[photos courtesy of Jonny Leather]

The Loom headlined the latest in the excellent Jonny Leather concert series at Rock Shop on Friday last. The band has completed their debut full length album and performed many of the numbers from this outstanding package. The puzzling aspect is that the album has yet to be picked up by a label. The Loom are a band of superb musicians who write intelligent songs. They are all also quite together people — the kind of artists that should be overwhelmed with suitors. One can only hope that its just a matter of time until a smart indie label works with this band to allow it to reach the wider audience it deserves. At Rock Shop, the Loom’s performance was perhaps tighter than we have ever seen, and John’s vocal harmonies with new member Sarah were in perfect unison. The Loom will return to Rock Shop for a show on Monday September 27.

We recorded this set under the same conditions as the Common Prayer recording and the sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Download and stream the complete show [HERE].

https://archive.org/details/the-loom-2010-08-13.nyctaper

The Loom
2010-08-13
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
2010-08-20

Setlist:
[Total Time 56:22]
01 With Legs
02 The Middle Distance
03 Doldrums
04 True Believers All
05 [banter]
06 A Song of Faint Praise
07 [banter]
08 The First Freeze
09 Song for the Winter Sun
10 Curtain Calls
11 For the Hooves that Gallop
12 Snowed In
13 Helen
14 [encore break]
15 [new song]

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, 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.

[The Royal Chains.  All photos courtesy of Jonny Leather]

Jonny Leather’s excellent bill at Littlefield last month brought back a favorite band from one of his previous shows, the Brooklyn/Nashville duo The Royal Chains, as well as a band I had not seen, NYC’s The Sanctuaries.  As with their excellent performance that I recorded at one of Jonny’s earlier shows, The Royal Chains did not disappoint, trying out some new material that showed off their more melodic and mellow side, such as on “Sea Level/Black City.”

The Sanctuaries have one of those challenging names to Google, but they will give you reasons to find them, with immediate hooks and a wry sense of humor to boot.  The catchy “House of Noise,” which this relatively new band has released on a 7?, promises to be a regular favorite at their shows.  Catch the Sanctuaries this month at Union Pool on August 31, and in Fredonia, NY at The Foxhole.

Please support Jonny Leather and the shows he promotes.  Two ways to learn more are to be his friend on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.

I recorded this set in the same manner as the Medications recording, with a stereo board feed and the Schoeps hypercardiod mics.  Other than some occasional flaws in the board mix, the sound is excellent.  Enjoy!

Download and stream complete show here: [ROYAL CHAINS] / [SANCTUARIES]

https://archive.org/details/rc2010-07-23.acidjack

https://archive.org/details/sanctuaries2010-07-23.acidjack

[Sanctuaries – photo by Jonny Leather]

The Royal Chains
2010-07-23
Littlefield
Brooklyn, NY  USA

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

Equipment: Schoeps CMC641+Stereo Soundboard Feed>Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) (24/44.1)
Position: ROC, at left side of sound booth, mics at 7.5?, pointed at stacks
Mastering: 2×24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, compress peaks, volume adjustments, downsample)>FLAC level 8

Tracks [Total Time 46:18]
01 Major Seven Blues
02 Lucy Takes the Dare
03 [banter]
04 Sea Level/Black City
05 Wolf
06 [banter]
07 Pioneer
08 Stay In Control
09 A Million Fires

Visit The Royal Chains website here.
Purchase their music and merch here.

The Sanctuaries
2010-07-23
Littlefield
Brooklyn, NY  USA

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

Equipment: Schoeps CMC641+Stereo Soundboard Feed>Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) (24/44.1)
Position: ROC, at left side of sound booth, mics at 7.5?, pointed at stacks
Mastering: 2×24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, compression of peaks, set fades, volume adjustments, downsample to 16bit)>FLAC Level 8

Tracks [Total Time 46:18]
01 Queen’s Gambit Declined
02 Brief Encounter
03 House of Noise
04 Hey Brooke
05 Judgin’ You is Easy ‘Cause You’re Easy
06 Young Big Brother
07 Heaven is a Mountain
08 Fooled by Youth
09 I’m Dead Already

Visit The Sanctuaries MySpace page here.
To buy their shirts and 7?, email the band here.

[photo courtesy of Jason House]

At a packed Rock Shop on Friday night, it all came back to O’Death. For a band that has only played literally a handful of shows in the last year, their performance was incredibly energetic and inspired. As the band drew from their entire catalog, the frenzied crowd fully participated in the exchange. A series of obscure request calls resulted in a b-side Pixies cover (“Nimrod’s Son”) and a song (Track 20) that we have never heard. The O’Death standards (including “Down To Rest” streaming below) were all played, and when the band announced the end of the show and traditional “Yonder Christian” set closer was performed, the crowd left with full appreciation that a band almost left for dead was still very much alive and kicking.

I recorded this set with the Neumanns set up in front of the booth and mixed with a feed from the board. The sound in the room and the crowd energy was superb, so that the mix relies more (about 60/40) on the audience feed. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

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

O’Death
2010-08-20
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
2010-08-22

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:10:25]
01 Adelita
02 Only Daughter
03 On An Aching Sea
04 Underwater Nightmare
05 [equipment break]
06 Angeline
07 Spider Home
08 Home
09 Fire On Peshtigo
10 Mountain Shifts
11 Legs To Sin
12 Grey Sun
13 Spitfire
14 [banter]
15 Lowtide
16 [banter/birthday]
17 Down To Rest
18 [banter]
19 Nimrod’s Son (Pixies)
20
21 [banter]
22 Allie Mae Reynolds
23 [banter]
24 Yonder Christian

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT O’Death, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their latest from the Store at the O’Death website [HERE]

[photo courtesy of Greg Aiello]

Its been almost three years since we last saw MGMT. That night they opened up for Fiery Furnaces at Music Hall, and MGMT was soon to sign with a major label and release their outstanding debut Oracular Spectacular (we bought a pre-release copy at their merch table that night). We recorded that 2007 show and passed along a copy to their management with good vibes all around. When the CD was released, accolades and popularity soon followed and the band ultimately received a grammy nomination earlier this year. I’ll admit to losing track of MGMT when they blew up, but a recent post on their Facebook page drew us back in — “we are not restricting audio recording all current shows”. Upon reading that invitation I couldn’t help but hope that their positive experience with our taping three years ago helped open their eyes to the positives of a pro-taping policy. As the band is now on tour to support their new release Congratulations, so I bought a ticket for last night’s show at Radio City. The most striking aspect of the night before the lights went down was the age (or lack thereof) of a large portion of the audience — many early teens and pre-teens with their parents. While I guess this is a sign of mass popularity — two sold-out shows at Radio City nothwithstanding — MGMT didn’t pander to the youth. In particular, “Siberian Breaks” is an eight minute song with downbeat lyrics and it appeared in the setlist immediately preceding their most popular number “Kids”. MGMT also took time to explore their psychedelic side as “The Handshake” contained a lengthy dissonant jam. In between, the band did serve up the songs to satisfy the crowd, as “Electric Feel” (sampled below) was the third song of the set. We left with the feeling that although MGMT is probably more popular than even they might have imagined, the band has not lost their focus nor do they cater to the mainstream.

I recorded this set from an excellent location in the venue with my best mobile rig. We are a bit disappointed in the level of the vocals in the house mix, but overall the sound is superb. Enjoy!

Download and stream the complete show  [HERE].

https://archive.org/details/mgmt-2010-08-17.nyctaper

MGMT
2010-08-17
Radio City Music Hall
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Orchestra Section Row C

DPA 4021’s > Marantz PMD-660 (Oade BCM) > 16bit 44.1 wav > Soundforge (set fades, level adjustment, slight eq) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by
nyctaper 2010-08-18

Setlist:
[total time 1:40:54]
01 Pieces Of What
02 Brian Eno
03 Electric Feel
04 [banter]
05 Destrokk
06 Flash Delirium
07 Of Moons, Birds & Monsters
08 It’s Working
09 The Youth
10 Weekend Wars
11 Song For Dan Treacy
12 Time to Pretend
13 Siberian Breaks
14 Kids
15 Congratulations
16 [encore break]
17 Future Reflections
18 Someone’s Missing
19 The Handshake
20 I Found A Whistle

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT MGMT, visit their website, and purchase their CDs from the links at their website (HERE).

[photo courtesy of Devyn Manibo]

In the next few weeks, Real Estate will release a single that will again point their career arc upwards. “Reservoir” b/w “Out of Tune” will be released on True Panther Records and based upon the live performances of both songs we have heard, this single will be huge. In June at Music Hall, “Reservoir” was the untitled “new song” that we streamed and raved about. Now with a title, “Reservoir” is an irresistible upbeat number with a melodic guitar line and a relaxed vocals. “Out of Tune” has been the opening song for the last two Real Estate recordings we captured, and its slower with more of a 70’s vibe than its flipside. At Pier 54 on Thursday, both songs were on display, along with a completely new debut performance of a song preliminarily called “All The Same” during a nice forty-five minute opening set. The band continues to get tighter live and with this high quality new material on the horizon, Real Estate is going places. Those places include a tour with Deerhunter in October with a local date of Webster Hall on October 15.

I recorded this set under the same conditions as the Deerhunter recording, but the sound in the venue was clearer and more well-balanced during this set. Enjoy!

Download and stream the complete show [HERE].

https://archive.org/details/RealEstate2010-08-12.nyctaper

Real Estate
2010-08-12
Pier 54
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Front Row
15 Feet From Left Stack

DPA 4021’s > Marantz PMD-660 (Oade BCM) > 16bit 44.1 wav > Soundforge (set fades, level adjustment, slight eq) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by
nyctaper 2010-08-16

Setlist:
[total time 47:28]
01 Younger Than Yesterday
02 Beach Comber
03 Pool Swimmers
04 Green River
05 Suburban Beverage
06 Reservoir
07 Out Of Tune
08 Art Fandelet
09 Suburban Dogs
10 [new song – “All The Same” debut]
11 Fake Blues

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Real Estate, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their releases from Woodist Records, Half Machine Records, and Underwater Peoples (currently sold out).

[photo by Anika]

Common Prayer released their debut album There is a Mountain on June 1 on Big Potato Records and have received rave reviews from diverse sources such as the BBC and Other Music. While the album is regarded as a superb “under the radar” release, Common Prayer is simply the latest project in the musical career of Jason Russo — founder and leader of psychedelic alt-rockers Hopewell, and one-time/sometime touring member of Mercury Rev. Russo and partner Alexandra Marvar recorded the album in England with help from the Bennett Brothers (of Truck Festival) and brother Justin Russo (Silent League) and the album maintains a friends and family appeal — Americana with a British countryside flavor. The live band includes Russo and Marvar with three additional players on drums, keys and vocals. At Rock Shop on Friday night, Common Prayer played a thirty-minute set of songs from album, along with one excellent cover. Jason is clearly the focus of the band, but all players were in unison throughout the relaxed set which captured the feel of the album while also adding a little live muscle to the material. Common Prayer will perform again at Union Pool on September 3, and then again at Glasslands on September 16.

I recorded this set as I had the two Rock Shop sets from last week (Sharon Van Etten and Tune-Yards) — a nice soundboard feed mixed with high-end microphones. This time I used the Neumanns. The sound quality is quite exceptional. Enjoy!

Download and stream the complete show [HERE].

https://archive.org/details/common-prayer-2010-08-13.nyctaper

Common Prayer
2010-08-13
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
2010-08-15

Setlist:
[Total Time 32:44]
01 commonprayer
02 Marriage Song
03 Hopewell
04 Us vs. Them
05 Sara G
06 Of Saints
07 Free Air
08 Everything & More
09 Love –> Building on Fire (Talking Heads)

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Common Prayer, visit their website, and purchase There is a Mountain from the links at their website.