[Conrad Keely of Trail of Dead at Bowery Ballroom, 11/23/2009. Photo courtesy of Paul Bachmann at Rockographer]

…And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead (let’s just call them “Trail of Dead”) and Midnight Masses don’t share a common musical style, but they do share current and former band members. Masses bassist Daniel Wood did a stint in Trail of Dead, and guitarist Jason Reece is a founding and current member of the band. This night was billed as the band’s “original lineup,” which is not exactly, as that lineup was a two-man act comprised of Reece and fellow founder Conrad Keely sharing all of the vox/drums/guitar duties.   Joined with Wood on this night, this not-quite-original version of Trail of Dead was still much stripped down from its current six-man incarnation, and as a result, the band members returned to Trail of Dead’s original punk roots both in sound and in setlist.  The boys ripped through six songs (about all they had time to rehearse), including some of their earliest material (including leading off with “Richter Scale Madness,” the opening track from their first album).  While some of the performance was rough around the edges in a way that befitted this uncommon setup for the band, the band members delivered the set with the raw, head-banging ferocity that has made them a fixture since 1994.

I recorded this set from the same location and with the same setup as the Midnight Masses recording and the sound is excellent.  Enjoy!

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

And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead
2010-02-24
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack
Hosted at nyctaper.com

Lineup:
Conrad Keely (guitar/vox/drums)
Jason Reece (guitar/vox/drums)
Daniel Wood (bass)

Equipment: Stereo Soundboard feed + Beyerdynamic MC950>Edirol R-44 (24/44.1)
Position: Clamp to left of SBD on balcony rail
Mastering: 2x24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, smooth peaks, set fades, tracking, amplify each channel, downsample)>FLAC (level 8)

Tracks
01 Richter Scale Madness
02 Gargoyle Waiting
03 Another Morning Stoner
04 banter
05 Crowning of a Heart
06 banter
07 A Perfect Teenhood
08 banter
09 Totally Natural

[Midnight Masses at Glasslands. Photo courtesy of Impose Magazine]

Midnight Masses closed out a monthlong rotation at Union Pool with a special night that featured two of their members reuniting with their old band, …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead (which should be posted later this week). This band continues to get stronger and stronger – frontman Autry Fulbright’s vocals have never sounded better or more heartfelt, and the band’s multilayered sound, including what seems to be almost the Brooklyn standard now of multiple drummers (including, at times, Fulbright) is epic. Several of the songs in this set were spine-tingling moments (including a beautiful duet with Sara Lucas of openers Callers), and could not have been framed better than by the intimate and welcoming Union Pool concert room. Fulbright makes no secret of the source of the music’s often-dark subject matter, but that shouldn’t fool you – Midnight Masses are a fantastic time live.

I recorded this set with a combination of a stereo soundboard feed and the Beyerdynamic supercardiod microphones clamped to the left side of the soundboard on the balcony rail. The sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE).

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Midnight Masses
2010-02-24
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack
Hosted at nyctaper.com

Equipment: Stereo Soundboard feed + Beyerdynamic MC950>Edirol R-44 (24/44.1)
Position: Clamp to left of SBD on balcony rail
Mastering: 2×24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, smooth peaks, set fades, tracking, normalize each channel)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01
02
03
04 The Sound of Silence
05 banter
06 Preacher’s Son
07 There Goes Our Man
08 banter
09 Heaven
10 banter
11
12

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Midnight Masses, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their new EPs directly from the Team Love Records website (here).  You can also download the band’s “Red Ribbon Song (For Those Who’ve Gone)” which benefits the National AIDS Fund and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) from Bandcamp (here).

Photo courtesy of Jonny Leather

ArpLine’s music fits well into the current musical moment, with rock and electronic elements combining to make a cohesive whole.  Some of their songs fall clearly into the radio-friendly camp (”Parts Unknown”), while others are more atmospheric, such as the Radiohead-referencing “Cap”.  While the focus of this excellent bill at Mercury Lounge was on headliners Bear In Heaven and second opener Oh No Ono, ArpLine started the night off extremely strong, giving a set that featured virtually all of their outstanding new album, “Travel Book”. Vocalist Sam Tyndall and the band were on point sound-wise, and made the case that their songs translate well in the live setting.  Expect to see this excellent Brooklyn band in a lot more places by the end of this year.

I recorded this set from the same location as the Bear In Heaven recording, but without the soundboard feed.  The quality is excellent and there is almost no crowd noise.  Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

ArpLine
2010-01-27
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack
Hosted at nyctaper.com

Equipment: DPA 4021>Edirol R-44 (24/44.1)
Position: FOB, Center, mics at 8?
Mastering: 24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (tracking, set fades, amplify each channel)>FLAC ( level 8 )

01 Parts Unknown
02 Game
03 Sound and Versions
04 Weekend in the Colonies
05 Cap
06 banter
07 Make It Rain
08 Rope
09 Amplify
10 Fold Up Like A Piece of Paper

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT ArpLine, visit their website, and purchase their excellent debut album (which is available on a “name your price” basis) from their bandcamp site [here].

[photos taken for nyctaper by Kate Ehle – more here]

Memory Tapes first concert ever in the U.S. was a tight thirty-minute set opening for Atlas Sound at Bell House that didn’t seem new at all. While Dayve Hawk’s recording project included an excellent drummer (Matt Maraldo) and a laptop as a live act, in addition to Dayve’s fluid guitar work, the performance was both extremely well played and also relaxed enough to include some extended instrumental play in the final number “Bicycle”. The ten-minute re-working of the web sensation was both welcome and somewhat unexpected for an artist whose primary influences encompass the precise rhythms of bands like Kraftwerk and New Order. The setlist drew exclusively from 2009’s “best new music” Seek Magic, contained literally no breaks between numbers, and it was all over much too soon. We will look for a longer set when they return to NYC after an extensive European tour and a trip to SXSW.

This set was recorded with the Neumann microphones positioned next to the soundboard and mixed with a soundboard feed. The sound quality is exceptional. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Memory Tapes
2010-02-03
Bell House
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Neumann KM-150s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2 x 16bit 44.1kHz 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
2010-02-24

Setlist:
[Total Time 30:09]
01 Green Knight
02 Stop Talking
03 Plain Material
04 Graphics
05 Bicycle

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Memory Tapes, visit the MySpace page, visit Dayve’s blog, and purchase Seek Magic directly from the Acephale Records website (here) or Rough Trade (here).

[photo courtesy of Maryanne Ventrice and Prefix Magazine]

Acidjack reports:
Brooklyn’s Mon Khmer is comprised of founding members guitarist/vocalist Hammar and drummer Dave Cole, along with Matt Schenier (bass/synths) and Elias Meister (guitar/synths), and their sound reflects the members’ diverse influences, from the music of India to classical, jazz and country. By the time Mon Khmer took the stage, Glasslands was packed, and the crowd was treated to a fantastic set that showcased numerous songs from their forthcoming debut LP, including the excellent song “Anniversary.”

I recorded this set from the same location as the Bear In Heaven set and the sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Mon Khmer
2010-02-19
Glasslands
Brooklyn, NY

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack
Hosted at nyctaper.com

Equipment: DPA 4021>Edirol R-44 (24/44.1)
Position: Clamp to center of balcony floor, DIN
Mastering: 24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (set fades, tracking, EQ, amplify each channel)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks (setlist help needed)
01 Folk
02 Anniversary
03 banter
04 When to Let Go
05 banter
06 Golden Lights
07 Wolfgang
08 Birthplace
09 Passwords
10 Oslo

If you email nyctaper for access to these recordings, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Mon Khmer, visit their MySpace page, and keep a look out for the debut Mon Khmer LP due in the very near future.

Acidjack reports:
“The last time we saw Secret Machines back in December was a strange night, with guitarist Phil Karnats stranded in Chicago, leaving drummer Josh Garza and vocalist/bassist Brandon Curtis a two-man act.  There were no such difficulties during TSM’s set at Glasslands on Friday, where they closed out a five-band night with their monster sound. The setlist focused heavily on their latest self-released record, and veered from their heavy-hitting rockers to bluesier numbers like “The Walls Are Starting to Crack” and their slower numbers “I Never Thought to Ask” and “The Leaves are Gone” (both of which, unfortunately, proved a bit of a tough sell to a weary crowd at 1:30 a.m.).

I recorded this set with the DPA microphones clamped to the floor of the balcony, directly between the PA stacks.  The sound is excellent.  Enjoy!”

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

The Secret Machines
2010-02-19
Glasslands
Brooklyn, NY

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack
Hosted at nyctaper.com

Equipment: DPA 4021>Edirol R-44 (24/44.1)
Position: Clamp to center of balcony floor, DIN
Mastering: 24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (set fades, tracking, EQ, amplify each channel)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Setlist:
01 Like I Can
02 Atomic Heels
03 Terrible Light
04 I Never Thought To Ask
05 The Leaves Are Gone
06 Dreaming of Dreaming
07 The Walls Are Starting to Crack
08 The Road Leads Where It’s Led

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Secret Machines, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase the latest TSM self-released CD by visiting the links at their website [here].