Posts Tagged ‘ williamsburg ’

Michael Chapman: October 9, 2015 Tompkins Square 10th Anniversary (Rough Trade NYC)

November 3, 2015
By

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[photos by Jill Harrison]

The English folk artist Michael Chapman is a true survivor (as one of his album titles suggests), with a 30+ album catalog spanning six decades. From Rainmaker, his 1969 debut, to today, Chapman has explored both more traditional folk and rock music as well as contemporary and jazz guitar, bringing his unique, emotional style of playing to each. Reissue labels like Seattle’s Light in the Attic are furiously re-releasing Chapman’s early catalog, giving fans access to a body of work that belongs in the hands of any devotee of his styles. Chapman’s most recent release of new music, Fish, came out on the Tompkins Square label, and the 74-year old singer captivated the audience for the label’s 10th anniversary show at Rough Trade NYC.

Even with such a massive catalog, this set still managed to feature material that’s only seen the light of day on the live circuit, such as the opener “Two Trains.” There was the song “Fahey’s Flag,” too, a tribute to the American guitar great, who of course Chapman knew personally. That followed with a new vocal track that remains as-yet untitled, followed by another very special treat — “Another Story,” which appears on the forthcoming Parallelogram box set by Three Lobed Recordings (sharing an LP with Hiss Golden Messenger, I might add). Chapman closed with 2000’s “Shuffleboat River Farewell,” followed by the Spanish-inspired tune “La Madrugada,” which first appeared on 2002’s Americana II. The whole of this performance was deeply affecting, notable both for its breadth and intensity. Chapman’s not just a fully qualified survivor, but an innovator at his art.

I recorded this set with Dustin Myer’s soundboard feed combined with Schoeps MK4V microphones. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Download the complete set: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the complete set (minus banter tracks):

Michael Chapman
2015-10-09
Rough Trade NYC
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Soundboard (engineer: Dustin Myers) + Schoeps MK4V (PAS, FOB)>KC5>CMC6>>Edirol R-44>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, fades, compression, limiter)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, imaging, effects)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Two Trains
02 [banter1]
03 Caddo Lake
04 [banter2]
05 Fahey’s Flag
06 [unknown]
07 [banter3]
08 Another Story
09 Shuffleboat River Farewell
10 [banter4]
11 La Madrugada

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE visit Michael Chapman’s website, buy Fish from Tompkins Square, and buy his other releases here.

LVL UP: October 17, 2015 Ad Hoc Car Wash

October 30, 2015
By

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[photos courtesy of Edwina Hay for Impose Magazine]

NY band LVL UP joined the merry mix of locals and out-of-towners for Ad Hoc’s post-CMJ car wash show, and delivered a tight eight-songs that included some of the ones that led Stereogum to call their 2014 album on Double Double Whammy/Exploding in Sound Records, HOODWINK’D, one of the best albums of the year. The band makes what I’d call straight-ahead alt-rock, with a dual vocal attack on top of minor-chord-driven guitars. This is a band that knows how to write a hook, with songs that are rainy-day intimate but fun to listen to. The band has cited Superchunk and Jawbreaker as influences, among others, and that feels right. Certainly, this show, inside of an abandoned car wash, had the feel of an independent rock show during those bands’ rise, with the amps cranked and the overwhelming feeling of the sound the most important thing. The band served up two of the three songs from their 2015 7″ EP, “Blur” and “The Closing Door,” and the two had a different but complimentary feel, with the former a short burst of pop energy, the latter a more considered coda. You can catch LVL UP at plenty of shows at all of Bushwick and Williamsburg’s better-known haunts, and we’d recommend you do that. In fact, they’ve got a show coming up on December 1 at Shea Stadium.

I recorded this set with Audio Technica 4051 microphones and a soundboard feed. The sound quality is reflective of the “DIY” nature of the space, but is still a good listen. Enjoy!

Download the complete set: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the complete set: 

LVL UP
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)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, image)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Five Men On the Ridge
02 Pain
03 Soft Power
04 DBTS
05 Blur
06 Angel From Space
07 I Feel Extra Natural
08 The Closing Door

If you enjoyed this recording, please like LVL UP on Facebook, go see their shows, and buy their records on their bandcamp page.

Protomartyr: October 17, 2015 Ad Hoc Car Wash

October 23, 2015
By

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[photos courtesy of Edwina Hay as featured in Impose Magazine]

This was the week of the overwhelming, PR-driven quasi-festival known as the CMJ Music Marathon, meaning there were hordes of tired concertgoers and touring bands around by the time the week wrapped. Taking advantage of that, and perhaps bringing the vibes of our own scene back to earth were the already-legendary concert promoters/magazine Ad Hoc, who rented out a vacant car wash (and its adjoining parking lot) to put on a sprawling ten-band bill that boasted the best of local and touring acts. This event felt like an appropriate evolution for the neighborhood that once housed the best-known DIY venues of the prior decade: Here you had an unused commercial space converted to creative purposes, albeit this time with plenty of bathrooms, quality (and cheap and cold) beer by the can, and even a couple of food trucks.

If you went to a CMJ event this year, chances are you might have caught Protomartyr, who were all over the place at this year’s fest making the case for their recently-released third record The Agent Intellect. The Detroit band saw some heat from their last album, Under Color of Official Right, but consensus seems to be that it’s this new offering that is going to break them into wider consciousness. That’d be a more than fair outcome, as this thirty-minute, ten-song set showed off the best of their material, including “Scum, Rise!” from their previous record and a decent chunk of the new album. Frontman Joe Casey doesn’t exactly match the band’s sound or words, performing as he does in a weirdly-dapper dark blazer and sunglasses, but beneath that veneer boil bleak, personal tales set against the backdrop of the band’s hometown, such as the signature track “Pontiac ’87”. Though you could see the daylight streaming through behind the band (filtered only by the yellow car wash sign), they held the atmosphere where it needed to be, trapping the nervous energy within the stripped brick walls. Compared to some of their harder-edged peers who would share the stage throughout the day, Protomartyr were a bit more “musical” band than some of the other fare, and that’s part of what makes them special. If this CMJ was “their year,” then I say they’ve earned it.

I recorded this set with Audio Technica 4051 microphones and a soundboard feed from Ad Hoc’s staff. The sound quality reflects the “DIY” nature of the venue, but is still quite good. Enjoy!

Download the complete set: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the complete set: 

Protomartyr
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)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, image)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 30:45]
01 Devil In His Youth
02 Cowards Starve
03 I Forgive You
04 Ain’t So Simple
05 Want Remover
06 Scum, Rise!
07 Pontiac 87
08 The Hermit>
09 Clandestine Time
10 Why Does It Shake?

If you enjoyed this recording, please like Protomartyr on facebook and buy their records from Hardly Art.

Ryley Walker: October 9, 2015 Rough Trade NYC (Tompkins Square 10th Anniversary)

October 16, 2015
By

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[photos by Jill Harrison]

For the past decade, Tompkins Square Records has pursued the dual missions of enlightening listeners about the current state of folk and guitar music, as well as unearthing underappreciated classics, such as John Hulburt’s Opus III, compilations of gospel songs, and Harry Taussig’s Fate Is Only Once. But on the first side of that slate — current artists — is where Tompkins Square has stood out the most, offering up records by Daniel Bachman, Shawn David McMillen, and last year’s Grammy-nominated set of music from respected folk singer Alice Gerrard. The biggest single breakout, though, might be Ryley Walker, of Chicago, whose debut album the label released back in 2014. From there, things moved fast, with Walker blowing our minds at a full-band appearance at Hopscotch, releasing his second album, Primrose Green, in 2015 (and a live album with Bill MacKay in August), and ending up on the roster of, among others, the Pitchfork Music Festival, Levitation, and Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival. As followers of this site know, we’ve seen him a slew of times since that Hopscotch show, each revealing new songs and new dimensions of his style.

Fitting, then, that Ryley and his band would headline Tompkins Square’s tenth-anniversary celebration, at the top of a bill that also featured living legend Michael Chapman and the rediscovered D.C. folk musician Bob Brown, playing his first show in 30 years. Ryley said at the outset that he and his band didn’t deserve to be headlining over such company, and even if that wasn’t necessarily true, they certainly were the young guns among their peers. What followed that introduction was a sprawling, hour-plus set consisting of just four songs, all of them non-album material, two of them brand new to us. The band began with “The Roundabout,” a fitting metaphor for a song about possibilities that can just as easily turn into inertia. After that came the night’s sprawling centerpiece, “Sullen Mind,” which we first heard at Le Poisson Rouge back in June. This time, the song became a 25-minute showcase for the band and Ryley’s talents, the natural interplay among them obvious they grinned visibly at the transitions. “Funny Thing She Said” continued in that vein, giving sax man Levon Henry a showcase for his talents before Ryley even got to the first verse. This and “Sullen Mind” underscore how far Walker has come since even that 2014 Hopscotch performance; if one were inclined to accuse him of being a “traditional” folk musician, or some kind of tribute act for Van Morrison and the classics, his recent performances throw those assumptions out the window. What Walker is attempting here is something entirely different, and something that’s a total stranger to the Civil War-wave garbage that passes for modern folk or “indie” music on most stages these days. That he has already attempted it on the biggest stages, such as at Pitchfork, further proves that Walker isn’t taking the easy, commercial way here. More power to him.

After begging from the audience, the band closed with an even-newer tune, “The Great and Undecided,” a slightly more traditional number (so far) that we’re excited to hear develop. As Ryley enlightened us at the outset of this show, Tompkins Square has been delivering “sick nugs” for ten years now. I feel confident saying Ryley Walker will keep doing the same. He represents the best of the future, as well as the past.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed from engineer Dustin Meyers together with Schoeps MK4V microphones. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

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

Stream the complete show (note: banter tracks removed. Enjoy them on the download versions):

Ryley Walker
2015-10-09
Rough Trade NYC
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Soundboard (engineer: Dustin Myers) + Schoeps MK4V (PAS, FOB)>KC5>CMC6>>Edirol R-44>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (align, mix down, fades, compression, limiter)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, imaging, effects)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 1:05:05]
01 [intro banter]
02 The Roundabout
03 Sullen Mind
04 [tuning]
05 Funny Thing She Said
06 [encore break]
07 The Great and Undecided

Band:
Ryley Walker
Ben Boye – Keys
Brian Sulpizio – Guitar
Anton Hatwich – Bass
Ryan Jewell – Drums
Levon Henry – Sax

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Ryley Walker, like him on Facebook, and buy All Kinds of You and The West Wind EP on Tompkins Square and Primrose Green from Dead Oceans. Also, check out Ryley’s new acoustic live album with Bill MacKay, which you can stream and buy here.

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Godspeed You! Black Emperor: September 30, 2015 Music Hall of Williamburg – Flac/MP3/Streaming

October 4, 2015
By

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[photos by PSquared Photography – full set at brooklynvegan]

A month ago we posted Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s performance at the Hopscotch Festival. It was a strange night for acidjack — as the outdoor venue and the pouring rain created a surreal experience for GYBE show. As a nice bookend of the Canadian band’s month-long tour of the US East coast, we caught one of the NYC appearances at the intimate Music Hall of Williamsburg on Wednesday (they also played Terminal 5 and Warsaw last week).

The MHOW show was more a “traditional” GYBE show as the band’s projectionist was able to provide a stunning backdrop to the thematic post-rock being orchestrated from the stage. Additionally, the venue was the perfect size for an attentive crowd — there was virtually no chatter and the audience was fully engaged in the show. The result was virtually the perfect concert experience. If so inclined, it was literally possible to get lost in the music, as GYBE played straight through without a break and the show flowed flawlessly. This show lasted well over two hours, but if you were engaged in the music the time was immaterial. The GYBE setlist was fairly consistent with the shows of this tour with a “Hope Drone” opener and a complete run through the band’s new album Asunder, Sweet And Other Distress included. This particular show also added “Gathering Storm” early in the set and late in the show featured one of the two new songs that have appeared on this tour. The show closed with twenty-minutes of “The Sad Mafioso” that faded into a long drone where each of the band members exited the stage before guitarist Efrim Menuck returned to the stage to turn off all of the amps and end the night. It was a subtle closing of a very intense evening but seemed completely apt.

Godspeed’s US tour is complete, but the band will spend the next six weeks touring throughout Europe, dates here.

I recorded this set with the Schoeps set up on the floor inside of a nook at the front of the soundboard booth. The sound in the venue was superb and this recording captures it equally well. Enjoy!

Thanks to Tim for his tremendous help throughout the week in making this recording happen in the fashion that it did!

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

Stream the Complete Show via Archive.org:

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Godspeed You! Black Emperor
2015-09-30
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn NY

Digital Master Recording
Recorded FOB

Schoeps CCM4u Cardioids > Sound Devices 744t > 24bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge (post-production) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper

Setlist:
[Total Time 2:09:19]
01 Hope Drone
02 Gathering Storm
03 Peasantry or Light Inside of Light
04 Lambs Breath
05 Asunder Sweet
06 Piss Crowns Are Trebled
07 Moya
08 [New Song]
09 The Sad Mafioso

If you download or stream this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Godspeed You! Black Emperor, visit their website, and purchase their new album Asunder, Sweet And Other Distress from Constellation Records [HERE].

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Of Montreal: September 18, 2015 Music Hall of Williamsburg – Flac/MP3/Streaming

October 1, 2015
By

Of Montreal
[photos courtesy of Will at We All Want Someone To Shout For blog]

In between 2007 and 2010, we recorded Of Montreal seven times, but in some ways it feels like a lifetime ago since the last time I saw them perform live. It was in January of 2010 at Highline Ballroom when the band delivered another outlandish gig which memorably featured Susan Sarandon applying corporal punishment to a man dressed as a pig, and also saw Kevin Barnes “nailed” to a cross. Those types of stage antics were common for the band at that time — the show at Roseland with a live horse for instance — but it seems that for Barnes the act had reached a saturation point, and frankly for me it had too. Between 2011 and 2013 the band itself seemed to be disintegrating, as is excruciatingly chronicled in the doc-bio The Past Is a Grotesque Animal. Ultimately, in 2013 Barnes and his longtime band departed ways (either fired or quit depending upon who you ask), and Of Montreal became Barnes and a completely different set of musicians.

It was not long after Barnes split up with the long-time band that his marriage was also dissolved. The resultant upheaval led to the dark new album Aureate Gloom released earlier this year on Polyvinyl. While the tour in support of the record isn’t exactly a toned-down affair, gone are the days of horses and pope outfits and full-sized wooden crosses. The guest characters still appear in costumes, but the 2015 Of Montreal stage show is more dependent upon the back lighting and at Music Hall of Williamsburg last week, if the star of the show was Barnes, his co-star was the band’s computer-generated lighting director, a woman whose name I unfortunately did not catch. The vast arrays of shapes and colors gave a nice flow to the set and created a three-dimensional effect to the music and the pantomime of the guest characters in a way that the massive stage antics of years past had not. The setlist of this show drew virtually all of its numbers from three of the band’s 13 albums — the new Aureate Gloom, 2008’s Skeletal Lamping, and a full seven tracks from 2007’s Hissing Fauna. We are streaming a Hissing Fauna track below that ended the main set. The band’s tour continues through mid-November across the US, dates here.

I recorded this set with the Schoeps cards mounted at the Soundboard. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]

Stream “A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger”:

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.

Of Montreal
2015-09-18
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn NY

Digital Master Recording
Recorded Inside SBD Cage

Schoeps CCM4u Cardioids > Sound Devices 744t > 24bit 48kHz wav > Soundforge (post-production) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:45:09]
01 Lanc’s Theme
02 Bassem Sabry
03 Triumph of Disintegration
04 Suffer for Fashion
05 Empyrean Abattoir
06 [banter – Taylor]
07 Gratuitous Abysses
08 Bunny Ain’t No Kind of Rider
09 Id Engager
10 Beware Our Nubile Miscreants
11 Like Ashoka’s Inferno of Memory
12 Obsidian Currents
13 And I’ve Seen a Bloody Shadow
14 Plastis Wafer
15 [Rave]
16 The Party’s Crashing Us
17 Gronlandic Edit
18 A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger
19 [encore break]
20 For Our Elegant Caste
21 She’s a Rejecter
22 Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse
23 The Past Is A Grotesque Animal

If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Of Montreal, visit their website, and purchase their new release Aureate Gloom from the Polyvinyl website [HERE].

Ultimate Painting: September 18, 2015 Rough Trade NYC – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

September 29, 2015
By

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[photos courtesy of P Squared Photography]

I’ll give myself a pat on the back for being ahead of the curve on Ultimate Painting, who we caught almost a full year ago at CMJ. The band was so happy with that recording that they offered a few of the tracks from the show alongside some others on a “live tour bootleg” cassette. After last year’s excellent self-titled debut, they went right ahead this year and dropped Green Lanes, which is one of those follow-ups that doesn’t change trajectory, but adds another dozen really good songs to already-strong repertoire.

New and old were on display side-by-side at this show at Rough Trade NYC, where the band took the stage and launched promptly into “Ultimate Painting,” “Rolling In the Deep End” and “Riverside” from their first album before the new “(I’ve Got The) Sanctioned Blues” came in for a visit. The band’s love of classic English rock is obvious, and they honor their musical taste with some of the best and most approachable new writing in the genre among just about anyone from their native UK. Of the new material, the band’s strongest entrant might well be the album’s first song, “Kodiak,” a sunny jaunt that shows off the band’s trademark skill at making rock hooks. To wind things up, the band played “Ten Street” from the first album, turning it into a 13-minute guitar centerpiece. When their 50 minutes were up, the band didn’t tease us with a will-they-or-won’t-they encore situation. They had said what they were going to say, and informed us that we could meet them at the merch booth. Anything else would be un-Britishly improper.

hi and lo recorded this set with a soundboard feed from Rough Trade engineer Dustin, together with Schoeps MK4 microphones from our usual “FOB” location. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

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

Stream the complete show:

Ultimate Painting
2015-09-18
Rough Trade NYC
Brooklyn, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded by hi and lo
Produced by acidjack

Soundboard (engineer: Dustin) + Schoeps MK4 (FOB, PAS)>Custom Cables>PFA>>Sound Devices 744t>4x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (mix down)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 51:39]
01 Ultimate Painting
02 Rolling In the Deep End
03 Riverside
04 (I’ve Got the) Sanctioned Blues
05 Break the Chain
06 Central Park Blues
07 The Ocean
08 Kodiak
09 Out In the Cold
10 Ten Street

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Ultimate Painting, visit their website, and buy their albums from Trouble In Mind Records.

Law$uits: September 1, 2015 Union Pool – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

September 9, 2015
By

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The Brooklyn band Law$uits (not to be confused with nyctaper alumni and Philadelphia indie faves The Lawsuits) stormed Union Pool on top of a noisy four-act bill, and gave us a high-octane dose of exactly what we’d been waiting for. Theirs is a to-the-gut, dissonant style of punk rock that recalls the foundational acts of the 80s and 90s like the Jesus Lizard and Big Black. If the music seethes, propelled by prominent bass in the mix to drive the groove under lead guitarist James Browning’s skillful work, it also sneers with an intelligence that this kind of music isn’t always accused of. If you want to just stand there and bang your head, fine, but if you pay more attention, you might notice these are smart tunes, too, the kind that don’t need to cover up bad playing with schtick or shock. The band has one record out, 2014’s Future Failure, and judging by this setlist, there’s more on the way, as several of these tunes aren’t on that album. We’ll be looking forward to hearing more from them, hopefully soon.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK41V supercardiod microphones and a soundboard feed from Union Pool engineer Chris Madden. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Download the complete set: [MP3/FLAC]

Stream the complete set:

Law$uits
2015-09-01
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Schoeps MK41V (PAS)>KCY>Z-PFA + Soundboard (engineer: Chris Madden) + >>Roland R-26>24bit/44.1kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (fades, compression)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects)>Audacity 2.0.4 (tracking, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Uniform
02 Needle Nose
03 Playing Dumb
04 Living Situation
05 Supermarket Sweep
06 Old Men
07 Iconoclast

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Law$uits and check out their bandcamp page.

Joan Shelley: February 12, 2015 Union Pool – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

September 4, 2015
By

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Joan Shelley released her excellent new album, Over and Even, today on No Quarter Records. For many, this will be their first time hearing these new songs, unless you checked in with NPR last week. However, the crowd on this chilly night at Union Pool back in February had almost everyone beat by several months, as Shelley decided to use this performance to show off a majority of the new album.

The Kentucky-based singer-songwriter first came to wider attention with her previous effort, Electric Ursa, but it was evident from the get-go that the new songs represent a further refinement of her craft and acknowledgment, but not a caving to, pop sensibility. The extra-approachable riff of the album’s title track sets the tone for the rest of the material, making it no surprise that Stereogum made it an “Album of the Week.” In doing so, they pointed out that Over and Even is more about the setting of a mood than any specific turn of phrase or even specific song, and that’s not a negative. The new work, even in its fledgling form on this night, shows incredible consistency, with each number feeling a bit like an old song you’re being introduced to for the first time. It’s a pastoral, flawlessly crafted album that holds your attention as it takes its time to unfold.

Shelley was joined for this show not only by regular collaborator Nathan Salsburg — a force on the guitar in his own right — as well as Glen Dentinger on bass. Site favorite Nathan Bowles also made an appearance, and he’s always a welcome presence on any stage. None of that can distract from the main event, of course, which is Shelley’s voice and her presence, both of which manage to be delicate but resolute. What Shelley’s live show drives home is just how spare and right her album’s production is, as there is clearly little she needs to embellish what’s already there. As good as the new songs are, Electric Ursa got its due during the show as well, with the title track of that album closing out the night, and one of its most approachable songs, “Something Small,” providing a welcome dose of recognition mid-set. As requested by Joan’s label, we’ve held back this recording until the release of Over and Even, and are thrilled to be able to share this performance on its release day.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed from Union Pool engineer Rob, together with Schoeps MK41 microphones. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

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

Stream the complete set: 

Joan Shelley
2015-02-12
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Soundboard (engineer: Rob) + Schoeps MK41 (PAS)>KCY>Z-PFA>Sound Devices USBPre2 >> Edirol R-44 [OCM]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (fades, compression, mix down)>Izotope Ozone 5 (effects, exciter)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks [Total Time 47:00]
01 Brighter Than the Blues
02 Wine and Honey
03 River Low
04 [banter1]
05 Over and Even *
06 Something Small
07 [banter2]
08 Stay on My Shore
09 Easy Now
10 [banter3]
11 Not Over By Half
12 Electric Ursa

Band
Joan Shelley – vocals
Nathan Salsburg – guitar
Glen Dentinger – bass
* Nathan Bowles – guitar

If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Joan Shelley, visit her website, and buy Over and Even from No Quarter Records.

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Alan Licht: August 2, 2015 Union Pool – FLAC/MP3/Streaming

August 20, 2015
By

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There are any number of ways that a fan of the New York underground scene might have run across the guitarist Alan Licht. Along with an extensive discography of his own, Licht has also played a key role in several bands, including the Blue Humans, Love Child, and Run On. Most recently, Licht has appeared as a member of Lee Ranaldo and the Dust. Now, he’s readying a new solo album, which he was kind enough to share a majority of with this group of fans at Union Pool. Compared to some of Licht’s more drone and minimalist work, these compositions, like leadoff track “Riding On the S’s” and “Raw Deal” in particular, show the influence of the recent work with Ranaldo. They have an urgent, narrative feel to them, to the point that you almost feel compelled to throw your own lyrics into them at points. This was the songs’ first exposure to a public audience, and it seems likely that they’ll see some further evolution before the final versions are laid down on the record (one of them, after all, still lacks a title). But even in these raw, new forms, Licht showed a clear vision for and command of them, leading me to believe that new record is going to be a must-have.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed from engineer Kevin Mazzarelli, combined with Schoeps MK41V microphones. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Thanks to Jeff Conklin for arranging the show and permission to record Alan’s set.

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

Stream the complete set:

Alan Licht
2015-08-02
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY USA

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

Soundboard (engineer: Kevin Mazzarelli) + Schoeps MK41V (PAS)>KCY>Z-PFA>>Edirol R-44>24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (fades, noise reduction on SBD)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, imaging)>Audacity 2.0.3 (fades, tracking, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks
01 Riding on the S’s
02 First Love, Haleema
03 Raw Deal
04 Currents
05 Every Little Yacht
06 Untitled
07 (Them’s the) Breaks

If you enjoyed this recording, you can buy all of Alan Licht’s records through the links available on Discogs

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