nyctaper Recordings

[Photo courtesy of Janice Chou for FREEwilliamsburg]

I had absolutely no idea who Oh Land was when I saw her on the bill for FREEwilliamsburg’s Northside Festival showcase at Brooklyn Bowl.  And initially, I didn’t care.  It was Sunday night, there were five acts on the bill, and Hooray for Earth was up next.  All I needed was another 35 minute set in my life.

Then I saw her.

A tall, stunningly gorgeous Danish woman takes center stage, looking like a hipster Heidi Klum, with a DJ/beat specialist off to the left.  Oh, and she’s wearing a wolf hat, which she takes off for the first song.  And high heeled boots.  And short shorts.  In front of her, a keyboard.  To her right, a giant black box contraption with electronic drums stuck to one side, balloons tied to the top.  Suffice it to say, Oh Land didn’t look a bit like any of the other 16 or so bands I saw last weekend.

Then, I heard her.

From note one, former ballerina Nanna Øland Fabricius (Oh Land, get it?) proves that she has the voice and music to match her striking looks.  Her initial approach is simple.  “Hey, I’m Oh Land.  I’m going to play a song called ‘Perfection’.”  Huge beats drop, drowning out the bowling.  She starts to sing.  The song sounds like flying, a simple but beautiful love song, Fabricius’ voice strong and clear over the beat.  It is perfection; perfect, dreamy pop.  Although Oh Land is known in her native Denmark, and has an EP and a record (Fauna) out, her profile in the U.S. has been relatively minimal, with an SXSW gig earlier this year being the first big exposure.  Fabricius tells the audience it is her first time playing these songs live, yet the rest of the performance is spot-on.  My favorite song was the quietest, “Lean,” which you can stream here.  Throughout Oh Land’s short but extremely well-received set, I’m running the simple math: voice + songs + looks = rock star.

It turns out I am not the only one who thinks so.

Oh Land has already been snapped up in the U.S. by Epic Records, a “major label” that is home to a few other artists you may have heard of, like Michael Jackson, Ozzy Osbourne, Modest Mouse, Franz Ferdinand and Shakira.  Good for Epic, and for Oh Land – I think they’ve got a winner here.  Epic plans to release Oh Land’s record later this year, with her first single, “Sun of a Gun” set to drop in early September, album to follow.  Epic was gracious enough to grant NYCTaper permission to release this recording prior to the album’s release date, provided that we edited out a few numbers and a bit of tuning.  While it is our normal policy to only release complete shows, we felt that our readers deserved to hear anything we could give them by this incredible artist.  Please check out Oh Land’s record and “Sun of a Gun” (available for download with the complete set below) when Epic releases it.  Also, Fabricius just moved to Williamsburg – so if you see her in the neighborhood, please say hi.

I recorded this set in the same way as the Keepaway recording.  This set is particularly strong sound-wise, as my “stack tape” method works well for Oh Land’s relatively simple keys/beats/vox setup.  Thanks to FREEwilliamsburg and Epic Records for making this happen.

Read an interview with Oh Land on FREEwilliamsburg here.

Stream “Lean”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/O0627OhLand0210/ohland_lean_2010-06-27nyctaper.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the show in FLAC [HERE].

Oh Land
2010-06-27
Brooklyn Bowl
Brooklyn, NY  USA

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

Equipment: Schoeps CMC641>Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) (24/44.1)
Position: ~12ft from right stack, mics A/B, pointed at stack, 12ft up
Mastering: 24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (set fades, EQ, tracking, amplify channels)>FLAC Level 8

01 Perfection
03 Wolf and I
06 Break the Chain
07 Lean
08 Sun of a Gun

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Oh Land, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their forthcoming Epic Records release as well as Fauna, which is most easily purchased in the U.S. on iTunes.

[photo by acidjack]

As a band led by the multi-instrumentalist and multi-talented Kelly Pratt, Team B is more than just the sum of its members’ many other groups (Beirut, Arcade Fire, Antibalas, etc). The collective group is a means by which performers who are supporting players in their “big” bands can stretch out and take a step to the front of the stage. Last Saturday at the Backyard Brunch concert series, their brief set highlighted Pratt’s vocals along with his trumpet work which has been a mainstay of Beirut sets. The interplay between horns, accordian and dual ukeleles showcased the many talents of Team B while the song selections, which include lyrics adapted from the poems of Theodore Roethke, also showed a literary side.

We recorded this set with eight high-end microphones placed strategically around the band. While the mix is not perfect, it does accurately describe the sound in the backyard that day. Enjoy!

Stream “Mystery Man”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/T5062TeamB0210/02%20TeamB2010-06-26_8mics_t02.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Team B
2010-06-19
Private Backyard Brunch
Brooklyn, NY USA

Eight-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Onstage

Neumann KM-150s + DPA 4021’s + Schoeps MK-41s + DPA 4021’s > 2 Edirol R-44s (Oade Concert Mod) > 4 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
2010-07-01

Setlist:
[Total Time 25:55]
01 [introduction]
02 Mystery Man
03 [tuning/banter]
04
05 [tuning/banter]
06
07 My Papa’s Waltz
08 [tuning/banter]
09
10 [outro]

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Team B, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their releases from their main page.

[photo by nyctaper]

The best sign for the continued viability of a band that has moved beyond its initial “buzz” is their ability to write quality material and mature in their live act. Real Estate has accomplished both and proved it as the headliner of the Woodist showcase at the Northside Festival. The band continues to play tighter and more focused sets. On Friday, Real Estate opened with a new-ish song “All Out of Tune”, and played two other new numbers, including perhaps the strongest song of the set — an untitled number (“Nothing to Lose”? — sampled as Track 09 below) that premiered at Monster Island in April and for which we mixed the audio of this video of that performance. The song’s guitar line recalls “Fake Blues” but with a stronger melody and representative Real Estate style lyrics — perhaps a perfect new single for the band.

Real Estate perform again in NYC on July 9 at Le Poisson Rouge, at the outset of their extensive tour with Kurt Vile. They return again to NYC in mid-August to open for Deerhunter at Pier 54.

I recorded this set with the four microphone rig from the left front corner of the soundboard. The house mix was quite excellent and the sound quality of this recording is outstanding. Enjoy!

Sample “Fake Blues”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/R2410RealEstate9229/05%20RealEstate2010-06-25_nyctaper_t05.mp3]

Sample “New Song” (Track 09):
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/R2410RealEstate9229/09%20RealEstate2010-06-25_nyctaper_t09.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Real Estate
2010-06-25
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY USA

Four-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Front of Soundboard Booth

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
2010-06-28

Setlist:
[Total Time 53:51]
01 All Out of Tune
02 Green River [false start]
03 Green River
04 Suburban Beverage
05 Fake Blues
06 Pool Swimmers
07 [banter]
08 Basement
09 [new song]
10 Suburban Dogs
11 [new song]
12 Atlantic City
13 Beach Comber
14 [encore break]
15 Black Lake
16 Younger Than Yesterday

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Real Estate, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their releases from Woodist Records, Half Machine Records, and Underwater Peoples (currently sold out).

[Photo by Janice Chou for FREEwilliamsburg.  Used by permission.]

Brooklyn’s Keepaway are having quite a year.  Having just released their debut EP, Baby Style, they already scored an opening slot for Yeasayer at their recent Governor’s Island show.  That must have made for a logical pairing, as Keepaway serve up tribal, live dance music with beats and keys served up live along with drums and guitar – this is not “press play” dance music.  The closer dance music and rock music get, the tougher they are to tell apart, though it is fair to say that compared to, say, Yeasayer, these guys fall a bit further toward the dance side of things.  Drummer Frank Lyon anchors the trio with an unusual drum setup that abandons the kick drum (since the deep bass is coming from Mike Burakoff’s beats), while Nick Nauman rounds things out on guitar, with all three participating on the vocal end of things.  This show saw the band anchoring FREEwilliamsburg’s awesome Sunday night Northside Festival lineup at Brooklyn Bowl.  The venue’s massive sound system did Keepaway justice, with a bass-heavy, aggressive house mix that shook the entire place.  If you aren’t a fan yet, check out Keepaway and the other offerings from the well-curated Lefse Records, which is home to several excellent like-minded bands.

Thanks to FREEwilliamsburg for putting on this excellent showcase, and thanks to Lefse Records for their support of NYCTaper.  More recordings from this night and other Northside Festival showcases will be appearing on this site throughout the week.

I recorded this set in a somewhat unorthodox manner (for us, anyway), in that the layout of the room dictated placing my two Schoeps hypercardiod mics about 12ft from the right stack on a mic stand extended 11ft above the crowd.  While the sound is different than our normal offerings – which give a better sense of the room – it is an excellent capture.  You can stream the band’s first single, “Yellow Wings” below, and the entire show is properly tagged for importing into iTunes.  Enjoy!

Stream “Yellow Wings”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/K2706Keepaway0021/keepaway-yellowwings.mp3]

Download the entire show [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Keepaway
2010-06-27
Brooklyn Bowl
Brooklyn, NY  USA

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

Equipment: Schoeps CMC641>Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) (24/44.1)
Position: ~12ft from right stack, mics A/B, pointed at stack, 12ft up
Mastering: 24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (set fades, EQ, tracking, amplify channels)>FLAC Level 8

Tracks [Total Time 36:47]
01 5 Rings
02 Royal Jelly
03 Family of the son
04 Head
05 Sideways Smile
06 Yellow Wings
07 100

If you download this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Keepaway, visit their MySpace page, and purchase Baby Style (available on vinyl direct from Lefse Records, or on iTunes and other retailers for download).

[photo by nyctaper]

The Fiery Furnaces played three nights in the NYC area this weekend, but we only managed to catch the final show. From the scuttlebutt after their set, it seems like we picked the right night. From the very outset, the quartet was just electrifying. This tour’s setlist wrinkle is the twenty-eight song segue. The Furnaces opened with a little instrumental interlude which they would revisit several times during the set, and then immediately pounced on “Tropical Iceland”. For the next sixty-five minutes, the band never let up as they flowed complete and partial versions of cherry-picked multiple reworked numbers from their vast catalog one into the next. Highlights included the extra-melodic newest take on “Quay Cur” (stream below) and several songs from the under-appreciated masterpiece Bitter Tea. This show also featured a complete rarity — Eleanor’s mishandling of lyrics (“Straight Street”) — the shocking nature of the faux pas is a testament of her uncanny ability to master the voluminous and difficult word-strings that are Furnaces lyrics. The Furnaces also performed two new numbers which fit seamlessly into the massive segue — a good sign of things to come for the band.

This recording was captured with the Neumann microphones on a stand at the soundboard booth mixed with a soundboard feed. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Stream “Black Hearted Boy”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/F7609FieryFurnaces5632/08%20FieryFurnaces2010-06-26_nyctaper_t08.mp3]

Stream “Quay Cur”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/F7609FieryFurnaces5632/14%20FieryFurnaces2010-06-26_nyctaper_t14.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Fiery Furnaces
2010-06-26
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY 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
2009-06-27

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:14:59]
01 Tropical Iceland
02 Single Again
03 The Wayward Granddaughter
04 Benton Harbor Blues
05 Worry Worry
06 Wolf Notes
07 The Philadelphia Grand Jury
08 Black Hearted Boy
09 My Egyptian Grammar
10 Teach Me Sweetheart
11 Slavin’ Away
12 Even in the Rain
13 Take Me Round Again
14 Quay Cur
15 Clear Signal from Cairo
16 Keep Me in the Dark
17 Clothes Make The Man [new song]
18 I’m In No Mood To Comb My Hair
19 Restorative Beer
20 South Is Only A Home
21 Charmaine Champagne
22 Doctor in the Dungeon [new song]
23 I’m Going Away
24 My Little Thatched Hut
25 My Dog Was Lost But Now He’s Found
26 Straight Street
27 Bitter Tea
28 Chris Michaels
29 [band introductions / encore break]
30 Two Fat Feet
31 Asthma Attack
32 Japanese Slippers

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Fiery Furnaces, visit their website, and purchase their official releases from the Thrill Jockey Records site.

[Photo courtesy of Jessica Amaya and Brooklynvegan]

ZaZa are a Brooklyn-based trio that boasts an unusual modus operandi – they never play the same exact set twice.  While the band, consisting of Jennifer Fraser (formerly of The Warlocks), Danny Taylor and Dru Prentiss currently has only their excellent Cameo EP to its name (with a full length on the way this year), they stretch their material by transitioning songs with unrehearsed free playing.  With a shoegaze-electronica sound that has landed them opening slots for like-minded bands such as The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, ZaZa’s EP grabbed early attention, and this performance at the 2010 Northside Festival’s BrooklynVegan showcase at Music Hall was the type to guarantee more attention when the full record drops.  Although stuck with the unenviable task of taking the early slot, those who made it early were rewarded with a strong performance that debuted excellent new material (new to me/not on their EP in any case), including my personal favorite of the set, “Distance Creator”.

We recorded this set from our usual spot at Music Hall with the four-microphone rig.  The sound quality is outstanding.  Enjoy, and look for more Northside sets to be on this site in the coming days.  The entire ZaZa show is available for streaming on this site and the FLACs and MP3s are properly tagged for iTunes.

Thanks to BrooklynVegan for this outstanding showcase and their continued support of NYCTaper, and to the Northside Festival and The L Magazine for organizing it.  Finally, thanks to Danny from ZaZa for his help with the setlist, and a great performance!

Stream the entire show:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/Z2606ZaZa0210/zaza2010-06-26mhow_acidjack.mp3]

Download the entire show in MP3 [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

ZaZa
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 7.5?, DPAs ORTF, hypers pointed at stacks
Mastering: 2×24bit WAV>Audacity (mixdown, set fades, tracking, EQ, light compression, downsample to 16bit)>FLAC Level 8

Tracks
01 Sooner or Later
02 Are What You Aren’t
03 Arms Length
04 Distance Creator
05 Burn and Build
06 Faith in the Faithless

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT ZaZa, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their EP Cameo from Kanine Records here.

[The Fresh & Onlys at Monster Island Basement earlier this year. Photos courtesy of Erin Kilkenny]

The Fresh & Onlys have a delightfully San Francisco sound, modern rock n’ roll with just a dash of 60s hippie.  Despite getting lumped in with the garage/lo-fi crowd (in no small part due to the analog/DIY style of their latest, Grey Eyed Girls), these guys are serious players, and their live sound is transporting.  This show at the Woodsist showcase at Music Hall of Williamsburg for the 2010 Northside Festival was a highlight of the festival so far (as was, frankly, every act on this bill).  I was first introduced to The Fresh & Onlys when they opened up for Thee Oh Sees last year at Mercury Lounge(Oh Sees recording here), and they have only gotten better since then.  We are pleased to offer both last night’s recording (in streaming and download) and that recording (download only) to our readers.  Many more Northside Festival sets will be posted in the coming days, but please do yourself a favor and come out and see the last day of shows.

Thanks to Jeremy and Woodsist for putting on an amazing showcase and their continued support of NYCTaper.

I recorded this set with a four-microphone setup from our usual spot at Music Hall, and the sound is excellent.  Enjoy!

Stream the Music Hall show:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/F0625FreshOnlys2010/freshonlys2010-06-25mhow_acidjack.mp3]

Download the Music Hall MP3s [HERE]

Download the Mercury Lounge MP3s [HERE]

Download the Complete shows in FLAC [MUSIC HALL] / [MERCURY].

The Fresh & Onlys
2010-06-25
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY  USA

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

Equipment: Schoeps CMC641+DPA 4061>Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) (24/44.1)
Position: LOC, clamp to sound booth, 9ft, hypers DIN, omnis 1.5ft split
Mastering: 2×24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, EQ, set fades, tracking, amplify channels, balance levels, downsample to 16bit>FLAC Level 8

Tracks
01 Fascinated
02 Feelings In My Heart
03 [unknown]
04 Endless Love
05 Invisible Forces
06 Grey-Eyed Girl
07 You’re Known to Wander
08 August In My Mind
09 Waterfall
10 Diamond In the Dark
11 I’m a Thief

The Fresh & Onlys
2009-10-08 Mercury Lounge, New York, NY

An acidjack master recording

Equipment: AKG ck91 (Busman active mod)>custom BB>R-09HR (24/48)
Position: Clamp to right side of SBD cage, 11ft total height, DIN
Mastering: WAV>Audacity (set fades, tracking, EQ, downsample)>FLAC Level 8

Tracks
01 intro
02 D.Y.
03 Feelings In My Heart
04 Fascinated
05 Summer of Love
06 Grey-Eyed Girl
07 Invisible Forces
08 Come Dance With Me
09 Happy To Be Living
10 Endless Love
11 [unknown]
12 Clowns (Took My Baby Away)
13 Laughter Is Contagious

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Fresh & Onlys,visit their website, and purchase their records from Woodsist Records here.