Posts Tagged ‘ CMJ ’

Zachary Cale: October 15, 2015 NYCTaper Unofficial CMJ Show, Cake Shop

December 29, 2015

[photo courtesy of Cereal + Sounds]

Zachary Cale is a slow-burn kind of musician. That’s true both of his songs, which tend to unfold at a middle tempo that neither rushes nor inhibits his point, and his musical career, which continues to grow bit by bit, solid album by solid album. Cale is one of those artists you tend to hear about from other fans and musicians, not so much from the PR-driven and mostly corporatized music “press.” Perhaps that’s a fault of his modest approach, but with this year’s Duskland, possibly even more so than 2014’s Blue Rider (released in December 2013), even those outlets have been forced take notice.

Though most of this year’s CMJ New Music Marathon (wisely named, since it bears little resemblance to music events people actually attend for fun) was run by the usual suspects — big name PR and talent agencies, particularly — we were excited that Cale asked to join our annual show at Cake Shop, an unofficial daytime event that, as tends to be the case with day shows, tries to put some of the fun back into the “marathon.” This five-song set doesn’t do justice to the breadth of Cale’s oeuvre, but “Blue Moth,” “Sundowner” and “Evensong” make the case for Duskland as well as any three of its songs could. Possibly as a nod to those who’ve seen him several times before, like we have, Cale offered up a rare nugget to close the set: the b-side “Holes In Everything,” an uptempo country-western affair that punctuated, as well as anything could, that this day show was about fun.

I recorded this set in the same manner as the other CMJ sets, with Schoeps MK4V microphones at the stage lip and a soundboard feed from the day’s engineer Jeff. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Download the complete show: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the complete show:

Zachary Cale
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 Blue Moth
02 Sundowner
03 Evensong
04 Hangman Letters
05 Holes In Everything

If you enjoyed this recording, please support Zachary Cale by visiting his website, ordering Duskland from No Quarter, and buying his other records from his online store.

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

December 17, 2015

By acidjack

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

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.

Car Seat Headrest: October 15, 2015 NYCTaper Unofficial CMJ Show, Cake Shop

December 4, 2015

By acidjack

[Photo courtesy of Cereal + Sounds]

Twenty-two year old Will Toledo, who performs as Car Seat Headrest, is one of those songwriters whose skill actually matches his high level of output and obvious ambition. That’s a clear reason how, at a young age, and after already writing, performing and producing eleven albums (!!!) on his own on bandcamp, he’s found himself signed to Matador Records, where he’s about to release Teens of Style. Lest you dump this music in the category of mumbly lo-fi bedroom recordings that we’ve all seen a hundred times before, I’d point you to the very first song of this set at our NYCTaper Unofficial CMJ Show, “The Ending of Dramamine,” which was fourteen minutes of off-kilter pop-inflected rock reminiscent of bands like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, the Cars and R.E.M. Or there’s how Toledo, prior to his affiliation with a “big time” label, had already sold 25,000 copies of those bandcamp-only releases. Oh, and those earlier efforts weren’t made in a bedroom — the story goes that the only place Toledo could find peace and quiet to record was the family car, hence the band name.

Toledo’s songs are lyrically dense, at times funny, at times teenage-confessional, unflinchingly honest. We were excited that Matador offered us the chance to have this artist close our show, because Teens of Style has already appeared on many best-of lists since its October 30 release. All of these songs appeared in some form prior to Teens of Style, but expect to hear brand-new versions of the last three — “Times To Die,” “Something Soon” and “Oh! Starving” — on that record. In the meantime, enjoy these right-on live performances, and expect much more to come, including a show on December 5 at Baby’s All Right.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK4V microphones in front of the stage and a soundboard feed from Cake Shop engineer Jeff. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Catch them at Baby’s All Right on December 5. Get tickets here.

Download the complete show: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the complete show:

Car Seat Headrest
2015-10-15
NYCTaper Unofficial CMJ Show
Cake Shop
New York, NY USA

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

Tracks [Total Time 30:19]
01 The Ending of Dramamine
02 Times To Die
03 Something Soon
04 Oh! Starving

If you enjoyed this recording, check out Car Seat Headrest’s bandcamp page, and buy Teens of Style from Matador Records.

Vomitface: October 15, 2015 NYCTaper CMJ Party at Cake Shop

November 11, 2015

By nyctaper

[photo courtesy of Some Kind of Awesome]

A band that calls itself Vomitface faces some challenges. The band likely has to answer persistent questions about the name and get people to concentrate on the music. They were invited to play our CMJ show because we did just that. We listened to the music and saw what is there, a talented band with a wry sense of humor and a palpable energy. But we didn’t learn until later that there’s way more here than meets the eye. The band’s drummer Preetma Singh is a former attorney who left the law to pursue a career as a fashion editor, and has become renowned in certain circles for her “street style”. The band’s lead singer Jared Micah is also a prolific music writer with the legendary online zine Tiny Mixed Tapes. Together with a revolving cast of bassist friends, they produce a kind of early-80s styled agit-punk similar to early Sonic Youth, Naked Raygun or Mission of Burma. Vomitface was up second on this day show and they had the room pretty snug early in the set with an eight-song show that included only one song from their 2015 EP Another Bad Year, and what appears to be several new songs. We were all set to catch Vomitface at Pianos last night but an illness caused a cancellation, but the band will play Don Pedro’s on November 21.

Acidjack recorded this show in the same manner as the other sets from the day and the sound is equally superb. Enjoy!

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Stream the Complete Show:

Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense. The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission. Please respect our request, and feel free to repost the Soundcloud links.

Vomitface
2015-10-15
NYCTaper CMJ Day Party
Cake Shop
New York, NY

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + On Stage Audience Matrix

Schoeps MK4V (onstage) > KC5 > CMC6 + Soundboard (engineer: Jeff) > Edirol R-44 [OCM] > 2x24bit/48kHz WAV > Adobe Audition (mix) > Soundforge (post production) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded by acidjack
Produced by nyctaper

Setlist:
[Total Time 20:21]
01 If Then
02 Its Me
03 Did She Come Alone
04 Bruise
05 Fat Witch
06 Dramamine
07 PS I Hate You

If you Download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Vomitface, visit their website, and purchase their new EP Another Bad Year from Boxing Clever Records [HERE].

Destruction Unit: October 17, 2015 Ad Hoc Car Wash

November 4, 2015

By acidjack

[photos courtesy of Edwina Hay for Impose Magazine]

I’m pretty sure I can say that Destruction Unit has the best band name of anyone I saw this year. It’s not only catchy in its own right, but describes perfectly the maelstrom of noise that this postmodern Arizona punk band will rain down on you until you either risk your skull in the mosh pit or haul your ass to the exits. Destruction Unit is the kind of experience that’s polarizing, intimidating, and absolutely perfect to close out a show like Ad Hoc’s epic post-CMJ show in a Williamsburg car wash. By the time the band took the stage to close out the evening, the humble PA system was positively shredded, the house team fighting to keep the sound going. The band took things well past the limit, with a long lead-in to the pummeling track “Destruct.” This set stuck entirely to the band’s latest record, Negative Feedback Resistor, their second for Sacred Bones Records, though many of the songs found themselves extended for a few measures. The band was rightly hailed by Newsweek as the best band they saw at CMJ, and it’s hard to argue with that after seeing their live show. Even with the vocals buried under the beating being taken by the PA (you can hear them much better on this recording than you could in the room), it didn’t matter to the crowd, which erupted into a mosh pit early and didn’t let up for the entire, pummeling 35 minutes of this set. If you’re going to make a trip out east to slog your way through a bunch of CMJ shows, you ought to make it count. No question that Destruction Unit did that and more.

I recorded this set in the same manner as the day’s other recordings, with AT 4051 microphones and a soundboard feed. The sound quality is reflective of the setting and the style, and represents it quite well. Enjoy!

Download the complete set: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the complete set:

Destruction Unit
2015-10-17
Ad Hoc Car Wash
Hand & Detail Car Wash Center
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Audio Technica 4051 (LOC, FOB, PAS) + Soundboard>Roland R-26>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, edit SBD, compression)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, image)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Disinfect
02 Salvation
03 Chemical Reaction/Chemical Delight
04 If Death Ever Slept
05 The Upper Hand

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Destruction Unit, like them on facebook, and buy their records from Sacred Bones Records.

Dirty Ghosts: October 15, 2015 NYCTaper CMJ Party at Cake Shop

November 4, 2015

By nyctaper

[photo courtesy of Cereal + Sounds]

The San Francisco band Dirty Ghosts has existed in one form or another for the last ten years, but its real beginnings date back into the last century and band leader Allyson Baker’s parents’ house in Toronto. Baker was a young punk rocker (and big Dwarves fan) who invited touring bands to stay at the house, leading to some great stories and ultimately an introduction into the music world. Fast forward to last decade and Baker’s move to SF and the Dirty Ghosts beginnings as her solo project produced by then-husband Aesop Rock. In the intervening years, the band has evolved from a duet to a full-fledged band featuring guitar wizard Erin McDermott on bass. In September, Dirty Ghosts have released their second full-length album Let It Pretend and this Fall is perhaps the most active time period in the band’s history. We were fortunate that the band was available for CMJ and we slotted them into our show in the late afternoon when the room was overflowing. Dirty Ghosts responded with a superb set that included music from their 2015 EP Cataract, one song from their debut album 2012’s Metal Moon, and the balance from the new record. After CMJ the band remains busy with their hometown official CD release show in SF on November, to be followed by a full Europe tour in November and December with Kelley Stoltz.

Acidjack recorded this set in the same manner as the other bands from this show and the sound quality is superb. Enjoy!

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Stream the Complete Show:

Dirty Ghosts
2015-10-15
NYCTaper CMJ Day Party
Cake Shop
New York, NY

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + On Stage Audience Matrix

Recorded by acidjack
Produced by nyctaper

Setlist:
[Total Time 30:41]
01 Light Like Speed
02 Witch Hunt
03 Battery
04 Cataract
05 Let It Pretend
06 Hologram
07 Moving Pictures
08 Ropes That Way

If you Download this recording from nyctaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Dirty Ghosts, visit their website, and purchase their new album Let It Pretend from Last Gang Records [HERE].

Dirty Dishes: October 15, 2015 NYCTaper CMJ Party at Cake Shop

October 29, 2015

By nyctaper

[photo courtesy of Cereal + Sounds]

The story of how the band Dirty Dishes came into being reads like something out of a Judd Apatow movie. The guy who vomits on the girl’s shoes at a party later calls to apologize and buy her new shoes, and eventually the two decide to start a band. The nagging question is why anyone would want to start a band with a shoe-puker — but after about thirty seconds of seeing Alex Molini play bass guitar the answer is obvious. The dude can flat out play. While Jenny Tuite’s lead vocals and melodic guitar lines are the centerpiece of the band, its the Molini bass presence that sets Dirty Dishes apart and are a large part of the reason why we invited them to our play our CMJ Day Party this year. The band had other gigs later in the evening so they needed to start early, which gave us the opportunity to see the band up close unfettered by the massive crowds that filled the Cake Shop basement later in the day. The Dirty Dishes set drew primarily from their 2015 release Guilty (Exploding in Sound Records) with two apparently new songs. It was the interplay between the band’s guitarists that impressed throughout and proves that no matter how you meet, its always a good thing to find your musical mate.

Dirty Dishes’ Fall Tour continues throughout November as the band travels through the East coast, Canada and the Midwest — all dates here. This tour includes a return to NYC for a show at Silent Barn on November 22.

Acidjack recorded this set in the same manner as the WOMPS set posted last week — Schoeps mounted on stage and mixed with a board feed. The sound quality is superb. Enjoy!

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Stream the Complete Show:

Dirty Dishes
2015-10-15
NYCTaper CMJ Day Party
Cake Shop
New York, NY

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + On Stage Audience Matrix

Please support this excellent band:
http://dirtydishes.bandcamp.com/

Recorded by acidjack
Produced by nyctaper

Setlist:
[Total Time 23:28]
01 Red Roulette
02 Guilty
03 All Of Me
04 Sick Sentiment
05 Thank You Come Again
06 Dan Cortez

If you Download this recording from nyctaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Dirty Dishes, visit their Bandcamp, and purchase their new album Guilty from Exploding In Sound Records [HERE].

Mothers: October 15, 2015 NYCTaper Unofficial CMJ Show, Cake Shop

October 26, 2015

By acidjack

The “taping” community is not a large one, and among people who have similar tastes to us that do it, the number is even smaller. We’ve long-respected the Athens/Atlanta site Southern Shelter for both its excellent taste in music and its high-quality recordings, and we look to each other for inspiration for the next bands to check out. The Athens band Mothers is one that Southern Shelter has talked up for a while, making us extra-stoked to be able to include them in our unofficial CMJ day show. Other sites caught on in the meantime, with Stereogum naming them a “band to watch” just a day before our show.

The Cake Shop room was at capacity for this set, and it’s no wonder why: Mothers, whose debut LP is anticipated in 2016, truly are an up-and-comer you can’t miss. Frontwoman and songwriter Kristine Leschper’s songs have a depth, breadth and ingenuity that sets them apart. In addition to her powerful voice, the songs feature complex arrangements that at times recall math and noise rock — a part of Leschper’s evolution as a songwriter as the band’s debut has come closer to fruition. This band, like many these days, began as Leschper’s solo project, but its expansion makes it more than the sum of those parts. She’s got an excellent team around her, and during the four-song span of our show, they gave us a taste of their range. “It Hurts Until It Doesn’t” is emblematic of Mothers’ evolution as a full band, whereas “No Crying In Baseball,” one of few songs actually released and this set’s closer, is considered an outlier to the rest of the band’s style. We hear the influence of some classic Athens bands in their sound, including the New Wavers Pylon (who we’ve recorded twice) and Warehouse (who we caught this year). It’s easy to see why they’ve caught on, making several “best of CMJ” lists this year, as this is one of those lucky few acts that lives up to the hype.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK4V microphones in front of the stage together with a soundboard feed from the Cake Shop engineer Jeff. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Download the complete set: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the complete set:

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

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

Tracks
01 Copper Mines
02 It Hurts Until It Doesn’t
03 Hold Your Own
04 No Crying In Baseball

If you enjoyed this recording, please like Mothers on facebook and check out their songs on Soundcloud.

Spray Paint: October 16, 2015 Union Pool (R.I.P. SVT CMJ Party)

October 22, 2015

By EricPH

It’s been a mere six-ish months since we last caught Spray Paint. And in that time, the band has released not one but two new albums: Punters on a Barge and most recently, Dopers. Each album finds the band exploring new sounds and textures, but don’t think that they’ve abandoned their minimalist sound—these new tunes are still unequivocally Spray Paint. Dopers especially is darker than any material they’ve released previously, working up unsettling themes and making music you might use to soundtrack a Troma film. If you’ve heard Spray Paint before, these albums are more of what you love. And if you haven’t: meet your new favorite band.

In contrast to April’s show, which featured many of the bands earliest songs like “Spock Fingers,” “Squaw,” and “Pink Pus,” this one leans more heavily on the newer material. “Polar Beer” is one of the (many) highlights off Punters on a Barge so I was very pleased to hear that one live. “Thrash Master,” “Signal Master,” and “Bad Times” are off Dopers and my appreciation for them has only increased as I’ve absorbed the record. At their current pace I’m sure they’ll have some new music out soon—in the meantime, I’ve got some heavy listening to do.

Spray Paint wrap up their short tour with a record release show tonight (Oct. 22) at Hotel Vegas in Austin. Be sure and catch that if you find yourself out that way.

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

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

Stream the complete show:

Spray Paint
2015-10-16
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY

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

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

Tracks [32:07]
01. Bring Dumpster Back
02. Ian’s Theme
03. Polar Beer
04. Middle Relief
05. Thrash Master
06. Canadian Trash
07. Signal Master
08. Bad Times
09. Ultimate Umpire
10. Rest Versus Rust
11. Cussin’

Support Spray Paint: Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | Buy Dopers and other Spray Paint records from Monofonus

WOMPS: October 15, 2015 NYCTaper Unofficial CMJ Show, Cake Shop

October 19, 2015

By acidjack

We couldn’t have been happier to kick off this year’s NYCTaper Unofficial CMJ Show at Cake Shop with the band WOMPS. As any CMJ veteran knows, this quasi-festival can be a bit of a slog — tons of shows played at venues all over town in a compressed amount of time, often for no pay. Add to that that you’ve come all the way from Scotland to do it, and well, that’s not a recipe for a good attitude or a good performance. What a delight, then, that straight off the bat these young guys brought great songcraft and the party spirit to launch this day show. You probably haven’t heard of this band, as they’ve just a seven-inch to their name currently, but big things are expected: Right now, they’re considering offers from several labels for their already-recorded debut, for which no less than Steve Albini was behind the boards. It’s not hard to see why, as they’ve got an approachable garage-rock sound that wears its angst well. The highlight of the set for me was “Dreams on Demand,” with its tuneful hook and classic 90s sound (you can easily imagine on the radio on KROQ or the like back in those days). In their short career, they’ve shared stages with the likes of METZ, Cloud Nothings and UK breakouts Royal Blood, and the good folks over at NME are already on the case. So, WOMPS may not be a household word in the U.S. just yet, but get a taste now before we say we told you so.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK4V microphones at the front of the stage, combined with a soundboard feed of mostly vocals from Cake Shop engineer Jeff. The sound quality is not quite what I’m sure Steve Albini has done on their debut, but it’s still great. Enjoy!

Download the complete show: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the show [Note: “Live A Little Less” is not included as the track was partially cut]

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

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

Tracks [Total Time 23:00]
01 Live A Little Less [fades in]
02 Ritalin
03 Cancer of the Bone
04 Another Cell
05 Plasticine
06 Dreams On Demand
07 Three Cheers

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT WOMPS, visit their website, and buy their 7″ here.

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Posts Tagged ‘ CMJ ’

Zachary Cale: October 15, 2015 NYCTaper Unofficial CMJ Show, Cake Shop

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

Car Seat Headrest: October 15, 2015 NYCTaper Unofficial CMJ Show, Cake Shop

Vomitface: October 15, 2015 NYCTaper CMJ Party at Cake Shop

Destruction Unit: October 17, 2015 Ad Hoc Car Wash

Dirty Ghosts: October 15, 2015 NYCTaper CMJ Party at Cake Shop

Dirty Dishes: October 15, 2015 NYCTaper CMJ Party at Cake Shop

Mothers: October 15, 2015 NYCTaper Unofficial CMJ Show, Cake Shop

Spray Paint: October 16, 2015 Union Pool (R.I.P. SVT CMJ Party)

WOMPS: October 15, 2015 NYCTaper Unofficial CMJ Show, Cake Shop

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