[photo courtesy of Maryanne Ventrice and Prefix Magazine]

Acidjack reports:
Brooklyn’s Bear In Heaven are increasingly looking like a band that is going places. After their sold out show at Mercury Lounge in January it was starting to look like the Pitchfork-acclaimed band was on its way to being the next big thing. Watching the crowd swell well beyond fire-hazard capacity at Glasslands last night, it is safe to say that is true. Every inch of the venue was stuffed with partiers and fans waiting to see this band open for Secret Machines, even though it was clear that they could easily have been the headliner. As was the case at Mercury, the band’s bass-driven sound caused some sound problems early on, but once that cleared up, fans seemed to get the point. The band’s set drew entirely from their recent Beast Rest Forth Mouth, including a typically rousing rendition of “Lovesick Teenager” that got the crowd moving.

I recorded this set from a clamp to the floor of the balcony, directly in front of the stacks. Although the difficulties in the house mix are evident in the first few songs, I have cleaned the sound up to make an excellent mix. Enjoy!”

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Bear In Heaven
2010-02-19
Glasslands
Brooklyn, NY

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack
Exclusive download 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 )

01 Drug A Wheel
02 Fake Out
03 Ultimate Satisfaction
04 Wholehearted Mess
05 Lovesick Teenager
06 Beast In Peace
07 banter
08 Dust Cloud
09 You Do You
10 Casual Goodbye

If you email nyctaper for access to these recordings, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Bear in Heaven, visit their website, and purchase their official releases directly from the Hometapes Records site [HERE].

[photos courtesy of Drew Katchen]

Acidjack reports:
“Watching the mighty F*cked Up, you get the sense that lead singer Damian Abraham — such a student and fan of music that the band even has a song about collecting vinyl — studied everything he liked about punk rock shows, and decided to put it all into his own performances. Talk to the crowd — not too much, but just enough that they get to know you. Hell, take the mic and actually be in the crowd during some songs. Treat crowd surfers like your friends, instead of annoyances. Let fans sing into the mic, from time to time. If you talk to the crowd, be funny. Don’t be self conscious — at all. Oh–and be really, really good. F*cked Up do all of that, and all of that was on display this Thursday night. They treat their audience the way more bands ought to treat them — like friends, like part of the show (which in this band’s case, they often are). However, F*cked Up have earned their considerable “crossover” (read: Pitchfork instead of punk set) audience (and their 2009 Polaris Prize) ultimately on the strength of their musicianship, the intensity of the band’s delivery. This is the perfect band to see at Maxwell’s, which already can feel like your private indie rock living room filled with a few friends. This show featured the band doing some great covers of the Sex Pistols’ “Bodies” and Black Flag’s “Nervous Breakdown” as well as songs from their excellent The Chemistry of Common Life and their singles comp, Couple Tracks. I recorded this set from back at the soundboard with a stereo board feed plus Beyerdynamic hypercardioid mics. The band did not do a soundcheck, so the listener may find the guitar is a touch lower in the mix than normal due to not being run through the board or PA.

Thanks to F*cked Up, and in particular Sandy Miranda, for permitting this recording, and to Maxwell’s for the board feed. Also, as the band themselves asked the same, I encourage you in particular to purchase the band’s $.99 benefit single, “Do They Know It’s Christmas” which features several celebrity guests and benefits organizations working to bring an end to the epidemic of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada. The track can be purchased (as Matador suggests) from iTunes here.
Enjoy!”

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE]

F*cked Up
2010-02-18
Maxwell’s
Hoboken, NJ

An acidjack master recording
recorded and produced by acidjack
hosted at nyctaper.com

Equipment: Stereo soundboard feed + Beyerdynamic MC950 hypercardiods>Edirol R-44 (24/44.1)
Position: Clamp to back right of SBD cage, 9′ of height
Mastering: 2x24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, set fades, tracking, amplify channels to -0.1dB>FLAC ( level 8 )

Setlist:
01 intro
02 Twice Born
03 David Comes to Life
04 banter
05 Hold It
06 Son the Father
07 Black Albino Bones
08 Crusades
09 banter
10 Mustaa Lunta
11 I Hate Summer
12 banter
13 Baiting the Public
14 No Epiphany
15 banter
16 David’s Plan
17 Bodies (Sex Pistols)
18 banter
19 Police
20 encore break
21 Circling the Drain
22 Nervous Breakdown

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT F*cked Up, visit their blog, and purchase their official releases directly from their page at the Matador Records website [here].

[photo courtesy of Jonny Leather]

Acidjack reports:
Cincinnati, OH’s Bad Veins, the duo of lead singer/songwriter Benjamin Davis and percussionist Sebastien Schultz, are probably the first band I have seen use an old rotary phone as a mic (in addition to a regular mic).  Davis’ songs are instantly catchy, all pop hooks and easily discernible vocals (the easier to hum that way). Long after I had left the Knit, I found “I’m Afraid” and “Gold and Warm” stuck in my head, in particular. That rotary phone is used appropriately and sparingly, giving Davis’s otherwise rich, clean voice the necessary indiepop fuzz. The band are presently on tour behind their excellent record, Bad Veins, released last year on Dangerbird Records.  This set, opening for We Were Promised Jetpacks (the recording which we hope will be authorized by the band and posted shortly), was a relatively short one, but it gave an excellent sense of the promise of this band.  The recording was made using a high-quality stereo soundboard feed and DPA microphones from the optimum spot in the venue, and the sound is superior.  Enjoy!

Thanks to the Knitting Factory for the high-quality board feed, and to Bad Veins and Dangerbird Records for inviting nyctaper to record this performance.

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Bad Veins
2010-02-15
Knitting Factory
Brooklyn, NY

An acidjack master recording
recorded and produced by acidjack

Equipment: Stereo soundboard feed + DPA 4021 microphones>Edirol R-44 (24/44.1)
Position: Clamp to soundboard cage, mics at 9′, DIN
Mastering: 2x24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, set fades, tracking, amplify channel to -0.1dB)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Setlist:
01 Found
02 Gold and Warm
03 Crosseyed
04 Afraid
05 Dry Out
06 Falling Tide
07 The Lie

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Bad Veins, visit their website, and purchase their debut album directly from the Dangerbird Records website [here].

[photo by Victoria Renard]

Acidjack reports:
“Compared to some bands I have seen lately (like the totally unrelated Dinowalrus and Dinosaur Feathers, for example), The Vandelles have a readily classifiable sound. Their feedback-drenched, fuzzed-out surf-rock will be instantly recognizable to fans of bands like the Raveonettes, Singapore Sling, and recent tourmates Serena-Maneesh. That is not to say they are generic or uninteresting, however, as their songwriting and performance, including an all-female rhythm section, rises above their influences. At Littlefield last week, the band played with the lights off with only abstract video projections providing light, tearing through older material and songs from their self-titled EP, including their obvious bid for stardom, the soundtrack-ready (as in, easy to imagine in some sort of noir chase or murder scene) “Lovely Weather”. Even though, like Dinowalrus, the band had a few instances of equipment/sound desk trouble, their set was a strong end to another night of the Sounds Like Brooklyn festival.”

This set was recorded under the same conditions as the Dinowalrus recording and the sound is excellent. Enjoy!

The Vandelles are playing again this coming week on Friday February 26 at Cake Shop on an excellent bill that includes nyctaper favorites MiniBoone and El Jezel.

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

The Vandelles
2010-02-04
Littlefield
Brooklyn, NY

an acidjack master recording

recorded and produced by acidjack
hosted by nyctaper.com

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

Setlist:
01 Get Down
02
03 banter/tuning
04 Bomb the Surf
05 banter/tuning
06 California Killer
07 banter/tuning
08 Lovely Weather
09 Swell to Heaven
10
11 Dash N’ Dive
12 Bad Volcano

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Vandelles, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their official releases directly from the SVC Records [here].

[photo by nyctaper]

The last time we saw Frankie Rose and The Outs, they performed a too-brief seventeen minute set at the Slumberland Anniversary show. My vantage point at Bell House did not give me much of a feel for the band, but the recording captures the particular qualities of this group. Frankie’s experience with garage rock, Spector-style girl groups, and lo-fi all seemed to coalesce with the Outs into a harmony-rich guitar driven quintet with grit. At Monster Island on Saturday, we stood a couple of feet from the band and took in a real appreciation of the group in what would be an eight-song and fortunately longer set than in November. At this point, the band has only released one 7 inch (“Thee Only One” on Slumberland Records), but all the songs still seem vaguely familiar and some were played at Bell House. I expect when all the songs are compiled into an anticipated full length album, it will be a fine collection and a critical success. The quality of the performances bear that out.

Frankie and The Outs have several local gigs upcoming, including this Friday night at Europa, this Sunday night at Mercury Lounge, and an May date at Bell House opening for the Primitives.

We recorded this set with the same equipment and location as the So Cow recording and the sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Frankie Rose And The Outs
2010-02-13
Monster Island Basement
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

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

Setlist:
[Total Time 24:41]
01 Little Brown Hair
02 That’s What People Told Me
03 Save Me
04 [new song false start]
05 [new song]
06 Thee Only One
07 Must Be Nice
08 Don’t Tread on Me
09 Girlfriend

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Frankie Rose, visit her MySpace page, and purchase her new single “Thee Only One” from the Slumberland Records website [here].