nyctaper | New York's live music archivist

Deli Magazine Best of NYC Festival: May 6-10 with Crystal Stilts, Blank Dogs, Chairlift

April 29, 2009

The Deli Magazine is presenting four nights of concerts in three different venues next week that encompass some of the bands who were selected in their Best of NYC poll at the end of the year. The Festival is being organized by Deli and After The Jump, the blogger cooperative that added nyctaper as a member in January.

Here is the complete schedule:

Wednesday 05.06
(sponsored by BMI)
@ Southpaw
11:10 Lowry
10:30 Elizabeth & the Catapult
9:40 The King Left
8:50 April Smith
8:10 KaiserCartel
7:30 Mia Riddle

Saturday 05.09 [BUY TICKETS]
@ Joe’s Pub
9:30 The Lisps FUTURITY
FUTURITY is an original indie-rock musical by Brooklyn band The Lisps. A theatrically staged song cycle, FUTURITY tells the story of a Union soldier in the Civil War who is an aspiring science fiction writer. The work fuses traditional Americana, found text, experimental music, and The Lisps own brand of quirky co-ed pop.

Friday 05.08 [BUY TICKETS]
@ The Bell House
12:00 Crystal Stilts
11:00 Blank Dogs
10:00 Religious Knives
9:00 Dinowalrus

Sunday 05.10 [BUY TICKETS]
@ The Bell House
(sponsored by ASCAP)
10.00 Chairlift
9.00 TBA
8.10 The Secret Life of Sofia
7.20 Takka Takka
6.30 TBA

Bjork: Voltaic 2-DVD Set Release Announced + Performing at Housing Works next Friday

April 29, 2009

By nyctaper

Today Bjork announced that the long-awaited 2-DVD set Voltaic would be released on June 23. The 2-DVD set will include highlights from one concert performances (Paris), a performance in-studio (London) and two bonus CDs. The complete tracklists are available at the bjork.com Voltaic Special page [here]. The package will be released by Nonesuch Records in the US.

NYC will experience Bjork’s first live performance since the conclusion of the Volta tour in August 2008. In a special benefit concert presented by Stereogum, B will collaborate with the Dirty Projectors at the Housing Works Bookstore on May 8. The show has long been sold out, but we are pleased to report that nyctaper will be there. Here are the official details:

In a never before seen or heard collaboration with The Dirty Projectors, Bjork will perform a suite of new music composed for her by David Longstreth of The Dirty Projectors. The suite, written for five voices, will pair Bjork with the Projectors (Dave Longstreth, Amber Coffman, Angel Deradoorian, and Haley Dekle).
In 2008, the Dirty Projectors covered Bjork’s “Hyperballad” for a Stereogum tribute CD, a track-by-track covers project that also includes Liars, No Age, High Places, and members of Grizzly Bear, among others. Housing Works Board Member and Stereogum Senior Writer Brandon Stosuy, who knew of Bjork and David Longstreth’s admiration for each other’s work, approached the artists about performing together at Housing Works. It is their first collaboration.

Crystal Stilts: April 26, 2009 Maxwell’s – Flac and MP3 Downloads

April 29, 2009

By nyctaper

[photo courtesy of Music Snobbery]

Chris at the Music Snobbery blog has a reputation for booking major acts at his anniversary show, and this year was no different. On Sunday night, Crystal Stilts headlined the show at Maxwell’s in Hoboken — their previous appearance on nyctaper was a headlining gig at Music Hall of Williamsburg, a venue about five times larger than Maxwell’s. This intimate set was a pleasure to behold. The band was energetic and the interactions with the crowd were hilarious — particularly Kyle’s references to his New Jersey roots. The set contains a furious “Love is a Wave” opener, another version of The Gun Club classic “Mother of Earth”, and a new song tentatively called “12 String”. After some humorous give and take with the crowd, the band was prodded to perform two encores, closing with a wild take of the Velvet Underground.

We recorded this set with the Neumann microphones in the standard location at this venue — front and center of the soundboard booth — mixed with a XLR feed from the board into the R-44. The four channel mix was perfected in post-production and we are quite happy to offer an professional quality recording of this outstanding set. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Crystal Stilts
2009-04-26
Maxwell’s
Hoboken, NJ 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
2009-04-28

Setlist:
[Total Time 45:02]
01 [introduction]
02 Love is a Wave
03 Through The Floor
04 Mother Of Earth (Gun Club)
05 Crystal Stilts
06 The Dazzled
07 SinKing
08 [banter]
09 Sycamore Tree
10 12 String
11 Sugar Baby
12 For The Love Of Ivy (Gun Club)
13 [encore break]
14 Converging in the Quiet
15 Temptation Inside Your Heart (Velvets)

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 from links at their MySpace page, including at Insound [here] and purchase their new single “Love Is a Wave” at InSound [here].

The Dead: April 24, 2009 Nassau Coliseum – Flac and MP3 Downloads

April 26, 2009

By nyctaper

[photo by Jay Blakesberg – courtesy of Jambase]

It was almost exactly fifteen years since we last taped the Grateful Dead at Nassau Coliseum in March of 1994, and more than 30 years since our first Dead show at Nassau in January of 1979. After the death of Jerry Garcia in 1995, all of the various incarnations of this band have always felt somewhat empty and hollow. The 2009 version of the band was fueled initially by a benefit concert for Barack Obama at Penn State University. Apparently moved by the event, this particular 6-piece line-up (four original members, with Warren Haynes and Jeff Chimenti) began this tour in mid April with a series of inspired and extremely well received performances.

With this background, we captured a fine performance by The Dead on Friday night that frankly could stand up to many of the shows we saw in the early 1990’s. Warren is a huge presence — providing world class guitar work and vocals that echo Pigpen, Garcia, and even Brent Mydland. The highlights of the long show included the first set traditional pairing of Lost Sailor / Saint of Circumstance, a sweet three-song acoustic set, and an epic Dark Star.

We recorded from the front center rail on the official taper’s section with the four microphones and the R-44. This is a capture of outstanding depth and soundstage and we are proud of the results. Enjoy!

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

Stream the Entire Show via Archive.org:

The Dead
2009-04-24
Nassau Coliseum
Uniondale, NY USA

Four-Track Digital Master Recording
Recorded from First Row Center of the
Official Taper’s Section

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 2008-04-25

Setlist:
Set 1
[Total Time 1:11:05]
01 Jack Straw
02 Brown Eyed Women
03 Its All Over Now, Baby Blue
04 Easy Wind
05 Death Don’t Have No Mercy
06 Don’t Ease Me In
07 Lost Sailor
08 Saint of Circumstance

Set 2
Acoustic:
[Total Time 22:44]
01 When I Paint My Masterpiece
02 Peggy-O (Fennario)
03 Looks Like Rain
Electric:
[Total Time 1:22:06]
01 Alabama Getaway
02 Dark Star
03 Drums
04 Space
05 Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
06 Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad
07 [encore break]
08 [donor rap]
09 Touch of Grey

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Dead, visit their website, and purchase his official releases from the Dead Net Store [HERE].

The Rest – NPR Song of the Day + Playing a NYCTaper Presents Show on June 19

April 23, 2009

By nyctaper

A month ago, we previewed the new CD from the outstanding Ontario chamber-pop band The Rest, Everyone All At Once. This week, the album officially dropped and the rave reviews have begun to arrive. Today, “Walk on Water” [download here] received the award for “Song of the Day” at NPR. NPR.org writer Jessica Suarez, who may or may not have read our similarly written review, had this to say about The Rest:

The title of The Rest’s recent sophomore album, Everyone All at Once, suggests such an overload, but each track contains plenty of breathing room without sacrificing the lush textures of a large ensemble. Part of it is the band’s tendency to expand outward, as in the five-minute stunner “Walk on Water (Auspicious Beginnings).”
Beginning with organ, piano and cello, this pocket orchestra provides a nice bed for singer Adam Bentley’s artfully unsteady vocals. All of which builds up to a Pet Sounds-influenced bridge that brims with interlocking percussion, wet reverb and falsetto harmonies. Later explosions and pauses hint at Arcade Fire-esque bombast, but they’re not as dramatic. Take, for example, the way Bentley’s worried lament “Oh God, she knows / She knows, she knows, she knows” comes in response to his partner finding out what detergent he uses. The title’s a bit misleading, but the “auspicious beginnings” part sounds about right.

We are also happy to report that The Rest will be coming to the US for the first time, for both a La Blogotheque “Take Away” session and their first US live show. The “Take Away” session was discussed by lead singer Adam Bentley’s on the “Exchanging Emails” feature of the London Ontario blog Burgeoning Metropolis.

The first live show in the U.S. by the Rest will be part of the NYCTaper Presents show on June 19, 2009 at a yet unannounced Brooklyn venue. Many more details to follow regarding that special event.