Posts Tagged ‘ soundboard ’

Celebration: April 22, 2011 Union Pool – Flac and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

May 6, 2011
By


[photo from Celebration Facebook page]

While the soul of music is fueled by a panoply of human emotions, some measure of distance is necessary for the artist to maintain a perspective on those emotions. Katrina Ford was not given an opportunity to have that distance on Thursday last at Union Pool. Celebration had booked this show months ago, but it was a cruel and tragic coincidence that her good friend and fellow performer Gerard Smith passed away a few short days before. Katrina dedicated the band’s set to Gerard and all three of the bands who played on this evening selflessly donated the show’s proceeds to Gerard’s family. While the raw emotions of a recent and painful loss is evident throughout the set, Celebration powerful performance is also fueled by those same feelings. We are streaming “Heartbreak” below, which closed the show with a peak version, and also encapsulated the band’s loss.

I recorded this set with the Neumanns mounted on the balcony rail and mixed it with an excellent board feed. The sound quality is superb. Enjoy!

Stream “Heartbreak”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/C2204Celebration1102/14.%20Heartbreak.mp3]

Direct download of complete show in MP3 files (HERE)

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Celebration
2011-04-22
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Four Channel Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Neumann KM-150s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2011-05-02

Setlist:
[Total Time 54:00]
01 [introduction]
02 Stone
03 Battles
04 I Will Not Fall
05 [banter]
06 In This Land
07 [banter2]
08 What’s This Magical
09 [banter – lee scratch perry]
10 Generals
11 Solstice Rite
12 Walk On
13 Charios
14 Heartbreak

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Celebration, visit their website, and purchase their official releases from the Friends Records website [HERE].

Eternal Summers: April 15, 2011 Glasslands – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

April 18, 2011
By

etsum1
[Photo by Jessica Amaya]

I was a bit surprised that my first experience in the upgraded/redesigned Glasslands – complete with better sightlines, more bars, more bathrooms, better sound, and better light – was actually a band that wasn’t from NYC. But Roanoke, VA-based Eternal Summers certainly have their finger on the pulse of the sensibilities of the moment, whatever their geographic orientation. They make the kind of smart, plaintive pop-punk that would have fit well into the early 90s scene in DC and Arlington, VA. With a record, Silver on Kanine Records that has been extremely well received, as well as a slew of EPs, the duo of Nicole Yun and Daniel Cundiff (now also with a touring bassist) has been hitting New York with regularity. This show, presented by PopGun Booking and Tell All Your Friends PR, celebrated the band’s latest release on Kanine, the Prisoner EP. Rounding out an excellent four-act bill, Eternal Summers didn’t spend much of their economical set chatting, instead focusing on playing fiery renditions of songs from all over their catalog. My favorite was the bouncy title track from Silver. It is worth noting that Eternal Summers are part of a loosely affiliated local collective (in which Cundiff is a serial participant) known as the Magic Twig Community. If the rest of Roanoke’s progressive scene bears any relationship to the quality of this band, I need to take a trip to Virginia as soon as possible.

I recorded this set with an excellent soundboard feed from Josh of Glasslands combined with the DPA mics mounted in an optimum new location in the venue. The results are excellent. Enjoy!

Stream “Silver”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/E1504EternalSummers2011/04 Silver.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Follow acidjack on Twitter

Eternal Summers
2011-04-15
Glasslands
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Equipment: DPA 4021>Oade M248+Soundboard>>Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod] (24/44.1)
Position: Center pole, 11′ up, X/Y
Mastering: 2x24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, EQ audience source, set fades, tracking, amplify and balance)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Prisoner
02 [unknown]
03 Able To
04 Silver
05 World’s Away
06 Safe At Home
07 I Know Now
08 [unknown]
09 [unknown]
10 [unknown]
11 Girls In the City
12 What Do You Do (?)
13 [unknown]

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Eternal Summers, visit their MySpace page, and purchase Prisoner directly from Kanine Records [HERE]

PS I Love You: March 30, 2011 Mercury Lounge – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

April 13, 2011
By

PSILY
[Photos courtesy of Geoffrey Dicker for According to G]

I don’t know what’s in the water up in Ontario, Canada these days, but a serious music scene is percolating in Toronto that is fresh, exciting and varied. PS I Love You are from the college town of Kingston, about three hours from Toronto, but they belong with their Toronto-based brethren when it comes to being part of this burgeoning Canadian scene. This set, opening for NYCTaper favorites Diamond Rings, showed off the chops of guitarist/vocals Paul Saulnier and drummer Benjamin Nelson admirably, as they delivered a tight set that consisted primarily of songs from their rave-reviewed 2010 effort, Meet Me At the Muster Station, as well as a couple of new songs. The set closer, “Leftovers,” off of a recent 7″ with Diamond Rings, spanned nearly twice the time of the rest of Saulnier’s focused tunes, and found John O’Regan himself joining the band in the effort. Saulnier, who began the band as a solo project, gives voice to his angst live even more palpably than on the band’s studio outings, and he and Nelson can shred with the best of them. Beneath Saulnier’s pitched yowl and the squalls of feedback, it’s not hard to hear the real musicianship of PS I Love You; they may be a two-man band, but I would not call them a “garage rock duo.” We were sorry to miss the second post-midnight set that the band performed after Diamond Rings’ performance, but this 40-minute set was an excellent introduction to another talented new act. Montreal had an incredible run of acts coming up in the late 90s and early 2000s, but they’d better watch out – their brethren to the west are the trailblazers these days.

hi and lo recorded this set with the Schoeps microphones and a soundboard feed from Kevin at Mercury Lounge. Other than a few glitches in a connection during the first song and occasional spots of chatter toward the end of the set, this recording is flawless. Thanks to PS I Love You and Paper Bag Records for permitting us to make and share this recording. Enjoy!

The Diamond Rings set was also recorded and will be posted once approval is received from their management.

Stream “Facelove”:

[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/P0330PSILoveYou2011/10 Facelove.mp3]

Stream “Leftovers [feat. Diamond Rings]”
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/P0330PSILoveYou2011/12 Leftovers.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Follow acidjack on Twitter

PS I Love You
2011-03-30
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY USA

Premiere download offered at www.nyctaper.com
Recorded by hi and lo
Produced by acidjack

Equipment: Schoeps Mk5 (cardiod)>Schoeps CMBI>EAA PSP2+Soundboard>>Tascam DR-680 (24/44.1)
Position: Clamp to soundboard, slightly ROC
Mastering: 2x24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, set fades, tracking, amplify and balance)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 39:30]
01 Meet Me At the Muster Station
02 Breadends
03 2012
04 Little Spoon
05 CBEZ
06 [unknown]
07 Starfield
08 [new song]
09 [unknown]
10 Facelove
11 [banter]
12 Leftovers [with Diamond Rings]

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT PS I Love You, visit them on Facebook, and purchase their music directly from Paper Bag Records [HERE]

The Mountain Goats – March 30, 2011 Bowery Ballroom – Flac and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

April 10, 2011
By


[photo by Maryanne Ventrice – courtesy of Prefix Magazine]

The final night of the Mountain Goats outstanding three-show run at Bowery Ballroom was the shortest set of the week, but certainly did not lack in the intensity or good feeling of the previous two. John referenced the ease of staying several days in one town and perhaps because the band knew it would have to travel that night, the set contained significantly less “banter” than the earlier shows. However, the music was as rich as ever, and Craig Finn returned for an encore guest performance, this time singing on both “Palmcorder Yajna” (streaming below), and “This Year”, where the entire Megafaun band joined on stage for the first time. Other set highlights included rarities “Ontario”, “Love Love Love” and “Prowl Great Cain”. The Mountain Goats tour is continuing through this week, and returns to the Northeast for a Philadelphia show on April 15 — a show I’m considering attending on a lark. The NYC experience was that good.

I recorded this set in the same manner as the previous two nights, and the sound quality is again superb. Enjoy!

Stream “Palmcorder Yajna” (with Craig Finn):
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/M1616MountainGoats8080/22.%20Palmcorder%20Yajna.mp3]

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

The Mountain Goats
2011-03-30
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Neumann KM-150s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2 x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2011-04-08

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:31:59]
01 [introduction]
02 Liza Forever Minnelli
03 Jeff Davis County Blues
04 Southwood Plantation Road
05 Dinu Lipatti’s Bones
06 Goddamn These Vampires
07 [banter]
08 Seeing Daylight
09 Outer Scorpion Squadron
10 [banter2]
11 You Were Cool
12 Love Love Love
13 Matthew 25:21
14 Age of Kings
15 [banter3]
16 Broom People
17 [banter4]
18 Prowl Great Cain
19 Ontario
20 Snow Crush Goddamn Killing Song
21 Never Quite Free
22 Palmcorder Yajna
23 [encore break]
24 No Children
25 [banter5]
26 This Year
27 [second encore break]
28 The Best Ever Death Metal Band from Denton

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Mountain Goats, visit their website, purchase All Eternals Deck from the Merge Records website [HERE], and purchase other Mountain Goats official releases from their website.

Megafaun: March 30, 2011 Bowery Ballroom – Flac and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

April 6, 2011
By


[photo by Maryanne Ventrice – courtesy of Prefix Magazine]

Inexplicably, prior to their three straight nights opening for the Mountain Goats, I had not seen Megafaun live. I had seen Brad Cook on stage with Bon Iver and with Sharon Van Etten, but the true Megafaun experience had eluded me. These three shows confirmed what I had been told — this band is a heck of a lot of fun on stage. Their albums are enjoyably rich americana, but live the band takes on the gregarious personalities of the three members. The banter is hilarious, the songs compel audience participation and ad lib/improv bits add color the material. The final of the three nights was the band’s tightest and most enjoyable performance, but really we could have posted any or all three of their opening sets. Catch Megafaun again in NYC next week, Saturday April 16 at Music Hall of Williamsburg, opening for Sharon Van Etten.

I recorded this set with the Neumann’s pointed at the stacks from the balcony rail and mixed with an excellent soundboard feed. The sound quality is superb. Enjoy!

Stream “Carolina Days”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/M3330Megafaun2110/03.%20Carolina%20Days.mp3]

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

Megafaun
2011-03-30
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Neumann KM-150s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2 x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper 2011-04-05

Setlist:
[Total Time 45:25]
01 [introduction]
02 Beloved Binge
03 Carolina Days
04 [banter]
05 Real Slow [new song]
06 Volunteers
07 Worried Mind
08 [banter2]
09 His Robe
10 [banter3]
11 The Longest Day
12 Lazy Suicide
13 The Process

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Megafaun, visit their website, and purchase their official releases from Hometapes Records [HERE].

The Mountain Goats: March 29, 2011 Bowery Ballroom – Flac and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

April 2, 2011
By


[photo by Maryanne Ventrice – courtesy of Prefix Magazine]

Tuesday night’s Bowery show was the second of three consecutive dates at the NYC venue, but it also happened to be the very day that the new the Mountain Goats album All Eternals Deck (Merge) was released. John Darneille spoke about his positive mental health on this particular release day — as well he should. All Eternals Deck is a superb album, and several of those songs featured at this show were already set highlights. We are streaming “Birth of Serpents” below, but we could well have featured the show opener “Liza Forever Minnelli”, “Damn These Vampires”, or a song which earned an encore slot on this night “Estate Sale Sign”. Despite the focus on the strong new material, John did not however forsake the vintage material and performed some outstanding older and more obscure songs, including “Home Again Garden Grove”, “Sinaloan Milk Snake Song”, and “Jeff Davis County Blues”, and even an unreleased song “Shower”. This night did not feature any special guests, but at nearly two hours, it was the longest show of the run.

I recorded this set in the same manner as the previous night and the sound quality is again superb. This are two bursts of static during “Seeing Daylight” that were caused when my recording machine was jostled during the cleanup of a full beer spilled on my stuff. Otherwise enjoy this excellent recording!

Stream “Birth of Serpents”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/M1616MountainGoats8080/21.%20Birth%20of%20Serpents.mp3]

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

The Mountain Goats
2011-03-29
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Neumann KM-150s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2 x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2011-04-01

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:47:25]
01 [introduction]
02 Liza Forever Minnelli
03 Psalm 40 2
04 [banter01]
05 Damn These Vampires
06 [banter02]
07 Home Again Garden Grove
08 [banter03]
09 For Charles Bronson
10 [banter04]
11 Southwood Plantation Road
12 Seeing Daylight
13 Song for Dana Plato
14 Sinaloan Milk Snake Song
15 You Were Cool
16 Shower
17 Age of Kings
18 [banter05]
19 Jeff Davis County Blues
20 [banter06]
21 Birth of Serpents
22 [banter07]
23 Broom People
24 [banter08]
25 Dinu Lipatti’s Bones
26 [banter09]
27 Never Quite Free
28 [banter10]
29 This Year
30 [encore break]
31 Outer Scorpion Squadron
32 Estate Sale Sign
33 Palmcorder Yajna
34 [second encore break]
35 Plain [Silkworm]
36 Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Mountain Goats, visit their website, purchase All Eternals Deck from the Merge Records website [HERE], and purchase other Mountain Goats official releases from their website.

Yo La Tengo: March 23, 2011 Maxwell’s – Flac and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Song

March 26, 2011
By

yolatengobyrnejapan
[photo by Jesse Jarnow]

The show was announced on Monday, tickets went on sale on Tuesday, and on Wednesday night Yo La Tengo was back at Maxwell’s — three months removed from their amazing Hannukah run. And this night definitely felt like Hannukah redux, with brutal weather and special guests in the building. Jesse Jarnow, who is writing a comprehensive biography of Yo La Tengo, wrote an excellent piece about this concert in the Village Voice. Here is his rundown of the appearance of one of those special guests:

[David] Byrne, last seen with the Tengos at Maxwell’s during Hanukkah 2002, came up at the end of the first set to add harmony to “Tears Are In Your Eyes.” The once head-Head introduced a new song, an addendum to his disco-pop opera Here Lies Love. Speaking of “the People Power Revolution” in the Philippines and declaring he intended to write an anthem, Byrne looked and sounded–in his overalls–as if he’d stepped straight from some neo-futurist pro-union propaganda wallpaper as he recalled, for a moment, the Velvet (Czechslovakian), Orange (Ukranian), and Jasmine (Tunisian) Revolutions. The song itself was more typically Byrne, a ballad in Caetano Veloso mode, lush chords and a melody cleverly knotted to accommodate tons of words — and, one night only, Georgia Hubley adding an empathetic sweetness to the chorus. But the winner of Byrne’s mini-set was a mournful, Tengoized “Thank You For Sending Me An Angel,” Georgia translating the song’s galloping tom fills into lonesome mallet thumps.

Perhaps energized by the excitement of the Byrne appearance, YLT came out smoking for the second set and treated the crowd to a phenomenal 15-minute “Pass The Hatchet” among other treats. The appearance late in the second set by The Feelies’ Glenn Mercer rounded out of the evening in perfect fashion, and the rousing closing Velvet Underground cover is provided as a stream below.

I recorded this set from our standard location in this venue. On this night, YLT was without Mark their longtime soundman. Carson, the house engineer at Maxwell’s filled in quite admirably and the sound quality in the venue all night was superb. This high quality of this recording is a testament to Carson’s talents. Enjoy!

Stream “Run Run Run”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/Y6644YLT9879/31.%20Run%20Run%20Run%20%5bVelvets%5d.mp3]

This concert took place to raise money for Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami relief through the charitable organization Peace Winds Japan. A donation to that charity will be required in order to download this recording.

If you wish to download this recording Email nyctaper with a copy of your charitable donation receipt from Peace Winds Japan and specify if you would like to download the concert in FLAC or MP3.

PLEASE DO NOT REPOST OR PASS ALONG THE DOWNLOAD LOCATION. Support the cause.

Yo La Tengo
2011-03-23
Maxwell’s
Hoboken, NJ USA

Benefit For Peace Winds Japan
http://peace-winds.org/en/

Digital Master Recording
Four Channel Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Neumann KM-150s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2011-03-24

Setlist:
Set 1:
[Total Time 1:08:06]
01 Introduction
02 I Am Just A Mops [The Mops]
03 Sudden Organ
04 Moby Octopad
05 Little Eyes
06 [banter]
07 Dave [Will Rigby]
08 [banter – merch]
09 Periodically Double or Triple
10 A Plea For Dump
11 [banter2]
12 Black Flowers
13 [Byrne intro]
14 Tears Are In Your Eyes
15 [God intro]
16 God Draws Straight [David Byrne]
17 Give Me Flowers While I’m Living [Flatt/Scruggs]
18 Thank You For Sending Me An Angel [Talking Heads]

Set2:
[Total Time 1:07:57]
19 Come See Me [The Pretty Things]
20 Pass The Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind
21 Decora
22 Sugarcube
23 [banter – Amy]
24 The Words Get Stuck In My Throat
25 Season Of The Shark
26 Mr. Tough
27 Cherry Chapstick
28 It’s Only Life [Feelies]
29 On The Roof [Feelies]
30 From A Motel 6
31 Run, Run, Run [Velvets]

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, that means you’ve already donated to Peace Winds Japan. Thank you for your donation to support Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami Relief.

Hooray For Earth: March 8, 2011 Glasslands – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

March 14, 2011
By


[Video still by Cannons]

Looking at Brooklyn bands with big, big potential to come out of SXSW this week transformed into rising stars, Hooray For Earth has got to be high on the list. Though there is no exact formula for making it to the next level, it has to include the appeal to resonate beyond narrow indie borders into the broader pop realm. Look at bands that have done it recently (Yeasayer, in particular) and Hooray For Earth is right up there with them. How so? The energy of Hooray For Earth‘s music is boundless, their beats ecstatic. Their songs are anthemic, but smart; fresh, but digestible. Songs like “Rolling/Nectarine” are all big beat backbone with shimmering keys and soaring choruses that click in any language, and that applies to most of their standout 2010 EP, Momo. They are both of rock music but beyond it in the way that many recent successes are; without dropping gimmicks, the band’s mastermind Noel Heroux takes some cues from the electronica realm and makes music that sounds like the near-future.

This Glasslands show was packed from when doors opened, completely sold out and then some. Undoubtedly, many of us had the same idea of spending Fat Tuesday sending off some local heroes before an SXSW run that will include a coveted spot at Pitchfork‘s showcase. Heroux and Co. got some unintended practice in crisis management, as gear malfunctioned left and right at the show’s start, including Heroux’s bass strap snapping during the second number. That didn’t slow the show’s momentum a bit, though, as HFE showcased a number of new songs that will appear on their forthcoming full-length, True Loves, which has already been generating heat in media circles. The hype seems justified, as Heroux has evolved the anthemic pop sound of Momo to embrace more tribal sounds, such as on the set opener, “Realize It’s Not the Sun,” and the spacescape-evoking “Black Trees.” The backing vocals of the ladies of Zambri were key throughout the night, perhaps no more so than on the standout title track to their new record, “True Loves”. Begged for an encore, the band came back to perform “Form” from Momo, which Heroux introduced as “This is Form. It’s rock n’ roll.” Not to contradict Noel, but in this moment, Hooray For Earth songs are all rock n’ roll. The rest of rock n’ roll may just not know it yet.

I recorded this set with the DPA microphones and an excellently mixed board feed from Derek at Glasslands. The sound is outstanding. Enjoy!

Stream “True Loves”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/H7206HFE0201/05 True Loves.mp3]

Stream “Rolling/Nectarine”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/H7206HFE0201/06 Rolling_Nectarine.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Hooray For Earth
2011-03-08
Glasslands
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Equipment: DPA 4021+Soundboard>Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod]
Position: ROC, balcony, ~ORTF
Mastering: 2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Audacity (vocal-enhancing compression on soundboard track, smooth peaks, mixdown, adjust levels, EQ, smooth peaks, amplify and balance, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks:
01 Realize It’s Not The Sun
02 Surrounded By Your Friends
03 Get Home
04 [banter]
05 True Loves
06 Rolling/Nectarine
07 [banter]
08 Sails
09 [banter]
10 Black Trees
11 [encore break]
12 Form

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Hooray For Earth, visit their website, and purchase Momo and their debut LP, True Loves directly from Dovecote Records.

Widowspeak: March 3, 2011 Glasslands – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

March 10, 2011
By

Brooklyn’s Widowspeak could be considered a Pacific Northwest import of sorts – vocalist/guitarist Molly Hamilton and drummer Michael Stasiak hail from Tacoma, Washington (guitarist Robert Thomas is from Chicago) and the rain-washed influence of that region suffuses both their sound and their songwriting.  Stylistically, you hear it in their guitar playing, which picks up the jangly, rangy sound of some of the early K Records acts like Beat Happening, and in the band’s unforced delivery.  There is a mellow, wistful air to Widowspeak that is uncommon to hungry young East Coast bands; rather than blaring “hear me NOW!” their approach is more akin to, “don’t worry, we know you’ll get it eventually.”  Which is to say that, in a scene thoroughly embracing the 90s at the moment, Widowspeak are firmly more in the SubPop than the shoegaze camp.  Hamilton’s vocals are sure to garner their fair share of favorable comparisons – one reviewer compared Hamilton’s distant, ghostly moan to Mazzy Star, but I prefer to think of her as a successor to Chan Marshall, aka Cat Power.  Her vocals talents were on full display this past Thursday night at Glasslands, where the band gave us a taste of some of the material they hope to release this summer on their forthcoming full length on Captured Tracks.  The band gave us a tight, well-rehearsed and set with few digressions, with a mix that emphasized Hamilton’s vocals.  Their current 7″ single (also available on Captured Tracks) “Harsh Realm” is both a knowing reference to an old joke (this link is worth reading) about grunge slang, as well as a paean to Hamilton and Stasiak’s roots, and that song also closed out this eight-song set.  Another highlight was the band’s sincere rendition of Chris Isaak’s classic, “Wicked Game”, which went perfectly with the band’s style and sound.

I recorded this set with the DPA microphones and a soundboard feed by Derek of Glasslands.  The sound quality is excellent.  Enjoy!

Stream “Harsh Realm”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/W3030Widowspeak0211/09 Harsh Realm.mp3]

Stream “Wicked Game”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/W3030Widowspeak0211/07 Wicked Game.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete show in FLAC [HERE].

Widowspeak
2011-03-03
Glasslands
Brooklyn, NY  USA

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

Equipment: DPA 4021+Soundboard>Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod]
Position: ROC, balcony, ~ORTF
Mastering: 2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, adjust levels, smooth peaks, amplify and balance, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Burnout
02 Yellow Light
03 Brainfreeze
04 banter
05 Nightcrawlers
06 Ghost Boy
07 Wicked Game [Chris Isaak]
08 Pines
09 Harsh Realm

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Widowspeak, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their forthcoming LP and the “Harsh Realm” 7″ from Captured Tracks.

Mr. Dream: March 4, 2011 Glasslands – FLAC and MP3 Downloads + Streaming Songs

March 7, 2011
By


[Photo by Johnny Fried Chicken Boy and acidjack]

The Brooklyn band Mr. Dream gives the lie to the adage about writers, and critics in particular: That those who cannot actually do something become critics instead. In Mr. Dream’s particular case, the former Pitchfork writers Nick Sylvester and Adam Moerder joined with bassist Matt Morello to make the kind of rock music that made them become critics in the first place. Which is to say, rock music from the days when independent rock music wasn’t just the go-to tuneage for car commercials – when it was more often brash, loud, angular – and let’s be honest, had some fucking balls.

This show at Glasslands (and presented by PopGun Booking, who have been putting up one killer lineup after another at the venue recently) celebrated the release of the band’s first full-length, the 33-minute adrenaline burst Trash Hit. The record’s most evident influences are a who’s-who of critical favorites – early Pixies, Nirvana, Shellac, Fugazi, and a decent-sized portion of the SST canon. Stylistically, Mr. Dream’s songs embrace empty air in the manner most often associated with the legendary engineer Steve Albini – with each instrument clearly separated and clear, giving the music a dry, spare, propulsive quality. Joined by current Pitchfork contributor Matt LeMay (who produced three of the songs on Trash Hit) to bolster their guitar assault, the band hurtled through a half-hour of mostly Trash Hit songs whose intensity never flagged. The first notes of “Knuckle Sandwich” kicked in before the house music had even been turned off, and the show was balls-out from there. The musical erudition of the players shows through in their songs, which wear their influences well without being overwhelmed by them; the title track, “Trash Hit”, for example, could have held its own with the Pixies in their Surfer Rosa days. By the time they left the stage after “Unfinished Business,” Mr. Dream didn’t need an encore – they had cemented themselves as yet another band to watch in 2011. The band will be joining Sleigh Bells and CSS for their East Coast tour, with dates in DC, Philly and Boston, and a May 11 show at Webster Hall in NYC (tickets here).

I recorded this set with the DPA microphones mounted on the balcony, combined with an outstanding house mix from the Glasslands engineers. The quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Stream “Trash Hit”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/M3400MrDream2011/05 Trash Hit.mp3]

Stream “Unfinished Business”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/M3400MrDream2011/12 Unfinished Business.mp3]

Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]

Download the Complete Show in FLAC [HERE].

Mr. Dream
2011-03-04
Glasslands
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Equipment: DPA 4021+Soundboard>Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod]
Position: ROC, balcony, ~ORTF
Mastering: 2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Audacity (guitar-enhancing compression on soundboard track, smooth peaks, mixdown, adjust levels, smooth peaks, amplify and balance, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 30:20]
01 Knuckle Sandwich
02 Crime
03 Scarred For Life
04 Holy Name
05 Trash Hit
06 [banter]
07 Winners
08 Knick Knack
09 Croquet
10 King Klutz
11 [banter]
12 Unfinished Business

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Mr. Dream, visit their MySpace page, and purchase Trash Hit from Amazon or your favorite record store.

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