The Disciplines- Live In Sweden 2009

Ken Stringfellow has been a member of so many bands and projects it's hard to keep track of all his musical contributions be it as a singer, songwriter, musician, arranger and producer. According to Wikipedia, Stringfellow's discography includes more than 200 albums, as he continues to stay busy with the Posies and the various side-projects he's been a part of. His original claim to "fame" would be as co-founder of the Posies with Jon Auer. He and Auer were also members of the re-formed Big Star in the 90's and 2000's with Alex Chilton and drummer, Jody Stephens, until Chilton's death in 2010. Stringfellow probably played in front of his largest audiences as a touring/recording member of R.E.M. in the late 90's to the mid-2000's. I'm guessing his association with R.E.M. began when he was member of the Minus 5 with Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey (who was joined R.E.M.). I've previously posted a great album by the Orange Humble Band, Assorted Creams which featured Stringfellow as their lead singer. I think it's still downloadable, so if you haven't heard it, I highly recommend a listen, it's a power-pop classic.

In 2007, Stringfellow formed the Disciplines with members of the Norwegian band, Briskeby and he was the lead singer. Their music is a raw, melodic, powerful garage rock that sounds fantastic live. I fluked into purchasing their first album, Smoking Kills while record shopping in Philadelphia in 2009 and I was instantly blown away. They released a second album, Virgins of Menace (which I have not seen or heard) as they were active from 2007-2011 with the two albums and tours of Europe and North America.

I hadn't thought of the Disciplines for while until I read this message recently on the Posies website:

“Hello from Ken!
Recently my band THE DiSCiPLiNES has found themselves in a trademark dispute with another artist… we need to register our name as a trademark (read: hire a team of lawyer$) to resolve this situation and we have launched a GoFundMe to help raise $$ for our legal fund. Could really use your help — this is not only about The D’s music, which could virtually disappear if we don’t successfully navigate the dispute, but also my own ability to make music as an independent musician is highly impacted by these legal costs–right at a time when I’m devoting my energies to working exclusively on the Posies new album for 2020. Any and all help appreciated!

Thank you,
Ken”

DiSCiPLiNES  GoFundMe

As of this writing, the campaign is over halfway to it's goal of $5,000. So if you want to contribute to help support the Disciplines legal fund, head over to GoFundMe and pledge what you can. Even if you haven't heard the Disciplines music before or aren't yet a fan, please support Ken for all the great music he has shared as a solo performer, with his bands and other music projects he's been a part of. To help entice you, I'm posting an incredible sounding live show from the Disciplines from their mini tour of Sweden in 2009. A small venue with Stringfellow rocking out hard, you can almost feel the sweat flying...yeah, it was probably amazing!
Enjoy!

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THE DISCIPLINES
Raw Bar, 
Eskilstuna, Sweden
11 September 2009

Taped & edited by raya
Lineage: SP-CMC-2 > SP-SPSB-6 > Edirol R09 (WAV 24 bit / 44.1 KHz) > wav > Audacity (fades, track splits, edits) > TLH (fix SBEs, Flac level 5)

01 Yours for the taking
02 Falling knives
03 Complicated times
04 Best mistake
05 Wrong lane
06 Get it right
07 Some kind of sickness
08 Gonna get worse
09 For you I walked over the line
10 [pointless shit]
11 I got tired
12 One *)
13 Fate's a strong bitch
14 There's a law
15 Hurricane
16 Cause or FX

Bonus track:
17 Virgins of menace
Lilla Hotellbaren @ Scandic Malmen, Stockholm, Sweden, 12 September 2009

*) Ken playing guitar

The Disciplines are:
Ken Stringfellow, vocals
Bjørn Bergene, guitar
Bård Helgeland, bass
Ralla Vilnes, drums

DISCIPLINES- 2009-09-11 Eskilstuna FLAC. rar

The Posies celebrate 30 years In The Twin Cities

Last Saturday night, The Posies completed the first half of their 30th anniversary tour appropriately in Seattle, the city where the band started 30 years ago. The night before they played in Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer's hometown of Bellingham, Washington, the site of their first ever show (see the previous post). It's been a long one and a half months since the tour began in Victoria, B.C. (the only Canadian stop on the tour) as they traveled across North America. The band takes a summer break before continuing on with the second half of the tour when they travel to Europe for some of September, all of October and a bit of November. From all accounts that I have read about, heard and seen, the tour has been an overwhelming success with enthusiastic crowds and energetic shows.

I had the opportunity to see one of these concerts when I traveled to the Twin Cities to catch the Posies at the Turf Club in St. Paul, Minnesota. The last time I saw the band was in 2005 at the 400 Bar in Minneapolis. This time I bought the tickets back in March for my wife's birthday with a road trip in mind as part of the present. There are many bands we both mutually enjoy, but the Posies are special. We've been fans of their music for almost 30 years and a chance to see them a third time was too good to pass up. They did not disappoint!

Regrettably, we missed the opening set by Terra Lightfoot and band, which was a shame because I heard she was great and I should be supporting a fellow Canadian (more on that later). She has opened for the Posies for most of the North American tour dates. We arrived at the show during Porcupine's set, which is noteworthy because their bass player is Greg Norton (Husker Du) who will play a significant role later in the evening.

Greg Norton joins the Posies for the Posie Du encore.

Terra Lightfoot shreds alongside Jon and Ken during the evening's finale, Flood of Sunshine.

The only way to describe the Posies headline set is epic! They played for over two hours and my gaze on the stage never wavered or was distracted, almost trance-like for the entire set and I have a hunch I wasn't the only one feeling this way. Ken and Jon spoke from the heart with interesting stories about the music industry, keeping the band together and their genuine love for what they're doing. They know how to make a connection with their audience and the appreciation was mutual. There were so many highlights during the concert, here are a few:

• Terra Lightfoot bringing a round of shots on stage for the band and was coaxed into doing Loon impersonations. Also when Terra was quizzed where the Canadian Mint was located (she guessed Ottawa), us and a small group surrounding us reminded her it was in Winnipeg. Nice shout out for the Peg!
• The last four songs of the main set. Ontario, Flavor Of The Month and Solar Sister are personal favourites (along with Grant Hart) and Burn & Shine is the glorious song live.
• The encore, YES, the encore! "Posie Du" featuring Greg Norton (taking the place of bassist, Dave Fox) and the Posies ripping through four Husker Du classics, These Important Years, Green Eyes, Makes No Sense At All and Sorry Somehow. In my mind, this musical collaboration might be the closest I might get to hear Husker Du songs live, it was a great tribute. I soaked it in with a huge smile on my face, WOW!
• The rest of the encore. Before they played the song, Grant Hart, Ken remarked, "This is so metal". This is the best version of this song I've heard live. Fast and driving with Norton on bass this was another moment of euphoria. Flood of Sunshine with Ken on "the worst" keyboard, Dave back on bass and Terra on second guitar was an exercise of endurance with expansive dual guitar solos and general mayhem. Terra and Jon were on their knees trading riffs and guitar noodling to the extreme. Broken strings and a pile of well used guitars ended the song. A perfect way to end the show. Ken announced, "By the power of Greyskull, I declare this concert awesome". and it truly was!

I'm very happy I brought my recorder state-side, because I caught an amazing concert and the unique setlist made this very worthwhile. The show sounds incredible, the vocals are clear and the music sounds crisp and balanced. Not bad for standing in the middle of the floor fairly close to the stage. I would rank this is one of my better sounding recordings. Thanks for everyone around me for not talking. The best concerts are the ones that are so good there is no time to chatter and talk...and my wife did get to meet and get a record signed from Ken Stringfellow after the show, YES, it was a great night!
Enjoy!

There are some much better written reviews and articles about The Posies St. Paul show:
http://weheartmusic.typepad.com/blog/2018/06/the-posies-at-turf-club-st-paul-26-june-2018.html
https://twincitiesmedia.net/blog/the-posies-unleash-firepower-at-the-turf-club/
https://blog.thecurrent.org/2018/06/watch-greg-norton-join-the-posies-for-husker-du-covers-at-the-turf-club/
http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/2018/06/28/posies-greg-norton-husker-du-st-paul/ (videos)

Please do NOT sell!!
Do NOT trade this in lossy format. 
Convert to lossy for personal use only.

THE POSIES
Turf Club
St. Paul, MN
June 26, 2018

Sony ECM-DS70P mic> Tascam DR-07> SD card > 16 bit Wav>
Direct Wave MP3 splitter> FLAC> rar file
AUD Master

01. Dream All Day
02. Love Letter Boxes
03. Apology
04. Any Other Way
05. I Am The Cosmos
06. Please Return It
07. Golden Blunders
08. Precious Moments
09. You're The Beautiful One
10. Suddenly Mary
11. Licenses To Hide (w/Terra Lightfoot)
12. The Glitter Prize (w/Terra Lightfoot)
13. Ontario
14. Flavor Of The Month
15. Burn & Shine
16. Solar Sister

Encore
17. These Important Years (w/Greg Norton)*
18. Green Eyes (w/Greg Norton)*
19. Makes No Sense At All (w/Greg Norton)*
20. Sorry Somehow (w/Greg Norton)*
21. Grant Hart (w/Greg Norton)
22. Flood Of Sunshine (w/Terra Lightfoot)

*Husker Du covers

THE POSIES- 2018-06-26 Turf Club, St. Paul, MN FLAC Master. rar

The Posies- First Live Performance

Yet another sign I am getting old way too fast is that The Posies are in the middle of  a 30th anniversary world (North America/Europe) tour. I still remember buying their debut album, Failure through mail order from Seattle's indie label, Popllama Records in the late 80's. I have the pleasure of seeing the Posies live on two occasions, 1995 in Winnipeg and 2005 in Minneapolis. The 1995 show was when they were at their height of "commercial" success after Frosting, just before the release of Amazing Disgrace. For the 2005 show, we specifically drove up to the Twin Cities to see The Posies at the 400 Bar which was a great intimate venue. I always prefer the smaller venues as you get a more up close and personal experience and even had a chance to chat with Jon after the concert. As luck would have it, I will once again make a trip to the Twin Cities next week, this time St. Paul, to see The Posies at the Turf Club, another smallish size club with good sound and decent sight lines. For a preview of the St. Paul show, here's a very interesting article/interview with Ken Stringfellow that is terrific on so many levels. I've been to the Turf Club previously once to see the Baseball Project (w/Scott McC, Buck, Wynn and Pitmon). Should be great, really looking forward to it and they are one of my wife's favourite bands, so what's not to love?

I had a few other early Posies show to choose from to post, but I thought in tribute to their 30th anniversary, why not start at the very beginning. This is the first live public performance by Ken and Jon, before they formed the band, playing some cool covers and an original on duo acoustic guitars. I acquired this recording along with other early shows in a trade many many years ago. They're sound kind of rough and definitely not too polished yet, but the spirit and energy is there. So, what's not to love?
Enjoy!

Please do NOT sell!!
Do NOT trade this in lossy format. 
Convert to lossy for personal use only.

THE POSIES
FOE Hall
Bellingham, WA
August 26th, 1987

01. Mrs. Robinson
02. I'm Looking Through You (Beatles cover)
03. Don't Look Away (?)
04. Promise (Violent Femmes cover)
05. Swinging Party (Replacements cover)
06. I've Just Seen A Face (Beatles cover)
07. Standing Still (R.E.M. cover)
08. That's Entertainment (The Jam cover)
09. The Killing Moon (Echo & The Bummymen cover)
10. I Can't Reach You (The Who cover)
11. English Rose (The Jam cover)
12. Stretch Out And Wait (The Smiths cover)
13. Separate Beds (Squeeze cover)
14. Greeting To The New Brunette (Billy Bragg cover)
15. Surely You Jest (?)
16. Superman (Troggs cover)
17. I May Hate You Sometimes
18. So Sad About Us (The Who cover)

THE POSIES- 1987-08-26 FOE Hall, Bellingham, WA FLAC. rar
Please let me know if the link doesn't work. Still trying to tweak the downloads. - Thanks!

Big Star- Rehearsals 1993

Though they only released three studio albums in the early 70's, the interest in Big Star has continued even 40 years later. The band's influence is evident in many bands today and though the band never reached huge mainstream success, they have (arguably) been widely regarded as one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt You is a full length documentary film that will coming to theatres across the country this summer. The film features never seen before footage of the band as well as in depth interviews. It's unfortunate that 3 of the 4 members of the band had passed away (Chris Bell 1978, Alex Chilton 2010, Andy Hummel 2010) before the completion of the film. I'll definitely have an interest trying to catch a screening of the film, as I admittedly am not an expert about the band's history and legacy.


I first became aware of Big Star from listening to Replacements bootlegs with the band covering songs like, September Gurls and I'm In Love With A Girl. Hey, if my favourite band, the Replacements love Big Star, I better see what the fuss was. From that I bought a CD compiling both #1 Record and Radio City and also their third album, Sister Lovers/Third, definitely one of my wisest music decisions ever. I never had a chance to see Big Star live (I was too young during their original inception and the reunited version of the band never toured close enough) and the closest that I've come to Big Star-related live shows was the Posies and Golden Smog with Jody Stephens on drums, both shows (in different years) at the 400 bar in Minneapolis in the 2000's.

To get you in the right spirit, I'm posting the "reunited" version of Big Star (Alex Chilton, Jody Stephens, Jon Auer, Ken Stringfellow) rehearsing a run through of their set before the first reunion show that was immortalized on the live recording, Columbia: Live At Missouri University. Recordings like this are cool because they offer a fly-on-the wall listen to the band working through the songs, with some discussion about details of the songs. A solid sounding set, though the vocals are low in parts, this should interest any fans of the band and it's yet another rare document of a great band we don't know enough about and apparently can't get enough of.

BIG STAR
"set run through"
unknown location
Seattle, WA
April 13, 1993

01 In the Street
02 Don't Lie To Me
03 I Am the Cosmos
04 Oh My Soul
05 Ballad of El Goodo
06 Back of a Car
07 Way Out West
08 Daisy Glaze
09 Thirteen
10 Baby Strange
11 For You
12 Feel
13 September Gurls
14 Thank You Friends
15 Slut
16 When My Baby's Beside Me

BIG STAR- 1993-04-13, Seattle, WA FLAC. rar

Orange Humble Band- Assorted Creams

Up until about a month ago I didn't know this record existed or had I ever heard of the Orange Humble Band. I stumbled upon it on another music blog, as I noticed the singer of the band was Ken Stringfellow (The Posies) and that Mitch Easter was also involved. Orange Humble Band's debut album, Assorted Creams was released in 1998, but the band was formed in 1995 by Daryl Mather (Lime Spiders, The Someloves) who had an albums worth of songs, that would be the basis of their first album. The recording began in 1995 with Bill Gibson (bass), Matt Galvin (guitar), Peter Kelly (drums), and Anthony Bautovich (vocals). This line-up recorded the early version of the album in Australia, with final recordings taking place in Mitch Easter's studio in North Carolina with Ken Stringfellow adding lead vocals.

As a big fan of the Posies, I'm surprised I hadn't come across anything by OHB, though if you look at the number of bands Ken Stringfellow has played with and contributed to (Posies, Minus 5, R.E.M., Big Star, Saltine, The Disciplines, etc.), I'm not surprised I missed this. Back in the 80's I bought up anything that had Mitch Easter's name on it, either as a producer and of course his awesome band, Let's Active, so when I heard these two names were involved I was excited, yet hesitant. On the surface, this line-up has quasi-supergroup implications written all over it, but it's anything but that because it has a very cohesive and unique sound to it. The first time I listened to Assorted Creams I was instantly in love with their sound, the great melodies and the richly layered pop songs. This album is as good (or even better!) than the best Posies records and should be considered one of the best power pop albums of the 90's. It's a shame it hasn't gotten the exposure it deserves, so do yourself a favour and have a listen to this essential unappreciated classic!
Enjoy!!

ORANGE HUMBLE BAND
Assorted Creams (1998)

1. Fanclub Requiem
2. Down In Your Dreams
3. Sleepin' In My Caravan
4. It Doesn't Matter
5. Spindizzy
6. Anywonder How
7. Can't Get What You Want #1
8. Little Picture Story Book
9. Katie Said No
10. Cherrytime
11. Rainin' Like Soft Fun
12. Hello, Emptiness
13. Think I'm Gonna Get You (Oh, Dwight)
14. Apple Green Slice Cut (Tamra Tamla)
15. Through Your Veins
    

ORANGE HUMBLE BAND- Assorted Creams. rar