[Photo by Pooneh Ghana.  See her Flickr stream here]

When we recorded Diamond Rings back at a ToddP show in July, we said we were witnessing a rising star in the making.  After a CMJ this year that saw his performances regularly packed (including this one), this one-man-band (John O’Regan of Toronto, Canada) is well on his way to being a household name.  Regan’s glammed-up, synth-driven songs are instantly catchy – witness the bouncy “On Our Own” or the more melancholy lead-off track of this set, “Wait and See”.   O’Regan’s songs have an obvious ’80s influence – he could easily share a stage with Depeche Mode, New Order, The Cure or even the Smiths and not feel out of place.  Although there is also a definite back-to-the-future aspect to his androgynous look, O’Regan’s star quality reminds me of someone quite current – Lady Gaga.  He has risen on the indie circuit, sure, but O’Regan has the broader potential to be a pop artist in the best sense – someone whose music is honest, interesting and accessible, but who isn’t afraid of attention.  No wonder Diamond Rings is a one-person act – O’Regan is incandescent on his own.  We thank Diamond Rings for sharing our unofficial CMJ day party with us this year, and encourage you to check out his new record, Special Affections, before your friends are telling you all about it six months from now.

I recorded this set in the same manner as our other CMJ sets.  This type of music is somewhat easy to record anyway, but even given that, this recording is truly flawless.  I only wish, as with all of our CMJ sets, that it were longer!  Enjoy!

Stream “On Our Own”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/D1807DiamondRings2211/DiamondRings-OnOurOwn2010-10-21.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Diamond Rings
2010-10-21
NYCTaper CMJ Day Party
Cake Shop
New York, NY

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

Equipment: DPA 4021+Stereo soundboard feed>Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) (24/44.1)
Position: Mount above and slightly in front of stage stage, ORTF
Mastering: 2×24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, set fades, tracking, amplify and balance)>FLAC Level 8

01 Wait and See
02 On Our Own
03 You Oughta Know
04 [banter]
05 Something Else

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Diamond Rings, visit the website, visit the MySpace page, and purchase Special Affections from the Secret City Records [HERE].

[Photo courtesy of Andrew Gardner]

NYCTaper favorites Common Prayer were a much-appreciated addition to the NYCTaper Unofficial CMJ Day Party.   Frontman Jason Russo has been involved in a number of other outstanding projects, from psych-rockers Hopewell to the legendary Mercury Rev, but Common Prayer have a unique appeal, with excellent songcraft that has a radio-ready pop immediacy (including on the song “Hopewell”, a reference to both the town of Hopewell, NY and Russo’s other band). Russo and partner Alexandra Marvar’s songs have an exuberant, whimsical quality that evidences a bit of the British influence I also heard in Mercury Rev.  In addition to three other songs from their new record There Is A Mountain, the band closed out with a very special rendition of the Talking Heads’ “Love-Building On Fire.”  These songs have stayed stuck in my head for days (no small feat considering the $3 Sixpoint beers flowing throughout our event!).  For more Common Prayer, check out the band’s recent set at Rock Shop, also recorded in excellent quality, as well.  Enjoy!

I recorded this set in the same manner as our other CMJ Day Party sets, with the DPA mics mounted just in front of and above the stage and a stereo soundboard feed.  The sound is once again outstanding (with a couple of small spots of interference from the band’s cell phones).

Stream “Hopewell”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/C1308Common1020/CommonPrayer-Hopewell2010-10-21.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Common Prayer
2010-10-21
NYCTaper CMJ Day Party
Cakeshop
New York, NY

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

Equipment: DPA 4021+Stereo soundboard feed>Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) (24/44.1)
Position: Mount above and slightly in front of stage, ORTF
Mastering: 2×24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, set fades, tracking, hard limit peaks, amplify and balance)>FLAC ( level 8 )

01 Marriage Song
02 Hopewell
03 Us Vs. Them
04 Sarah G
05 Love-Building On Fire [Talking Heads]

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Common Prayer, visit their website, and purchase There is a Mountain from the links at their website.

[photo courtesy of Amanda Hatfield]

At the Thursday night Mercury Lounge show, John Darnielle described The Extra Lens material as the songs that he has written that amuse bandmate Franklin Bruno. Although the songs certainly resemble Darnielle’s Mountain Goats material (with three “Going to…” titles), The Extra Lens songs do move lyrically towards a lighter and more satiric tone. Last week, the band released Undercard — their first album in eight years — and the Mercury setlist began with mostly the new material but covered most of the band’s output and even included a few Mountain Goats songs. Highlights included early single “I Hear The Planets”, first album closer “Going to Marrakesh” (streaming below) and their cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Memories” (also from the first album) that featured John mingling among the crowd. Darnielle will return to NYC with the Mountain Goats this coming Spring.

The set was captured in the same manner as the Vanderslice recording, and the sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Stream “Going to Marrakesh”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/M1616MountainGoats8080/The%20Extra%20Lens%20GOING%20TO%20MARRAKESH%202010-10-21.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Extra Lens
2010-10-21
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Neumann KM-150s > 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
2009-10-25

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:06:06]
01 [introduction]
02 The River Song
03 [tuning/banter]
04 Adultery
05 Rockin’ Rockin’ Twilight Of The Gods
06 [banter]
07 Baltimore
08 Ambivalent Landscape Z
09 Dogs of Clinic 17
10 [banter]
11 Programmed Cell Death
12 I Hear The Planets
13 Going to Marrakesh
14 [banter]
15 Only Existing Footage
16 [banter]
17 How I Left The Ministry
18 Cruiserweights
19 [banter]
20 Infidelity
21 Going To Michigan
22 Carmen Cicero
23 Houseguest
24 [encore break]
25 Memories (Leonard Cohen)

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Extra Lens, visit their artist page at the Merge Records website, and purchase Undercard from the Merge Records website [HERE].

[photo courtesy of Chris LaPutt and brooklynvegan]

I first saw Soft Black at Blake Luley’s Gaza Benefit Show this summer, and I was instantly blown away by frontman Vincent Cacchione’s well-crafted songs that married garage riffs to folk-tinged vocals.  I decided to invite the band to play our NYCTaper Unofficial CMJ Day Party that same night.  A large crowd turned up for Soft Black despite a set time in the middle of the day.  For a minute there, we were worried that they wouldn’t even have a chance to play; the band’s drummer and bassist were missing and Cake Shop was adamant about keeping sets on-time (as another showcase was scheduled that night).  Rather than waste time, Cacchione gave the audience a treat, delivering a solo rendition of one of the band’s best songs, “Ashtray Christ”, followed by a new number, “And I Walked Along” that is set to appear on the band’s forthcoming record.  Cacchione began the song solo, with the band members (still minus the bassist) joining midstream for maximum impact.   By the time the rocking “I Am An Animal” was played, the full band was onstage.  Although the set ended too soon (albeit with a great version of “The Girl Who Ate Her Own Heart”), Soft Black’s set was undeniably a success.

I recorded this set in the same manner as The Courtesy Tier recording, with the DPA microphones mounted to the ceiling just in front of the stage and a soundboard feed.  As with that recording, the sound quality is outstanding.  Enjoy!

Stream “And I Walked Along”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/S0087SoftBlack2010/SoftBlack-AndIWalkedAlong2010-10-21.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Soft Black
2010-10-21
NYCTaper CMJ Day Party
Cake Shop
New York, NY

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

Equipment: DPA 4021+Stereo soundboard feed>Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) (24/44.1)
Position: Clamp directly above stage, ORTF
Mastering: 2×24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, set fades, tracking, amplify and balance)>FLAC ( level 8 )

01 Ashtray Christ
02 And I Walked Along
03 banter
04 I Am An Animal
05 The Girl Who Ate Her Own Heart

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Soft Black, visit their website, and purchase their records and merchandise directly from their online store here.

[photo courtesy of Amanda Hatfield]

Early in his show on Thursday night at Mercury Lounge, John Vanderslice coaxed an ovation from the crowd for this site and myself. I’ve contended for a while that John is the nicest guy I’ve ever met in the music industry, but this kind of dedication was unexpected, humbling and quite touching. John’s forty-minute set contained similarly good will for the rest of the crowd, as he bantered with fans, told stories, and performed the best of his extensive catalog. The set highlights included “The Parade” (streaming below), my personal request and a song John said he’d only done three times, and the haunting “White Dove”. For the set closing “Numbered Lithograph”, John was joined by Franklin Bruno of Extra Lens who added tasty and well-placed melodic piano lines. Vanderslice will return to NYC in March when he promised a new release on Dead Oceans Records.

I recorded this set with the Neumann microphones on a stand in front of the cage and mixed with a soundboard feed. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Stream “The Parade”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/J8030JohnVanderslice3030/John%20Vanderslice%202010-10-21%20THE%20PARADE.mp3]

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

John Vanderslice
2010-10-21
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Neumann KM-150s > 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
2009-10-23

Setlist:
[Total Time 37:48]
01 [introduction]
02 D.I.A.L.O.
03 [banter]
04 The Parade
05 [banter]
06 Time To Go
07 Scorpio Rising
08 Pale Horse
09 [banter]
10 White Plains
11 Sunken Union Boat
12 Radiant with Terror
13 White Dove
14 [banter]
15 Trance Manual
16 [banter]
17 Numbered Lithograph

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT John Vanderslice, visit his website, and purchase his official releases from the links at his website [HERE].