[photo courtesy of Rethink]

I was introduced to The Courtesy Tier through our friends at Backyard Brunch Sessions, so while I knew they wrote excellent songs, I didn’t realize how hard they could actually rock.  The duo of Omer Liebovitz on vocals and guitar and Layton Weedeman on drums and backing vox plays heavy, 70s-inspired rock that, even at 1:30 in the afternoon, had the power get people out of their seats.  We could not have asked for a better act to kick off the NYCTaper Unofficial CMJ Day Party – guys with great attitudes, stellar music and an obvious love of what they do.  Each of the four songs in this short set is a standout, perhaps none moreso than the closer, “Cold,” which the band also did an acoustic version of during their Backyard Brunch set.  The band should be introducing their first full-length record to the world soon.  We recommend you give it a listen, along with the singles and EPs available for sale at their website.

I recorded this set with the DPA microphones connected to a stud on the ceiling directly in front of the stage, combined with a soundboard feed for the vocals.  The results are outstanding.  Enjoy!  We recorded all 12 sets at the NYCTaper show, and will post them all soon.

Stream “Cold”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/C1070CourtesyTier2211/CourtesyTier-Cold.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Courtesy Tier
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: Clamp directly above stage, ORTF
Mastering: 2×24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, set fades, tracking, amplify and balance)>FLAC ( level 8 )

01 Buddy Casey
02 banter
03 Preaches
04 Hey Bee
05 banter
06 Cold

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Courtesy Tier, visit their website, and purchase their debut EP Map and a Marker from the links at the Music Section of their website [HERE].

[photo courtesy of Amanda Hatfield]

When we saw She Keeps Bees in May at Mercury Lounge, we knew immediately that we had to have the band at our CMJ show. The most compelling aspects of the band were on display that May night — Jess’s raw guitar and impassioned vocals and Andy’s ferocious drumming. Fortunately, Jess and Andy accepted our invitation several months ago. At Rock Shop two weeks back, although their opening set for Sharon Van Etten’s CD release show was short, the energetic and authentic set confirmed what we believed in May — She Keeps Bees is the real deal.

At our CMJ show tomorrow, She Keeps Bees is scheduled to perform at 4:30 pm. Come and check them out!

I recorded this set as I have all Rock Shop shows — a soundboard feed mixed with microphones on a stand in front of the booth. This time I used the Neumann’s. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Stream “Release”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/S5001SheKeepsBees0210/She%20Keeps%20Bees%202010-10-08%20RELEASE.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

She Keeps Bees
2010-10-08
The Rock Shop
Brooklyn, 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
2010-10-19

Setlist:
[Total Time 25:51]
01 Release
02 [banter]
03 Wear Red
04 [banter]
05 Gimme
06 I Don’t Believe You
07 [banter]
08 Make It Easy
09 Ribbon
10 [banter]
11 [new song]
12 [banter]
13 New Seed

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

[photo for nyctaper by PP]

We saw Dan Deacon several times in 2007-08, including a very small venue (Pianos) and a large one (McCarren Pool), and came away completely unmoved. I felt that the performance was too much about the experience and too little about the music. For a composer who is not only formally trained, but also founded his own music collective, this stage of Dan’s career seemed entirely counter-intuitive. In 2009 with the release of Bromst, The Dan Deacon Ensemble restructured Dan’s musical vision and the live show became more oriented towards musical expression. At Ridgewood Masonic Temple on Friday night, the Ensemble worked through some early technical difficulties to deliver a phenomenal set of their powerful avant electronic orchestral music. The venue was packed to the walls, and hot as heck inside the main room, but the animated crowd showed both patience and a high amount of energy throughout Deacon’s set. While Dan expressed some frustration and stress regarding the technical issues and the overall cacophony in the room, once the music began the performer relaxed and delivered some astoundingly rich musical soundscapes while the crowd moved in unison to the hypnotic beats.

We recorded this set with the Neumann’s mounted about 100 feet from the stage, but mixed the room mics with a soundboard feed. While the sound is not ideal, the overall mix provided a good feel for the music that evening. Enjoy!

Stream “Get Older”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/D1510Deacon1020/Dan%20Deacon%202010-10-15%20GET%20OLDER.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Dan Deacon Ensemble
2010-10-15
Ridgewood Masonic Temple
Brooklyn, 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
2010-10-17

Setlist:
[Total Time 44:19]
01 Get Older
02 [banter]
03 Paddling Ghost
04 [banter]
05 Konono Rebuff No 1
06
07
08 [banter]
09 Baltihorse
10 [band introductions]

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Dan Deacon, visit his website, and purchase Bromst from Carpark Records [HERE].

The Loom have been consistent favorites of this site almost since its inception.  Their intricate arrangements and stellar musicianship truly shine in the live setting, and the band members’ dedication and good attitudes never go unnoticed.  Going into the CMJ Music Festival this week, they have already been hailed in the New York Times as a “next big thing”, especially if your indie rock proclivities lean toward the folkier side of things.  We couldn’t agree more.

One of the best aspects of the Backyard Brunch Sessions is that these stripped down sets rapidly expose musicians one way or the other – the mediocre bands cannot hide behind technology, while the elemental talents of the great ones are all the more obvious.  The Loom, clearly, are the real deal, an act greater than the sum of extremely talented parts.  Sarah Renfro and John Fanning’s vocals were spot-on, and bassist Dan Desloover showed off his talents on a home-made upright bass (made of a wash basin) that he cobbled together especially for the occasion.  There was not a weak moment in their set, though I was perhaps most captivated by the elegant rendition of “The First Freeze” that even some, er, “local antics” (listen to the banter track) could not disrupt.  We wish The Loom a great success this week at CMJ and beyond.  They have a new album on the way shortly – don’t miss it – as well as shows coming up at several local venues.

I recorded this set with six microphones strategically placed around the band, with Schoeps hypercardiods targeting vocals and guitars, DPA cardiods picking up the horns, bass and percussion, and DPA omnidirectional mics picking up more percussion and the overall sound of the yard.  The sound quality is among my favorite of all of my recordings.  Enjoy!

Stream “The First Freeze”

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

The Loom
2010-10-10
Backyard Brunch Sessions
Brooklyn, NY  USA

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

Equipment:
Schoeps CMC641+DPA 4021>Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) (24/44.1)
DPA 4061>Naiant littlebox>Sony PCM-M10 (24/44.1)
Position: Schoeps on vocals and guitars, 4061s “onstage”, 4021s spot mic’ing horns, drums and bass
Mastering: 6×24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (hard limit some peaks, compress some peaks, pan channels, balancing, mixdown, downsample to 16bit)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 intro
02 A Song of Faint Praise
03 Snowed In
04 banter
05 Like Lamp Glow
06 banter
07 The First Freeze
08 For the Hooves That Gallop and the Heels that March
09 banter
10 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 their new album.

[photos by acidjack]

When we suggested to our friends at the Backyard Brunch Sessions that they showcase a Danish electro-pop artist that we had previously raved about on this site, we were met with a bit of skepticism.  Nobody was sure that the band’s reliance on densely layered electronics could be abandoned for the acoustic backyard setting.  We insisted that the quality of Oh Land’s songs – and her incipient star power (you may have seen her recently in Vogue, Nylon or Style.com lately) – were worth it.  Truth be told, our hosts did compromise a little – Nanna Øland Fabricius and her band did bring along a few plug-in items.  And, as we predicted, they gave us a stunning set that was radically different than anything that had been in this Bushwick backyard before.   For this show, the band specially rehearsed heavily reworked versions of the songs that wowed us at Brooklyn Bowl back in June, and have since played to Fashion Week crowds at private gigs, and at opening gigs for Mates of State in the U.S.  Squeezed together on a park bench, surrounded by a drum, omnichords, a toy keyboard, and a mixer, these semi-acoustic versions gave a new dimension to each of Nanna’s songs.  This unique set will not likely be repeated again, and even better, it included a new song that we had not heard before, “Rainbow.”  We expect the band to be back to their more “traditional” setup when they play another BBS-related show at Brooklyn Bowl on November 8, which will also feature The Canon Logic, Arms, The Courtesy Tier, and Fatty Acid.  Expect to see an EP from Oh Land released stateside in October on Epic Records.

I recorded this set by mic’ing Nanna with small DPA omnidirectional mics on her collar, and two DPA cardiod mics (Danish mics for a Danish singer, I suppose) placed on either side of the musicians.  Despite some occasional mild handling noise from Nanna’s hair brushing the mic surface, the recording is outstanding. Enjoy!

Stream “White Nights”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/O0627OhLand0210/OhLand-WhiteNights_acidjack2010-10-10.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Oh Land
2010-10-10
Backyard Brunch Sessions
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Equipment: DPA 4061+DPA 4021>Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) (24/44.1)
Position: 4061s on singer’s lapel, 4021s spot-mic’d left/right side of “stage”
Mastering: 2×24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, amplify, balance, hard limit peaks, tracking, downsample)>FLAC Level 8

Tracks
01 Rainbow
02 Sun of a Gun
03 White Nights
04 banter
05 Wolf and I

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Oh Land, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their forthcoming Epic Records release as well as Fauna, which is most easily purchased in the U.S. on iTunes.