nyctaper Recordings

[photo by nyctaper]

For ardent baseball fans and a long time followers of the music of R.E.M., Dream Syndicate, Young Fresh Fellows, Minus 5, Steve Wynn and the Miracle 3, the all-star group that performed on Wednesday at the Bowery Ballroom was the best of all worlds. The foursome of Steve, Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey and Linda Pitmon performed over two and a half hours of music which encompassed far more material than their 2008 collaboration on The Baseball Project. While the concert did include 11 of the 13 tracks from Frozen Ropes, the two full sets and thirty-seven songs performed also drew from the lengthy catalogs of the group’s members, including some Dream Syndicate classics, material from the several Minus 5 albums, songs from the new Young Fresh Fellows release, and even three new songs from the anticipated second Baseball Project album. Now well into this current tour, the band was tight and stretched out quite a few of the numbers. As always, Scott’s banter was highly entertaining and gave a true irreverence to the evening.

We recorded from our standard position at the Bowery with the four microphone rig and the sound quality in the venue was quite exceptional. This is an excellent recording with no flaws whatsoever. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

The Baseball Project / Minus 5 / Steve Wynn IV
2009-09-23
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Four-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Balcony Rail
Next to the 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
2009-09-26

Set 1
Setlist:
[Total Time 1:04:30]
01 Past Time
02 Ted F*cking Williams
03 Out There on the Maroon
04 I’m Not Bitter
05 Broken Man
06 Love Me Anyway
07 The Yankee Flipper
08 That’s What You Always Say
09 Long Before My Time
10 Vintage Violet
11 The Lurking Barrister
12 Dark Hand of Contagion
13 Tell Me When Its Over
14 Manhattan Fault Line
15 Ichiro Goes To The Moon
16 Lies of the Living Dead
17 Amphetamine

Set 2
Setlist:
[Total Time 1:30:29]
01 [banter]
02 Buckner’s Bolero
03 Jackie’s Lament
04 Gratitude (For Curt Flood)
05 The Death Of Big Ed Delahanty
06 Cindy, It Was Always You
07 Satchel Paige Said
08 Ambulance Dancehall
09 Cigarettes Coffee and Booze
10 [Gold and Silver tease]
11 Medicine Show
12 Trial Separation Blues
13 Twilight Distillery
14 Harvey Haddix
15 Revolution Blues
16 The Days of Wine and Booze
17 The Days of Wine and Roses
18 Aw Shit Man
19 [encore break]
20 The Closer
21 Let the Good Times Crawl
22 The Straw That Stirs The Drink
23 [banter]
24 Strychnine

[photo by nyctaper]

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Baseball Project, visit their website, and purchase Frozen Ropes directly from the Yep Roc Records site [HERE].

[photo courtesy of Dani Jordan]

I will admit that I am addicted to the Of Montreal concert experience. Every show is a multi-media entertainment extravaganza. For recent experiences, the stage show has often trumped my true appreciation of the song craft and the musicianship. Last night at Terminal 5, while the stage show had its usual assortment of wild play-acting — crucifixions, animal costumes, and feathers everywhere — I made a conscious decision to concentrate on the musicians, and I was rewarded as the band absolutely shined. In particular, BP’s outstanding guitar work in “Rejecter” and Davey Pierce’s sharp bass playing in “Bunny” were highlights. While the show began with five consecutive numbers from Skeletal Lamping, the setlist was dominated by Hissing Fauna material including nine of the twelve songs on that album. As per usual, the encore segment featured one memorable cover song, this time “Love Hangover” from the disco-era Diana Ross.

We recorded from the standard location in this venue, dead center of the rear of the floor with a direct line towards the huge stacks. The sound quality in this venue can often be muddy, but overall we were pleased with the sound on this evening, and the recording is a fine listening experience. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Of Montreal
2009-09-18
Terminal 5
New York, NY USA

Digital Audience Master Recording
Recorded from Floor – 50 Feet from Stage

Neumann KM-150s + DPA 4021s > 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

Many Thanks to BP!

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2009-09-19

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:32:20]
01 [introduction]
02 Mingusings
03 Id Engager
04 For Our Elegant Caste*
05 Touched Something’s Hollow
06 An Eluardian Instance
07 Requiem for O.M.M.2
08 The Party’s Crashing Us
09 Suffer For Fashion
10 Sink the Seine
11 Cato As A Pun
12 Forecast Fascist Future
13 My British Tour Diary
14 She’s a Rejecter
15 Bunny Ain’t No Kind Of Rider
16 Faberge Falls For Shuggie
17 I Was Never Young
18 Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse
19 The Past Is A Grotesque Animal
20 [encore break]
21 Love Hangover (Diana Ross)*
22 A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger
*with Janelle Monae

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Of Montreal, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their new CD Skeletal Lamping at the Polyvinyl website [HERE].

Son Volt also played Washington DC on Tuesday
[photo by Steve from Baby Stew Blog]

Last night at Irving Plaza, Son Volt proved once again why they are the virtual mantle-carriers of the “no depression” movement of the 1990s. Fueled by the emergence of a superb new album American Central Dust, the band played an outstanding non-stop two-hour set which featured ten of the twelve tracks from the album along with material from the balance of their catalog (except no Straightaways material). The touring band features James Walbourne (Pernice Brothers, Pretenders) on guitar and pedal steel (he does not appear on the album), and his fervent guitar work provided multiple excellent solos during the evening. Of the new numbers, “Cocaine and Ashes” was a particularly strong performance, and along with the fan favorite “Windfall” and the old Waylon Jennings “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way” were the highlights of the show. Despite his stoic stage reputation, Jay Farrar was engaging and talked to the crowd several times, including the dedication of “Big Sur” to ZZ Top.

We recorded this set with the four microphones from the middle of the floor in the sweet spot for sound in this venue. Other than some annoying chatter near the microphones, this is an outstanding capture. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Son Volt
2009-09-17
Irving Plaza
New York, NY USA

Digital Audience Master Recording
Recorded from Center of the Floor

Neumann KM-150s + DPA 4021s > 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
2009-09-18

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:52:43]
01 The Picture
02 Feel Free
03 Underground Dream
04 Down to the Wire
05 Dust of Daylight
06 Highways and Cigarettes
07 Cocaine and Ashes
08 When the Wheels Don’t Move
09 Ten Second News
10 Dynamite
11 Pushed Too Far
12 Jukebox of Steel
13 [banter]
14 Big Sur
15 Methamphetamine
16 [band introductions]
17 Tear Stained Eye
18 Strength and Doubt
19 No Turning Back
20 Hard Times
21 Medication
22 Damn Shame
23 The Search
24 Buzz & Grind
25 Bandages & Scars
26 Afterglow 61
27 [encore break]
28 Action
29 Roll On
30 Windfall
31 Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way (Waylon Jennings)

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Son Volt, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their official releases directly from the Jay Farrar Official Store [HERE].

[photo by nyctaper]

On the week that Bar None Records reissued both Crazy Rhythms and The Good Earth, the Feelies played a weekend of shows in the New York area. On Friday, they played Crazy Rhythms from start to finish at All Tomorrow’s Parties (acidjack’s recording is here). Saturday’s show was a performance at the beautiful Bearsville Theatre in Woodstock. Last night, the celebratory weekend was completed with an absolutely monumental Feelies show at Southpaw. The band performed two sets that consisted of over two hours of music, but the most amazing aspect of the show was the encore set — the band returned on five separate occasions to perform a total of ten encores. Included in the show were the usual plethora of covers — the raging second set opener of Neil Young’s “Barstool Blues” and the Beatles “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide” (from Crazy Rhythms) among them — but there were also a few surprises including a teacher-mimics-student version of R.E.M.’s “Carnival of Sorts”.

The band was again well-served by the presence of long time sound pro Andy Peters, who navigated through a limited sound system to provide outstanding listening quality. We set up the four mics at the front of the railing above the floor which provided a direct line to the stacks. The resulting sound quality of this recording is quite excellent. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

The Feelies
2009-09-13
Southpaw
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Audience Recording
Recorded from Front and Center at Railing
20 Feet from the Stage

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
2009-09-14

Setlist:
Set 1:
[Total Time 32:54]
01 When Company Comes
02 Egyptian Reggae (Jonathan Richman)
03 [new song]
04 The Undertow
05 Sunday Morning (Velvet Underground)
06 Invitation
07 Nobody Knows
08 The High Road
09 On The Roof
10 Let’s Go

Set 2:
[Total Time 1:27:47]
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 [encore break]
13 Doin’ It Again
14 Carnival of Sorts (R.E.M.)
15 [second encore break]
16 Moscow Nights
17 I Wanna Sleep In Your Arms (Modern Lovers)
18 [third encore break]
19 Take It As It Comes (Doors)
20 Paint it Black (Rolling Stones)
21 [fourth encore break]
22 Fa Ce-La
23 Everybody’s Got Something To Hide (Except For Me And My Monkey) (Beatles)
24 [fifth encore break]
25 Outdoor Miner (Wire)
26 She Said She Said (Beatles)

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].

[photo courtesy of John Kendelhardt]

Acidjack reports:
“This show, commemorating the one-year anniversary of Le Poisson Rouge, showcased a significant portion of the membership of the newly resurgent Elephant 6 collective. The opener, Pipes You See, Pipes You Don’t, features former Olivia Tremor Control keyboardist Pete Erchick and other members of Circulatory System, and even managed to sneak in an old OTC cover. The second opener, Circulatory System guitarist Nesey Gallons, performed a haunting solo set. Circulatory System, OTC founder Will Cullen Hart’s latest band, has itself risen from the ashes after Hart has battled multiple sclerosis over the past few years. Circulatory System refines the more experimental Olivia Tremor Control aesthetic, with tighter songs still heavily informed by the psychedelia and found sounds that permeated OTC’s records. This set showed off some new songs from Circulatory’s forthcoming album, Signal Morning as well as classics from their self-titled 2001 debut, including the rousing closer “Yesterday’s World.”

Since all three acts are intimately related, we are offering the complete sets of all three bands as a single download. Enjoy!”

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Circulatory System and Friends
2009-09-09
Le Poisson Rouge
New York, NY USA

An ACIDJACK master recording

Equipment: DPA 4061 (Coresound HEB)>R-09HR (24/48)
Position: Center, mics mounted A-B with 1.5′ split on center pole, 10′ up
Mastering: WAV>Audacity (downsample to 16bit/44.1kHz, amplify each channel, tracking)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Recorded and produced by acidjack. Hosted at nyctaper.com

Pipes You See, Pipes You Don’t
11 Tracks (setlist help needed)

Nesey Gallons
06 Tracks (setlist help needed)

Circulatory System
01 Lovely Universe
02 Round Again
03 Cloud Replace
04 Overjoyed
05 Signal Morning
06 Frozen Lake
07 I You We
08 Woodpecker
09 A Peek
10 The Pillow
11 Outside Blasts
12 This Morning
13 Particle Parades
14 [encore break]
15 Yesterday’s World

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Circulatory System and the Elephant 6 Collective, visit their MySpace page, and purchase all the official releases directly from the Elephant 6 Records site [HERE].

[photo credit]

Last Friday night at Joe’s Pub was a coming out party of sorts for Emanuel and The Fear. The show was sold out to capacity (some were turned away at the door), there were some rock luminaries in attendance (David Byrne and members of TV On The Radio), and the band absolutely charmed the crowd with an outstanding hour long set. Emanuel and The Fear released an acclaimed debut EP this year, but we fully expect that the full-length album to be released in the coming months will propel this band to greater heights. Several of those new songs are featured on this recording. The Fear is a ten-piece “rock orchestra” of tremendous talent and musical instincts and they compliment Emanuel’s voice, guitar, piano, and stage presence to perfection.

We recorded this set from upstairs in the soundboard area, with two microphones attached to the railing and a 2-channel feed from the soundboard. The large number of instrument and voice microphones on the stage required that my board signal be split and the result is that the various sources are split between right and left channels. We suggest that listeners play this recording on speakers as its somewhat distracting to listen to this separation on headphones. With that caveat, enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Emanuel and the Fear
2009-09-04
Joe’s Pub
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
2009-09-07

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:02:59]
01 [introduction]
02 Guatemala
03 The Rain Becomes the Clouds
04 Dear Friend
05 [banter]
06 Free Life
07 [“Greek song” interlude]
08 Whatever You Do
09 Comfortable Prison
10 Simple Eyes
11 Song For a Girl
12 Balcony
13 [band introductions]
14 Want to Be
15 [encore break]
16 Jimme’s Song

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Emanuel and The Fear, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their debut EP from Paper Garden Records [HERE].

[photo courtesy of Impose Magazine – many more here]

Its hard to believe that its been almost seven months since we last saw These Are Powers — in February at an art gallery for their CD release show. On Saturday night, the scene was a world away. In a venue that could be best described as coming right out of the rumble scene in West Side Story, These Are Powers played underneath the old Highline railroad, surrounded by chain link fences, graffiti, and the smell of car oil and gasoline. While fortunately no one was knifed, the crowd did move to the stabbing beats propelled by the many gadgets manipulated by tech wizard Bill Salas perfectly syncopated with the thunder bass of Bill Noecker. In the months since we last saw TAP, Anna Barie has become even more animated on stage. Saturday’s show saw Anna hurling large quantities of sugar delights into the crowd during “Candy”, and performing virtually the entire “World Class Peoples” while being held aloft vertically by the crowd.

We recorded this set with microphones set up directly in front of the soundboard/video projection area, about 30 feet from the stage. We received a mono soundboard feed (which begins 5 minutes into the recording) which was mixed with the room mics in post production. The sound quality is quite excellent and represents our best audio capture of this amazing band. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

These Are Powers
2009-09-05
Under The Highline
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
2009-09-10

Setlist:
[Total Time 44:31]
01 [introduction]
02 Double Double Yolk
03 Easy Answer
04 Adam’s Turtle
05 Untitled New Song
06 Gutter
07 Life Of Birds
08 Candy
09 World Class Peoples*
10 [encore break]
11 [Mash-Up]*
*with Ryan Sawyer on percussion

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT These Are Powers, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their official releases including their latest CD All Aboard Future from the Dead Oceans site [HERE].

[photo courtesy of Maryanne Ventrice and Prefix Mag – more here]

If there were any irrational ideas that Blood Warrior was merely a vanity project for O’Death’s Greg Jamie, those fears were dispelled within the first minute of Blood Warrior first ever NYC performance at the After The Jump Fest last Sunday at Littlefield. Nevermind that Greg is a modest and nice guy probably incapable of such vanity, but Blood Warrior was conceived equally between Greg and the multi-talented Joey Weiss, with significant contributions from Kristin Kellas. Like O’Death, the music of Blood Warrior is faithful to folk and bluegrass, but unlike O’Death’s dark Appalachian influence, Blood Warrior could be better described as melancholy prairie folk. The harmonies were also quite outstanding — as Jamie’s shakey tenor is complimented well by Kellas’ beautiful soprano and Weiss’s rich baritone and supplemented by Weiss’s melodic guitar lines. Blood Warrior will release their first 7″ (“Darling Eyes” featured as track 06 on this recording) on Ernest Jenning Records in October. Blood Warrior will next perform at the Ernest Jenning CMJ showcase on October 21 at Knitting Factory Brooklyn, and then again on October 25 at Glasslands.

We recorded this set with the Neumann microphones placed at dead center, approximately 30 feet from the stage and combined the room mics with a stereo feed from the soundboard. This is a professional quality recording. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Blood Warrior
2009-08-30
After The Jump Festival
Littlefield
Brooklyn, 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
2009-09-06

Setlist:
[Total Time 38:53]
01 Hummingbird
02 Blood Letting
03 Winters Day
04 King Day
05 Untitled New Song
06 Darling Eyes
07 Choir
08 Snake Seer

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Blood Warrior, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their releases when they become available from the Ernest Jenning Record Co site [HERE].

These United States at Prospect Park earlier this Summer
[photo courtesy of Hooves on the Turf – more here]

Acidjack reports:
“This Kentucky band rolled into New York City with swagger, first selling out the Mercury Lounge on Friday night, and then following that up with an epic show at Union Hall in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The band kicked off the night with an acoustic set, preceded by the folk duo Vandaveer. After a break, Brooklyn standouts Motel Motel played an opening set, followed by These United States and a blistering electric set played to a smaller but very excited crowd. The band played classics from both their current albums as well as new songs from their forthcoming album, Everything Touches Everything. Only one song is repeated out of the two sets. Thanks to These United States, their management, and Union Hall for permitting us to record this fine performance from an optimum spot in the venue.”

This recording was captured from the prime location in this venue and the sound quality is outstanding.

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

These United States
2009-08-28
Union Hall
Brooklyn, NY USA

An ACIDJACK master recording

Equipment: DPA 4061 (Coresound HEB)>R-09HR
Placement: Mounted on ceiling pipe, center, 3′ split
Processing: raw WAV>Audacity (tracking, amplify each channel, set fades, downsample to 44.1kHz/16bit)

Set One (acoustic)
17 Tracks (setlist help needed)
Set Two (electric)
15 Tracks (setlist help needed)

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT These United States, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their official releases from the buy.it link at their site [HERE].