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It did not take long for the fine pairing of Marco Benevento and Sullivan Hall to hook up again. After his outstanding 5-show residency in January at Sullivan, Marco Benevento returns to the scene of his triumph for two nights this weekend. This time around, his band features the outstanding downtown stalwart, drummer Bobby Previte, Eric Krasno from Soulive, Briggan Krauss from Sex Mob, and Curtis Fowlkes from Jazz Passengers.
If the magic from January returns, the all-star collaboration between Marco and the roster of talent at this weekend’s shows promises to be an extraordinary exhibit of musical imagination and talent. nyctaper will be there both nights to capture the improvisational genuises on display.
The last time we saw Kimya in January at Southpaw, she was just beginning to ride the wave of Juno-created popularity. At that show, she expressed some trepidation about the sudden burst of exposure, but still managed to maintain her unique genuine persona. Less than three months later, after an appearance on The View and the Academy Awards performance, Kimya sold out Webster Hall — a venue roughly 5 times the size of Southpaw. Long-time fans approached this appearance with some concerns that such rapid success had effected Kimya.
Any lingering doubts about the integrity of this performer were gone within minutes of the beginning of Sunday night’s performance. As she took the stage, Kimya slipped and nearly fell over, and as she giggled, any tension or pressure was broken for the night. What followed was perhaps the greatest performance of her decade-long career — a nearly two-hour display of humor, charm and powerful songs. Kimya worked through a vast majority of her material, including the now-familiar mini-set of new children’s songs. She performed most of the set with the accompaniment of Matt and Erin Tobey on an assortment of instruments and backing vocals. For this concert, the array of “Loose Lips” stage dancers was actually an organized costumed and choreographed troupe of Kimya’s friends. The night came to fitting close with the mock-finale of “Tomorrow” — the performer’s future as bright as ever.
We recorded from an excellent location in this venue, but unfortunately the sound levels were just far too low. The sound technicians were apparently not able to provide the proper volume without guitar distortion, and did not provide a clean signal. There was a noticeable hiss in the main speakers. As a result, this recording is a genuine low-fi capture of this concert, albeit one true to the sound of the room. Enjoy this superb and unique performer in her low-fi glory!
This recording is now available for Download in FLAC and MP3 at Archive.org [HERE].
Kimya Dawson
2008-04-06
Webster Hall
New York, NY USA
Digital Audience Master Recording
Recorded from Front of Board on Floor
30 Feet from Right PA Stack
DPA 4021s > Marantz PMD-660 (Oade BCM Mod) > 16bit 44.1kHz wav > Soundforge (level adjustments, modify close clapping, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries)> flac
Recorded and Produced by
nyctaper
2008-04-07
Setlist:
[total time 1:44:26]
01 Eleventeen
02 Rocks With Holes
03 Fire
04 Chemistry
05 Lullaby For The Taken
06 My Mom
07 Underground
08 Viva La Persistence
09 My Heroes
10 Singing Machine
11 Secret Letters (Erin Tobey solo)
12 Little Monster Babies
13 Bobby-O
14 Seven Hungry Tigers
15 Alpha Butt
16 I Like Bears
17 I’m an Animal
18 Weatherman
19 [Matt Tobey solo]
20 [Matt Tobey solo]
21 Being Cool
22 It’s Been Raining
23 Beer
24 Loose Lips (with a verse of “Private Dancer”)
25 The Greatest Love of All (acapella)
26 My Rollercoaster
27 Tire Swing
28 I Have Changed
29 Little Panda Bear
30 I Like Giants
31 [encore break]
32 Tomorrow (“Annie”)
If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Kimya Dawson, visit her website, visit her livejournal page, and purchase the her official releases directly from her site, or the K Records site.
Spanish Prisoners celebrated the official release of their CD Songs to Forget at Union Hall last night. The performing and recording project of singer/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Leo Maymind, last night Spanish Prisoners featured a complete band, including keyboards, stand-up and electric bass, drums, and a brass section. The set consisted of all songs from the new CD, including an absolutely blistering version of “Some Among Them Are Killers”, and a spry opening of the clever number “A Thousand Zimmermans”.
This recording is possibly the single most outstanding one ever offered on this site. As Leo had given my complete access to record, and based on the experience of our last recording at Union Hall (the Diggs), we set-up the DPA 4021 microphones in strategic locations to fully capture this performance. The right channel microphone was placed on the front and center stage lip pointed at 45 degrees to reflect the atmosphere from the stage, while the left channel was placed approximately 10 feet from PA stacks pointed toward the center. The result is a true stereo recording with a “surround” feel, and has almost a perfect mix of voice and instruments. As a result, this excellent performance is recorded in the best possible light. Enjoy!
Download and stream the complete show [HERE].
https://archive.org/details/SpanishPrisoners2008-04-05
Spanish Prisoners
2008-04-05
Union Hall
Brooklyn, NY USA
Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Upfront & On Stage
Left Channel 10 Feet from the PA, Right Channel on Stage Lip
DPA 4021s > Edirol UA-5 (Oade Digimod) > digital coaxial > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 24bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge 8.0 (level adjustments, EQ, downsample 16/44) > CD Wave > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac
Many thanks to Leo for permission to recording
Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-04-06
Setlist:
[Total time 39:07]
01 A Thousand Zimmermans
02 Song for the Weary
03 Periwinkle Blues
04 Dear Just Curious
05 Ballad of an Unfolding
06 Some Among Them are Killers
07 Mantequilla
08 How the Fallen Fell
If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Spanish Prisoners, visit their website, visit their myspace page, and purchase the new release Songs to Forget directly from their site.
Athens-based The Whigs opened for the Drive-By Truckers last week, and were permitted a set of exactly twenty-nine minutes. Normally a set of such brevity denies the opener a chance to make an impression on fans waiting for the headliner, but The Whigs managed to energize the late-arriving crowd with their frenetic garage-pop, including highlights “Technology” and the closer “Half the World Away”. Five of the seven songs performed are featured on the new album Mission Control, which was released in January to excellent reviews, and led to an appearance by The Whigs on David Letterman.
This recording was captured from nearly the same location as the Drive-By Truckers, approximately 20 feet further forward than the DBT recording. The venue was about half-empty at this point in the night, so that the boominess is fairly apparent. I applied a gentle reduction of the mids in an equalization in post-production to remove some of the boom. Otherwise, this is a fine recording of a brief but superb set. Enjoy!
Download and stream the Complete show [HERE].
https://archive.org/details/TheWhigs2008-03-26
The Whigs
2008-03-26
Terminal 5
New York, NY USA
Digital Master Audience Recording
Front of Board Dead Center
Neumann KM-150’s > Monster Cable > Apogee Mini-Me > digital coax > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 24bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge 8.0 (level adjustments, downsample 16/44) > CD Wave 1.75 > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac
Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-04-04
Setlist:
[total time 29:00]
01 Like a Vibration
02 Technology
03 Already Young
04 Sleep Sunshine
05 Hot Bed
06 Right Hand on My Heart
07 Half the World Away
If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Whigs, visit their website, and purchase the new release Mission Control directly from their site.
Deer Tick‘s John McCauley is certainly an artist dedicated to his craft. At Mercury Lounge on Sunday night, McCauley fought his way through a full opening set despite having suffered the last two weeks with strep throat. The strain in his voice was evident, but nevertheless John worked Deer Tick through a strong set of material from their outstanding debut release War Elephant, along with several new songs and two appropriate covers. When Deer Tick performed John Prine‘s semi-obscure classic “Mexican Home”, it made perfect sense. As McCauley has been compared with everyone from Dylan to Tweedy, it seems that subtle influences of a underrated performer like Prine are actually more accurate — a poignant lyricist and dedicated performer without pretense or artifice.
We received advance permission to record the Deer Tick set from John. The equipment was set up in the perfect location from when we saw the Vanderslice soundcheck. This recording is perhaps a bit heavy on the drums as a result of the house mix, but is otherwise a fine representation of this outstanding artist. Enjoy!
Download and stream the complete show in [HERE].
https://archive.org/details/DeerTick2008-03-30
Deer Tick
2008-03-30
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY USA
Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Front of Board
Neumann KM-150’s > Monster Cable > Apogee Mini-Me > digital coax > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 24bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge 8.0 (level adjustments, downsample 16/44) > CD Wave 1.75 > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac
Many thanks to John for permission to record.
Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-04-02
Setlist:
01 [introduction]
02 Art Isn’t Real
03 [banter]
04 Baltimore Blues No. 1
05 Mexican Home (John Prine)
06 Ashamed
07 Little White Lies
08 [banter]
09 Straight Into A Storm*
10 [banter]
11 Spend the Night
12 You Don’t Know How We Did It*
13 [banter]
14 The Ghost
15 Dirty Dishes
16 LaBamba (Blue Moon introduction)
*song title approximations
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 War Elephant from Itunes, or emusic, or order it directly from Feow Records when its back in stock.
Deer Tick return to NYC later this month for two dates:
Apr 12 2008 8:00pm Union Hall Brooklyn
Apr 13 2008 8:00pm Knitting Factory NYC
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