49:00

I paid money for a CD online the other day, actually it wasn't an actually CD per say, but a download of Paul Westerberg's latest release, 49:00. The release date was July 49th (July 19) and the music is only available from Amazon.com (in the U.S.) and Tunecore.com (outside the US including Canada) as a mp3 download. The recording is hovering atop the #1 position on the Amazon mp3 charts thanks in part to suspiciously low price of .49 cents and what you receive is one long mp3 file (not 49:00, but 43:55) consisting of approx. 23 songs full or in part. This includes a short medley of covers such as, Hello Goodbye, Lost Highway, Born To Be Wild, Rocket Man etc.

Many of the tracks fade into each other and at times it seems songs overlap...be warning nothing is wrong with the tracks or CD player, it suppose to be like that. Paul states on the downloadable liner notes, "This product is not faulty-all sounds are intentional and valid as a work of art". This was recording in Paul's basement and he handles all instruments and vocals with the exception of the last track, Oh Yeah!, which features Paul's son Johnny on microphone. This release bypasses any label interference and the music was made available within a week after the recording was recorded and mixed. There are some great songs on here that has a similar sound to his last releases, but with a more raw sound and spontaneous feel to it, it reminds me the home recorded, Stereo/Mono discs from 2002. Even if you're not familiar with Westerberg (or the Replacements), I highly recommend you give this recording a listen, it's well worth the money!

Chrissie Hynde-Demos circa 1978

Demos recorded in 1978 by Chrissie Hynde before she fronted the Pretenders have recently been discovered. The 3 track demo cassette includes a song, "Do I Love You" recorded with Sex Pistol members Steve Jones and Paul Cook possibly from a recording session for Johnny Thunder's album, So Alone. The song has a Phil Spector-type feel to it and is well worth the listen.

The other songs are 4-track recordings including Mercy Mission an early version of The Phone Call from the Pretenders' debut. The other song, Suicide is previously unreleased.

01. Do I Love You
02. Mercy Mission (Phone Call)
03. Suicide
The previous mp3 links were not longer available, instead I re-uploaded the files to an upgraded FLAC (uncompressed) version. Let me know if these links do not work.

ChrissieDemosFLAC. rar

Ray Davies (Kinks) At The 2008 Winnipeg Folk Festival

It was two weeks ago that legendary Kinks frontman Ray Davies performed at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. My posting on dimeadozen.org received well over 200 downloads from the day I posted the concert. The nice thing about this performance is that it wasn't an abbreviated set that usually is the standard for WFF mainstage shows. The Sunday evening concert had a cancellation from Jakob Dylan (who thinks playing Leno is a better career choice?) and instead of replacing his slot the WFF decided to let the remaining performers (Joan Armatrading and Kathleen Edwards) have extended sets closer in length to an actual concert....thank you Chris Frayer!

I've decided to post mp3's from Ray Davies's set because I know a lot of people that want to hear this concert. This might be the closest we'll ever see to a Kink's show, so we should all be grateful Davies survived being shot a few years ago. I hear his brother Dave is recovered from his stroke a few years back and there is talk the Kinks may play again. I'm there if that happens! The Kinks are at the top of my list of must-see bands in my lifetime (a Replacements reunion would also be nice!).

Please let me know if the links don't work or they don't download properly. I'm trying a new online storage, so be patient if there's problems.

RAY DAVIES
Winnipeg Folk Festival
Mainstage
Birds Hill Park, Manitoba
July 13, 2008

Audience MD MASTER
Sony ECM-DS70P mic> Sharp MD-MT90

01. I Need You (aborted)
02. Waterloo Sunset
03. I Need You
04. I'm Not Like Everybody Else
05. Where Have All The Good Times Gone?
06. 20th Century Man
07. After The Fall
08. Sunny Afternoon
09. Dead End Street
10. Dedicated Follower Of Fashion
11. A Hymn For A New Age
12. Working Man's Cafe
13. Vietnam Cowboys
14. Well Respected Man
15. See My Friends
16. Tired Of Waiting For You
17. Set Me Free
18. All Day And All Of The Night

encore-
19. Lola
20. You Really Got Me

Better yet, for the complete show folder.

Winnipeg Folk Fest Part 1

Just to update: I'm taking the week off, but when I return I'll post some concert audio from the 2008 Winnipeg Folk Festival. I only attending the final day (Sunday), but what a fine day it was! Saw one of my all-time favourite performers, Ray Davies from the Kinks and my favourite Canadian, Kathleen Edwards. I recorded Edward's mainstage set, but I consider it a write-off as the sound was seriously hampered by wind and chatter from surrounding tarps (I include myself). I'll post some highlights from her mainstage set as well as from her daytime workshop.

Ray Davies' set was excellent and my recording turned out pretty good. It is presently posted at Dimeadozen if you want the full uncompressed recording, but if you want to wait a week, I'll post mp3's of most or all of Davies' set. I managed to get close to the stage to snap some photos and I spend half of his set sitting at the "golden tarp" directly in front of the stage. More about that later...Adios!