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When you pull on the string dangling off Weak Signal’s hoodie what unravels is the last 60 years of NYC’s music history.  Which is probably why they aren’t huge. I have this belief that some of the best things from New York, particularly NYC, can’t truly be understood by outsiders. In a just world, “I’m Waiting for the Man” would have been a far bigger hit in 1967 than “Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie” just as M.O.P’s “Heistmasters” should have been […]

Shannon Lay’s new single “Mirrors” got a lot of play around my house this Spring.  It’s beautifully recorded and sounds like the sunlight that filters through the trees and lights up my kitchen while I cook. So it was a pretty sweet and timely surprise to see her coming to Tubby’s on a stacked triple bill with Anna St. Luis and Shana Fullana. Shannon’s songs are so intricately crafted that it’s had to find a single point to dissect them.  […]

Photo by Christopher Bruno 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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

As if the 2024 Deep In The Valley festival wasn’t enough, the good folks at Raven Sing the Blues organized an incredible preshow kick-off the night before at Tubby’s.  This Friday night bill included Jeffery Alexander & The Heavy Lidders, Oneida, and appearing for the first time at Tubby’s, Vague Plot.  Vague Plot began as a jam session and coalesced into a full-time band with their first release on Island House. Their origins in jam sessions blur into their sense […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]