[Photo by acidjack]
Cymbals Eat Guitars were critical darlings out of the gate, praised for the fully-realized vision of their 2009 debut album, Why There Are Mountains. While they used many 90s acts as touchstones – Pavement in particular – they were always viewed as purveyors of something new. Indeed, their latest effort and Barsuk Records debut, Lenses Alien, is a challenging followup record that combines frontman and songwriter Joseph D’Agostino’s dense verbiage with a caustic, acid-drenched sound. In this celebratory homecoming at the Bowery Ballroom, fresh off a national tour, the band showed us again what made them so special in the first place. Their songs can shift effortlessly from pop lullabyes to punk screeds, and they often do, keeping the listener on edge – witness the explosive ending to the creepy narrative “Plainclothes.” Although the attendance suffered a bit from the nasty weather, this show was a fitting coda to a tour whose sendoff was at Music Hall of Williamsburg. After playing “And the Hazy Sea” for their second encore – egged on by Noel from Hooray For Earth – CEG left the stage, tired but satisfied. And so were we.
I recorded this set with a soundboard feed from CEG’s longtime engineer Aaron Treptow and Kenny at Bowery Ballroom, and the Schoeps microphones. Aaron is supposedly retiring from live sound work for awhile – work from which he’ll be missed – but we know he will be successful in his future endeavors. We would like to thank him for hosting us.
Stream “Wind Phoenix”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/C2140CEG2990/15 Wind Phoenix (Proper Name).mp3]
Stream “Plainclothes”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/C2140CEG2990/02 Plainclothes.mp3]
Direct download of MP3 files [HERE] | Direct Download of the FLAC files [HERE]
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Cymbals Eat Guitars
2011-10-27
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY USA
An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com
Soundboard+Schoeps MK41>CMC6 (Balcony, DFC, PAS)>SD USBpre2>>Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod]>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Audition (mixdown)>Audacity (set fades, track, amplify, balance)>FLAC Level 8
Tracks
01 Indiana
02 Plainclothes
03 Shore Points
04 Wavelengths
05 [banter]
06 Definite Darkness>
07 Another Tunguska
08 Rifle Eyesight
09 The Current
10 Keep Me Waiting
11 Cold Spring
12 Secret Family
13 [encore break]
14 Gary Condit
15 Wind Phoenix (Proper Name)
16 [encore break 2]
17 And the Hazy Sea
If you enjoyed this NYCTaper recording, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Cymbals Eat Guitars, visit their website, visit their MySpace page, and purchase Lenses Alien from the links at their web store [HERE].
Thanks! Really dig this band.
Thank you!! Love these guys!!
You’ll be remembered Cymbals eat Guitars! 2019