New Pornographers Live On Q

Here's a Canada Day teaser, the New Pornographers appearance on the CBC radio program Q aired June 17th. The band performed live in the studio for 2 songs and host Jian Ghomeshi interviewed the New Pornographers frontman, Carl (AC) Newman. Since you can't download the episodes anymore on the CBC website, but you can still stream the program, I recorded this on my digital recorder straight from the radio. Unfortunately, the reception isn't perfect so there's a tiny bit of static especially during the interview segment, so don't adjust your radio...I mean mp3 file. This acoustic session features the whole band minus Dan Bejar, with Neko Case on vocals for Shepherd. Nice performances, but not the best representation of their better songs, as I would like to have heard Crash Years, my favourite song on Together.

Since I'm such a patriotic Canadian, starting Canada, July 1st I'm going to exclusively post Canadian bands and performers only. I have a few things in mind, but if you have any ideas and suggestions, let me know. Remember they have to be Canadian, at least until July 4th.
Oh Canada!!

NEW PORNOGRAPHERS
Live on Q
CBC studios, Toronto, ON
June 17, 2010
FM master

1. Intro.
2. Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk
3. Interview
4. My Shepherd
5. Outro

NEW PORNOGRAPHERS- Live on Q. rar

CBC.ca Q- Stream the whole episode (click June 17, 2010)
Link to video of the Q performance of Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk.

Whiskeytown- Fucker Demos

Back in February, I posted Whiskeytown's Forever Valentine sessions to prove that Whiskeytown recorded way more songs than their 3 full-length releases would suggest. Most of the unofficial releases that Ryan Adams and the band recorded are quite worthy of release, but for whatever reason remain heard only by collectors and hardcore fans. Another unreleased session, that is worthy of a wider audience is the Fucker Demos, that many Whiskeytown/Ryan Adams fans may have already, but might be interesting for the casual fan as well. There seems to be a couple versions out there with different tracks and song orders and according to answeringbell.com (Whiskeytown/Adams setlists and song histories website), I have version one.

WHISKEYTOWN
Fucker Demos (1998)

1. Sit And Listen To The Rain
2. Leave The Lights Off (a/k/a Night Lights)
3. Bound To Happen (a/k/a Probably Gonna Happen)
4. What Makes The World Like This (a/k/a West NY Serenade)
5. Hurts Sometimes (a/k/a Lil' Girls)
6. Tearing Me Up Inside (a/k/a In The World)
7. Medicine
8. Today
9. Clearly Destroyed
10. Breathe (a/k/a Believe)
11. Fool
12. Win
13. Comfortable Only At Night (a/k/a All I Wanted)
14. Out Of Time
15. Bar Lights

WHISKEYTOWN- Fucker Demos. rar

The Great Lost Kinks Album

Pete Quaife, the original bassist in the Kinks died on June 23rd at the age of 66. Quaife was in the band until 1969, and he played on the early Kinks classics and two of my favourite Kinks albums, Something Else and Village Green Preservation Society. Quaife pointed to Village Green as his favourite, "For me, it represents the only real album made by the Kinks," he said. "It's the only one where we all contributed something."

As a tribute, I'm posting the Great Lost Kinks Album that was released in 1973, but contained unreleased tracks recorded between 1967 and 1968. The name of the album is in reference to the fact Reprise was going to release this in 1969, but it was held back and eventually morphed into the Village Green record. Many of the songs were unused album tracks, singles, b-sides, songs written exclusively for British television and songs intended for a Dave Davies (unreleased) solo album. There are different versions of the Great Lost Kinks Album available, the Reprise Records version was released only on vinyl and contained 14 tracks, while CD bootleg versions added extra tracks. The version I'm posting has 25.


THE KINKS
The Great Lost Kinks Album

1. Til Death Do Us Part
2. There Is No Life Without Love
3. Lavender Hill
4. Groovy Movies
5. Rosemary Rose
6. Misty Water
7. Mr. Songbird
8. When I Turn Off The Living Room Light
9. The Way Love Used To Be
10. I'm Not Like Everybody Else
11. Plastic Man
12. This Man He Weeps Tonight
13. Pictures In The Sand
14. Where Did My Spring Go?
15. Death Of A Clown
16. Suzannah's Still Alive
17. Funny Face
18. Lincoln County
19. Hold My Hand
20. Creepin' Jean
21. Do You Wish To Be A Man?
22. Mr. Reporter
23. I'm Crying
24. Mr. Shoemaker's Daughter
25. Are You Ready Girl?

Tracks 2, 4, 12 & 15-25 were recorded for Dave Davies unreleased solo album

THE KINKS- The Great Lost Kinks Album. rar

The Heartbreakers- Yonkers Demos

I'm going to take a short break from posting live concerts to clear up some other things I have sitting on my hard drive. I've got more demos, cassette releases, indie releases and even more live stuff. I usually upload my postings to my online storage in bunches and sometimes I either forget about posting the files or I get some kind of theme in mind when I thinking of things to post and get sidetracked. Upcoming next week, it's Canada Day here in Canada (of course), so I'll find something appropriately canuck to post and the following week the Winnipeg Folk Festival takes place in my region. I'm not sure if I'm going or not, but I need a better reason than Gord Downie, Sarah Harmer, John Hiatt, Emmylou Harris or Jimmy Cliff to attend. I realize these are all quality artists and nothing is wrong with any of them, but personally I think the talent is a little thin and I need a better reason to spend over $200 for the weekend or $75 a day on this festival.

After Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan quit the New York Dolls they formed the Heartbreakers with Richard Hell, joined later by Walter Lure. During this period, this line-up played shows around New York and recorded some demos known as the Yonkers Demos. I don't know much about the recording other than it was recorded probably late 75/early 76 with the original Heartbreakers band. Many of these songs were re-recorded for the L.A.M.F. album and staples in the Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers live repertoire and a couple of songs Hell re-recorded with his next band, The Voidoids. An early and must-have recording if you're a fan of the band or not!

THE HEARTBREAKERS
Yonkers Demos

01. Love Comes In Spurts
02. I Wanna Be Loved
03. Blank Generation
04. Chinese Rocks
05. Pirate Love
06. Can't Keep My Eyes On You
07. Flight
08. Hurt Me
09. You Got To Lose
10. Goin Steady
11. Love Comes In Spurts (false start)
12. I Wanna Be Loved
13. Blank Generation
14. Love Comes In Spurts

Richard Hell Bass,Vocals
Johnny Thunders Guitar,Vocals
Jerry Nolan Drums
Walter Lure Guitar,Vocals

THE HEARTBREAKERS- Yonkers Demos. rar

Jayhawks- Winnipeg August 23, 2003

Last weekend, the Jayhawks played a trio of shows at the First Avenue in Minneapolis with their mid-90's reunited line-up. This band featuring Gary Louris, Mark Olson, Marc Perlman, Karen Grotberg and Tim O'Reagon played the legendary venue for the first time in 15 years with this line-up (with original Jayhawk Olson) and I would have loved to have been there. If I didn't take a Chicago vacation a couple months earlier, I no doubt would have made the 7 hour drive. Though I have seen the Jayhawks four times previously, I have yet to see them in their hometown. Here's to hoping they tour or play more shows in the Twin Cities in the near future.

The Jayhawks have played Winnipeg only twice, the first time at the Winnipeg Folk Festival back in 1988 (I think?). More recently they played the Peg in the summer of 2003 touring in support of their last album, Rainy Day Music. This version of the band featured Louris, Perlman, O'Reagon and ex-Long Ryder, Stephen McCarthy on guitar and steel pedal. This was a free show that was part of the Muddy Rivers Music Festival in downtown Winnipeg, in an area known as the Forks. As far as I remember, this was the only year of this festival, which is too bad because Otis Rush and Alejandro Escovedo also played the festival. I recorded this show in front of the soundboard in a 18+ designated area in front of the stage (beer gardens), instead in the grassy field behind the fence, way back from the stage. Unfortunately, it was windy, a curse to all outdoor recorders, so the sound was muffled and caught in the wind. Believe it or not, a soundboard recording was made and shared. I have a copy, one of the rare times a recording has shown up that I actually attended and it sounds much better!
Enjoy!

THE JAYHAWKS
Muddy Rivers Music Festival (Forks Stage)
Winnipeg, MB.
August 23, 2003
(soundboard)

01. DJ Intro
02. Stumbling Through The Dark
03. Angelyne
04. Somewhere In Ohio
05. Take Me With You (When You Go)
06. Tampa To Tulsa
07. Save It For A Rainy Day
08. Blue
09. I'd Run Away
10. All The Right Reasons
11. Lost My Drivin' Wheel
12. Life Floats By
13. I'm Gonna Make You Love Me
14. Waiting For The Sun
15. Haywire
16. Tailspin
17. DJ Outro

JAYHAWKS- Winnipeg 2003-08-23. rar

Vintage Porn: The New Pornographers- August 18, 2002

Art By Greg Oakes

Last week I saw the New Pornographers for the sixth time, five of those shows in Winnipeg and one in Calgary. Just to clarify, when I saw them in Calgary, on that particular tour they did not stop in Winnipeg (cancelled due to a scheduling conflict), so in fact last week's show was the first time the complete band played Winnipeg.

The first time I saw the band it was back in the summer of 2002 and it remains one of my favourite concerts of all time. This show appeared on dimeadozen years ago, it was my recording, but I didn't post it. I did trade this show at least once, so it must have been passed around, but I doubt many people have heard this recording and would be of special interest for anyone in Winnipeg that was at the show. It was an early recording with my trusty mini-disc recorder with my old mics, so the sound isn't perfect, as the volume is on the verge of peaking, but it's a lively recording and I love it!

Highlights:

• At the time, Mass Romantic was their only release, though they did play a couple songs that would be included on Electric Version. So if you're a fan of the early stuff you'll enjoy this.
• The venue, smaller and more intimate at the West End Cultural Centre. This was a Mint records tour, so the crowd wasn't huge, maybe 300-ish?
  
• Track #9, the band attempts some Heart covers. Good example how the band can be loose and have a good time. Funny stuff, Neko was game to do the "whole" songs!
• The real highlight for me has to be the final four songs in the set (the last three were encores). Letter From an Occupant is always amazing, but their covers of Nick Lowe's, Cruel to Be Kind, The Sweet's, Action and Send Me A Postcard by Shocking Blue were incredible! More recently they do ELO and Fleetwood Mac covers, what's up with that?
  

THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS
West End Cultural Centre
Winnipeg, MB
August 18, 2002
Audience recording

1. Slow Decent Into Alcoholism
2. The Mary Martin Show
3. The Electric Version
4. Jackie
5. The Fake Headlines
6. The Laws Have Changed
7. Mystery Hours / Execution Day
8. The New Face Of Zero And One
9. Barracuda/Crazy On You/Dreams (teasers)
10. Mass Romantic
11. The End Of Medicine
12. Testament To Youth In Verse
13. talking (Back in Black)
14. The Body Says No
15. To Wild Homes
16. From Blown Speakers
17. Breakin' The Law
18. Letter From An Occupant
19. Cruel To Be Kind
20. Action
21. Send Me A Postcard

THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS- 08-18-02 part 1. rar (tracks 1-12)
THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS- 08-18-02 part 2. rar (tracks 13-21)

The New Pornographers- Live In Winnipeg

The much anticipated return of the New Pornographers with the complete band hit town last Thursday at the Garrick Theatre and as expected, the band didn't disappoint. The presence of sometime-yet permanent members of the band, Neko Case and Dan Bejar took the band to a higher level expanding the band's setlist and featuring three lead vocalists. The venue wasn't too bad, my daughter and I positioned ourselves dead centre to the stage 3/4 back on the floor that has a slight incline which benefits short people, like ourselves. The sound was adequate, though the vocals could have been up a bit more, but it was quite listenable. I took a lot of photos, because I knew most of them would be blurry and to my surprise some of them were half decent, at least good enough to post here.
Highlights:

• Hearing Neko Case with the band is a highlight on it's own, but the bonus was hearing her belt out Letter From An Occupant for the last song of the encore was magical. I've only seen them play that song once before in Winnipeg.
  
• Kurt's "drum" solo, which was an impromptu version of "Wipeout". This was a lot looser show than the last 3 times they played here. When Neko's not playing with them, the shows are much more "machine-like" with little or no between song banter.

The only disappointment of the evening was my audio recording came out crappy. I fiddled with the sound levels on my recorder and noticed my adjustments had no effect on level meter (I'm still kind of new to this recorder), so I left it on mid. When I got home to listen to the recording, the volume was low and the sound was fluttery and muffled, cutting in and out occasionally. I realized I had (unintentionally) set the level control on auto, thus preventing me from adjusting on the fly and it kept the sound at an even output eliminating the high and low ranges. It must have been automatically cutting out when the volume peaked too much, instead of distorting if it wasn't set to auto. I listened to the whole show at work and if you crank the sound and listen on speakers it's listenable. I'm still upset over my mistake and I believe it or not, I'm especially hard on myself when a potentially excellent recording is ruined by a dumb error. Oh well, I have lots of other NP shows, but I was looking forward to sharing songs from the new album performed live. As a consolation, I'll be on the look out for more shows from their current tour (If anyone has any to share let me know!) and I'll post my favourite Winnipeg New Pornographers show later today.

The New Pornographers- Live from Soho

As a warm-up to the New Pornographers show tonight, I thought I should make this, NP Week and post a couple of live recordings from the band. The New Pornographers released an "official" live album a few years back and they also released a live recording called, Live From Soho, which was available exclusively from iTunes and was recorded at an Apple store in Soho in December 2007. I don't anymore details about this recording, but it sounds really crisp and clear and features a solid performance by the band. I've talked at length about the New Pornographers shows I've been to with and without Neko Case and I'm sure I'll have lots to say after the show. Tonight's show will include Neko and the full band and I must admit I'm eagerly anticipating the show. I'll try to make a recording of the concert, but I'm taking my daughter to her first NP show and positioning close to the stage might be a challenge. I have a few more of their shows to post before the end of the week.
Stay tuned!

THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS
Live From Soho (2008)

1	All the Things That Go To Make Heaven and Earth
2	Use It
3	All the Old Showstoppers
4	Challengers
5	My Rights Vs. Yours
6	Adventures In Solitude
7	The Laws Have Changed
8	Unguided
9	Sing Me Spanish Techno
10	Don't Bring Me Down
11	The Bleeding Heart Show

THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS- Live From Soho. rar

Pixies- Live In Winnipeg

Back in April 2004, when the Pixies announced they would begin their reunion tour in Winnipeg Canada, I think every Pixies fan (especially in Winnipeg!) was surprised. The distinction of being the city that hosted the band's first show in 11 years was short-lived when the Pixies added Minneapolis to the tour as the band's first gig. They performed at the Fine Line Cafe on April 13, 2004 and then played their second show in Winnipeg the following night on the 14th. The minute tickets went on sale, I was at the Ticketmaster site and purchased two tickets knowing this would be a historic show. Sure enough, the show sold out in record time (at the time, at least) and I settled for seats midway up the second balcony. I must admit the seats sucked and the sound was horrible (my recording was as well), but just being there at the Burton Cummings Theatre to see a band I was desperate to see live, was a special memory.

During this tour, the Pixies, along with Disclive, recorded and sold a copy of the concert (you were just at) immediately (1/2 hour) after the show. You prepaid before the show and the recording was limited to 1000 copies, if you were not at the show, you could go to their website and order the 2 CD set. I think I paid $25-30 for the recording which is a pretty good profit for the band and a unique souvenir of the concert. This is one of the reasons I record the concerts I attend, I can't think of a better way to document the great show you were at and I think it's the ultimate memento of the concert. In this case, I didn't mind paying for the recording because mine sounded like it was recorded in the far high corner of the hall (which it was) and the muffled distorted sound can't compare to their matrix recording from the soundboard and multiple microphones around the stage. A nice touch was opening with a Neil Young cover, Winterlong, obviously a tribute to Winnipeg! Overall, it was a great concert, though the band was a little rusty, but a very memorable evening I'd like to share with fans.
Enjoy!

THE PIXIES
Burton Cummings Theatre
Winnipeg, Manitoba
April 14, 2004

Winterlong
Nimrod's Son
Holiday Song
Here Comes Your Man
Vamos
Blown Away
In Heaven/
Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)
Bone Machine
Subbacultcha
Cactus
Monkey Gone to Heaven
Is She Weird
Debaser
Gouge Away
Crackity Jones
Something Against You
Isla de Encanta
Broken Face
Head On
Tame

(encore 1)
Gigantic
Into the White
Where is my Mind

(encore 2)
La La Love You

THE PIXIES- Live In Winnipeg pt. 1. rar
THE PIXIES- Live In Winnipeg pt. 2. rar