[photo courtesy of Bob Sanderson]

As with all the bands that were to appear at the amazing After the Jump Festival on Saturday in Williamsburg, we researched Ponytail listening to their songs and reading some reviews. Absolutely nothing we heard or saw could have prepared us for the live experience. This quartet from Baltimore present a truly original and undefinable approach to modern music.

My best comparison would be the early 80’s version of Pere Ubu — except that the singer is a 22-year old women named Mollie Siegel who looks about fourteen, instead of an obese savant. Each of the three musicians were quite proficient but we were particularly impressed with Dustin Wong who plays a frenetic mix of lead and rhythm guitars along with keyboards and backing vocals.

Ponytail are touring extensively in support of their brand new CD Ice Cream Spiritual. These dates include the July 12 ToddP show at the Yard, July 13 at Mercury Lounge, and July and August dates at the Knitting Factory. Visit their MySpace page for more tour dates and details.

We recorded this set from inside the soundboard booth with our DPA microphones mounted to the soundproofed wall above the booth. The sound in this venue is always outstanding and this recording reflects that quality. Enjoy!

After The Jump is a charitable organization of NYC music bloggers who donate all proceeds of their events to the advancement of music in NYC schools. nyctaper requests that if you download this recording, that you support this cause. Selected tracks from the recordings to be featured on this site from the ATJ Festival will be produced into a compilation, with all proceeds being donated to the music programs in NYC schools. When the compilation becomes available, all nyctaper readers who downloaded ATJ sets will be expected to purchase the release.

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Ponytail
2008-06-21
After the Jump Festival
Music Hall of Williamsburg
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Inside Soundboard Booth

DPA 4021s > Marantz PMD-660 (Oade BCM Mod) > 16bit 44.1kHz wav > Soundforge 8.0 (level adjustments, set fades) > CD Wave > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-06-23

Setlist:
[Total time 33:21]
01 Late For School
02 G Shock
03 7 Souls
04 Music Tunes
05 Music Tunes Part 2
06 Beg Waves
07 Die Allman Bruder
08 Celebrate the Body Electric (It Came From an Angel)

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Ponytail, visit their myspace page, and purchase their official releases [HERE] and [HERE].

[photo credit]

I did not recognize John McCauley standing by the soundboard booth as I set up to record the Deer Tick performance at tonight’s Rooftop Films concert. He has shaved his mustache and looks younger — a reminder that this enormously talented and poised performer with the world-weary voice is merely twenty-four years old. On the roof, Deer Tick performed the standard 30-minute pre-film set. Despite the inattentive movie crowd John managed to pull in quite a few of the restless throng with the opening Faron Young cover, the Deer Tick “MySpace hit” (“Art Isn’t Real”), and a strong “Baltimore Blues” closer.

We recorded from 10 feet in front of the PA and as a result there is no crowd noise or wind on this recording. The basic sound system has some over-modulated vocals, but overall we are extremely happy with this recording. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Deer Tick
2008-06-20
Rooftop Films Concert Series
New Design High Rooftop
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Upfront
10 Feet from PA Stacks

Neumann KM-150’s > Monster Cable > Marantz PMD-600 (Oade BCM Mod) > 16bit 44.1kHz wav > Soundforge 8.0 (level adjustments, set fades) > CD Wave 1.75 > Flac Frontend (level 7) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-06-21

Setlist:
[Total time 30:12]
01 [introduction]
02 Live Fast Love Hard Die Young
03 Ashamed
04 Art Isn’t Real
05 Spend The Night
06 Straight Into A Storm
07 Little White Lies
08 Dirty Dishes
09 Diamond Rings 2007
10 Baltimore Blues No. 1

Deer Tick at Mercury Lounge March 30, 2008 is still available on nyctaper [HERE].

Deer Tick perform again tonight (June 21) at Silent Barn, and again on June 30 at Southpaw.

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Deer Tick, visit their website, visit their myspace page, and purchase the War Elephant release from Itunes, or emusic, or order it directly from Feow Records when its back in stock.

[photo by soundbites blog]

Oh! Custer is one of those rare bands who immediately caught our ear when we first heard them in a promotional email. Their CDs are released in the US through an independent label called Series Two Records. When we learned that Oh! Custer would play the NYC Popfest, we reached out to Series Two and the Popfest and received permission to record the performance.

The duo play a unique lo-fi guitar-oriented Swedish pop with Josef providing melodic electric guitar lines to Esbjörn’s vocals and rhythm guitar, and backed by laptop beats and ambient sounds. As the middle band in a 5-band bill on the opening night of the NYC Popfest, Oh! Custer had the unenviable task of keeping the momentum. With a persistent beat, strong songs and funny/friendly banter, Oh! Custer kept the crowd into the show and earned some new fans.

We recorded from the identical location as the Love Is All recording from later in the evening, but during Oh! Custer we moved the microphones to avoid the draft from the air conditioning duct. There is a some rumble from the air in the first 3 songs, but that is greatly decreased when the mics were moved. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Oh! Custer
2008-06-12
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
2008-06-19

Setlist:
[Total time 41:09]
01 Others
02 Keep it Coming
03 Late
04 Secrets
05 So Much Better
06 States
07 October
08 Post
09 Fields of Autumn
10 Spoiler
11 Your Name
12 Be Mine (Robyn cover)

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Oh! Custer, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their CDs directly from the Series Two Records site.