[photo by Matt Wolhtman]

What Laura Says is an excellent quintet from Tempe Arizona who write and perform ambitious cross-genre pop songs. The band signed to the Terpsikhore Collective label after they caught the ear of The Annuals and released their debut self-titled album last August. On Wednesday last, What Laura Says opened the night at Bowery Ballroom with an outstanding forty-minute set that conjured up influences from Sunflower/Surf’s Up-era Beach Boys to Zappa to 70’s Prog to the Flying Burrito Brothers. We were particularly moved by the melodic changes and creative energy of the second number, “Couldn’t Lose Myself If I Tried”. What Laura Says are currently on a lengthy tour with The Annuals that will carry them across the country for the next six weeks, before they finish with a week at SXSW.

We recorded this set from the identical location as The Annuals and Jessica Lea Mayfield recordings and the sound quality is superb. Enjoy!

Download and stream the complete show [HERE].

https://archive.org/details/WhatLauraSays2009-01-28.nyctaper

What Laura Says
2009-01-28
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Audience Recording
Recorded from Balcony Rail
Next to Soundboard

Neumann KM-150’s (AK-50 Hypercardiod Capsules) > Apogee Minime > digital coaxial > M-Audio Microtrack > 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (set fades, slight level adjustments, downsample) > CD Wave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper
2009-02-05

Setlist:
[Total Time 38:01]
01 Fashionably Moral
02 Couldn’t Lose Myself If I Tried
03 1000 Faces
04 [new song?]
05 Waves
06 Done What’s Right
07 Illustrated Manual

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT What Laura Says, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their new CD directly from the Terpsikore Collective site
[HERE].

NYCTaper Live
Radio23.org
Show #3
Sunday
February 1, 2009
3:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Listen:
http://radio23.org/listen.html

NYCTaper on the web:
https://www.nyctaper.com

Segment 1: [MP3 Download]
01 Confessor
02 Brother
03 Carry Around – The Annuals 2009-01-28
04 Kiss Me Again – Jessica Lea Mayfield 2009-01-28
05 Military Madness – Woods 2009-01-30 [coming soon]
06 Harvest Moon – The Antlers 2009-01-22

Segment 2: [MP3 Download]
01 Winters Love
02 Comfy in Nautica – Animal Collective 2009-01-21
03 One – Govt Mule 2008-12-28
04 Close My Eyes – Matisyahu 2008-12-22

Segment 3: [MP3 Download]
01 Ny Batteri – Sigur Ros 2008-09-18
02 Marmalade Fires – mum 2008-04-23
03 Heysatan – Sigur Ros 2008-09-18
04 Oh, How the Boat Drifts – mum 2008-04-22
05 Ammeli (Birthday) – Sugarcubes 2006-11-17

Segment 4: [MP3 Download]
01 Uncontrollable Urge – Devo 2008-06-26
02 Daniel Goodings – Fever Marlene 2008-06-05
03 Uncalibrated – Bridges and Powerlines 2008-06-21
04 Moonage Daydream – Of Montreal 2007-03-09
05 Juicy – Rafter 2008-11-21
06 Firecracker People – Hotel Lights 2008-08-19

MP3 Downloads are available for each of the four segments individually, rather than the entire show as a zip file.

[TXT File Download]

[photo by Amanda Hatfield]

We were prepared, based on our research and on the positive reviews for her new album With Blasphemy So Heartfelt, to enjoy Jessica Lea Mayfield‘s set opening for the Annuals at the Bowery Ballroom on Wednesday last. What we were not prepared to hear was such an “old soul” authentic voice projected from the body of a nineteen-year old young woman. The juxtaposition of the small, young waifish singer and the Lucinda Williams-like voice of experience creates a compelling can’t-look-away quality to Jessica Lea’s live performance. The quality of the songwriting follows suit, so that when the americana-style quartet completed their set, the Bowery crowd was heard to call for an encore. We were disappointed that Jessica Lea could not return, but we anticipate that she will headline and perform longer sets in the very near future.

We recorded this set from the identical location as the Annuals recording. You may hear the sound of a loose cymbal on the drum kit vibrating at times, but otherwise this is an outstanding recording. Enjoy!

Download and stream the complete show [HERE].

https://archive.org/details/JessicaLeaMayfield2008-01-28.nyctaper

Jessica Lea Mayfield
2009-01-28
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Audience Recording
Recorded from Balcony Rail
Next to Soundboard

Neumann KM-150’s (AK-50 Hypercardiod Capsules) > Apogee Minime > digital coaxial > M-Audio Microtrack > 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (set fades, slight level adjustments, downsample) > CD Wave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper
2009-02-02

Setlist:
[Total Time 37:51]
01 Kiss Me Again
02 I’m Not Lonely Anymore
03 Bible Days
04 Hold You Close
05 When I Go Crazy
06 Greater Heights
07 We’ve Never Lied
08 You’re The One That I Love Best
09 I Can’t Lie To You, Love
10 For Today

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Jessica Lea Mayfield, visit her website, visit her MySpace page, and purchase her new CD With Blasphemy So Heartfelt and other merch from the store at her website [HERE].

[photo by Ear Farm music blog]

Last Thursday, The Antlers started the Naked Hearts CD release party at Cake Shop with a tight forty-minute set of primarily songs from Hospice and one interesting cover. The strong closing version of “Two” from Hospice was particularly compelling, as was their shoegaze-style version of the Neil Young song “Harvest Moon“.

Hospice will be released on March 3, 2009. The CD release party will take place on March 5, 2009 at Union Hall and will feature a complete performance of the album from start to finish. The Antlers have promised “a whole mess of special guests” for this event. The Antlers return to the road for an extensive tour throughout March which will find them in Austin for SXSW.

We recorded this performance from the same location as the Naked Hearts recording. Although the vocals are too low in the recordings, we still feel its a fine listen of an excellent band. Enjoy!

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

Antlers
2009-01-22
Cake Shop
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Upfront
10 Feet from PA

DPA 4021s > Edirol UA-5 (Oade Digimod) > digital coaxial > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 24bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge 8.0 (level adjustments, downsample 16/44) > CD Wave > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2009-01-31

Setlist:
[total time 42:04]
01 Bear
02 Atrophy
03 Harvest Moon (Neil Young)
04 Shiva
05 East River
06 Two

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Antlers, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their new CD Hospice when it is released on March 3.