nyctaper Recordings

[screencap by Eric Horn]

The third session of the Backyard Brunch series moved indoors and began with an opening set by Courtesy Tier (here). The featured band was Person L, which is the newest musical project from Kenny Vasoli, who spent ten years as the lead singer of the popular major label pop-punk band The Starting Line. While Person L definitely is a departure for Vasoli, the band still relies heavily on his powerful vocals and meticulous songcraft. From ten feet away in a cozy living room, Kenny’s compelling presence demanded attention as the band worked through a short set of their best songs in an acoustic format. The highlights of the performance included “Goodness Gracious” (streaming below) and set closer “Untitled”, both tracks from their excellent 2009 release The Positives.

We recorded this set with four microphones placed strategically among the band members and the sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Stream “Goodness Gracious”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/P1070PersonL2010/05%20PersonL2010-07-10_nyctaper_t05.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Person L
2010-07-10
Backyard Brunch Sessions
Brooklyn, NY USA

Four-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Onstage

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
2010-07-22

Setlist:
[Total Time 35:04]
01 [introduction]
02 House Sounds
03 New Sensation
04 Good Days
05 Goodness Gracious
06 [banter]
07 Sit Tight
08 [banter/equipment]
09 Storms
10 [banter/thanks]
11 Untitled

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Person L, visit their MySpace page, and purchase The Positives from the Academy Fight Song Records website [HERE].

[photo by Abby Resko – more here]

In 2008, Deer Tick appeared three times on nyctaper. As the leader of the trio, John McCauley was always an engaging presence and it was hard not to both root for Deer Tick’s success and predict its inevitable realization. Now two years down the road, Deer Tick has weathered a few personnel changes, released three excellent albums, sold out mid-major venues, appeared on Letterman, and chuckled at the folly of web backlash. At a sold out Maxwell’s on Monday night, the current quintet rocked harder and longer than the early years, but Deer Tick has lost absolutely none of its charm or its authenticity. The set picked equally from each of the three albums, but also featured several new numbers, the strongest of which (“Make Believe” and “Bury Deep”) represent a continued migration from americana-folk to honky-tonk in the band’s sound. To conclude the set, the band pulled out all the bar-band stops with two crazy covers — ZZ Top (“Cheap Sunglasses”) and Marvin Gaye (“Let’s Get it On”) before finishing with a lengthy feedback-drenched “Mange”.

I recorded this set with the Neumann microphones at the front corner of the soundboard booth and mixed with a board feed. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Stream “Twenty Miles”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/D4545DeerTick3030/08%20DeerTick2010-07-19_nyctaper_t08.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Deer Tick
2010-07-19
Maxwell’s
Hoboken, NJ USA

Digital Master Recording
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
2010-07-22

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:35:12]
01 Smith Hill
02 [banter]
03 Spend The Night
04 Me Me Me (MG&V)
05 Hope is Big (new song)
06 Baltimore Blues No. 1
07 Something To Brag About (new song)
08 Twenty Miles
09 When She Comes Home
10 [banter]
11 Maybelline (Chuck Berry)
12 Make Believe (new song)
13 Bury Deep (new song)
14 [banter]
15 Choir of Angels [false start]
16 Choir of Angels
17 [banter]
18 Ashamed
19 Houston, TX
20 I’m Gonna Learn To Fly An Airplane (with Johnny Corndawg)
21 Dirty Dishes
22 [tuning + Tequila]
23 [new song]
24 Cheap Sunglasses (ZZ Top)
25 [encore break]
26 Let’s Get it On (Marvin Gaye)
27 Mange

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Deer Tick, visit their website, visit their myspace page, and purchase their official releases from the Partisan Records Store [HERE].

[Photo by CharlieTakesPhotos.  See his Flickr stream here]

Los Angeles-based Fol Chen made a perfect opening act for Liars at this packed Sunday night show back in April at Music Hall of Williamsburg.  Though Liars’ style may be a bit heavier, both bands play music that treads outside the boundaries of normal song structure and typical rock style (if such a thing exists these days anyway).  Little that the band does is obvious, with a theatrical, beat-driven sound that isn’t easily categorized. The set kicked off with the catchy and hypnotic “Red Skies Over Garden City”, my favorite from the band’s debut, John Shade, Your Fortune’s Made.  From there, the band played a few songs from their latest record (released this week), Part II: The New December, as well as the unreleased and never-recorded “The Nudibranch Paradox.”  Live, the band’s sound has a much sparer, more rock feel that emphasizes the live drums and the vocal harmonies.  Although it is a departure from their records to an extent, it is a welcome change, showing that the songs can stand on their own without studio wizardry.  We are releasing this recording at this somewhat delayed date at Fol Chen’s request, as they did not want our live recording to “preview” their new songs until they were officially released.  Now that their new record is out, please check out Part II: The New December and find out more about this excellent band.

I recorded this set from our usual spot in the venue.  Other than a few chatterers here and there, the sound is excellent. Thanks to Fol Chen for releasing the recording, and for their help with tracking and song titles.  Enjoy!

Please note that as the Liars performance was being recorded for a live album that will feature the entire April 18th performance.  Therefore, although it was recorded, NYCTaper will not be releasing this recording.  The live album will be worth the wait once released!

Stream “The Nudibranch Paradox”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/F8140FolChen1020/folchen-nudibranchparadox.mp3]

Stream “Red Skies Over Garden City”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/F8140FolChen1020/folchen-redskies.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Fol Chen
2010-04-18
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY  USA

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

Equipment: DPA 4021>Naiant littlebox>Sony PCM-M10 (24/44.1)
Position: Clamp to left of sound booth, 11? up, DIN
Mastering: 24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (set fades, EQ, tracking, amplify and balance channels, downsample)>FLAC Level 8

Tracks
01 Red Skies Over Garden City [fades in]
02 Winter, That’s All
03 The Nudibranch Paradox
04 They Came To Me
05 [banter]
06 Men, Beasts or Houses (Parts I and II)
07 Please John, You’re Killing Me
08 Cable TV
09 Ruins (Dawn Patrol Mix)
10 This Is Where the Road Belongs
11 The Holograms

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Fol Chen, visit their website, and purchase Part II: The New December and their other records from Asthmatic Kitty here.

[Photos courtesy of Stephanie Keith]

The Heartless Bastards are one of those acts that are flat-out solid.  With a heavy dose of Midwestern charm (they’re from Cincinnati) and bluesy rock riffs, this is a band that can be counted on, show after show, to give a memorable performance.  Vocalist Erika Wennerstrom’s cigarettes-and-whiskey voice has never sounded better, and this surprisingly boozed up Wednesday night Music Hall of Williamsburg crowd knew it, too, whooping their appreciation for the full 90+ minutes of their set.  This newish lineup (as of 2008) rocks like a bar band made good, but they also have considerable chops.  The Bastards also joined with opening act Peter Wolf Crier (also recorded; coming soon) for a special rendition of “Be So Happy”.  Another highlight was “All This Time”, featuring an extended intro from drummer Dave Colvin.

At the request of the Music Hall staff, Johnny Fried Chicken Boy and I moved our gear to the balcony.  The sound up there tends to have more sound reflection than the floor, but with some further editing to reduce that characteristic, this recording using a four mic combination of Schoeps hypercardiods and the DPA 4021s is of excellent quality (and the crowd is much quieter, too!).

Stream “All This Time”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/H6602HB9922/HeartlessBastards-AllThisTime.mp3]

Stream “Be So Happy” with Peter Wolf Crier:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/H6602HB9922/HeartlessBastards-BeSoHappy.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Heartless Bastards
2010-07-14
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY  USA

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

Equipment: Schoeps CMC641+DPA 4021>Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) (24/44.1)
Position: Balcony clamp, DFC, DPAs X/Y, Schoeps pointed down at stacks
Mastering: 2×24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, set fades, EQ (trim bass frequencies/room resonances, slight bump at 10kHz), amplify and balance channels, compression on a couple of peaks)>FLAC Level 8

Tracks [Total Time 1:36:54]
01 Into the Open
02 Done Got Old
03 Out at Sea
04 Onions
05 Witchy Poo
06 [banter]
07 Blue Day
08 I Swallowed A Dragon Fly
09 [banter]
10 So Quiet
11 Had To Go
12 All This Time
13 The Mountain
14 Sway
15 Hold Your Head High
16 Swamp Song
17 Nothing Seems the Same
18 Early In the Morning
19 [encore break]
20 Be So Happy (with Peter Wolf Crier)
21 Gray
22 Runnin

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Heartless Bastards, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their official releases and merch from the store at their website [HERE].

[photo courtesy of Ryan Muir]

For Diamond Rings, its only a matter of time. The deadly combination of talent, charisma, catchy songs, and friends in the right places virtually guarantees that by the next time he plays NYC, John O will be riding the buzz wave. Last night at Monster Island, a smallish but enthusiastic crowd saw Diamond Rings brief opening set that included several new songs from his anticipated full-length (September release) and three songs from a series of 12″ releases on One Big Silence Records. The quirky dance number “Show Me Your Stuff” does not in fact show the world all that Diamond Rings has to deliver. John O plays some mean guitar and the track streaming below (“All Yr Songs”) is a better indication of his talents.

We recorded this set with the Neumann microphones attached to the pole set feet from the stage and mixed the room mics with a soundboard feed. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Stream “All Yr Songs”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/D1807DiamondRings2211/12%20DiamondRings2010-07-18_nyctaper_t12.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Diamond Rings
2010-07-18
Monster Island Basement
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
2010-07-19

Setlist:
[Total Time 33:30]
01 Play By Heart
02 [new song – All I Know?]
03 [banter]
04 Wait & See
05 [banter]
06 [new song]
07 [banter]
08 You and Me
09 [banter]
10 Show Me Your Stuff
11 [banter]
12 All Yr Songs

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Diamond Rings, visit the website, visit the MySpace page, and purchase his debut EP from the One Big Silence website [HERE].

[Photos courtesy of Jessica Amaya and BrooklynVegan]

With but one (excellent) record to their name, Memory Tapes have risen fast, thanks in part to Pitchfork’s love for their debut, but in larger part thanks to their unique, synth-driven sound and a surprisingly rocking live show.  The band had the honor of headlining BrooklynVegan’s showcase for the 2010 Northside Festival at Music Hall of Williamsburg, and they delivered with a free-flowing set backed by a killer light show.  Despite being a two-man act, frontman Dayve Hawk and drummer Matt Maraldo proved able to throw down for the Saturday night crowd.  As with their last show that we recorded back in February, the band drew out the length of several numbers with extended instrumental play.

I recorded this set from the same location as the Twin Sister recording and the sound is excellent.  Enjoy!

Stream the entire show:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/M0302Memory2101/mt2010-06-26mhow_acidjack.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE).

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Memory Tapes
2010-06-26
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY  USA

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

Equipment: Schoeps CMC641+DPA 4021>Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) (24/44.1)
Position: Clamp to left side of sound booth, mics at 8ft, DPAs ORTF, hypers DIN
Mastering: 2×24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, set fades, tracking, EQ, amplify and balance channels, downsample to 16bit)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Bicycle
02 [unknown]
03 Graphics
04 Plain Material
05 Green Knight
06 Stop Talking>Bicycle
07 [unknown]
08 [unknown]

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Memory Tapes, visit the MySpace page, visit Dayve’s blog, and purchase Seek Magic directly from the Acephale Records website (here) or Rough Trade (here).

[photo by nyctaper]

The Backyard Brunch Sessions were moved indoors for the weather last weekend, but the developing themes for the series remained. This past Saturday again featured two bands that had never played a live acoustic session before, and also featured immense talent that was breathtaking to behold up close. The Courtesy Tier is a duo whose standard live show features Omer Leibovitz’s intense bluesy guitar and the aggressive drum work of Layton Weedeman. Saturday’s acoustic set was worlds apart — as Omer played a nylon string classical style guitar and Layton beat a bongo and mini-maraca — but the duo’s talents made it seem as if it was their normal set-up. At just three songs, the show was more a teaser, but certainly bodes well for the flexibility and dynamics of this up and coming and growing band. The Courtesy Tier play this weekend (Saturday July 17) at Rockwood Music Hall, and then next Saturday (July 24) return to Spike Hill.

We recorded this set with four microphones placed strategically around the duo and the sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Stream “Friend”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/C1070CourtesyTier2211/2%20CourtesyTier2010-07-10_nyctaper_t02.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Courtesy Tier
2010-07-10
Private Backyard Brunch
Brooklyn, NY USA

Four-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Onstage

Neumann KM-150s + DPA 4021’s > 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
2010-07-14

Setlist:
[Total Time 14:10]
01 [introduction]
02 Friend
03 [banter]
04 Calling Out
05 Cold

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Courtesy Tier, visit their website, and purchase their debut EP Map and a Marker from the links at the Music Section of their website [HERE].

[Photo courtesy of Nicole Wasilewicz at FREEwilliamsburg]

While a lot of the opening night crowd for the 2010 Northside Festival was busy speculating about/preemptively hating on the Wavves set that was about to happen later in the night, Cleveland’s Cloud Nothings came out without a lot of fanfare and straight up rocked it.  Cloud Nothings is the project of songwriter Dylan Baldi, whose sound was described on one blog as “bedroom punk”, which seems accurate enough.  Indeed, these guys could be kindred spirits of the earlier Wavves, albeit with a more upbeat and less weed-driven (at least lyrically) style.  Live, the band made for a perfect lead-in for the chaos to follow, delivering material from their LP, Turning On in rapid-fire style to amp up the crowd.  Some post-show reports called Cloud Nothings the best band of the night – and those accolades weren’t all from Wavves-haters, either.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed and the Schoeps mics, just like the Wavves set, and the sound is excellent.  Enjoy!

Stream “Exactly What I Want”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/C4206CloudNothings0210/cloudnothings_nyctaper.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Cloud Nothings
2010-06-24
Knitting Factory
Brooklyn, NY  USA

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

Equipment: Schoeps CMC641+Stereo soundboard feed>Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) (24/44.1)
Position: Clamp to right side of sbd booth, 8 ft up, DIN
Mastering: 2×24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, set fades, slight EQ, adjust levels, downsample to 16bit)>FLAC Level 8

Tracks
01 Didn’t You
02 Can’t Stay Awake
03 Morgan
04 Even If It Worked Out
05 Too Long
06 Exactly What I Want
07 Hey Cool Kid
08 Turning On

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Cloud Nothings, visit their MySpace page, and purchase Turning On from Bridgetown Records here.

[photo by mikeL]

Last week, The Feelies played their now regular July 4th shows at Maxwell’s and we missed them for the second year in a row due to a vacation. There are some decent photos of last week’s gigs here, and a review here. Although we caught one of the shows in 2008 (here), I guess we kind of feel like we let down the Feelies fans who come to nyctaper for recordings of their shows (we’ve done six). So, I’ve decided to dig into the vault for a little treat from last year. In September of 2009, The Feelies played a mini three-show “tour”, which included ATP, a show at the Bearsville Theatre, and a show at Southpaw (on nyctaper here). The ATP recording popped up on Dimeadozen, and we covered the Southpaw night, but until now no recording of the Woodstock show had appeared. A short while ago, the prolific East coast taper mikeL sent us this recording so that we could offer it to our readers.

Mike recorded the set with a pair of Audio Technica 825s set up fifteen feet from the stage and the result is a recording of great clarity and presence. Enjoy!

Stream “Boxcars” [REM cover]:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/F7001Feelies8800/24%20feelies2009-09-12at825d2t14.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

The Feelies
2009-09-12 Bearsville Theater Bearsville NY
aud-1 : AT825 > D-7 (line in) > DATM >> RMR-D110 > D7 > DAT-1 (added track IDs on DAT-1) >> RMR-D100 > optical > HHB830 > CDRM > iTunes> AIFF > xACT > FLAC
recorded 15ft stage left center (between left stack and left of stage), 6ft stand

first set/disc 1 (35:51)
01. when company comes
02. bluer skies
03. egyptian reggae [richman]
04. the undertow
05. sunday morning
06. invitation
07. nobody knows
08. the high road
09. on the roof
10. lets go
second set/disc 2 (1:18:06)
01. barstool blues (neil young)
02. deep fascination
03. higher ground
04. the final word
05. slipping (into something)
06. time is right
07. away
08. original love
09. too far gone
10. raised eyebrows
11. crazy rhythms
12. – crowd
13. doin’ it again
14. boxcars (carnival of sorts) [buck/stipe/mills/berry]
15. i wanna sleep in your arms [richman]
16. – crowd
17. take it easy baby [morrison]
18. sooner or later
19. – crowd
20. outdoor miner [wire]
21. paint it black [jagger/richard/jones]
22. – crowd
23. she said she said [lennon]
24. fa ce-la
25. – outro
recording and post-production by mL

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Feelies, visit their MySpace page, and purchase the new reissues of Crazy Rhythms and The Good Earth directly from the Bar None website [HERE].