, mics on extension arm at eye level with sound staff, 210s pointed at stacks
Mastering: 24bit/48kHz WAV>Audacity (downsample, EQ, set fades, limit peaks, amplify and balance)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Time 33:06]
01 Behind Your Eyes
02 Sleeptalking
03 Never Come Around
04 Hold
05 [unknown]
06 [banter]
07 Been Here Before
08 [unknown – new]
09 Left This World
10 [banter]
11 Devils Hearts Grow Gold
12 [unknown – new]
13 Dedicated to the One I Love [The Mamas and the Papas]
14 [unknown]
15 You’re Going to Cry [feat. Molly from Widowspeak and Elena from Tennis]
16 Beating Heart

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT La Sera, visit their MySpace page, and purchase La Sera directly from Hardly Art records here.

Hooray For Earth: March 8, 2011 Glasslands – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

March 14, 2011
By


[Video still by Cannons]

Looking at Brooklyn bands with big, big potential to come out of SXSW this week transformed into rising stars, Hooray For Earth has got to be high on the list. Though there is no exact formula for making it to the next level, it has to include the appeal to resonate beyond narrow indie borders into the broader pop realm. Look at bands that have done it recently (Yeasayer, in particular) and Hooray For Earth is right up there with them. How so? The energy of Hooray For Earth‘s music is boundless, their beats ecstatic. Their songs are anthemic, but smart; fresh, but digestible. Songs like “Rolling/Nectarine” are all big beat backbone with shimmering keys and soaring choruses that click in any language, and that applies to most of their standout 2010 EP, Momo. They are both of rock music but beyond it in the way that many recent successes are; without dropping gimmicks, the band’s mastermind Noel Heroux takes some cues from the electronica realm and makes music that sounds like the near-future.

This Glasslands show was packed from when doors opened, completely sold out and then some. Undoubtedly, many of us had the same idea of spending Fat Tuesday sending off some local heroes before an SXSW run that will include a coveted spot at Pitchfork‘s showcase. Heroux and Co. got some unintended practice in crisis management, as gear malfunctioned left and right at the show’s start, including Heroux’s bass strap snapping during the second number. That didn’t slow the show’s momentum a bit, though, as HFE showcased a number of new songs that will appear on their forthcoming full-length, True Loves, which has already been generating heat in media circles. The hype seems justified, as Heroux has evolved the anthemic pop sound of Momo to embrace more tribal sounds, such as on the set opener, “Realize It’s Not the Sun,” and the spacescape-evoking “Black Trees.” The backing vocals of the ladies of Zambri were key throughout the night, perhaps no more so than on the standout title track to their new record, “True Loves”. Begged for an encore, the band came back to perform “Form” from Momo, which Heroux introduced as “This is Form. It’s rock n’ roll.” Not to contradict Noel, but in this moment, Hooray For Earth songs are all rock n’ roll. The rest of rock n’ roll may just not know it yet.

I recorded this set with the DPA microphones and an excellently mixed board feed from Derek at Glasslands. The sound is outstanding. Enjoy!

Stream “True Loves”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/H7206HFE0201/05 True Loves.mp3]

Stream “Rolling/Nectarine”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/H7206HFE0201/06 Rolling_Nectarine.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Hooray For Earth
2011-03-08
Glasslands
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Equipment: DPA 4021+Soundboard>Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod]
Position: ROC, balcony, ~ORTF
Mastering: 2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Audacity (vocal-enhancing compression on soundboard track, smooth peaks, mixdown, adjust levels, EQ, smooth peaks, amplify and balance, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks:
01 Realize It’s Not The Sun
02 Surrounded By Your Friends
03 Get Home
04 [banter]
05 True Loves
06 Rolling/Nectarine
07 [banter]
08 Sails
09 [banter]
10 Black Trees
11 [encore break]
12 Form

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Hooray For Earth, visit their website, and purchase Momo and their debut LP, True Loves directly from Dovecote Records.

Nicole Atkins: March 11, 2011 Maxwell’s – Flac and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

March 13, 2011
By


[photo by nyctaper]

On the final night of her current tour, Nicole Atkins came home to a sold out Maxwell’s on Friday night. The tour in support of the heralded new album Mondo Amore (Razor & Tie) began at Bowery Ballroom more than a month ago and swung cross-country before its triumphant return. The band at Maxwell’s was the core group — not the orchestra-sized outfit at Bowery — and the set’s full throttle energy reflected it. From the opening notes of “Heavy Boots” the band was tight and focused and nicely complimented the main instrument — Nicole’s powerful voice. And she was in fine voice all evening in all modes, whether folk (“Monterey Honey”), ballad (“Hotel Plaster”), honky tonk (“Cry Cry Cry”) or a classic soul cover (“See And Don’t See”, streaming below). Nicole will play several SXSW shows before returning to dates in the Spring, which include Bonnaroo Festival and several dates with the Avett Brothers.

I recorded this set from our usual location and setup in this venue and the sound is outstanding. Nicole’s sound engineer Jeff mixed her vocals prominently and to perfection and the result is a recording that truly reflects of the strengths of this artist. Enjoy!

Stream “See And Don’t See”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/N1906NicoleAtkins1020/23.%20See%20and%20Don%27t%20See%20%5bMarie%20Queenie%20Lyons%5d.mp3]

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

Nicole Atkins
2011-03-11
Maxwell’s
Hoboken, NJ USA

Digital Master Recording
Four Channel Soundboard + Audience Matrix

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

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2011-03-12

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:16:18]
01 Heavy Boots
02 Maybe Tonight
03 This Is For Love
04 You Come To Me
05 [banter]
06 Party’s Over
07 [band introductions]
08 Cry Cry Cry
09 Vitamin C [Can]
10 [banter2]
11 The Way It Is
12 Brooklyn’s On Fire
13 [banter3]
14 Hotel Plaster
15 [banter4]
16 Monterey Honey
17 My Baby Don’t Lie
18 Vultures
19 [banter5]
20 War Is Hell
21 The Tower
22 [encore break]
23 See and Don’t See [Marie Queenie Lyons]

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Nicole Atkins, visit her website, and purchase her new album Mondo Amore from her website [HERE].

Widowspeak: March 3, 2011 Glasslands – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

March 10, 2011
By

Brooklyn’s Widowspeak could be considered a Pacific Northwest import of sorts – vocalist/guitarist Molly Hamilton and drummer Michael Stasiak hail from Tacoma, Washington (guitarist Robert Thomas is from Chicago) and the rain-washed influence of that region suffuses both their sound and their songwriting.  Stylistically, you hear it in their guitar playing, which picks up the jangly, rangy sound of some of the early K Records acts like Beat Happening, and in the band’s unforced delivery.  There is a mellow, wistful air to Widowspeak that is uncommon to hungry young East Coast bands; rather than blaring “hear me NOW!” their approach is more akin to, “don’t worry, we know you’ll get it eventually.”  Which is to say that, in a scene thoroughly embracing the 90s at the moment, Widowspeak are firmly more in the SubPop than the shoegaze camp.  Hamilton’s vocals are sure to garner their fair share of favorable comparisons – one reviewer compared Hamilton’s distant, ghostly moan to Mazzy Star, but I prefer to think of her as a successor to Chan Marshall, aka Cat Power.  Her vocals talents were on full display this past Thursday night at Glasslands, where the band gave us a taste of some of the material they hope to release this summer on their forthcoming full length on Captured Tracks.  The band gave us a tight, well-rehearsed and set with few digressions, with a mix that emphasized Hamilton’s vocals.  Their current 7″ single (also available on Captured Tracks) “Harsh Realm” is both a knowing reference to an old joke (this link is worth reading) about grunge slang, as well as a paean to Hamilton and Stasiak’s roots, and that song also closed out this eight-song set.  Another highlight was the band’s sincere rendition of Chris Isaak’s classic, “Wicked Game”, which went perfectly with the band’s style and sound.

I recorded this set with the DPA microphones and a soundboard feed by Derek of Glasslands.  The sound quality is excellent.  Enjoy!

Stream “Harsh Realm”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/W3030Widowspeak0211/09 Harsh Realm.mp3]

Stream “Wicked Game”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/W3030Widowspeak0211/07 Wicked Game.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Widowspeak
2011-03-03
Glasslands
Brooklyn, NY  USA

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

Equipment: DPA 4021+Soundboard>Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod]
Position: ROC, balcony, ~ORTF
Mastering: 2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, adjust levels, smooth peaks, amplify and balance, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Burnout
02 Yellow Light
03 Brainfreeze
04 banter
05 Nightcrawlers
06 Ghost Boy
07 Wicked Game [Chris Isaak]
08 Pines
09 Harsh Realm

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Widowspeak, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their forthcoming LP and the “Harsh Realm” 7″ from Captured Tracks.

Akron/Family: March 5, 2011 Bowery Ballroom – Flac and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

March 8, 2011
By


[photos by nyctaper]

Akron/Family shows tend to be celebratory affairs, so the end-of-tour sold-out show at Bowery Ballroom on Saturday night was quite likely the ultimate A/F affair. As the band is touring throughout the year behind the superb new album S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT, the setlists have been geared primarily towards the new material, but on this night the band took their time and opened smoothly into a sweet version of the older “We All Will”, before launching to an extended “River”. Of the Shinju songs, “So It Goes” was quite electric on this night and we’ve chosen to stream it below. Several drum-oriented jams broke out during the evening, not the least of which closed out the incendiary “Raising the Sparks”, a song which had so impressed at Knitting Factory last month for entirely different reasons. In a true acknowledgment of the collective energy of the crowd, A/F closed the show with a full participatory version of “Love And Space” that extended for a full eight minutes. Akron/Family will start another tour in a few weeks, when they will play the West coast and the Soutwest.

I recorded this set with the four microphone rig from our standard balcony location in this venue and the sound quality is superb. Enjoy!

Stream Entire Show:

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

Akron/Family
2011-03-05
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Four-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded Balcony Railing

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

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2011-03-06

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:39:53]
01 We All Will
02 River
03 Island
04 A AAA O WAY
05 So It Goes
06 Another Sky / Drums
07 Raising The Sparks
08 Everyone Is Guilty
09 Say What You Want To
10 Silly Bear
11 [encore break]
12 Fuji II (Single Pane)
13 Light Emerges
14 [banter]
15 Love And Space

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Akron/Family, visit their website, and purchase Shinju TNT from the Dead Oceans Records website [HERE].

Fergus & Geronimo: February 23, 2011 285 Kent – Flac and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

March 7, 2011
By


[concert poster by Olivia Hu]

They hail from Denton, Texas and their label is based in Seattle, but on Wednesday last, Fergus & Geronimo seemed perfectly at home in a DIY warehouse in Brooklyn. Their eclectic and multi-influenced album Unlearn (Hardly Art) comprised about half their set, but the songs took a decidedly more garage-rock sound in the live setting. This was appropriate, considering that they anchored a five-band late night set at a classic ToddP event. Fergus & Geronimo are currently tour out West, but will play a handful of shows at SXSW before returning to the East coast. They will appear at Death By Audio on April 2.

I recorded this set with with hypercardioid Neumann microphones mixed with a feed from the board. The sound in the warehouse was quite boomy and the board feed was vocal heavy, but the overall mix provides a fine listening experience. Enjoy!

Stream “Never Satisfied”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/F2302Fergus1100/12.%20Never%20Satisfied.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Fergus & Geronimo
2011-02-23
285 Kent
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Neumann KM-150s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2x 16bit 44.1kHz 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
2011-02-28

Setlist:
[Total Time 31:55]
01 World Never Stops
02 [banter]
03 Blind Muslim Girl
04 Girl U Want (Devo)
05 [banter2]
06 Where The Walls Are Made of Grass
07 [banter3]
08 Wanna Know What I Would Do
09 [banter4]
10 Baby Don’t You Cry
11 Girls With English Accents
12 Never Satisfied

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Fergus & Geronimo, visit their website, and purchase Unlearn from the Hardly Art Records website [HERE].

Mr. Dream: March 4, 2011 Glasslands – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

March 7, 2011
By


[Photo by Johnny Fried Chicken Boy and acidjack]

The Brooklyn band Mr. Dream gives the lie to the adage about writers, and critics in particular: That those who cannot actually do something become critics instead. In Mr. Dream’s particular case, the former Pitchfork writers Nick Sylvester and Adam Moerder joined with bassist Matt Morello to make the kind of rock music that made them become critics in the first place. Which is to say, rock music from the days when independent rock music wasn’t just the go-to tuneage for car commercials – when it was more often brash, loud, angular – and let’s be honest, had some fucking balls.

This show at Glasslands (and presented by PopGun Booking, who have been putting up one killer lineup after another at the venue recently) celebrated the release of the band’s first full-length, the 33-minute adrenaline burst Trash Hit. The record’s most evident influences are a who’s-who of critical favorites – early Pixies, Nirvana, Shellac, Fugazi, and a decent-sized portion of the SST canon. Stylistically, Mr. Dream’s songs embrace empty air in the manner most often associated with the legendary engineer Steve Albini – with each instrument clearly separated and clear, giving the music a dry, spare, propulsive quality. Joined by current Pitchfork contributor Matt LeMay (who produced three of the songs on Trash Hit) to bolster their guitar assault, the band hurtled through a half-hour of mostly Trash Hit songs whose intensity never flagged. The first notes of “Knuckle Sandwich” kicked in before the house music had even been turned off, and the show was balls-out from there. The musical erudition of the players shows through in their songs, which wear their influences well without being overwhelmed by them; the title track, “Trash Hit”, for example, could have held its own with the Pixies in their Surfer Rosa days. By the time they left the stage after “Unfinished Business,” Mr. Dream didn’t need an encore – they had cemented themselves as yet another band to watch in 2011. The band will be joining Sleigh Bells and CSS for their East Coast tour, with dates in DC, Philly and Boston, and a May 11 show at Webster Hall in NYC (tickets here).

I recorded this set with the DPA microphones mounted on the balcony, combined with an outstanding house mix from the Glasslands engineers. The quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Stream “Trash Hit”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/M3400MrDream2011/05 Trash Hit.mp3]

Stream “Unfinished Business”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/M3400MrDream2011/12 Unfinished Business.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete Show in FLAC [HERE].

Mr. Dream
2011-03-04
Glasslands
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Equipment: DPA 4021+Soundboard>Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod]
Position: ROC, balcony, ~ORTF
Mastering: 2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Audacity (guitar-enhancing compression on soundboard track, smooth peaks, mixdown, adjust levels, smooth peaks, amplify and balance, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 30:20]
01 Knuckle Sandwich
02 Crime
03 Scarred For Life
04 Holy Name
05 Trash Hit
06 [banter]
07 Winners
08 Knick Knack
09 Croquet
10 King Klutz
11 [banter]
12 Unfinished Business

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Mr. Dream, visit their MySpace page, and purchase Trash Hit from Amazon or your favorite record store.

Tennis: March 2, 2011 Bowery Ballroom – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

March 4, 2011
By


[Photos courtesy of Geoffrey Dicker for According to G]

Just eight months into its existence, Tennis is a success story. Many bands toil in obscurity for years hoping to break it big (in the NYC scene at least) by headlining Bowery Ballroom; Tennis have already accomplished that feat with a full-on sellout as the icing. This unlikely story of a band born out of husband and wife Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore taking a seven-month sailing trip down the Atlantic coast, and deciding to turn it into a record, has resonated big-time in the indie world. People are paying attention undoubtedly because the nautical, retro conceit of their debut album, Cape Dory, is so unusual, but the band has got the songs to keep people interested. The band’s breezy sound, equal parts girl group and surf rock, is easy to like, an effortless-sounding sort of country club indiepop that the kids can get into, but is probably safe for the parents, too.

Tennis’ live performance is confident and unselfconscious as well (one advantage of being in a band with your spouse, perhaps). Moore introduced many songs by name, some with a bit of charming backstory. Of the new song, “Robin”: “Patrick doesn’t like me to say what it’s about – it’s too cute-seeming – but it’s about a baby bird that we saved last month.” Like the hilariously retro album cover for Cape Dory (Moore in a tight aqua jumpsuit with the band’s name etched in a hair metal font above her), Tennis are nothing if not cute. Although the show was notably brief at almost exactly 42 minutes, the band packed in a lot of music, including their signature number “Marathon” featuring Katy Goodman, lately of the excellent La Sera (whose opening set was also recorded and to be posted soon) and more famously of the Vivian Girls, and Molly Hamilton of the stellar new band Widowspeak on backing vocals. With spring and summer approaching, Tennis should be a fixture on indie fans’ playlists for the next few seasons (and of course, should be a staple on any sailing trips they may be taking).

I recorded this set from our usual spot in the venue with a combination of the Microtech-Gefell hypercardioid microphones and DPA omnidirectional microphones for room ambiance. Although there is some audible buzzing from the PA between songs (caused by the band’s instruments) the sound is crystal clear and a great listen. Enjoy!

Stream “South Carolina”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/T2300Tennis0211/17 South Carolina.mp3]

Stream “Marathon”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/T2300Tennis0211/14 Marathon.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Tennis
2011-03-02
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

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

Equipment: Microtech-Gefell M210+DPA 4061>Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod] (24/48)
Position: LOC, at soundboard, mics on extension arm at eye level with sound staff, 210s pointed at stacks, 4061s mounted on a 1.5ft split
Mastering: 2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, downsample, set fades, limit peaks, amplify and balance)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 43:48]
01 Seafarer
02 Take Me Somewhere
03 banter
04 Cape Dory
05 banter
06 Robin
07 banter
08 Baltimore
09 Bimini Bay
10 banter
11 Long Boat Pass
12 [unknown]
13 banter
14 Marathon [with Katy from La Sera and Molly from Widowspeak]
15 Pigeon
16 Waterbirds
17 South Carolina
18 banter
19 Hard Times

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Tennis, visit their bandcamp page, and purchase Cape Dory directly from Fat Possum Records here.

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