Acidjack’s Top Ten Musical Moments of 2009

[photo courtesy of Amanda M. Hatfield]

Acidjack Reports:
Before I delve into this further, I want to thank the host of this site for allowing me to share my recordings here and contribute to the nyctaper mission. I started taping shows back when I was 15 years old with a cheap Aiwa analog recorder and fell in love with this hobby right away. Various life events intruded, so I took a hiatus starting in 2000, which I am happy to say ended this year. If it were not for the encouragement of nyctaper and other veteran tapers who encouraged me to get back into this despite the new technological hurdles, I would have missed out on what has been a fantastic experience for me since I started back. The music industry has seen a ton of setbacks this decade. Sites like nyctaper are changing the way that fans think about music, helping to promote live shows and the venues that bring out good bands, and hopefully, drawing attention to rising and underappreciated local artists.

On to my top 10. Just a quick caveat, since nothing on tape (even an nyctaper recording) quite compares to the live experience, I am mostly focusing on shows that I actually attended (or at least, tried to)!

10. Thee Oh Sees, “Enemy Destruct” Mercury Lounge, New York, 10/8/2009.
One of the greatest pleasures for me as a taper is going to see a band I know very little about, discovering they are freaking great and coming home to congratulate myself that I recorded the proceedings. Thee Oh Sees are a west coast band that doesn’t see as much print time out here, but if they keep opening performances the way they did back in October at Mercury, that will change. This is one of those songs that gets your body moving, that puts you in fifth gear, that reminds you that one of rock’s greatest gifts to us is its ability to provoke unbridled exuberance. Listen to this thing. I dare you to sit still.

9. Vivian Girls, “Damaged” Bowery Ballroom, New York, 5/11/2009.
“After a complete cycle through the hype machine,” as this site eloquently put it, the Girls put on a clutch performance at Bowery that ended with the band members switching roles for a nine minute version of this song. If anything else needed to be said, this performance proved that this band was a lot more than just hype.

8. Mogwai, “Mogwai Fear Satan” Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn 4/29/2009.
Besides being one of my favorite recordings of the year, this song in particular shows Mogwai’s soft/loud dynamic at its peak, an eleven-minute opus of tension and release. Fans should take note that a compilation of these MHOW performances are being released as a live DVD set. I am honored that the band actually asked to hear my recordings to help them decide what to include!

7. The Meat Puppets, “Oh Me” Mercury Lounge, New York 6/11/2009.
The only reason I ever got into taping was the band Nirvana. They will always be my favorite band, and, as I never recorded them, they will always matter to me more than any band I record. As with a lot of fans, Nirvana introduced me to the Meat Puppets, and in particular, this beautiful song (it even played at my wedding). Seeing this performed live, by the original artists, a band that has battled addiction problems and prevailed, showed me exactly what caused Kurt Cobain to select this song for Nirvana’s famous “MTV Unplugged” performance and made me wish that he, too, had prevailed.

6. Polvo, “Beggar’s Bowl” Bell House, Brooklyn, 9/24/2009.
Sadly, Polvo did not allow us to release this stellar soundboard/audience matrix recording because they did not feel their performance was good enough. I respectfully disagree. Polvo’s return was one of many welcome developments this year. Their sound continues to evolve and expand (one buddy of mine even went so far as to call them a “jam band”), and this song, from their new record, In Prism is my favorite of all of their new material. We hope that Polvo will consider allowing nyctaper to actually record and post a future show!

5. The Mountain Goats, “1 Samuel 15:23” Webster Hall, New York 12/1/2009.
I had planned to record this show as well, but work intervened (funny how it can do that). Of course, my non-presence was totally irrelevant as nyctaper captured an amazing recording. Something about this song is really special to me as much as any Darnielle song can be, its a bit epic in its way, and this searing performance blows away the recorded version.

4. Maserati, “Show Me the Season”Bowery Ballroom, New York 9/28/2009.
By the third song in their opening set for Mono, I had come to grips with the fact that, holy s—, this band Maserati has a really fantastic drummer. That man, Jerry Fuchs, who also worked the kit for the Juan Maclean, died earlier this year in a highly publicized freak accident. His death is a great loss for the New York music scene. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.

3. Dirty Projectors, “Stillness is the Move” Bowery Ballroom, New York, 11/22/2009.
I feel somewhat bad choosing the band’s “hit” for this rather than the night’s also-stellar closer of “Knotty Pine” with a surprise guest appearance by David Byrne. But, I think this live performance of this band’s best-known song sealed it for me as to why they will continue to be important for a long time — their musicality is simply unparalleled among current indie artists. Watching this difficult track performed so effortlessly at the band’s tour-closing show was a special moment.

2. Nine Inch Nails, “Pinion/Somewhat Damaged” Terminal 5, New York, 8/26/2009.
I will be the first to admit, I was basically done with NIN when The Fragile came out. As with so many projects during that era (see, e.g., Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness) the 2-disc album had too much filler and too many poorly directed ideas. Seeing NIN open two of their “farewell” NYC shows with this song, I became a believer again. It was hot and crowded as hell at T5 this night, and nyctaper and I were recording side by side. As soon as this song began, the crowd went nuts. At times, we weren’t sure if we were going to be crushed. For what its worth, the Bowery Ballroom performance was better, but to be honest, my recording of that show was not nearly up to the quality of this one. Here you can hear the fury, feel the energy, and get a reminder of why these guys were one of the most important bands of the past 20 years.

1. The Secret Machines, “The Road Leads Where Its Led” Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, 12/23/2009. I felt like I had to pick this song because it embodies so much of what 2009 was about. This was a very, very hard year for a lot of people, including many of our readers. This song closed out a show where a three-man band’s guitarist could not make the show due to inclement weather in Chicago. Rather than bail on the fans that came out to see them on a freezing night two days before Christmas, the remaining two members of TSM improvised, with bassist/vocalist Brandon Curtis taking on guitar duties, leaving Josh Garza, the drummer, as the entire backbeat. Not only did they not bitch and moan about it, but they treated it as an opportunity to rework new material and present it in a new way. Well, it worked. This type of attitud — of putting the people first and persevering despite setbacks — is exactly what I believe will bring this country and New York, a brighter, happier 2010.

Happy New Year to all,
acidjack