Brokeback: November 8, 2011 Bowery Ballroom – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

November 22, 2011
By

brokeback
[iPhone photo by acidjack]

After I posted my recording of The Sea and Cake at Bowery Ballroom earlier this month, I received an unusual number of requests to also post my recording of the second opener, Brokeback. I can’t say I was surprised. This band, a side project of Tortoise bassist Doug McCombs, released several records on Thrill Jockey in the late 90s and early 2000s, but has been in hibernation since 2008. This reconstituted 2011 version of the band is rehearsing new songs for a record, and playing shows around the country to work out the new material. In short, McCombs’ guitar-based compositions are stunning stuff, at turns heavy and cinematic but also referencing some of Tortoise’s more restrained, jazzy qualities. As these were all-new songs, I’m afraid I don’t have a setlist at all, but I am deeply grateful to both Doug and Thrill Jockey giving the site permission to share this recording. This is an exciting preview of what is sure to be a great new release – keep an eye out for it! If you do happen to know any of these song titles, please help us fill them in.

I recorded this set from our usual location in the Bowery Ballroom with the DPA microphones and a very transparent Sound Devices preamp, just as I did with the Sea and Cake recording. This recording has a similarly crisp, dry quality and is an excellent listen. Enjoy!

Stream Track #2
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/B8011Brokeback0211/brokeback2011-11-08bowery_acidjack-02.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.

Brokeback
2011-11-08
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

DPA 4021 (Slightly LOC, balcony, POS)>Sound Devices USBPre2>Sony PCM-M10 (24/44.1)>24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (set fades, tracking, amplify and balance)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Please help with the setlist if you know any of these songs]
01
02
03
04 [banter]
05
06 [banter]
07
08

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Brokeback by visiting their Thrill Jockey Records page, where you can find out more info about their forthcoming album and purchase their current releases, including their latest, Looks at the Bird.

Fucked Up: November 15, 2011 Warsaw – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

November 21, 2011
By


[Photo courtesy of Jon Melnick. See his Flickr stream [HERE]]

Music is passion. Music is anger. Music is triumph. Music is sorrow. Music is love. Somehow a Fucked Up show manages to incorporate them all. To love Fucked Up is to understand the wonder and beauty of the clean, rising chords of “Let Her Rest”, the multilayered, joyous dueling-guitar attack of “Running On Nothing”, and the gravel-scrubbed squall of incomparable frontman Damian “Pink Eyes” Abraham’s vocals. What makes sense about a Toronto band with an absolutely crack rhythm section, who puts out double-LP rock operas (their latest, David Comes to Life), whose focal point is a hefty, shirtless man screaming into the mic (when it’s not passed into the crowd), carrying crowd-surfers on his back, and cracking off disarming riffs on everything from his weight to his penis? Yet there’s something that does. It works, in part, because Abraham may be – if not the best vocalist – the best frontman in rock right now. He is self-effacing, magnanimous to a fault, funny, and kind. And positively magnetic to watch, as he presides over the chaotic mosh pit party that his band’s music creates. After an earnest, intense set (and one of their best possibly ever) by Titus Andronicus where they paid tribute to the events of the day at Occupy Wall Street, I’ll admit that it was refreshing to crack a smile at Abraham, talking about his recent weight loss. “I felt better fatter” he said, “I don’t want you to think I’m selling out, that I’m changing”). Even talking about OWS, Abraham managed to be funny (listen to the banter tracks to hear his thoughts on OWS and why you shouldn’t “bend over”.. or as he rephrased it, “lie down”).

As noted, while Fucked Up’s sound is nominally “punk”, there is nothing simple or unfocused about its players, whose densely layered guitars are the sea in which Abraham and his antics swim. Already hailed as one of the most ambitious punk bands ever, David Comes to Life raised the stakes with a four-part opera told from the viewpoint of multiple unreliable narrators. From most bands, projects like these come off as weak gimmicks. The difference here is that Fucked Up have the chops to pull it off. This show at Warsaw in Greenpoint – a venue I had not visited in awhile, but is now being booked by the tastemaker Chris Diaz of the Knitting Factory and sure to have more great shows – was the second of two NYC shows in which the band performed the entire record straight through. And what a record it is – obvious as the band whipped through its piles and piles of pop hooks with punk seethe with occasional breaks in between series of songs for Abraham to chat with the crowd. After the encore break it was time for the deep cuts, including a very special performance of a song called “Unrequited Love” with bassist Sandy Miranda on vocals. After closing out the set with the track “David Comes to Life”, Abraham stuck around on stage to help one fan get his phone back, and another person to get their jacket – even after the house music went up. By the time I had broken down my equipment and left quite a bit later, I found Abraham standing outside the venue – still shirtless, on a fairly cold night – chatting with fans. Music is love, indeed.

I recorded this set with an excellent soundboard feed from the Warsaw team, plus the Schoeps supercardiod microphones on a high stand. The sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Thanks to Chris Diaz and the members of the band for arranging permission to record. You can also download my previous recording of Fucked Up at Maxwell’s in Hoboken last year [HERE]

We are excited to announce that this recording is now hosted on Fucked Up’s bandcamp page. You can stream below, and clicking that link will take you there to buy/download

Fucked Up
2011-11-15
Warsaw
Brooklyn, NY USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Soundboard + Schoeps MK41>KCY>littlebox >> Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Audition (mixdown)>Audacity (limit peaks, set fades, amplify and balance, tracking, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Let Her Rest
02 Queen of Hearts
03 Under My Nose
04 The Other Shoe
05 [banter1]
06 Turn the Season
07 Running On Nothing
08 Remember My Name
09 [banter2]
10 A Slanted Tone
11 Serve Me Right
12 Truth I Know
13 [banter3]
14 Life In Paper
15 Ship of Fools
16 A Little Death
17 [banter4]
18 I Was There
19 Inside A Frame
20 The Recursive Girl
21 [banter5]
22 One More Night
23 Lights Up
24 [encore break]
25 [?]
26 [banter6]
27 Unrequited Love
28 [banter7]
29 David Comes to Life
30 [outro]

If you enjoyed this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT F*cked Up, visit their blog, and purchase their official releases, including David Comes to Life, directly from their page at the Matador Records website [here].

Mount Moriah: October 12, 2011 Bowery Ballroom – Flac and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

November 18, 2011
By


[photo courtesy of Joshua Trupin]

If you can tell much about someone from the friends they keep, then Mount Moriah has everything going for them. We saw the band open for The Rosebuds last month, the band has been joined at times by Brad Cook and Phil Cook from Megafaun and by Daniel Hart (who seems to play with only the best), and Mount Moriah will soon tour with The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn. But friendship aside, what really separates this band from the pack is talent — the superb songwriting of band leaders Heather McEntire and Jenks Miller that is brought to life by McEntire’s rich and emotive vocal style. Mount Moriah’s debut self-titled full length album showcases these talents in a strikingly well-produced set of eight songs, seven of which were performed at the Bowery show. We’ve chosen to stream “Plane”, a perfectly performed dirge that highlights the band’s many strengths. The current tour announcement promises more dates, which will with good fortune include a NYC show. A bit of advice — don’t miss it.

I recorded this set with the vocal-friendly DPA microphones mounted at our standard balcony rail position and mixed with a well-balanced soundboard feed. The results are outstanding. Enjoy!

Stream “Plane”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/M2110MountMoriah1122/03.%20Plane.mp3]

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.

Mount Moriah
2011-10-12
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + DPA 4021s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2 x 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 2011-10-26

Setlist:
[Total Time 45:26]
01 Only Way Out
02 The Letting Go
03 Plane
04 Social Wedding Rings
05 Reckoning
06 Hail, Lightning
07 [banter-false start]
08 Telling The Hour
09 [new song]
10 Lament

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Mount Moriah, visit their website, and purchase their debut album at the Holidays For Quince Records webstore [HERE].

Helmet: October 11, 2011 Bowery Ballroom – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

November 16, 2011
By


[Photos courtesy of Dana (distortion) Yavin.  See more of her excellent work HERE.]

I can remember the first time I heard Helmet’s disc, ‘Meantime‘, which has since become the standard bearer for alternative metal.  Aggressive songs that held riffs hitting like a sledge hammer, frontman Page Hamilton (trained as a jazz guitarist and sole original member) threw the musical rulebook out the window and led a troupe of expert musicians who obviously had serious chops.  Having grown up on a steady diet of hard rock and heavy metal, I was instantly hooked.  The times I saw them play live before their breakup in 1998 were no less riveting.  And hearing of the band’s reformation in 2004 was very welcome news.  Having been well over a decade since I had last gone to one of their concerts, I jumped on tickets when I heard they would be coming through on their current tour.  I was further thrilled when they gave me the greenlight to record the show.  With cuts spanning the group’s career and from nearly all of their albums, particularly the recent, ‘Seeing Eye Dog‘, Helmet played quite a few favorites and a monstrous version of “Turned Out”.  Judging by his interaction with the crowd, Page seemed to be having a hell of a good time and very excited to be back in the band’s original hometown of NYC.  And he wasn’t the only one: I’m happy to report that the music I heard that night sounds just as good and tight as the tracks that put a smile on my face nearly 20 years ago.

We recorded this show with a four-microphone rig from our usual spot in the balcony.  Combining the always great sound of Bowery Ballroom and the impressive skills of the sound engineer and the result is an excellent recording.  We hope you like what you hear as much as we did and PLAY IT LOUD!!

Stream “She’s Lost”: [audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/H1110Helmet1120/Helmet_-_She’s_Lost.mp3]

Stream “Ironhead”: [audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/H1110Helmet1120/Helmet_-_Ironhead.mp3]

Direct download of the complete show in MP3 [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.

Helmet
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY, USA

Source: AUD > AKG C 414 B-XLS’s + DPA 4021’s > Edirol R-44 (WAV @ 24-bit/48kHz)
Lineage: R-44 > USB > PC > Adobe Audition (mixdown, adjust levels, downsample, dither, tracking) > WAV (16-bit/44.1kHz) > Trader’s Little Helper (check/fix SBE’s, FLAC) > FLAC Level 8
Recorded and produced by: Johnny Fried Chicken Boy

SETLIST:
[Total time: 1:16:21]
01. Wilma’s Rainbow
02. So Long
03. Renovation
04. Welcome to Algiers
05. Give It
06. In Person
07. banter
08. White City
09. Harmless
10. Smart
11. banter / band intro
12. Crisis King
13. She’s Lost
14. Blacktop
15. Tic
16. encore break / banter
17. Ironhead
18. banter
19. Turned Out
20. Milquetoast

If you download this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Helmet, visit their website, visit their Facebook and MySpace pages, and purchase their official releases (including their most recent album, Seeing Eye Dog) and merchandise [HERE].

Wooden Shjips – November 10, 2011 Music Hall of Williamsburg – Flac and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

November 15, 2011
By


[photo courtesy of Robert Loerzel]

Last week in the underground Pink Floyd live music collector community, a recording surfaced for the first time in over 40 years. A 1967 performance of the original band with Syd Barrett in Stockholm was recorded by a local archivist and at long last reached collectors around the world. The proto-psychedelic music was groundbreaking in the mid-60s, but across four decades even this technologically-challenged recording is still fresh and exciting. The palpable energy of the songs and the ferocious nature of the improvisation is breathtaking. Its no wonder that generations removed the original brand of psychedelic rock, there are still any number of excellent purveyors of the craft today. On Thursday night at Music Hall of Williamsburg, we witnessed a performance of perhaps the most pure neo-psych band around, San Francisco’s Wooden Shjips. On tour to support their latest album West — the band’s first release on the excellent label Thrill Jockey Records — Wooden Shjips made one of their infrequent visits to NYC. We have been fortunate to have captured the previous two, 2009 at 171 Lombardy and 2010 at Music Hall. The set on Thursday continued on the same vein as the previous shows, with the band visiting much of their full catalog and stretching the numbers out with rich improvisation. While Ripley Johnson’s crunchy guitar is forefront of the mix, each member of the quartet shined on this particular evening. As an example, we’re streaming “Fallin'” below , which features the swirling psych organ of Nash Whalen for most of the song structure before Johnson shreds the last four minutes. The show concluded with a number from the band’s 2007 self-titled debut, “We Ask You To Ride” which was so loud that I could literally feel my knees vibrate when each bass note was stuck. I closed my eyes and for a second imagined that the 1967 Swedish crowd probably felt a similar physical rush from The Pink Floyd.

I recorded this set with the four microphone rig from the front center of the balcony. We’re still struggling to find the proper recording technique for this particular venue, but after some post-production and tasteful EQ, I feel that this recording can now be classified as an excellent listen. Enjoy!

Stream “Fallin'”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/W3110WoodenShjips2292/05.%20Fallin.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Direct download 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.

Wooden Shjips
2011-11-10
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY USA

Four-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Center Balcony Rail

Neumann KM-150s + DPA 4021’s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, EQ, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and Tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper
2011-11-13

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:10:42]
01 Black Smoke Rise
02 Lazy Bones
03 [guitar tech]
04 Motorbike
05 Fallin
06 For So Long
07 Aquarian Time
08 Flight
09 Death’s Not Your Friend
10 Buddy [Snapper cover]
11 [encore break]
12 We Ask You to Ride

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Wooden Shjips, visit their website, and purchase their new album West from the Thrill Jockey Records website [HERE].

Sebadoh: November 11, 2011 Maxwell’s – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

November 14, 2011
By

sebadoh
[Photo by Chris Gersbeck for Fucking Nostalgic]

The age-old debate I have with myself about going to Maxwell’s, especially on a weekend: Will this show be worth waiting for the PATH at 3 a.m.?  The thing is, every time you talk yourself out of a Maxwell’s show, you’re probably wrong.  If I hadn’t hit this Sebadoh show in this intimate (and for Manhattan/Brooklynites, remote) venue – despite that they were down the street at Music Hall of Williamsburg the following night – I’d have missed out.  This freewheeling show felt like seeing Lou Barlow and the reunited band appear in your living room.  Lou in particular was relaxed and chatting with the crowd, clearly enjoying the chance to keep things loose.  It didn’t hurt any that Lou and the band had plenty of friends in the crowd, many of whom could be heard ribbing him throughout the show.  Oh, and did you know “Willing to Wait” from Harmacy was going to be Ross and Rachel’s breakup song on Friends?  Well, now you do.  And tonight’s show-closing rendition – perhaps to spite the “flat” recording of the song that Lou hated – was pure, magical rock n’ roll.

The band were once known as “lo-fi pioneers”, but like many of their contemporaries from the early 90s, they’ve developed into serious players (one of Lou’s anecdotes concerned the $1000 guitar he was playing).  This set was Springsteen-esque in its sprawl – the first 13 tracks occur in the first half-hour of the nearly two-hour set – but given their large catalog of two- and three-minute songs, Sebadoh had a lot of ground to cover.  While rockers like “License to Confuse” are always thrillers, it was the band’s slower numbers like “Dream”, the poignant “Soul and Fire” and the band’s classic “Together or Alone” that stood out, allowing Barlow’s lyrics to shine.  The set focused primarily on the band’s more hook-driven, lyrical numbers, rather than some of the Eric Gaffney-penned more punkish material, and to good effect.  Among the band’s records, Bakesale was particularly well-represented (and also was just re-released this year by Sub Pop), as was Bubble and Scrape, while their seminal III, the first with Jason Loewenstein, was mostly-ignored.  By the end of the set, it was hard to imagine a favorite Sebadoh song the band didn’t play at this show, and indeed, I can’t think of one.  The PATH trade ride home was a long one, but damn, it was worth it.

I recorded this set with the Schoeps supercardiod microphones and a soundboard feed from Mitch, a new FOH engineer at Maxwell’s, who did a flawless job with the house mix all night.  The results are truly outstanding, absolutely one of my finest recordings of the year, and by far the finest fan recording of this band I have ever heard – yes, it’s that good.  Enjoy!

Stream “Willing to Wait”
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/S1111Sebadoh2011/39 Willing to Wait.mp3]

Stream “Soul and Fire”
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/S1111Sebadoh2011/26 Soul and Fire.mp3]

Stream “Beauty of the Ride”
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/S1111Sebadoh2011/30 Beauty of the Ride.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE] | Direct download of FLAC files [HERE]
If the FLAC link is not active, email nyctaper for the FLAC files

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.

Sebadoh
2011-11-11
Maxwell’s
Hoboken, NJ USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Schoeps MK41 (LOC, at SBD, DINa)>KCY>Littlebox + Soundboard >> Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod]>Audition (balance, mixdown)>Audacity (tracking, set fades, amplify and balance)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 [intro banter]
02 Too Pure
03 [banter]
04 On Fire
05 Skull
06 Rebound
07 Ocean
08 [banter]
09 Magnet’s Coil
10 [banter]
11 Shit Soup
12 Mind Reader
13 Got It
14 Love to Fight
15 Drag Down
16 [banter]
17 Dreams
18 The Freed Pig
19 License to Confuse
20 Sister
21 Dramamine
22 Crystal Gypsy
23 Careful
24 Bird In the Hand
25 [banter]
26 Soul and Fire
27 Two Years Two Days
28 Not A Friend
29 Together or Alone
30 Beauty of the Ride
31 Forced Love
32 Sixteen
33 [encore break]
34 Give Up
35 New Worship
36 Brand New Love
37 Not Too Amused
38 [banter]
39 Willing to Wait

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Sebadoh, visit their website, and buy their official releases, including Bakesale, [HERE]

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