Stars: March 08, 2013 Music Hall of Williamsburg – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

March 29, 2013
By

stars-1[photos courtesy of Jill and For the Love of Brooklyn]

The Canadian indie pop group Stars recorded their first album in NYC in 1999 and although they’ve since moved away, they always manage to make each return feel like a homecoming party. Band frontman and founder Torquil Campbell recently gave an interview in which he elaborates on his love-hate relationship with this city:

To this day, my wife still says that, even though I was born in England and I grew up in Canada, I act like a New Yorker. That was where my personality came into full fruition, where I found 11 million assholes just like me. [Laughs] I feel very at home there. On the other hand, I hate New York. Like everybody does. New York is a reflection of you. It’s whatever you imagine yourself to be.

The whole interview is highly entertaining, just like their recent sold-out two-night stop at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. The crowd had a blast as Stars dusted off a few fan favorites and mixed them up with a selection of new tracks from “The North”, their newest album released last September. Streaming below are two of my favorite songs from the night, but other surprises in the setlist included 2001’s “Krush” and a new unreleased song called “Wishful.”

I recorded this night’s performance using a pair of Schoeps MK41 microphones and an excellent soundboard feed graciously provided to us by the band and expertly mixed by their long-time engineer, Marty. The mix is an even balance of the two sources and the results are nothing short of outstanding!

We also recorded Stars the following night at Music Hall of Williamsburg and will be posting that performance very soon.

Stream “Midnight Coward”
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/S1110Stars1102/stars2013-03-08.midnightcoward.mp3]

Stream “Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It”
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/S1110Stars1102/stars2013-03-08.holdon.mp3]

Direct download of the complete show: [MP3] | [FLAC]

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.

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Stars
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY
2013-03-08

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and Produced by hi and lo

Recordist : hi and lo
Source 1 : Schoeps MK41 (DINa) > PSP-2 > AD2k + Soundboard >> Tascam DR-680 @ 24 bit / 48 kHz

01. Intro
02. The Theory of Relativity
03. Fixed
04. A Song is a Weapon
05. The North
06. We Don’t Want Your Body
07. Backlines
08. Personal
09. Do You Want To Die Together?
10. Wishful
11. Soft Revolution
12. (Banter)
13. Krush
14. The Loose Ends Will Make Knots
15. Life Effect
16. Midnight Coward
17. What I’m Trying to Say
18. One More Night (Your Ex-Lover Remains Dead)
19. Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It
20. Take Me to the Riot
21. Walls
22. (Encore Call)
23. My Favourite Book
24. Your Ex-Lover Is Dead
25. The 400

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Stars, visit their website, and purchase any of their CDs or Vinyls from their online store [HERE].

The Habit: March 26, 2013 Knitting Factory – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

March 27, 2013
By

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[Photos by acidjack]

The Habit are members of the new cohort of bands seeking to re-examine the possibilities of traditional American rock music.  With one record under their belt (Lincoln Has Won) and another coming very soon, this show at the Knitting Factory gave them a chance to debut their new stuff in front of an appreciative crowd. While Brooklyn may not seem like the obvious hometown for an act whose sound leans heavily on traditional country as well as American rock, The Habit tacitly acknowledge their Northeastern present with some punked-up arrangements that give a nod to Yankee bands like the Dropkick Murphys. The result is a live show that serves up both high energy and high variety, with dual vocalists Brian Mendes and Siobhan Glennon giving them range for both heartfelt country ballads and honky-tonked-up punk. The band, founded by Mendes and guitarist Willie Croxton, arose out of their mutual respect for the original folk recordings of famous archivist Alan Lomax, followed by later influences like Alan Parsons and Jimmie Rogers.  They have done an excellent job of respecting those influences while creating their own personality — and most importantly, a fun live show — at the same time.

hi and lo recorded this set with my Schoeps MK5 microphones and a soundboard feed from Rubes, the Knitting Factory FOH.  The sound is excellent.  Enjoy!

Stream “Break Down the Walls”

Direct download of the full show: [MP3] | [FLAC]

If there are any issues with the links, please email NYCTaper.

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.

The Habit
2013-03-26
Knitting Factory
Brooklyn, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded by hi and lo
Produced by acidjack

Schoeps MK5 (cardiod, slightly ROC, DIN)>KC5>CMC6 + Soundboard (engineer: Rubes)>>Tascam DR-680>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, adjust levels, mix down, fades)>Izotope Ozone 5 (exciter, EQ)>Audacity 3.0 (fades, tracking, amplify, balance, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 39:03]
01 Tell Me How From Love To Fly
02 Demons
03 Evol
04 Leave Her, Johnny
05 Boat On A River
06 For You
07 You Will Miss Me When I’m Gone
08 From Seat 9
09 Break Down the Walls
10 [banter]
11 War Is Done

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT The Habit, visit their website, and buy Lincoln Has Won and their first EP in their online store [HERE].

Low: March 20, 2013 Society For Ethical Culture – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

March 24, 2013
By

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[Photos by P Squared Photography]

Seeing Low inside a non-denominational church (the Society For Ethical Culture, a favorite spot of the Wordless Music Series) seems appropriate. The by-now-legendary Duluth, MN band, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, has a sound that demands reverence. This audience of superfans gave it to the band, too, as the church stayed as pin-drop quiet during the mellowest parts of the band’s catalog as it filled with applause after every number. I was blown away by the Low show I saw at Bowery Ballroom two years ago, and this show may have bettered that one.  The band played the bulk of their current Sub Pop release, The Invisible Way, but delved into some rarities, too, such as “I Hear… Goodnight” from their In the Fishtank EP with The Dirty Three.  While the current record is a less full-on rock affair than 2011’s, C’Mon, it is still a comparatively noisy outing for the band who gave birth to the “slowcore” genre. Some of the noisier new songs were among the night’s best, particularly Alan Sparhawk’s squalling guitar freakout during “On My Own”.  The band was joined for the final quarter of the set by the night’s opener, the ACME String Quartet, and the added strings gave added depth to Low’s spare arrangements. The ACME players seemed as honored and gratified to be sharing the stage with Low as we were to be sharing the evening with all of them. During a pause in their playing during “So Blue”, I noticed one of the ACME players gently nodding, a huge smile on her face. The smile just about said it all.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK5 microphones at head height from the third row, center, in the audience.  That position, while great for watching a show, is not ideal for recording, especially as the PA stacks were placed outside the edges of the stage. Further, the large variations in volume mean that quiet portions of the program were especially quiet, which introduced some hiss from the analog signal chain.  I have done considerable editing to this recording to tame the hiss and raise the vocals and overall sound levels without ruining the dynamics of the band’s sound. After a lot of work, I am pleased with the results, even if it falls a little short of my usual standards. Enjoy!

Stream “On My Own”

This NYCTaper recording is being hosted on the Live Music Archive.  You can stream the entire show by clicking the song titles below.

Download: MP3s are [HERE], 16-bit FLACs are [HERE] 

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Low
2013-03-20
Society For Ethical Culture
New York, NY USA

Hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Schoeps MK5 (cardiod, 3rd row, DFC, PAS)>KCY>Z-PFA>Aerco MP-2>Roland R-26>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition (noise reduction, parallel compression, smooth peaks)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects)>Audacity 3.0 (tracking, fades, amplify, balance, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 1:44:28]
01 Waiting
02 Witches
03 [tuning]
04 Holy Ghost
05 Monkey
06 Clarence White
07 Mother
08 Words
09 Murderer
10 Shame
11 Pissing
12 Plastic Cup
13 July
14 [banter1]
15 Dinosaur Act
16 I Hear… Goodnight
17 Especially Me
18 [Intro Acme String Quartet]
19 So Blue
20 On My Own
21 Last Snowstorm of the Year
22 Soon
23 [encore break]
24 When I Go Deaf
25 To Our Knees
26 Just Make It Stop

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Low, like them on Facebook, and purchase The Invisible Way and their other releases directly from SubPop Records [HERE]

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Alexandra Stewart: March 15, 2013 Glasslands – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

March 20, 2013
By



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[Photos courtesy of Oresti Tsonopoulos]

While thousands of young artists chose to ply their wares in the marketing-drenched trenches of Austin last Friday, Alexandra Stewart played her first full-band show at Glasslands.  There were no junk food ads or cell-phone chattering PR flacks on hand, no distractions or status-obsessed bullshit. People were there to celebrate music, rather than exploit it. Stewart has a brand-new, well-produced record (Wàbà) to preview.  She chose to do it here, in a place that feels like home, in front of people who actually cared.  In some ways, an artist’s choices can matter as much as their art.

As for her performance, Stewart and the band (Chris Pattishall on keys, Austin Vaughn on drums, Jack Hill on bass and Russ Flynn on guitar) evinced none of the first-show jitters that derail early shows, starting this eight-song set as strongly as they finished it.  The focused, effortless groove Stewart lays down with her vocals reminded me at points of artists like Feist and Laetitia Sadier, and her full-band arrangements gave those vocals a lush, engaging backdrop.  Wàbà is named for the little village in Ontario, Canada where Stewart grew up, and her hometown and country figure prominently in her style. If you look at the Pinterest page where she assembled inspirational images for the record, several are the kind of wintry, grey-washed photos one might associate with our colder, less populated neighbor land to the north. But the images aren’t bleak; they can inspire hope, or pensive reflection. Stewart’s music is much the same, drawing on darkness and light.  Her songs can range from the playful-sounding pop of “Pow Wow” (whose subject matter is shade darker than the song’s sound) to the somber “Graveyard”, which starts with a spare vocals and keys arrangement until it crests on waves of guitar.  On this night, these and other songs arrived fully formed, delivered with an understated grace and poise that is hard to come by for a first show. Stewart will continue playing more live shows through the year as she looks for a home for the record, and I suspect that if she and the band continue to perform at this level, she will find some takers.

I recorded this set with MBHO microphones placed directly in front of the band to capture the sense of being up front, combined with an excellent soundboard feed of the house mix by engineer Josh Thiel.  The sound is excellent.  Enjoy!

Direct download of the full show: [MP3] | [FLAC]

Stream “Pow Wow”:

Stream “Graveyard”:

Watch “Soul Like A Ghost” (shot by Oresti Tsonopoulos):

If there are any issues with the links, please email NYCTaper.

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.

Alexandra Stewart
2013-03-15
Glasslands
Brooklyn NY USA

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

MBHO KA200N (onstage, NOS)>Z-PFA>Aerco MP-2 + Soundboard (engineer: Josh Thiel)>>Edirol R-44 [OCM]>2x24bit/48kHZ WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (effects on soundboard, align, mix down)>Izotope Ozone 5 (light EQ, exciter)>Audacity 3.0 (fades, tracking, amplify, balance, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Lone Wolf
02 Pow Wow
03 You Don’t Know How
04 Indian Summer [Victor Herbert]
05 Soul Like A Ghost
06 Lullabye
07 Lovesick
08 [band intros]
09 Graveyard

Band:
Alexandra Stewart – Vocals
Chris Pattishall – Keys
Austin Vaughn – Drums
Jack Hill – Bass
Russ Flynn – Guitar

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Alexandra Stewart, like her on Facebook and visit her bandcamp page where you can preview the first five tracks of Wàbà for free.

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Ultimate Vag (feat. Gibby Haynes and Don Fleming): November 27, 2012 Union Pool – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

March 19, 2013
By


ultimatevag2012-11-27-1

Ultimate Vag is a group of avant-garde rockers whose core consists of Scott Verrastro of psych-improv outfit Kohoutek and co-conspirator Chris Grier.  For this Union Pool show last November, they were joined by Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers, and the Don Fleming of the Velvet Monkeys, Gumball and several other bands. The foursome closed out an incredible night that also featured Suzuki Junzo (recording), Eidetic Seeing (recording) and Rhyton (recording) with a sprawling improvisational take on The Walker Brothers’ “The Electrician” from their final (and bizarrely proggy) record, Nite Flights.  The band took that six-minute song and transformed it into a miasma of abstract noise that alludes to the oddly influential role of this song from a mostly-forgotten album. Launching into the number almost totally unrehearsed gave the players broad latitude to take things where the moment suggested they go, and the resulting output is a once-in-a-lifetime musical moment that we are thrilled to have captured for you.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK5 microphones from our usual  spot in the venue, plus an excellent soundboard by house engineer Doug.  The sound is excellent.  Enjoy!

Stream the full performance:

Direct download of the complete performance: [MP3] | [FLAC]

If the FLAC link is no longer working, email nyctaper for the FLAC files

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.

Ultimate Vag
2012-11-27
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Schoeps MK5c>KCY>Z-PFA + Soundboard>>Edirol R-44 [OCM]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (mix down, adjust levels)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, exciter)>Audacity (set fades, tracking, amplify, smooth peaks, balance, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 The Electrician [The Walker Brothers]

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT these musicians, visit the websites of their respective bands linked above, and check out the Ultimate Vag website for more information.

Drive By Truckers: March 15, 2013 Capitol Theatre Portchester – Flac/MP3/Streaming

March 18, 2013
By

truckers2
[photo by Joe Madonna]

A Drive By Truckers concert can be an exhausting and exhilarating experience. The show is jam-packed with superb material — songs filled with emotion, humor and expert storytelling. At the Capitol Theatre in Portchester on Friday night, DBT played one of the longest shows we’ve seen in years, not just in time but also in just pure music. The set was almost continuous, no banter, no tuning, no messing around. And at a full two and half hours, twenty seven songs and forty-minute, 9 song encore, it was exhausting. A good portion of the partying weekend crowd did not make it to the end. But for those who stuck it out, it was also a rewarding show. DBT can never be accused of giving anything less than 100% and Friday was no exception. The band was engaging and energetic and the highlights were a plenty. We’re streaming “Let There Be Rock”, which features a mix of all that makes Drive By Truckers great.

I recorded this show in the assigned taping spot in this venue, behind the soundboard and dead center. Although we’d prefer to be about 20 feet further up, this spot does offer decent sound and much of the conveniences of this excellent venue. The recording has some flaws, crowd chatter among them, but overall its a fine listen. Enjoy!

Stream Let There Be Rock”:

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

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

Drive By Truckers
2013-03-15
Capitol Theatre
Portchester, NY

Digital Master
Four-Track Audience Recording

Sennheiser MKH-8040 Cardioids + Neumann KM-150s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2x 24bit 48kHz wav file > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2013-03-17

Setlist:
[Total Time 2:25:58]
01 Lookout Mountain
02 A Ghost to Most
03 Why Henry Drinks
04 Women Without Whiskey
05 [banter – Capitol]
06 Used to be a Cop
07 Where the Devil Don’t Stay
08 Tornadoes
09 Sounds Better in the Song
10 Puttin People on the Moon
11 Self Destructive Zones
12 Don’t Be in Love Around Me
13 Birthday Boy
14 Girls Who Smoke
15 3 Dimes Down
16 Sink Hole
17 Uncle Frank
18 Hell No I Ain’t Happy
19 [encore break]
20 Gravity’s Gone
21 The Night GG Allin Came to Town
22 Panties in Your Purse
23 Let There Be Rock
24 Marry Me
25 Ronnie and Neil
26 Zip City
27 Shut Up and Get on the Plane
28 Angels and Fuselage

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Drive By Truckers, visit their website, purchase their official releases from the Store at their website [HERE].

SUPPORT NYCTaper




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