[photo by Impose]

We arrived at Cake Shop on Friday a couple of songs into Rafter‘s set opening for The Loom. One of the members of The Loom was standing near the stage and when we approached to say hello, he immediately suggested that we tape this artist. Rafter was in the midst of a wildly impressive set of his frenetic diy approach to pop. Accompanied by a digital tape machine and a live drummer, Rafter employed an energetic stage presence and “talk box” to fine effect.

We recorded only half the set from the same location at our Loom recording. The sound quality is superb. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the partial recording in FLAC [HERE].

Rafter
2008-11-21
Cake Shop
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Upfront
10 Feet from the 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
2008-11-25

Setlist:
[total time 19:31]
[missing first 5 songs]
01 Thunderclap
02 No Fucking Around
03 Salt
04 Juicy
05 ZZZPenchant

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Rafter, visit his MySpace page, and purchase his official releases from the Asthmatic Kitty Records website [HERE].

[photo credit]

“Yeah, Minnesota!” we heard from behind us in the crowded Union Hall on Saturday night. Jeremy Messersmith had just finished one of the songs on his Minneapolis-based new CD The Silver City, when we surmised that we were among either some transplanted midwesterners in Prospect Park Brooklyn or just fans of superb melodic folk-rock with a midwest charm. Jeremy performed a too-brief thirty minute set of selections from his two excellent CDs and undoubtedly gathered some new converts. When we spoke to this modest and unassuming young man after the show, he seemed quite genuinely moved by the positive reception he received a full 1500 miles from home.

We recorded this set from an excellent location, as we attached our microphones to the metal bar that holds the stage lights in front of the stage at approximately 15 feet. The sound quality is well balanced and deep and this recording is marred only by an extremely chatty group of people who spoke unbelievably rude and loud during the first song. At the beginning of the second number they were literally told to “shh” by half a dozen people and did so. The rest of the recording is nearly flawless. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Jeremy Messersmith
2008-11-22
Union Hall
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Upfront
15 Feet Center – Microphones on Ceiling bar

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
2008-11-24

Setlist:
[total time 32:11]
01 7:02
02 Welcome to Suburbia
03 Light Rail
04 Virginia
05 Novocain
06 Beautiful Children
07 Skyway (Replacements)
08 Franklin Avenue
09 Miracles

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Jeremy Messersmith, visit his website, visit his MySpace page, and purchase his official releases from the Store at his website [HERE]

[photo by Tiny Mix Tapes]

Friday night at Cake Shop saw the next step in the evolution of the excellent band The Loom — the first time we have seen them play before a packed house. When a band with tremendous musical chops, harmonies and songwriting ability begins to accumulate critical praise, as The Loom have throughout 2008, it is only a matter time before the word spreads and the crowds grow. The band responded with quite a bit of friendly banter with the crowd and a prototypical strong set. We continue to be impressed with the work of guitarist-multi-instrumentalist Mark Rogers and his seamless transition into the band. The set also saw the inclusion of several new numbers and one apparent debut performance, which should mean that the anticipated follow-up to the At Last Light EP can not be far away.

We recorded from our usual spot at Cake Shop and the sound quality is quite excellent. There was quite a lot of rambunctiousness in the crowded room, but not much ended up on the recording. This is perhaps the best of the four recordings of the Loom that have been featured on this site. The other three are [here] [here] and [here]. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

The Loom
2008-11-21
Cake Shop
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Upfront
10 Feet from the 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
2008-11-23

Setlist:
[total time 46:22]
01 Montreal
02 All Your Famous Friends
03 In Your Doldrums
04 Song for the Winter Sun
05 Patience for Books
06 True Believers All
07 Wings
08 For All My Friends
09 Not Really Lost
10 Vampires
11 Song of Faint Praise

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Loom, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their EP At Last Light from The Loom Store [HERE] or digitally from their MySpace page.

[photo courtesy of Rist Photography]

Our first experience with Hot Buttered Rum was as an opening act at the Highline Ballroom in April. Their set was so impressive that we made a mental note to definitely catch them again, preferably as a headliner. At Sullivan Hall on Wednesday night, Hot Buttered Rum performed two complete sets in impressive fashion. The extremely talented quintet plays their version of “newgrass” with precision and confidence. The genre can be shackled by the repetitive nature of round-robin solos and a slavish dedication to form. What separates HBR from their contemporaries is a playful unpredictability and a superb band cohesion. It was during the second set at Sullivan that the band really shined, utilizing the relaxed atmosphere to stretch out and explore.

This is an interesting recording. We decided to move very close to the stage at this venue as previous recordings had suffered from chatter in front of our microphones. We attached the microphone stand onto a pole about 10 feet from the stage, about 5 feet underneath the left PA stack. The right channel was positioned about 15 feet to our right. Since we were so close to the band, there is natural stage sound in the “center” of the recording, while the left channel is almost all PA and the right channel has quite a bit of the upfront crowd. There are several bursts of static in the second set which was the result of a large person backing up into my equipment on multiple occasions and hitting into the digital cable jack. Otherwise, this is certainly an enjoyable listen. Enjoy!

This recording is offered as a direct download as the files are hosted on the Internet Archive server. Right click and “save file as” or “save target as” to download individual tracks.

More about FLAC

This recording is available on the Internet Archive [HERE]

Hot Buttered Rum
2008-11-19
Sullivan Hall
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Upfront
10 Feet from Stage
Left Channel 5 feet from PA, Right Channel over audience
Mic Placement: Healy Method

Neumann KM-150’s (AK-50 Hypercardiod Capsules) > Monster XLR cables > Apogee Minime > digital coaxial > M-Audio Microtrack > 24bit 48kHz wav file > Soundforge 8.0 (set fades, slight level boost, resample 16/44) > CD Wave 1.95 > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced
nyctaper
nyctaper@nyctaper.com
2008-11-22

Setlist:
Set 1
[total time 44:55]
01 Swing & Sway
02 Guns or Butter
03 Gumboots
04 Lulu
05 Golden Days
06 Bliss Monkeys
07 Howlin’ At The Moon
08 Big River

Set 2:
[total time 1:09:25]
01 Desert Rat
02 Idaho Pines
03 Tear My Stillhouse Down
04 Something New
05 Sexy Bakery Girl
06 Another Soul
07 Summertime Gal > Walls of Time > Summertime Gal
08 Amanda Lynn
09 Angeline The Baker > Cindy
10 [encore break]
11 Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right (Dylan)

Information: txt file
Verification: md5 file

If you download this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Hot Buttered Rum and visit their website, where you can purchase their official releases and merch (here).

Stream This Recording: