nyctaper Recordings

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Hungry Ghost: November 22, 2014 Brooklyn Night Bazaar – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

December 4, 2014

[photos by acidjack]

Eric PH reports

What do the drummers of veteran indie rock acts do when that band breaks up? They start new bands of course. But there’s a steep challenge to success for drummers, who are usually buried behind large kits, heard more often than seen. Since breaking up in 2002, Unwound has splintered into Survival Knife (featuring guitarist-vocalist Justin Trosper and original Unwound drummer Brandt Sandeno) and Hungry Ghost, the guitar and drums duo of Andrew Price, formerly of Irving Klaw Trio, and ex-Unwound drummer, Sara Lund. While Survival Knife soldiers on with a sound that bears forward Unwound’s post-hardcore, Hungry Ghost breaks that mold and tends more towards blues-rock territory. You wouldn’t be too far off in comparing Hungry Ghost to Quasi—another duo that features a veteran indie rock drummer, Janet Weiss. (And indeed, the other half of Quasi, Sam Coomes, produced Hungry Ghost’s first album.) Still, Sara Lund’s unmistakable drumming combined with great songwriting ensures that Unwound devotees will find a lot to love about Hungry Ghost.

Price and Lund have been playing together as Hungry Ghost since at least 2009, so we were psyched to finally catch them in Brooklyn at the last stop on their tour with Survival Knife and Pink Avalanche. For this set, the band performs mostly new material, drawing on only a few songs from their 2012 self-titled, self-released debut record. Price and Lund share vocal duties throughout and you can’t help but note the equality of the collaboration, the guitar and drums in conversation with each other and the vocal harmonies as the meeting ground between the two performers. After a particularly rollicking performance of “Get Up,” Lund comments that audience air-drummers are the highest form of praise a drummer can receive. Their entire set from Brooklyn Night Bazaar is proof that praise is well-deserved.

As with Acidjack’s recording of Survival Knife from the same night, I recorded this with the mics inside the soundboard cage and a feed of the soundboard, plus onstage mics, from the house engineer Kenny. Despite the non-traditional venue, the sound is excellent. Air-drum away!

Download the complete show: [MP3] | [FLAC]

Stream the complete show:

Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense. The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission. Please respect our request.

Hungry Ghost
2014-11-22
Brooklyn Night Bazaar
Brooklyn, NY

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by Eric PH

Audio Technica 3031 + Soundboard (engineer: Kenny) > 2x24bit/48kHz WAV > Audacity 2.0.5 (set fades, mixdown, EQ, tracking, downsample, tagging) > FLAC (level 8)

1. Brilliant One
2. Wicked Betsy
3. Get Up
4. Showed Up
5. Throw Out
6. River
7. Pretty Girls Make Intifada
8. Shame Thing [medley of Shame and Same Thing]

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Hungry Ghost, visit their website, and buy their records here.

Tonstartssbandht: October 31, 2014 338 Moffat – Flac/MP3/Streaming

December 3, 2014

By nyctaper

[photo by nyctaper]

In July when we first encountered Tonstartssbandt, their impressive performance led us to promise that the band would be featured often on NYCTaper. Well, here they are again. This set was the opening of a really impressive four-band bill presented by Panache Booking at 338 Moffat for Halloween. The venue is basically a private loft space where several local artists reside and the huge living room became a show space and party room for a pretty crazy night. At the point when TSB played, the room wasn’t quite as full or as manic as later in the night, but the band’s set certainly got the night off to a very good start. This was a shorter performance than the show we saw in July, but Tonstartss once again structured the set as essentially one long segue featuring some of the band’s own numbers interspersed with several unique covers. We’re thankful that the duo provided us with the setlist because we were not previously familiar with a band such as obscure Swedish 60s psych band Pärson Sound, a group favorited by TSB in previous releases and which we are streaming below. Its that kind of love of music that makes Tonstartssbandht performances not to be missed. TSB are currently on tour is Asia and Australia, dates here.

I recorded this set with the Sennheiser cards mounted at the front and center of the stage and mixed slightly with a board feed consisting primarily of vocals and kick drum. The sound quality is quite excellent. Enjoy!

Stream “Tio Minuter” (Pärson Sound cover):

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Tonstartssbandht
2014-10-31
338 Moffat
Brooklyn NY

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Upfront Audience

Soundboard [engineer Roland] + Sennheiser MKH-8040s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2 x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3
and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper

Setlist:
[Total Time 26:14]
01 [introduction]
02 Everybody Needs Somebody [Solomon Burke]
03 Alright
04 Dad Beating Up Dudes Downtown
05 Speculatin
06 Dad Beating Up Dudes Downtown Reprise
07 Tio Minuter [Parson Sound]
08 Coda
09 Black Sea
10 Will The Circle Be Unbroken [trad]

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Tonstartssbandht, visit their Facebook page, and purchase Overseas and their other official releases from their Bandcamp Page [HERE] or the Arbutus Records website [HERE].

The Kickback: October 23, 2014 NYCTaper Unofficial CMJ Day Party, Cake Shop – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

December 2, 2014

By acidjack

Follow @acidjacknyc

[photos by MaryAnne Ventrice for QRO Magazine]

Chicago’s The Kickback have been lucky enough to be pulled for early by some high-profile folks for the best of reasons — they’re a rock act with plenty of direct appeal, a great sense of humor, and strong songwriting. When we caught them at Piano’s earlier this year, they were still recording their debut with Jim Eno of Spoon, and that remains the case today. But since then, legend of the Kickback’s explosive live show has continued to spread, helping to bring out a crowd for our unofficial CMJ day party at Cake Shop this October. At Cake Shop, we got a high-octane show that closed on a special tune, “Rob Our House”, whose lyrics change with every performance. It’s the kind of move that not only reinforces Yost’s wit on the fly, but further endears you to a band that’s easy to like.

I recorded this set in the same manner as the other recordings from the day, with Schoeps MK4V microphones on stage and a soundboard feed from house engineer Clint. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Download the complete show: [MP3] | [FLAC]

Stream the complete show:

The Kickback
2014-10-23
NYCTaper CMJ Day Party
Cake Shop
New York, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Schoeps MK4V (stage lip)>KC5>CMC6 + Soundboard (engineer: Clint)>>Edirol R-44 [OCM]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, compression, fades)>Izotope Ozone 5 (light EQ, exciter)>Audacity 2.0.5 (tracking, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Fanger
02 Sting’s Teacher Wars
03 Head Hunter
04 White Lodge
05 Rob Our House

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, PLEASE SUPPORT The Kickback, visit their website, and purchase their official releases from the links at their website and the Bandcamp page [HERE].

Kevin Morby: October 24, 2014 Aquarium Drunkard CMJ Showcase, Rough Trade – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

December 1, 2014

By acidjack

Follow @acidjacknyc

Expect to see Kevin Morby‘s outstanding 2014 release, Still Life, on many best-of lists here at year end. Since striking out on his own with Harlem River last year, the former Babies frontman and Woods member has firmly established himself as one of the most exciting songwriters of his generation. At Morby’s first solo show that we covered, Morby debuted several of the forthcoming Still Life tracks. Nine months later, Morby was at the Aquarium Drunkard showcase at Rough Trade ready to acquaint us with more of the new record. Though Morby arrived onstage last, after midnight, most of the crowd had stuck around to catch him, and he rewarded us with a poised set that showed his tour-worn comfort with the newer songs. He also played a classic number covered by one of our other favorite bands recently, Bill Fay’s “I Hear You Calling”. Morby’s sound congeals increasingly well with the West Coast move that in part prompted his solo breakout; his songs feel like a breeze blowing across your face as you lie on the hood of a car in a beach parking lot, staring at the coast. It was a fine way to end the night, not to mention this incredible showcase. Look for more material from it to come, joining this and the Ryley Walker set already posted.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK41 supercardiod microphones set up in our usual position in the venue. As it was the end of the night, and the soundboard feed was inadvertently turned off during this set, there is a bit more crowd chatter on this one than the other sets from the night, but the sound quality is nonetheless excellent. Enjoy!

Download the complete show: [MP3] | [FLAC]

Stream the complete show:

Kevin Morby
2014-10-24
Rough Trade NYC
Brooklyn, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Schoeps MK41 (DFC, PAS, at SBD)>KCY>Z-PFA>Sound Devices USBPre2>Edirol R-44 [OCM]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, compression)>Izotope Ozone 5 (exciter effects)>Audacity 2.0.3 (tracking, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 44:56]
01 Reign
02 Sucker In the Void (the Lone Mile)
03 Harlem River
04 I Hear You Calling [Bill Fay]
05 All of My Life
06 Amen
07 Miles, Miles, Miles
08 If You Leave And You Marry

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Kevin Morby, visit his website, and buy his releases from Woodsist.

Ex Cops: November 25, 2014 Glasslands – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

November 30, 2014

By acidjack

Follow @acidjacknyc

[photos by acidjack]

Just two years after bursting onto the scene with their “You Are A Lamb, I Am A Lion” single, the duo (touring trio) Ex Cops are two albums in and continuing to hone their craft. This show, coming near the end of the run for beloved Williamsburg venue Glasslands, celebrated the release of the band’s latest effort, Daggers, a full-length chock-full of ear-catching dream pop hooks and key guest appearances by Ariel Pink and LP. The synth-driven pop created by Amalie Bruun and Brian Harding seems tailor-made to reach larger audiences, and with the backing of both Billy Corgan and Sky Ferreira producer Justin Raisen, it seems likely that it will.

Unlike some of their peers, Ex Cops separate themselves from the pack by splitting the difference between straight synth pop and rock, with Harding’s guitar leads trading focus with Bruun’s work on the keys depending on the song. While Ariel Pink wasn’t in attendance for “Tragically Alright”, the Daggers track on which he participates, the band still made the downbeat number one of the night’s highlights. It’s a welcome stylistic counterpoint to the strong first single, “Black Soap”, which seems as dancefloor-ready as the former track is for the trip home. This tidy half-hour set focused on the new record, though it led off with a slowed-down version of “Separator”, one of the strongest songs off of last year’s album, True Hallucinations. The set left us wanting more, while confirming that the band has the live chops to go with the songcraft we’d already come to dig. The band played their first show at Glasslands, and while this will be their last in the venue, I’m confident we’ll be seeing them out and about in other places plenty in 2015.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK41 microphones and a custom soundboard feed from Glasslands engineer Mathew Scheiner. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Download the complete set: [MP3] | [FLAC]

Stream the complete show:

Ex-Cops
2014-11-25
Glasslands
Brooklyn, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Schoeps MK41 (ROC, PAS)>KCY>Z-PFA>Sound Devices USBPre2 + Soundboard (engineer: Mathew Scheiner>Edirol R-44 [OCM]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, limiter, light dynamics)>Izotope Ozone 5 (image, EQ, exciter)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Separator
02 Black Soap
03 Burnt Out Love
04 White Noise
05 Tragically Alright
06 Wanna Be
07 Rooms

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Ex Cops, visit their website, and buy Daggers on iTunes or grab it from your favorite streaming service.

Caveman: October 15, 2014 Baby’s All Right – Flac/MP3/Streaming

November 28, 2014

By nyctaper

The Brooklyn band Caveman have been several times on these pages in the last few years, including most recently a sold-out show at Webster Hall in the Spring of last year. After a lengthy quiet period, in October the band played a cluster of shows and we found out why — they’re recording a big batch of new songs. We were fortunate to capture the first of these recent shows, the one year anniversary show for Baby’s All Right where Caveman debuted six new songs. We are streaming the excellent “Without You” below, at the beginning of which lead singer Matthew Iwanusa announced that its from “a record that will not come out anytime soon”. We’re not sure why that’s the case since the band seems to have enough solid material for another strong album, and the songs seem very much to be finished. We checked over at Fat Possum Records, where Caveman still appears to be an active artist, so for now we can just enjoy these songs and wait for official news. The Baby’s show also included a nice selection of older material from the band’s first two albums, and finished with a lengthy Vampirer/Old Friend that we’re also streaming below. There are no current tour dates for Caveman, so we’ll assume they’re still recording the new album.

This set was recorded by House FOH Devin, who provided a superb live mix of the multitrack. There are also cardioid microphones installed on the lighting rig about 15 feet in front of the stage. In post-production, I mixed the two sources and the results are quite excellent. Enjoy!

Stream “Without You”:

Stream “Vampirer / Old Friend”:

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Caveman
2014-10-15
Babys All Right
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Soundboard + Audience
Multitrack Recording

Multitrack Soundboard (engineered and recorded by Devin Foley) > Devin mix Wav files + Room mic wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, setfades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and Tagging via Foobar)

Produced by nyctaper

Setlist:
[Total Time 57:20]
01 My Time
02 Shut You Down
03 Down In The Morning
04 Easy Water
05 Without You
06 [banter – Brooklyn]
07 Ankles
08 [banter – storms]
09 Dirty Baby
10 I See You
11 [banter – birthdays]
12 You Found A Feeling
13 Project
14 [banter – thanks]
15 In The City
16 [encore break]
17 Vampirer – Old Friend

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Caveman, visit their website, and purchase their first two albums from the Fat Possum Records site [HERE].

Lucero: November 5, 2014 Bowery Ballroom – FLAC/MP3/Streaming Full Set

November 26, 2014

By acidjack

The three-night stand at Bowery Ballroom by the beloved Memphis band Lucero gave us a prime example of life imitating art. A quick survey of the band’s song titles gives you a clear eye to their themes: drinking, women, loneliness, women, more drinking. For the Bowery Presents gang, three shows by this band on the first three nights of the week has to be an early Christmas, as the fan base has always proven as willing to indulge the band’s favorite vice as the band themselves. What felt like a shift was the degree to which the band made booze the night’s central theme, from the bordering-on-annoying number of references to being (or having recently been) drunk from frontman Ben Nichols, to the beers being slugged by him not just between, but during songs, including a couple to which he forgot the words. Rock n’ roll has never been a teetotaler’s game, and it probably shouldn’t be. But when you’re a band at Lucero’s level — booking the city’s best venue for three nights straight at a tariff of thirty bucks a head — the line between a get-along good time and unprofessionalism grows thin. That glorified bar-band schtick also sells these guys short — Lucero have some great songs, and on the whole, they’re still a heck of an act at performing them.

All three of the Bowery shows, of which this was the last, were divided into an acoustic and electric set with no opener. This band is nothing if not giving, with almost three hours split between the hour-long acoustic and nearly two-hour electric set. The band came strong out of the gate with “That Much Further West”, and the acoustic set held together throughout, with the packed house singing along to Nichols’ often-melancholy lyrics (two songs with the word “lonesome” in a row, in fact). As the show went on, things turned a bit more shambolic, as Nichols helped himself to the shots being offered up by the crowd. In spite or maybe because of the whiskey flowing, the band’s electric songs took on a certain wanton urgency, with the signature tune “Nights Like These” earning many a fist-pump from swaying hordes in front. Nichols spelled the band at a few points to do solo or duo numbers, including a memorable “Last Pale Light in the West” from his first solo album by the same name. The final encore, “Here at the Starlite” was yet another tale of woe belied by the rock n’ roll swagger still holding together onstage. It’s a strange dichotomy, the sad songs and the party atmosphere they create. But for Lucero, it seems to still be working.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK41 supercardiod microphones from our usual spot in the venue. The microphones rejected much of the crowd noise, providing for a nice, balanced recording of the night’s proceedings. Enjoy!

Download the complete show: [MP3] | [FLAC]
Permanent links if the above are not working: [MP3] | [FLAC]

Stream “That Much Further West” from the acoustic set

Stream “Nights Like These” from the electric set

Lucero
2014-11-05
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Schoeps MK41 (slightly LOC, PAS, at SBD)>KCY>Z-PFA>Sound Devices USBPre2>Edirol R-44 [OCM]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, compression)>Izotope Ozone 5 (exciter effects)>Audacity 2.0.3 (tracking, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Acoustic Set
01 Into Your Eyes
02 That Much Further West
03 Wandering Star
04 When You Decided to Leave
05 Across the River
06 Hello Sadness
07 Last Night In Town
08 Better Than This
09 In Lonesome Times
10 Other Side of Lonesome
11 Hold Fast
12 The Last Song
13 Ain’t So Lonely
14 Hate and Jealousy
15 Shelter

Electric Set
16 Downtown/On My Way Downtown
17 Kiss the Bottle
18 Hey Darlin’ Do You Gamble?
19 Women & Work
20 Texas & Tennessee
21 [banter1]
22 Union Pacific Line
23 Nights Like These
24 Sounds of the City
25 Chain Link Fence
26 I Can’t Stand To Leave You
27 [banter2]
28 Tonight Ain’t Gonna Be Good
29 Little Silver Heart
30 Sixes & Sevens
31 Goodbye Again
32 All Sewn Up
33 [banter3]
34 She Wakes When She Dreams
35 [banter4]
36 The War
37 [banter5]
38 Tears Don’t Matter Much
39 Fistful of Tears
40 [encore break]
41 Last Pale Light in the West
42 Here at the Starlite

Thanks to Kronosphere for the setlist.

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Lucero, visit their website, and buy their records in their online store.

Survival Knife: November 22, 2014 Brooklyn Night Bazaar – FLAC/MP3/Streaming Set

November 25, 2014

By acidjack

Follow @acidjacknyc

[photos by acidjack]

Survival Knife have a storied pedigree, having emerged in part from the remnants of the legendary ’90s post-hardcore band Unwound. Members Justin Trosper and Brandt Sandeno both hail from that band, and while Trosper’s voice and playing on Survival Knife’s first full-length, Loose Power, are hard to miss, Survival Knife feels very much like a distinct project. With Survival Knife, you can find the expected driving guitars and angsty post-punk vocals combined with a willingness to let things get proggy, such as on the extended “Heaven Has No Eyes” that closed the set.

We caught the band on the tail end of a whip through the East Coast, playing a free gig as part of the Brooklyn Night Bazaar. I was excited to check the Bazaar out, having noticed its excellent booking for a while. I’m pleased to report that although the shows hosted here are very much part of a broader holiday food/shopping bazaar, the concert experience still feels very much like a concert experience, with the show going on in its own corner of the room with plenty of seating and floor space for a crowd. Despite the cold night the Knife brought out a good-size crowd, and delivered a set focusing mostly on their only full-length, but adding in some new stuff — “Thud of the Jackboot” and “Tropic of Chaos” — from their Survivalized tour-only EP. For those of us that mourned the passing of Unwound, seeing this next project swing into action is all the sweeter. Check them out the next time they’re around.

I recorded this set from inside the soundboard cage at the Brooklyn Night Bazaar, with Schoeps MK41 microphones and a soundboard feed that included the engineer, Kenny’s, mics at either side of the stage. While the venue design (not, after all, actually a concert hall) presents some challenges, the sound is overall quite good. Enjoy!

Download the complete show: [MP3] | [FLAC]

Stream the full set

Survival Knife
2014-11-22
Brooklyn Night Bazaar
Brooklyn, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Soundboard w/ onstage mics (engineer: Kenny) + Schoeps MK41 (LOC, PAS)>KCY>Z-PFA>Sound Devices USBPre2>>Edirol R-44 [OCM]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, limiter)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, exciter, imaging)>Audacity 2.0.5 (fades, tracking, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Tropic of Chaos
02 Thud of the Jackboot
03 Gold Widow
04 Snakebit
05 Loose Power
06 [tuning]
07 Cut the Quick
08 Crystalline
09 [tuning2]
10 Heaven Has No Eyes

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Survival Knife, like them on Facebook, and buy Loose Power from Fat Possum Records.

Thee Oh Sees: November 18, 2014 Bowery Ballroom – Flac/MP3/Streaming

November 24, 2014

By nyctaper

[photos by Ken Grand-Pierre]

Last week Thee Oh Sees played four shows in four days in NYC and we were fortunate to catch what was most certainly the best sounding show of the week. In our many attempts to capture the live lo-fi garage rock of this amazing band, we’ve been frustrated by a series of sound issues that have prevented our capture of Thee Oh Sees with a recording that their highly energetic performances really deserve. We came close with the historic night at 285 Kent last Fall, but nothing we’ve ever presented from this band can even approach the sound of this particular show. Of course the lion’s share of the credit for the superb sound quality of Tuesday’s TOS show is credited to Bowery Ballroom (and their staff), which continues to be the best sounding room in town. The band itself was completely on during this set. They were scheduled to play forty-five minutes and instead played over an hour. And even given the lack of an encore, John Dwyer and company played virtually every song they’ve played this tour including four outstanding new numbers. We’re streaming “Tidal Wave”, which was the third song in a very high octane three-fer that opened the show. Thee Oh Sees tour continues in Chicago this week before ultimately moving West, dates here.

I recorded this show with the Schoeps in our tradition balcony location and mixed with a terrific board feed from FOH Bowery legend Kenny. As noted above, the sound quality is superb. Enjoy!

Stream “Tidal Wave”:

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Thee Oh Sees
2014-11-18
Bowery Ballroom
New York NY

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard [Engineer Kenny] + Schoeps CCM4u Cardioids > Sound Devices 744t > 2 x 24bit 48kHz wavs > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, EQ, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:02:34]
01 Tunnel Time
02 The Dream
03 Tidal Wave
04 [new song – Sugar]
05 Encrypted Bounce
06 Toe Cutter – Thumb Buster
07 [new song1]
08 [new song2]
09 Lupine Dominus
10 [new song – Seasons]
11 Dead Energy
12 I Come From The Mountain
13 The Web

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Thee Oh Sees, visit their website, and purchase their official releases from Castle Face Records [HERE].

Ryley Walker: October 24, 2014 Aquarium Drunkard CMJ Showcase, Rough Trade – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

November 21, 2014

By acidjack

[photos by acidjack]

It seems only appropriate to post a recording of Ryley Walker on the heels of one by the great Hiss Golden Messenger. These two artists represent among the very finest of their time, separated by a generation but potentially on very similar career trajectories. The two are also likely to have a lot of overlap in fans, because those drawn to authenticity, a canny understanding of their musical past, and honest songwriting are likely to find good company with these two. My first experience with Ryley Walker — playing with a full band at the Hopscotch Music Festival — also mirrored my first live experience with HGM two years before. Here, at the Aquarium Drunkard CMJ showcase at Rough Trade, Ryley proved himself alone (with a supporting bassist for part of the set). More to the point, Ryley proved himself an unmitigated master of his art, far beyond his years in poise and style.

Most CMJ sets tend to be truncated versions of artists’ “best stuff”, run through in perfunctory fashion to get the most bang for the buck in terms of setlist. Walker saw things differently, leading off with a twelve-minute, spine-tingling “Summer Dress” that equaled about a third of the set. That time wasn’t wasted, either, as Walker soared on improvised vocal runs that took the song beyond the singer-songwriter realm into something spiritual, his voice becoming its own instrument rather than the mere vessel of lyrics. As with the bulk of the set in North Carolina back in September, this focused entirely on new material in lieu of Walker’s outstanding album of earlier this year All Kinds of You. That alone should say something about how prolific this artist is at this point. The ability of the young Chicagoan to distill such pain and emotion into his work is a humbling surprise, the kind of thing you’d never guess from the rest of his happy-go-lucky stage persona. This is a man possessed of rare gifts, and we cannot wait to see them brought to a wider world.

I recorded this set primarily with a soundboard feed by Rough Trade engineer Kameron Biehl, with a small amount of Schoeps audience microphones added for ambiance. Other than a few glitches with a DI during one song, the sound is excellent. Enjoy, and spread the word!

Thanks to Ryley Walker and Aquarium Drunkard for permitting the recording.

Download the complete show via the Live Music Archive: [FLAC] | [MP3]

Stream the complete show:

Ryley Walker
2014-10-24
Rough Trade NYC
Brooklyn, NY USA

Hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Soundboard (engineer: Kameron Biehl) + Schoeps MK41 (DFC, PAS, at SBD)>KCY>Z-PFA>Sound Devices USBPre2>Edirol R-44 [OCM]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, compression)>Izotope Ozone 5 (exciter effects)>Audacity 2.0.3 (tracking, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Summer Dress
02 The West Wind
03 [banter1]
04 Primrose Green
05 [banter2]
06 Sweet Satisfaction

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Ryley Walker, like him on Facebook, and buy his records here.

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nyctaper Recordings

Hungry Ghost: November 22, 2014 Brooklyn Night Bazaar – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

Tonstartssbandht: October 31, 2014 338 Moffat – Flac/MP3/Streaming

The Kickback: October 23, 2014 NYCTaper Unofficial CMJ Day Party, Cake Shop – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

Kevin Morby: October 24, 2014 Aquarium Drunkard CMJ Showcase, Rough Trade – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

Ex Cops: November 25, 2014 Glasslands – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

Caveman: October 15, 2014 Baby’s All Right – Flac/MP3/Streaming

Lucero: November 5, 2014 Bowery Ballroom – FLAC/MP3/Streaming Full Set

Survival Knife: November 22, 2014 Brooklyn Night Bazaar – FLAC/MP3/Streaming Set

Thee Oh Sees: November 18, 2014 Bowery Ballroom – Flac/MP3/Streaming

Ryley Walker: October 24, 2014 Aquarium Drunkard CMJ Showcase, Rough Trade – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

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