[photo by nyctaper]

Larkin Grimm is the subject of one of my favorite artist descriptions. Michael Gira, founder of The Swans, and with whose Young God Records Larkin is signed, described her as follows: “Larkin is a magic woman. She lives in the mountains in north Georgia. She collects bones, smooth stones, & she casts spells. She worships the moon. She is very beautiful, & her voice is like the passionate cry of a beast heard echoing across the mountains just after a tremendous thunder storm, when the air is alive with electricity. I don’t consider her folk though – she is pre folk, even pre- music. She is the sound of the eternal mother & the wrath of all women. She wears jewels, glitter, & glistening insects in her hair.”

Last night at Knitting Factory, Larkin was just a singer, albeit a special one. The Sunday night crowd was larger than expected for an early post-holiday off-night, and Larkin entertained us with stories and songs anchored by her deeply rich voice. The band included the legendary producer Tony Visconti (Bowie, TRex, Morrissey) on bass guitar. Larkin performed primarily new songs, and just one number from her most recent release Parplar.

We recorded this set with the four-microphone rig set up directly in front of the soundboard, and other than some venue sounds during quieter moments of the recording, the sound quality is quite excellent. Enjoy!

Download and stream the complete show [HERE].

https://archive.org/details/LarkinGrimm2009-12-27.nyctaper

Larkin Grimm
2009-12-27
Knitting Factory
Brooklyn, NY USA

Four-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Front of Soundboard Booth

Neumann KM-150s + DPA 4021’s > 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
2009-12-28

Setlist:
[Total Time 46:08]
01 [introduction]
02 Paradise
03 Blond and Golden Johns
04 [banter]
05 Pool of Milk
06 [tuning/banter]
07 Paved With Leaves
08 [tuning/intro]
09 Flash and Thunder
10 [banter]
11 The Butcher
12 Dirty Mind
13 The Burglar
14 [outro/band]

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Larkin Grimm, visit her website, visit her MySpace page, and purchase her latest CD Parplar directly from the Young God Records website [here].

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

In her set opening for the Antlers at Bowery Ballroom, Sharon Van Etten exhibited her playful side. As she becomes more comfortable playing before larger crowds, Sharon has allowed her charming personality to amplify the quality of her songs. At Bowery, the fan gift of a tiny paper crane became the object of a wonderful performer-audience interplay that Sharon then incorporated into her terrific brand new song “Heart in the Ground”.

This set was recorded from the same location as the Antlers and Uninhabitable Mansions sets and the sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

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

Sharon Van Etten
2009-12-15
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Four-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded Behind Soundboard Booth

Neumann KM-150s + DPA 4021’s > 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 by nyctaper and acidjack
Produced by nyctaper
2009-12-26

Setlist:
[Total Time 35:30]
01 Give Out
02 Much More Than That
03 Oooh Love (Blaze Foley)
04 Consolation Prize
05 [banter – paper crane]
06 Heart in the Ground
07 Call It A Joke
08 [new song]

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Sharon Van Etten, visit her website, visit her MySpace page, and purchase her new CD Because I Was In Love from InSound [here] or Amazon [here] or directly from the Language of Stone website [here].

[photo courtesy of Jessica Amaya and Stereogum]

Twice in a two-week period this Fall, we saw Crystal Stilts in two very varied venues. On Halloween, the band was part of an excellent bill at 171 Lombardy co-produced by ToddP and Sacred Bones Records that included the psychedelic sludge of Wooden Ships in a classic Todd-style DIY venue. Two Saturdays later, Crystal Stilts was the final band in the marathon Slumberland Records anniversary show at the excellent Bell House. Three of the bands members backed Amy Linton’s return to performance, and then Stilts began their set at 2 a.m. and worked through thirty minutes of their deeply reverbed psych-garage before all parties collapsed in exhaustion.

We recorded both of these set with a soundboard feed mixed together with the Neumann room microphones. The Bell House is a better recording in large part because of the superior sound system (beware of track 02 on the Halloween recording), but both shows are excellent listening experiences. Enjoy!

Download and stream the complete shows: [Halloween] / [Bell House].

https://archive.org/details/CrystalStilts2009-10-31.nyctaper

Crystal Stilts
2009-10-31
171 Lombardy
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
2009-12-24

Setlist:
[Total Time 30:26]
01 12 String
02
03 Black Hole
04 Seeds
05
06 For The Love Of Ivy (Gun Club)
07 Love Is A Wave
08 New Grave

************

https://archive.org/details/CrystalStilts2009-11-14.nyctaper

Crystal Stilts
2009-11-14
Slumberland Records 20th Anniversary Concert
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
2009-12-24

Setlist:
[Total Time 27:22]
01 Love Is A Wave
02 [tuning – banter]
03 Black Hole
04 Shattered Shine
05 Seeds
06 Prismatic Room
07 New Grave
08 Through the Floor

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Crystal Stilts, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their latest album Alight of Night and other releases directly from Slumberland Records [HERE].

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

At Bowery last Saturday, the Brooklyn art and music collective Uninhabitable Mansions opened for the Antlers and provided the packed house with abundance of talent and songcraft. Drawing members from the bands Au Revoir Simone, Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah, and the late lamented Dirty on Purpose, UM performed a thirty-five minute set of material from their excellent new release Nature Is A Taker. The songs combine elements of indie-pop and shoegaze and highlight the vocal harmonies of Annie Hart and Robbie Guertin, while focusing on the interplay between melodic guitar lines, keyboards and Doug Marvin’s driving drums.

We recorded this set from the same location and with the same equipment as the Antlers recording, and the sound quality is quite excellent. Enjoy!

Download and stream the complete show [HERE].

https://archive.org/details/umansions-2009-12-15.nyctaper

Uninhabitable Mansions
2009-12-15
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Four-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded Behind Soundboard Booth

Neumann KM-150s + DPA 4021’s > 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 by nyctaper and acidjack
Produced by nyctaper
2009-12-22

Setlist:
[Total Time 35:34]
01 [introduction]
02 The Speed Is Deceiving
03 This Drift
04 [banter]
05 Static State
06 The Brain Is a Slow Wave
07 Big Kick
08 Ex-Explorers
09 We Already Know
10 Do You Have A Strategy?

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Uninhabitable Mansions, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their releases from the Shop at their website [HERE].

[photo courtesy of SPFlannigan]

Acidjack reports:
“Although the NYCTaper team was on hand at Cameo Gallery last Thursday night, Grandchildren was not originally the focus of the evening. In fact, the Philly-based band had slipped under our radar completely- which was our mistake. Sandwiched in the middle of a bill that featured avant-garde instrumentalists Dangeroo, the ethereal vocalist Julianna Barwick, our hosts Dinosaur Feathers, and the mighty Pterodactyl (all of whose sets are or will be made available here), Grandchildren still stood out among extremely eclectic New York-based bill.

The spare, pseudo-“speakeasy” Cameo Gallery, with its high ceilings and minimal HVAC system, did little to keep out the December cold, and most of the audience stayed bundled up throughout the various sets. That didn’t stop the crowd from responding to Grandchildren and their multi-instrumental approach. With multiple percussionists, keyboards, horns, guitars, bass and vocals, Grandchildren’s sound is large and expansive. With lengthy instrumental stretches with complex, often propulsive percussion and arrangements, as well as the folk-influenced vocal style popular in many quarters these days, Grandchildren sound a little bit like several different bands, but cannot be shoe-horned into any current subgenre. Compared to their current full-length, the excellent Quilts, and their newly-released Cold Warrior EP (from which several of the night’s songs were drawn) the band’s live presentation is wilder and more exuberant. When you share a room with Grandchildren, you quickly understand how accomplished and passionate the artists in this band are. Of the many bands I have had the chance to record and to see this year, Grandchildren were one of the most impressive, and one of the most delightful surprises.

I recorded this and the other sets with the DPA 4021 microphones set up on a stand slightly to the left side of the room in the band, with the microphones about 10 feet up. According to the members of Grandchildren, this is the best recording of them yet!

Thanks to Dinosaur Feathers for inviting and hosting NYCTaper, and to Grandchildren for permitting us to post this recording. Enjoy! ”

Download and stream the complete show [HERE].

https://archive.org/details/grandchildren2009-12-17.acidjack

Grandchildren
2009-12-17
Cameo Gallery
Brooklyn, NY USA

An ACIDJACK master recording

Recorded and produced by acidjack
Hosted at nyctaper.com

Equipment: DPA 4021>Marantz PMD660 (Oade Concert Mod) (16/44.1)
Position: Slightly LOC, stand at 11′, DIN
Mastering: 16/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (tracking, smooth peaks, amplify each channel, set fades)>FLAC ( level 8 )

I apologize in advance for any tracking errors. Many songs flowed seamlessly and it was at times difficult to discern song breaks.

Setlist:
01 Cold Warrior
02 [crowd]
03 Winterlude
04 Heartbreaker
05 Saturn Returns
06 OK I’m Waiting
07 When You’re Not Looking
08 Anthill
09 Toss and Turn

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Grandchildren, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their EP when it is released by Green Owl Records [HERE].