Posts Tagged ‘ chicago ’

Tortoise: March 16, 2017 Hall at MP

March 22, 2017
By

Seeing Tortoise is one thing. Seeing them up close, watching the synchronous drumming, the members swapping instruments song to song, playing in perfect time, is really seeing Tortoise. This was far from my first time with them, but it was my first time at the distance you see above, and it was incredible. Still on a high from last year’s The Catastrophist, the band felt less bound this time around to showcase those songs, instead delving back particularly hard into their landmark album TNT, among other corners of their catalog.

The Hall at MP, a relatively new below-ground venue paired with a Michael Psilakis restaurant up top, proved a good venue for these guys, with a broad stage that could accommodate all those instrument changes. One notable change toward the end of the set was a guest appearance by Yo La Tengo’s Georgia Hubley, who joined the band for “Yonder Blue,” the song on which she provided vocals for The Catastrophist.

In terms of the rest of the set, what constituted a “highlight” probably had as much to do with your introduction to the band and the set list of the last show you saw than the actual quality of the music, all of which was high. As Eric noted in his review of the previous night’s show, this band has been a gateway drug of sorts for many of us who grew into independent music that went beyond verse-chorus-verse, guitar-and-vocal sounds. What’s so notable about Tortoise is that they’ve probably kept doing that for so, so many more over the ensuing years.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed of Tortoise engineer Elliott Dicks’ mix, coupled with Schoeps MK5 cardioid microphones in “X-Y” position onstage. The sound quality is truly outstanding. Enjoy!

Download the complete set via archive.org: [MP3] | [FLAC]

Stream the complete set:

Tortoise
2017-03-16
Hall at MP
Brooklyn, NY

Hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack
Tortoise live engineer: Elliot Dicks
Hall at MP engineer: Karl Schwarz

Soundboard + Schoeps MK5c (onstage, DFC, X-Y)>KCY>Z-PFA>>Zoom F8>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CC (align, mix down, compression)>Izotope Ozone 5 (light EQ, effects, image)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 1:26:31]
01 The Catastrophist
02 Prepare Your Coffin
03 Monica
04 In Sarah, Mencken, Christ, And Beethoven There Where Women And Men
05 I Set My Face to the Hillside
06 The Clearing Fills
07 Eros
08 [tuning]
09 Tesseract
10 [banter]
11 Ten-Day Interval
12 Swung From the Gutters
13 The Suspension Bridge At Iguazú Falls
14 At Odds With Logic
15 [encore break 1]
16 Yonder Blue (w/ Georgia Hubley)
17 Gesceap
18 [encore break 2]
19 Salt the Skies

Support Tortoise: Website | Facebook | Buy The Catastrophist and more via Thrill Jockey

Running: June 10, 2016 Union Pool (Monofonus Press Northside Showcase)

June 21, 2016
By

Running
[Photo By Rocketman]

Despite their nonstop touring schedule, we’ve until now somehow managed to have missed Chicago’s Running. But all was corrected at Monofonus Press’s Northside party which brought the band out with like-minded noise enthusiasts, Spray Paint and Beech Creeps. Sounding something like PC Worship on speed, the band roars through seven tracks off of their two records on Castle Face, 2013’s Vaguely Ethnic and Wake Up Applauding, which came out this past January. The band played a few more shows throughout the Northside weekend, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see them on some best-of lists. Don’t worry if you missed out, that’s why we’re here—and I’m sure you’ll get another shot at catching Running back in NYC soon.

I recorded this set from our usual location in Union Pool with a board feed from FOH Robert. The sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Download: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream:

Running
2016-06-10
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by Eric PH

Soundboard (engineer: Robert) + AKG C480B/CK63 (PAS) > Roland R-26 > 2xWAV (24/48) > Adobe Audition CC (align, compression, mixdown, normalize, fades) + Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ) > Audacity 2.0.5 (downsample, dither, tracking, tagging) > FLAC (16/44.1, level 8)

Tracks [26:51]
01. Reclaimed Would
02. No Wave Jose
03. OoOo Oo0o 0oOo0oO
04. Thanks for the Input
05. Ghost Bag
06. Employment Vows
07. We Never Close

Buy Vaguely Ethnic and Wake Up Applauding via Castle Face
• • Check their website for future tour dates and releases

Disappears: February 20, 2016 Baby’s All Right (incl. complete set of David Bowie’s “Low”)

February 21, 2016
By

IMG_1624

Let’s get this out of the way: this is not some thrown-together “tribute”; Disappears had this idea long before Bowie’s recent passing. You can hear the evidence on their 2015 live LP, in fact (which you can still find if you look), which captures their full performances at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art as part of a “Bowie Changes” series of events. Given what’s happened since, this Brooklyn redux of that memorable night took on new meaning, and showed us so much of what to appreciate about live rock music, and Bowie, who was one of the best.

Baby’s All Right was its typical self on Saturday night, a convivial hub for Williamsburg partiers and people of good musical taste. Disappears’ crowd was one of the better ones, composed mainly of the band’s regulars, scenesters and Bowie diehards interested in hearing the band’s take. Disappears’ material usually draws more comparisons to Joy Division and the Fall than the Thin White Duke, but only if you forget that Bowie had his own krautrock streak, evidenced on Station to Station as well as Low itself, a dissonant, dark piece of work that added to Bowie’s mystique as a musical chameleon whose taste rarely missed.

Before any Bowie, of course, Disappears had a full set for us of their own material, kicking off with the propulsive “Joa” followed by “Another Thought” and “I/O,” also from last year’s excellent Irreal, they decided to play some new material. Of these, my favorite might be “Silencing,” a mid-tempo meditation that continues in Irreal’s more subdued, textured vein but goes further down that path. Brian Case and bandmates Damon Carruesco, Jonathan van Herik, and Noah Leger (I’ve said this before, but damn can this guy drum) not only form one of the tightest units in music today, but they carry themselves with an understated poise that you wish you saw more often. Disappears is a band best seen from the front row, where you can watch both Case’s kinetic vocal delivery and get the full effect of the hammering of the drums and slink of the bass, urging on the dual guitars. This recording was made from onstage, making it about the closest thing to that experience.

Of course, everyone wants to know about the Bowie set. There are umpteen “tributes” going on these days, many of them hastily arranged for a quick buck and/or nostalgia jolt, and some of the highest-profile events to date have either reeked of gimmickry or have simply fallen flat. Disappears’ move was not only refreshing because it actually wasn’t a “response” to the artist’s passing, but because it took the most direct route: playing a Bowie album with an obvious relationship to Disappears’ vision. It’s the best kind of tribute, one that honored Bowie by letting his music, alongside Disappears’ own, speak for itself.

Most striking about Low as a live set is how distinct the album is to the LP format, with a clear side A of somewhat more conventional rock tracks followed by the dramatic shift of the Eno-driven side B, a languid, ambient affair that felt much farther afield than the rest of the set. That Disappears not only held our attention, but managed to recreate this album live without many of the electronics that defined the album, testifies to their skill as a band. Similarly, side B isn’t exactly a party-rock record, but for this crowd, “Warszawa” and “Art Decade” weren’t going to clear the room; the crowd tightened in, holding on for the surge of “Weeping Wall,” whose operatic sweep might’ve made you think, had you closed your eyes, that it was Godspeed You! Black Emperor up there making noise with its gaggle of musicians, not four guys. “Subterraneans” made for a subdued ending after that obvious climax, but once again, Disappears gave it the attention it deserved, straight through to the end.

While this Low performance won’t be the only one of the tour, there are only a few others scheduled, interspersed among the band’s regular tour schedule. You can catch the band Monday in Philly, and Tuesday in Pittsburgh (where they’ll do Low again).

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK22 open cardiod microphones onstage for an expansive, up front sound, combined with a soundboard feed of Disappears’ FOH Jason Balla’s mix, with assistance from Harrison Fore of Baby’s in setting it up. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Download the complete show: [MP3/Apple Lossless/FLAC]

Stream the complete show:

Disappears
2016-02-20
Baby’s All Right
Brooklyn, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Soundboard (engineer: Disappears FOH Jason Balla) + Schoeps MK22 (onstage, ORTF)>>Zoom F8>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (adjust stereo image on audience, align, mix down)>Izotope Ozone 5 (effects, EQ)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, balance, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

[Total Time: 1:37:05]
Set One (Disappears songs)
01 JOA
02 Another Thought
03 I/O
04 11 Mile House
05 Ultra
06 Alarm
07 Silencing
08 Elite Typical
09 Halcyon Days

Set Two (David Bowie’s “Low”)
10 [intro]
11 Speed of Life
12 Breaking Glass
13 What In the World
14 Sound and Vision
15 Always Crashing In the Same Car
16 Be My Wife
17 A New Career In A New Town
18 Warszawa
19 Art Decade
20 Weeping Wall
21 Subterraneans

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Disappears, visit their website, and buy Irreal and their other releases here.

NE-HI: October 15, 2015 NYCTaper Unofficial CMJ Show, Cake Shop

December 17, 2015
By

IMG_0185

Chicago’s NE-HI have only been around since 2014, but they’ve already made a name for themselves in the local scene with their sharp hooks and the immediacy of their live performance. All of that was on display back in October at our unofficial CMJ day show at Cake Shop, in which the band kicked things off with their earworm single “Drag” and kept the momentum up throughout. These guys are fellow travelers with beloved Chicagoans Twin Peaks (our recording of them here) and it’s easy to see the kinship between sounds. They, like Twin Peaks, are vets of Chicago’s DIY scene, but their album production is straight-up professional, befitting the quality of their sound. Having now been signed to a major tour promoter, I’d say it’s likely we’ll be seeing NE-HI on many more bills come festival time. If they pass through NYC before then, make sure not to miss them.

I recorded this set in the same manner as the other recordings from the day, with Schoeps MK4V at the stage lip together with a soundboard feed. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Download the complete show: [MP3/FLAC

Stream the complete show:

NE-HI
2015-10-15
NYCTaper Unofficial CMJ Show
Cake Shop
New York, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Schoeps MK4V (onstage)>KC5>CMC6 + Soundboard (engineer: Jeff)>>Edirol R-44>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, fades, compression)>Izotope Ozone 5 (effects, EQ, image)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Drag
02 Palm
03 Since I’ve Been Thinking
04 Rattle
05 Stay
06 Turncoat
07 Crash

If you enjoyed this set, please support NE-HI by buying their EP and singles from their bandcamp page.

Eleventh Dream Day: August 21, 2015 Mercury Lounge – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

August 24, 2015
By

edd1

Eleventh Dream Day is one of those bands that you can’t believe never became more famous. The Chicago stalwarts — whose core includes singer/guitarist Rick Rizzo, bassist Doug McCombs (also of Tortoise and Brokeback) and drummer/singer Janet Bean (also of Freakwater), now joined by guitarist Jim Elkington (Tweedy) and keyboardist Mark Greenberg — have been at this since the 1980s, and are often hailed as the Midwest’s answer to Yo La Tengo. There’s some truth to that, to be sure, in terms of what their musical choices suggest about their record collections, as well as the more obvious female drummer comparison, but EDD put forth a harder-edged, more blue collar aesthetic than their NYC counterparts. Nobody ever tags the oft-heralded YLT as “underrated,” either. Like a lot of bands that got swept up in the post-Nirvana gold rush, Eleventh Dream Day weren’t so much “underrated” as “screwed over by major label incompetence,” but nobody is denying that they belonged on bigger stages. Unlike the majority of their peers who found themselves in the same spot they persevered, and even thrived, as part of the underground where they belonged in the first place.

EDD’s tour this year consisted of a scant four dates built around the members’ other commitments, and we were lucky enough to get one of them at Mercury Lounge. The vets are out flogging their latest release, Works For Tomorrow, which also has the distinction of being one of the very best among their deep catalog. The band came out swinging with the the album’s title track, followed by the new (and arguably album-defining) “Vanishing Point” and “Go Tell It” before heading into the hyper-political “The People’s History.” Bean and Rizzo’s interplay as vocalists works well, such as on the new “The Unknowing.” After that, we got one of the band’s older tracks, “Bagdad’s Last Ride” from 1989’s Beet. Before heading back into new material, the band treated us to one of the night’s two covers, this one the Wiper’s “Taking Too Long.” Fans of the old-school material had plenty to love in “Orange Moon” from 1994’s Ursa Major, whose dark lyrics seemed more deeply felt on this go than on the album original. The second cover, an rocked-up version of Judy Henske’s damaged-folk jam “Snowblind,” might well have been the night’s culminating moment, letting Bean match Henske’s gasoline-drinking vocals as the guitarists got some room to shred. It’s not really fair to call a band of this impact “Chicago’s Yo La Tengo.” Eleventh Dream Day are Chicago’s Eleventh Dream Day, and they did their home city and their fans proud with this one.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed from Dave Lefcourt, combined with Schoeps MK41V supercardiod microphones. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Download the complete show: [MP3] | [FLAC]

Stream the complete show:

Eleventh Dream Day
2015-08-21
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Soundboard (engineer: Dave Lefcourt) + Schoeps MK41V (PAS)>KCY>Z-PFA>>Roland R-26>2×44.1kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (mix down, compression, fades)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, imaging)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time: 1:09:25]
01 Works For Tomorrow
02 Vanishing Point
03 Go Tell It
04 The People’s History
05 The Unknowing
06 Bagdad’s Last Ride
07 Taking Too Long [The Wipers]
08 Deep Lakes
09 End With Me
10 Cheap Gasoline
11 [banter1]
12 Orange Moon *
13 [encore break]
14 Snowblind [Judy Henske]
15 Tarantula

* w/ Matt Rizzo

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Eleventh Dream Day, visit their website, and buy Works For Tomorrow from Thrill Jockey.

Grateful Dead: July 5, 2015 Chicago – Flac/MP3/Streaming

July 13, 2015
By

Let Trey Sing
[screen shot from the livestream]

The Grateful Dead ended abruptly and without much warning when after a disastrous Summer 1995 tour, Jerry Garcia’s body finally gave out and the band decided to formally retire the name. While the public mourning for Garcia was ubiquitous and lengthy, the band itself never quite got the farewell it deserved. Twenty years later, these five “Fare Thee Well” shows reunited the remaining significant surviving members of the Grateful Dead and supplemented the band with keyboard wiz Jeff Chimenti and the guitarist who is perhaps the most deserving of the passing of the mantle from Garcia — Phish’s Trey Anastasio. While these shows certainly had ups and downs, overall the “Fare Thee Well” event was a fitting tribute to the band and ultimately a proper goodbye.

The final night in Chicago began with a furious run through “China > Rider” before an early set “Estimated” gave Trey and the band a chance to stretch out and jam. While Bob Weir’s vocals on Estimated were strangely timed, by the time the lyrics were ended and the instrumental segment began, the song kicked into gear and Anastasio switched from the Garcia heavy wah-wah tone to something more in his own style and made the closing jam his own. Bruce Hornsby did a very nice job on vocals for Garcia’s late-era mid-tempo ditty “Built To Last” before the set lost a little momentum. “Samson” was sloppy and Lesh’s vocals on a strange “Mountains of the Moon” took the air out of the building and “Throwing Stones” was not a strong set closer. The second set began with a rare repeat (Santa Clara opener) “Truckin” before the performance of what may very well be the highlight of entire group of shows — a damned near perfect rendition of “Cassidy” where every player shined and the song reached crescendos not often achieved in the late-era Grateful Dead versions of this song. Trey kept it rolling with a superb “Althea” before Lesh’s vocals again brought the momentum to a screeching halt. “Lady With a Fan” is one of Robert Hunter’s greatest set of lyrics and the phrasing and subtlety that Garcia brought to the song made it one of the Dead’s best ever. Lesh is simply not a vocalist with chops or range to carry off this song and it trudged along before Weir saved the day during the “Terrapin” segment as he brought passion and vocals abilities to the tail end of the number. Sadly, the post-drums “Days Between” did not play to Weir’s strengths and the song dragged — live at the venue people began to sit down and talk among themselves. This version of the “Days Between” — the last song Garcia ever composed — was not a fitting tribute to the fallen leader and it sapped the energy from the set. Fortunately, “Not Fade Away” brought the crowd back into the show and the expected “Touch of Grey” (with shared vocals) was indeed a fine tribute. And at the end, tears were shed and spines tingled as “Attics” closed the evening in very classy fashion and finally gave the Grateful Dead the goodbye they deserved.

This set was recorded by Bill in the same manner as the July 3 show and the July 4 show, and the quality is equally excellent. Enjoy!

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]
Please be kind and don’t re-post the direct links.

Stream “Estimated Prophet”:

Grateful Dead
2015-07-05
Soldier Field
Chicago IL

Digital Master Audience Recording
Recorded from Taper’s Section

Busman BSC2 + AKG 480/CK61 + Sennheiser MKH-8040s > Tascam DR-680 > 24bit 48kHz wav file > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded by Bill Walker
Produced by nyctaper

Setlist:
Set 1
[Total Time 1:12:38]
01 China Cat Sunflower
02 I Know You Rider
03 Estimated Prophet
04 Built to Last
05 Samson and Delilah
06 Mountains of the Moon
07 Throwing Stones

Set 2
[Total Time 2:12:21]
08 Truckin
09 Cassidy
10 Althea
11 Terrapin Station
12 Drums-Space
13 Unbroken Chain
14 The Days Between
15 Not Fade Away
16 [encore break]
17 Touch of Grey
18 [second encore break]
19 Attics of My Life
20 [crowd – closing remarks]

If you download this show from NYCTaper, please support the band and buy anything from the plethora of available music and merch at Dead.net.

Grateful Dead: July 4, 2015 Chicago – Flac/MP3/Streaming

July 5, 2015
By

gd screenie 4
[screen cap from the live stream]

Tonight is the last official performance of the band formerly known as “The Grateful Dead”. The entity known as “NYCTaper” would almost certainly not exist in its current incarnation were it not for the Grateful Dead and the tapers who captured the shows. These fans were essentially the courageous pioneers whose persistence, imagination and sacrifice created the very idea that a rock band could have “tapers”. After years of back and forth, the band ultimately recognized the value of the tapers and created an official “taper’s section” for them to do what they do. I spent quite a few nights in the late-era version of that section and it was an orderly community with its own set of particular rules and mores. In our own way here at NYCTaper, we try to apply a similar set of rules and use the code that made the tapers so successful and apply it to today’s technology and the music world at large. Indeed, our friend Jesse Jarnow is writing a book about the early days of the Grateful Dead tapers and gave us a small sample of his work in an article published in Wired Magazine on Friday.

The community aspect of the tapers’ creed is also a large reason why these recordings are coming to NYCTaper and doing so very quickly. Our friend Bill won the “lottery” and nabbed taper tickets to each of the Chicago shows and very generously volunteered to have his recordings posted here at NYCTaper. I’ve met Bill and I’ve known him in taper circles for a while, and acidjack has spent time with Bill down in New Orleans, but this joint venture is more about a camaraderie between relative strangers bonding over a taper ideal that began back in the old days of the Grateful Dead. In a way, its our tribute the band’s last shows that we can come together to take the original idea and transform it to a 21st Century version of the old “taper’s section”.

The second of these three shows was a standard Saturday show — that is to say it was a show longer on songs and shorter on jams. A show not necessarily for the diehards, but more for the “weekend fan”. Its been a phenomena for these weekend runs in Grateful Dead lore for years. The Friday show is a high-energy party, the Saturday is a song night, and the Sunday show is a night for obscurities and jams. We’ll find out in a few hours if this final run follows the old trend. However, that’s not necessarily an indictment of this show. It certainly had its moments — a surprising spry first-set “Friend of the Devil”, the Jerry-tribute “Bird Song” to open the second set, and a wayback machine drive along “The Golden Road to Unlimited Devotion” (streaming below).

This set was recorded by Bill in the same manner as the July 3 show and the quality is equally excellent. Enjoy!

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Stream “The Golden Road”:

Grateful Dead
2015-07-04
Soldier Field
Chicago IL

Digital Master Audience Recording
Recorded from Taper’s Section

Busman BSC2 + AKG 480/CK61 + Sennheiser MKH-8040s > Tascam DR-680 > 24bit 48kHz wav file > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded by Bill Walker
Produced by nyctaper

Setlist:
Set 1
[Total Time 1:22:19]
01 Shakedown Street
02 Liberty
03 Standing on the Moon
04 Me and My Uncle
05 Tennessee Jed
06 Cumberland Blues
07 Little Red Rooster
08 Friend of the Devil
09 Deal

Set 2
[Total Time 2:02:16]
10 Bird Song
11 The Golden Road
12 Lost Sailor
13 Saint of Circumstance
14 West LA Fadeaway
15 Foolish Heart
16 Drums-Space
17 Stella Blue
18 One More Saturday Night
19 [encore break]
20 US Blues
21 [Fireworks]

If you download this show from NYCTaper, please support the band and buy anything from the plethora of available music and merch at Dead.net.

Grateful Dead: July 3, 2015 Chicago – Flac/MP3/Streaming

July 4, 2015
By

gd screenie 3
[screen capture from video stream]

If you follow my twitter or read my taperssection posts, you are abundantly aware that I have been brutally honest about these five “Fare Thee Well” shows. There are clear problems with this twenty-years-removed version of the “Grateful Dead” beyond the obvious absence of the band’s deceased emotional core — the tempo is way too slow, the aged players are making way too many simple mistakes, and there is no way on Earth that Phil Lesh should be permitted to sing lead vocals, particularly on Jerry Garcia’s songs. All that being said, the first two shows in Santa Clara did have some serious high points. Trey Anastasio’s lead guitar work has been thoroughly inspired and engaged and he seems completely committed to these performances. Additionally, the band’s setlist selections have been quite imaginative — perhaps the worst aspect of the late-era Garcia-led Grateful Dead was their predictable sets. These 2015 selections are both diverse and unpredictable. At the first night in Santa Clara, the threesome of primal Dead “Born Cross-Eyed”, “Cream Puff War” and “Viola Lee Blues” was my own personal highlight of last weekend and not coincidentally featured Trey on both lead vocals and extended lead guitar work.

But that was Santa Clara. These Chicago shows have a different feel from the outset. Early views of the crowd pre-show indicates a significantly more rowdy and celebratory air. As the show begins, there is definitely an East Coast/MidWest vibe and the band is pretty much into a groove from the beginning. The set begins with the song that ended the band’s last show ever, “Box of Rain”, in a nice bit of synchronicity which also shows that these guys are both aware and willing the celebrate the history. Trey is engaged throughout and actually takes the lead vocal on Bertha and is centerstage for all of Crazy Fingers. Its also nice to hear that the keyboards are right there in the mix and both Chimenti and Hornsby are playing well. The first set ends in typical fashion, but Bobby is also seemingly focused and the song is tight. A nice set, albeit with a fairly standard setlist.

The second set began with another one of those breakout numbers, the early 70’s unreleased and obscure track “Mason’s Children”. From there, it was another instance of Trey dominating the day, with a superb take on Garcia’s “Scarlet/Fire”. The early drums and space segment left much room for the “post-Drums” and the band did not disappoint. The primal “New Potato Caboose” was unfortunately a vocal lead for Lesh despite that Bob sang the song on the Anthem of the Sun album and all of the late-60’s live versions. Trey again shone during the “Help On The Way” and with his guitar throughout the entire Help/Slip/Frank suite. The band completed the night with a very sweet “Ripple” that featured a full crowd sing-along.

This show was recorded by friend of the site Bill who was in the taper’s section. He produced a 6-microphone mix that included a pair of Busman BSC2 mics, two AKG 480/CK61 mics and my Sennheiser cardioids that I sent to him especially for the occasion. The sound in the section is quite nice and this ambitious mix of microphones is indeed excellent. Enjoy!

Download the First Set [MP3] / [FLAC]

Download the Second Set [MP3] / [FLAC]

Stream “Passenger”:

Grateful Dead
2015-07-03
Soldier Field
Chicago IL

Digital Master Audience Recording
Recorded from Taper’s Section

Sennheiser MKH-8040s > Tascam DR-680 > 24bit 48kHz wav file > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Please support this legendary band:
http://www.dead.net

Recorded by Bill Walker
Produced by nyctaper

Setlist:
Set 1
[Total Time 1:11:01]
01 Box of Rain
02 Jack Straw
03 Bertha
04 Passenger
05 The Wheel
06 Crazy Fingers
07 The Music Never Stopped

Set 2
[Total Time 1:53:58]
01 Mason’s Children
02 Scarlet Begonias
03 Fire On The Mountain
04 Drums-Space
05 New Potato Caboose
06 Playing In The Band
07 Let It Grow
08 Help On The Way
09 Slipknot
10 Franklin’s Tower
11 [encore break / donor request]
12 Ripple

If you download this show from NYCTaper, please support the band and buy anything from the plethora of available music and merch at Dead.net.

Ryley Walker: June 26, 2015 Le Poisson Rouge

June 30, 2015
By

ryley-walker-3
[photos by P Squared Photography]

Ryley Walker has been a can’t-miss for me on every single tour that has taken him through New York this year, the latest being this date at Le Poisson Rouge with Jessica Pratt. What is so remarkable about the five performances we have covered since September of last year is that every single one has been different, including the cast of performers. While Ryley’s a redoubtable solo artist, where he truly shines is in his ensemble, consisting of Chicago-based jazz artists who’ve played with Ryley on and off for years. On this night, he not only had the full compliment of  his “regular” players, with Ryan Jewell on drums, Ben Boye on keys, Brian Sulpizio on electric guitar, and Anton Hatwich on bass, but also a horn section consisting of Levon Henry on sax and Jamie Branch on trumpet. The results were simply magical; over 41 minutes, Ryley and the players turned these three songs into long-form jazz meditations. If Ryley’s albums fall firmly enough into the “folk” camp, his live show is a completely different beast, something that lives as close musically to the Grateful Dead and free jazz as to Van Morrison or Bob Dylan.

The brand-new song “Sullen Mind,” lyrically, is a hangover tune, a drunk’s lament, and Ryley summons the narrator’s loneliness and pain with relatively few lyrics, delivered at times with a slur that leaps to a howl. The ensemble follows with urgency, their collective sound growing insistent and dark, almost an analog for the troubled mind of the story. Seated just a few feet from Ryley, it was chill-inducing to watch and hear the song unfold, as the players barely needed a nod from their leader to storm forward from the last chorus into a climactic outro. The brass didn’t show up until the new track “Funny Thing She Said,” but that song made an immediate impact on a song that made a perfect bookend to “Sullen Mind,” both of them chill-inducing laments. And lest the lone album track played — “Primrose Green” — get short shrift, it, too, soared on the one-two punch of Brian Sulpizio and Walker on guitars, a poppy-field tripper of a track that makes you want to find some of the substance name-dropped in the title. As Ryley and his band headed off to Solid Sound Festival, more touring upstate and elsewhere, and finally back home to Chicago for the Pitchfork Music Festival, they are firing on all cylinders, a live unit at or near the peak of their powers. At this point, in festival-land, they’re still playing early — don’t miss them.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed from the Le Poisson Rouge team, combined with Schoeps MK41V supercardiod microphones clamped to the soundboard booth and a split pair of DPA 4061 omnidirectional microphones on the stage. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Download the complete set from the Live Music Archive: [FLAC] | [MP3] + [Apple Lossless


Ryley Walker
2015-06-26
Le Poisson Rouge
New York, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Soundboard + Schoeps MK41V (at SBD, PAS)>KC5>CMC6>> Roland R-26 + DPA 4061 (onstage, split 2ft)>CA-UBB>Sony PCM-M10>>3x24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, fades)>Izotope Ozone 5 (limiter, EQ, effects)>Audacity 2.0.5 (tracking, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 41:43]
01 Sullen Mind
02 Primrose Green
03 [banter]
04 Funny Thing She Said

Band:
Ryley Walker – Vocals, guitar
Ryan Jewell – Drums
Ben Boye – Keys
Brian Sulpizio – Electric guitar
Anton Hatwich – Bass
Levon Henry – Sax
Jamie Branch – Trumpet

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Ryley Walker, like him on Facebook, and buy Primrose Green from Dead Oceans.

ryley-walker-2

Disappears – February 28, 2015 Rough Trade – FLAC/ALAC/MP3/Streaming

March 9, 2015
By

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[photo by enobo]

We’ve been on the Disappears train for a while now, but the band has taken things up another notch with their latest song cycle, Irreal. Backing away from the progression of the last few records, including the excellent Era from 2013, Irreal retreats into the darkness, trading some of the band’s more propulsive melodies for deeper textures and adding to the sense of gloom that’s always been a part of the band’s sound. If that doesn’t sound like the ideal soundtrack for a Saturday night to you, though, you’re wrong.

Disappears and Canadian fellow travelers Suuns sold out this double bill at Rough Trade, and anticipation had peaked by the time Disappears took the stage with the clanging, slow burn of “Interpretation”, the leadoff track from Irreal. It made for a daring but great choice, sucking the crowd in before picking the pace of with Era’s “Elite Typical”. From there, the setlist jumped across the band’s catalog, with the Irreal songs strengthening the older material by providing a change of pace and tone, giving us a chance to appreciate the layers of sound the band built up around Noah Leger’s laser-sharp percussion. But just as soon as a song like “I/O” lulls you into a trance, “Ultra” comes back and smacks you sideways. That dynamic continued for the hour, and gave the show a dimension that will serve them well on the rest of this tour. The band’s current engagements are on the West Coast, with Hookworms, which is another double bill not to be missed.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK4V cardiod microphones, an Aerco custom preamp, and a dialed-in soundboard feed from the Rough Trade engineer Kam Biehl. The sound quality is outstanding, probably our best recording yet from this venue. Enjoy!

Download the complete set: [MP3] | [FLAC] | [Apple Lossless]

Stream the complete set:

Disappears
2015-02-28
Rough Trade NYC
Brooklyn, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Schoeps MK4V (inside SBD cage, PAS)>KCY>Z-PFA>Aerco MP-2 + Soundboard [Engineer: Kam] >> Edirol R-44 [OCM]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, limiter, fades)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, exciter)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Interpretation
02 Elite Typical
03 JOA
04 I/O
05 Ultra
06 Another Thought
07 Minor Patterns
08 Replicate
09 Irreal
10 Halcyon Days

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Disappears, visit their website, and buy Irreal and their other releases here.

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