Posts Tagged ‘ soundboard ’

Wussy: March 4, 2016 Studio at Webster Hall

March 6, 2016

[photo by Jack Dash]

If you thought that the unqualified success that Wussy achieved as a result of their 2014 year’s best album Attica was the pinnacle of their career, then you’ve joined the long line of people who’ve underestimated this inspiring band. On Friday, Wussy released Forever Sounds and the record takes the band’s sound to higher levels than even the rarefied air of Attica. The opening track “Dropping Houses” is one of the biggest sounding songs the band has ever produced. Chuck Cleaver’s numbers are more confident and aggressive than his recent oeuvre (“She’s Killed Hundreds” and “Gone”) and his material is consistently strong. Lisa Walker continues to be an incredibly versatile performer with a spectrum of songs that draw from everything to hard rock/grunge (the previously mentioned “Dropping Houses”) to folk (the gorgeous “Majestic-12”). In between those poles are what may be her most perfectly realized rock song “Donny’s Death Scene” and her darkest number “Hand of God”. Forever Sounds is also the album where Wussy’s vocals are better than ever, the production is top notch, and the instrumentation is superb. AllMusic says that to call the album a “masterpiece” would be “premature”, but nevertheless its a “deeply satisfying work”. Of all of the positive reviews that have arrived for Forever Sounds, this seems to be the most accurate assessment of this superb record.

As fate would have it, Wussy arrived in NYC on the very day the album was released and played a show at a venue that is perhaps too modest for their current draw, but a place that has been a positive location for the group. We’ve seen them two prior times at The Studio at Webster Hall, and Wussy has played excellent shows each time. But on Friday, all of the planets aligned and Wussy played a show for the ages. The setlist surely consisted of a good dose of the new album (eight of the ten songs were played) but the band also featured some classic material, deep cuts, a cover that we’d seen before (“Ceremony”) and one thoroughly obscure cover. This show was also the longest shows we’ve seen Wussy play — a few seconds longer than the Knitting Factory show in 2014. The packed house seemed to agree, as the band was called back twice for multiple encores.

As we’ve noted often recently, Wussy will return to NYC to play an NYCTaper Presents show at Trans-Pecos on March 30. I can confirm that this show will consist of a very special setlist. And as there is no late night event at Pecos that night, the band will be permitted to play as long as they choose! Tickets are still available [HERE].

I recorded this set with the Schoeps clamped to the soundboard cage and mixed with a soundboard feed superbly done by house FOH David Fine. The result is an outstanding recording. Enjoy!

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Stream the Complete Show [minus banter tracks]:

Wussy
2016-03-04
Studio at Webster Hall
New York NY

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard [Engineer David Fine] + Schoeps CCM4u Cardioids > Sound Devices 744t > 2 x 24bit 48kHz wavs > Soundforge (post-production) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:21:37]
01 [introduction]
02 She’s Killed Hundreds
03 Gone
04 Teenage Wasteland
05 Pizza King
06 Sidewalk Sale
07 Better Days
08 To The Lightning
09 [banter – record release]
10 Hello I’m a Ghost
11 Hand of God
12 [banter – Trans-Pecos]
13 Ceremony [New Order]
14 [banter – look]
15 Dropping Houses
16 [interlude]
17 Beautiful
18 [encore break]
19 Donny’s Death Scene
20 [banter – Dag Nasty]
21 Aliens In Our Midst [The Twinkeyz]
22 Pulverized
23 Airborne
24 [second encore break]
25 Rigor Mortis

SUPPORT Wussy: Website | Buy Forever Sounds | Bandcamp

Ty Segall & the Muggers: February 27, 2016 Webster Hall

March 3, 2016

By acidjack

[photo courtesy of Will Oliver at We All Want Someone]

Ty Segall has been all over this site for years, and the reason we keep coming back to his shows is the same reason that he sold out these two nights at Webster Hall last weekend: He’s one of the most exciting live acts around. Here with his latest band, the Muggers, Ty delivered a powerhouse 90-minute set that covered the entirety of the new Emotional Mugger album before delving into some of his best-loved jams from the past few years.

Compared to some of the more intimate Ty shows we’ve covered in the past, this first of the two Webster performances had all the ridiculousness and bombast of a Big Rock Show, with Segall hitting the stage in a mask to the tune of a baby crying. The first few songs felt both true to his garage roots and ridiculously over the top, with Segall barking his lyrics into the microphone, hurling himself into the crowd, and working overtime to try to turn the big room into some kind of facsimile of, say, Death By Audio circa 2012. As time went on though — particular into the lengthy jamming on “Feel” — what stood out most was the quality of the Muggers, who managed to undergird the shambolic moments with accomplished playing. That’s part of the great paradox and joy of Ty Segall, too — you’ve got a prolific performer with a great voice and pop sensibility, but who isn’t afraid to go wild, to get dirty, and to have fun. If you saw any of the New York acoustic shows in 2015 (almost all of which we covered), then you know what I mean. Most garage-rock singers would be lost playing acoustically on a stool — not only would their uneven skills be exposed, but the songs wouldn’t work without the fuzz. Segall doesn’t have that problem. His songs move crowds in any context. The show closed out with a stretched-out, saxophoned-up “The Singer,” both a tribute to the man himself, and his ability to capture a crowd no matter how big the tent.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed and Schoeps MK41V supercardiod microphones. Even though we weren’t in a DIY venue, the sound bears many of those hallmarks: loud, in your face, and raw. The recording is true to that. Enjoy!

Download the complete show: [FLAC/MP3]

Stream the complete show:

Ty Segall & the Muggers
2016-02-27
Webster Hall
New York, NY USA

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

Soundboard (engineer: Ty’s FOH) + Schoeps MK41V (at SBD, DFC, PAS)>>Zoom F8>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, image)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Squealer
02 Californian Hills
03 Emotional Mugger/Leopard Priestess
04 Breakfast Eggs
05 Diversion
06 Baby Big Man (I Want A Mommy)
07 [jamming]
08 Mandy Cream
09 Candy Sam
10 Squealer Two
11 The Magazine
12 Thank God For Sinners
13 They Told Me Too
14 You’re the Doctor
15 [banter1]
16 Spiders
17 Manipulator
18 Feel
19 [encore break]
20 Finger
21 The Feels
22 The Singer

Visit Ty Segall on the web, and buy Emotional Mugger from Drag City here.

Bambara: February 25, 2016 Palisades

March 2, 2016

By acidjack

The Brooklyn post-punk band Bambara knows how to make noise. This show at Palisades, to celebrate the forthcoming release of their album, Swarm, this Friday (March 4), proved what those who’ve been paying attention already knew — that this band has the charisma, and the delivery, to take them beyond Bushwick DIY stages. They’ve already had a taste of that, of course, having toured with site favorites METZ and A Place to Bury Strangers, among others. But Swarm, the band’s first professionally-recorded effort, shows this band’s possibilities. It’s a gloomy, late-night sort of effort, sustained by its rhythmic appeal and the band’s dead-on delivery. In the live setting, they don’t hold back, with frontman Reid Bateh anchoring the effort with his considerable onstage charisma while his brother Blaze hammers the drums along to William Brookshire’s bass. This show covered some of the standout tracks on Swarm, as well as favorites from the band’s debut, Dreamviolence. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to see the band around NYC in the near future, with upcoming gigs at Berlin and Saint Vitus.

I made this recording with Schoeps MK22 open cardiod microphones at the stage lip plus a soundboard feed from Palisades FOH Leeor. While the sound is a little off balance (a tad heavy on bass guitar) it is overall a high quality listen. Stream the full show (minus banter) plus the available tracks from Swarm below as well. Enjoy!

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

<a href="http://bambara.bandcamp.com/album/swarm">SWARM by BAMBARA</a>

Bambara
2016-02-25
Palisades
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Schoeps MK22 (ORTF, stage lip)>NBob cables>PFA + Soundboard (engineer: Leeor)>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, narrow onstage image)>Izotope Ozone 5 (effects)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Her Sister, Touya
02 Filled Up With Night
03 All the Same
04 [banter1]
05 An Ill Son
06 [banter2]
07 Stop
08 All the Ugly Things
09 I Don’t Mind

Check out Bambara on Facebook, and pre-order Swarm from Arrowhawk Records here.

Freakwater: February 16, 2016 Bell House

February 23, 2016

By acidjack

[photo by Neil deMause]

Correspondent Neil D writes:

If you Google around a bit, you’ll find a typically snotty Pitchfork review of Freakwater‘s 2005 album “Thinking of You” that says, in essence, “Sure, Catherine Irwin and Janet Bean may be brilliant lyricists and sing incredible harmonies, but when are they going to show us something new in their bag of tricks?”

Ten years and change later, Pitchfork can officially STFU. “Scheherazade,” the first Freakwater album since “Thinking of You,” maintains the singular harmonies and mind-bending lyrical twists that have come to typify Freakwater — there are even plenty of the band’s patented dead-baby references, though if I’m doing my textual analysis right, the “baby” thrown down the well in the leadoff track may not be what it at first seems. But musically it strikes out in unexpected directions, with one track (“Down Will Come Baby”) pairing Irwin’s banjo with a psychedelic guitar rave-up, while others seem to owe a debt to the carefully calibrated dissonance of Bean’s other band, Eleventh Dream Day.

The current Freakwater tour takes that spirit of experimentation out on the road, bringing along slide guitarist Morgan Geer (Drunken Prayer, The Unholy Trio), fiddle player Anna Krippenstapel, and drummer Neal Argabright(Jaye Jayle) to augment the core trio of Bean (guitar, vocals), Irwin (guitar, banjo, vocals), and David Wayne Gay (bass). Their set at Bell House — where they last previously appeared in 2013 performing their classic LP “Feels Like The Third Time” for its 20^th anniversary — featured nine of the eleven tracks from “Scheherezade” (Geer performed another, his own “Missionfield,” during his opening set), including subtle gems like “Skinny Knee Bone” and “Velveteen Matador” (speaking of songs in need of deeper textual analysis); plus several Freakwater classics (highlighted by the chill-inducing “Cloak of Frogs”) and a Fairport Convention cover to close out the show. They still have a couple of weeks left on the road, so if they’re coming through your town, be sure to catch them before they disappear again — hopefully not for ten years this time.

This recording was mixed from a soundboard feed provided by the Bell House soundfolk (Nick and, um, I really need to start writing these names down), along with AT-853 cardioid mics mounted at the front of the soundboard. Feel free to re-edit the tracking to separate out several long sections of banter into your own Freakwater comedy album.

Download the complete show: [MP3/FLAC]

Freakwater
2016-02-16
Bell House
Brooklyn, NY

Soundboard > Sony PCM-M10 (line in)> WAV (24/48) + AT853 cardioid mics > SP-SPSB-1 battery box > Sony PCM-M10 (mic in) > WAV (24/48) > Sound Studio > FLAC (16/44.1) > Tag > FLAC

Recorded and mastered by neil d

Tracks
01 [intro]
02 What the People Want
03 The Asp and the Albatross
04 Buckets of Oil
05 Wound Up
06 Bolshevik and Bollweevil
07 Binding Twine
08 Velveteen Matador
09 Number One With A Bullet
10 Skinny Knee Bone
11 Falls of Sleep
12 Good For Nothing
13 Cloak of Frogs
14 Hero_Heroine
15 Down Will Come Baby
16 Take Me With You
17 My Old Drunk Friend
18 Come All Ye Rolling Minstrels [Fairport Convention]

More Freakwater news, tour dates, and other stuff at: http://www.freakwater.net/ Like Freakwater on Facebook.

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

February 21, 2016

By acidjack

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stream the complete show:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Antietam: January 30, 2016 Union Hall

February 19, 2016

By acidjack

Correspondent Neil D writes:

I’ve seen Antietam so many times you’d think I’d be jaded, but it turns out their music has had the opposite effect on me: The more I see them, the more I appreciate them. The punkiest of all the bands in Yo La Tengo’s social circle (though technically YLT is in Antietam’s circle, as Ira and Georgia’s first-ever show was the Louisville-via-New York trio’s third-ever), Tara Key, Tim Harris, and Josh Madell keep on putting out record after record of music that’s at times raucously cathartic, at times achingly pretty, and often both at once.

Recent Antietam shows have been augmented with Sue Garner (ex-more bands than can fit in this parenthetical) on backing vocals and occasional tambourine, and this was no exception. The most recent Antietam album was 2011’s “Tenth Life,” but none of those songs appear here: Instead, this set featured seven songs from their in-the-works untitled new album, most notably the unbeatable “I’m So Tired,” which kicks in at 11 and then cranks up the dial even further until the thrashing, yowling climax.

As befits a band led by a professional librarian, Antietam has also become a wonderful curator of other bands, playing in recent years alongside such indie rock luminaries as Sleepyhead, Thalia Zedek, The Scene Is Now, Dump, Two Mule Team, and Escape by Ostrich. For this show at Bell House, Antietam followed their fellow Kentuckian Victory Over Sound (not recorded, unfortunately, due to technical problems), and preceded sets by Feelies extended family members Speed the Plough and post-punk semi-super group Heroes of Toolik, recordings of which will follow.

Thanks to Tara Key for helping set up recording permissions, and to the excellent Union Hall soundman whose name I instantly forgot. The show was recorded with Core Sound binaural mics strung from the club’s ceiling at acidjack’s suggestion, mixed with a soundboard feed that was slightly wonky thanks to the aforementioned technical problems on my end. In any event, the result is a very enjoyable recording, which is all that matters.

Download the complete show: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the complete show:

Antietam
2016-01-30
Union Hall
Brooklyn, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by Neil D

Soundboard (engineer: David Fine)> Sony PCM-M10 > WAV (24/48) + Core Sound Low-Cost Binaural mics > Church Audio ugly battery box > Sony PCM-M10 > WAV (24/48) > Sound Studio (light EQ and mixing) > FLAC (16/44.1) > Tag > FLAC

Tracks
01 [intro]
02 Right Between Your Eyes
03 Sunshine
04 Automatic
05 Is It Time
06 I Swear
07 Birdwatching
08 I’m So Tired
09 Glide

Check out more Antietam news and music at: https://antietamtheband.wordpress.com/ https://soundcloud.com/antietamlabs https://carrottoprecords.com/artists/antietam/

The Rooks: December 5, 2015 Mercury Lounge

February 18, 2016

By nyctaper

[screen shot from this video]

The indie-soul crossover movement of the last decade that included the likes of Sharon Jones and Raphael Saadiq was admirable but would only be truly meaningful if it led to young bands taking up the mantle. This is where The Rooks come in. The band was formed at Wesleyan College in Connecticut. The Rooks moved to NYC in 2013 and began to play gigs that were immediately lauded — their residency at Pianos in January of 2014 is on record as one of the most highly-attended runs that venue has produced. We caught the band during those shows and acidjack noted the band’s obvious talent, appeal and predicted future success. We’re still sticking with that story. In December, I captured The Rooks in a double bill with their friends Lawrence, and the packed sold-out Mercury Lounge confirmed that we’d been right. The band is bigger than ever and with the crowds bursting at the seams, they are poised to move up the ladder to bigger venues and more high profile gigs. The band’s set included tracks from their 2015 EP Wires, a couple of unreleased songs, and three neat covers, including the closing song from an unmentionable artist that tore down the house. Catch The Rooks on tour this Spring including a show at Rough Trade BK on February 27.

I recorded this set with the Schoeps mounted next to the soundboard and mixed with an excellent feed from Mercury’s FOH Alex. Other than a boisterous crowd somewhat noticeable during quieter moments, the sound quality is superb. Enjoy!

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Stream the Complete Show:

The Rooks
2015-12-05
Mercury Lounge
New York NY

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard [engineer Alex] + Schoeps CCM4u Cardioids > Sound Devices 744t > 2 x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (post-production) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper

Setlist:
[Total Time 45:47]
01 Intermission (Wires)
02 Doubt
03 Nothing Wrong
04 [Lawrence intro]
05 Gin and Juice [Snoop Dogg]
06 Secrets
07 You’re the One
08 Kiss From a Rose [Seal]
09 May Care
10 Bury Me Deep
11 Purple Reign [Prints]

SUPPORT THE ROOKS: Website | Bandcamp | Facebook

SAVAK: January 22, 2016 Union Pool

February 17, 2016

By EricPH

It was sad news last year when Obits announced their dissolution. Fortunately we were there for their second-to-last NYC performance, at Brooklyn Night Bazaar back in November 2014. It goes without saying that Obits will be missed. However, Obits alums Sohrab Habibion (also ex-Edsel) and Greg Simpson weren’t quiet for very long. Only a month after that announcement, Habibion and Simpson debuted their new band, SAVAK, having recruited a veritable who’s-who of nineties and aughts indie rock: Michael Jaworski (The Cops, Virgin Islands); James Canty (The Make-Up, Nation of Ulysses); and Matt Schulz (Enon, Holy Fuck); plus Greg Vegas (Hat City Intuitive, Monsterland) guesting on saxophone. SAVAK recently completed the recording of Best of Luck in Future Endeavors, which will be released on Comedy Minus One in late May. I conned my way into a sneak preview of the mastered album—why else tape shows if not for the graft?—and I assure you, this one’s a keeper.

In anticipation of the upcoming record, we made it out for a snowy evening with SAVAK at Union Pool where we were treated to a performance of much of the Best of Luck in Future Endeavors, plus a cover of MDC’s “I Remember.” If I were to make comparisons I’d feel pretty confident making the obvious one to Sohrab Habibion’s classic nineties band Edsel. Additionally, SAVAK channels I.R.S.-era R.E.M., especially on the standout track “Reaction.” The rest of the set will have you shaking in your desk chair in no time, so let this tide you over until the album release.

SAVAK’s next scheduled show is at the Bell House on May 11, with Kid Congo Powers & The Pink Monkeybirds. Tickets are on sale.

I recorded this set from our usual location at Union Pool, the room mics combined with a board feed from FOH Robert. I mixed those down and then Sohrab provided some additional mastering. The results are excellent. Enjoy!

Download the complete show: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the complete show:

SAVAK
2016-01-22
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY

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

Soundboard (engineer: Robert) + AKG C480B/CK61 > Roland R-26 > 2xWAV (24/48) > Adobe Audition CC (align, balance, compression, mixdown, normalize, fades) > Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ) > Mastering > Audacity 2.0.5 (downsample, dither, tracking, tagging) > FLAC (16/44.1, level 8)

Tracks [37:27]
01. Split Decision
02. Alive in Shadows
03. They Are Bones
04. Reaction
05. This Currency Exchanged
06. Elapsed Remaining
07. Drop the Pieces
08. Sick of War
09. Early Western Traders
10. Call It a Night
11. I Remember [MDC]

Support SAVAK: Website | Facebook | Comedy Minus One

The Soft Moon: February 13, 2016 Market Hotel

February 15, 2016

By acidjack

[screen capture from this video]

Sometimes adversity breaks bands; other times it breeds strength. The Soft Moon have had more than their share of travails on this tour, the most notable being that they got robbed during their West Coast leg, leaving them with no gear or merch for the rest of the tour. Fans stepped up via their GoFundMe page, and they were back on their way bowed but not broken.

Here in New York, things haven’t been quite that dramatic, but this show still goes down as “challenged.” Venue growing pains meant some gremlins in the Market Hotel’s new sound system cropped up at the worst time, leaving the venue scrambling to get the show on track and the band without a soundcheck. By the time the band came on, there had been a few hiccups in other sets, but the show went on mostly without a hitch. Then, the sound system died at the end of The Soft Moon’s first song, “Black.”

Visibly frustrated, the band faced a choice — call it a night, or plow ahead. With almost nothing technology-wise on their side, they chose the latter, giving the crowd who’d braved sub-zero temperatures a memorable, hard-charging set that channeled frontman/creator Luis Vasquez’s rage into the conduit of their songs, dark, synth-driven postpunk dirges whose disaffection no doubt matched Vasquez’s actual mood. The band’s latest album, Sleeper, is arguably its best, and we got a fine sampling of those tracks, including “Black,” “Wasting,” and “Wrong.” The new record’s added depth was evident on the electropop pleaser from that record, “Far,” in particular.

Among the several performances of theirs we‘ve covered, The Soft Moon have never failed to draw a large crowd, and to draw them in once there, and this show continued the theme. Vasquez is a natural to watch, contorting his body as he belts lyrics that are often buried under effects. Fans crowded around him under the red stage lights, right in the impact zone for the sound system’s deep bass to catch them up in the whirlwind onstage. Once the sound was on track, so were The Soft Moon, and Vasquez was unrelenting for the rest of the set — perhaps afraid to pause too long. The crowd stayed with them, right through the pummeling encore of “Die Life,” “Want” and a new(?) track. The Soft Moon didn’t get to have a perfect night, but they can count this as another good one for those of us on the other side of the stage. For a second shot at seeing the band, come to Baby’s All Right on Feb 18.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed of Dana Wachs’ house mix, coupled with Audio Technica microphones mounted in our usual spot in the venue. Other than the general sound system issues, which we’ve removed, the sound quality is quite good. Enjoy!

The Soft Moon have upcoming shows in Philadelphia on Feb 16, New Haven Feb 17, at Baby’s All Right in NYC Feb 18. See all their tour dates here.

Download the complete set: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the set (with “Black” removed):

The Soft Moon
2016-02-13
Market Hotel
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Soundboard (engineer: Dana Wachs) + Audio Technica 4051 (FOB, PAS)>Zoom F8>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, limiter)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, image)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 1:04:00]
01 Black
02 Dead Love
03 Machines
04 Parallels
05 Alive
06 Far
07 Circles
08 Zeros
09 Try
10 Wrong
11 Into the Depths
12 Tiny Spiders
13 Insides
14 Being
[encore break removed]
15 Die Life
16 Want
17 [unknown1]

Support The Soft Moon — buy their records from Captured Tracks, visit their website, and support them via their GoFundMe page.

William Tyler: February 2, 2016 Capitol Theatre (Port Chester, NY) + June 26, 2015 Mercury Lounge

February 12, 2016

By acidjack

Our friend William Tyler has been a real road warrior these past few years, hitting NYC multiple times both as a headliner and support act. These two performances represent the latter, with Tyler’s virtuoso guitar playing setting the stage for another act. This month, Tyler did the duties for Wilco at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY, a legendary venue that Tyler acknowledged as such before delving into a concise but powerful set that featured a brand-new song, “Venus and Aquarius,” along with growing tour favorite “Highway Anxiety.” The vibe was a bit different at the intimate Mercury Lounge back in summer of 2015, when Tyler opened of the two Ty Segall acoustic sets we covered that day, but what didn’t change was Tyler’s gratitude and generosity toward his audience, as he played another new song (tentatively titled “Going Clear”) as well as another excellent version of “Highway Anxiety,” among others. If you were in the taper’s section at the Cap, you’d have noted the surprise among the Wilco diehards who hadn’t heard Tyler before. Part of Tyler’s charm is that how easily he wins over not only crowds that aren’t his own, but crowds who aren’t generally familiar with instrumental guitar music. Give these sets a listen — both the songs and the banter — and you’ll get a sense of why.

nyctaper recorded each of these sets with Schoeps CCM4 microphones. The Mercury show also includes a soundboard feed. The quality of both is outstanding. Enjoy!

Download the complete sets: [Capitol Theatre] [Mercury Lounge]

Stream the complete sets

William Tyler
2016-02-02
Capitol Theatre
Port Chester, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded by nyctaper
Produced by acidjack

Schoeps CCM4 (ROC, FOB, PAS)>Sound Devices 744T>24bit/48kHz WAV>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Missionary Ridge
02 Venus and Aquarius [new]
03 Highway Anxiety
04 We Can’t Go Home Again
05 Cadillac Desert

_______________________
William Tyler
2015-06-26
Mercury Lounge
New York, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded by nyctaper
Produced by acidjack

Schoeps CCM4 (ROC, FOB, PAS)>Sound Devices 744T>24bit/48kHz WAV>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Portrait of Sarah [fades in]
02 Missionary Ridge
03 [banter]
04 Highway Anxiety
05 [banter2]
06 Going Clear
07 [banter3]
08 We Can’t Go Home Again

If you enjoyed these recordings, PLEASE SUPPORT William Tyler, visit his website, and grab his records from Merge.

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Wussy: March 4, 2016 Studio at Webster Hall

Ty Segall & the Muggers: February 27, 2016 Webster Hall

Bambara: February 25, 2016 Palisades

Freakwater: February 16, 2016 Bell House

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

Antietam: January 30, 2016 Union Hall

The Rooks: December 5, 2015 Mercury Lounge

SAVAK: January 22, 2016 Union Pool

The Soft Moon: February 13, 2016 Market Hotel

William Tyler: February 2, 2016 Capitol Theatre (Port Chester, NY) + June 26, 2015 Mercury Lounge

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