Radish- Discount Fireworks (Unreleased)

Every once in a while your wishes can true. I'm not talking big lottery wins or fame and fortune, no, I mean the small stuff that make life interesting and sometimes it's simply just plain luck. I've lived to see my beloved Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup, not once, but three times and I've been fortunate enough to see many of my favourite artists live (The Replacements, Young Fresh Fellows, Scruffy The Cat, Ray Davies, Elvis Costello etc...). Through this blog I've been made aware of and have been given a lot of cool music that I might not otherwise been aware of. Some bands I hadn't heard of before, as well as live material, demos and unreleased songs and albums from musicians I admire.

A few years back, I made a reference to Ben Kweller's band, Radish and an unreleased album, Discount Fireworks. I posted a couple self-released Kweller EP's (Freak-out It's Ben Kweller and Bromeo) and some of these recordings were holdovers from the proposed Fireworks album. Many of the songs from the Discount Fireworks sessions went on to appear in different versions on these EP's as well as Ben Kweller's debut album, Sha Sha. Kweller originally self released Sha Sha in 2000 and in 2002, ATO Records re-released a different version of the album with a different track order, new recordings and more songs. I don't know the exact timeline of these songs, but I know the Radish versions on Discount Fireworks are very hard to find. Several tracks have been floating around the web in some form or another and this has been one of the most requested items on this blog. I never ever expected to hear or get a copy of the album, but lo and behold, over eight years after that post I received an email from a reader and I was offered up a copy of Discount Fireworks. The rip unfortunately is 128k mp3, but for the opportunity to hear the album in it's entirety this was too good to pass up and I was very excited to finally hear it. I've listened to it several times and it's well worth a listen. Some of the versions that appear on Sha Sha are different recordings and slightly different versions, so if you're a fan of Radish and/or Ben Kweller, this is a must hear!

A special thank you to Johnny Spork for the album and for creating some amazing (unofficial) front and back covers included in the file. The sound quality is pretty damn good and it baffles me why this was never released, but for more information and background about the Discount Fireworks fiasco, Johnny sent me a link for an article from 1999:  http://www.dallasobserver.com/music/free-radish-6400889
 And remember your wishes can come true!  Now if someone has a uncompressed version of the album...
Enjoy!

• PLEASE DO NOT SELL!
• This is in lossy format, so please share as mp3. (Don't try to convert to WAV or FLAC, it doesn't work that way) 
• If there is any issue sharing this recording (Mercury, Seagrams, BK?), please send me a PM first.

RADISH
Discount Fireworks
(Unreleased Album) 1998
mp3 (128k)

01. Launch Ramp
02. Next Time
03. Drink Me Away
04. How It Should Be (Sha Sha)
05. Silent Scene
06. What It Is Like To Live In Commerce
07. Wasted And Ready
08. Harriet's Got A Song
09. Here Is Dissonant
10. Cally
11. Orange Tic-Tacs
12. In Other Words
13. Panamainian Girl
14. For Forever
15. Bill W. Is My Friend
16. Girl In Between
17. 4.40 (Episode 2)
18. Super Neat (64k mp3)\

RADISH- Discount Fireworks 1998 mp3.rar

Ben Kweller- Live At The Hi-Fi, March 2, 2012

Photo by Katie Dutton

 Here's a great recording I found on Dime semi-recently from Ben Kweller during his Australian tour this past spring. This one is especially worth a listen because it was a FM broadcast so the sound quality and performance is amazing and the setlist is outstanding with songs from throughout his solo career, especially his earlier albums. The only downside is that the set is incomplete and edited down for radio which means there are at least 5 or 6 songs missing from the recording. Don't let this stop you, it's a nice sampling of Ben Kweller live in concert! If you're a fan, check out archive.com site for many more Ben Kweller live concert recordings.
Enjoy!

Ben Kweller
Hi Fi
Sydney, NSW, AUS
March 2, 2012
Source Info: FM>LPCM>WAV>FLAC [Sharp Tuner > Sony PCM-M10]
Mastering : Soundforge normalise > Audacity track split > Downsample to 16 bit.

Converter : Roman79

1. Mean to Me
2. I Need You Back,
3. The Rules,
4. My Apartment,
5. How Should it Be (Sha Sha),
6. Gossip,
7. Falling,
8. On My Way,
9. Sundress,
10. Jealous Girl,
11. Penny on the Train Track,
12. Commerce, TX,
13. Wasted and Ready.

BEN KWELLER- 2012-03-02, Sydney FM FLAC. rar

Radish- Dizzy

The second album by Radish was called Dizzy, released in 1995. Ben Kweller sent a copy of Dizzy to Nils Lofgren, who grew up with Ben's father in Maryland and from there it was passed to his producer, Roger Greenawalt who took the band into the studio to record demos that would be shopped around to labels. After a bidding war there was much hype for the band and it's signing to the majors with Mercury Records. This led to the release of Restraining Bolt and appearances on Letterman, Conan and The Weird Al Show (check out their appearance on the show!!). Dizzy was yet another forward step in Ben Kweller's career, but like Hello it was an independent release that was released with very limited supply. Though I've never seen a copy of Hello or Dizzy, I did find a cover scan of Dizzy to post, but if you have a copy of either album, let me know. Enjoy! RADISH Dizzy (1995)

1. Chrysalis
2. Too Personal
3. Dizzy
4. Doesn't Know It
5. Bedtime
6. All Night
7. Uncle Jimmy's Theme
8. I'm Still Here
9. The Way
10. Swallow
11. I Know A Girl
12. Uncle Jimmy's Theme (Drum Solo)

RADISH- Dizzy (1995). rar

Radish- Hello

The first thing you notice when you listen to the first track of Radish's Hello, is how young the singer sounds. What is he, 12 or 13 years old? Actually he is, the singer is a young Ben Kweller who was 12 when he formed Radish. Hello was recorded when he was 13, a pretty amazing accomplishment for anyone, especially an eighth grader. This isn't a prefabricated gimmicky act like that Bieber kid, but a talented musician that had a dozen songs under his belt by the time he was nine and won an honorable mention in a songwriting contest sponsored by Billboard magazine. In 1993, Ben Kweller formed Radish with drummer John Kent and bassist Ryan Green (he was later replaced by Bryan Bradford) and played in and around Greenville, TX. They released two independent releases, Hello and Dizzy before they signed to Mercury records and in 1997 recorded the full length album, Restraining Bolt. What I've posted is the hard to find debut from Ben Kweller and his band Radish, Hello, and it gives an early indication of his musical talent that would lead to bigger and better things. It's pretty evident he has the chops and he displays his confident solid songwriting style. The quality of the songs and recordings improve with every release, especially on Restraining Bolt, which earned the band a large cult following in England and they toured Europe several times. I will also post the second Radish album, Dizzy and possibly Restraining Bolt, if there is interest. Please leave me a comment or email me if you want more Radish! Enjoy! RADISH Hello (1994)

1. Space Boy
2. Hello
3. Wooden Window
4. Leave
5. Kitty
6. You Can Run
7. Whatcha Gonna Do?
8. Rollercoaster
9. I Want You To
10. The Way

RADISH- Hello (1994). rar (I previously posted Ben Kweller's two homemade pre-Sha Sha releases, Bromeo and Freak Out It's Ben Kweller back in January 2009. I think the song links are still active. Check them out here.)

Freak Out It's...Bromeo

Before he released his first solo album and just after his band Radish disbanded, Ben Kweller released a series of self-released ep's. They were mainly homemade that consisted of recordings from Radish's unreleased Discount Fireworks and demos that would eventually end up on his solo debut, Sha Sha. Many of these demos were recorded in his apartment on a laptop computer. I knew about these ep's but have never heard or seen a copy until I stumbled upon 2 of them on a an outstanding blog, Wilfully Obscure. These are awesome recordings and are a must of any Ben Kweller fans, this kid displays his prodigy-like talent with these self-produced, self-financed releases without sounding amateurist or self-centered. Bromeo features songs that are mainly exclusive to this release except for I Don't Know Why and Different But the Same that were re-recorded and included on later albums. Freak Out It's Ben Kweller...features songs that were more or less demos for Sha Sha, but they are different and altered recordings and in some ways more satisfying. Freak Out...apparently caught the attention of Evan Dando of the Lemonheads who invited him out on tour with him.  

BEN KWELLER 

Bromeo (2000) 

I Have The Power 

Panamanian Girl 

Debbie Don't Worry Doll 

New And Improved 

I Don't Know Why

 Different But The Same

 Concentric Town 

Until I Die 

Freak Out It's Ben Kweller! (2000) 

BK Baby 

Walk On Me 

How It Should Be (Sha Sha)

 Make It Up 

In Other Words 

I Don't Know Why 

Lizzy 

Problems

 

Ben Kweller- How Ya Looking Southbound?...Come In

Something brand new from Ben Kweller... (from filemp3.com): BK's first studio recordings since the 2006 critically-acclaimed self titled release. This limited edition 7-track EP provides an exclusive teaser / warm-up for Kweller's upcoming and highly-anticipated January 2009 full-length release entitled Changing Horses. Three of the songs on this EP, 'Fight', 'Things I Like To Do', and 'Sawdust Man' will appear on the January 09 release. Kweller is back in terrific form on this catchy and melodic offering: he stays true to his quirky folk-pop sensibilities. BK also stretches out and injects dusty, and charming twang and Americana into each composition. The EP was produced by Kweller in Austin, TX and recorded to all analog tape. It features his band 'The Great Lakes'...who turn in amazing harmonies, smoldering pedal steel and dobro performances, and lend Leon Russell-esque piano bounce. Also, BK managed to weave in some spooky and compelling field recordings that segue's a handful of songs. Sounds good, but I must warn you, if you hate country and western this might not be for you. The full length release in January will be a country album, but if you're a Kweller fan, this may change your mind about the genre. This is a tour-only EP, so I'm posting the whole EP for your listening pleasure, unless you can make it to one of his upcoming shows. BEN KWELLER How Ya Looking Southbound?...Come In 1) Fight 2) Things I Like To Do 3) Sawdust Baby 4) Sawdust Man 5) The Biggest Flower 6) F Train Blues / Gypsy Rosita 7) Somehow (Singlemalt Version) download: How Ya Looking Southbound?...Come In (complete EP)