[photo courtesy of frankd – more here]

Each of the out of town bands that performed at the NYCTaper Monster Island Basement show on June 19 were special in their own right — superb performances and excellent people. Thunder Power had the distinction of traveling the farthest and working the hardest to get to the gig. Despite the obvious fatigue, the band delivered a charged set that highlighted (as Daytrotter described) their “discomforting” yet beautiful indie pop. The set featured four songs from their outstanding debut EP Love Yourself, and one song from the new co-EP (with Alessi’s Ark) Friendships, along with two as yet unreleased tracks. Although Thunder Power is most instantly recognizable through the unique vocals of Kacynna Tompsett, we were quite impressed with the excellent interplay between the guitarists and the outstanding keyboard work of Ian Simons.

This set was recorded from the identical location and equipment as The Rest recording from this night, and has the same quality and same limitations. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Thunder Power
2009-06-19
Monster Island Basement
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded 10 Feet from Main PA

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

Recorded and Produced by
nyctaper
2009-07-06

Setlist:
[Total Time 30:38]
01 Lucky To Be Alive
02 Your Pantry
03 Bloodwater
04 Home Office
05 Bite Marx
06 Imaginary Rules
07 Take A Hike

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Thunder Power, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase Love Yourself from the Slumber Party Records website [here], and purchase Friendships from the Thunder Party Big Cartel webpage [here].

[photo courtesy of Philip Pissas – more here]

We reviewed this show the day after it occurred:

Last night at Abrons Arts Center, Sam Beam performed a primarily solo set for the final show of the tour in support of the new release. In a classic old intimate theatre, Sam’s homey charm and realistic songwriting thoroughly entranced the small crowd of diehards. As setlist was comprised of requests/votes taken from fans via the Iron and Wine website, there were several moments during the set when the performer was unsure of a lyric or chord change. Rather than allowing these interludes to devolve into awkwardness, Sam used the intimacy of the setting to show his humor and humanity. While virtually the entire set consisted of highlights, we were especially moved by the cover of the Flaming Lips “Waiting for Superman” and Sam’s own “Upward Over the Mountain”. Along with the rarities and treats, also performed was a new song called “Mary Anne”.

By agreement with the artist and management, we delayed the posting of the nyctaper recording so that the fans would have access to the Played Last Night recording of this show, still available [here].

We recorded this set from the first row of the balcony at this small classic theatre. The four-microphone mix was used to capture a full spectrum recording with excellent clarity — Sam’s voice and guitar are clear and crisp. There were some volume fluctuations that were adjusted in post-production, mostly audience volume. This is one of our favorite recordings on this site, we’ve been listening to it non-stop in the last few weeks. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Iron and Wine
2009-05-18
Abrons Arts Center
New York, NY USA

Four-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded from First Row Balcony Rail

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
2009-05-19

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:14:27]
01 [introduction]
02 History of Lovers
03 Woman King
04 Resurrection Fern
05 [banter – mangos]
06 Cinder And Smoke
07 God Made The Automobile
08 [banter – voting]
09 Waiting for Superman (Flaming Lips)
10 Upward Over The Mountain
11 [banter – Orson Welles]
12 Lion’s Mane
13 Gray Stables
14 Kingdom Of The Animals
15 Flightless Bird, American Mouth
16 In Your Own Time
17 Mary Anne [new song]
18 Fever Dream
19 A Boy With A Coin
20 The Trapeze Swinger
21 [encore break]
22 He Lays In The Reins

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Iron and Wine, visit the website, visit the MySpace page, and purchase Iron and Wine official releases from the Store at the website [here], and purchase live recordings of Iron and Wine from Played Last Night [here].

[photo courtesy of Pat at Pop Tarts Suck Toasted blog]

Punk rock in the Oval. It would have been an absurd concept a few years ago when residents were not even allowed on the grass. Last night, residents and non-residents alike actually slam-danced on the green. As Music on the Oval evolves and the artists continue to grow in stature, anything has become possible. Last night, Jay Reatard buzz-sawed through 14 songs in 33 minutes, as the packed oval witnessed an artist in control of his sometimes manic music. Despite the cynicism and negativity spewed about this odd pairing of the punk rocker and the residents, Jay proved a creative figure completely unwilling to pander. This was not “family” music, but it was completely authentic and compelling nonetheless.

We received kind assistance from the production crew, and with Jay’s blessing recorded this set from the best possible location at the front of the fenced-in soundboard area. The system was quite solid and as a result, this is really an extraordinary capture. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Jay Reatard
2009-07-01
Stuyvesant Town Oval Music
New York, NY USA

Four-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Front of Board Center
30 Feet From 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
2008-07-02

Setlist:
[Total Time 33:25]
01 Blood Visions
02 Nightmares
03 Fading All Away
04 Trapped Here
05 Greed, Money, Useless Children
06 All Over Again
07 I’m Watching You
08 Its So Easy
09 Not A Substitute
10 Oh Its Such a Shame
11 See Saw
12 Hammer I Miss You
13 Waiting For Something
14 Let It All Go

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Jay Reatard, visit his website, visit his MySpace page, and purchase his official releases from the Shattered Records links at Jay’s website [here].

[photo courtesy of Mike at OpenEye]

Explosions in the Sky have been blessed and cursed at the time of their tenth anniversary as a band. At Central Park on Tuesday, a soaked Rumsey field suffered through torrential rains for much of the afternoon, but fortunately the rain tapered off by the time EITS took the stage. The band’s recent burst in popularity due to their involvement with the movie and TV show Friday Night Lights has swelled the fan base to include quite a few chatty scene-makers and nonsensical screamers. Both were sadly in attendance on Tuesday. Finally, the band was hampered by a number of technical problems throughout the set. Despite the distractions, EITS delivered an contiguous eighty minute set of their compelling instrumental ballads. The setlist was a democratic selection of numbers from each of their releases. The band will keep busy this Summer with a handful of dates with the the Flaming Lips and several Festival appearances.

Acidjack recorded this set from a prime location in the pit at this venue. While the sound quality is quite excellent, there is quite a number of instances of crowd idiocy that distracts the listener. With that caveat, enjoy!

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

Explosions In The Sky
2009-06-30
Rumsey Playfield
Central Park
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Front of Board Center

DPA 4061> CoreSound Battery Box > Edirol R-09HR > 24bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge (set fades, slight level adjustments, downsample > CD Wave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded by Acidjack
Produced by nyctaper
2009-07-01

Setlist:
[total time 1:18:43]
01 [introduction]
02 Yasmin the Light
03 The Birth and Death of the Day
04 A Song for our Fathers
05 Your Hand in Mine
06 Greet Death
07 Snow and Lights
08 A Poor Man’s Memory
09 Catastrophe and the Cure
10 The Only Moment We Were Alone

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Explosions in the Sky, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their official releases from the Store at their website [here].

El Jezel played a energetic and fun set to close the NYCTaper Presents show at Monster Island last week. They were the fifth band, so the set began at close to 1 am. Fortunately for the band, many of the crowd stuck around for the late set and were treated to a special finale. El Jezel performed a high octane cover of Echo and The Bunnymen’s classic “Do It Clean” (download below).

Those who missed out on the fun get another chance. El Jezel play at Trash Bar on Wednesday July 1, as the second band in a bill with Myles Turney and The Bright Room. El Jezel goes on at 9 pm.

Download:
El Jezel – Do It Clean FLAC
El Jezel – Do It Clean MP3