Posts Tagged ‘ psychedelic ’

Dire Wolves: September 21, 2017 Union Pool

October 4, 2017
By

If one thing has felt consistent in the world in the past year, it’s been Beyond Is Beyond Is Beyond records and their roster of incredible acts. If you’ve got a predilection for all things psychedelic, you absolutely can’t miss one of their releases. In a crowded field of standouts this year, the label released Dire Wolves‘ Excursions to Cloudland, and I was hooked from the first note. The San Francisco band doesn’t make it out east all that often, and that made me even more pumped for this Union Pool show — their first NYC show in eight years. The three-song set (their songs are long) didn’t disappoint, with the band’s expansive jamming on full display on three songs I hadn’t heard before. Not only is Dire Wolves one of relatively few bands of their type with a string section, but the current lineup also features two vocalists (Georgia and Rachael) whose voices meld seamlessly into the sonic tapestry, more as additional instruments within the whole rather than the traditional rock vocal format. Don’t confuse the album title with the band’s vibe; there is a tension, a darkness even, that flows through these songs, particularly the set closer, “Absolutely Perfect Sisters.” Their music creates a journey, but it’s more saga than fairytale, with brooding and ecstasy in equal measures. In the end, though, seeing a band this good is always a pleasure trip, no matter what the exact themes. Get acquainted.

I recorded this set with MBHO microphones and the house mix by Doug. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

It’s very cool that this bandcamp release has already made a 2017 Uncut playlist. If you’re not familiar with Uncut, check it out.

Download the complete show: [MP3/FLAC]

Dire Wolves
2017-09-21
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY USA

MBHO MBP603/KA200N (at SBD, PAS) + Soundboard (engineer: Doug)>Sound Devices MixPre6 (24bit/48kHz WAV)>Adobe Audition CC (align, mix down, compression)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 I Control the Weather
02 Crone In the Mud
03 Absolutely Perfect Sisters

SUPPORT DIRE WOLVES: Website | Facebook | buy their records

Sunburned Hand of the Man: August 28, 2017 Rough Trade NYC

September 12, 2017
By

Sunburned Hand of the Man are such a disparate psychedelic force (with over 100 releases to their name) that you can’t ever guarantee what’s going to come out of them. For this set, we got a ten-person band on the stage of Rough Trade NYC to play a four-part improvisation that the band referred to as the “Blizzard of Zoz.” Compared to some of the sets we served up to you last year, the “Blizzard of Zoz” was a bit more of a groove-driven affair, expanding over 42 mind-melting minutes from a low drone into a tight groove, then heading into freakout territory. Don’t worry, these sets were plenty noisy, too. The intensity of the proceedings was maximized by the Mad Alchemy liquid light show going on behind the band, which absorbed us all through the end.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK22 “open cardiod” microphones and a soundboard feed from Noel Ford, engineer of Dinosaur Jr. and several other bands. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

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

Sunburned Hand of the Man
2017-08-28
Rough Trade NYC
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Schoeps MK22 (at SBD, DFC, PAS bar)>KCY>Z-PFA + Soundboard (engineer: Noel Ford)>>Sound Devices MixPre 6>24bit polyWAV>Adobe Audition CC (align, mix down, adjust levels, compression, limiter)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, image)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Blizzard of Zoz Pt 1
02 Blizzard of Zoz Pt 2
03 Blizzard of Zoz Pt 3
04 Blizzard of Zoz Pt 4

Support Sunburned Hand of the Man: Website | Buy Sunburned releases via Bandcamp

Doug Tuttle: August 28, 2017 Rough Trade NYC

August 31, 2017
By

Doug Tuttle, originally known as a member of the New Hampshire psych voyagers MMOSS, is now three albums deep into his journey as a solo artist. What he has proven across those three records, including his latest, Peace Potato, is how adept he is with melodic songcraft, with Chilton-esque hooks and an acid-washed, classic sound that matches his multilayered vocals perfectly. What this live show at Rough Trade NYC established, though, was that Tuttle remains a serious instrumentalist, capable of leading those earworm hooks into florid, all-out jams. Adding to the inspiration on this night was the truly incredible liquid light show courtesy of Mad Alchemy, whose work set the perfect generational and visual tone for what was going on onstage. If one had to pick some highlights from the night, my votes would go to a snappy version of “Bait the Sun” from Peace Potato, “Lasting Away” from Doug’s self-titled first album, and the night’s mind-bending conclusion, as “Turn This Love” segued into a twelve-minute untitled jam that was both the set’s most cosmic of all.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK22 “open cardiod” microphones and a feed of engineer Dustin Myers’ house mix. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

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

Doug Tuttle
2017-08-28
Rough Trade NYC
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Schoeps MK22 (at SBD, DFC, PAS bar)>KCY>Z-PFA + Soundboard (engineer: Dustin Myers)>>Sound Devices MixPre 6>24bit polyWAV>Adobe Audition CC
(align, mix down, adjust levels, compression, limiter)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, image)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time: 1:24:31]
01 A Place for You
02 Leave Your Body
03 Where You Plant Your Love… Is Where It Grows
04 Time Will Show the Wiser
05 E Kraut
06 [tuning]
07 Bait the Sun
08 Can It Be
09 All You See
10 Lasting Away
11 Falling to Believe
12 C Firebrand Jam
13 [tuning2]
14 It Calls On Me
15 Saturday-Sunday
16 Painted Eye
17 Turn This Love>
18 jam

SUPPORT Doug Tuttle: like him on facebook and buy his records directly from Trouble In Mind or, head on over to his bandcamp

Sloppy Heads: July 14, 2017 Secret Project Robot

August 23, 2017
By

If you’ve been following along, you heard Sloppy Heads‘ record release show back in January here. Fast forward half a year, and here we are with a very different flavor of the ‘Heads, taking the stage at the renewed Secret Project Robot with a set that paid a sort of tribute to the night’s headliner, Oneida.

Joined by James McNew on guitar (doing double-duty that night), the Heads kicked off with “Nightbird” from their 2014 Do or Dangle EP. Beginning with the 14-minute number, replete with the kind of deep-space jamming you’d associate with early ’70s Dead, announced that this would be a different kind of set. As if to drive home the point, the band followed that up with a buoyant cover of “New Speedway Boogie” that proffered its own sequence of dense guitar theatrics. As if to flip the script further, the finished with a one-two punch of burners from Useless Smile, with “I’ll Take My Chances” into the garage rocker “Love Is A Disease.” If shorter than the last set we saw, this felt like the perfect distillation of what this band is about — a heady psych-garage mashup that’s a gas to see in the room. Go see these folks over and over again; you’ll never see quite the same thing twice.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK4V microphones onstage, together with a soundboard feed from our friends at Punkcast. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Sloppy Heads
2017-07-14
Secret Project Robot
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Schoeps MK4V (Stage lip, DFC)>KCY>Z-PFA + SBD (engineer: Eric)>>Zoom F8>24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CC (fades, align, mix down, compression, limiter)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Nightbird
02 New Speedway Boogie [Grateful Dead]
03 I’ll Take My Chances>
04 Love is a Disease

Support Sloppy Heads: Buy their new album on Shrimper Records. Check out their bandcamp for more stuff.

Bardo Pond: April 1, 2017 Knockdown Center

April 10, 2017
By

It was heartening to see The New York Times give such prominent billing to this Bardo Pond show, held at Maspeth’s somewhat-remote but welcoming Knockdown Center this past weekend. If the use of the phrase “noise rock” to describe the band was reductive in extremis, it at least got at the notion that Bardo Pond shows are loud, distortion-drenched, hallucinatory affairs. But give a listen to Under the Pines, which the band played in full at this show to celebrate its release, and vocalist Isobel Sollenberger features more prominently for much of this journey, at least compared to past pairing with the Gibbons brothers and Clint Takeda’s guitar attack. A vocalist is almost always a critical component of a band’s sound, of course, but it feels like Sollenberger is a more confident and featured presence than she’s been at any time in their long career.

We first saw many of these songs at the Three Lobed Sweet Sixteen show we recorded last year, and again at Union Pool in November, and they’ve only gotten sharper and better since. This full-album run through told the album’s story well, demonstrating both its cohesive flow and the diversity of sounds. “My Eyes Out” continues to be one of the more “pretty” songs in the catalog, while “Moment to Moment” continues to establish itself as one of the band’s most vital new long-form songs. In a rare treat (at least, not seen by us since the 2011 Death By Audio show), this set wrapped with the vital combo of “Don’t Know About You” directly into “The Stars Behind.” There’s no new tour information for the band yet, but expect a fun one once they return to the road.

I recorded this set about 10 feet from the left PA stack with Schoeps MK41V microphones and a soundboard feed. The characteristics of the room and the sound being amplified through the stacks (mostly vocals) mean the vocals are a bit more prominent in this recording than would be optimal. Nonetheless, it is an enjoyable listen!

Download this show from the Live Music Archive: [MP3] | [FLAC]

Bardo Pond
2017-04-01
Knockdown Center
Maspeth, NY USA

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

Schoeps MK41V (FOB, LOC)>KCY>Z-PFA + Soundboard>>Zoom F8>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CC (align, mix down, hard limiter)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects)>Audacity 2.03. (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 1:14:54]
01 Crossover
02 Out of Reach
03 My Eyes Out
04 [banter1]
05 Moment to Moment
06 Under the Pines
07 Effigy
08 [banter2]
09 Don’t Know About You>
10 The Stars Behind

SUPPORT Bardo Pond: Website | Three Lobed Recordings | Fire Records

A Place to Bury Strangers: March 3, 2017 Villain

March 16, 2017
By

Two years on from their tour de force performance at Music Hall of Williamsburg and the release of their last album, Transfixiation, A Place to Bury Strangers found themselves at the faux-DIY venue Villain doing what they’ve done best in years past, while looking also to the future. If the controlled chaos of set opener “We’ve Come So Far” took on a different meaning in 2017, it also felt like it took on a greater one. APTBS vets know what to expect from their shows at this point — a blanket of noise anchored by Oliver Ackermann’s guitars (his expertise in pedals comes in handy), almost always at maximum intensity, a delightfully disorienting light show — and their Brooklyn shows reflect the communal vibe among those people.

As it has been a couple years since their last record (though they did just release a new song), I was unfamiliar with several of the (what I think were new) songs played, but the distinction for most of us was minimal. An APTBS show is less about this or that song than the overall experience, the subtle shifts in texture and tempo, the often-dark lyrics that you at-times strain to hear, the relentlessness of Ackermann (in particular) onstage, as he smashes the hell out of his guitar long before the end of the set. Where the last APTBS show found the band playing on the Music Hall floor, this time the band took advantage of Villain’s layout and performed a more electronic-driven closing sequence of four songs from the balcony. When the beats finally stopped, you couldn’t help but feel a little bit lighter, a bit freer. At some point “cathartic” might start to feel like an overused term in these times, but in these first months, it’s still a very accurate one.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed combined with Schoeps MK41V microphones from the audience. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

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

Stream the complete show: 

A Place to Bury Strangers
2017-03-03
Villain
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Soundboard + Schoeps MK41V (FOB, ROC, PAS)>KCY>Z-PFA>>Zoom F8>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, fades, compression)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Setlist help greatly appreciated]
01 We’ve Come So Far
02 [unknown1] “Never coming back”
03 So Far Away
04 Deadbeat
05 Fill the Void
06 [unknown2] “Sucking on the trigger of a gun”
07 Drill It Up
08 [unknown3] “I don’t care / I don’t mind”
09 I’ve Lived My Life to Stand In the Shadow of Your Heart

[Performed from the balcony — audience mics only]
10 [unknown4]
11 [unknown5]
12 [unknown6]
13 [unknown7]

PLEASE SUPPORT A Place to Bury Strangers, visit their website, and buy Transfixiation from Dead Oceans here. Also check out their latest song, a contribution to “Our First 100 Days,” here.

Bardo Pond: November 18, 2016 Union Pool

December 14, 2016
By


[photo by Greg Cristman for BrooklynVegan. Used with permission.]

Despite being from nearby Philly, Bardo Pond don’t make it to New York nearly as often as I would like. Or maybe my version of “often” is too frequent. Either way, the band continue to prove their vitality and consistency into their third decade. This show at Union Pool began with one of their more recent favorites of mine, “Kali Yuga Blues” from Peace on Venus, but spread across the spectrum of the band’s career, from the Lapsed classic “Straw Dog” to several brand-new songs that haven’t made their way onto official releases yet.  Of the new ones, it was my first time hearing, “My Eyes Out,” a heavy, relatively fast-burning scorcher of a tune. It’s equally hard to deny the band’s new more exploratory number, “Moment to Moment,” which closed out this show for fourteen mind-bending minutes. If there was any regret about this show, it was that the show’s tight timetable meant that it couldn’t go on longer. Judging by the band’s appearances this year, they are feeling more artistically vital than ever, and ready to prove it. Hope to see them again soon.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed from Union Pool engineer Robert (which fades in after about 50 seconds), together with Schoeps MK4V microphones. The only other flaw in the sound is the hiss of the smoke machine, but it’s less a true flaw than “atmospherics.” Overall, the sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Stream and download this recording from our bandcamp page – pay what you want (all $$ to Bardo Pond)

Bardo Pond 
2016-11-18
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Soundboard (engineer: Robert) + Schoeps MK4V (at SBD, PAS)>KCY>Z-PFA>>Zoom F8>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CC (align, mix down, compression, fades)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, image)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 1:08:31]
01 Kula Yuga Blues
02 Taste
03 Be A Fish
04 Two Planes
05 Crossover
06 Out of Reach
07 Straw Dog
08 My Eyes Out
09 Under the Pines
10 Moment to Moment

SUPPORT Bardo Pond: Website | Three Lobed Recordings | Fire Records

Herbcraft: November 13, 2016 Trans-Pecos

November 30, 2016
By

herbcraft-1

The first time I saw Herbcraft, I had no idea who they were, had barely gotten set up, and had no idea what to expect. Two years later, I can say that that show by the Portland, Maine band remains one of the true gems of my entire recording “career,” and one of the most pleasant surprises I’ve ever come across from a live band period, let alone an opener. The band’s fluid, almost entirely improvisational sets are a thing of cosmic beauty, taking you to that comfortable yet foreign place where your mind and music unite. This set at Trans-Pecos, opening for MV & EE, continued in that vein, as the band played an extended thirty minute improv that even they couldn’t give a name to. This afternoon set required neither fancy lights nor the cover of darkness to take us back to that place, to open our minds and our imaginations to a better world that is not quite our own. Dig in.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK4V microphones in the audience and Naiant X-X omnidirectional microphones split onstage. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Stream the complete set below. You can download it on a “Pay What You Will” basis from our bandcamp site if you click through.

Herbcraft
2016-11-13
Trans-Pecos
Queens, NY USA

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

Schoeps MK4V (FOB, DFC)>KCY>Z-PFA + Naiant X-X (split onstage)>>Zoom F8>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CC (compression, fades)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, image)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Live at Trans-Pecos

PLEASE SUPPORT Herbcraft: Bandcamp | Facebook | Woodsist

MV & EE: November 13, 2016 Trans-Pecos

November 22, 2016
By

mvee_starno
[photo by Sierra Starno. See more of her great work on her Instagram page]

Matt Valentine and Erika Elder, aka MV & EE, have a prolific output of records — 147 releases, if Discogs can be believed — that spans everything from proper albums to live CDRs to all manner of weird EPs and one-offs. But their most recent release, Root/Void, has been one of the most notable. The band’s first record for WoodsistRoot/Void has some of the band’s most focused songwriting to date, without losing the cosmic, herbal flow that gives this couple such a unique musical voice. The band’s latest isn’t missing the homegrown quality that makes MV & EE feel like a perpetually well-kept secret, but it will probably rope in some newcomers along the way.

This show at Trans-Pecos, presented by nyctaper, was pleasantly devoid of political conversation, though by virtue of existing, its politics were evident. Held on a bracing but sunny afternoon in Ridgewood, a like-minded group of souls gathered around the stage as Valentine and Elder pulled out a jam-heavy (even by their standards) hour-plus long set that covered recent road favorites like “Tea Devil” as well as some of the new album’s best jams. Perhaps the winner on that front would be “Roll On,” which arrived here as a furious, 16-minute squall that flowed into “Love Lemma” to close out the show. It was as “rock n’ roll” as this band gets, and it befitted the moment, as the sun fell in the afternoon sky, casting colored shadows on the two players as they did what they do best.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed, together with Schoeps MK4V microphones in the crowd and Naiant X-X microphones onstage. Matt Valentine was kind enough to mix the sources to his specifications, and the result is a true MV & EE burner.  We are offering this recording in a new format that we believe will benefit both the artists and the fans — our new “official” bandcamp page. The downloads are offered in every format on a “pay what you will” basis, and streaming remains free via the bandcamp page and their handy mobile app. We hope you are as proud of the new effort as we are. Enjoy!

Stream and download this show from our new bandcamp page:

MV & EE
2016-11-13
Trans-Pecos
Queens, NY

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper bandcamp
Recorded by acidjack
Produced by Matt Valentine

Soundboard (mono) + Schoeps MK4V (FOB, DFC)>KCY>Z-PFA + Naiant X-X (split omni, onstage)>>Zoom F8>3x24bit/48kHz WAV>Matt’s wizardry>Audacity 2.0.3 (fades, tracking, amplify, balance)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 1:08:22]
01 Much Obliged
02 Stars Are In Your Eyes
03 Coot Moon Rap
04 No $>Shit’s Creek
05 Tea Devil>Tea Jam
06 Shout Outs Rap
07 Roll On>jam>Love Lemma

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT MV & EE: Their Website | Buy Root/Void from Woodsist | Twitter

Oneida: July 30, 2016 Secret Project Robot

August 2, 2016
By

IMG_1024

Oneida used to share a building in Williamsburg with the DIY art institution Secret Project Robot — a relationship we documented both at the band’s private studio space, and at a series of farewell shows for the group at that location. While the band and SPR physically went their separate ways, the two remained united in ethos, and Oneida have remained a fixture at SPR events since. This summertime performance — held indoors because of rain — was yet another farewell to Secret Project Robot, which will be relocating from its Melrose Street location in Bushwick to a new frontier this fall. It was fitting, then, that Oneida helmed the sendoff, joined by some of the strongest local bands going, including Guerilla Toss and Honey.

This set was dominated by the band’s “Preteen Weaponry” three-part song, as well as fairly concise versions (by Oneida standards) of “Bad Habit” and “Economy Travel.” As the band’s cryptic sounds filled the repurposed warehouse space, walls covered in trippy 90s-referencing images (Bart Simpson, Ninja Turtles), it was yet another reminder of what spaces like Secret Project Robot mean to the people who frequent them, and what they mean to cities in general. Even if you’re not one of the proud freaks and weirdos (I don’t think of those as insults) who hangs out there, even if you’ve never set foot in a place like it, Secret Project Robot has had an effect on your city, and in a sense, on who you are. Spaces like this are for the true creators, the ones whose utter abandonment of the expected opens up whole new zones of the possible. And as long as there are these spaces, and the people in them, we will be a better place for it.

But a space like Secret Project Robot isn’t a warehouse or an address — it’s an idea. And we look forward to what they will do next.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK4V microphones and an Aeta PSP3 preamp way up front. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Download the complete set: [MP3/FLAC/ALAC]

Stream the complete set:

Oneida
2016-07-30
Secret Project Robot
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Schoeps MK4V (FOB, ROC, PAS)>KCY>Z-PFA>Aeta PSP3>Roland R-26>24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (fades)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Preteen Weaponry Part I
02 Preteen Weaponry Part II
03 Preteen Weaponry Part III
04 Bad Habit
05 Economy Travel

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Oneida. Visit their website, like them on Facebook, and buy the Positions EP from Rocket Recordings.

IMG_1048

SUPPORT NYCTaper




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