…And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead: April 29, 2011 Bowery Ballroom – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

May 3, 2011
By


[Photo by EardrumNYC]

Starting with their band name, Austin’s …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead have never been concerned with doing things the way that other bands do them. They are the kind of band that opens a co-headlining (yet nonetheless, technically opening) set at the Bowery Ballroom on a Friday night with a fifteen minute song (“Strange News From Another Planet”) from a new record (2011’s Tao of the Dead) that likely even the fans in attendance knew less well than their classic material. They are also the kind of band who, when they do that, cause the crowd to go apeshit.

Indeed, for the younger generation that was there to see the co-headliner Surfer Blood, this intense hour of no-compromise punk/art-rock may have been a departure from their usual Friday night fare. Surfer Blood is a great band, but Trail of Dead is many things they are not: loud, audacious, and visceral. But whether you came for Trail of Dead or not, they had to have won you over by the time they left the stage; frontman Conrad Keely bounced and pogo’d all over the stage while Jason Reece and Jamie Miller traded turns playing guitar and hammering the skins. With Autry Fulbright, also of Midnight Masses, joining on bass, the band has a killer lineup, even compared to the many variously-sized ones they have had. They were clearly enjoying themselves, as well as the energy from the crowd, which peaked in size during their set. The set covered a wide range of the band’s material, from the new material to classics such as “It Was There That I Saw You”, the leadoff track to their Pitchfork “perfect 10” album, Source Tags & Codes. The soaring song about intoxicating, damaged love is both jubilant and sad, a classic whether you’re hearing it for the first or fiftieth time. It also made for a tight under-four-minute contrast to some of the more epic numbers that bookended the set (including a 7+ minute “Perfect Teenhood” from Madonna to close out the set) …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead don’t just defy expectations – they exceed them.

I recorded this set with the DPA microphones and a handmade analog preamp from my usual spot in the venue. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Please note that the Surfer Blood set was recorded, but per our agreement with Kanine Records, will not be posted until the release of Surfer Blood’s forthcoming EP.

Stream “It Was There That I Saw You”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/T2402TrailOfDead1122/09 It Was There That I Saw You.mp3]

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

Follow acidjack on Twitter

And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead
2011-04-29
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY  USA

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

Equipment: DPA 4021>Oade M248>Sony PCM-M10 (24/44.1)
Position: Slightly LOC, clamp to balcony rail at engineers’ head level, pointed at stacks
Mastering: 24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (set fades, amplify and balance, light EQ (-1dB at 150-200Hz), smooth peaks, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 59:27]
01 [intro]
02 Strange News From Another Planet
03 Summer of All Dead Souls
04 [banter]
05 Ebb Away
06 Will You Smile Again
07 Caterwaul
08 [banter]
09 It Was There That I Saw You
10 [banter]
11 Relative Ways
12 Fake Fake Eyes
13 A Perfect Teenhood

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Trail of Dead, visit their website, and purchase Tao of the Dead at your favorite retailer, including here.

Buffalo Tom: April 28, 2011 Bowery Ballroom – Flac and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

May 2, 2011
By


[photo courtesy of Oscar Anjewierden]

The conventional wisdom about Buffalo Tom is that they are a quintessential “90s sound” band forever interwoven with the cultural milieu of that period — specifically, their connection to the short-lived but iconic tv show “My So Called Life”. The problem with boxing in the Tom with a sound or with a decade is that those relationships are almost entirely anecedotal. Buffalo Tom is a trio with a universal guitar/bass/drums/earnest-vocals “roots rock” sound with influences from any of the last five decades, and which retains substantial relevance to this day. In that spirit, the band released Skins in March and that album is as strong as anything the band has released in the last twenty years. At Bowery Ballroom on Thursday, the Skins tracks were interwoven with the band’s most classic tracks in a strong well-paced ninety-minute set. The band even reserved “Don’t Forget Me” for the first encore slot. Bill Janovitz has also never shied away from difficult covers — the band played a Gun Club song at the Mercury Lounge show in November. At the Bowery, the Van Morrison classic “Into The Mystic” flowed naturally from the Tom’s “Larry”, and we’re streaming that set highlight below.

I recorded this set with the four microphone rig from our standard balcony location in this venue and the sound quality is superb. Enjoy!

Download and stream the complete show [HERE].

https://archive.org/details/buffalo-tom-2011-04-28.nyctaper

Buffalo Tom
2011-04-28
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Four-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded Balcony Railing

Neumann KM-150s + DPA 4021’s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2x 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
2011-05-01

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:35:43]
01 Tree House
02 Summer
03 She’s Not Your Thing
04 Arise, Watch
05 Your Stripes
06 Mineral
07 Darl
08 [banter]
09 Sunday Night
10 [banter2]
11 Tangerine
12 [banter3]
13 Late At Night
14 [banter4]
15 Reason Why
16 Taillights Fade
17 Here I Come
18 Guilty Girls
19 Rachael
20 [banter5]
21 Larry / Into the Mystic
22 I’m Allowed
23 [encore break]
24 Don’t Forget Me
25 [banter – Butterscotch tease]
26 Staples
27 Kitchen Door
28 You’ll Never Catch Him
29 [banter – thanks for coming]
30 Sodajerk

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Buffalo Tom, visit their website, and purchase Skins from the front page of their website.

Low: April 27, 2011 Bowery Ballroom – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

May 2, 2011
By


[Photos by wagz2it and courtesy of A Heart Is A Spade]

Low are perhaps the best musical example of the value of speaking softly.  Since 1993, they have been playing perfectly expressed, understated American music with a deftness and grace that eludes all but the very best artists.  Much is made of the fact that, throughout a musical period where brash, loud and reckless are the touchstones of popular indie bands, they have won legions of fans with songs that are none of those things.  Indeed, their songs are tightly written concoctions; their primary strength lies in the singular vocal harmonies of guitarist Alan Sparhawk and drummer Mimi Parker, who plays a limited set of drums standing up. But really, being different is not what makes Low stand out.  What makes people pay attention to them – to cause them to watch their entire 90-minute performance in stunned rapture, punctuated only by bouts of furious applause – is what should always make people pay attention to anything.  That is, that they are excellent at what they do, phenomenally talented, dedicated and musically almost perfect (one little false start notwithstanding).  Although the band have many, many fine albums under their collective belt at this point, their recent release C’mon nonetheless represents another high watermark for the band, as it is not only contains some amazing new numbers like “Witches” and the expansive rocker “Nothing But Heart,” but is flawlessly recorded in an old church that captures the warmth of the band’s sound ideally.

This being a Wednesday night, the band was rewarded with an attentive and devoted Bowery Ballroom crowd that watched Sparhawk, Parker and bassist Steve Garrington give a majestic performance that was one of the best I have seen in my entire life.  What struck me most about Low was their level of control; Sparhawk and Parker are a seamless vocal instrument, such as on the lovely first encore, “Sunflower” from 2001’s Things We Lost In the Fire, and their command of their material a pleasure to watch unfold in the live setting.  The venue was ideal for the band – intimate enough for us to be able to hang on every word, but large enough to let them unleash the power of their more soaring songs, including the epic quiet/loud combo on their second encore, “When I Go Deaf”.  That they played a second encore is a sign of what a rich and outstanding show this was; everything was going right. At a quiet show like this, you often worry about people not paying attention, talking, and generally distracting other listeners; Low don’t seem to have that problem. It is impossible to be torn away. Sometimes, there is value in speaking softly.

I recorded this set with the DPA microphones in my usual location in the venue with a hand-built analog preamp for added warmth and detail. Because the band was playing very quietly at certain points, there are some moments of perceptible hiss from both the venue PA and my equipment, as well as some spots of light wind noise from the venue’s HVAC system that are almost never audible during louder shows.  Despite these minor flaws, I think this is overall an excellent recording and a great capture of the evening  (including the very respectful and very enthusiastic crowd).

 

Download the MP3 and FLAC files on the Live Music Archive [HERE]

Follow acidjack on Twitter

Low
2011-04-27
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

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

Equipment: DPA 4021>Oade M248>Sony PCM-M10 (24/44.1)
Position: Slightly ROC, clamp to balcony rail, pointed at stacks
Mastering: 24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (set fades, amplify and balance, select noise reduction, smooth peaks, hard limit clapping, balance and amplify individual tracks, amplify entire performance, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 1:27:24]

01 Point of Disgust
02 Breaker
03 Try to Sleep
04 You See Everything
05 Monkey
06 Silver Rider
07 Witches
08 Especially Me
09 Last Snowstorm of the Year
10 $20
11 Majesty/Magic
12 Nightingale
13 Nothing But Heart
14 Something’s Turning Over
15 [false start]
16 Murderer
17 [encore break 1]
18 Sunflower
19 Violent Past
20 Cue the Strings
21 [encore break 2]
22 When I Go Deaf

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Low, like them on Facebook, and purchase C’mon directly from SubPop Records [HERE]

She Keeps Bees: April 16, 2011 Music Hall of Williamsburg – Flac and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

April 30, 2011
By


[photos by Amanda Hatfield]

We have seen She Keeps Bees five times in the last year, and they have never failed to deliver the goods. Of the 12 bands at our 2010 CMJ show, they were perhaps the best received of all the excellent acts. She Keeps Bees opening set at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Thursday last was no exception. Due to the sound mix up in the balcony, Jessica’s vocals were not as prominent as usual, but this gave us the opportunity to focus on Andy’s precise percussion work. As the entirety of the “rhythm section”, the drums in this duo are crucial — to keep the time but also to fill the gaps between Jessica’s vocal flourishes. As She Keeps Bees continues to impress and develop a much-deserved reputation for excellent performances, the duo anticipate a productive 2011. Dig On will be released in the Summer, and much touring will follow. We’ll tweet the dates when we have them.

I recorded this set in the same manner as the Sharon Van Etten set, and the sound quality is clear, but we would have preferred a greater vocal presence in the house mix. Enjoy!

Download and stream the complete show [HERE].

https://archive.org/details/she-keeps-bees-2011-04-16.nyctaper

She Keeps Bees
2011-04-16
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Audience Recording
Recorded from Balcony Rail
Far Right 15 feet from Stacks

Neumann KM-150s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 24bit 48kHz wav file > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2011-04-29

Setlist:
[Total Time 27:02]
01 [introduction]
02 Release
03 [banter1]
04 Make It Easy
05 [banter2]
06 I Don’t Believe You
07 [banter3]
08 Gimme
09 Ribbon
10 [banter4]
11 [new song]
12 New Seed
13 [banter5]
14 [new song2]
15 [banter6]
16 Cold Eye

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT She Keeps Bees, visit their website, and purchase their excellent releases from their Bandcamp Page [HERE].

Freshkills: April 20, 2011 Mercury Lounge – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

April 28, 2011
By


[Freshkills live at Glasslands on October 24, 2010. Photos used courtesy of Jackie Roman Photography]

Brooklyn’s Freshkills (named after the infamous Staten Island landfill) play the type of dark, high-tempo, Joy Division and Dischord influenced post-punk that goes extremely well with things that are bad for you – a bottle of vodka, a cigarette, and a pissed-off attitude – and the need to let out whatever demon led you to them that day. Although their music is aggressive, it is also extremely fun to listen to live, with accessible hooks and melodies. This show at Mercury Lounge, on an excellent bill that also featured The Pipettes and Les Sans Culottes, showed them in top form. Sloppy hardcore this is not. The band is readying a new record for release, including the first single “The Bigger Man”, which you can listen to at A Heart Is A Spade (as well as the live version below). We look forward to seeing more from Freshkills, and the new album!

hi and lo recorded this set from our usual spot in the venue with Schoeps microphones and an excellent soundboard feed from Kyle at Mercury Lounge. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Download and stream the complete show [HERE].

https://archive.org/details/freshkills2011-04-20.matrix

Freshkills
Mercury Theater
New York, NY, US
2011-04-20

Recorded by hi and lo for nyctaper.com
Source : Schoeps MK5 (cardioid)>CMBI + Soundboard > Tascam DR-680 @ 24 bit / 44.1 kHz
Edit: WaveLab V5.01b (normalize, parallel compression, mixdown)
Dither: Mbit+ Ultra (16 bit, Normal)
Final Format: 16 bit, 44.1 kHz
Tracking: CD-Wave v1.97
Encoding: FLAC v1.2.1 (Level 8 ) with TLH v2.6.0 (Build 168)

Tracklist [Time 33:38]
01. Intro
02. Opposing Teams
03. Why Are You So Unforgiving?
04. Positive Vibes
05. Child We Almost Had
06. The Wolves That Raised You
07. Hotels
08. The Bigger Man
09. New Folksongs For New Buildings

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Freshkills, visit their website, and purchase their official releases through the links on their website [HERE]

Local H: April 21, 2011 Mercury Lounge – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

April 26, 2011
By


[Local H live at The Riot Room, Kansas City, MO in 2008.  Photos courtesy of Todd Zimmer.  See his Flickr stream [HERE]]

The Chicago power duo Local H are a bit of a rock n’ roll time capsule.  Although they formed in 1987, the band first hit the mainstream in the the post-Cobain years with their 1996 FM smash “Bound for the Floor”, which couldn’t help but remind alt-rock fans of their departed hero. The album that featured the single, As Good As Dead, generated several more radio classics, including “Eddie Vedder” and “High-Fiving MF”.  Back in those days – when the major labels still controlled all the levers of artistic success – the only upward route was successful radio singles, big debut record, land the followup.  Like a lot of bands in the late 90s, Local H found themselves caught in the drama of the devolution of the record industry, and their followup to As Good As Dead – Pack Up the Cats – languished more as a result of big-label intrigue than of artistic decline.  Unlike many of their peers, Local H didn’t give up, and went on to have a career that has been marked by legendary live shows.  This set at Mercury Lounge, part of a “Singles Tour” celebrating The Island Years, a forthcoming “best-of” of sorts from their 90s output on Island Records, read like a career retrospective, from early songs like “Mayonnaise & Malaise” to the forthcoming single “Cold Matter.”

As to the “time capsule” comment, it was striking, from the band’s earlier material, how different the concerns of artists were in the 90s versus today.  Lyrically, many of these numbers could easily be touchstones of the era from which they came.  Songs that confront issues like the struggle for authenticity, the worry that your shows are being overrun by meatheads (“High Fiving MF”), and the “one-hit wonder” phenomenon seem quaint in today’s car-commercial-driven era, where even one FM radio hit is an unthinkable luxury and most bands are happy to give away their records to fans on bandcamp, let alone worry about what happens to their follow-up on a major label.  Local H may be of an earlier time, but as this show demonstrated, they still have plenty to say.  The night ended with a searing tribute, a cover of TV on the Radio‘s “Wolf Like Me,” in honor of the recently departed Gerard Smith, who died of lung cancer.

Clearly, Local H have some singles left in them.

hi and lo and I recorded this set with a combination of four Schoeps microphones from our usual spot in the venue. Because the band does not permit soundboard recordings, we used only the audience mics, but Kyle’s excellent mix comes through nicely.  There are some rowdier moments of crowd noise, but they only serve to add to the experience.  Enjoy!

Stream “Eddie Vedder”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/L2014LocalH2110/13 Eddie Vedder.mp3]

Stream “Wolf Like Me”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/L2014LocalH2110/21 Wolf Like Me.mp3]

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

Follow acidjack on Twitter

Local H
2011-04-21
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY  USA

Four Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded by acidjack and hi and lo for nyctaper.com
Produced by acidjack

Equipment: Schoeps Mk5 (cardiod)>CMBi+Schoeps Mk41>CMC6>>Tascam DR-680 (24/44.1)
Position: At soundboard, slightly ROC, pointed at stacks, mics at approx 7ft.
Mastering: 2x24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (adjust levels, mixdown, set fades, EQ, tracking, amplify and balance)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 1:28:41]
01 Fritz’s Corner
02 All The Kids Are Right
03 Cynic
04 Half-Life
05 Tag Along
06 Twenty-Four Breakup Session
07 All Right Oh Yeah
08 Another February
09 High-Fiving MF
10 [banter]
11 Everyone Alive
12 Michelle (Again)
13 Eddie Vedder
14 Mayonnaise & Malaise
15 Hands on the Bible
16 California Songs
17 [banter]
18 Cold Matter
19 Joey [Concrete Blonde]
20 Bound For the Floor
21 Wolf Like Me [TV On the Radio]

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Local H, visit their website, and pre-order The Island Years from Amazon [HERE]

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