[photo courtesy of Dani Jordan]

I will admit that I am addicted to the Of Montreal concert experience. Every show is a multi-media entertainment extravaganza. For recent experiences, the stage show has often trumped my true appreciation of the song craft and the musicianship. Last night at Terminal 5, while the stage show had its usual assortment of wild play-acting — crucifixions, animal costumes, and feathers everywhere — I made a conscious decision to concentrate on the musicians, and I was rewarded as the band absolutely shined. In particular, BP’s outstanding guitar work in “Rejecter” and Davey Pierce’s sharp bass playing in “Bunny” were highlights. While the show began with five consecutive numbers from Skeletal Lamping, the setlist was dominated by Hissing Fauna material including nine of the twelve songs on that album. As per usual, the encore segment featured one memorable cover song, this time “Love Hangover” from the disco-era Diana Ross.

We recorded from the standard location in this venue, dead center of the rear of the floor with a direct line towards the huge stacks. The sound quality in this venue can often be muddy, but overall we were pleased with the sound on this evening, and the recording is a fine listening experience. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Of Montreal
2009-09-18
Terminal 5
New York, NY USA

Digital Audience Master Recording
Recorded from Floor – 50 Feet from Stage

Neumann KM-150s + DPA 4021s > 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

Many Thanks to BP!

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2009-09-19

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:32:20]
01 [introduction]
02 Mingusings
03 Id Engager
04 For Our Elegant Caste*
05 Touched Something’s Hollow
06 An Eluardian Instance
07 Requiem for O.M.M.2
08 The Party’s Crashing Us
09 Suffer For Fashion
10 Sink the Seine
11 Cato As A Pun
12 Forecast Fascist Future
13 My British Tour Diary
14 She’s a Rejecter
15 Bunny Ain’t No Kind Of Rider
16 Faberge Falls For Shuggie
17 I Was Never Young
18 Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse
19 The Past Is A Grotesque Animal
20 [encore break]
21 Love Hangover (Diana Ross)*
22 A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger
*with Janelle Monae

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Of Montreal, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their new CD Skeletal Lamping at the Polyvinyl website [HERE].

Son Volt also played Washington DC on Tuesday
[photo by Steve from Baby Stew Blog]

Last night at Irving Plaza, Son Volt proved once again why they are the virtual mantle-carriers of the “no depression” movement of the 1990s. Fueled by the emergence of a superb new album American Central Dust, the band played an outstanding non-stop two-hour set which featured ten of the twelve tracks from the album along with material from the balance of their catalog (except no Straightaways material). The touring band features James Walbourne (Pernice Brothers, Pretenders) on guitar and pedal steel (he does not appear on the album), and his fervent guitar work provided multiple excellent solos during the evening. Of the new numbers, “Cocaine and Ashes” was a particularly strong performance, and along with the fan favorite “Windfall” and the old Waylon Jennings “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way” were the highlights of the show. Despite his stoic stage reputation, Jay Farrar was engaging and talked to the crowd several times, including the dedication of “Big Sur” to ZZ Top.

We recorded this set with the four microphones from the middle of the floor in the sweet spot for sound in this venue. Other than some annoying chatter near the microphones, this is an outstanding capture. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Son Volt
2009-09-17
Irving Plaza
New York, NY USA

Digital Audience Master Recording
Recorded from Center of the Floor

Neumann KM-150s + DPA 4021s > 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
2009-09-18

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:52:43]
01 The Picture
02 Feel Free
03 Underground Dream
04 Down to the Wire
05 Dust of Daylight
06 Highways and Cigarettes
07 Cocaine and Ashes
08 When the Wheels Don’t Move
09 Ten Second News
10 Dynamite
11 Pushed Too Far
12 Jukebox of Steel
13 [banter]
14 Big Sur
15 Methamphetamine
16 [band introductions]
17 Tear Stained Eye
18 Strength and Doubt
19 No Turning Back
20 Hard Times
21 Medication
22 Damn Shame
23 The Search
24 Buzz & Grind
25 Bandages & Scars
26 Afterglow 61
27 [encore break]
28 Action
29 Roll On
30 Windfall
31 Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way (Waylon Jennings)

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Son Volt, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their official releases directly from the Jay Farrar Official Store [HERE].

[photo by nyctaper]

On the week that Bar None Records reissued both Crazy Rhythms and The Good Earth, the Feelies played a weekend of shows in the New York area. On Friday, they played Crazy Rhythms from start to finish at All Tomorrow’s Parties (acidjack’s recording is here). Saturday’s show was a performance at the beautiful Bearsville Theatre in Woodstock. Last night, the celebratory weekend was completed with an absolutely monumental Feelies show at Southpaw. The band performed two sets that consisted of over two hours of music, but the most amazing aspect of the show was the encore set — the band returned on five separate occasions to perform a total of ten encores. Included in the show were the usual plethora of covers — the raging second set opener of Neil Young’s “Barstool Blues” and the Beatles “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide” (from Crazy Rhythms) among them — but there were also a few surprises including a teacher-mimics-student version of R.E.M.’s “Carnival of Sorts”.

The band was again well-served by the presence of long time sound pro Andy Peters, who navigated through a limited sound system to provide outstanding listening quality. We set up the four mics at the front of the railing above the floor which provided a direct line to the stacks. The resulting sound quality of this recording is quite excellent. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

The Feelies
2009-09-13
Southpaw
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Audience Recording
Recorded from Front and Center at Railing
20 Feet from the Stage

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
2009-09-14

Setlist:
Set 1:
[Total Time 32:54]
01 When Company Comes
02 Egyptian Reggae (Jonathan Richman)
03 [new song]
04 The Undertow
05 Sunday Morning (Velvet Underground)
06 Invitation
07 Nobody Knows
08 The High Road
09 On The Roof
10 Let’s Go

Set 2:
[Total Time 1:27:47]
01 Barstool Blues (Neil Young)
02 Deep Fascination
03 Higher Ground
04 The Final Word
05 Slipping (Into Something)
06 Time is Right
07 Away
08 Original Love
09 Too Far Gone
10 Raised Eyebrows
11 Crazy Rhythms
12 [encore break]
13 Doin’ It Again
14 Carnival of Sorts (R.E.M.)
15 [second encore break]
16 Moscow Nights
17 I Wanna Sleep In Your Arms (Modern Lovers)
18 [third encore break]
19 Take It As It Comes (Doors)
20 Paint it Black (Rolling Stones)
21 [fourth encore break]
22 Fa Ce-La
23 Everybody’s Got Something To Hide (Except For Me And My Monkey) (Beatles)
24 [fifth encore break]
25 Outdoor Miner (Wire)
26 She Said She Said (Beatles)

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Feelies, visit their MySpace page, and purchase the new reissues of Crazy Rhythms and The Good Earth directly from the Bar None website [HERE].

[photo courtesy of John Kendelhardt]

Acidjack reports:
“This show, commemorating the one-year anniversary of Le Poisson Rouge, showcased a significant portion of the membership of the newly resurgent Elephant 6 collective. The opener, Pipes You See, Pipes You Don’t, features former Olivia Tremor Control keyboardist Pete Erchick and other members of Circulatory System, and even managed to sneak in an old OTC cover. The second opener, Circulatory System guitarist Nesey Gallons, performed a haunting solo set. Circulatory System, OTC founder Will Cullen Hart’s latest band, has itself risen from the ashes after Hart has battled multiple sclerosis over the past few years. Circulatory System refines the more experimental Olivia Tremor Control aesthetic, with tighter songs still heavily informed by the psychedelia and found sounds that permeated OTC’s records. This set showed off some new songs from Circulatory’s forthcoming album, Signal Morning as well as classics from their self-titled 2001 debut, including the rousing closer “Yesterday’s World.”

Since all three acts are intimately related, we are offering the complete sets of all three bands as a single download. Enjoy!”

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Circulatory System and Friends
2009-09-09
Le Poisson Rouge
New York, NY USA

An ACIDJACK master recording

Equipment: DPA 4061 (Coresound HEB)>R-09HR (24/48)
Position: Center, mics mounted A-B with 1.5′ split on center pole, 10′ up
Mastering: WAV>Audacity (downsample to 16bit/44.1kHz, amplify each channel, tracking)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Recorded and produced by acidjack. Hosted at nyctaper.com

Pipes You See, Pipes You Don’t
11 Tracks (setlist help needed)

Nesey Gallons
06 Tracks (setlist help needed)

Circulatory System
01 Lovely Universe
02 Round Again
03 Cloud Replace
04 Overjoyed
05 Signal Morning
06 Frozen Lake
07 I You We
08 Woodpecker
09 A Peek
10 The Pillow
11 Outside Blasts
12 This Morning
13 Particle Parades
14 [encore break]
15 Yesterday’s World

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Circulatory System and the Elephant 6 Collective, visit their MySpace page, and purchase all the official releases directly from the Elephant 6 Records site [HERE].