Sonny and the Sunsets: August 16, 2012 Mercury Lounge – FLAC / MP3 / Streaming

September 4, 2012
By


[Photos courtesy of Bleary Eyed Brooklyn]

Sonny & the Sunsets don’t make it entirely clear whether they want you to take them seriously. In the “yes” column you’ve got frontman Sonny Smith’s lifelong musicanhood and decade-long history of releasing records, many of which are of estimable quality. Smith’s latest, the aptly-titled Longtime Companion, arrives on 180-gram yellow vinyl and sounds like a well-worn LP you’ve had in your collection for years. An instant old friend, of sorts.

But then, you have to take into account a freewheeling show like their recent visit to Mercury Lounge, where a Smith, calling himself “El Borracho” (“the drunkard”), played a loose, at-times shambling set that offered up antics and anecdotes aplenty. Sonny comes off like a damaged Dylan, married to equal parts Robert Earl Keen and Todd Snider.  Country-rootsy on acid and Jameson, Sonny seemed thrilled to spend a significant chunk of the playing in the crowd, looking at his bemused band members onstage. Smith covered material from the three Sunsets albums, including the standouts “Dried Blood”, “My Mind Messed Up” and “Too Young To Burn”. Smith plays with the fearlessness of someone whose musical career hasn’t always gone easy; much like his music itself, he is raw and compelling. After about an hour of the band’s regular set, Sonny decided to take things into stranger territory, including a lengthy beat-esque piece about aliens. The set closed out with “Love Among Social Animals” and “Planet of Women”. Sonny may have his tongue planted firmly in cheek at times, but that’s ultimately part of his charm. As with his much-talked-about art piece “100 Records” where Sonny made, yes, 100 45s paired with various images, he is willing to take risks, and more often than not, they succeed.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK41 microphones and a flawless soundboard feed from Kevin, the club’s head engineer.  The sound is excellent, though you will notice the emphasis on the soundboard increasing toward the end as the crowd gets chattier (read: more drunk).  Enjoy!

Stream “Dried Blood”
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/S8016Sonny2012/12 Dried Blood.mp3]

Stream “Too Young to Burn”
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/S8016Sonny2012/20 Too Young to Burn.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE] | Direct Download of the FLAC files [HERE]

Follow acidjack on twitter

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.

Sonny & the Sunsets
2012-08-16
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY USA

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

Schoeps MK41>KC5>CMC6>Aerco MP-2 + Soundboard>>Edirol R-44 [OCM]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Audition CS 5.5 (mixdown, parallel compression)>Audacity (set fades, tracking, amplify, additional EQ, balance, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 1:18:05]
01 [Intro banter]
02 I See the Void
03 [banter1]
04 Bad Vibes and Evil Thoughts
05 [unknown1 “Shivers Down My Spine”]
06 Death Cream
07 [banter2]
08 Reflections On Youth
09 [banter3]
10 Sea of Darkness
11 [banter4]
12 Dried Blood *
13 [banter5]
14 My Mind Messed Up
15 [banter6]
16 Teenage Thugs (Cabezas Cortades)
17 [banter7]
18 [unknown2]
19 Heart of Sadness
20 Too Young to Burn *
21 [banter8]
22 [Martian Poem]
23 Love Among Social Animals
24 [banter9]
25 Planet of Women

If you enjoyed this recording, please support Sonny and the Sunsets, visit their website, and purchase Longtime Companion and their other releases directly from Polyvinyl [HERE]

Daniel Johnston Live Release to benefit Brett Hartenbach Cancer Recovery

August 31, 2012
By

Teenarena Records has launched a limited edition 10″ vinyl/cassette “Daniel Johnston Live” release to benefit Brett Hartenbach, Daniel’s long time touring guitarist/friend. Brett has recently been diagnosed with a grade III brain tumor and is fighting the tumor uninsured. All proceeds from this release will go directly towards assisting Brett in his recovery. This show was recorded direct to 1/4? stereo two track tape on May 12, 2012.

You can now snag a Limited Edition EP of “Normal: Daniel Johnston Live” A Benefit for Brett Hartenbach (available on 10” vinyl, cassette and D/L) and a ton of extra goodies! Visit HERE to support Brett.

Los Lobos: July 11, 2012 Brooklyn Bowl – FLAC / MP3 / Streaming Songs

August 30, 2012
By


[Photos by acidjack and Johnny]

Any performer worth their salt would love to be in a band like Los Lobos.  While their rendition of “La Bamba” may have put them on the map (and the version by which all others are measured, in my humble opinion; sorry, Ritchie Valens), their stellar output through a nearly 40 year career has kept them there.  These guys have a level of musicianship that most players can only dream of and would kill for.  Los Lobos are capable of playing nearly anything and many respected artists have cited them as their favorite group to jam with.  That’s why it was no surprise that during Tom Waits‘ recent, and exceedingly rare, late-night television appearances guitarist/vocalist David Hidalgo was part of his band.  An American institution very proud of their Mexican/SoCal roots, they began this show by playing acoustic Tejano that, over several songs, subtly transformed and transitioned into electric rock.  It was pretty spectacular to behold and they made it appear so effortless.  When they pulled Jolie Holland on stage for a gorgeous duet and opener Livingston Leo for a few cuts, it sounded and felt like they had all been playing together for years.  Over the course of the night, they played some brilliant covers and tracks off many of their discs including a healthy dose from ‘Kiko‘, not only one of their best albums but arguably some of the finest music ever recorded.  I am repeatedly amazed every time I get the opportunity to catch these guys and if you have a bucket list of bands you must see, Los Lobos should be at or near the top.

acidjack and I recorded this concert with sets of Schoeps MK22’s and Milab VM-44 Links.  The microphones complimented each other beautifully and we were able to make an excellent capture.  We hope you like what you hear as much as we did.  Enjoy!

Special thanks to Dan Gale for the setlist help, and to Peter Costello and the staff at Brooklyn Bowl for their hospitality.

Stream “Chuco’s Cumbia”:

Stream “Short Side of Nothing”:

Direct download of the complete show in MP3 [HERE]

Direct download of the complete show in FLAC [HERE]

If either of the links are not working, email nyctaper with a request for the download location of the files.

Follow Johnny Fried Chicken Boy on Twitter

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.

Los Lobos
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Brooklyn Bowl
Brooklyn, NY, USA
(opener: Livingston Leo)

Source: AUD > Milab VM-44 Links (cardioid) + Schoeps MK22’s [> CMC6 > Sound Devices USBPre2] >> Edirol R-44 (WAV @ 24-bit/48kHz)
Lineage: R-44 > PC > Adobe Audition (mixdown, downsample, dither, tracking) > WAV (16-bit/44.1kHz) > TLH (check/fix SBE’s, FLAC conversion) > FLAC ( level 8 )
Recorded by: acidjack and Johnny Fried Chicken Boy
Produced by: Johnny Fried Chicken Boy

SETLIST:
[Total time: 1:53:22]
01. [intro]
02. Canto a Veracruz
03. El Cascabel  [Lorenzo Barcelata]
04. La Pistola y El Corazón  [*]
05. [banter]
06. Los Ojos de Pancha  [Juan Romero]
07. Saint Behind the Glass
08. Teresa
09. [banter / tuning]
10. Chuco’s Cumbia
11. Will the Wolf Survive?
12. Angels with Dirty Faces
13. Wicked Rain
14. Short Side of Nothing
15. That Train Don’t Stop Here
16. One Way Out  [Elmore James / Sonny Boy Williamson]
17. Kiko and the Lavender Moon
18. [banter / tuning]
19. Let’s Say Goodnight
20. Ay Te Dejo en San Antonio  [Santiago Jiménez]
21. How Much Can I Do?
22. Not Fade Away  [Buddy Holly] [#]
23. Bertha  [The Grateful Dead] [#]
24. [encore break]
25. Don’t Worry Baby  [#]
26. Mas y Mas  [#]

* with Jolie Holland
# with Livingston Leo

If you download this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Los Lobos, visit their website, visit their Facebook and MySpace pages, and purchase their official releases and merchandise [HERE], at Amazon and at iTunes.

Hurray For The Riff Raff: August 26, 2012 Mercury Lounge – Flac/MP3/Streaming

August 28, 2012
By


[photo courtesy of Joshua Brasted]

I’m thinking a lot about New Orleans right now. Hurricane Isaac has landed just west of the City on literally the 7th anniversary of Katrina. As New Orleans braces for the worst and all of us hope that the pumps and levees hold in their first major test, its comforting to listen to one of the best young bands the city has to offer. Hurray For The Riff Raff are surging on the momentum of their new album (Look Out Mama), a string of superb shows and some pretty heady media attention. On Sunday, the band returned to Mercury Lounge as the headliner and very impressively packed the joint on a Sunday night late show in late August. While they’ve always impressed us, going all the way back to 2008, its fair to say that HFTRR has never been better. Alynda is singing with strength and confidence and the musicians are incredibly tight. The set was heavy on Mama material but also featured four new songs, a couple of older numbers, and some really neat covers. We are streaming the Jimmie Dale Gilmore (via Flatlanders) classic “Dallas” which not only cemented the band’s alt-country bona fides but also featured vocals with Alynda showing great range and passion. With our thoughts and hopes for the safety of New Orleans on this night, we’re also streaming Hurray For The Riff Raff’s tribute to the city, “St. Roch Blues”. HFTRR will return to do more shows in Europe this Fall before returning to NYC for a special show in mid-October. More details to follow on the NYC date!

I recorded this set with the Sennheiser cards positioned in front of the soundboard and mixed with an excellent board feed. The large crowd on this night was extremely into the band and there’s almost no chatter that isn’t part of the show. We mixed the mics and the board at 50/50 leading to a really nice room feel to an otherwise outstanding recording. Enjoy!

Stream “Dallas [Flatlanders cover]”:

Stream “St. Roch Blues”:

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Direct download location of the FLAC files [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.

Hurray For The Riff Raff
2012-08-26
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

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

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper
2012-08-27

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:07:37]
01 [introduction]
02 Little Black Star
03 Never Never Knew [new song]
04 Look Out Mama
05 Slow Walk
06 Dallas [Flatlanders]
07 End Of The Line
08 Junebug Waltz
09 Ode to John and Yoko
10 Small Town Heroes
11 What’s Wrong With Me
12 Lake Of Fire
13 Be My Baby [Ronettes]
14 Time Is On My Side (Irma Thomas)
15 [encore break]
16 The St. Roch Blues
17 Born To Win

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Hurray For The Riff Raff, visit their website, and purchase Look Out Mama from the Euclid Records website [HERE].

K-Holes: August 6, 2012 Knitting Factory – FLAC / MP3 / Streaming

August 28, 2012
By


[Photos by acidjack]

For fans of 60s psych and garage rock, you’d be hard-pressed to find a Brooklyn band more compelling than K-Holes. This band’s style is no prettified nostalgia trip. As their name implies, K-Holes’ energy comes from a dark place; a song where they scream the refrain “We are rats!” ain’t exactly to be featured on the next Strokes record. The New York of the K-Holes is the grittier world of the early 80s, and their sound reflects it. As one of many bands that grew up around the dearly departed Monster Island, one of many gentrification victims of the last few years around here, they’ve gotten to live a little bit of it, too.

Besides the contrast in tone, this band also presents a different look and appeal than many of their peers. First, the band is a mixed-gender crew that consists of singer-guitarist Jack Hines, singer Vashti Windish, Hines’ wife Julie (whose uber-cool bass playing is perhaps the best visual in the band’s live show), drummer Cameron Michel and saxophonist Zumi Rosow. The male and female lead vocals, and Rosow’s sax flourishes, give the bands’ songs added depth and texture – and they also look a bit more exotic than, say, a trio of scruffy dudes.  But ultimately, it’s the songs that get a band noticed, and K-Holes have got a ton of good ones, spread across their latest record on Hardly Art, Dismania, and their eponymous first album. “Child”, which leads off Dismania and closed this Knitting Factory set, is one of those clarion call-style tracks that demands to be turned up to 11, and the live version was a standout. “Rats” and “Numb” (streaming below along with “Child”) were two more Dismania tracks that absolutely killed. But no need to take my word for it; K-Holes will be on the bill at the epic Ty Segall / Thee Oh Sees Show at The Wick/The Well on September 22, and after that they’ll be in Europe for all of our friends on the continent. Do yourself a favor and don’t miss them.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed from Rob, the engineer at the Knitting Factory, and Schoeps MK5 microphones. Of my three recordings from this night (along with Night Beats), this is probably my favorite.  Enjoy!

Stream “Child”
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/K8600KHoles2012/10 Child.mp3]

Stream “Numb”
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/K8600KHoles2012/04 Numb.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE] | Direct Download of the FLAC files [HERE]

Follow acidjack on twitter

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.

K-Holes
2012-08-06
Knitting Factory
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Schoeps MK5 (cardiod, ROB, PAS)>KCY>Z-PFA>Sound Devices USBPre2 + Soundboard >> Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (mixdown, adjust levels)>Izotope Ozone 5 (light EQ, exciter)>Audacity (set fades, tracking, amplify, balance, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 33:21]
01 Native Tongues
02 Gutter
03 Meat Man
04 Numb
05 Creatures of War
06 Acid
07 Mosquito
08 Rats
09 Swamp Fires
10 Child

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT K-Holes, like them on facebook, and purchase Dismania on LP or digital directly from Hardly Art [HERE]

Imperial Teen: August 17, 2012 Knitting Factory – Flac/MP3/Streaming

August 24, 2012
By

Imperial Teen have achieved something quite rare in pop music — the release of what is arguably their best album deep into the band’s existence. Its been fifteen years since the quartet formed from members of various other San Francisco bands. Their popularity reached its high-water mark with the 1998 single “Yoo Hoo” (streaming below), a song that received significant airplay and was featured in the black comedy classic Jawbreaker. Five years removed from their last album, and seemingly out of nowhere comes Feel the Sound (Merge), a brilliant pop album rich in melody and sweet boy-girl harmonies. “Runaway” (also streaming below) is the lead track on the album, and at Friday night’s show at Knitting Factory it was elevated to set-closing status. The song is chock-full of earworm melodies and is an early candidate for song of the year. At the Knit show, Imperial Teen worked through a nice run of the highlights of their catalog and mixed in half of Feel The Sound in an hour long set to a demographically mixed but faithful crowd. The band was called back for three encores and they seemed geniunely touched by the fervent support. The Knitting Factory show was Imperial Teen’s only Northeast performance on this tour, but I would expect their return over the next few months.

I recorded this set with the Sennheiser cards at the front left corner of the soundboard booth and mixed with an excellent board feed provided by the Knit’s head sound tech Rob. The sound quality is superb. Enjoy!

Stream “Yoo Hoo”:

Stream “Runaway”:

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [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.

Imperial Teen
2012-08-17
Knitting Factory
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

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

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper 2012-08-20

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:01:15]
01 Ivanka
02 Sugar
03 You’re One
04 No Matter What You Say
05 All The Same
06 Million Dollar Man
07 Lipstick
08 Don’t Know How You Do It
09 Yoo Hoo
10 [banter- scientologists]
11 Butch
12 Runaway
13 [encore break]
14 Imperial Teen
15 Shim Sham
16 Water Boy

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Imperial Teen, visit their website, and purchase Feel The Sound from Merge Records [HERE].

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