nyctaper Recordings

[photo credit]

Last night’s Deerhunter show at Le Poisson Rouge was a fairly strange event. The crowd was an odd mix of the band’s fans, curious club-goers, and a large contingent of people from the music business invited by LPR to see the club on an active night. Many of the industry types spent the show at the side and back bars, and many left early. If the scene seemed odd to us, the setting did not disturb Deerhunter, as Bradford Cox chatted amiably between numbers and performed an absolutely blistering set. The soon-to-be-released material from Microcastle was particularly strong, and the double highlights of “Nothing Ever Happened” and “Strange Lights” were two of most intense songs we have seen performed this year.

We recorded from the floor in front of the soundboard area of this venue. The chatty nature of the crowd was a bit of a problem, as was the severe volume of the set. The Neumann mics were able to handle the levels without any distortion but the club acoustics were a bit muddy, so that this is not one of our best captures. With that caveat, enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Deerhunter
2008-09-09
Le Poisson Rouge
New York NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from In Front of Soundboard Booth
Dead Center on Floor

Neumann KM-150s (AK-50 Hypercardiod Capsules) > Apogee Minime > digital coaxial > M-Audio Microtrack > 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge 8.0 (set fades, slight level boost, resample 16/44) > CD Wave 1.95 > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced
nyctaper
2008-09-10

Setlist
[total time 1:09:46]
01 [Brad banter]
02 Calvary Scars
03 Never Stops
04 [Brad banter]
05 Spring Hall Convert
06 Dr. Glass
07 Hazel St.
08 Saved By Old Times
09 Operation
10 Fluorescent Grey
11 [Brad banter]
12 Nothing Ever Happened [false start]
13 Nothing Ever Happened
14 [encore break/banter]
15 Thirsty and Miserable (Black Flag)
16 Agoraphobia
17 Strange Lights

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Deerhunter, visit their MySpace page, visit the band blog, and purchase their official releases from the Kranky Records site [here].

[photo courtesy of Jonny Leather]

In July we first witnessed the live High Places at Stuyvesant Town under very similar circumstances — an outdoor show on a beautiful day, with a diverse crowd containing a large majority of people unfamiliar with the band. The result was the same too. Our favorite electronic fusion-pop duo took the opportunity to impress people who otherwise would not ever have heard their music, and by the end of their set the chatty crowd was moving in time to the carib-burg beats.

We recorded this set from the same location as our Awesome Color, and Vivian Girls recordings. There is some wind noise, and Mary’s microphone is mixed too low, but otherwise its an excellent recording. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

High Places
2008-09-07
East Village Radio Festival
South Street Seaport
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Inside Front of Soundboard Tent
Approximately 50 Feet from Stage

Neumann KM-150’s > Monster Cable > Apogee Mini-Me > digital coax > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 24bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge 8.0 (level adjustments, downsample) > CD Wave 1.75 > Flac Frontend (level 7) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-09-10

Setlist:
[Total time 29:32]
01 Vision’s The First…
02 Head Spins
03 Oceanus
04 The Storm
05 Gold Coin
06 The Tree
07 Stardust
08 Freaked Flight
09 New Grace

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT High Places, visit their MySpace page, visit their profile page at the Thrill Jockey Records site, and purchase their releases from the links at their MySpace and from Thrill Jockey [here].

[photo courtesy of Jonny Leather]

After a series of near-misses, we finally got the chance to catch the Vivian Girls and the scene could not have been more enjoyable. The band rocked on a beautiful day in the outdoor setting of the East Village Radio Fest and their pop-punk-surf-rave-ups fit the day perfectly. The Vivs managed to pack eleven powerful songs into a too-brief 25 minute set, and left us wanting more. Fortunately, the Vivian Girls are quite active. The official re-release of their album is due on October 7, and they will perform again in NYC at Cake Shop on September 19 (with Awesome Color).

We recorded this set from the same location as our Awesome Color recording, and the sound quality is quite similar except that there was a little more wind at this time. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Vivian Girls
2008-09-07
East Village Radio Festival
South Street Seaport
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Inside Front of Soundboard Tent
Approximately 50 Feet from Stage

Neumann KM-150’s > Monster Cable > Apogee Mini-Me > digital coax > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 24bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge 8.0 (level adjustments, downsample) > CD Wave 1.75 > Flac Frontend (level 7) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-09-08

Setlist:
[Total time 23:53]
01 All The Time
02 I Can’t Stay
03 Tell The World
04 Never See Me Again
05 I Don’t Wanna
06 [new song]
07 [new song]
08
09
10 Girl Don’t Tell Me (Beach Boys)
11 Wild Eyes

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Vivian Girls, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their releases from the links at their website, and links at MySpace.

[photo courtesy of Jonny Leather]

We have not seen Awesome Color since their CD release concert in May at Glasslands. The most striking change in the band is the relaxed confidence that they have acquired after four months of touring around the world. Derek’s guitar work at the East Village Radio Fest was outstanding, and the rhythm section was tight and strong. The only drawback of this excellent set was its brevity — a festival-sized chunk of brilliance. Two new songs were featured, and the second one (Track 03) is one of the most powerful songs we have heard Awesome Color perform.

This Music Festival was a celebration of the five year anniversary of East Village Radio, the most diverse and comprehensive radio station on the web. The Festival was perhaps the most organized event we have attended this year, and all aspects were outstanding — from the venue sound, to the availability of information, to the pinpoint scheduling. Kudos to EVR!

We recorded from the front inside the soundboard area. The sound of this set is quite excellent, as the weather was clear and only slightly windy. Enjoy!

Vivian Girls, High Places and John Oliver were also recorded and will be featured on nyctaper in the coming days.

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Awesome Color
2008-09-07
East Village Radio Festival
South Street Seaport
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Inside Front of Soundboard Tent
Approximately 50 Feet from Stage

Neumann KM-150’s > Monster Cable > Apogee Mini-Me > digital coax > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 24bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge 8.0 (level adjustments, downsample) > CD Wave 1.75 > Flac Frontend (level 7) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-09-07

Setlist:
[Total time 20:05]
01 Eyes of Light
02 [new song]
03 [new song]
04 Flyin’
05 Already Down

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Awesome Color, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their latest CD release Electric Aborigines directly from the Ecstatic Peace website.

The story of Starling Electric is one of those tales about how the music industry is supposed to work. An excellent band from a small midwest city produces their own CD and releases it by themselves in 2006. The CD somehow finds its way into the player of an open-minded musical heavyweight (Bob Pollard of Guided By Voices), who spreads the word about the band. A year later, the same band finds themselves signed to a legendary indie label. Bar/None released Clouded Staircase in August and Starling Electric came to NYC for the CD release party at Mercury Lounge on August 19.

The set at Mercury featured eight of the eighteen tracks on Clouded Staircase and four new numbers. The strength of the new songs bodes well for an anticipated new release in 2009.

We recorded this set from the same location as the Hotel Lights and Shannon McArdle recordings from the same night and other than some minor fan-created draft the sound is superb. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Starling Electric
2008-08-19
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Front of Board

Neumann KM-150’s > Monster Cable > Apogee Mini-Me > digital coax > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 24bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge 8.0 (level adjustments, downsample) > CD Wave 1.75 > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-09-07

Setlist:
[Total time 41:44]
01 The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
02 Lisa and The Devil
03 Clouded Staircase (Part II)
04 Prince of the Puff of Smoke
05 British Boots
06 Black Ghost/Black Girl
07 I Got Scared
08 Black-Collar Crime
09 To Flunker, With Love
10 Bad Blood
11 Camp-Fire
12 Operator

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Starling Electric, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase the new CD Clouded Staircase directly from the Bar/None site [HERE].

[photo credit]

Carla Bozulich has always been well ahead of her time. A decade ago, she led the Geraldine Fibbers, the unique noisy alt-country/goth band that also featured Nels Cline, and a band whose music still sounds fresh today. With Evangelista, Carla has taken her talents to the next level, with songs that touch on free-form jazz, beat poetry, hardcore and experimental. At Bowery Ballroom last Thursday, her band consisted of Ches Smith on various keyboards and effects, a cellist, violinist, bass, drums, trumpet and “screams”. The all-too-brief 40-minute set featured just two songs from the new Evangelista CD Hello, Voyager and three numbers from Carla’s Evangelista CD. The highlight was the 13-minute version of “Hello, Voyager!” where Carla let loose and even jumped into the crowd for several minutes.

We recorded from the exact location as the Xiu Xiu recording and the sound quality is nearly identical. However, the variances in stage volume are striking at times. We avoided any peak level distortion and did not damage the natural dynamics of the performance with normalization. Enjoy!

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

Evangelista
2008-08-28
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from FOB
Dead Center 30 Feet from PA

DPA 4021’s > Marantz PMD-660 (Oade BCM) > 16bit 44.1 wav > Soundforge (set fades, level boost, slight eq) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by
nyctaper
2008-09-03

Setlist:
[Total Time 42:32]
01 Evangelista I
02 [band introductions]
03 Smooth Jazz
04 Pissing
05 Prince Of The World
06 Hello, Voyager!

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Evangelista, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their official releases, including the latest CD Hello, Voyager at the Constellation Records website [HERE].

Shannon McArdle has released one of the best out-of-nowhere CDs of the entire year — The Summer of the Whore on Bar/None — and a couple of weeks ago we were at the Mercury Lounge CD Release party to witness the live version of the album. Shannon took the stage to the beating drum of “Poison My Cup”, and worked through the post-divorce work with a variety of emotions, from humor to timidity to pride and ultimately redemption. She wrapped up the terrific set with a cover version of the appropriately sardonic “Naughty Fatalist” from her former Athens Georgia “neighbor” Vic Chesnutt.

We recorded this set from the same location as the Hotel Lights set, and other than some chatter and some slight wind from the fans, its an excellent capture. Enjoy!

There is a fine interview with Shannon McArdle from last week’s Village Voice [here].

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Shannon McArdle
2008-08-19
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Front of Board

Neumann KM-150’s > Monster Cable > Apogee Mini-Me > digital coax > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 24bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge 8.0 (level adjustments, downsample) > CD Wave 1.75 > Flac Frontend (level 7) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-08-27

Setlist:
[Total time 41:08]
01 Poison My Cup
02 That Night in June
03 Paint the Walls
04 Leave Me For Dead
05 Summer of the Whore
06 He Was Gone
07 This Longing
08 Come, Autumn Breeze
09 C.A. DRL §170
10 Naughty Fatalist (Vic Chesnutt)

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Shannon McArdle, visit her website, visit her MySpace page, and purchase the new CD Summer of the Whore directly from the Bar/None site [HERE].

[photo credit]

Xiu Xiu performed a tight fifty-five minute set to a nearly completely reverent crowd at Bowery Ballroom on Thursday night. On tour in support of their latest CD Women as Lovers, Xiu Xiu is anchored by the frenetic and captivating stage presence of leader Jamie Stewart but musically propelled as a trio by the superb percussion work of Ches Smith. Although the set was a nice mix of old and newer material, the brevity of the set and lack of encore left a sense of incompleteness to an otherwise excellent performance.

We recorded from the perfect location in this venue with our best mobile rig and the results are outstanding. Enjoy!

Evangelista was also recorded and will be posted next week.

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

Xiu Xiu
2008-08-28
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from FOB
Dead Center 30 Feet from PA

DPA 4021’s > Marantz PMD-660 (Oade BCM) > 16bit 44.1 wav > Soundforge (set fades, level boost, slight eq) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by
nyctaper
2008-08-29

Setlist:
[Total Time 53:32]
01 [introduction]
02 Nieces Pieces
03 20,000 Deaths For Eidelyn Gonzales, 200,000 Deaths For Jamie Peterson
04 The Leash
05 Pox
06 Hello From Eau Claire
07 Sad Pony Guerrilla Girl
08 No Friend Oh
09 Don Diasco
10 F.T.W.
11 Bunny Gamer
12 Fabulous Muscles
13 Boy Soprano
14 Bog People

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Xiu Xiu, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their official releases, including the latest CD Women as Lovers at the Xiu Xiu Store at their Website [HERE].

Darren Jessee has found his own voice — and it is melodic, melancholy, poignant and ultimately hopeful. Eight years after the premature demise of one of the 1990’s greatest alt-pop bands, it has become abundantly clear which member of Ben Folds Five was responsible for the serious and profound songs (i.e. “Brick”), and the intricate vocal harmonies. With Hotel Lights brand new CD Firecracker People, former BFF drummer/songwriter/vocalist Darren Jessee has produced an album of rich melodies, sweet harmonies, and lyrics that speak of the difficulties in finding your own voice. When Jessee sings in “Your Choice” of having “spent years keeping part of yourself down”, its as if Firecracker People is both his coming out party and his long-awaited triumph.

On Tuesday night, Hotel Lights celebrated the release of Firecracker People with a set at Mercury Lounge. The live version of the band is tight and faithful to the recorded songs, and Darren is clearly the focus. He conducts himself with modesty and humor on stage, but when the music begins the songs are voiced with precision and confidence. We expect to see much more of Hotel Lights in the future and expect that the new CD will see many spins in our deck.

This concert was recorded from our standard location at the Mercury Lounge, slightly in front of the board and to the right. This is a recording of fine clarity and the cardioid microphones and the height of the microphone pole avoided much of the moderate chatter in the back of the room. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Hotel Lights
2008-08-19
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Front of Board

Neumann KM-150’s > Monster Cable > Apogee Mini-Me > digital coax > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 24bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge 8.0 (level adjustments, downsample) > CD Wave 1.75 > Flac Frontend (level 7) > flac

Many thanks to Darren for permission to record and Bar/None for the invite.

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-08-23

Setlist:
[Total time 43:54]
01 [introduction]
02 Blue Always Finds Me
03 Dream State Flying
04 Down
05 Chemical Clouds
06 Flicker in My Eye
07 Amelia Bright
08 Firecracker People
09 Nobody Let You Down
10 Marvelous Truth
11 Norina

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Hotel Lights, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their new CD Firecracker People at the Bar/None Records Website [HERE].