Posts Tagged ‘ williamsburg ’

Martin Courtney: February 13, 2016 Baby’s All Right

March 8, 2016
By

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There’s much love for the band Real Estate both at this site and in NYC in general, but that doesn’t mean everyone’s a fan. With the detractors, it seems that what bugs them the most is that Real Estate make things too easy — their music seems to positively roll forth from them in a smooth wave, with breezy melodies and approachable hooks, vocals wafting in a comfortable haze. That voice comes from one Martin Courtney, who rolled out a solo effort, Many Moons, last year. It’s what you hope for in a solo album — a scaled-back version of a Real Estate album in some ways, a much more personal, intimate album in others. If you don’t like Real Estate, well, I don’t know what you to tell you, because Courtney doesn’t abandon the band’s formula so much as peel back a few layers. “You will not find me wasting my energy” begins one couplet on the album’s opener “Awake,” and you get the sense with this record that it’s not a lack of effort by any means, but it is a great example of not trying too hard.

Courtney hit that sweet spot at this recent Baby’s All Right show, a venue which at this point feels like a second home for a certain caste of Brooklyn music regulars. This performance, falling near the end of the tour, had the mellow, easy feel of a weekend show before a friendly crowd. We got to hear the entire album, highlighted by the single “Airport Bar,” and the kickoff track “Northern Highway.” Of course, it wouldn’t have been a show by a Real Estate band member without some crucial covers, and Courtney nailed both the placid “Harvest Moon” and Echo and the Bunnymen’s “The Killing Moon” before the grand finale, with opener EZTV joining the headliners for a Feelies cover, “On the Roof,” from their second album The Good Earth. It was a night for the familiar, a night for the good, and one for a longtime friend to share with the people who were with him from the beginning.

The engineer Jason Kelly of Baby’s All Right recorded and mixed this set. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Download the complete show: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the complete show (banter tracks removed):

Martin Courtney
2016-02-13
Baby’s All Right
Brooklyn, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and live mixed by Jason Kelly
Produced by acidjack

Soundboard (main stereo mix) + Audio Technica 4051 (FOB, DFC, XY)>Pro Tools>4x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, adjust levels)>Izotope Ozone 5 (effects)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Northern Highway (fades in)
02 Focus
03 [banter]
04 Foto
05 Asleep
06 Airport Bar
07 Awake
08 [banter2]
09 Little Blue
10 Before We Begin
11 Many Moons
12 Vestiges
13 [banter3]
14 Harvest Moon [Neil Young]
15 The Killing Moon [Echo & the Bunnymen]
16 [banter4]
17 On the Roof [The Feelies]*

* w/ EZTV

Support Martin Courtney at his website and by buying Many Moons from Domino.

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

February 21, 2016
By

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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.

SAVAK: January 22, 2016 Union Pool

February 17, 2016
By

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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

Infinity Girl: January 16, 2016 Muchmore’s

January 22, 2016
By

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Infinity Girl don’t seem afraid of the “shoegaze” tag, and while it’s a bit of a lazy one, it’s an accurate description of this Brooklyn band’s tuneful, feedback-drenched sound. What drew me to the band — and this free show they headlined at Muchmore’s, a trendy coffee shop/restaurant/bar/venue at the northern end of Havemeyer Street in Williamsburg — was the quality of the songs behind the noise. While the band has been kicking around for a few years now, their second full-length album, Harm, released in August of 2015, is a leap forward. With its thoughtful guitar work and pleasantly retro production that might make Kevin Shields proud, it’s a strong listen throughout its 15 songs. On the venue’s low stage in front of an animated, moshing crowd, they proved more than equal to their work in the live setting. After this first show of 2016, we’re looking forward to seeing this tight unit some more times this year.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK4V microphones near the front of the stage to capture both the guitar amps and the (limited) sound from the PA. While the vocals are somewhat buried in the recording — owing mostly to the limits of the Muchmore’s sound system versus the band’s amps and drums — this is remains a fine recording and a taste of more to come. Enjoy!

Infinity Girl has another show on Jan 30 at Palisades, followed by a scheduled date at Rough Trade in March with our friends Dead Stars.

Download the complete set: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the complete set:

Check out Infinity Girl’s latest album, Harm:

Infinity Girl
2016-01-16
Muchmore’s
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Schoeps MK4V (in front of stage)>KC5>CMC6>Roland R-26>24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (multiband compression, limiter)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Void
02 Hesse
03 Dirty Sun
04 Hold
05 Please Forget
06 Blood and Dirt
07 By Now

If you enjoyed this recording, please like Infinity Girl on facebook and buy their music on bandcamp. 

Alan Licht: January 6, 2016 Union Pool

January 13, 2016
By

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For my first recording of 2016, I got to witness the album debut of a New York music veteran, among a room of like-minded souls. We saw Alan Licht live debut many of the tracks that would make up his latest release, Currents, back in August, but he arrived at Union Pool this time with copies of the finished product in hand, and the ideas on it more tightly wound. Relative to some of his peers, Licht’s songs feel like they ride less on fingerpicking prowess (though that’s considerable) than on the strength of his melodies, which give the thrilling jolt of a good rock song even without the lyrics or band that typically accompanies such things. Like the previous show, this one began with the immediate appeal of “Riding On the S’s” followed by “First Lover, Haleema” from Currents, as well as serving up at least one track that didn’t make the record simply because it wouldn’t squeeze onto a side of vinyl. January shows are always a joy for the true music fan, as the cold weather tends to draw only those who really care, and that was evident in the pin-drop quiet room during these engaging, minimalist tunes. From the delicate “Uncertainty” to the melancholy and final “Seventh Song,” Licht showed off the strength of this latest cycle of creativity. Make a date for his next NYC visit, or wherever you might be able to see him.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed by Kevin Mazzarelli and Schoeps MK4V microphones. The sound quality is excellent, far superior to the previous recording. Enjoy!

Download the complete show: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the complete show (minus banter tracks):

Alan Licht
2016-01-06
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Soundboard (engineer: Kevin Mazzarelli) + Schoeps MK4V>KC5>CMC6>>Zoom F8>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, compression, limiter)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, exciter)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 44:17]
01 [intro]
02 Riding on the S’s
03 First Love, Haleema
04 [untitled]
05 [banter]
06 Uncertainty
07 [untitled 2]
08 Currents
09 Raw Deal
10 Seventh Song

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Alan Licht by visiting VDSQ Records and buying Currents there.

Superchunk: December 3, 2015 Baby’s All Right

December 6, 2015
By

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[photo courtesy of Ellen Qbertplaya]

Superchunk spawned one of the most revered independent labels, revitalized the music scene of two entire towns, and continue to inspire men and women alike to pogo at the stage lip singing every word. Few bands can claim those achievements, but even fewer can claim to have not only kept, but expanded their fans’ loyalty since the early 1990s. Mac McCaughan may well be one of his generation’s few ageless indie stars, as unabashedly confessional, athletic and compelling onstage as he was when he was in his twenties. What separates his songs from those of lesser peers is that those lyrics aren’t just reflections of youthful naiveté — they just say what they need to in the most direct, compelling way. It hurts none that behind Mac is a crack band (sans, sadly, Laura Ballance these days) that has only gotten better over the years; if many drummers are hitting the kit better than Jon Wurster at any age, they ought to count themselves lucky. And that doesn’t even begin to touch the humor of Jim Wilbur (who’s a pretty darn good player, too).

The band came into Baby’s All Right on this Thursday to follow up a performance the night before at Ground Control Touring’s 15th Anniversary, meaning they weren’t here to flog a new record or for any purpose other than to remind their fans exactly why they stick around. They rewarded us with a set that drew from all over their catalog, treating 2013’s I Hate Music and their 1990s canon with equal reverence. The sold out crowd gave as good as they got in terms of energy, as the people in the front didn’t stop moving, or singing, the entire time. The band may have joked before “The Popular Music” (from Indoor Living, 1997) about how they would sit around in front of a Britney Spears poster in their practice room and wonder if a new song they were writing would “make them popular” (Mac’s reply — it didn’t) but the reality is that, in the longer run, their efforts worked. Sometimes it’s quality, and not quantity of “popularity” that counts, and Superchunk has the former in abundance. For a certain group of people, Superchunk were a foundational band, in the same way other giants of the era like Pavement (or further toward the mainstream, Nirvana) inspired countless stints as independent radio DJs, memberships in variously-successful bands, and LP/CD collections that burden many of us to this day. In 2013, we called them “the best working band in America today,” and noted that they “don’t have a bad song in their catalog,” and those sentiments remain true to this day.

To be honest, I’m not really sure if they haven’t played the first encore, “The Breadman” single in more than 20 years as claimed, but I’m not going to be that guy who disputes the band on the Internet (according to said Internet, this was only the second time it’s ever been played). I will say that “Hyper Enough,” still rings true — rocking this night with an energy that belied its twenty years in the rotation, and a song whose central premise still rings true of Mac now as when he wrote it. And “Throwing Things,” which closed the first encore, well, it was as compelling as it was when it first appeared on No Pocky for Kitty in 1991. True to their nature, the band came out for a second encore, and closed with “Slack Motherfucker.” Balance wrote the song back in 1990 and, whoever it was addressed to at the time, Mac has proven to be anything but.

I recorded this set with Superchunk FOH Matthew Barnhart’s soundboard mix, together with Audio Technica 4051 microphones onstage. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Download the complete show: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the complete show (minus banter tracks and encore breaks):

Superchunk
2015-12-03
Baby’s All Right
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Soundboard (engineer: Matthew Barnhart) + Audio Technica 4051 (onstage)>Zoom F8>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, adjust width, fades, very light compression)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, image)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time: 1:24:15]
01 [intro]
02 Like A Fool
03 Cursed Mirror
04 Hello Hawk
05 Good Dreams
06 Me & You & Jackie Mittoo
07 Punch Me Harder
08 On the Mouth
09 [banter1]
10 Rosemarie
11 Kicked In
12 Iron On
13 The Popular Music
14 Low F
15 Crossed Wires
16 Detroit Has A Skyline
17 Driveway to Driveway
18 Digging for Something
19 [encore break]
20 The Breadman
21 Hyper Enough
22 Throwing Things
23 [encore break 2]
24 Slack Motherfucker

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Superchunk, visit their website, and purchase their albums directly from Merge Records [HERE].

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[photo by Lauren Epstein]

Courtesy Tier: November 3, 2015 Rough Trade BK

November 18, 2015
By

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[photo by nyctaper]

Its been too long since we last attended and recorded a Courtesy Tier performance — five years to be exact. The silver lining to that kind of missed opportunity is to witness a sort of time lapse of talent that was saw at Rough Trade last week. Courtesy Tier is a much bigger, more powerful and more refined outfit than we saw a half-decade ago. That is not to say that the band wasn’t quite excellent back in 2010, when their energy and potential excited us enough to invite them to our CMJ show that year. But in 2015, Courtesy Tier is an impressive, fully-realized unit and their set at Rough Trade was a revelation. This show was an EP release party for their newest Little Rock, a three-song collection that was performed in the heart of the set. The balance of this Courtesy Tier show was a textbook example of a trio playing on all cylinders with Omer Leibovitz’s crunchy guitar out front and supported by the aggressive rhythm section of drummer Layton Weederman and the newest member of the band, bassist Alex Picca. The band played a couple of new songs, but when it came time to close the night, one of the final numbers went all the way back to those nights in 2010, and this time around “Cold” was a kind of victory lap for a band that is definitely these days playing from the win column.

I recorded this set by placing the Schoeps cards mounted front and center of the soundboard booth, and mixing the audience capture with a fine soundboard feed provided by the band’s excellent FOH Matthew Curtis. The sound quality if this recording is superb. Enjoy!

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Stream the Complete Show:

Courtesy Tier
2015-11-03
Rough Trade
Brooklyn NY

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix

Soundboard [Engineer Matthew Curtis] + 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 44:17]
01 Mila Says
02 Childish Blues
03 Down Easy
04 Green
05 Little Rock
06 [banter – growls]
07 Shape I’m In
08 [band introductions]
09 And We Don’t Know
10 Cold
11 Home

If you Download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Courtesy Tier, visit their website, and purchase their new EP Little Rock from the links at their website [HERE].

Kaki King and Kiran Gandhi: October 26, 2015 The Hum at Manhattan Inn

November 13, 2015
By

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[photos by Amanda Hatfield]

I believe its safe to say that at this point The Hum music series has been an unqualified success. The concept was a unique one — place together various female performers from diverse backgrounds and let them make music. But in practice, it has become so much more than that. The results of these performances have created friendships, bonds, working relationships and as we’ve experienced live, absolutely breathtaking musical accomplishments. In the Spring, we attended and recorded all four of the sessions at the Manhattan Inn. This Fall, various commitments prevented us from attending all but one of the nights. But fortunately, the night we attended was a superb presentation and contained what for me is the most compelling performance of the entire series — the duo between uber-guitarist Kaki King and supreme percussionist Kiran Gandhi.

We were familiar with Kaki King, most notably from her supporting slot on the 2008 Mountain Goats tour. But her career has spanned more than a decade and includes eight albums. In the recent past she has released instrumental (Glow) and multi-media pieces (The Neck Is The Bridge To The Body) and that format gave a nice backdrop to this Hum show. Our only familiarity with Kiran Gandhi was that she was the drummer on recent M.I.A. tours — but a little of bit of research revealed that Kiran is truly a remarkable human being. She has toured internationally with M.I.A. and Thievery Corporation while simultaneously achieving an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. She has her own TED Talk, is a mathematics genius, oh and yeah, ran the London Marathon — all by the age of 25.

The set begins with Kiran’s sincere thanks to the Hum and to its founder Rachael Pazdan. As Kaki began the opening riff, the duo flowed effortlessly into what we believe is an original composition for this night, a track titled with both performers’ last names. Thematically, the opening number is similar to the songs that followed which include two numbers from Kaki King’s recent albums (Glow and The Neck). “Wazey” is a Madame Ghandi song that became the centerpiece for the set when Kiran involved the very willing crowd over whom she harmonized a coda to the song. It was a moment that truly captures the sense of discovery and community that The Hum has created and brought and end to this installment of the series with a very appropriate close. The Hum will return, likely in early 2016.

I recorded this set as we did the Spring, with Sennheiser cardioid microphones mounted on stage and mixed a board feed. The sound quality of this particular recording is quite remarkable, as the instruments are clear and panned in the appropriate layout of the room. Enjoy!

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Stream The Complete Show:

Kaki King and Kiran Gandhi
2015-10-26
The Hum
Manhattan Inn
Brooklyn NY

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + On-Stage Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Sennheiser MKH-8040s > Sound Devices 744t > 2 x 24bit 48kHz wavs > Soundforge (mixing) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3/tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper

Setlist:
[Total Time 33:42]
01 [introduction]
02 King Gandhi
03 Cargo Cult
04 Distillery
05 Oobleck
06 Wazey
07 Percussion Breakdown
08 [thanks]
09 Dad Band

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, PLEASE SUPPORT these amazing artists:
KAKI KING and KIRAN GANDHI.

the-hum-2015-10-26-44

The Loom: November 1, 2015 Union Pool

November 12, 2015
By

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It’s never an easy feat, as a band, to shift stylistically without losing your soul. There are examples, of course — Radiohead’s hard-left from mainstream Britpop to IDM weirdos stands out as a major one — but it’s a huge challenge to court a new fan base while keeping the one you have. NYCTaper and The Loom go back to 2008, when it’d be fair to say they were a mellow-hued folk band. When I caught them in a backyard in 2010, it seemed well within reason that they’d be playing acoustic, with a homemade washtub bass and Lis Rubard’s horns wafting over John Fanning and Sarah Renfro’s dual vocals. In 2012, at Glasslands, it was clear that things were changing — their tastes in who they shared the stage with, for one — but you’d still have recognized that band you heard about from 2008.

Fast forward to Union Pool at the end of 2015, with a new bassist and drummer and two albums’ worth of material awaiting release.  This band opened for Moon Duo recently, and you can see the shift in emphasis in everything from Fanning’s cranked vocal reverb to the darker, psychedelic guitar tone. The two new players, John Mosloskie on bass and Mike Rasimas on drums, change that dynamic as well, providing a more emphatic and punchy backbeat to go with the overall heavier sound. Rubard’s horns haven’t been jettisoned, thankfully, but in the new context they add a ghostly mourn under the swirl of guitars, bass, drums and Rubard’s keyboards, rather than taking center stage. This set showed off amped-up versions of new songs we’d heard before (“Fire Makes,” “Like Lamp Glow,” “The Reading Room”) as well as brand-new compositions such as “I Am Not Young,” perhaps the definitive statement on the band’s new direction. Even on the Sunday after Halloween, or as one might call it, “the worst possible night for a show ever other than Christmas Eve,” The Loom proved their mettle by drawing a crowd of the faithful who seemed fully committed to the new direction. If anyone was put off by the unabashed rocking-ness of “Your Wilderness Years,” for example, they didn’t show it — and I might’ve seen a few air guitars going in that audience, too. At this point, this is a veteran band, and it’s a reward to see them stretch their wings, especially after a period of introspection by Fanning as lead songwriter. The result, along with a more muscular sound, has been two fully recorded and produced albums that are awaiting a label home. Even if you were aware of the band, this is The Loom you haven’t heard before — and it’s time to get reacquainted.

I recorded this set with an excellent soundboard feed by Kyle Lawrence, coupled with Schoeps MK41V supercardiod microphones. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Download the complete show: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the complete show:

The Loom
2015-11-01
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Soundboard (engineer: Kyle Lawrence) + Schoeps MK41V (at SBD, PAS)>Roland R-26>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, compress SBD)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, image)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Fire Makes
02 I Am Not Young
03 Kindling
04 Like Lamp Glow
05 Here In the Deadlights
06 Your Wilderness Years
07 The Reading Room
08 Morning Song, Mountain Song

If you enjoyed this set, please like The Loom on facebook and check out their website, and buy their records directly from their bandcamp page.

Destruction Unit: October 17, 2015 Ad Hoc Car Wash

November 4, 2015
By

Destruction-Unit-10
[photos courtesy of Edwina Hay for Impose Magazine]

I’m pretty sure I can say that Destruction Unit has the best band name of anyone I saw this year. It’s not only catchy in its own right, but describes perfectly the maelstrom of noise that this postmodern Arizona punk band will rain down on you until you either risk your skull in the mosh pit or haul your ass to the exits. Destruction Unit is the kind of experience that’s polarizing, intimidating, and absolutely perfect to close out a show like Ad Hoc’s epic post-CMJ show in a Williamsburg car wash. By the time the band took the stage to close out the evening, the humble PA system was positively shredded, the house team fighting to keep the sound going. The band took things well past the limit, with a long lead-in to the pummeling track “Destruct.” This set stuck entirely to the band’s latest record, Negative Feedback Resistor, their second for Sacred Bones Records, though many of the songs found themselves extended for a few measures. The band was rightly hailed by Newsweek as the best band they saw at CMJ, and it’s hard to argue with that after seeing their live show. Even with the vocals buried under the beating being taken by the PA (you can hear them much better on this recording than you could in the room), it didn’t matter to the crowd, which erupted into a mosh pit early and didn’t let up for the entire, pummeling 35 minutes of this set. If you’re going to make a trip out east to slog your way through a bunch of CMJ shows, you ought to make it count. No question that Destruction Unit did that and more.

I recorded this set in the same manner as the day’s other recordings, with AT 4051 microphones and a soundboard feed. The sound quality is reflective of the setting and the style, and represents it quite well. Enjoy!

Download the complete set: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the complete set:

Destruction Unit
2015-10-17
Ad Hoc Car Wash
Hand & Detail Car Wash Center
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Audio Technica 4051 (LOC, FOB, PAS) + Soundboard>Roland R-26>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, edit SBD, compression)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, image)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Disinfect
02 Salvation
03 Chemical Reaction/Chemical Delight
04 If Death Ever Slept
05 The Upper Hand

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Destruction Unit, like them on facebook, and buy their records from Sacred Bones Records.

 

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