John K. Samson & The Provincial Band- Live At The West End Cultural Centre

John K returns to the bass for Propagandhi covers.

When tickets went on sale before Christmas for John K. Samson's concert, I anticipated the show would sell-out fast. Considering his band, the Weakerthans haven't played the city in over a year, fans of the band were probably anxious to hear new material from Samson, Weakerthans or not. Since last year, Samson has played some smaller solo gigs around the city, but this would be his first appearance in his hometown since releasing his first full length (not counting his first pre-Weakerthans solo tape) album, Provincial. Samson had earlier released two EP's, City Route 85 and Provincial Road 222, with 6 of the songs from those EP's re-recorded for the full length, as well as 6 new songs.

The show featured many tracks from the new disc, but still with about half the set dedicated to Weakerthans songs. If you've been to any recent Weakerthans shows (last 10 years or so) you might notice they don't perform many live covers. With a vast catalog of songs to choose from, they may feel it unnecessary to play other people's songs, so it was a bonus to hear John throw a couple of covers into the set. Technically, two of the songs were one's he wrote when he was in Propagandhi (Gifts and Anchorless) and Anchorless was re-recorded and appeared on the Weakerthans' first album. So, as I was saying it was refreshing to hear a cover, a Jawbreaker song, The Boat Dreams From The Hill, a band who Samson said he saw at the WECC "10 or 12 years ago" and was and still is a favourite band of his, definitely an influential band for Samson and the Weakerthans (note: Jawbreaker played the WECC in 1994, 18 years ago, did they play any other time here?). The show was even better than I anticipated, soft and slower songs showcased Samson's fine song craftsmanship and some upbeat, rockers with his band, The Provincial Band that kept it fun and interesting...great show!

I was pleased with the quality of the recording, a crisp, clear sounding document aided by a good sound mix (and acoustics) at the WECC. Because of the mixture of softer, slow songs with louder songs, I had to adjust the levels on the fly, something I don't like to do as it sometimes comes out sounding like the volume button is simply turned up and down, but I think it ended up sounding balanced and level. It's hot at the start of some louder songs, but overall it's a very satisfying listen. I was jammed packed in the middle of the crowd somewhat close to the stage and fortunately the crowd was polite with very little chatter intensely listening to every word, which is always good for tapers. So far, I haven't seen or heard any other recordings from this tour, so get this while you can!
Enjoy!!

JOHN K. SAMSON & THE PROVINCIAL BAND
West End Cultural Centre
Winnipeg, MB, Canada
March 27, 2012
Audience Master

Sony ECM-DS70P mic> Tascam DR-07> USB> 16 bit Wav>
Direct Wave MP3 splitter> FLAC> rar file

01. One Great City
02. Heart Of The Continent
03. Cruise Night
04. When I Write My Masters Thesis
05. Letter in Icelandic From The Ninette San
06. Tournament Of Hearts
07. Night Windows
08. Elegy For Gump Worsley
09. Pamphleteer
10. www.ipetitions.com/petition/rivertonrifle/
11. Longitudinal Centre
12. The Boat Dreams From The Hill (Jawbreaker cover)
13. The Last And
14. Highway 1 West
15. Left And Leaving
Encore 1
16. Plea From A Cat Named Virtute
17. Gifts (Propagandhi cover)
18. Anchorless (Propagandhi cover)
19. Reconstruction Site
Encore 2
20. The Reasons
21. Virtute The Cat Explains Her Departure (solo at front of stage-no PA)

Please DO NOT sell this recording or convert to mp3's (unless for personal use) without permission. Thanks.

JOHN K. SAMSON- 2012-03-27 Winnipeg FLAC. rar

Husker Du- Candy Apple Grey Rough Mixes

About a year and a half ago, I pledged money to help back a film project on Kickstarter about the Replacements. This was a documentary, not so much on the band, but more about the band through the eyes of fellow musicians and fans through interviews and reminiscences. Since then, Color Me Obsessed has screened at numerous film festivals and indie theatres across Canada and the States to much acclaim and positive reviews. My small pledge earned me an advanced screener DVD last summer, before it was seen on the big screen and at least a year before the DVD would be available, as well as project updates from the director, Gorman Bechard. It was rewarding to be able to contribute to a project I have special interest in (about a band I love!) and as a bonus my name appears in the "special thanks" portion of the end credits...very cool! If you have an opportunity to see this film when it comes to your city or town, go! It's a music documentary like not other. Even if you've never heard the Replacements, after watching this doc you'll want to rush home and listen to (I guess buy first) Let It Be, Hootenanny or Tim and acquire some boots of their live shows.

As a follow up to Color Me Obsessed, Gorman Bechard's next project is a documentary about another 80's music legend from Minneapolis, Husker Du's, Grant Hart. Every Everything: The music, life & times of Grant Hart will tell Grant's story from his beginnings, through his days in Husker Du and up to the present. "In this feature-length documentary you'll learn his influences, his obsessions, his loves, his passions, his art, his music, and everything in between, leaving no stone unturned. For the first time ever, you'll hear everything about Grant Hart as told by Grant Hart -- the good, the bad, and the ugly. Think of it as a rock 'n' roll FOG OF WAR!"



Once again, the project is looking for funding and backers that can pledge money that would go towards documenting this story. Money is needed to fund travel, food, lodging expenses in Minneapolis for the crew to interview Grant, as well as hard drives to store footage, rights (for use of music, artwork, archival footage) and film festival submission fees. Personally, I think this will be an interesting project because Grant is an interesting subject, a quirky guy that probably has a lot to say about his days with Husker Du and his struggle to be heard during his post-Husker, solo career. I'm thinking he has felt overshadowed by Bob Mould in Husker and even more so when Mould gained much success with Sugar and his solo career. I saw Grant with Nova Mob in the mid-90's and Grant solo more recently (2005) and it was sad because there was only a handful of fans at each show. Please support this project, it needs to reach it's goal of $20,000 before May 4th. If it doesn't get funded, your pledge will be returned, so you can't lose. You can take advantage of some nice incentives, posters, bumber-stickers, advance DVD, t-shirts, film credits, art, dinner with Grant, watch the editing process, film premiere invite etc...

As a tribute to Grant and Husker Du, I'm posting the rough mixes from Candy Apple Grey, the bands major label debut. It definitely wasn't one of their best albums (Zen Arcade, New Day Rising), but it was a solid record that featured some of Grant's best moments, Don't Wanna Know If You Are Lonely and Sorry Somehow. These songs aren't too much different from the final mixes, but there are some outtakes not on the album and some instrumental versions. Studio quality sound, but it's probably sourced from a cassette, so the sound flutters and wavers in parts, otherwise it's great.
Enjoy!

HUSKER DU
Candy Apple Grey Rough Mixes, Outtakes (1986)
Studio mixes

1. Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely
   
2. Crystal (no vocals)
   
3. Sorry Somehow
4. I Don't Know For Sure (no vocals)
   
5. Hardly Getting Over It
6. All Work And No Play (instr.)
   
7. Dead Set On Destruction
8. Eiffel Tower High
9. Misty Modern Days
10. All This I've Done For You
11. Just Be
12. Hardly Getting Over It (no vocals)
    
13. I Don't Know For Sure
    

HUSKER DU- Candy Apple Grey Demos FLAC. rar

Yo La Tengo- 2012 WFMU Marathon Clips

Yo La Tengo WFMU Marathon 2012! from WFMU on Vimeo.

Here are highlights from this years 2012 WFMU marathon with Yo La Tengo. As usual, the band performed (in studio) and took call-in requests from donors and pledgers which always makes for great spontaneous and improvisational radio. It's amazing the number of cover songs they have performed over the years and no band can play them as well and as proficient as Yo La Tengo!

If anyone knows where I can find the entire recording, please let me know and I'll post it here.
Enjoy!

Rockpile- Best Of Soundboards

I had a request for more Rockpile shows and had a difficult time deciding what I should post next. Years ago, I downloaded a sweet compilation of soundboard recordings from different sources, mainly radio broadcasts, which are always great sources for live shows. This is a nice overview and sampling of the material they played live. Songs from Dave and Nick's solo albums, as well as covers and songs written by others (Graham Parker, Elvis Costello) all played with a fury and passion that hasn't been surpassed by Dave and Nick's later solo projects (in my opinion). Rockpile is an amazing live band and their playing is flawless, tight and furiously energetic. The only official studio Rockpile release, Seconds Of Pleasure seems to pale a little in comparison.

There are a couple repeat songs from the last Rockpile show I posted (My Father's Place '78), and the sound is excellent throughout. I have a couple more shows from 1978-1980, so stay tuned and I'll post another soon.
Enjoy!!

ROCKPILE
Best Of Soundboards
Various 1977-1980

1. Crawling From The Wreckage (Concert For Kampuchea 12-79)
2. Little Sister (Concert For Kampuchea 12-79)
3. Back To Schooldays (BBC 4-77)
4. I knew The Bride (BBC 4-77)
5. Mess Of Blues (BBC 4-77)
6. Here Comes The Weekend/So Fine (BBC 4-77)
7. Girls Talk (Palladium, NYC 1980)
8. Born Fighter (Palladium, NYC 1980)
9. Cruel To Be Kind (Palladium, NYC 1980)
10. Jailhouse Rock (Palladium, NYC 1980)
11. Let It Rock (Washington, DC 1977)
12. Fool Too Long (San Francisco 1978)
13. No More Mr. Nice Guy (Bottom Line, NYC 10-78)
14. It's My Own Business (Bottom Line, NYC 10-78)
15. Never Been In Love/So Fine (Bottom Line, NYC 10-78)
16. Deborah (My Father's Place 11-78)
17. Trouble Boys (My Father's Place 11-78)
18. You'll Never Get Me Up In One Of Those (My Father's Place 11-78)
19. Loud Music In Cars (Billy Bremner solo)
20. Three Time Loser (Concert For Kampuchea video only)

ROCKPILE- Best Of Soundboards FLAC. rar

Note: I had a bit of trouble ripping the CD to FLAC files and I had to use my secondary ripping software, but I tested it and listened to the whole disc and it seems fine. Let me know if there are any problems. Thanks!

50 Foot Wave- More Free Music!

Everyone loves free music, of course many people already download "free music", but sometimes it's good to give back and support the performer and buy a CD or record album. It's refreshing when a band just wants their music to be heard and encourages their fans to share their music by offering it guilt free for no cost. Such is the case with 5o Foot Wave, who are offering a free download (or pay what you want) of their new EP, With Love From The Men's Room on their website. Not only that, the band is also offering the entire 5o Foot Wave catalog, which includes 4 EP's, instrumental EP and live recordings for free! The EP's are official releases, but Kristen Hersh is independent and releases her material through a Creative Commons license.

On Kristen's website she states, "All the recent SOPA – PIPA nonsense makes now an important time to walk our talk and make clear just what side we’re on. We did something like this in 2005 when we released Free Music for a pay-what you like price (waaaay before a certain other band did it) via torrent sites and Archive.org and again in 2007 when we offered Power + Light along with the entire catalog-to-date via CASH Music. Today, we’re renewing our commitment to Open by once again refreshing torrents of the entire 50 Foot Wave catalog, including our brand new Ep, “With Love from the Men’s Room.” We believe that, Free and Open doesn’t mean “no sales.” Free and Open doesn’t mean theft. Anonymity is the enemy, not piracy. It’s your attention and enthusiasm we value so highly. Once we’ve been generous and once you’ve come to value what we do, we’re confident you’ll step up and support us as so many already have. It’s on us to offer you a comfortable, flexible, frictionless way to do that. And don’t worry. We’re on it."

Giving away music isn't an entirely new concept, but the fact these are new releases not demos, live recordings or throw-away tracks shows a brave and confident band that isn't afraid to take a chance. I wouldn't have heard of 50 Foot Wave if it wasn't for their Free Music EP from 2006 that I downloaded for free from their site. The fact Kristen Hersh has been in and around the music business for a while with the Throwing Muses and her solo career leads me to believe she was getting a tad fed up with music biz of being ruled by labels, much like Juliana Hatfield in many ways. If you haven't heard 50 Foot Wave, have a listen, it's risk free, especially if you love power trios with lots of loud guitar because they kick ass and rock harder than the Muses or Kristen's solo work.

"As always, please SHARE THIS MUSIC. You are encouraged to repost, podcast, make videos, record covers, burn copies for friends, burn copies for enemies, USE it. Anything, everything is OK with us. What matters most to us is that people hear, connect with , and pass on the band's music. Thank you forever for the energy, enthusiasm and effort you bring to this music"- 50 Foot Wave

50 FOOT WAVE
With Love From The Men's Room (2012)

01. Free Fall
02. Gray
03. Nobody's Tar, Nobody's Feathers
04. A Rushing
05. Radiant Addict

50 FOOT WAVE- With Love From The Men's Room FLAC. rar

Jale- Rarities 1993-97

Lately, I've been listening to a lot of the Brooklyn band, Palomar, not only their new album, Sense & Antisense, but also their previous two records, Palomar III: the Revenge Of Palomar and the excellent, All Things, Forests. I love this band! I really enjoy their driving pop/rock sound and you know how much I like girl vocals, but they seem to sound somewhat familiar. I don't know if you remember the Canadian band, Jale who hailed more specifically from Halifax in the early to mid 90's. In the mid-90's, an explosion of great indie bands from the "Halifax scene" such as Sloan, Superfriendz, Thrush Hermit and Plumtree caught the attention of music fans not only in Canada, but in the U.S. as well. Jale became the second Canadian band (Eric's Trip, the first) to be signed to the American label, Sub Pop. At that time, Sub Pop was a big deal...a huge deal. Despite that, Jale only left us with 2 full length albums, an EP (Closed) and a handful of singles. The band broke up in 1996, only a few months after the release of their second album, So Wound after guitarist Eve Hartling announced she was pregnant and either left the band or was fired. The remaining members formed the Vees (I featured their lone EP a few years ago), but that fizzled quickly.

So, if you want to hear more of Jale, I'm posting some "rarities" from singles, promos and compilations that I received in a trade many years ago. The person I traded with put together this collection and gave it the title, Sleeping Off The Party. If you still can't enough of Jale, check out Palomar who I still think sounds a bit like Jale, but in fact they have expanded and improved (and updated) that sound for an equally satisfying listen.
Enjoy!

JALE
Sleeping Off The Party: Rarities
1993-97

1. Lung
2. Stepping Out
3. River
4. Brother (live)
5. Nebulous (alt. version)
6. More Or Less (demo)
7. Stepping Out (demo)
8. Promise (live)
9. Leave It Alone
10. Coincidence
11. Blue Streak
12. True What You Say
13. From A Still

#1 "Never Mind The Molluscs" (1993)
#2-3 "Gold Leather With Heel Detail 7" (93')
#4-8 "Promise" promo (94')
#9-11 "Hey Hey" single (96')
#12-13 "True What You Say" single (97')

JALE- Rarities 1993-97. rar

Juliana Hatfield- Live Covers

The financial backing for Juliana Hatfield's last release, There's Always Another Girl was helped in part by the cash contributions of her fans thanks to PledgeMusic, a wonderful concept that helps artist fund their own projects through donations in exchange for incentives (product and services). Juliana's album to date has received 1174 pledges and well exceeded her goal to fund the album and a portion of the proceeds was donated to Save A Sato project, a non-profit organization dedicated to easing the suffering of Puerto Rico’s many homeless and abused animals. I donated money twice and in exchange received a signed copy of the CD and original artwork painted by Juliana. I figured I would buy the CD anyways, so it was like buying a pre-sale and the chunk of change for the art would help contribute to the expensive task of recording and producing the CD. As well, she keeps you updated on the recording process and posts audio and video clips throughout the process, an insider's access to the making of. A brilliant idea, especially if you're a fan!

Her latest project was launched on PledgeMusic last weekend and by the time I heard about it the project had already hit 99% of it's target. Many of the special items for sale were already bought, but I once again pledged for a signed CD and a signed handwritten lyric sheet (and bonus drawing/doodle) of my choice. Of course, I agonized over which song to choose, but I finally chose, Live On Tomorrow, from the Only Everything album. I've always thought it was the perfect pop song and the words are so beautiful I couldn't resist. The new record will be an all-covers album and a percentage of the money raised will be donated to IMPACT Boston, which teaches self-defense and self-empowerment to people who really need it. Not sure yet of the song list, but I suspect maybe the Stones, It's Only Rock 'n' Roll might be on it since she performed it for the Daytrotter session a few years back.

I thought it might be interesting to post a sampling of some live covers Juliana performed through the years with the Blake Babies, Some Girls and solo. I grabbed these songs from a site in the mid-2000's and since the links aren't available anymore, I'll post 'em here. Be forewarned, the sound quality varies as they are from different sources and the bitrate is low quality (128 kbps). The songs are roughly in chronological order with the exception of some songs on disc 3. Let me know if you want more live Juliana Hatfield live shows, I have some of these and more.
Enjoy!

JULIANA HATFIELD (w/BLAKE BABIES/SOME GIRLS)
Live Covers (1989-2002)

Disc 1 (64:18)
1. I Am A Rock (Simon & Garfunkel) (Apr 17th, 1990)
2. Farmer John (Harris/Terry) (May 13th, 1991)
3. Drinkin' My Blues Away (Robert Johnson) (May 13th, 1991)
4. All I Need (Dance Mix) (J. Strohm, D. Summer) (July 30th, 1991)
5. Over And Over (Neil Young) (August 1991)
6. Taxman, Mr. Thief (Cheap Trick) (Sept 12th, 1991)
7. Temptation Eyes (Grass Roots) (Sept 12th, 1991)
8 Walkin' With Jesus (Spacemen 3) (Sept 12th, 1991)
9. Outdoor Miner (Wire) (Sept 12th, 1991)
10. Raisans (Dinosaur Jr.) (July 17th, 1992)
11. It's A Shame About Ray (Lemonheads) (Oct 17th, 1992)
12. You Don't Own Me (Leslie Gore) (Sept 17th, 1993)
13. Bring It Down (Madder Rose) (Nov 30th, 1993)
14. He'd Be A Diamond (Bevis Frond) (Dec 17th, 1993)
15. Her Shovel (Jason Hatfield)
16. Pink Moon (Nick Drake) (1995)
17. Ride With Me (Lemonheads) (Feb 16th, 1997)
18. There's Always Tomorrow (Johnny Marks) (Feb 16th, 1997)
19. So I Fucked Up (Lemonheads) (Feb 21st, 1997)

Disc 2 (67:14)
1. Say It Ain't So (Weezer) (Apr 3rd, 1997)
2. Every Breath You Take (Police) (1997)
3. The Unheard Music (X) (1997)
4. Hope (Descendents) (Nov. 1997)
5. Come Back DA (Lemonheads) (Dec 20th, 1997)
6. Blue (Jayhawks) (Apr 25th, 1998)
7. Cheap Sunglasses (ZZ Top)/Baby Gets High (Madder Rose)(Oct 23,1998)
8. Loose (Stooges) (New Years Eve, 1999)
9. Severed Lips (Dinosaur Jr.) (New Years Eve, 1999)
10. Goddess on A Hiway (Mercury Rev) (June 9th, 2000)
11. Have You Ever Seen The Rain? (June 17th, 2000)
12. No Feelings (Sex Pistols)/My Sister (Juliana Hatfield) (June 30, 2000)
13. Drive (The Cars) (2000)
14. Heart Shaped Box (Nirvana) (2000)
15. Cinnamon Girl (Neil Young)
16. Passionate Kisses (Lucinda Williams)

Disc 3 (73:41)
1. I Didn't Like You Anyway (Donnas) (Oct 12th, 2000)
2. Walk A Thin Line (Fleetwood Mac) (Mar 9th, 2001)
3. Barstool Blues (Neil Young) (Mar 17th, 2001)
4. I Wanna Be Sedated (Ramones) (Mar 17th, 2001)
5. Gone (Madonna) (May 1st, 2001)
6. Let Me Roll It (Wings) (Jun 6th, 2001)
7. Tomorrow Never Comes (Dot Allison) (2001)
8. Love Went Away (Tania Bowers) (Studio recording)
9. Yeh Yeh (Jon Hendricks) (Studio recording)
10. Sad Girl (Scott Thomas)
11. Birdbrain (Buffalo Tom) (Mar 5th, 1991)
12. Taillights Fade (Buffalo Tom) (Mar 5th, 1991)
13. Sex Beat (Gun Club) (Aug 5th, 2002)
14. Only Love Can Break Your Heart (Neil Young) (Aug 5th, 2002)
15. Malted Milk (Robert Johnson) (Aug 5th, 2002)
16. (unknown song) (Mar 5th, 1991)
17. Girl in a Box (John Strohm) (Oct 23rd, 1998)
18. Blake Babies - Tom and Bob (Blake Babies) (May 9, 1989, WERS radio)

JULIANA HATFIELD & BLAKE BABIES-Live Covers. rar

Note: There was a request to re-up files for the pre-Fountains Of Wayne group, Pinnwheel that didn't work on an old post. The files are back up, get it while you can here.

The Crust Brothers- Marquee Mark

Here's a tasty listen to start off the week, Pavement's Stephen Malkmus teaming up with members of Silkworm as The Crust Brothers. I only discovered this recording a couple of weeks ago and you need to put aside your Pavement and Silkworm ears because the Crust Brothers are a totally different listen. The Crust Brothers lone release was Marquee Mark, a live recording from a show at the Crocodile Cafe (in Seattle) on December 5, 1997. The band played all-covers, except one Silkworm song which was technically a cover because Malkmus sang lead vocals. An interesting mix of songs especially if you're a fan of Dylan because seven of the twelve songs were from Bob Dylan and The Band's, Basement Tapes album. Originally, this project was a one-off, but additional performances in Vancouver and Seattle (twice more) in 98, 99 and 2000 proved is more than a novelty. If you're a fan of both bands you'll enjoy this classic rock diversion and despite the sloppy playing and lack of practice, it's an enjoyable listen and you can hear the band had a good time too.

Enjoy!
(I'm pretty sure this is long out of print, but if anyone has any objections to posting this, please email me.)

THE CRUST BROTHERS
Marquee Mark (1998)

1. Going to Acapulco (Bob Dylan)
   
2. Million Dollar Bash (Bob Dylan)
3. Bessie Smith (Rick Danko/Robbie Robertson)
4. Yazoo Street Scandal (Robbie Robertson)
5. Lo and Behold (Bob Dylan)
6. You Ain't Goin' Nowhere (Bob Dylan)
7. Never Met a Man I Didn't Like (Silkworm)
8. Heard It Through the Grapevine (Norman Whitfield)
9. Feel a Whole Lot Better (Gene Clark)
10. Bitch (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards)
11. Tuesday's Gone (Gary Rossington/Allen Collins/Ronnie Van Zant)
12. Mrs. Henry (Bob Dylan)

Link removed

This record is still available digitally at Comedy Minus One. Buy it here.

Rockpile- My Fathers Place 1978

I noticed this boot is offered for sale at iOffer (for money)...DON'T BUY IT, download it here!

I had a request for more live Rockpile and I found this gem I downloaded years ago. I earlier posted the Live At Montreux recording from 1980 from a tour promoting the band's first album, Seconds Of Pleasure which was the only release officially under the Rockpile name. This live recording was from 1978 supporting the Tracks On Wax 4 record which was released as a Dave Edmunds solo record with the members of Rockpile playing on it (with Dave on lead vocals). Because this recording was a live FM broadcast, the sound quality is excellent and for maximum fidelity I have left it in FLAC format for your enjoyment. I know I have more Rockpile shows, so if there's interest I'll post more and I'll see if I can find a show from 1979 which features more tracks from Nick Lowe's, Labour Of Lust and Dave Edmunds, Repeat When Necessary which were recorded simultaneously by Rockpile.

Enjoy!

ROCKPILE
My Fathers Place,
Roslyn, N.Y., USA
November 4, 1978 (early show)
WLIR-FM Live Broadcast

1-Intro
2-Down Down Down
3-And So It Goes
4-I Knew The Bride
5-Deborah
6-Trouble Boys
7-Breaking Glass
8-Never Get Me Up In One Of Those
9-Let It Rock
10-So Fine
11-I Hear You Knocking'
12-They Call It Rock
13-Ju Ju Man
14-Heart Of The City
15-(crowd)
16-Let's Talk About Us

ROCKPILE- MFP, 78FM. rar FLAC