Posts Tagged ‘ soundboard ’

Pill: September 3, 2015 Aviv – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

September 30, 2015
By

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[photos courtesy of Anyane Photography]

Pill were high on my list of experimental Brooklyn bands to see, and it was a treat to catch them on an outstanding bill at Aviv that also included PC Worship and Dope Body (those recordings here and here). Andrew Savage of PC Worship released the band’s debut EP on his Dull Tools label, and that’s as good a vote of confidence as Pill needs to get listeners’ attention. That five-song cycle only hints at what’s possible for this young post-punk band, who also proved at this show that they can draw and keep a crowd. Several of these songs are on the EP, but others aren’t, so go and check out both.

This is one of those bands that doesn’t play nice; their songs aren’t the kind of thing you hum at work or jog to on the treadmill. No, Pill’s vision is best experienced live, with front woman Veronica Torres writhing on the floor as the Ben Jaffe’s saxophone screams along with John Campolo’s guitars. Pitchfork’s review hailed the complex narratives on offer in Torres’ lyrics, and admittedly that’s the harder thing to pick up in the live setting, but what it’s replaced by is the visceral experience of what she put into them. As the show ended with Torres at the center of the floor, bringing the new song “Psychic Nipple”

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK4V microphones from the center of the balcony and a soundboard feed from house engineer John. The sound quality is like it was in the room, raw and in your face. Enjoy!

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

Stream the complete set:

Pill
2015-09-03
Aviv
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Schoeps MK4V (PAS)>KC5>CMC6 + Soundboard (engineer: John)>>Roland R-26>2×44.1kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (mix down, compression, fades)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, imaging)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Which Is True?
02 Misty-Eyed Porno Reader
03 Hotline
04 Am I Your Man?
05 Personality Flaw
06 Psychic Nipple

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Pill by visiting their bandcamp page and buying their EP there.

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American Aquarium: September 12, 2015 Hopscotch Music Festival – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

September 30, 2015
By

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[photos courtesy of Kenneth Bachor for BrooklynVegan]

In keeping with the local-oriented theme of Hopscotch’s main stage on its final night, Raleigh fixtures American Aquarium — who have played every year of the festival — took to their biggest stage here yet and proved why they belonged there. Well-known to followers of the rootsy Americana they’re most known for (the band is named for the line in Wilco’s “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart”), this band has been slogging it out on tour, especially in the South, for nearly a decade. Their volatile frontman BJ Barham’s songs reflect that grizzled spirit — his first number was about the casualties of rock n’ roll, after all. By some measures, American Aquarium shouldn’t have even been here at all — the band has claimed they were ready to hang it up until their previous record, Burn.Flicker.Die took them to the next level and rescued them from obscurity’s precipice.

So, this year, they released Wolves, which is filled with songs that reflect Barham’s ambivalence about his life choices. Just look at some titles from this set: “Southern Sadness,” “Family Problems,” “The Losing Side of Twenty-Five,” and “Man I’m Supposed To Be” (it’s about how he isn’t that). Plenty of other bands traffic in the whiskey-swilling-Southern-white-guy-blues thing, but American Aquarium, not unlike fellow traveler Patterson Hood, actually sound like they mean it. “Man I’m Supposed To Be” may wear its heart on its sleeve, but it also makes a point that many a married man can identify with. The bottle suffuses this band’s work, and you can’t help but nod at how Barham has started to come to terms with his self-set traps. There’s no need to get clinical to figure out how the lifestyle, and the ways that you both generate and come to terms with the emotions you share with your audience, almost demands that you not stop. Hopscotch founder and former organizer Grayson Haver Currin called Wolves a breakthrough record for the band, and he was absolutely right. So here they are, after playing day shows and bigger and bigger night stages, finally on the festival’s biggest platform. Let’s hope they keep it up, and make their next chapter a bright one.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed together with Audio Technica 4051 microphones. The board feed kicks in about two minutes into the first song. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Download the complete set from the Live Music Archive: [MP3] | [FLAC]

Stream the complete set:

American Aquarium
2015-09-12
Hopscotch Music Festival
City Plaza
Raleigh, NC USA

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

Soundboard + Audio Technica 4051 (FOB, PAS)>Edirol R-44>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, expansion, effects)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 43:55]
01 Casualties
02 St. Marys
03 Wolves
04 Southern Sadness
05 Hurricane
06 [banter]
07 The Losing Side of 25
08 Spanish Pipedream (Blow Up Your TV) [John Prine]
09 [banter2]
10 Man I’m Supposed To Be
11 Family Problems

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT American Aquarium, visit their website, and buy Wolves there.

The Vibekillers: September 12, 2015 Hopscotch Music Festival (Raleigh, NC) – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

September 29, 2015
By

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I guess you have to call Raleigh, NC’s The Vibekillers a bar band — their most frequent haunt is, after all, Slim’s in downtown Raleigh, which is a bar. But give a listen to this set, and see that they are so much more than that. And, despite their protestations to the contrary, they make the vibes just fine, thank you. These guys are real players; for example, frontman Chip Robinson hails from the legendary Raleigh band The Backsliders and Skillet Gilmore, the drummer was in Whiskeytown. Hopscotch Music Festival has always respected the local scene, and having this crew kick off the main stage on the festival’s final night was the perfect way to do that. This set consists of well-rendered covers for the most part, including an outstanding version of Dylan’s “I & I” and The Jim Carroll Band’s “The People Who Died.” The festival’s final night had just begun, but the vibe was already right.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed and Audio Technica 4051 microphones. The sound quality is reflective of being outdoors, but is overall quite good. Enjoy!

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

Stream the complete show: 

The Vibekillers
2015-09-12
Hopscotch Music Festival
City Plaza
Raleigh, NC USA

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

Soundboard + Audio Technica 4051 (FOB, PAS)>Edirol R-44>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, expansion, effects)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Paradise [Alejandro Escovedo]
02 So Old [Jeff Hart]
03 One of the Boys [Mott The Hoople]
04 I & I [Bob Dylan]
05 The Contenders [The Kinks]
06 Mylow [Chip Robinson]
07 People Who Died [The Jim Carroll Band]

Support the Vibekillers: Facebook

The Giraffes: September 27, 2014 The Wick – FLAC/MP3/Streaming Songs

September 27, 2015
By


[Photos courtesy of Todd Zimmer.  See more of his excellent work HERE.]

Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, puts on a show like The Giraffes.  It’s like trying to explain a UFO or Bigfoot sighting to someone: they may nod, they might be interested, they could be fascinated by your story, but they have absolutely no clue what it’s all about until they experience it for themselves.  In 2011, lead singer Aaron Lazar decided to depart the band and, going out with an atomic-sized bang, had his last performance with them early that year.  The remaining members, Damien Paris, Andrew Totolos, and Jens Carstensen, soldiered on, mixing things up again by exploring the instrumental side of their oeuvre and recruiting two female vocalists to help flesh things out.

Three and a half years later, the murmurs and rumors of a full reunion concert turned into cold, hard fact.  And, like it was for Aaron’s farewell show, I personally received a landslide of requests to record this night from literally all across the globe.  In their neverending quest to take the performance of live music and evolve it into a contact sport, The Giraffes proved that they haven’t missed a beat.  Picking up where they left off, the crowd was right in step with the band and more than happy and willing to join in the antics that are the hallmarks of a Giraffes concert.  Welcome back, gentlemen.  We’re looking forward to what else the future holds for you.

Due to the sheer size and design of The Wick, the acoustics can present a bit of a challenge.  The venue’s house engineer, Eairon, was up to the task and, other than the occasional ring of feedback, produced an excellent mix.  We hope you like what you hear as much as we did.  Enjoy and PLAY IT LOUD!!

Special thanks to Damien, Drew, Aaron, Jens, and Tim for making this recording possible, and to the management and staff at The Wick for their courtesy and cooperation.

The Giraffes will soon be returning to the NYC area and performing on October 3rd at The Wick, as well as playing a few other dates in October.  Their new album, ‘Usury’, will be released on October 2nd. 

Stream “Medicaid Benefit Appliqué”:

Stream “Sugarbomb”:

Direct download of the complete show in MP3 [HERE]
Direct download of the complete show in FLAC [HERE]

If any of the links are no longer working, email nyctaper with a request for the download location of the files.

Follow Johnny Fried Chicken Boy 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.

The Giraffes
Saturday, September 27, 2014
The Wick
Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY, USA

Source: Soundboard + Milab VM-44 Links (cardioid) > Edirol R-44 (WAV @ 24-bit/48kHz)
Lineage: R-44 > PC > Adobe Audition (mixdown, downsample, dither, tracking) > WAV (16-bit/44.1kHz) > TLH (check/fix SBEs, FLAC conversion) > FLAC ( level 8 )
The Wick’s house engineer: Eairon
Recorded and produced by: Johnny Fried Chicken Boy

SETLIST:
[Total time: 1:25:32]
01. [intro]
02. Smoke Machine
03. Wage Earner
04. Prime Motivator
05. I’ll Be Your Daddy
06. The Ballad of Sissyfist
07. On Lovers Lane
08. The City
09. Sickness (This Is)
10. The Power of Fatherhood
11. Medicaid Benefit Appliqué
12. [banter]
13. Haunted Heaven
14. Having Fun
15. Clever Girl
16. Man U.
17. Sugarbomb
18. Help My Blood Count
19. Done
20. [outro]

If you download this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Giraffes, visit their website and Facebook page, and purchase their official releases and merchandise at Amazon, iTunes, or your favorite record store or retailer.  And most definitely go see their shows.

Moon Duo: September 11, 2015 Hopscotch Music Festival – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

September 25, 2015
By

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[photos courtesy of Rumbleseat]

Moon Duo anchored a night of psychedelic and punk music in Raleigh’s Contemporary Art Museum on the second night of Hopscotch Music Festival. We caught up with the band earlier this year at Rough Trade, but weren’t able to catch this Hopscotch set. Luckily, our man “Rumbleseat” was in attendance, and captured this band in all its glory, against a fractal backdrop that felt right at home in the cavernous CAM. As with the Rough Trade set, Moon Duo moved around their catalog a bit, including material from their latest Sacred Bones release, Shadow of the Sun. We were especially happy to get to hear a live version of “Free Action,” which we didn’t get to see at their recent sets in New York. This performance no doubt set the mood for the heads who stuck around to see Roky Erickson do his thing to finish the night. Clearly, Moon Duo learned some lessons from him, and more.

Rumbleseat recorded this set with two sets of mics, Church Audio CA-11s on the ceiling and Shure SM-57s on stage, combined with a soundboard feed. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

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

Stream the complete show:

Moon Duo
2015-09-11
Hopscotch Music Festival
Contemporary Art Museum
Raleigh, NC, USA

Taped and mixed by Rumbleseat
Tracked by acidjack

Church Audio CA-11c (ceiling)>Naiant PFA + Stereo soundboard feed + Shure SM-57 (stage lip, 90 degrees/10in split)>Tascam DR-680>3x24bit/48kHz WAV>Magix Audio Cleaning Lab (effects, cleanup)>Audacity>24bit/48KHz WAV>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Wilding
02 Circles
03 I Been Gone
04 Free the Skull
05 Free Action
06 In the Sun
07 Night Beat
08 Goners

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Moon Duo, visit their website, and buy their records from Sacred Bones Records.

Holy Sons: August 27, 2015 Saint Vitus – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

September 24, 2015
By

Holy Sons

Holy Sons is the seventies-inspired heavy rock solo project from Om/Grails drummer Emil Amos. If you’ve ever seen either of those bands live, you’ll have surely noted Amos’ irrepressible energy behind the kit. It’s clear that in his free time that energy translates into some incredibly prolific songwriting—since 2000, he’s released eleven albums as Holy Sons. The most recent two, this year’s Fall of Man and last years’s The Fact Facer, were both released on Thrill Jockey, always an indicator of high quality. For his touring in support of Fall of Man, Amos has tapped Dommengang‘s rhythm section of Brian Markham and Adam Bulgasem. To say this trio rocks is an understatement—these guys could break concrete using only guitar, bass, and drums.

Holy Sons will be back in NYC on October 30 at City Winery as part of a tour with Jay Farrar. That show is sold out, but if you’re lucky enough to have gotten tickets, be sure to show up early for Holy Sons. The full listing of tour dates is over at Thrill Jockey.

I recorded this set from our usual spot in the venue, with a soundboard feed from Saint Vitus’ FOH. The results are outstanding. Enjoy!

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

Stream the complete show:

Holy Sons
2015-08-27
Saint Vitus
Brooklyn, NY

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

Soundboard + AKG C480B/CK63 (FOB, PAS) > Roland R-26 > 2xWAV (24/48) > Adobe Audition CC (align, compression, mixdown, normalize, fades) > Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ) > Audacity 2.0.5 (downsample, dither, tracking, tagging) > FLAC (16/44.1, level 8)

Tracks [37:08]
01. Drifter’s Sympathy
02. Fall of Man
03. Mercenary World
04. The Feral Kid
05. Transparent Powers
06. No Self Respect
07. More Mind Briars
08. Ready to Die
09. The Fact Facer

Support Holy Sons: Bandcamp | Facebook | Buy Fall of Man and The Fact Facer from Thrill Jockey

Elisa Ambrogio-Ben Chasny-Tashi Dorji: September 11, 2015 WXDU/WXYC/WKNC Day Show (Raleigh, NC) – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

September 24, 2015
By

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With Three Lobed Recordings on a temporary hiatus from their traditional day show with WXDU on the Friday of Hopscotch Festival, WXDU took matters into their own hands and teamed with fellow college radio stations WXYC (UNC-Chapel Hill) and WKNC (N.C. State) to produce a two-stage day show worth of the tradition. Perhaps the centerpiece of these sets was the trio of Elisa Ambrogio (best known for her work in Magik Markers) and Ben Chasny (aka Six Organs of Admittance), who have been touring together, with the guitar improviser Tashi Dorji. The three of them got down to some serious experimental improv that captured the imagination of the crowd (and had a couple of bewildered college students plugging their ears). The sum of this team was clearly more than its parts, combining noise, free verse, and melodic interludes. By the end of this 20 minute burst of inspiration, our only regret was that it couldn’t be longer.

I recorded this set with the Schoeps MK4V microphones you see in the photo below, together with a soundboard feed by the day’s very capable engineer, Justin. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

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

Stream the complete show:

Ambrogio / Chasny / Dorji Trio
WXDU/WKNC/WXYC Hopscotch Day Show
King’s
Raleigh, NC USA

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

Schoeps MK4V (onstage, roughly ORTF)>KC5>CMC6 + Soundboard (engineer: Justin)>>Edirol R-44>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (mix down, compression, fades)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, imaging)>Audacity 2.0.5 (amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 improvisation

Musicians
Elisa Ambrogio – vocals, guitar
Ben Chasny – guitar
Tashi Dorji – guitar, effects

Support these artists: Elisa Ambrogio | Six Organs of Admittance | Tashi Dorji

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[photo of Tashi Dorji courtesy of David Lee of This Is That Song]

Dope Body: September 3, 2015 Aviv – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

September 23, 2015
By

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[photos courtesy of Anyane Photography]

The scruffy and sardonic Baltimore post-punk band Dope Body is supposedly named for “an online video the band enjoyed,” but as you watch the shirtless frontman Andrew Laumann contort his sweat-slicked self all over the stage, you have to wonder if the name isn’t a little bit of a self-referential gag.  In fairness, it felt like 110 degrees inside the cozy Brooklyn DIY venue Aviv on this particular night, so showing off the man’s fitness level might have just been a matter of necessity. On firmer ground, I can tell you that this band brings an instant presence to any stage they inhabit, and the way their music combines the heavy noise with just-enough tuneful accessibility only adds to the need to pay attention. They’re several albums in now, with the latest, Kunk, released this month on Drag City. More new songs, as evidenced by the set, are already in the tank. If the band’s previous record, Lifer, earned some (undeserved) commentary about increased accessibility and even the dreaded “grunge” tag at points, there’s no making any mistake about where any of this material falls live.

The band hits extremely hard, Zachary Utz’s guitars scraping against Laumann’s gritty, snarling vocals, as David Jacober pounds the skins in the thick of John Jones’ basslines. The set jumped around the band’s catalog, but it’s hard to deny the brand-new numbers, one unnamed, as well as “Enemy Outta Me” which has been making the rounds on recent sets. The skronky “Hired Gun” might qualify as the band’s most mainstream-approaching single, and it came through well on this night before the one-two punch of the older “Leather Head” followed by Kunk‘s “Old Grey.” The proceedings ended just shy of forty minutes in. By then, we might not all have been as drenched as the band, but most of us had been reminded what “sweaty” rock n’ roll really means.

Dope Body are on tour right now in Europe, and anyone with the opportunity over there ought to catch them at one of these dates.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed from Aviv engineer John, as well as Schoeps MK4V microphones mounted in the center on the balcony. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Download the complete set: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the complete set:

Dope Body
2015-09-03
Aviv
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Schoeps MK4V (PAS)>KC5>CMC6 + Soundboard (engineer: John)>>Roland R-26>2×44.1kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (mix down, compression, fades)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, imaging)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 [intro]
02 Road Dog
03 [new song 1]
04 Enemy Outta Me
05 Day By Day
06 Hired Gun
07 Leatherhead
08 Old Grey

If you enjoyed this set, PLEASE SUPPORT Dope Body, visit their Facebook page, and buy their records from Drag City. (You have to, since you can’t stream ’em).

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Babes In Toyland: September 17, 2015 Irving Plaza – Flac/MP3/Streaming

September 22, 2015
By

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[photos by PSquared Photography]

We have become fairly experienced and well-versed in covering band reunions from the 1980s and 1990s. Whether it be everything from the huge (i.e. Dinosaur Jr.) or the fairly obscure (i.e Cap’n Jazz), these get-togethers seem to follow a basic course — older and wiser forty-somethings re-connect with old friends to play the music that made them great in their youth to older fans who re-live the experience and younger fans who were too young to be there back in the day. Given the blessings of hindsight and sobriety, the formula has been quite successful. For the most part, the reunited bands are tight, more focused and seemingly more appreciative of the experience. The Babes In Toyland reunion had been brewing for a couple of years and began with an announcement that Kat Bjelland and Maureen Herman had begun writing songs together again. When the duo ultimately reunited with drummer Lori Barbero, the band played its first show together in 14 years in Los Angeles in February with a couple of tours to follow. The wrinkle in this reunion occurred at the end of the first leg of the tour when the band amicably split with bassist Herman, whose goodbye message to the fans is one of the classiest breakup announcements we’ve ever read.

The good news about the Thursday Irving Plaza show arrived early in the week and that was the fact that the night was sold out. The crowd ended up being a nice mix of old punks and newer fans, but all of them brought the energy — the room was buzzing all night. New bassist Clara Salyer debuted with the band in late August and by Thursday, all three band members were truly in sync. Opening with a bang which never let up, Babes In Toyland worked through an hour-long set that touched on all of their original three albums, each song generating a sing-a-long from the crowd. We’re streaming “Oh Yeah!” and the single encore “Dust Cake Boy” which I believe were excellent versions of these songs, but really we could have streamed any song, as the show was that tight and well-played.

This leg of the tour is complete, but the band will return next month for more shows on the East coast and the South. Yesterday, Babes in Toyland announced another upcoming NYC show — on October 23 at Saint Vitus.

I recorded this set with the Schoeps cards mounted in the front center of the balcony and mixed with a superb board feed provided by the band’s FOH Rubes Harman. Our readers should be familiar with Rubes’ terrific mixes from some previous recordings at Baby’s All Right, and this mix is equally terrific. The result is that the sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Stream “Oh Yeah!”:

Stream “Dust Cake Boy”:

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

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Babes In Toyland
2015-09-17
Irving Plaza
New York NY

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard [Engineer Rubes Harman] + 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 59:15]
01 [introduction]
02 He’s My Thing
03 Bluebell
04 Ripe
05 Spit To See the Shine
06 Oh Yeah
07 [thanks]
08 Bruise Violet
09 Right Now
10 Swamp Pussy
11 Won’t Tell
12 [banter – Eliot]
13 Drivin
14 Ariel
15 Handsome and Gretel
16 Spun
17 [banter – Rockland]
18 Pearl
19 Vomit Heart
20 Sweet 69
21 [encore break]
22 Dust Cake Boy

If you Download this recording from nyctaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Babes In Toyland, visit their website, and purchase their official releases at your favorite retailer.

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Godspeed You! Black Emperor: September 10, 2015 Hopscotch Music Festival (Raleigh, NC) – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

September 17, 2015
By

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[Photos courtesy of Kenneth Bachor via BrooklynVegan]

Godspeed You! Black Emperor shows are always meditative affairs, where you allow the band’s long instrumental sequences to draw you in, slowly, bombarding you with projected images against the backdrop of a black room. It’s an entirely different experience when that backdrop is of limited size, and the dark room is replaced with the downtown plaza of Raleigh, NC, lit by streetlamps and neon signs from Jimmy John’s and the local Marriott. In that environment, how can you concentrate on something like this? Can it resonate?

Perhaps nature provided the best way, in the form of a downpour that blanketed the plaza in the early going, its sheets of rain and gusts driving away the merely-curious until only the die-hards were left. Absent the excess conversations, forced to reckon with whether this show was worth it under the circumstances, those who stayed answered their own question. GSYBE shows are events; their music isn’t for everyone, and they don’t make any effort to make things otherwise. So, as I held onto my mic stand to keep it and the umbrella covering it from blowing over (which you can hear it doing at one point), I thought about the level of commitment this band requires, and how, as was the case when we covered their NYC run in 2011, they are, in fact, always worth it. Even if you can’t ignore that this setting will never be considered ideal.

This was the kickoff headlining set of Hopscotch Music Festival, and as befits GSYBE, it started with a slow drone, not a bang. After the so-called “Hope Drone,” we were were treated to the band’s entire latest album, Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress (my, how these people love punctuation), a four-song sequence the band refers to on setlists as “Behemoth.” Next up came a new number that is as-yet untitled, followed by two classics, “Moya” from the Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada EP and “The Sad Mafioso” from F? A? ?. If the stage was small, the band’s sweep and ambition remained titanic, as evidenced by the soaring guitars of the new number, whose sustained early peak and soaring conclusion felt like a respite from the rain itself. The attentive, soaking crowd clustered around the stage, keeping the between-song cheering polite and minimal, in keeping with the subtlety of the songs’ transitions. Once things came to a head, though, as “The Sad Mafioso” sprinted toward its stormy conclusion, the shouts began, and sustained, until long after the band had disappeared from stage, leaving that little space empty, their sound only a memory in the night’s new void.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK4V microphones under an umbrella-covered mic stand directly in front of the soundboard. Other than the usual effects of distance and being outdoors, the sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

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

Stream the complete show:

Godspeed You! Black Emperor
2015-09-10
Hopscotch Music  Festival
Raleigh, NC  USA

Hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Schoeps MK4V (PAS)>KC5>CMC6>Edirol R-44>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS5.5 (fades, align, mix down, compression)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, imaging)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [thanks to P.E. Tremblay for the setlist]
01 Hope Drone
02 Peasantry or ‘Light! Inside of Light!’
03 Lambs’ Breath
04 Asunder, Sweet
05 Piss Crowns are Trebled
06 [new song]
07 Moya
08 The Sad Mafioso

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Godspeed You! Black Emperor, visit their website, and buy their albums from Constellation Records.

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DISCLAIMER and LEGAL NOTICE

nyctaper.com is a live music blog that offers a new paradigm of music distribution on the web. The recordings are offered for free on this site as are the music posts, reviews and links to artist sites. All recordings are posted with artist permission or artists with an existing pro-taping policy.

All recordings and original content posted on this site are @nyctaper.com as live recordings pursuant to 17 U.S.C. Section 106, et. seq. Redistribution of nyctaper recordings without consent of nyctaper.com is strictly prohibited.

nyctaper.com hereby waives all copyright claims to any and all recordings posted on this site to THE PERFORMERS ONLY. If any artist posted on this site requests that recordings be removed, those recordings will be removed forthwith.