Photo by Christopher Bruno The NYCTaper coverage of the 2024 Deep in the Valley festival continues with Seawind of Battery!  Mike Horn brought his Seawind of Battery project to open this beautiful day on the farm. Mike is no stranger to this blog, but it’s the first time we have featured him since the release of his gorgeous new album, “East Coast Cosmic Dreamscaper” on Warhen Records.  Mike was kind enough to send me an advanced copy of the album and I was instantly impressed with the direction he has taken this project.  He could have released “clockwatching pt 2” and made man ..read more

Long before This is BASIC—the new album from Chris Forsyth, Nick Millevoi, and Mikel Patrick Avery—Forsyth and Millevoi had both separately been discussing the uniqueness of Robert Quine’s discography and playing. Forsyth gave an interview in Raven Sings the Blues back in 2019 where he praises the overlooked, even disliked, album from Quine and drummer Fred Maher, Basic. In 2021, Millevoi breaks down Quine’s “unpredictable” playing for Premier Guitar, complete with music notation. As an observer and non-player, it’s fascinating to hear musicians talk about their influences in ways so clearly p ..read more

The NYCTaper coverage of the Tubby’s Fifth Anniversary continues with 75 Dollar Bill! On March 7, 2020 I went to Tubby’s to see 75 Dollar Bill.  I had contacted Che beforehand via email to ask permission to record, and he was gracious enough to approve. So for the duration of their two sets, I stood as still as possible (so as not to create phasing issues with the tiny mics clipped to my hat) and recorded what eventually became the “Live at Tubby’s” album.  I knew during the performance I was witnessing something special.  The feeling in the room was electric with everyone compl ..read more

Photo by Christopher Bruno The NYCTaper coverage of the 2024 Deep in the Valley festival continues with Jeffrey Alexander & The Heavy Lidders!  Jeffrey Alexander & The Heavy Lidders became the first group to play at the festival twice, having appeared in year one.  For this set, the core four were joined by Wednesday Knudsen (sax) and Ron Schneiderman (guitar), and John Moloney (percussion) fresh off their set with Sunburned Hand of The Man.  The septet configuration of the Lidders gave us a one-song set. One 45-minute version of the classic psychedelic mind fuck, “Dark ..read more

Photo by Christopher Bruno Welcome to the NYCTaper coverage of the 2024 Deep In The Valley festival! The event was once again held at From the Ground Brewery and organized, labored over and presented by our friends at the always excellent Raven Sings The Blues! Another incredible year of mellow vibes, good friend and incredible tunes! We begin this year with Magic Tuber String Band! At face value, a string band playing an early afternoon set in a field on a rural farm seems like a slam dunk, and it was a perfect early-day set. However, underneath, this project is much more than traditional fol ..read more

Ruth’s recent album on Third Man, “Water Still Flows” is barely two weeks from release but already feels like an old favorite. The vast and atmospheric space jazz tinges found on “I Survived, It’s Over” are still there; but a harder edge has been added. Heavy guitars and fuzz, a touch of sludge and darkness. That’s not to say this is a dark album. These additions are well-balanced. Part of that balancing act is harpist (and local favorite) Mikaela Davis’s contributions to the record. Ruth and his band came through Woodstock on the last night of a run supporting Davis and her band, Southern Sta ..read more

Do you like volume, drone and repetition? Do you like feeling completely tranced out in a psychedelic, dissociated way? Does the idea of being suspended in a state of transcendental heavy post rock seem appealing? If yes, I have just the thing for you! Water Damage is an Austin based band/collective of people wholly committed to forcing the listener into a state of disorientation. Has the same bar been repeated for the last thirty minutes? Will my hearing be intact when this is over? The answer, honestly, is irrelevant. What’s important is this will probably be the best set of music you see th ..read more

The NYCTaper coverage of Tubby’s Fifth Anniversary returns with Idle Ray! Idle Ray’s set in the arc of the Tubby’s anniversary party was crucial. The day had started pretty bleak. Massive storms had essentially made travel out of New York City impossible, and several bands, and fans, had to cancel travel arrangements. I had been at the venue the previous night setting up gear and staff morale was super high. When I got back that afternoon I arrived to less than peak vibes, but things started turning around quickly. A couple drinks, the first band hitting the stage, a surprise fill in from Wild ..read more

Writhing Squares has long been the duo of Kevin Nickles and Daniel Provenzano accompanied by a drum machine, both in the studio and live. But for their most recent album, Mythology, they changed things up a bit with a live drummer by bringing on board John Schoemaker. Embarking on a short tour for the album, the band brought along David Joachim to drum live. After a release show in their hometown of Philadelphia (which you can watch on YouTube) the trio hit Tubby’s at full volume. Most of their set hails from the aforementioned Mythology, plus “NFU” from Chart For the Solution and “Steely Eyed ..read more

The Rosali/Mowed Sound tour supporting their new album, Bite Down, was one for the ages—think Neil and Crazy Horse in 1976. At each stop I heard from folks who were blown away by the songs and the energy. You can hear for yourself the band rock Tubby’s a few days before this gig at the new NYC Knitting Factory. While I didn’t quite capture same clarity as that recording, this stack tape complements the Tubby’s one nicely, giving you an upfront ear on crunchy guitar work from Rosali and James Schroeder. Kevin Donahue is the maybe the band’s unsung hero on drums—and of course David Nance’s bass ..read more