What A Spectacle! Elvis Costello Live At The El Mocambo

If you're an Elvis Costello fan, actually if you're a fan of GOOD music, make sure to tune in to Elvis's TV series debuting on Canadian TV this Friday April 3 on CTV (and on Bravo on the 4th), called Spectacle: Elvis Costello with... In this highly acclaimed show that has already played in the States last year on the Sundance network, Elvis talks to musicians (and other interesting guests) and conjures up eclectic performances and collaborations not seen anywhere. His amazing guest list includes; the Police, Elton John, Lou Reed, Smokey Robinson, Norah Jones, Diana Krall, Jenny Lewis, James Taylor, President Bill Clinton among others. This show will be more than the usual Letterman-ish interview show, it will allow the musicians to share their love and passion about their own music and for the music they enjoy. This show looks so promising, not only will I attempt to watch this show weekly, I've already added this season series (when it's available on DVD and should include lots of bonus material) to my Christmas list. Stay tuned!

If you don't know who Elvis Costello is or don't have a reference point for his music, I suggest you look up his discography and start at the beginning with the 1977 classic, My Aim Is True, followed by This Years Model, Armed Forces and Get Happy!! His production through the 80's, 90's and 00's has been prolific with various musical style changes album to album. He has collaborated with everyone from Burt Bacharach, Brodsky Quartet, Bill Frisell, Allen Toussaint to Paul McCartney, Fall Out Boy and Jenny Lewis (from Rilo Kiley).

As a tribute to Elvis Costello, I'm posting an excellent example of early live Elvis with his legendary live album, Live At the El Mocambo. This oft bootlegged album was recorded in Toronto in 1978 and was first available as a Canadian promo album (yes, vinyl!!). It was later included in the "2 1/2 Years" boxset of his first 3 albums (this was the fourth disc in the set). In 1993, it was re-released in CD form by Rykodisc. This is Elvis at his finest, raw, edgy and unbelievably infectious! Enjoy!!

ELVIS COSTELLO
Live At the El Mocambo

1. Mystery Dance
   
2. Waiting for the End of the World
   
3. Welcome to the Working Week
   
4. Less Than Zero
   
5. The Beat
   
6. Lip Service
   
7. (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea
   
8. Little Triggers
   
9. Radio Radio
   
10. Lipstick Vogue
    
11. Watching the Detectives
    
12. Miracle Man/Band Introduction
    
13. You Belong to Me
    
14. Pump It Up

The above files may not be available. If you want a link to the complete show, leave a message in the comment section and I'll send it to you.

Before We Was Famous: Fountains Of Wayne (Pinnwheel)

If you are a fan of Fountains Of Wayne, you may have heard about this set of demos recorded by the band Pinnwheel, the same members that later went on to record as Fountains Of Wayne. These thirteen songs were recorded sometime in the late 80's or the early 90's. When these songs failed to generate interest, Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger split and formed separate bands only to later reunite and change their name to FOW and the rest is history. Four of the songs here would later be re-recorded and appear on later albums, another track, Cry One Tear was later recorded by Collingwood's side-project band, Gay Potatoes. That means eight of these songs have never been released and remain exclusive to this set. The sound on this collection is surprisingly polished and definitely has that FOW sound, it's not a bad set of songs except none of the them especially stand out. If you're a diehard fan, this is a must listen (at least for historic reasons), but if you're new to Fountains Of Wayne, start with their debut and work you're way forward.

PINNWHEEL (Pre-Fountains Of Wayne)
Pinnwheel Demos

1. Raise The River
2. Fading Fast
3. Some Girls Tell Lies
4. Loveland
5. Bluer Than Blue
6. Silvertown
7. Holland Street
8. Troubled Times
9. I Knew You Well
10. Slave To Your Misery
11. Cry One Tear
12. Imperia
13. Half A Woman

I have also uploaded the whole file in .rar format, you have the option of downloading the individual files or the complete file.
Download: Pinnwheel. rar

Note: I have recently re-upped the files since I was informed the links don't work...try it now. (March 10, 2012)

Neko Case- Live At The Triple Door

Here's a fine sounding recording from January 25th at the Triple Door in Seattle from a webcast broadcast by KEXP-FM. This was a special VIP donor concert that was invite only and though her performance is short, it's an intimate acoustic affair that features just Case, vocalist Kelly Hogan and guitarist Paul Rigby. Normally it's difficult to come across Neko Case live recordings (she doesn't often approve of concert taping), but radio broadcasts are public domain and this show is also available in FLAC (uncompressed) format at archive.org in the open source audio section. This a great site for concert recordings (from bands/musicians that encourage distributing/trading their shows) and other "universal access to human knowledge". This site, archive.org is highly recommended and you can literally spend hours listening, watching and reading.

NEKO CASE
Triple Door, Seattle , WA
KEXP-FM webcast
January 25, 2009

1. Intro
2. Middle Cyclone
3. People Gotta Lotta Nerve
4. Don't Forget Me
5. I'm an Animal
6. Hold On, Hold On
7. chat (broken guitar string)
8. Vengeance Is Sleeping
9. The Next Time You Say "Forever"
10. That Teenage Feeling

Before We Was Famous: THE REFRESHMENTS- Wheelie

The other day I was thinking about starting another music blog where I would upload and share CD's/tapes/albums from artists that have gone on to successful careers. This blog would include demos, independent and hard to find releases (I've found on the world wide web or from my own collection) that might not be their most cohesive or flattering moments, but nevertheless interesting and a foreshadowing of what was to come. I've already done this with past postings from the Dead Milkmen, Young Fresh Fellows, Plumtree, Ben Kweller and the Electrocutes. I thought another blog would keep that theme separate and a nice complement to this site. Then it struck me, who was I kidding... I can hardly keep this blog updated and then I would have 3 (counting my other blog, Sick Puppy) stagnant properties taking up space on the WWW. So bare with me as I present yet another regular feature on TADIT, "Before We Was Famous".

Just the other day I was looking through a pile of CD's (in my son's room that he "borrowed") and came upon a much loved and much played disc I had almost lost track of, the Refreshments, Fizzy Fuzzy Big & Buzzy. This CD along with their other official release, The Bottle & Fresh Horses, are underrated classics that have all the hallmarks of great albums; catchy melodies, humour and memorable songs. Years ago I heard there was a pre-Fuzzy disc called, Wheelie which was their true debut and was sold at shows. Reports of it's rarity are varied depending on who you talk to. I've heard there was 500-2000 copies floating around, but according to Refreshment's bassist Art Edwards he believes there are no more than 5500 copies in existence. Supposeably it's fetching big bucks on eBay, but thanks to the web I found a mp3 version of the CD and it is well worth the download. The songs on Wheelie were later reworked for Fizzy and sound slightly different, with the exception of the track, Psychosis which is exclusive to this release. The song B.O.B.A is an acronym for, "Buffett on bad acid" and was re-named Mexico when it re-recorded for Fizzy... If you miss the Refreshments as much as I do, check out Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers!

REFRESHMENTS
Wheelie (1994)
1. Banditos
2. European Swallow
3. Suckerpunch
4. Don't Wanna Know
5. Mekong
6. Girly
7. B.O.B.A.
8. Down Together
9. Psychosis
10. Carefree
11. Nada