nyctaper

He is one-half of arguably the greatest songwriting team of the last two decades of the twentieth century. Chris Difford penned such Squeeze classics at “Tempted”, “Pulling Mussels From the Shell” and “Cool for Cats”. The latter features his distinctive accented baritone in a song that influenced an entire generation of Brit-pop and powerpop bands.

In between Squeeze tours, Chris released his latest solo album The Last Temptation Of Chris in March, and returns to the U.S. this week to perform several solo shows. We will be at the show at Maxwell’s in Hoboken on Tuesday May 13, 2008. We emailed Chris and secured his permission to record the show for nyctaper. Squeeze returns to the States this Summer for a series of dates nationally.

Here are Chris Difford’s May dates:
May 12 2008 8:00 Iron Horse Northampton MA
May 13 2008 8:00 Maxwell’s Hoboken NJ
May 14 2008 8:00 Water Color Cafe Larchmont NY
May 16 2008 8:00 Stephen Talkhosue Amagansett NY
May 17 2008 8:00 Ocean County Lib Toms River NJ
May 18 2008 8:00 Tupelo Music Hall Londonderry NH

The Last Temptation of Chris can be purchased at The Turkey Zone through a link at Chris’s main site.

[photo credit]

British Sea Power are currently on tour in support of their excellent new release Do You Like Rock Music?. Last night’s show at Bowery Ballroom was a tight and straightforward set of primarily new material (9 of 15 songs), which while it lacked the classic BSP histrionics, more than compensated with outstanding performances. The band let loose on the final number — the traditional improvised Rock in A — and ended the show with a flood of feedback, sans encore.

We were pleased to learn that BSP management informed fans at both the Seattle and Chicago shows that the band was fine with tapers. We recorded this concert from the perfect location in this venue, which has perhaps the most outstanding sound system of any venue in NYC. The location was identical to our superb Richard Hawley recording, except that the volume of this set drowned out any crowd chatter and provides excellent clarity. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Email nyctaper with a request for the download location of the FLAC files.

Firefox users can Down Them All! at once (here).

More about FLAC

British Sea Power
2008-05-10
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from FOB
Dead Center 30 Feet from PA

DPA 4021’s > Marantz PMD-660 (Oade BCM) > 16bit 44.1 wav > Soundforge (set fades, level boost, slight eq) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Premiere Download offered at
http://www.nyctaper.com
nyctaper@nyctaper.com

Recorded and Produced by
nyctaper
2008-05-11

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:20:20]
01 [introduction]
02 Lights Out For Darker Skies
03 Atom
04 Remember Me
05 Down on the Ground
06 Leaving Here
07 A Trip Out
08 Canvey Island
09 Waving Flags
10 The Great Skua
11 Oh Larsen B
12 No Lucifer
13 True Adventures
14 The Spirit of St. Louis
15 Carrion
16 Rock in A (”Rokend” on written setlist)

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT British Sea Power, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their new release Do You Like Rock Music? directly from their website.

NYCTAPER Anniversary Concert Headliner Bridges and Powerlines are featured today on Pitchfork in a review of “Uncalibrated” from the new CD Ghost Types.

Sounds like this band from Brooklyn may consist of engineering nerds, but the words on this track from their debut album Ghost Types sound like they might be into something more along the line of metaphysics: “I could make it cold inside just by being here,” goes one line. Now that’s power. The press kit mentions that Bridges and Powerlines are into Elephant 6 but I can’t help thinking Elephant Shell, as the chord textures are all steel-wool shimmering and fuzzy, not unlike those favored by Tokyo Police Club. Chris Zane, who helped produce Les Savy Fav’s Let’s Stay Friends, was behind the boards for this, so we have him to thank for the bright sound.

Sample the Track:
Uncalibrated MP3

The album is also reviewed at Deli Magazine (HERE) with a mention of the May 11 show.

What:
NYCTAPER ANNIVERSARY CONCERT

Where:
PIANO’S
158 Ludlow Street
New York NY
[MAP]

Date and Time:
SUNDAY, MAY 11, 2008
4:00 pm to 8:00 pm (doors at 3:30 pm)

TICKETS:
100 Will-Call Tickets will be made available exclusively through this site at the price of $10.
The cost of entry at the door on the day of the show is $12.
Purchase tickets by clicking the paypal button below:

SET TIMES:
4 p.m. Spanish Prisoners (Acoustic)
5 p.m. The Loom
6 p.m. The Antlers
7 p.m. Bridges and Powerlines

Many Thanks to the following web sites/blogs for their posts about this show:
Pianos Web Site
Jessi’s Music
Music Slut
Pop Tarts Suck Toasted
Yahoo Events
Last.fm
Deli Magazine

[photo credit]

Tall Firs opened the CD Release Party for Awesome Color on Friday night with a 35 minute set of their compelling self-described underground electric folk. The set drew primarily from their new release Too Old To Die Young on Ecstatic Peace records. The intelligent interweaving of the dual-guitars of Aaron Mullen and Dave Mies provides the melodic forefront, while Ryan Sawyer’s driving powerful drumming is the backbone of this superb trio.

Many thanks to Aaron for permission to record the set. Our equipment was set up in advance and this was recorded from the same position as the Awesome Color set. The quality is equally superb. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Email nyctaper with a request for the download location of the FLAC files.

Firefox users can Down Them All! at once (here).

More about FLAC

Tall Firs
2008-05-02
Glasslands Gallery
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard/Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Front of Board Neumann KM-150s > Edirol UA-5 (Oade Digimod) > digital coaxial > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 24bit 48kHz wav file > Soundforge (set fades, downsample) > CD Wave 1.95 > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-05-05

Premiere Download offered at
http://www.nyctaper.com
nyctaper@nyctaper.com

Setlist:
[total time 35:35]
01 Blue in the Dark
02 More to Come
03 Hairdo
04 Lookout
05 Pretender
06 Loveless
07 Slaughterhouse
08 Hippies

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Tall Firs, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their new release Too Old To Die Young directly from the Ecstatic Peace website.

[photocredit]

Antietam’s set opening for Big Dipper at Southpaw last Friday was similar to the last time I saw them live, opening for Pylon at the Mercury in November. The trio performed a strong 40 minute set of recent material with a strong emphasis on Tara Key’s incendiary guitar work, and Tim Harris’ thundering bass. We have very little memory of our first live experience of Antietam in ‘88 or ‘89 (probably at CBGB’s), but in the two decades since, they have worked with such artists as Eleventh Dream Day and Yo La Tengo, and have established an excellent catalog of material. The recent 2-CD set Opus Mixtum (Carrot Top Records) is perhaps their strongest release and is featured in 9 of the 11 tracks of this recording.

We were fortunate to speak briefly with Tara at the end of their set regarding this recording. Thanks for her permission. This recording was captured from the identical location as Big Dipper, and we are very pleased with the quality. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Email nyctaper with a request for the download location of the FLAC files.

Firefox users can Down Them All! at once (here).

More about FLAC

Antietam
2008-04-25
Southpaw
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Recorded from Dead Center
Front of Board — Front Railing at 30 Feet

Neumann KM-150’s (AK-50 Hypercardiod Capsules) > Monster XLR cables > Apogee Minime > digital coaxial > M-Audio Microtrack > 24bit 48kHz wav file > Soundforge 8.0 (set fades, slight level boost, resample 16/44) > CD Wave 1.95 > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Recorded and Produced
nyctaper
nyctaper@nyctaper.com
2008-05-04

Setlist:
[total time 40:51]
01 RPM
02 Time Creeps
03 Shipshape
04 Pennants and Flags
05 Turn It On Me
06 That’s the Way It Is
07 Needle and The Eye
08 1-2-1
09 Stowaway
10 The Moor
11 Orange Song

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Antietam, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase the new release Opus Mixtum directly from the Carrot Top Records website.

[photo credit]

As regular readers are aware, Glasslands is one of my favorite music venues in NYC. Last night, one of the “family bands”, Awesome Color, hosted a CD Release party for their new album on Ecstatic Peace Records Electric Aborigines. Awesome Color’s sophomore release follows the band’s evolution from buzz-saw garage guitar rave-ups to psychedelic crunch noise. The premiere track “Eyes of Light” begins with a burst of guitar feedback and drum cacophony that quickly develops into a focused and intense song exhibiting positive influences of guitar luminaries from Husker Dü to Black Mountain.

The live Awesome Color experience is quite another story. Last night, the “party” aspect of the show was taken literally, as the band hosted quite a number of friend and fan participation numbers — the vocal microphone passed around like a peace pipe. The one-hour set featured some straight-forward performances of tracks from the new album, and several older numbers with “guests”. However, despite the craziness, Awesome Color kept their musical performances and show together — all delivered with a good natured smile.

We were lucky to have chatted with band leader Derek on several prior visits to Glasslands, and when this CD Release Party was announced, he was kind enough to offer us guest list and early access to record the show. We solved the past problem of the placement of microphone stand picking up too much crowd and bar noise. Prior to the crowd arrival, we mounted the Neumann’s to the balcony railing with the microphones literally pointed face-level at the PA stacks from about 15 feet away. Again we mixed the board feed with the audience capture for a “matrix” recording, which reflects the positive aspects of both. The only “flaw” in this recording is some peak volume bursts during some of the “guest” vocals. Overall this is an accurate representation of this frolicking show. Enjoy!

Tall Firs were also recorded and will be featured in the coming days.

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Email nyctaper with a request for the download location of the FLAC files.

Firefox users can Down Them All! at once (here).

More about FLAC

Awesome Color
2008-05-02
Glasslands Gallery
Brooklyn, NY USA

Digital Master Recording
Soundboard/Audience Matrix

Soundboard + Front of Board Neumann KM-150s > Edirol UA-5 (Oade Digimod) > digital coaxial > M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 > 24bit 48kHz wav file > Soundforge (set fades, downsample) > CD Wave 1.95 > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries) > flac

Many thanks Derek for permission and access.

Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
2008-05-03

Premiere Download offered at
http://www.nyctaper.com
nyctaper@nyctaper.com

Setlist:
[total time 1:03:42]
01  Flying
02  Already Down
03  Eyes of Light
04
05  Slaughterhouse
06  Hat Energy
07  Ridin’
08  Burning
09  It’s Your Time
10  Free Man
11  Shoegazer
12  Grown
13  The Moon

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Awesome Color, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase their new release Electric Aborigines directly from the Ecstatic Peace website.

The Loom have graciously agreed to perform at the nyctaper Anniversary Concert! The Loom are a Brooklyn based quintet that present a uniquely urban approach to americana music while transcending an “alt-country” label. Sample some tracks at their MySpace page.

Was (Not Was) returned to NYC last night after an 18 year hiatus, during which time Don Was (Don Fagenson) became a prolific grammy-winning producer and award winning film/music director, while the other band members enjoyed similarly good fortune. Re-uniting for a tour in support of the new Was (Not Was) album Boo!, the touring band consists of original members the Was “brothers” Don and David, guitarist Randy Jacobs, keyboardist Jamie Muhoberac, and the three lead singers Sweet Pea Atkinson, Sir Harry Bowens, and Donald Ray Mitchell, along with a touring drummer and saxophonist.

Despite the break, Was (Not Was) performed a tight set of career-long material, including a terrific extended version of “Walk the Dinosaur” with excellent work by Randy, and the 4-song 80s-dance medley that culminated in the classic “Out Come the Freaks”. Sweet Pea was in excellent voice, and Sir Harry danced and shimmied throughout the set. Although we would have preferred David’s sardonic “Earth to Doris”, we settled for the less surreal although equally Waits-like “I Feel Better Than James Brown”.

We were pleased to read of Was (Not Was) taping policy in the weeks leading up to this show. We recorded from the “sweet spot” again at this venue — center floor about 30 feet back. The instrumental mix was excellent and the room features outstanding sound. We are pleased with the representation of this excellent band. Enjoy!

Direct download of MP3 files (HERE)

Email nyctaper with a request for the download location of the FLAC files.

Firefox users can Down Them All! at once (here).

More about FLAC

Was (Not Was)
2008-05-01
Blender Theatre at Gramercy
New York, NY USA

Digital Master Audience Recording
Recorded from Center of Floor
30 Feet from Stage

DPA 4021s > Marantz PMD-660 (Oade BCM Mod) > 16bit 44.1kHz wav > Soundforge (level adjustments, slight EQ, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 > Flac Frontend (level 7, align sector boundaries)> flac

Premiere Download offered at
http://www.nyctaper.com
nyctaper@nyctaper.com

Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper
2008-05-02

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:18:30]
01 Hello Operator
02 Papa Was a Rolling Stone
03 I Blew Up the United States
04 Sunshine Superfly
05 I Blew Up the United States
06 [band introductions]
07 Where Did Your Heart Go
08 Your Luck Won’t Last
09 From the Head to the Heart
10 Semi Interesting Week
11 [band introductions]
12 Walk the Dinosaur
13 I Feel Better Than James Brown
14 Tell Me That I’m Dreaming
15 Robot Girl
16 Wheel Me Out
17 Out Come the Freaks
18 Crazy Water
19 11 MPH
20 Knocked Down Made Small

If you email nyctaper for access to this recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Was (Not Was), visit their website, and purchase their new release Boo! from their website.

We were given some bad news this morning.  The Diggs have canceled their appearance at the Anniversary show due to a family emergency.   We are sorry that they can not perform and wish the best to their ill family member.

Unfortunately, this leaves the concert one band short.  We would obviously welcome any suggested additions to the bill, but we remain extremely pleased with the three bands that remain.

Stay tuned for further developments!