Posts Tagged ‘ nyc ’

Implodes: August 10, 2011 Mercury Lounge – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

August 22, 2011
By

implodes
[Photo by acidjack]

Implodes, it must be said, aren’t a very “summer-y” band, so it’s a good thing I caught their opening set for Joan of Arc in the dark, air-conditioned confines of Mercury Lounge. Hot on the heels of their debut release on Kranky Records, Black Earth, the band appeared to be eager to move past that new material into even more uncharted musical territory. This set boasted a number of brand-new songs, but the Black Earth material made for a good jumping-off point, as the band opened with that album’s three leadoff tracks. Implodes tunes have a cosmic sweep to them, with airy lead guitar riffs soaring above a foreboding, dense backbeat. Vocals, where used, are sung with the reverb on high, adding to the ghostly, atmospheric quality of the songs. Some songs abandon traditional melodic structure entirely and shift into ambient territory, echoing some of the band Mogwai’s more subtle interludes. That said, Implodes are not toying with the loud-soft dynamic in the way that some other successful post-rock acts do; their songs focus more on sustaining a level of tension throughout, without the cataclysmic release of, say, an Explosions in the Sky tune. Several of the new songs, none of which I knew the titles to, were particularly strong, indicating that the promise of Black Earth is only the beginning for this young band.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed of the usual high-quality house mix from Kevin of Mercury Lounge, coupled with the Schoeps supercardiod microphones. The recording is outstanding. Enjoy!

Joan of Arc was recorded and will be posted in the next few days.

Stream “Marker”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/I8010Implodes1120/02 Marker.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Follow acidjack on twitter

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.

Implodes
2011-08-10
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Equipment: Schoeps Mk41>CMC6 + Soundboard >> Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod] (24/48)
Position: ROC, at soundboard, mics split 1′, PAS
Mastering: 2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Audition (effects, mixdown)>Audacity (set fades, tracking, amplify and balance)>FLAC (level 8 )

Tracks
01 Open the Door
02 Marker
03 White Window
04 [banter]
05 [unknown]
06 [tuning]
07 Screech Owl
08 [unknown]
09 [banter]
10 [unknown]

PLEASE SUPPORT Implodes, like them on facebook, and purchase Black Earth directly from Kranky [HERE]

Heartless Bastards: July 24, 2011 Mercury Lounge – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

August 1, 2011
By

HB ML
[Photo by acidjack]

It’s hard not to like the Heartless Bastards.  They’re one of those bands that never lets you down performance-wise, that’s always on their game, that always gives their fans something special.  This pair of shows at Mercury Lounge (our recording of night 1 here) certainly qualifies as that, as the band played these sets in “acoustic” (but really just sans-drummer) mode, and showed off considerable new material.  The most immediate effect of going drummerless was to focus even more attention on lead vocalist Erika Wennerstrom’s old-soul voice.  The opening lines of one of my Bastards favorites, “Done Got Old” proved she can carry a show without any accompaniment at all, and she remained note-perfect throughout a 90-minute set that was a bit longer than Saturday’s performance.  Most of this group stood respectfully as Erika, Jesse and Mark debuted new numbers like “Skin and Bones,” and the Western-tinged “The Arrow Killed the Beast.”  While the new record will not be acoustic, and some of the material was so new it didn’t even have names, what we heard on this night showed the level of promise we’ve come to expect from this band.  As Johnny mentioned in his review of the Saturday show, this only ups the anticipation for the new record.

I recorded this set from the same spot that Johnny used for the Saturday recording, focusing the sound a bit more toward the perfectly balanced soundboard feed from Kevin at the Mercury Lounge.  As with Saturday’s recording, the sound quality is outstanding.  Enjoy!

Stream “Skin & Bone”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/H6602HB9922/07 Skin & Bone.mp3]

Stream “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere [Bob Dylan]”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/H6602HB9922/13 You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Direct download of FLAC files [HERE]

If the FLAC link is no longer working, email nyctaper for the FLAC files

Follow acidjack on Twitter

Heartless Bastards
2011-07-24
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Equipment: Schoeps Mk41>CMC6>Sound Devices USBpre2 + Soundboard >> Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod] (24/48)
Position: At soundboard, DFC, mics at 7.5′, PAS
Mastering: 2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Audition (mixdown, effects)>Audacity (set fades, tracking, amplify and balance)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total time: 89:29]
01 Done Got Old
02 [new song]
03 Sway
04 Hold Your Head High
05 [banter]
06 The Will Song
07 Skin & Bone [new]
08 The Arrow Killed the Beast [new]
09 Blue Day
10 [new song]
11 [banter]
12 Searching for the Ghost
13 You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere [Bob Dylan]
14 Runnin’
15 Be So Happy
16 [encore break]
17 [new song]
18 The Mountain

If you download this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Heartless Bastards, visit their website, visit their MySpace and Facebook pages, and purchase their official releases and merchandise [HERE].

David Bazan: June 22, 2011 Bowery Ballroom – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

July 26, 2011
By

Bazan
[Photos courtesy of Vicki Boardman. Visit her website]

Seattle singer-songwriter David Bazan first made his name recording under the moniker Pedro the Lion, a project that yielded some excellent records such as 1998’s It’s Hard to Find a Friend, and gave Bazan a fuzzed-out forum to air his beliefs – most notably among them his belief in Christianity (Christian publications even referred to his records as “crossover” records, i.e., to the secular mainstream), a relatively rare thing to find in a critically-acclaimed indie songwriter. Since then, Bazan has “broken up” in a sense with Christianity, as well as his former cast of bandmates and continued performing under his own name, making what some have called the best music of his career. His first solo effort, 2009’s Curse Your Branches, laid bare his spiritual conflict with cleanly constructed songs built around his mournful voice.

That voice took center stage at this Bowery Ballroom show, sure, but what was striking about this performance was the quality of everything around that voice – catchy, strong rock riffs evident from the opening notes of “Wolves at the Door,” and a crack backing band. While it may have been a “singer-songwriter” show in a sense, this was also a rock show through and through. Unsurprisingly, Bazan played 80% of his latest, 2011’s Strange Negotiations, but he also delved into the early Pedro the Lion catalog, including “Big Trucks” and “Of Up and Coming Monarchs” from It’s Hard to Find a Friend. Those who say Bazan’s current period is his brightest could have a point – the newer material not only held its own, but might have surpassed the Pedro material.

hi and lo recorded this set with a combination of Schoeps supercardiod microphones and Schoeps omnidirectional microphones, which given the extremely respectful crowd and the outstanding acoustics of the venue, gives the perfect sound balance. Enjoy!

Stream “Virginia”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/D2106DavidBazan0211/davidbazan2011-06-22.virginia.mp3]

Stream “Wolves at the Door”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/D2106DavidBazan0211/davidbazan2011-06-22.wolves.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

David Bazan
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY, US
2011-06-22

Recordist : hi and lo
Location : Left Balcony, on stand @ 8ft
Source : Schoeps MK5 (omni) > Nbox+ + Schoeps MK41/CMR > Naint PFA > E.A.A. PSP-2 >> Tascam DR-680 @ 24 bit / 96 kHz
Edit : WaveLab v5 (fades/dither/+11dB gain), Izotope SRC/Dither
Final Format : 16 bit, 44.1 kHz
Tracking : CD-Wave v1.98
Encoding : FLAC v1.2.1 ( Level 8 ) with TLH v2.6.0 (Build 168)

Tracks [Total Time 1:17:15]
01. Wolves at the Door
02. How I Remember
03. Level with Yourself
04. Bless This Mess
05. Of Up and Coming Monarchs
(Q&A #1)
06. Virginia
07. Big Trucks
08. Don’t Change
09. Eating Paper
10. Bearing Witness
11. Magazine
12. Won’t Let Go
13. People
14. Transcontinental
15. Cold Beer and Cigarettes
16. When They Really Get to Know You, They Will Run
(Q&A #2)
17. Strange Negotiations
18. (Encore Call)
19. April the 14th, Part 1 (Gillian Welch)
(Q&A #3)
20. Hard to Be
[Note: All banter and Q&A tracks have been removed at artist request]

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT David Bazan, visit his website, and purchase Strange Negotiations from Barsuk Records [HERE]

Bill Callahan (Smog): July 12, 2011 Bowery Ballroom and June 14, 2009 Music Hall of Williamsburg – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

July 18, 2011
By

bill-callahan_dsc_9655
[This photo from the July 11, 2011 Music Hall of Williamsburg show by Dana (distortion) Yavin for BrooklynVegan.com]

The inimitable troubadour Bill Callahan (who recorded through much of the 90s and half the last decade as Smog) graced us with two nights in New York, his first since his excellent June 14, 2009 Northside Festival show at Music Hall of Williamsburg back in 2009. We caught the second of the two nights of this year, at Bowery Ballroom, which as usual proved an ideal showcase for Callahan’s graceful, classic songs. With songs that scan more like free verse than typical verse-chorus-verse structures, Callahan’s style demands rapt attention, and that is what he got from the Tuesday night crowd. Drawing heavily from his latest record, this year’s Apocalypse, as well as his 2009 solo record Sometimes I Wish I Were An Eagle, Callahan gave us over 100 minutes of perfection, delivered by a different trio of musicians compared to the group he had at his disposal in 2009 that featured a string player. In this configuration, many songs drifted into psychedelic guitar jams that gave them a more sweeping scope (see the epic “Drover” mid-set, or the massive “Say Valley Maker” for example), giving the Bowery show a harder rock edge. Callahan also gave us some hard-to-deny Smog tunes, even taking requests from the crowd, with that “Say Valley Maker” probably being my personal favorite.

As a special treat, this post is a “double-header” of the Bowery show and the 2009 Music Hall of Williamsburg show, which has not appeared on the site before. I recorded the Bowery set from our usual spot in the venue, but using tiny DPA omnidirectional mics that captured the full sound of the room. The Music Hall set was recorded up front near the stage with a mobile rig. Both are excellent, though the edge on sound quality clearly goes to the Bowery show. The tracking and mastering on the MHOW show is also not quite as good. Enjoy!

Stream “Say Valley Maker [Smog]” from the 2011 Bowery show:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/B7014BillCallahan2011/11 Say Valley Maker.mp3]

Stream “Bowery” from the 2009 Music Hall show:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/B7014BillCallahan2011/20 bowery.mp3]

2011 BOWERY SHOW
Direct download of the MP3 files of the 2011 show [2011 MP3s]
Direct download of the FLAC files of the 2011 show [2011 FLACs]

2009 MUSIC HALL SHOW
Direct download of the MP3 files of the 2009 show [HERE]
Direct download of the 24-bit FLAC files of the 2009 show [HERE]

PLEASE DO NOT REPOST THE DIRECT LINKS
Email nyctaper if the FLAC links have expired

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BOWERY BALLROOM 2011 SHOW

Bill Callahan
2011-07-12
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Equipment: DPA 4061>Church Audio CA9200>Sony PCM-M10 (24/44.1)
Position: Mics 2′ split at soundboard, slightly LOC on balcony
Mastering: 24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (EQ, set fades, tracking, amplify and balance, hard limit peaks and audience noise, parallel compression)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 1:45:47]
01 Riding For the Feeling
02 Baby’s Breath
03 Eid Ma Clack Shaw
04 One Fine Morning
05 Too Many Birds
06 [banter]
07 Universal Applicant
08 Drover
09 Our Anniversary
10 America!
11 Say Valley Maker [Smog]>
12 Let Me See the Colts [Smog]
13 [encore break]
14 River Guard [Smog]
15 Honeymoon Child
16 [crowd]
17 Sycamore

MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG 2009 SHOW

Bill Callahan
2009-06-14
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY

An acidjack master recording

SP-CMC-8 (AT U853 cardiod capsules w/ low sensitivity mod and adapter)>SPSB-10>R-09HR (24/48)>Audacity (tracking, amplify each channel to -0.1dB, cut down some crowd noise)>FLAC (level 8)

Tracks
01 our anniversary
02 diamond dancer
03 sycamore
04 bathysphere
05 crowd
06 too many birds
07 crowd
08 the wind and the dove
09 crowd
10 cold blooded old times
11 crowd
12 jim cain
13 crowd
14 eid ma clack shaw
15 rococo zephyr
16 all thoughts are prey to some beast
17 crowd
18 rock bottom riser
19 encore break
20 Bowery
21 crowd
22 say valley maker
23 let me see the colts

If you download these recordings from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Bill Callahan, visit his website, and purchase Apocalypse and his other official releases from Drag City [HERE]

bill-callahan_dsc_9665
[Bowery 2011 show photo by Dana (distortion) Yavin]

Sloan: June 29, 2011 Bowery Ballroom – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

July 5, 2011
By

sloan2011-06-29-edit1
[Photo by acidjack]

I first heard Sloan (probably like a lot of people) on one of those old DGC records CD compilations that the label would put out with one Nirvana song and one Sonic Youth song as a way to get fans to check out their lesser-known acts. Probably the most memorable band on the comp not named Nirvana or Sonic Youth was Sloan, whose debut single “Underwhelmed” from their album Smeared was alternarock perfection. All of the elements of today’s band are there – the sturdy riffs, the sweet vocal harmonies that ooze unadulterated fun, all of it catchy as hell. It makes me feel old as hell to think that this Halifax, Nova Scotia band is now celebrating their twentieth year together with this tour and the release of their latest record, The Double Cross (XX, get it?).

They’ve got a lot to show for those twenty years, too – a discography full of solid records (including the new one), numerous awards and nominations, and perhaps most tellingly, the camaraderie of sharing their entire musical career with this exact same lineup. It’s difficult to make any endeavor last as long as this one has; for a rock band, it’s almost unheard of.

Taking stock of the scene at Bowery Ballroom on Wednesday night, the fact that this band has held together became a bit less of a mystery. The band have what I like to think (positively) of as a very Canadian quality – they come off onstage as agreeable, pleasant people to be around, almost completely devoid of ‘attitude’ or posturing. So agreeable, in fact, that they play their instruments democratically, giving different members a turn at different instruments, sharing songwriting as well as vocal duties. They’re the kind of band that give you the proud sensation of watching your best friend’s band make it big – you feel good for them, and you feel their goodwill for you. It goes almost without saying that the band went above and beyond with their show, delivering a set that blended new songs from The Double Cross with classics from both decades, including what was a highlight for me (having never seen it live), “Gimme That,” the straight-ahead pop anthem from 2003’s Action Pact. This Wednesday night crowd was as laid back and cool as the band itself, paying attention, partying, and singing along, letting the artists in the room take center stage.

The set went out with a great four-song package of classics, with “People of the Sky” from 1994’s Twice Removed, “The Lines You Amend” and “G Turns to D” from 1996’s One Chord to Another, and an absolutely killer closer of “Money City Maniacs” from 1998’s Navy Blues. I have to admit, I would’ve loved the nostalgia trip of hearing “Underwhelmed” as interpreted twenty years later, if for no other reason to remind how much I owed that song, and that old DGC compilation, for such a great night.

I recorded this set from my usual location in the venue with the DPA microphones and an analog preamp to give it a warm, natural sound. Combined with the Bowery’s upgraded soundboard, the results are absolutely outstanding and one of my best pure audience recordings in that venue. Enjoy!

Stream the complete set:

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Direct download of lossless FLAC files [HERE]
PLEASE DO NOT REPOST THE DIRECT LINKS

Follow acidjack on Twitter

Sloan
2011-06-29
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Equipment: DPA 4021>Oade M248>Sony PCM-M10 (24/44.1)
Position: Balcony, LOC, mics at height of engineers
Mastering: 24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (set fades, tracking, amplify and balance, downsample)>FLAC Level 8

Tracks [Total Time 1:31:52]
01 Follow the Leader>The Answer Was You
02 Unkind
03 The Marquee and the Moon
04 Snowsuit Sound
05 Worried Now
06 Shadow of Love
07 Everything You’ve Done Wrong>
08 Who Taught You To Live Like That?
09 Gimme That
10 [banter]
11 She’s Slowing Down Again
12 Something’s Wrong>
13 Traces
14 Sinking Ships
15 It’s Plain to See
16 Your Daddy Will Do
17 Don’t You Believe A Word
18 I’ve Gotta Know
19 The Other Man
20 Beverley Terrace
21 Losing California
22 [encore break]
23 People of the Sky
24 The Lines You Amend
25 G Turns to D
26 Money City Maniacs

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Sloan, visit their website, and purchase Sloan’s official releases, which are all available via digital download at the website in mp3, apple lossless and FLAC [HERE].

The Caribbean: June 5, 2011 Mercury Lounge – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

June 18, 2011
By

carribean
[Photo by acidjack]

No, there is nothing tropical about The Caribbean. Hailing from Washington, D.C. (not exactly Antigua, by any stretch), this experimental pop trio has been putting out their challenging brand of music since 1999, after the DC bands Townies and one of my personal favorites, Smart Went Crazy, imploded. Their latest record, Discontinued Perfume, continues the band’s tradition of marrying traditional softcore indie rock songwriting to jazz and ambient textures. If you want fist-pumping, major-chord-driven rock, keep moving – The Caribbean aren’t interested in delivering the big hooks and immediate melodies that drive today’s car-commercials-first mainstream. Theirs is a style that rewards repeat listens and a little deep thinking. Lucky then, that we caught them on a very subdued Sunday night at the Mercury Lounge, where we had a chance to fully appreciate the band’s set without distraction. The material from Discontinued Perfume was the focus, and it deservedly stood out, including the closer (and one of the catchier songs on the record), “The Clock Tower.”

hi and lo and I recorded this set from our usual location in the venue with Schoeps supercardiod microphones running into an ultraquiet preamp. This is an excellent capture, especially thanks to the use of the high end preamp and the respectful crowd. Enjoy!

Stream “The Clock Tower”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/C6500Caribbean2011/09 The Clock Tower.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [MP3]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Follow acidjack on Twitter

The Caribbean
2011-06-05
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded by acidjack and hi and lo for nyctaper.com
Produced by acidjack

Equipment: Schoeps Mk41>CMC6>EAA PSP2>Sony PCM-M10 (24/44.1)
Position: At soundboard, ROC, mics PAS
Mastering: 24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (set fades, tracking, amplify and and balance)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Collapsitarians
02 Artist In Exile
03 [unknown]
04 Do You Believe in Dinosaurs?
05 Mr. Let’s Find Out
06 [tuning]
07 Supply Lines
08 [unknown]
09 The Clock Tower

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Caribbean, visit their website, and buy their records directly from Hometapes [HERE]

John Vanderslice: May 12, 2011 Mercury Lounge – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

May 19, 2011
By


[Photos courtesy of Elizabeth Weinberg.  See her outstanding photography here]

John Vanderslice has been another steady favorite of this site (one of his performances from back in October appeared in our Top 25 Concert Moments of 2010) and that status is well-earned through his universally strong performances, outstanding songwriting, and engaging rapport with his crowds.  Those qualities were all on display during this recent show at the Mercury Lounge, an epic 90+ minute performance that showed off some stripped-down versions of songs from his 2011 release, White Wilderness, including the brooding “Overcoat” with its boombox accompaniment, streaming below.  As some fans sat onstage (Vanderslice set up extra chairs so some of the more vertically challenged could see), the veteran, together with percussionist Jason Slota, gave an outstanding set filled with classic hits and other highlights.  Vanderslice kept things loose, chatting at times even during songs, and stopping once or twice to fix mistakes.  No less than six guests jointed him onstage at various points, including opener Damien Jurado during the encore, and Ian Bjornstad during “Underneath the Leaves.”  The show ended, in classic Mercury Lounge fashion, with Vanderslice, Slota and Jurado playing four songs unplugged from the center of the floor.  Jurado proclaimed it “the best show of the tour,” and why should we disagree?

hi and lo recorded this set from our usual location in the venue with the Schoeps microphones.  The sound quality is excellent, with the caveat that the four encore songs at the end, being unplugged and in the middle of the floor, are harder to hear and suffer from more crowd noise than the main set. Enjoy!

Stream “Overcoat”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/J8030JohnVanderslice3030/06 Overcoat.mp3]

Stream “Up Above the Sea”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/J8030JohnVanderslice3030/12 Up Above the Sea.mp3]

This Recording is now available to Download in FLAC or MP3 at Archive.org [HERE].

John Vanderslice
2011-05-12
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY, US

Digital Master Audience Recording
Recorded and produced by hi and lo for nyctaper.com

Equipment: Schoeps MK4v > Nbox+ > Sony PCM-M10 @ 24 bit / 44.1 kHz
Location: ~20 ft from stage, at right stack
Mastering: 24bit/44.1kHz WAV>WaveLab 5 (eq/fades/dither)>FLAC v1.2.1 (Level 8) with TLH v2.6.0 (Build 168)

Tracks [Run Time 1:38:01]

01. Intro
02. Scorpio Rising
03. Convict Lake
04. The Parade
05. White Plains
06. Overcoat
07. Trance Manual
08. Pale Horses
09. Exodus Damage
10. Kookaburra
11. Do You Remember
12. Up Above the Sea
13. I’ll Never Live Up to You
14. Too Much Time
15. Underneath the Leaves
16. Thule Fog
17. White Dove
18. It’s Time to Go
19. (Encore Call)
20. Nikki Oh Nikki

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT John Vanderslice, visit his website, and purchase his official releases from the links at his website [HERE].

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: May 6, 2011 Webster Hall – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

May 10, 2011
By

Pains
[Photo by acidjack]

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are one of the latter half of the last decade’s local success stories. They’re a band that has a hard-won and devoted following that hangs on every word, and rightly so. Their well-crafted and well-written songs of love, yearning and loss may stylistically reference an earlier era, but they make a timeless point. Lyrically, of course, these subjects never grow old, but musically, a tightly written, approachable indiepop song never does, either. Pains are the kind of band you root for – obviously nice people, talented, enthusiastic musicians, and a band that still has more to say. Following up on their eponymous debut, their new record, Belong, continues to display their abilities at songcraft, from the title track to other strong numbers like “Heart In Your Heartbreak” and “Strange”. While a lot of bands fail to make the transition from the smaller clubs – or even the mid-size venues like Bowery Ballroom – to the larger spaces like Webster Hall, Pains easily dominated the room with a dense sound and an enthusiastic, energized performance that balanced their new and old material equally. The band closed with their eponymous anthem, “The Pains of Being Pure At Heart”. The power of that signature chorus ringing out out through the cavernous old theater – “We will never die, no, no, we will never die” – was so powerful, it almost made you believe it. They couldn’t have asked for a better end to another national tour.

Because my usual spot in the venue was not available, I recorded this set from the right balcony close to the right speaker stack, giving more of an “upfront” sound than many recordings from this site, which offers excellent clarity but little sense of the room. Enjoy!

Thanks to Slumberland Records for allowing us to record this performance. Please support Slumberland and the band by purchasing Belong from the links below.

Stream “Heart In Your Heartbreak”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/P1411Pains2292/05 Heart In Your Heartbreak.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Follow acidjack on Twitter

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
2011-05-06
Webster Hall
New York, NY USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Equipment: DPA 4021>Oade M248>Sony PCM-M10 (24/44.1)
Position: Right balcony, about 20 ft from right stack
Mastering: 24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (set fades, tracking, EQ, downsample to 16bit)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 56:29]
01 Belong
02 This Love is Fucking Right
03 A Teenager in Love
04 [banter]
05 Heart In Your Heartbreak
06 The Body
07 Heaven’s Gonna Happen Now
08 Stay Alive
09 My Terrible Friend
10 [banter]
11 Come Saturday
12 Young Adult Friction
13 [banter]
14 Strange
15 [encore break]>Contender
16 Everything With You
17 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, visit their website, and purchase Belong directly from Slumberland Records [HERE].

…And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead: April 29, 2011 Bowery Ballroom – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

May 3, 2011
By


[Photo by EardrumNYC]

Starting with their band name, Austin’s …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead have never been concerned with doing things the way that other bands do them. They are the kind of band that opens a co-headlining (yet nonetheless, technically opening) set at the Bowery Ballroom on a Friday night with a fifteen minute song (“Strange News From Another Planet”) from a new record (2011’s Tao of the Dead) that likely even the fans in attendance knew less well than their classic material. They are also the kind of band who, when they do that, cause the crowd to go apeshit.

Indeed, for the younger generation that was there to see the co-headliner Surfer Blood, this intense hour of no-compromise punk/art-rock may have been a departure from their usual Friday night fare. Surfer Blood is a great band, but Trail of Dead is many things they are not: loud, audacious, and visceral. But whether you came for Trail of Dead or not, they had to have won you over by the time they left the stage; frontman Conrad Keely bounced and pogo’d all over the stage while Jason Reece and Jamie Miller traded turns playing guitar and hammering the skins. With Autry Fulbright, also of Midnight Masses, joining on bass, the band has a killer lineup, even compared to the many variously-sized ones they have had. They were clearly enjoying themselves, as well as the energy from the crowd, which peaked in size during their set. The set covered a wide range of the band’s material, from the new material to classics such as “It Was There That I Saw You”, the leadoff track to their Pitchfork “perfect 10” album, Source Tags & Codes. The soaring song about intoxicating, damaged love is both jubilant and sad, a classic whether you’re hearing it for the first or fiftieth time. It also made for a tight under-four-minute contrast to some of the more epic numbers that bookended the set (including a 7+ minute “Perfect Teenhood” from Madonna to close out the set) …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead don’t just defy expectations – they exceed them.

I recorded this set with the DPA microphones and a handmade analog preamp from my usual spot in the venue. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Please note that the Surfer Blood set was recorded, but per our agreement with Kanine Records, will not be posted until the release of Surfer Blood’s forthcoming EP.

Stream “It Was There That I Saw You”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/T2402TrailOfDead1122/09 It Was There That I Saw You.mp3]

This Recording is now available to Download in FLAC and MP3 and to Stream at Archive.org [HERE].

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And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead
2011-04-29
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY  USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Equipment: DPA 4021>Oade M248>Sony PCM-M10 (24/44.1)
Position: Slightly LOC, clamp to balcony rail at engineers’ head level, pointed at stacks
Mastering: 24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (set fades, amplify and balance, light EQ (-1dB at 150-200Hz), smooth peaks, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 59:27]
01 [intro]
02 Strange News From Another Planet
03 Summer of All Dead Souls
04 [banter]
05 Ebb Away
06 Will You Smile Again
07 Caterwaul
08 [banter]
09 It Was There That I Saw You
10 [banter]
11 Relative Ways
12 Fake Fake Eyes
13 A Perfect Teenhood

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Trail of Dead, visit their website, and purchase Tao of the Dead at your favorite retailer, including here.

Low: April 27, 2011 Bowery Ballroom – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

May 2, 2011
By


[Photos by wagz2it and courtesy of A Heart Is A Spade]

Low are perhaps the best musical example of the value of speaking softly.  Since 1993, they have been playing perfectly expressed, understated American music with a deftness and grace that eludes all but the very best artists.  Much is made of the fact that, throughout a musical period where brash, loud and reckless are the touchstones of popular indie bands, they have won legions of fans with songs that are none of those things.  Indeed, their songs are tightly written concoctions; their primary strength lies in the singular vocal harmonies of guitarist Alan Sparhawk and drummer Mimi Parker, who plays a limited set of drums standing up. But really, being different is not what makes Low stand out.  What makes people pay attention to them – to cause them to watch their entire 90-minute performance in stunned rapture, punctuated only by bouts of furious applause – is what should always make people pay attention to anything.  That is, that they are excellent at what they do, phenomenally talented, dedicated and musically almost perfect (one little false start notwithstanding).  Although the band have many, many fine albums under their collective belt at this point, their recent release C’mon nonetheless represents another high watermark for the band, as it is not only contains some amazing new numbers like “Witches” and the expansive rocker “Nothing But Heart,” but is flawlessly recorded in an old church that captures the warmth of the band’s sound ideally.

This being a Wednesday night, the band was rewarded with an attentive and devoted Bowery Ballroom crowd that watched Sparhawk, Parker and bassist Steve Garrington give a majestic performance that was one of the best I have seen in my entire life.  What struck me most about Low was their level of control; Sparhawk and Parker are a seamless vocal instrument, such as on the lovely first encore, “Sunflower” from 2001’s Things We Lost In the Fire, and their command of their material a pleasure to watch unfold in the live setting.  The venue was ideal for the band – intimate enough for us to be able to hang on every word, but large enough to let them unleash the power of their more soaring songs, including the epic quiet/loud combo on their second encore, “When I Go Deaf”.  That they played a second encore is a sign of what a rich and outstanding show this was; everything was going right. At a quiet show like this, you often worry about people not paying attention, talking, and generally distracting other listeners; Low don’t seem to have that problem. It is impossible to be torn away. Sometimes, there is value in speaking softly.

I recorded this set with the DPA microphones in my usual location in the venue with a hand-built analog preamp for added warmth and detail. Because the band was playing very quietly at certain points, there are some moments of perceptible hiss from both the venue PA and my equipment, as well as some spots of light wind noise from the venue’s HVAC system that are almost never audible during louder shows.  Despite these minor flaws, I think this is overall an excellent recording and a great capture of the evening  (including the very respectful and very enthusiastic crowd).

 

Download the MP3 and FLAC files on the Live Music Archive [HERE]

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Low
2011-04-27
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com

Equipment: DPA 4021>Oade M248>Sony PCM-M10 (24/44.1)
Position: Slightly ROC, clamp to balcony rail, pointed at stacks
Mastering: 24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (set fades, amplify and balance, select noise reduction, smooth peaks, hard limit clapping, balance and amplify individual tracks, amplify entire performance, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 1:27:24]

01 Point of Disgust
02 Breaker
03 Try to Sleep
04 You See Everything
05 Monkey
06 Silver Rider
07 Witches
08 Especially Me
09 Last Snowstorm of the Year
10 $20
11 Majesty/Magic
12 Nightingale
13 Nothing But Heart
14 Something’s Turning Over
15 [false start]
16 Murderer
17 [encore break 1]
18 Sunflower
19 Violent Past
20 Cue the Strings
21 [encore break 2]
22 When I Go Deaf

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Low, like them on Facebook, and purchase C’mon directly from SubPop Records [HERE]

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