[photo courtesy of podbay]

In their twenty-five year existence, Buffalo Tom has run the gamut of band identities — from late-80s up-and-comers taken under the wing of Dinosaur Jr., to early-mid 90s major label alt-rock juggernaut, to early an 00s hiatus, and ultimately as a current rejuvenated success story. At a packed Mercury Lounge for last Thursday’s early show, the Tom revealed that early 2011 will see the release of a new album. Several new songs were unveiled throughout the set, including rockers “Guilty Girls” and “Down”, and the quality of the new material holds up well to the classics featured during the show — “Taillights Fade”, “Sodajerk” and “Staples” (streaming below). Bill spent much of the show engaged in comedic and good-natured banter with the crowd, who sang along throughout the show. As a band that’s truly comfortable in their skin, Buffalo Tom shows no signs of moving onto any nostalgia phase, but continue to make engaging and relevant music.

I recorded this set with the four microphone rig placed at the front right corner of the soundboard booth. While there is some chatter during the quieter numbers, the rich bass presence and vocal clarity of this recording make it an excellent listen. Enjoy!

Stream “Staples”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/B1811BuffaloTom2010/Buffalo%20Tom%20-%20Staples%20(Live)%202010-11-18.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Buffalo Tom
2010-11-18
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY USA

Four-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Front of Soundboard Booth

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
2010-11-21

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:25:01]
01 Rachael
02 Guilty Girls
03 [banter]
04 Larry
05 I’m Allowed
06 Tree House
07 [banter]
08 Summer
09 [banter]
10 Arise, Watch
11 Think About It
12 You’ll Never Catch Him
13 [banter]
14 Kitchen Door
15 [Cortez The Killer intro]
16 Taillights Fade
17 Staples
18 [banter]
19 Frozen Lake
20 [banter]
21 Clobbered
22 [banter]
23 Down
24 Crutch
25 [encore break]
26 Tangerine
27 Sodajerk
28 Late At Night
29 [banter]
30 Death Party [Gun Club]

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Buffalo Tom, visit their website, and purchase their official releases from the Store at their website [HERE] or from the New West Records website [HERE].

[photo by nyctaper]

In his thirty years in the music industry, Richard Barone has played just about every role imaginable — singer, writer, producer, director, promoter, musical director, and author. Last Saturday, he returned to the place where it all began, Maxwell’s. Barone led the very first band to perform in the venue in 1980, and his Bongos appeared there more than any other band over the years. The occasion last weekend was the release of Richard’s album Glow. Co-produced by the legendary Tony Visconti, Glow is a stunning achievement — his first studio album in seventeen years and an album which rivals the pop brilliance of his best work, 1987’s Cool Blue Halo. The show opened with the first two tracks from the album, and for the next seventy minutes, the crowd was treated to much of the new material along with career highlights. The set also contained three Bongos songs, including “Numbers With Wings” (streaming below) and the classic “Barbarella” as the encore. Several times, Richard noted the outstanding performance of his band, which includes long time collaborator Nick Celeste, and the excellent electric violinist Deni Bonet. Richard Barone is currently on tour, but returns to NYC on December 1, for a special show at St. Mark’s Church in the East Village.

We recorded this set as we do most of the captures from Maxwells, with the mic stand mounted inside the right front corner of the soundboard booth and mixed with a soundboard feed. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Stream “Numbers With Wings”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/R1312RichardBarone1020/Richard%20Barone%20Numbers%20With%20Wings%20(Live)%202010-11-13.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Richard Barone
2010-11-13
Maxwell’s
Hoboken, NJ USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + DPA 4021s > 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
2010-11-18

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:09:50]
01 [introduction]
02 Gravity’s Pull
03 Glow
04 [banter]
05 Girl (T Rex)
06 Tiger Nights
07 Odd Girl Out
08 [banter]
09 I Belong To Me
10 Flew A Falcon
11 Radio Silence
12 Satellite of Love (Lou Reed)
13 River To River
14 Its Only Love (Beatles)
15 [banter]
16 Candied Babes
17 Numbers With Wings
18 [banter/band introductions]
19 Yet Another Midnight
20 Glow
21 Barbarella

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Richard Barone, visit his website, and purchase Glow from the Bar-None Records website [HERE].

[Screenshots provided by West Egg Productions]

Until recently, ARMS was the solo project of Brooklyn’s Todd Goldstein, who until last year was the guitarist in the now-defunct band Harlem Shakes.  Now, Goldstein has assembled a full band to help him realize his vision.  Goldstein’s songs are emotional, melodic parables of heartbreak and longing, framed around his distinctive vocals.  Goldstein’s music has a verifiable emo bent, and he doesn’t shy from the type of melodramatic vocal turns that are uncommon in today’s present shoegaze revival.  The result is songs that are surprisingly soundtrack-ready (any rom-com would be lucky to have these tunes), and if not out of step with the current moment, certainly not overly concerned with it.  This performance, as part of the “Brunch After Dark” show by our friends at the Backyard Brunch Sessions, was a fine introduction to the band, with ARMS covering a range of their material, including from their self-titled EP available for free download right now on their MySpace page.   These songs were well suited to the big chaotic room – they force you to pay attention.  That was important on this particular night, as ARMS had the unenviable task of closing out the show at the end of a five-act bill on a Tuesday night.  The crowd that stayed were more than fairly rewarded.

ARMS are currently in the studio recording their second full length, Summer Skills, which they promise to deliver later this month.

I recorded this set with a high-quality soundboard feed from the Brooklyn Bowl staff, as well as the Schoeps microphones.  The recording heavily emphasizes the board feed due to the distance of the mics from the stage and my desire to minimize the sounds of talking, bowling and the other non-music activities going on during the show.  The sound quality is excellent, albeit with a bit less room ambiance than I personally prefer.  Enjoy!

Stream “Fleeced”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/A0811ARMS0210/ARMS-Fleeced2010-11-08.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

ARMS
2010-11-08
Brunch After Dark
Brooklyn Bowl
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Equipment: Soundboard+Schoeps CMC641>Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) (24/48)
Position: At soundboard, slightly ROC, 12? up
Mastering: 2×24bit/48kHz WAV>Audacity (EQ, mixdown, set fades, limit peaks, tracking, amplify and balance, downsample to 16bit/44.1kHz)>FLAC (level 8 )

Tracks
01 Tiger Tamer
02 Dog Days
03 Fleeced
04 High Heels
05 Floaters
06 banter
07 Emily Sue, Cont’d
08 Sore
09 banter
10 Face Gravity
11 banter
12 Heat & Hot Water

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT ARMS, visit their website (where you can download their EP for free), and purchase their music from your preferred retailer.

[iPhone 4 photo by acidjack]

After a fantastic outing last month at the Backyard Brunch Sessions, we were excited to come out on a Saturday night and see our friends The Loom close out their Autumn tour with a more typical “electric” set at Bowery Ballroom.  Thanks to some positive mentions from The New York Times and a fantastic outing at CMJ, culminating in Brooklynvegan’s famed invite-only loft show (not to mention their sustained and high-quality efforts), the band packed the house for their opening set.  The treated the crowd to several new songs (including several from the Backyard Brunch set) as well as numbers from their At Last Light EP.  They may be a folk-oriented band, but The Loom rocked the hell out of Bowery Ballroom anyway; songs like “Snowed In” and “Helen” filled the room with their kinetic energy.  This is a band that belongs on your radar – musicians with skill, integrity, poise and damn fine new songs.  Don’t miss The Loom’s soon-to-be-released debut full-length, Teeth.

I recorded this set with the DPA microphones clamped at the balcony on an even level with the sound staff.  Although I positioned the microphones in a wider pickup pattern than I otherwise would have due to the expectation of a soundboard feed that I ultimately did not get, the recording still has excellent clarity and balance, although unfortunately the mics picked up some distracting chatter on the left side.

Stream “Snowed In”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/L0505Loom1111/TheLoom-SnowedIn2010-11-13.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

The Loom
2010-11-13
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY  USA

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

Equipment: DPA 4021>Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) (24/48)
Position: Clamp to left side of soundboard on balcony, LOC, extension arm extended right and on level with sound team’s ears, ORTF
Mastering: 24bit/48kHz WAV>Audacity (set fades, tracking, EQ, amplify and balance, smooth peaks, downsample to 16/44.1)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 The Middle Distance
02 Snowed In
03 The First Freeze
04 True Believers All
05 Like Lamp Glow
06 Song For the Winter Sun
07 For the Hooves That Gallop and the Heels That March
08 Helen

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Loom, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their debut EP At Last Light from the links on their MySpace page, and keep an eye out for Teeth.

[Photo from SXSW by Matthew Solarski.  See his Flickr stream here]

We last checked in with Philadelphia’s A Sunny Day in Glasgow back in March, when they treated us to an excellent set at Bell House.  Since then, the band has toured extensively in the U.S. and abroad, and found the time to produce an excellent followup to their last release, the Nitetime Rainbows EP, with the dreamy Autumn, Again.  Annie Fredrickson and Jen Goma continue to tighten their vocal harmonies, and the band’s show this time around felt a bit tighter overall, too, perhaps owing to the heavy touring.  Autumn feels even less like a rock record than Nitetime and its predecessor, the critically acclaimed Ashes Grammar, but that doesn’t stop these songs from sufficiently rocking live, especially my personal favorite of the new numbers, “Drink Drank Drunk,” and “Sigh, Inhibitionist,” which the band also previewed at the Bell House show.  We hope to see this excellent band continue to grow their fan base – and the fact that they are giving away Autumn, Again for FREE until the end of Autumn shouldn’t hurt any.  If you do download the album, please make a donation – the band members can’t eat good reviews, and the money will be used exclusively to produce more music.

I recorded this set from my usual spot in the venue with the Schoeps microphones.  The sound quality is excellent.  Enjoy!

Stream “Drink Drank Drunk”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/A2309ASDIG0102/ASDIG-DrinkDrankDrunk2010-10-26.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

A Sunny Day in Glasgow
2010-10-26
Knitting Factory
Brooklyn, NY  USA

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

Equipment: Schoeps CMC641>Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) (24/44.1)
Position: Clamp to right of soundboard, mics pointed at stacks, 7.5ft
Mastering: 24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (EQ, tracking, set fades, amplify and balance, downsample to 16bit)>FLAC ( level 8 )

01 Failure
02 Passionate Introverts (Dinosaurs)
03 Nitetime Rainbows
04 banter
05 [new]
06 The White Witch
07 [unknown]
08 So Bloody, So Tight
09 [new]
10 Drink Drank Drunk
11 Sigh, Inhibitionist
12 Shy

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT A Sunny Day in Glasgow, visit their website, and download Autumn Again or buy it on vinyl directly from the band here.