BEEHIVE CANDY

2012Candy - January

2012-01-25T22:46:00.000Z

Welcome to the first 2012Candy, our round up of new music that has come our way in recent days and weeks. We only feature music that has grabbed our attention, or that we feel really does deserve a wider audience, so no knocking other peoples art and efforts here!

Starting with Brazilian Beat (Putumayo World Music; release date January 31st, 2012). Selected from tens of thousands of songs collected by the pioneering label created to introduce new global music to broad audiences, Brazilian Beat chronicles the vibrant indie scene in Brazil and around the world. Musicians are taking samba, bossa nova, and MPB (Brazilian popular music) and deftly incorporating electronica, soul, funk, and just about every other music imaginable.

Sultry or upbeat, the tracks on this compilation of hip, rootsy artists aim to raise listeners’ moods and introduce even die-hard fans to a new crop of Brazilian music innovators. Featured alongside unsung icons such as samba soul master Marcos Valle are rising new stars like Tita Lima, daughter of the bassist from psychedelic hipster darlings Os Mutantes.

Brazilian music has bubbled into an indie scene-to-beat-all-indie scenes in underground clubs and on small labels from São Paulo to Rome. “You can go to Italy and find a hot bossa nova scene, and they have their own sound,” like Roman bossa band BungaLove’s “Minha Loucura,” explains Jacob Edgar, longtime head of A&R for Putumayo and passionate follower of the Brazilian music scene. “These retro sounds end up back in Brazil and shake things up.”

Listen: Tamy - Samba na Mão, Eu Tenho (Brazilian Beat).
Web: Putumayo Records HERE.
We Say: This just has so much atmosphere and feel to it, the song featured by Tamy is of course just one part of a massive variety of artists and styles. Unless of course you are in Brazil, this will transport you there for a while - enjoy!
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Tremor Low is a four-piece band hailing from Oakland, California that creates insistent, brooding post-punk/new-wave music.

The group has spent the last 3 years honing their sound and starts 2012 with the release of a new 5 song EP entitled "Kingmaker" recorded with engineer/producer Jamie Hill (Jens Lekman, Nada Surf). An unsubtle recording, each song is delivered in the most urgent fashion, swooning through stories of loss and lust, vengeance and greed. "Kingmaker" is the ultimate expression of what Tremor Low is: a state of frenzy that demands to be heard.

Tremor Low brings their live experience to crowds throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, delivering a dense swell of synthesisers, iconic vocals and airtight rhythm. In 2012 the band will tour in support of "Kingmaker" hitting the road and inspiring new generations of misanthropes everywhere.

Listen: Peter Murphy's Dead.
Web: Official HERE.
We Say: Powerful vocals and a hint of the band 'The Editors' within the featured song, see that as a positive, sharp rock with a passion.
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Jessie Baylin recently shared a free download of her 'Pleasure Center EP', a collection of original and cover songs by artists such as Sonic Youth, Thin Lizzy, Fleetwood Mac and more. You can still listen to it HERE, and this month she has released her brand new album 'Little Spark'.

Her bio tells us - When you hear Jessie Baylin sing for the first time, it takes a matter of moments to realise that she’s intimately familiar with pop’s history – but not at all interested in repeating it. Her songs—and her plangent voice—carry a classic pop tone that evoke memories of the Brill Building and Laurel Canyon in the ‘70s while retaining a decidedly modern, empowered worldview.

“I drew a lot from people like Burt Bacharach and Dionne Warwick, the Brill Building writers,” says the New Jersey-born, Nashville-based singer-songwriter. “But I didn’t want to make a retro, throwback kind of album. Nostalgia is fine, I have a definite fondness for that, but I didn’t want people to listen and think I was trying to recapture something from the past.”

That’s exactly the vibe one gets when immersed in Baylin’s third album Little Spark, a recording that emerged after negotiating her way out of a major label deal that was threatening to mar the clarity of her singular artistic vision. Rather than go with the flow, she went with her gut, gathering what remained of an inheritance from her grandmother—whose nickname Jessie borrowed for the Blonde Rat label moniker—Jessie hired Producer Kevin Augunas, who helped her gather some of the most empathetic musicians she could find, including old-school guitar man Waddy Wachtel, veteran drummer Jim Keltner, Greg Leisz on pedal steel, The Watson Twins on backup vocals and famed Emmy & Grammy winning string arranger Jimmie Haskell (Elvis Presley, Simon & Garfunkel, Bobby Gentry). But it was modern-day auteur and multi-instrumentalist Richard Swift who was Little Spark’s chief arranger and with Swift, Kevin, and the musicians in place, Jessie had her creative collaborators and co-conspirators.

Listen: Little Trouble Girl (from the EP).
Web Official HERE.
We Say: How do you stay objective when five seconds into a song the artist can do no wrong? OK so that's a bit dramatic, none the less Jessie has won Beehive over very quickly, check out both the EP and new album if the featured song appeals.
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Tiny Victories have announced the release of their debut EP Those Of Us Still Alive, out February 28th via their own BirdDog Records. In celebration of the upcoming release of their first album, they've released the track "Lost Weekend" for free download, available for posting HERE.

"Lost Weekend" provides the perfect introduction to Tiny Victories, showcasing the band's array of samplers, gadgets and live drums, coupled with singer Greg Walter's self-assured vocal melodies. Living up to the band's namesake, the track focuses on small moments of redemption, amplified, with the spirit of a marching band at a funeral.

Those Of Us Still Alive has an uncommonly organic, improvisational feel for electronic music. As Greg explains, "We make simple songs out of complex pieces. Take a melody that works on an acoustic guitar, then orchestrate it with samples that have been reprocessed beyond recognition-like the sound of trash being thrown into a Manhattan dumpster."

Comprised of Cason Kelly and Greg Walters, the duo formed Tiny Victories in 2010. Prior to their transplant to Brooklyn, Cason spent his early 20s doing social work with inner city kids, while Greg spent six years as a foreign correspondent, covering a war (Russia-Georgia) and two revolutions (Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan).

Previously having shared bills with Hooray for Earth, The Hood Internet, Bear Hands, and Braids, Tiny Victories plans to tour this spring, including a stop in Austin, TX for SXSW.

Listen: Lost Weekend .
Web Bandcamp HERE.
We Say: Indie rock with both passion and sense of urgency that thumps right on through this song. Indie rock isn't meant to do that is it? OK so it might be something else, maybe...
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Hailing from Egersund, Norway, Frode Strømstad, the mastermind behind I Was A King, is becoming an accidental maestro of curious juxtapositions: sweet and sour, timeless brevity, easy chaos. Unaffected and honeyed voices (Strømstad and Harrys Gym front woman Anne Lise Frøkedal) float through a maelstrom of garage-guitar-fuzz and duct-taped drum kits, and melodies that seem to contain forever are wrapped in tiny packages of three minutes or less.

What started as a series of bedroom recordings became a recording project between two childhood friends (Strømstad and Emil Nikolaisen of Serena Maneesh). The result has been dubbed "royally brilliant" by NME. This is music that is full of air and rush, cut free from heartless, cold mechanics, rushing into the very center of joy. It's boarding an old roller-coaster; the tracks creak just enough under the weight of the cars to add an element of danger but you can't stop smiling, and the whole affair is over much too soon.

The latest 7" in Oslo-based label Splendour's split series features two friends and collaborators that find themselves rubbing shoulders with the likes of Daniel Smith and Sufjan Stevens. We feature I Was A King who bring us their bright 60's-pop style single "Happy," featuring Robyn Hitchcock and Emil Nikolaisen (Serena-Maneesh). They also cover Half-handed Cloud's "Baby Moon."

Listen: Happy.
Web: Bandcamp HERE.
We Say: This song definitely has a sixties feel (yep 1960's and that's one long time ago), maybe there is a nod to The Byrd's in this, but if so it's entirely coincidental unless these folk studied history or are older than the pic. Oh by the way it's a great song.
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Los Angeles-based quintet Milo Greene, which recently signed to Chop Shop/Atlantic Records, will launch a West Coast headlining run at The Roost in Bellingham WA on February 7th. The band will be joined on the road by special guest Family of the Year. Following these dates, Milo Greene will begin a three-week Los Angeles residency - with free admission - at The Satellite (formerly Spaceland).

The band, which toured with The Civil Wars, Grouplove and Belle Brigade in 2011, just finished recording its debut album at Bear Creek Studio near Seattle. The as-yet-untitled album, which the members of Milo Greene co-produced with Ryan Hadlock (Ra Ra Riot, Blonde Redhead, The Gossip), will be released in Spring of 2012, coinciding with the launch of an extensive U.S. tour that will include a stop at SXSW.

"The music of the new L.A. quintet blends two-, three- and four-part harmonies, serpentine folk-pop melodies and agitated beats into songs that rejoice a little, ache a little and leave sepia-toned images in your head when they're through," said Buzzbands.la while NPR noted: "Milo Greene makes folk-tinged music with perfectly blended male-female harmonies, but they marry that sound with thunderous live drums and infectious sing along choruses."

The band's first single, "1957," was released as a limited edition white vinyl 7" backed with "Silent Way." The song was featured as part of Entertainment Weekly's "Single Swap," recommending the song to anybody who likes Mumford & Sons "Little Lion Man."

Listen: 1957.
Web:Official HERE.
We Say: Lovely vocals and harmonies that skip over the complementary and very fine musicianship. Maybe a little 'Arcade Fire' influence, if so they have enough of their own creative qualities to make that a positive.
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Norwegian-based quartet 120 Days have debuted a brand new single from their followup sophomore LP 120 Days II, set for a March 6th release with Splendour (of Montreal/Casiokids, His Clancyness/Shimmering Stars). Unfolding rich layers of synth, the single winds through cosmic soundscapes pulsating just short of an epic ten minutes. The band co-produced "Dahle Disco" with fellow Norwegian DJ/electronic artist Lindstrøm, and will soon reveal the accompanying video. "Dahle Disco" follows their first single "Osaka," which was released as part of Club Mod, a new singles imprint by Modular and remixed by diskJokke and Sidwho?

120 Days have been playing together since 2001 and their debut took them around the world, from America, where they signed with Vice Records, to Japan, where they played to crowds of 17,000+. It won them two Norwegian Grammys and was not only critically acclaimed but also commercially successful. But those subsequent five years have given them valuable, well-earned perspective, and their sophomore album proves that it's worth taking a little time out. 120 Days II is darker, dirtier, fiercer and sharper than a debut full of, as Pitchfork loftily put it, "towering edifices", one which the website also claimed possessed "the conviction that all this technology has the potential to amplify, not suppress, the transmission of human emotion, should humans be courageous enough to try." To put it rather more simply, this new one is even better than the first.

Listen: Dahle Disco.
Web: Facebook HERE.
We Say: It might surprise regulars to Beehive Candy that the editor has played this more than any other release we have received this last few weeks. It may be a cry for help or yet another mid life crisis, but no its just a fantastic piece of music. Trust me (oops him)!
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Minimalistic rock duo, Ugly Kids Club have just released their debut self titled EP on iTunes. The Nashville based team released their debut on iTunes and Amazon as well as a limited edition of cassettes for those indie music collectors out there. The duo deem their music as a mixture of grungy rock and roll infused with electronic beats. Deriving their influence from bands like Sleigh Bells, The Kills and M83, their music is a unique blend of their individual personalities and ingenuity all their own.

The two were brought together by the fates as Aliegh Baumhardt pursued a solo project with her other musical half, Steve Wilson (The Juliana Theory and Jonezetta). The connection was undeniable during the collaboration creating a desire to join together permanently. Blended with the balance of Yin and Yang, Aliegh and Steve (respectively) are able to bring a dark but mysterious essence into a catchy pop undertone creating a beautiful balance that is, Ugly Kids Club.
The standout singles like, "My Soul" and "Sheepskin," along with the rest of the EP are simply magnetic and after first listen could be described as obsessive art rock with catchy lyrics and industrial, dissonant sounds sprinkled throughout. Aleigh's lusty voice challenges the instrumentation to keep up with her as Steven's melodies compliment each track with ease. After watching their videos, Aleigh's sex appeal is obvious with every note and is showcased almost perfectly in, "Diamonds In Your Fire".

Ugly Kids Club has been busy at work to bring its fans this self titled EP on limited edition cassettes. For those of you born after the 90's, you may need some schooling as to what this contraption might be. For everyone else, bust out that walkman with pride!

Listen: My Soul.
Web: Official HERE.
We Say: For a minimalist rock duo, they make one whole lot of sound! For the days when you need stripped down no nonsense music with heaps of energy (OK sorry we are sounding a little like a high energy drink advert), oh just listen!
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Virginia-based rock band Sons Of Bill have announced the release of their new album Sirens. Set for a March 27th release, we are told that - this powerful collection of guitar-driven rock songs and reflective alt-country was produced by long-time fan, and fellow Virginian, David Lowery (Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven).

To get fans excited, Sons Of Bill has released new song "Santa Ana Winds," a haunting tale set to a fury of piano and power chords, for free download (see web link below).

Led by brothers James, Sam and Abe Wilson along with Seth Green and Todd Wellons, Sons of Bill is a band that sounds like where they're from - somewhere south of Bruce Springsteen's rock and roll desperation, but slightly north of their alt-country contemporaries.

From the driving country twang of "Find My Way Back Home" to the strikingly beautiful "Angry Eyes," from the anthemic striving of "Siren Song," to the tortured but hopeful "Virginia Calling," Sirens' centers on the tension between alienation and belonging in the modern world, resulting in a memorable collection of songs and the band's best work to date.

Listen: Santa Ana Winds
Web: Official HERE.
We Say: Straight to the point rock music, with a nod to Springsteen and others but more than enough self made passion to get over that. Some bands make studio tracks sound 'live in concert' that has to be a major plus and this is a great example!
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The brand new album 'Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy' is Nada Surf's seventh record, and fourth for Seattle indie label Barsuk, following the successful and critically lauded Let Go (2003), The Weight is a Gift (2005), Lucky (2008) and their self-released covers record if i had a hifi (2010). This is their first album of new material in four years, and unlike all of the other Nada Surf records, 'Stars' was made with a distinct attempt to capture their live sound. "We've always played faster and a little harder live," says vocalist/guitarist Matthew Caws, "but we'd play so carefully in the studio. So with this album, we made a conscious decision to preserve what it felt like in the practice room, when you play with that new-song energy.

Nada Surf's lineup for 15 years has been and still is Matthew Caws (vocals, guitar), Daniel Lorca (bass) and Ira Elliot (drums), though this time, as on if i had a hifi and the tour that followed, they invited guitarist Doug Gillard (Guided by Voices, Death of Samantha) to join in the proceedings. Chris Shaw (Wilco, Brendan Benson, Elvis Perkins in Dearland and Super Furry Animals) was brought in to produce and record.

Nada Surf are set to kick off their USA national tour on March 20th in Los Angeles, CA. The band have confirmed An Horse to be the opening act on all the dates, which will have the bands rolling cross-country and wrapping up in Washington, DC, on April 10th.

Listen: Waiting For Something.
Web: Official HERE.
We Say: They make it all seem so simple, which may be why they can produce a song with such charm and depth, like it's the first studio take. Excellent band that deserve to be applauded.
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LA's The Morning Birds will soon present their lush and heart-felt EP, 'Surrender to This', out on Valentine's Day, (14th February - but you knew that). We have featured The Morning Birds before and as totally biased fans we are happy to do so again.

The promo says - Awaken to The Morning Birds and prepare to be swept away from the ordinary. They have returned with the pared down EP, Surrender to This, a work that gives free range to their daring eclecticism. Primary songwriters Jenn and Sam have a marvelous yin and yang synergy: one part classic pop, one part emotive rock and roll swagger. Their experimental leanings make things all the more interesting; it’s as if Queen came across Animal Collective hanging with She & Him in the back of Tin Pan Alley. Forged from an uncanny mixture of diverse musical styles, this band’s music is as innovative as it is accessible. Powerful bass lines, lush harmonies and soulful strings are complimented by funky beats, trumpets, and cascading keys as Jennifer Thorington and Samuel Markus weave their stunning harmonies into sublime pop.

Listen: Born To Be Alive.
Web: Bandcamp HERE.
We Say: The Morning Birds have been featured by us before. They make running a music site like this worthwhile and however overwhelmingly biased we are towards them, we will not make any apologies. Check them out, they are delightful, its official.
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We are reliably informed that singer, songwriter, and dance-floor instigator KG Omulo can do anything.

He regularly packs American clubs with gritty calls for justice and hard-hitting Afrofunk. He has moved sold-out arenas with his baritone voice in his native Kenya. He takes on the dark ironies of politics, with anger in the groove, reveling in the potential to shake things up while shaking your thing.

Now on his first major U.S. tour and on Ayah Ye! Moving Train (released back on January 10th), he calls on the spirit of Bob and Fela, of Marvin and Stevie, and gets right to the point. No vamping or self-righteousness, just banging horn breaks, sweet and snarling guitar, and a voice that can croon, cry out, and urge on.

“I can be conscious and get people stirred up instead of bringing them down,” Omulo explains. “I make positive music that educates without judging. I want to create awareness and still make people dance.”

And we quote some more - On stage and in the studio, KG runs the show. He writes all the music, brainstorms lyrics in English and Swahili, and even uses visual editing skills gleaned from post-production film work to perfect tracks in the studio.

But he knows when to bring in friends to the mix, and Omulo’s Florida-grown backing band has worked with everyone from Ray Charles to T-Pain. “Cleary Boulevard,” an uptempo shout-out to the vibrant South Florida scene, features recording engineer, producer, and close friend Ramsees Mechan bantering in Spanish as KG waxes poetic in Swahili. “Ready to Love” features guitarist and MC Fareed Salamah (“Ripstah”), originally from the Virgin Islands, who lays down lush, purring guitar on the reggae-styled anthem to an open heart...

“I always think as I’m making music, ‘This doesn’t end here, even if this one situation doesn’t work, life goes on,’” Omulo muses. “I want people to live, to love, to fight for what they believe in. To belong and to care about others. If you can reach that special place in your heart, you can achieve anything.”

Listen: Intervention.
Web: Official HERE.
We Say: Totally new to Beehive Candy, and a wonderful introduction for us and hopefully your good selves with this featured song. This is just so powerful and yes we hear a little touch of Bob Marley, that said there is a whole lot more, great song and artist, to finish our first 2012 new music round up with.
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Listen:

Rod Stewart - Abbey Road 2004

2012-01-19T20:51:00.000Z

This is Rod Stewart performing live at Abbey Road Studios in London, England, back on October 8th 2004, to an audience of around 300 people, the show was recorded for a subsequent Xmas broadcast. This is a superb show featuring an incredible choice of songs, with Rod clearly loving the intimate environment and responsive audience.

2004 was a very busy and successful year for Rod who reunited with Ronnie Wood for concerts of Faces material. A Rod Stewart and the Faces best of Changing Faces reached the Top 20 of the UK album charts. Five Guys Walk into a Bar..., a Faces box set compilation, went into the shops. Rod Stewart has also mentioned working with Wood on an album to be entitled You Strum, I'll Sing.

In late 2004, Stardust: the Great American Songbook 3, the third album in Stewart's songbook series, was released. It was his first US number one album in 25 years, selling over 200,000 albums in its first week. It also debuted at number one in Canada, number three in the UK and Top 10 in Australia. His version of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World", featuring Stevie Wonder, made the Top 20 of the world adult charts. He also recorded a duet with Dolly Parton for the album - "Baby, It's Cold Outside". Stewart won his first ever Grammy Award for this album.

Source: FM Broadcast.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@192kbps.

Genre: Rock, blues, popular.

Set: Full set.

Set List:

1. Presenter intro
2. Tonight I'm Yours
3. Some Guys Have All The Luck
4. Addicted To Love
5. Handbags And Gladrags
6. Reason To Believe
7. The First Cut Is The Deepest
8. It Takes Two
9. Baby Jane
10. Blue Moon
11. Wonderful World
12. The Way You Look Tonight
13. For Sentimental Reasons
14. Maggie May
15. Gasoline Alley

Download link in comments below.

Louis Armstrong - Chapel Hill 1954

2012-01-15T19:20:00.000Z

This is Louis Armstrong performing at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA, way back on the 4th May 1954.

During the 1950's Louis Armstrong and His All Stars undertook a considerable amount of touring. Also his recordings 'Satch Plays Fats, all Fats Waller tunes', and 'Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy' both released in the 1950s were perhaps among the last of his great creative recordings.

Following a highly successful small-group jazz concert at New York Town Hall on May 17th, 1947, featuring Armstrong with trombonist/singer Jack Teagarden, Armstrong's manager Joe Glaser dissolved the Armstrong big band (August 1947) and established a six-piece small group featuring Armstrong with (initially) Teagarden, Earl Hines and other top swing and dixieland musicians, most of them ex-big band leaders. The new group was announced at the opening of Billy Berg's Supper Club.

This group was called Louis Armstrong and his All Stars and included at various times Earl "Fatha" Hines, Barney Bigard, Edmond Hall, Jack Teagarden, Trummy Young, Arvell Shaw, Billy Kyle, Marty Napoleon, Big Sid Catlett, Cozy Cole, Tyree Glenn, Barrett Deems, Joe Darensbourg and the Filipino-American percussionist, Danny Barcelona. During this period, Armstrong made many recordings and appeared in over thirty films. He was the first jazz musician to appear on the cover of Time Magazine on February 21, 1949. This soundboard recording was most likely made for radio broadcast.

Source: Soundboard.

Sound Quality: Very good mp3@320kbps.

Genre: Dixieland, jazz, swing, traditional pop.

Set: Full set.

Set List:

First Set:

1. When It’s Sleepy Time Down South
2. Back Home Again in Indiana
3. A Kiss to Build a Dream On
4. The Bucket’s Got a Hole In It
5. Blueberry Hill
6. Tin Roof Blues
7. Struttin’ with Some Barbecue
8. Swonderful
9. Billy Kyle Piano Jam!
10. The Man I Love
11. My Sweet Baby
12. Big Mama’s Back in Town > Love That Man
13. Baby it’s Cold Outside
14. Stompin’ at the Savoy

Second Set:

15. The Life of Didley Rambo
16. It’s So Good
17. Up the Lazy River
18. Shadrack, Meshack, Abendigo
19. When the Saints Go Marching In
20. When the Saints Go Marching In (Pt. 2)
21. High Society
23. Billy Kyle Piano Solo II
24. Dumb, Dumb, Dumby

Final Part:

25. Post Show Interview with L.A.
26. Struttin’ With Some Barbecue.

Line Up:

Louis Armstrong - Trumpet, Vocals
Kenny Johns - Drums
Billy Kyle - Piano
Arvel Shaw - Bass
Trummy Young - Trombone
Barnie Begard - Clarinet
Thelma Middleton - Vocals

Links: Louis Armstrong House Museum HERE.

Download links (two) in comments below.

R.E.M. - Athens, GA, USA 1981

2012-01-09T21:02:00.000Z

This is R.E.M. recorded live (soundboard sourced) at one of the bands local venues namely Tyrone's O.C., in Athens GA, USA, way back on the 23rd September 1981. This recording features both sets and includes the sound check (not proven but by sound quality etc generally agreed to be from this gig).

This was the bands 26th gig at Tyrone's O.C. the first at this venue taking place just over a year earlier on the 6th May 1980, and that performance was only their 5th ever full live gig. As regular home town shows go, the band sound incredible, full of natural energy, respectful of a growing local following and clearly enjoying and developing their craft.

Noting their early history wikipedia tells us: In January 1980, Michael Stipe met Peter Buck in the Athens record store where Buck worked. The pair discovered that they shared similar tastes in music, particularly punk rock and protopunk artists like Patti Smith, Television, and The Velvet Underground. Stipe said, "It turns out that I was buying all the records that [Buck] was saving for himself." Stipe and Buck soon met fellow University of Georgia students Mike Mills and Bill Berry, who had played music together since high school. The quartet agreed to collaborate on several songs; Stipe later commented that "there was never any grand plan behind any of it". Their still-unnamed band spent several months rehearsing and played its first show on April 5, 1980 at a friend's birthday party held in a converted Episcopal church in Athens. After considering names like "Twisted Kites", "Cans of Piss", and "Negro Wives", the band settled on "R.E.M.", which Stipe selected at random from a dictionary.

The band members eventually dropped out of school to focus on their developing group. They found a manager in Jefferson Holt, a record store clerk who was so impressed by an R.E.M. performance in his hometown of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, that he moved to Athens. R.E.M.'s success was almost immediate in Athens and surrounding areas; the band drew progressively larger crowds for shows, which caused some resentment in the Athens music scene. Over the next year and a half, R.E.M. toured throughout the Southern United States. Touring was arduous since a touring circuit for alternative rock bands did not then exist. The group had to tour in an old blue van driven by Holt, and the band members lived on a food allowance of $2 a day.

During the summer of 1981, R.E.M. recorded its first single, "Radio Free Europe", at producer Mitch Easter's Drive-In Studios in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The single was released on the local independent record label Hib-Tone with an initial pressing of one thousand copies, which quickly sold out. Despite its limited pressing, the single garnered critical acclaim, and was listed as one of the ten best singles of the year by The New York Times.

Source: Soundboard.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@192kbps.

Genre: Alternative rock, college rock, jangle pop.

Set: Full set.

Set List:

First Set:

01 Just A Touch
02 Ages Of You
03 1,000,000
04 Get On Their Way
05 There She Goes Again
06 Action
07 Wait
08 Sitting Still
09 Permanent Vacation
10 Mystery To Me

Second Set:
11 White Tornado
12 I Can't Control Myself
13 Burning Down
14 Shaking Through
15 Laughing
16 Romance
17 Pretty Persuasion
18 That Beat
19 Stumble
20 Radio Free Europe
21 Carnival Of Sorts (Boxcars)

Encore:

22 The Lion Sleeps Tonight
23 Skank
24 Gardening At Night
25 Windout
26 9-9

Sound check (most probably):

27 Unknown instrumental
28 Sitting still
29 100000030
30 The lion sleeps tonight

Links: Official HERE.

Download link in comments below.

The Rolling Stones - Handsome Girls (USA) 1978.

2012-01-06T22:00:00.000Z

This is a four CD box set bootleg of The Rolling Stones that was circulated originally on The Swingin' Pig label (TSP-CD-200) and in 1998 on the Dandelion label as part of their 'The Classic Rolling Stones Collection' (DL030 - DL033). The first two CD's include the entire Forth Worth show (which is also in the King Biscuit archives). CD's 3 and 4 have pretty much every song broadcast from the 1978 tour plus a few soundboard recordings that never made it to air. This version is sourced from the 'Dandelion' label boxed set and the audio quality is so good, it is of little surprise that mainstream bootleggers cashed in on the material (we of course do not!).

The Rolling Stones' US Tour 1978 took place during June and July 1978, immediately following the release of the group's 1978 album Some Girls (hence the bootlegs 'Handsome Girls' title). Like the 1972 and 1975 U.S.A. tours, Bill Graham was the tour promoter. One opening act was Peter Tosh, who was sometimes joined by Jagger for their duet "Don't Look Back". The tour used a stripped back, minimal stage show compared to the previous Tour of the Americas '75 and Tour of Europe '76, possibly due to the emergence of the punk rock scene and its emphasis solely on music and attitude rather than presenting a grandiose stage extravaganza.

From Wikipedia - The tour is widely believed among fans to be one of the band's greatest, largely because it was in many ways back to basics both in musical and visual terms. It meant a return to a mixture of classic Stones numbers ("Tumbling Dice," "Star Star," "Happy," "Street Fighting Man", etc.) mixed with blues numbers and Chuck Berry covers, as well as including a large number of songs from then newly released Some Girls LP. It was the first tour featuring songs written with Ron Wood as an official member of the Rolling Stones, and his contributions from this period are considered by many Stones fans as some of his greatest with the band. While no live album was released from this tour, a fair amount of bootleg releases showcases its musical qualities, most notably the multi-show King Biscuit Flower Hour FM recording mostly known as "Handsome Girls."

Guest artists that played with the Stones during individual shows included Linda Ronstadt, Sugar Blue, Doug Kershaw, Bobby Keys and Nicky Hopkins. Other opening Acts included Van Halen, Journey, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes and the Doobie Brothers.

Source: Pre FM Soundboard.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@320kbps.

Genre: Rock, blues, blues rock, rhythm and blues, rock and roll.

Set: Full set Fort Worth TX, plus many extras.

Set List:

CD 1 - Fort Worth, Texas - 18th July 1978.
1. Let It Rock
2. All Down The Line
3. Honky Tonk Women
4. Starf-cker
5. When The Whip Comes Down
6. Beast Of Burden
7. Miss You
8. Just My Imagination
9. Shattered
10. Respectable
11. Far Away Eyes
12. Love In Vain
13. Tumbling Dice
14. Happy

CD 2 - Fort Worth, 18th July 1978.
1. Sweet Little Sixteen
2. Brown Sugar
3. Jumping Jack Flash
Alternate Versions:
4. All Down The Line
5. Honky Tonk Women
6. Starf-cker
7. When The Whip Comes Down
8. Beast Of Burden
9. Shattered
10. Far Away Eyes
11. Jumping Jack Flash

CD 3.
1. Let It Rock (Detroit, MI - 7/6/78)
2. All Down The Line (Houston, TX - 7/19/78)
3. Honky Tonk Women (Houston, TX - 7/19/78)
4. Star Star (Houston, TX - 7/19/78)
5. When The Whip Comes Down (Detroit, MI - 7/6/78)
6. Lies (Houston, TX - 7/19/78)
7. Miss You (Detroit, MI - 7/6/78)
8. Beast Of Burden (Houston, TX - 7/19/78)
9. Shattered (Memphis, TN - 6/28/78)
10. Respectable (Houston, TX - 7/19/78)
11. Just My Imagination (Detroit, MI - 7/6/78)
12. Far Away Eyes (Lexington, KY - 6/29/78)
13. Tumbling Dice (Detroit, MI - 7/6/78)
14. Happy (Detroit, MI - 7/6/78)

CD 4.

1. Hound Dog (Memphis, TN - 6/28/78)
2. Sweet Little Sixteen (Houston, TX - 7/19/78)
3. Brown Sugar (Houston, TX - 7/19/78)
4. Jumpin' Jack Flash (Houston, TX - 7/19/78)
5. Miss You (Lexington, KY - 6/29/78)
6. Lies (Lexington, KY - 6/29/78)
7. Beast Of Burden (Lexington, KY - 6/29/78)
8. Shattered (Lexington, KY - 6/29/78)
9. Just My Imagination (Lexington, KY - 6/29/78)
10. Respectable (Lexington, KY - 6/29/78)
11. Sweet Little Sixteen (Lexington, KY - 6/29/78)

PLEASE NOTE CD1 AND CD2 WILL ONLY BE FEATURED HERE FOR A VERY LIMITED PERIOD FOR COLLECTORS.

Website: Official HERE.

Download links (five) in comments below.

Buffalo Springfield - California, USA 1967

2012-01-02T21:11:00.000Z

This is Buffalo Springfield recorded live at The Teen And Twenty Club, Huntington Beach, CA, USA back on August 11th, 1967.

A 'BigO' reader was most likely responsible for this version of the recording and commented "I have a recently unearthed recording of Buffalo Springfield at The Teen And Twenty Club in Huntington Beach, CA 1967. A friend of mine went to this show with a friend of his (they were both 16 years old at the time). They helped the roadie, and his friend brought an open-reel recorder and asked the band if he could tape it". The recorded quality suggests the reel to reel recorder was plugged into the sound mixer and is therefore of a professional standard.

Some of these songs were played on KPFK Radio in Los Angeles (1973 -74) by the taper, and the earliest 'partial' bootleg of this concert in circulation was sourced from that. To our knowledge this full recording has only been in circulation since 2010.

Buffalo Springfield went through some line up changes in 1967 and for short term member Doug Hastings, the Huntington show was sadly his last as Neil Young rejoined the group and Doug was unceremoniously dropped. During 1967 the band moved back and forth between recording sessions and live appearances on both coasts. A number of different bassists were used, such as Mike Barnes and Jim Fielder of the Mothers of Invention. In one instance, a live performance on the television show Hollywood Palace Buffalo Springfield's non-bass-playing road manager held a bass with his back to the camera while the band mimed to a prerecorded track.

Source: Soundboard to audience reel to reel.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@320kbps.

Genre: Rock, folk rock.

Set: Full set.

Set List:

First Set:
1. Pay The Price
2. Nobody’s Fool
3. Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing
4. Rock And Roll Woman
5. My Kind Of Love
6. For What It’s Worth
7. Bluebird

Second Set:
8. Mr. Soul
9. Go And Say Goodbye
10. Hung Upside Down
11. Midnight Hour
12. Do I Have To Come Right Out And Say It
13. Leave

Band Line Up:

Stephen Stills - guitar, vocal

Richie Furay - guitar, vocal
Doug Hastings - guitar
Bruce Palmer - bass
Dewey Martin - drums, vocal

Download link in comments below.

2011Candy - December Edition.

2011-12-29T20:18:00.001Z

Background: Canada has always been a great importer of indie pop. From Sloan to The New Pornographers, you never know what the Great North will produce. Meet your new favorite musical obsession, Andrew Johnston. Taking a page out of the book of great indie bands and stellar Canadian acts, Johnston will have your attention faster than you can say "awesome."

Based in Montreal, Andrew Johnston has been playing under his name, or the moniker Andrew vs. the Enabler since 2006. No stranger to music, Andrew played in the critically acclaimed group The Gentlemen’s Club, and appeared on JF Robitaille's brilliant album, Calendar. If you haven’t discovered Andrew Johnston yet, let the journey start today.

Now is the time for Johnston to branch out on his own. Grounded in the simplicity of easily hummed folk and pop tunes, Andrew’s heartfelt indie rock sound is ready to take the world by storm. On his most recent release, The Wake of the Wonder Years, influences of such high profile indies such as The Constantines and Matthew Sweet embrace a little bit of Hall and Oates-a combination that can't be beat. The 12-song album will astonish you with remarkable vocal layers, thunderous drums and deep grooves, with drummer George Donoso (High Dials) and bassist Alexandre Lapointe (Jason Bajada) as well as vocalist Amanda Mabro.

2011Candy Says: Musically this is just so well mixed and Andrew's vocals are spot on. Builds gently into a really special song.
Listen: Something You Already Know.
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Background: Washington DC-based quartet Deletes Scenes have debuted "The Days of Adderall" with Prefix, a new single taken from their sophomore full-length, Young People's Church of the Air. Building on the dark, heady feel of their championed 2009 debut, Birdseed Shirt, the new LP pushes the band's rhythm section further, experimenting with 80s pop, R&B, surf rock, dark funk, and Go-Go. Deleted Scenes kick off a string of East coast dates today with Jukebox the Ghost and The Spinto Band, and will embark on a national tour with Chicago-based art-pop band, A Lull, in January.

Their newest collection of songs originated in frontman Daniel Scheuerman's basement taking on a live identity over the course of 300 tour dates. Recorded at the Garden Center in Hockessin, DE, with Nick Krill (The Spinto Band) and Birdseed Shirt producer L. Skell, the album mixes themes of family, love, death, and joy incorporating studio sounds and home-recorded lo-fi noise. Young People's Church of the Air's title was fittingly taken from a 1930's radio-church hymnal Scheuerman found in an old piano bench at the Garden Center, and evokes the elusive and sometimes illusory nature of hope. Deleted Scenes have shared the stage with Cursive, Wild Nothing, Abe Vigoda, Black Kids, The Antlers, Medications, and Matt and Kim among others, and have performed at SXSW, CMJ, and Pop Montreal.

2011Candy Says: Harmonies surf over an interesting selection of instruments and sounds that just draw you in.
Listen: The Days of Adderall. Web: Blogspot.
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Background: Seeker Lover Keeper is a new band comprising Sally Seltmann (co writer Feist’s 1,2,3,4), Sarah Blasko (Australian icon) and Holly Throsby (singer songwriter extraordinaire). They are prepping their North American debut with their brand new, self-titled LP Seeker Lover Keeper, for release on January 17, 2012 on Spunk Records.

Individually, they’re known as three of Australia’s most innovative songwriters. Sarah Blasko writes haunting songs that veer from intimate ballads to orchestral showstoppers, and sings with what’s now one of the most recognizable voices in Australian music. Sally Seltmann specializes in narcotic, dreamy, sweeping pop, aided by layers of cotton-soft vocals, pianos and synths. Holly Throsby is known for summoning melodies that sound beautifully crumpled, worn, and decades old. Together, these three musical forces form one of the most buzzed about indie folk groups to emerge in recent years.

All three are distinct talents, but there are common threads between their songwriting too: an underlying sense of nostalgia; the golden, sing-along pop tunes; and the complicated lyrics about seeking love, and how difficult it is to hold onto it once you’ve got it. It makes sense that the three of them would be good friends. Get them together in the same room—or even the same phone line—and it doesn’t take long before they recall shared stories and descend into fits of laughter. But get them together in the studio or on stage, and you’ve got an entirely new band: Seeker Lover Keeper. The album was co produced by Victor Van Vugt (Nick Cave, PJ Harvey) in New York City. Sally, Holly and Sarah played all instruments on the album except bass which was provided by Shizad Ismaly (Bonnie Prince Billy) and drums from Jim White (Dirty Three).

Sally Seltmann has released three albums in North America through Arts and Crafts, and is the co-writer of Feist's '1234’. Sally formerly recorded under the name New Buffalo. Sarah Blasko has released three albums worldwide via Universal. Her last album 2009’s As Day Follows Night was produced by Bjorn Yttling (Peter, Bjorn & John). Holly Throsby has released four albums via Spunk Records in Australia and Southern Records for the rest of the world. All three have toured extensively internationally. Holly Throsby supported Tallest Man on Earth through Europe in 2009; Sarah Blasko recently finished a headline tour of Europe (and supports to Lykke Li) and Sally Seltmann has opened for everyone from Feist to Broken Social Scene and done her own tours of North America.

2011Candy Says: I think Seeker Lover Keeper may well gain a lot of interest and acclaim in 2012, I hope so because they are superb and this song is only one aspect of a really delightful act.
Listen: Light All My Lights. Web: Facebook.
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Background: Oxford, UK-based quartet Jonquil announce their forthcoming full-length, Point of Go, set for a February 21st release with Dovecote Records (The Futureheads, Hooray For Earth). The album follows their recently released split 7" single with Solid Gold Dragons (Jonquil bass/trumpet player Sam Scott), and their radiant One Hundred Suns EP, celebrated for it's upbeat tempos and creative integration of afro and indie-pop. Fronted by Hugo Manuel, who also performs under the solo moniker Chad Valley, the quartet recently returned stateside for CMJ '11, following a phenomenal US spring debut where they performed three sold-out New York sets in 48 hours.

Point Of Go emerges as a glimmeringly positive step in a new direction, a record that is, in their own words, "far more poppy and accessible" than anything they've previously written. Recorded over a six-week period in a farmhouse studio it takes the band's summery flourishes and intricate guitars, and strips them back to a set of immediate, direct pop songs. With influences rooted firmly in the past - from Fleetwood Mac to The Smiths, Chic and Earth, Wind and Fire to Arthur Russell - the quartet's LP is an exercise in classic pop sensibilities held up by a modern backbone. Point of Go will be released in the rest of the world by Blessing Force; a growing community of artists, musicians and writers in Oxford (UK) that involves the band's other projects Chad Valley, Pocket House and Solid Gold Dragons.

2011Candy Says: Gotta keep the British music flag flying here on Beehive Candy and Jonquil make that a simple task. Great band and Mexico is one fine song.
Listen: Mexico. Web: Facebook.
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Background: Portland-based dream-pop group Radiation City has debuted a new single "Babies" as well as it's remix from Portland-based artist PoPoPePe, both available for free mp3 download at SoundCloud. Wrapping up a successful two-week recording session at their Trout Lake, Washington mountain cabin, the band will continue to work on their sophomore full-length set for a 2012 release.

"Babies" is the third single from the group's lauded full-length debut, The Hands That Take You, available now through Tender Loving Empire (Typhoon, Loch Lomond). Originally out via cassette on Radiation City founders Cameron Spies and Lizzy Ellison's cassette-only record label Apes Tapes, the album has been lauded by MTV, ELLE, Paste, FuseTV, Prefix, and The L Magazine among others, with NYLON saying, "Their dreamy, faraway sound reminds us of a sunshiny marriage between Reading Rainbow and the Dum Dum Girls...Either way, let's just say it's really good." The band recently released a new sampler Mixed Ape 3 with Apes Tapes and will perform a special Portland NYE's set covering OutKast's "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" album in it's entirety.

12/31 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios w/ Nurses, Wild Ones, DJ Beyonda

2011Candy Says: I went for the remix version to feature as it has a really different take on the band and gives glimpses of them through some quirky sounds, the original is really worth checking out, you only get part of the story on the remix.
Listen: Babies (Popopepe Remix). Web: Muxtape.
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Background: Before bands like Real Estate and Beirut took over the ear’s of music listeners, indie rock has had a quite a journey. Meet the true legends of indie music, The Thousand Pities. Hailing from New Jersey, the seasoned group of musicians have a story to tell within each and every song, and they are here to tell you about their intriguing musical journey. Just releasing their first single “What If Everyone is Wrong,” off of Believe in Sound, the guys are ready to captivate you with their catchy brand of rock.

For fans of resident Jersey boy Pete Yorn, be ready to be in awe of what The Thousand Pities have to offer. Memorable hooks, and brilliantly bright guitars, will make you not want to leave 2011 without putting this song on your Year End List. Astonishing harmonies fill the room as tones echo throughout making one of the perfect blends of pop and rock.

The Thousand Pities are no stranger to music, that’s for sure. Formed by Matthew Davis, who has played in seminal late 80’s and early 90’s band, The Vestrymen, that had shared the stage with Aimee Mann’s ‘Til Tuesday, American Music Club, Robyn Hitchcock, Green Day and Belly. Putting the band to rest in 1994, Davis still had a deep passion for making music that didn’t re-emerge until 2006.

Recruiting guitarist Michael Carlucci (Winter Hours, East of Venus), keyboardist Billy Donohue (Vestrymen, John Cale, Inger Lore, The Blases), drummer Ken Meyer (Life in a Blender), guitarist/singer Matt Friedlander (Painted Birds, The Miscreants), and bassist Racine Romaguera.

Hold on tight, this is about to be one hell of a ride. Take a listen to “What If Everyone is Wrong,” and let The Thousand Pities prove to you that they are right.

2011Candy Says: Powerful New Jersey rock that oozes the passion and power you would expect of Bruce Springsteen. These guys are their own band and this is a great intro to the band.
Listen: What If Everyone Is Wrong. Web: Official.
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Background: Singer/songwriter/composer/lyricist Jeremy Schonfeld’s compositions have won numerous awards and been performed in front of captivated crowds but his latest project Iron and Coal is Jeremy’s biggest project yet. Produced by Werner Stranka & Martin Gellner for Beat 4 feet Productions, the album is simultaneously accessible and unpredictable. Listeners are invited on a lyrically personal ride that includes musical styling ranging from rock to full orchestral sounds.

Recorded in Vienna, Austria, Jeremy had internally debated Iron and Coal for years, but it wasn’t until his father fell ill that he began to write the project. The result is a raw take on the things he saw, felt and experienced from adolescence to adulthood as a child and grandchild of Holocaust survivors. As fate would have it Jeremy’s father passed away at the age of 77 on the exact date that Iron and Coal was being mastered. “I created this album as a tribute to my father, my grandparents, and to all of those who survived the Holocaust and their children who grew up living beneath the shadows of those horrific experiences,” says Jeremy.

The singer/songwriter concept album is not a new undertaking for Jeremy, his Drift album was translated into a production as a benefit concert at BB Kings in New York City starring Adam Pascal, Julia Murney, Terrence Mann, Jarrod Emick, and Adam Kantor, among others. It garnered Schonfeld several “Best of…” honors including “Best Show of 2009” from Triangle Arts & Entertainment, and “Best Original Music” from Indy Week.

Jeremy’s stage show is also very impressive. Recent performances include Madison Square Garden, Birdland, Joe’s Pub, BB Kings, The Public Theatre, Symphony Space, and Lincoln Center, the Upright Cabaret in Los Angeles, 14th Street Playhouse in Atlanta and Boston University’s “BU on Broadway” series. He’s also a regularly featured performer on the Rock and Roll concert series “Rockers on Broadway.”

2011Candy Says: The promo suggested Gordon Lightfoot as one reference point for Jeremy, well that may be true to a point but there is a natural energy and feel as this song demonstrates that stamps his own style all over the music. This song tease us with some magical horns but never overstates any one element - great.
Listen: Yet. Web: Official.
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Background: We have featured Pree before and they are such favorites of us that we will just do it all again. After touring for two years with Le Loup, guitarist May Tabol returned home to launch a new project with a close group of friends converging in the DC arts scene. Now playing as a four-piece, Pree combines a wide variety of folk instrumentation with electric and digital elements to create a unique sound brimming with layered melodies and contagious energy.

Folly was written and recorded over the course of several heat waves and snow storms by May and her cohorts in a rotating cast of bedrooms, basements, and attics across the District, bearing witness to two foreclosures, a bit of squatting, a larger bit of eviction, and a subsequent life shuffle that would rival that of a wind-addled gypsy moth. This patchwork, guerilla style recording, which grew out of necessity, ultimately served to instill a sense of tension throughout the record leaving one hanging on despite the imminence of something so delicate falling apart.

2011Candy Says: Unashamed fans of Pree are we (oops we have some poetry going on). Oh this song is just gorgeous, hence we feature them again.
Listen: Lemon Tree. Web: Bandcamp.
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Background: Featured track "Juan Loco" is a compelling and powerful representation of the unique hybrid of metal, latin and jazz that is the unmistakable signature of Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero - Rodrigo Y Gabriela. For Area 52, the duo took their sound a step further into the unknown -- "Juan Loco" now boasts a 13-piece Cuban Orchestra and brilliant bass by Carles Benavent, who has played with the likes of Paco De Lucia, Chick Corea and Miles Davis.

About the track, Rodrigo says, "For 'Juan Loco,' we decided to get Carles Benavent to play the bass as well as he did on 11:11 because it felt like he could just change the rhythm in terms of the bass line, in terms of making it a little bit less latin and more kind of his way - you know, which could be jazzy, could be more flamenco based style or whatever. And it goes well with the guitars because it's a very hyper-active track in terms of playability and he suits perfectly for these kinds of tracks."

JT Area 52 was produced by the legendary Peter Asher and will come out on January 24th, 2012. The record contains nine of Rod and Gab's favorite songs from their own catalogue re-arranged and re-configured for a 13-piece Cuban orchestra comprised of some of Havana's finest young players, collectively known as C.U.B.A. It's Rodrigo y Gabriela's first recorded collaboration with another group of musicians.

Area 52 was mixed by Rafa Sardina, one of the leading studio musicians in the Latin music world, and arranged by London-based pianist, composer and arranger Alex Wilson. Recording took place in the Miramar district of Havana, Cuba, at Abdala Studios, founded by the Cuban folk hero Silvio Rodriguez, as well as at Rod and Gab's studio in Ixtapa, Mexico. Other players on the record include: drummer John Tempesta (The Cult, Testament, White Zombie), sitarist Anoushka Shankar and drummer Samuel Formell (Los Van Van).

2011Candy Says: Superb to see live Rodrigo y Gabriela are annoyingly talented and make the whole thing look too simple for the frustrated would be guitarist within me! 2012 is gonna start with some fantastic new music, case in point here.
Listen: Juan Loco. Web: Official.
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Background: Hidden Shoal Recordings recently announced the release of ‘Supply Chins’, the second single from Perth’s widescreen indie-rock craftsmen Umpire, taken from their brilliant 2011 debut album Now We’re Active.

On an album crammed to breaking point with hooks, ‘Supply Chins’ has perhaps the catchiest hooks of all. Alternating between a massive fist-pumping chorus and reflective verses, the song builds towards a breathtaking climax punctuated by sumptuous horns, weaving vocals and driving guitars. This is indie-rock at its most unashamedly anthemic.

Umpire combine sprawling indie-rock sounds with reflective melancholy, expertly wielding massive sun-drenched melodies, serpentine guitar parts and soaring vocals to spectacular effect. From singles ‘Green Light District’ and ‘Supply Chins’ through the chiming guitar surge of ‘The Canyon’ to gorgeous finale ‘Cyclones Into Sunshowers’, Now We’re Active is a stunning release, as expansive as it is propulsive, as heartbreaking as it is life-affirming. Its easy to hear how the band won the WAMi Song of the Year for their track 'Streamers' in 2009.

2011Candy Says: Umpire get a second mention from us this year, well why not they are giving this fine song away, the very least we can do is say thanks, so thank you Umpire!
Listen: Supply Chins. Web: Free Download.
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Background: Cairo Knife Fight, New Zealand’s electrifying power rock duo, makes an intergalactic impact on US ground as they announce the arrival of their sonic sound to this year’s 2012 SXSW Festival in Austin, TX. Cairo Knife Fight, who released their second EP “II” via Liberation Music in August 2011, is comprised of drummer / lead vocalist Nick Gaffaney and Aaron Tokona on guitar and effects. Together, this potent pair issues forth pulsating guitar riffs illuminated with haunting vocals and phantasmal effects which have taken the stage alongside Foo Fighters, Them Crooked Vultures and Queens of The Stone Age. Says Gaffaney of the band’s sound, "It's about the sound of it, the power of it and the experimentation within it.”

Cairo Knife Fight’s music whips up a melodic storm of riff-fired power that takes your mind, body and soul on a hallucinatory rock 'n' roll ride. Think: Radiohead meets Kyuss meets Sigur Ros. The band’s vibe is just as alluring and forceful as their music, having booted down the back door of New York's influential CMJ music festival in 2010 to get themselves a gig and get noticed; and this year they got the official invite to return. In addition, not many bands can claim to have been personally invited to support the Foo Fighters twice in a year -- Cairo Knife Fight opened for the Foo Fighters at the band's special Christchurch Earthquake benefit show in March 2011 at the Auckland Town Hall and will again in mid-December at Western Springs.

Their 2012 debut appearance at SXSW in Austin, TX marks a milestone in the band’s career as they are officially invited to hypnotize the audience of one of the most prominent music festivals on US soil with their epic, hallucinatory rock ‘n’ roll sound. Get to know Cairo Knife Fight’s gritty, mesmerising music and be prepared for their mosh-inducing live performances as they bring their heralded sound from down under to the US.

2011Candy Says: If the bands name does not grab your attention then this number will at the very least wake you up. They rock so loud there must be a couple of other members hidden away somewhere?
Listen: The Origin Of Slaves. Web: Official.
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Background: Hailing from Ypsilanti, MI, Lightning Love have announced their forthcoming EP, Girls Who Look Like Me, with Quite Scientific Records (Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Cotton Jones). Comprised of Ben Collins (guitar), and siblings Aaron (drums) and Leah Diehl (vocals and keys), the young indie-pop trio started out when they were 16 and has repeatedly been awarded with "Best Indie" and "Best Pop Band" in Detroit by local publications. Leah was nominated this year for "Best Songwriter" at the Detroit Music Awards and the video for their single "Good Time," taken from their debut LP November Birthday, was featured on Pitchfork, and NME among others. The band performed at CMJ '11 and is preparing for an upcoming Chicago set and appearance at Ypsilanti's MITTENFEST IV.

Lightning Love's Girls Who Look Like Me is an amalgam of songs written at two different points in time - songs about differences in the way you feel about things as time pass. Both this record and their yet-to-be-titled full-length show a band who has grown since their first release. Moving on from the emotions that fuelled that first record, with time came advances in the band's ability to put down their ideas on tape. For Lightning Love, the process of recording their own albums is part and parcel to how these albums came into existence. Ben Collins' background in recording began an ability to document their growth over the past few years, as the band weaved in and out of relationships, strife, and the process of, well, being a bit older than you were a few years before.

2011Candy Says: Indie pop with a tinge of electro in this uptempo song. Simple sounds and wonderful vocals.
Listen: Deadbeat. Web: Official.
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Background: The Los Angeles based indie folk rock group, The Mowgli's, will be playing a series of shows late this December (you've missed them) and January in the Los Angeles area. They will be making stops at The Roxy, Moscow at Boardners, and the Bootleg Theater alongside the likes of Death!Death!Die!, Jason Ellis, COYOL, and Molly Marlette.

The Mowgli’s are quite simply a group of friends who love nothing more than to make music together, listen to music together, and grow musically from one another. Blending country, blues, and folk with classic Rock n Roll, they add poetic lyrics that they hope people all over the world can feel. Best known and appreciated for their energetic stage presence, The Mowgli’s put on a show that the audience feels happy to be a part of. At the beginning and end of it all, The Mowgli’s are a California band with California soul.

If you're feeling generous this holiday season, donate a little money (or help spread the word) about The Mowgli's Kickstarter campaign to raise money for their new album.

1/8 Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg Theater w/ COYOL, Molly Marlette.

2011Candy Says: If you like the demo, it's fair to say the band deserve to make the album, lets hope so, this is a great finish to this round up, get set for some great tunes in 2012 & hopefully The Mowgli's will be up there amongst it all.
Listen: San Francisco. Web: Facebook, and Kickstarter Campaign.
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Listen:

Nicolette Larson - Strawberry Music Festival 1986.

2011-12-26T20:21:00.000Z

This is a recording of Nicolette Larson performing at the Strawberry Music Festival, Camp Mather, Yosemite, CA, USA back on August 29th, 1986.

Nicolette Larson is perhaps best known for her work in the late 1970s with Neil Young, as well as her 1978 cover of Young's "Lotta Love". The song, her debut single, was a Number One Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks hit and number 8 pop hit that year. It was followed by four more Adult Contemporary hits, two of which were also minor pop hits. Nicolette's work with Emmylou Harris on the album Luxury Liner (1977) prominently showcased her on the cut "Hello Stranger" and led to her meeting Harris' associate and friend Linda Ronstadt who became friends with Nicolette. In the spring of 1977 Nicolette was at Ronstadt's Malibu home when neighbor Neil Young phoned to ask Ronstadt if she could recommend a female vocal accompanist, and Ronstadt suggested Larson, becoming the fifth person that day to put Larson's name forward to Young. Young came over to meet Larson who recalled: "Neil ran down all the songs he had just written, about twenty of them. We sang harmonies with him and he was jazzed."

The following week Ronstadt and Larson cut their vocals for Young's American Stars 'n Bars album at Young's La Honda ranch — the two women were billed on the album as the Saddlebags. In November 1977 Young invited Nicolette to Nashville to sing on the sessions for his Comes a Time album, an assignment which led to Nicolette's being signed to Warner Brothers, an affiliate of Young's home label Reprise. Nicolette continued her session singing career into 1978 accruing credit on recordings by Marcia Ball, Rodney Crowell, Emmylou Harris' (Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town) and Norton Buffalo. Nicolette also contributed vocals to the Doobie Brothers' Minute by Minute whose producer Ted Templeman would be responsible for Larson's debut album Nicolette.

By 1985, she shifted her focus to country music, charting six times on the Hot Country Singles (now Hot Country Songs) charts. Her only Top 40 country hit was "That's How You Know When Love's Right", a duet with Steve Wariner. She sadly died in 1997 at just 45 years of age.

Source: FM Broadcast.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@192kbps.

Genre: Rock, Country, Pop, Lullaby.

Set: Full set.

Set List:

01. The Angels Rejoiced
02. Comes A Time
03. Only Love Can Make It Right
04. Mexican Divorce
05. Sometimes You Just Can’t Win
06. That’s How You Know Love’s Right
07. Blow On Chilly Wind
08. If I Didn’t Love You
09. Untitled
10. Keep Us Apart
11. When You Get A Little Lonely
12. Ain’t Livin’ Long Like This
13. MC banter & crowd
14. Pink Cadillac
15. MC banter

Website: Tribute HERE.

Download link in comments below.

Sandy Denny - London 1972

2011-12-22T21:06:00.000Z

This is a recording of Sandy Denny live at the Eltham Well Hall Open Theatre, London, back on May 8th, 1972. This was apparently an open air gig with folding chairs provided for the audience.

The recording was made on a Radio Shack $20 cassette recorder with a built in condenser mic, and considering this, the sound quality is surprisingly listenable with clear vocals and instruments and very little 'noise or hiss'. The recording made it on to DAT and kept the quality as close to the original standard as possible. For fans of Sandy this really is a must have. Richard Thompson was also in the band.

Sandy Denny's second solo album, Sandy (with a cover photograph by David Bailey) was released in 1972 and for many remains her most cohesive musical statement as a singer and songwriter.

Source: Audience recording.

Sound Quality: Mono very listenable mp3@160kbps.

Genre: Folk, electric folk.

Set: Full set.

Set List:

01 For Nobody To Hear
02 Bushes & Briars
03 Love's Made A Fool Of You
04 The Music Weaver
05 Crazy Lady Blues
06 Reynard The Fox
07 Sweet Rosemary
08 Matty Groves
09 It'll Take A Long Time
10 The Lady
11 John The Gun
12 Down In The Flood
13 When Will I Be Loved
14 Rigs Of Time

Website: Official HERE.

Download link in comments below.

Richard Thompson - Fetzer Vineyards, USA, 1997

2011-12-18T21:30:00.000Z

This is Richard Thompson live in concert at Fetzer Vineyards, Hopland, CA, USA, back on June 22nd, 1997.

During the previous year (1996), Richard released the album 'You? Me? Us?' however only two tracks from that album were included in this concert, which in part demonstrates the powerful back catalogue he had built up over the years.

That album showcased his versatile abilities in both acoustic and electric formats, Thompson devoted one disc to each. The 'Nude' disc features pared down, poetically emotive arrangements, and the second disc, 'Voltage Enhanced', demonstrates his blistering electric guitar work with a full band.

Also in 1997 he worked with long-time friend and band member Danny Thompson (not related) and recorded a concept album 'Industry' that dealt with the decline of British industry. Featuring a variety of musical and vocal styles, Industry was the basis for a BBC documentary, which aired in UK in May of that year. Featuring compositions based on themes from the industrial revolution to Britain's faltering mining industry, the album was performed live, in its entirety, at only five locations in Britain. Despite the amount of time involved in that venture this concert does not include any material from that album.

However when we consider the many different ventures Richard has been involved with along with his solo career, it is not surprising that the two were separated, indeed check his set lists from tour to tour and the variety of material covered is quite astonishing.

Source: Soundboard (Sony PCM-F1 - record).

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@192kbps.

Genre: Folk rock, electric folk, acoustic, alternative rock, folk.

Set: Full set.

Set List:

01 intro by Emcee, Doug Green)
02 Turning Of The Tide
03 Bathsheba Smiles
04 From Galway To Graceland
05 I Feel So Good
06 The Ghost Of You Walks
07 Hamlet (Dog Eat Dog In Denmark)
08 Drifting Through The Days
09 1952 Vincent Black Lightning
10 Pharaoh

11 Don't Sit On My Jimmy Shands
12 Hide It Away
13 Wall Of Death
14 Razor Dance
15 Beeswing
16 I Misunderstood
17 Walking On A Wire
18 Two Left Feet
19 Waltzing's For Dreamers
20 Don't Roll Those Bloodshot Eyes At Me

Website: Official HERE.

Download link in comments below.

Beehive's Missing Files - Use The New Page Above

2011-12-15T08:00:00.000Z

Checkout our new replacement file page using the second tab at the top of the page!

We have just re-uploaded four more replacement music files (15th December 2011) and all details can be found on the new page from now on.

You can also report any dead links and missing files by leaving a comment and we will do our best to replace them as time permits.

What wonderful people we are at Beehive Candy, and you can be even more wonderful to! Check out the new file links and if you (yes you!) reported a deleted file link, help your self to the replacement file.

Elvis Costello and the Rude Five - Tour Rehearsals USA 1991

2011-12-12T20:26:00.000Z

This is Elvis Costello and the Rude Five during their tour rehearsals at the Arlington Theatre, Santa Barbara, California, USA back in May, 1991.

The notes that accompanied this recording state, 'this is said to be the last night of a week of tour rehearsals at the Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara, recorded just before the start of the "Mighty Like A Rose" tour in 1991 (which began May 25th in Santa Barbara)'.

If 1990 proved to be a fairly low key year for Elvis Costello, he definately made up for it in 1991 by recording two albums: "Mighty Like A Rose" and "Kojak Variety", although the tapes for the latter were put away for a rainy day (and didn’t see the light of that rainy day until 1995).

He then spent much of the rest of the year touring around the world with a combo dubbed "The Rude Five", even though only four of them (Marc Ribot, Jerry Scheff, Larry Knechtel and Pete Thomas) usually played live with Costello (the fifth member was Steven Soles). Marc Ribot was unable to make the dates for the Japanese and Australian shows at the end of the tour in September, and The Rude Five became The Rude Four, with Elvis Costello handling all the lead and rhythm guitar duties.

Source: Soundboard (DAT clone).

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@192kbps.

Genre: Punk rock, Pub rock, New Wave.

Set: Rehearsal.

Set List:

01 (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes
02 Invasion Hit Parade
03 Watch Your Step
04 Georgie And Her Rival
05 Home Is Anywhere You Hang Your Head
06 Suit Of Lights
07 So Like Candy
08 Accidents Will Happen
09 You Bowed Down
10 Hidden Charms
11 All Grown Up
12 Couldn't Call It Unexpected No 4
13 The Other Side Of Summer
14 Strange
15 How To Be Dumb
16 Alison
17 Sweet Pear
18 Bama Lama Bama Loo
19 Playboy To A Man
20 Everybody's Crying Mercy

Line-Up:

Marc Ribot - guitar

Pete Thomas - drums

Jerry Scheff - bass

Larry Knechtel - keyboards

Website: Official HERE.

Download link in comments below.

Blind Boys Of Alabama - Austria 2009

2011-12-05T21:00:00.000Z

This is the Blind Boys of Alabama recorded live at Congress, Salzburg, Austria back on October 30th, 2009. The source was Austrian Radio OE1 who subsequently broadcast the concert on December 21st, 2009.

The Blind Boys of Alabama are a gospel and blues group from Alabama that first formed at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind at Talladega, Alabama in 1939. The three main vocalists of the group and their drummer and percussionist are all blind.

As of 2011 (and checking their current schedule into 2012), The Blind Boys of Alabama continue to tour nationally and internationally, with Jimmy Carter singing lead vocals. In 2006, Clarence Fountain, the group's former long-time lead vocalist and founding member limited his touring for health reasons. Founding member George Scott died on March 9th, 2005 at the age of 75. Another founding member, Johnny Fields, died on November 12th, 2009.

Releases by the group in recent years have been favorites at the Grammy Awards—they won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album four straight years between 2002 and 2005. The Blind Boys of Alabama were inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2009, they were awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In April 2011, the band released Take The High Road in Australia and followed it with a headlining tour that included the East and West Coast Bluesfest and the Sydney Opera House. The CD, which was also released in the U.S. on May 3rd, features guest artists Willie Nelson, Vince Gill, Lee Ann Womack, Hank Williams, Jr., The Oak Ridge Boys, and Nashville heavyweight Jamey Johnson, who also co-produced the record.

Source: FM (cable radio).

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@320kbps.

Genre: Gospel, Blues.

Set: Broadcast set.

Set List:

01. Down By the Riverside
02. God Said It (That's Good Enough For Me)
03. People get ready
04. Spirit in the sky
05. Way Down In The Hole
06. Uncloudy day
07. There will be a light
08. Let's Make a Better World
09. Free at last
10. Amazing Grace
11. Look Where He Brought Me from
12. Higher Ground

Line-Up:

Jimmy Lee Carter: vocals
Bishop Billy Bowers: vocals
Ben Moore: vocals
Joey Williams: g, vocals
Tracy Pierce: bass
Peter Levin: organ
Eric 'Ricky' McKinnie: drums, vocals

Website: Official HERE.

Download link in comments below.

2011Candy - November Edition

2011-11-30T16:35:00.000Z

Background: For those of you who follow folk on Twitter, you may well want to add Marissa Nadler to your selection. In recent weeks she has given away a number of songs from her 'Covers Volume II' album, in fact if you check over there now you may well still be in for a rather nice treat. Covers Volume II follows her critically acclaimed self titled full-length out now on her own Box of Cedar Records.

After releasing several albums with Kemado (and having one of her songs inspire the name for vinyl start-up Mexican Summer), Marissa Nadler ventured out independently for her critically acclaimed self-titled album, which has been featured on NPR "World Cafe: Next," NPR First Listen, Vogue, KEXP, Pitchfork 'Overlooked Records of 2011' with an 8.1 album review, and as one of SPIN's "5 Best New Artists for June 2011," among others.

Marissa Nadler released her first album, Ballads of Living and Dying, on Eclipse Records in 2004; her follow-up, The Saga of Mayflower May, was released in July 2005. Both albums have been long standing favorites at Beehive Candy and the positive reviews she has received over the last few years have in our opinion, been totally deserved. If you are new to Marissa then don't just take our word for recommending a listen - Her voice was described by the popular online music website Pitchfork Media as "a voice you would follow straight into Hades". In the Boston Globe, her voice and music is described: "She has a voice that, in mythological times, could have lured men to their deaths at sea, an intoxicating soprano drenched in gauzy reverb that hits bell-clear heights, lingers, and tapers off like rings of smoke. Hardly anyone considers Nadler a folk musician."

2011Candy Says: What can we add to the comments above, this is a haunting song that takes Bruce Springsteen's original into another dimension. Superb.

Featured: The River. Web: Official.

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Background: Dutch soul-act Fuel Box is going to release their dark debut-album "I" on 14th December, worldwide.

Fuel Box combines old, bluesy soul, dark dub and modern hip-hop into catchy, psychedelic, soul pop songs. (Don't worry, this is not another retro-soul ripoff...). On December 14, 2011 the complete, 14 track album "I" (One) will be released worldwide.

Producer Joshua Boon composed and produced the songs, while soul singer Remy Britsemmer laid the vocals down as they took a few years during turbulent times recording in (bath)rooms of old and dilapidated houses. Occasionally, they received help from guest musicians, but the only other vocalist on the album is Holland's legendary old skool rapper Deams (Gang Starr family, early Urban Dance Squad, Zulu Nation). Deams recently released the "The Legacy" EP, by the way, featuring De La Soul, Chuck D, Ice-T, Jeru the Damaja & Big Daddy Kane.

Fuel Box made it to the selection of Soul & Jazz talent on national Radio 6 and received airplay on multiple programs. They were also rewarded with positive reviews, interviews and entries in several print magazines and websites and through music blogs worldwide. Tracks were also featured in Game Kings (Dutch MTV) and the national campaign VrijSOAVrij.

2011Candy Says: We featured the band back in May and having now had a chance to listen to the new album in full, we urge you to check these guys out. New music is alive and kicking!

Featured: Get Out. Web: Official.

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Background: Forget everything you know about Scout. With All Those Relays, the band’s first album since 2003, Ashen Keilyn has deconstructed her band and put it back together piece-by-piece — new players, new producers and, most importantly, the best songs of Keilyn’s career. Scout’s new chapter finds Keilyn simultaneously at her most emotionally raw and her toughest yet, creating an album both empowering and vulnerable — and catchy as hell.

It all adds up to mean the breathless praise piled on her music from Billboard, SPIN, The New York Times and others rings true today. As the Village Voice wrote, “Ashen Keilyn is a star.”

Scout dropped its debut EP, Someplace Would Be Nice, in 1998 on Chrysalis; its breakthrough album, It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time, followed just two years later. On the strength of huge buzz from the album, Scout appeared on NBC’s “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” became an “Editor’s Choice” pick at Amazon.com, had tracks featured in films and TV, and toured with rock icons Sunny Day Real Estate.

After the 2003 follow-up The Soft Life, though, it was time to take a break. Keilyn began working with other musicians and recording with new producers, but one thing was apparent: Ashen Keilyn was the beating heart of Scout, no matter who rounded out the lineup.

With that freedom, Keilyn set out to create All Those Relays, inspired by music, film, and the idiosyncrasies of everyday life. Scout’s new music was created organically, each song born exactly when it was ready. Some ache with the melancholy of Cat Power. Some float like the folk of Azure Ray. But each track is anchored by her hushed voice. Keilyn took her time with this music, and her careful, relaxed writing makes for gorgeous, free-flowing songs.

2011Candy Says: A driving beat that at first seems at odds with the vocals simply connects into a great song.

Featured: Please Excuse Me. Web: Official.

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Background: Performing their way down around the US at present, Yukon Blonde have be transforming their beards into waxed and groomed mustaches in support this year's Movember campaign.

Their recently released Fire//Water EP was produced by Colin Stewart (Black Mountain, Ladyhawk) the four song follow up to the quartet's Polaris and WCMA award nominated debut LP was written partially while on the road, and partially while off the road at a cottage in the Comox Valley (BC). The band recorded a total of 15 songs over the course of the summer, and the remaining 11 tracks will be featured on their sophomore LP in early 2012.

Yukon Blonde's career has so far been marked by their on-the-road ethic. Last fall they embarked on a 30+ date tour supporting Good Old War, as well as several headlining runs down each coast. This summer the young B.C. band played at Milwaukee Summerfest with Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros and the last year and a half has seen them rack up nonstop tour mileage both in North America, and Europe, including festivals such as SXSW, CMJ and Popkomm Festival in Berlin along the way. Make sure to check them out this fall as they wind through the entire country.

01 Dec - Ames, IA @ The Maintenance Shop *

02 Dec - Omaha, NE @ Slowdown Jr *

03 Dec - Kansas City, MO @ Riot Room *

04 Dec - Oklahoma city, OK @ The Conservatory *

06 Dec - Little Rock, AR @ Juanita's Cantina *

07 Dec - Dallas, TX @ Double Wide *

08 Dec - Houston, TX @ Fitz Downstairs *

09 Dec - Austin, TX @ Emo's Inside *

11 Dec - Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge *

13 Dec - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court *

14 Dec -Boise, ID @ Neurolox *

16 Dec - Spokane, WA @ A Club *

17 Dec - Seattle, WA @ Crocodile *

18 Dec - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir *

21 Dec - San Francisco, CA @ Brick & Mortar Music Hall *

22 Dec - San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar *

23 Dec - Los Angeles @ The Echo

29 Dec - New South Wales, Australia- Peats Ridge Festival Glenworth Valley

* All US shows after Nov 15 co-headline w/ The Fling.

2011Candy Says: Fine harmonies from this alt country/rock act that reminds me of C.S.N and Young with a lot more energy.

Featured: Fire. Web: Official.

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Background: The Handcuffs embody the spirit of rock music's uninhibited, sexy and overbearing appeal. Perfectly blending style and energy, they do not sound like anyone else, but at the same time they seem very familiar. They are influenced by everything good that sells and anything good that doesn't. Rock music is loud (not just in volume, but in its nature), pompous and fun and The Handcuffs embrace every reckless minute of it.

Chloe F. Orwell, the designated blonde of the duo, is the lead singer whose stage presence and vocal style oozes sex and scorches and rock and roll. She can slide from a corduroy growl to a shimmering silky sigh in a Detroit second.

Brad Elvis, the other half of The Handcuffs, is a black-haired, four-handed drummer whose manic-panic style paints a 747 jet rhythm to every Handcuffs tune. Brad is also the chief songwriter (although Orwell is known to have a song or two stashed in her boots) and one of the visionaries of the duo. Bam!

The Chicago-based pair originally teamed up when Elvis recruited Orwell as lead vocalist and contributing songwriter for his band Big Hello, which released three critically acclaimed CDs, played hundreds of shows and received airplay on college and commercial radio all over the globe. Their potent creative chemistry earned the duo praise from fans and critics alike for their musicianship and showmanship, plus accolades in the mainstream and alternative press throughout the world.

The Handcuffs evolved from Elvis and Orwell’s desire to explore a broad sonic territory while still believing in the power of a great radio hook. Their songs are fresh yet timeless, edgy yet accessible, skillfully crafted yet easily memorable. Their influences range from Bowie to Bacharach, P.J. Harvey to the Pixies, White Album to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs with some Ting Tings, T-Rex and Sparks tossed in for good measure. You could spend all day trying to name that tune, but by nighttime it would still be The Handcuffs.

The duo started out making boombox demos with Orwell on guitar or bass and Elvis often singing the lead vocals and keeping time on a cardboard box or whatever was handy. Proper studio sessions, with the help of additional guest instrumentalists, followed and The Handcuffs recorded more than three albums worth of material. Then came song placement in television shows and films, followed by a self-produced music video. With plans to release their debut CD, they finally decided to put a live band together.

To complete their line-up, the duo has welcomed three powerhouse musicians to help them deliver the rock including Emily Togni, a Tennessee-by-way-of-Arkansas native, Chicagoan Ellis Clark on guitar and former New Jersey girl Alison Hinderliter on keyboards.

2011Candy Says; Great driving riff and super vocals, the whole thing has a punky edge that really works.

Featured: Miss You On Tuesday. Web: Official.

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Background: On December 13th, Chicago's Old Town School of Folk will release a vast collection of live recordings by the countless musicians who have played the venue over the last 50 plus years. The collection's 127 tracks will be sold digitally on iTunes and Amazon. Among others there are songs by Andrew Bird, Steve Earle, Toumani Diabate, Lila Downs and many more. The release represents the best in folk/roots music, past and present.

On a stack of DATs in a shoebox lay the history of American music. There were local legends and major icons, global musicians and indie rockers. Some captured beautifully from the board, some gleaned quietly from the dusty archives of a radio station, the recordings held wildly creative decades of sound from Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music, a roots-music touchstone for nearly 55 years. And no one had heard them.

Joan Baez and Donovan, Big Bill Broonzy and Ella Jenkins, Pete Seeger and Taj Mahal, Martin Carthy and Steve Earle, Doc Watson and Mahalia Jackson: It was a literal who’s-who of folk, gospel, country, bluegrass, blues, and world music, caught in hours of exciting performances. But someone had to put the pieces together—all 127 tracks worth—and someone had to clear all the rights with 85 different artists.

They succeeded, against odds that would have stopped others in their tracks. Live From The Old Town School (Old Town School Recordings; release: December 13, 2011) reveals not only the venerable institution’s storied start, but its role in the recent infusion of new energy into the roots music world, with everyone from Toumani Diabate and Oumou Sangare to Andrew Bird and Lila Downs.

This crucial collection of rare live gems is available for download from iTunes, Amazon, and CD Baby, with most of the proceeds going to benefit the School’s educational work with children and adults. And though very diverse, the tracks share a common quality.

“These are all performers who know how to communicate with the audience in a very personal way,” says Colby Maddox, librarian/archivist and teacher at the Old Town School, who spearheaded the project and attracted support for it from the Donnelley Foundation. “They don’t need that distance, that huge arena. They want to get down close and make people happy. And they are all coming from well-established traditions, all different, but all strong.”

2011Candy Says: Where do you begin? It's a massive collection of music's history and Andrew Bird was chosen at random simply because I did not know who to choose from this phenomenal collection

Featured: Andrew Bird - Tinys Tempo. Web: Official.

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Background: Ashtar Command's debut album, American Sunshine, is an evolved and involved labor of love from veteran musicians Chris Holmes and Brian Liesegang. It's an expansive and coherent album that defies being reduced to a single genre. Nick Drake could come to mind, as well as the Chemical Brothers. Spiritualized could be seen in there as well as The Beach Boys. There are songs of exquisite beauty and ones that unabashedly rock.

The duo were joined by guest vocalists Joshua Radin (whose debut album was produced by Holmes) on “Mark IV,” Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros (“Save Me”), Har Mar Superstar (“That’s How It Is”) and Rachel Yamagata (“Blister of the Spotlight”). The dreamy “Rosa,” already in heavy rotation at Los Angeles’ KCRW, is one of two tracks featuring Priscilla Ahn, while Z Berg’s crystal clear vocals provide a stunning counterpoint to the throbbing groove on “Gravity.”

The group are well known for their song on Red Dead Redemption called "Deadman's Gun". Sci-fi fans may recall the concept of “Ashtar Command” that emerged in the 1950’s – an intergalactic U.N. with the mission of assisting the human race in a time of crisis. Think evolution by enlightenment, which makes the name a fitting metaphor for the band and what they're trying to accomplish.

2011Candy Says; A number of famous names mentioned above, yes this is one of those songs that for some reason makes it hard not to look for comparisons. Not that it copies anyone, it's just so good you want to liken them to some highly regarded band, I will add Bowie to the list!

Featured: Save Me. Web: Official.

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Background: Beacon is Thomas Mullarney III and Jacob Gossett. Their “No Body EP” explores a combination of deep south bass music and ambient pop melodies, with R&B tinged vocals that accompany warm arpeggiated synthesizers.

The EP's atmosphere and narrative recall brooding spirituality in the wake of first love and the allure of the paranormal in teenage romance. Jacob and Thomas’s extensive work in the video production and set building worlds has given them the techniques to produce their own unique vision for the release of “No Body;” a cheap prom set where real and imaginary moments continually conjure up feelings of love, lust and all things in between.

2011Candy Says; A sparse sounding rhythmic intro that continues to build long after the beautiful vocals establish as a very special song.

Featured: No Body. Web: Soundcloud.

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Background: “Holmes is a singer-songwriter who pens the kind of melodic, unpretentious songs that scream for usage in film and TV. There’s a humor, wistfulness and universality that would compare with some of the best of Ben Folds or Beck.” - Los Angeles Times

Los-Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist and producer Holmes (the alias of Roy Shakked) today releases a full-length cover album aptly entitled Holmes: Covers on his label Groove Gravy Records. This marks the third full-length album under this moniker, following 2007’s Stop Go and 2009’s self-titled album, and precedes an album of more originals due in the Spring of 2012.

Holmes: Covers includes songs from all across the board—from Ice Cube to Elvis Presley and Genesis to Michael Jackson. Each song on the album has undergone a complete transformation, with Holmes arranging the songs to cast the lyrics in a new light. Narrowing his list of song choices from 100 down to 13, Holmes chose each for their lyrics. “Lyrically, every song on this album really speaks to me,” says Holmes. “All artists, with the exception of Macy Gray and Massive Attack, were ones I grew up on. The other two I just really dig.”

The first single of the album, a cover of Ice Cube’s “It Was a Good Day,” is as far from the original as can be. The music behind Holmes’ version is a song he wrote several years ago, but never found the lyrics to do it justice. “It’s always tricky approaching a hip hop track to cover,” muses Holmes. “It’s just an opening to being hokey, not to mention an invitation for abuse. I really like the way it came together. ‘Cube’s lyrics are ridiculously good.”

The album was tracked and mixed in Holmes’ home studio in Silverlake, CA. A handful of amazing musician friends contributed to Holmes: Covers, including Joel Shearer (Damien Rice, Alanis Morissette), Chris Bruce (M'chelle Ndegeocello, Sheryl Crow) Lawrence Katz (Bosstones), and Michael Jerome Moore (Blind Boys of Alabama, Better Than Ezra). Holmes thanks his lucky stars for good friends.

2011Candy Says: If there is a benchmark for how to reinterpret a song then this surely is it! And it really works, complete with the parental guidance lyrics..

Featured: It Was A Good Day. Web: Official.

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Background: Rah Rah are a Canadian indie rock collective whose album Breaking Hearts was released to the U.S. a couple of weeks back along with a vinyl/digital remix album called Rahmixes.

The sextet are known for taking turns taking the lead, both in songwriting and while on stage, and constantly switching instruments and they've been compared to The New Pornographers, Stars, and Broken Social Scene.

Rah Rah's sophomore album, Breaking Hearts was recorded and mixed in Montreal by Kees Dekker (Plants & Animals) and was released on June 1, 2010 in Canada. It follows the widespread industry praise for 2008's debut album, Going Steady and reinforces the increasing visibility that has accompanied Rah Rah's relentless tour schedule. Rah Rah were crowned "Best new Canadian Band" and "Best New Alternative Band" by iTunes in 2009. The band has also been featured as iTunes Download of the Week and Starbucks Pick of the Week in Canada.

The proud prairie rockers sing of the seriousness of art, poetry, love, and politics, and contrast it with a stage full of confetti, pinatas, candy, and six friends loving life and having fun. But don't let their fresh faces, confetti cannons and constant sugar highs fool you, Rah rah are old souls. This young, six-member ensemble artully bridge sincerity with the absurd. Despite lyrics that touch on underwater sea creatures, stockbrokers, Saskatchewan (and now Montreal), and impressionist painters, their songs are built to break your heart. All this along with the melodic male/female vocals and diverse instrumentation (guitars, bass, drums, keys, violin, accordion, ukulele), ensures that a Rah Rah show will not disappoint.

2011Candy Says; I love this song, both the instruments used, the mix and the perfectly matching vocals. Music that crosses generations.

Featured: Parkade. Web: Official.

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Background: Lissy Trullie is going to release the follow up to her debut EP Self-Taught Learner on March 6th (2012) via Downtown records. The new album is self-titled and was produced by John Hill (Santigold, M.I.A., Shakira) and David Sitek (TV On the Radios, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liars).

Lissy Trullie, made in the L.A. studios of both Hill and Sitek, is coolly confident in feel, its mostly brisk punk foundation yielding to memorable pop choruses along the way, especially on “Big Heart” and the reggae-tinged “It’s Only You.” Trullie’s voice and presence is commanding throughout; with her elastic singing, she comes across at times like a modern-day Chrissie Hynde. But the artful precision of the arrangements belies the more spontaneous nature of the sessions, as Trullie reveals: “I think the benefit of working with John and Dave is that there was no mention of pressure, and they had zero rules. It was just free-form creativity, any wacky suggestion was taken, and that’s how the sound of the record happened. That style of working just suits me very well.”

And while the planning set her off down her road, it was the out-of-nowhere diversions that created the most exciting results. “We did track a lot of the band live, but when we did, it just happened; it was spontaneous. Our approach allowed for more accidents to happen that ended up being amazing. Dave is like a mad scientist – he has a house where his studio is located in one of the canyons and it’s a crazy wonderland. John was more the contained mad man – soft spoken, contemplative, and wildly talented. We had a real yin-yang situation going on.”

The more unorthodox the idea, the better, Trullie says: “We did a lot of vocals with different mics. John fell in love with this tape recorder microphone from the sixties and it’s on everything - -the drum kits, guitars, my vocals. He would hang it like a light from the ceiling. Its sound is kind of gnarly but amazing at the same time; it made the drums sound thin and dirty. We would layer that track over the proper drum track and it created an interesting texture, so we did that with the vocals as well. We tracked lots and lots of vocals; they had me in there every day.” There was an open door policy to go with their open minds: “Anyone who walked through the house somehow ended up playing on the record.” Special guests included Jaleel Bunton of TV On The Radio, XL Recordings artist Holly Miranda, and Florence + the Machine’s guitarist Robert Ackroyd.

"I write so I can find something new and hopefully keep growing," says Trullie. “This was the first time I got into a real studio with real producers and by the end of the recording process I wound up with what I wanted from the very start – to make music that has evolved.”

2011Candy Says: Yep another emerging artist to watch out for, and another song that grows and builds into something special.

Featured: Madeleine Web: Facebook.

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Background: Following up their critically acclaimed debut, 2008’s A Mouthful, French-Finnish duo The Dø release their highly anticipated sophomore effort, Both Ways Open Jaws recently in the UK and in the US via Six Degrees Records. After a series of live sessions, two visually stunning videos and album teasers leading up to the release, The Dø are receiving recognition globally. The album is receiving rave reviews around the world and the band has made a lasting impression on international powerhouses like NME, Clash Music, Drowned in Sound, Digital Spy, The Fense Post, Italian Vogue and more. In regards to the new album, Colossal Pop claimed, "The darker groove of “The Wicked & the Blind” is another flash of brilliance that reminds me of what the Velvet Underground might have offered had they had a better ear for “the masses.” The gorgeous “Was it a Dream?” is another wonderful moment" and Baeble Music noted “Funky French/Finnish outfit provided one of 2010's more exhilarating debuts (A Mouthful), so it's safe to say we're excited to see what album number two has in store.”

French multi-instrumentalist Dan Levy and Finnish vocalist Olivia Merilahti met in 2005 while recording the soundtrack to a French movie and started writing songs together on the side. This side project took center stage when A Mouthful garnered praise from the likes of Pitchfork, and the band went on to play festivals and tour worldwide.

2011Candy Says; I have been a fan of The Do's since their debut, and this song see's them still developing and oozing energy and charm.

Featured: Slippery Slope. Web: Official.

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Background: Native New Yorker, Gina Zavalis, releases her first single, "In Your Eyes," off her debut self titled EP, Gina Zavalis. The album is now available for purchase on iTunes, as well as her website.

Gina Zavalis began her career as a young girl in Off Broadway shows, performing in several national tours and regional theatre productions. A lifelong passion for music combined with years of singing are what's behind the success of Gina Zavalis. "In my humble opinion Gina Zavalis is THE next great American voice. Her sheer talent and presence alone will win you over but just wait until you hear the girl sing...Remember I told you so when she is headlining the universe!" Remarked Joe Bonsall of the legendary Oak Ridge Boys.

Gina Zavalis' self-titled EP is filled with heartfelt lyrics, along with her intriguing sound and dynamic powerhouse vocals, showcasing her three plus octave range. LA Guitar Academy praises, "In her new song, 'In Your Eyes', Gina Zavalis' warm tone invites listeners to travel with her on the journey from despair to forgiveness. Her voice, plaintive at first, soars to brilliance as she captures the moment of transformation-a moment of pure freedom." The song is a snapshot of the transforming moment when the tangled chains of insecurity release into pure freedom. Introspective and brutally honest, Zavalis conveys the difficult emotion of giving in to the unknown.

2011Candy Says: On paper this should not be my thing. However the vocals are striking and the dominance of the piano (not being crushed by a full orchestra) makes this one fine song. Maybe I am finally growing up (time for another mid life crisis).

Featured: In Your Eyes. Web: Official.

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Background: From Paper Gardens Lovely Hearts Club we quote - Hours of listening to demo submissions eventually paid off when we opened The Great Afternoon's email to find that the banjo isn't just for making bluegrass tunes. Christina Ward has been rocking out on the banjo along side bassist Kris Knechel and Brian Huggins on drums for over a year now. Her soothing vocals carefully guide us through some of life's tougher realities while leaving a bit of hope for better days. Their first EP is not all doom and gloom as much as it is foot-tapping and and head bobbing thanks to a perfect blend of drum and bass lines with the unexpectedly soulful banjo picking.

The band has been playing a handful of shows around their hometown of New Jersey in support of their first EP "The Great Afternoon", which was released just a few months ago in August. Here's a stream of 'Science Fiction' but don't stop listening there, head to bandcamp or Facebook to stream the full album and maybe even make a purchase for just $7!

2011Candy says: I can see why Paper Garden spend ours listening to demo submissions, if this is the result of their labour. A great song and yes, yet another band to keep a watch out for.

Featured: Science Fiction. Web: Bandcamp.

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Featured Tracks:

The Slits - Barcelona, Spain 2010

2011-11-26T20:54:00.009Z

This is The Slits performing on the Pitchfork Stage at the 2010 Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona Spain. The line up was Ari Up (vocals), Tessa Pollitt (bass), drummer Anna Schulte, American singer Michelle Hill, and guitarist Hollie Cook (daughter of Sex Pistol Paul Cook).

The quartet was originally formed in 1976 by members of the bands The Flowers of Romance and The Castrators. The group supported fellow punk band The Clash on their 1977 White Riot tour along with the Buzzcocks and the Subway Sect. Club performances of The Slits during this period are included in The Punk Rock Movie (1978). In November 1978, The Slits toured with the Clash again on the "Sort it Out Tour" and were joined by The Innocents who opened the show.

Ari Up and Tessa Pollitt reformed the band with new members in 2005, and in 2006 released the EP Revenge of the Killer Slits. The EP featured former Sex Pistols member Paul Cook and Marco Pirroni (ex-Adam and the Ants, and Siouxsie and the Banshees) as both musicians and co-producers. In fact, Cook's daughter Hollie is a member of the current line-up, singing and playing keyboards. Other members of the reformed band were No (of The Home Office) on guitar, German drummer Anna Schulte, and Adele Wilson on guitar. The band toured the United States for the first time in twenty-five years during 2006's 'States of Mind' tour. In 2007, they toured Australia as well as returning to the US, where they opened for Sonic Youth at New York's McCarren Park Pool. In their first ever visit to that country, the band undertook a short tour of Japan in October 2007.

In 2008, the band again toured America. Adele Wilson left the band and No was replaced by the American guitarist, Michelle Hill. In November 2008, the band played Ladyfest in Manchester, and visited London Astoria the following month. In January 2009 The Slits' MySpace page listed former guitarist Viv Albertine as one of the groups current members, however Albertine's own MySpace blog states that she only rejoined to play two shows.

In January 2009, the Los Angeles based Narnack Records announced they had signed the band to a recording contract. A biography - Typical Girls? The Story Of The Slits by Zoe Street Howe was published in the UK by Omnibus Press in July 2009.

A full-length album entitled Trapped Animal was released in 2009, and the band continued to perform live. This was one of the last concerts recorded before the sad passing of Ari Up. This wonderful performance reminds me of just how energetic and natural The Slits always sounded, a must have for pretty much every punk, dub or reggae fan.

Source: Soundboard.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@256kbps.

Genre: Dub, punk, reggae.

Set: Full set.

Set List:

1. Ari Intro's
2. Grown Ups
3. Typical Girls
4. Shoplifting
5. Reject
6. Fade Away
7. FM
8. Heard It Through The Grapevine
9. Lazy Slam
10. Partner From Hell
11. Lets Do The Split
12. Babylon

Website: MySpace HERE

Download link on comments below.

Neil Young - Colmar, France 2008

2011-11-21T21:05:00.000Z

This is Neil Young live in concert at Le Theatre de Plein Air, Colmar, France, back on Friday. August 15th, 2008.

This recording was circulated on a two silver disc CD bootleg entitled 'Big Moon Over Colmar' and released by bootleggers Crystal Cat Records (915-16).

The sound quality is superb and would pass for soundboard however, the audience noise between songs does suggest that the recording includes audience based microphones. Whatever the case this captures a really incredible gig with the inclusion of some remarkable songs from Neil Young's musical career.

In recent years Neil Young's work rate has not diminished as the following from All Music reminds us - In early 2005, Young was diagnosed with a potentially deadly brain aneurysm. Undergoing treatment didn't slow him down, however, as he continued to write and record his next project. The acoustically based Prairie Wind appeared in the fall, with the concert film Heart of Gold, based around the album and directed by Jonathan Demme, released in 2006. That year also saw the release of the controversial CD/DVD Living with War, a collection of protest songs against the war in Iraq that featured titles such as "Let's Impeach the President," "Shock and Awe," and "Lookin' for a Leader." Restless, prolific, and increasingly self-referential, Young issued Chrome Dreams II late in 2007 and the car-themed Fork in the Road in 2009. Later in 2009, Young finally released the first installment in his long-rumored Archives series, Archives, Vol. 1, a massive first volume that combined over ten CD and DVD discs in a single box. As he was prepping Archives, Vol. 2, Young entered the studio with producer Daniel Lanois and recorded Le Noise, which appeared in the fall of 2010. Young continued going through his archives with the release of A Treasure in 2011, a single-disc set of live tracks recorded during his 1984-1985 tour with the International Harvesters that featured five previously unreleased Young songs mixed in with older songs like "Flying on the Ground Is Wrong" and "Are You Ready for the Country?," all done in the classic Harvest style.

Source: Soundboard and/or audience matrix.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@192kbps.

Genre: Rock, folk rock, country rock, experimental rock, hard rock

Set: Full set.

Set List:

CD One:
01 Intro
02 Love And Only Love
03 Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)
04 Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
05 Powderfinger
06 Spirit Road
07 Cortez The Killer
08 Cinnamon Girl
09 Oh Lonesome Me
10 Mother Earth
11 The Needle And The Damage Done

CD Two:
01 Unknown Legend
02 Wrecking Ball
03 Heart Of Gold
04 Old Man
05 Just Singing A Song
06 Sea Change
07 Sea Change
08 Cowgirl In The Sand
09 Rockin' In The Free World
10 A Day In The Life
11 Words

Website: Official HERE.

Audio download links (two) in comments below.

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - KCRW 2010

2011-11-15T21:31:00.000Z

This is Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings live on Morning Becomes Eclectic, at the KCRW Studios, Santa Monica, CA back on the 28th June 2010. We feature the video version just below (just click on the video play button, that seems to be only partially visible in some browsers).

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings are a funk/soul band. They are signed to Daptone Records, where the Dap-Kings are the house band. They are spearheads of a revivalist movement that aims to capture the essence of funk/soul music as it was at its height in the mid-1960s to mid-1970s. Part of the way this is achieved is to shun modern digital recording methods in favour of using traditional analogue recording equipment. The type of instruments used by the band may also be considered limited to those that would have been available up until the mid-'70s.

Beyond working with Sharon Jones (who remains their key focus - just check out this recording and you will see why!), The Dap-Kings have been hired as session musicians on a number of projects associated with New York based DJ/producer/recording artist Mark Ronson. Most notable of these is their extensive inclusion and somewhat unheralded contribution to Amy Winehouse's album Back to Black (2006). Six of the album's eleven tracks feature various members of the Dap-Kings with two notable hits from the album, "Rehab" and "You Know I'm No Good", extensively featuring the Dap-Kings. A further engineering credit goes to Gabriel Roth and several tracks recorded at Daptone Studios are mis-credited as "Dapking Studios". Again various members of the band feature on Ronson's second album, Version (2007), providing contributions on all but one of the album's fourteen tracks. The Dap-Kings then became the backing band used on Amy Winehouse's first U.S. tour.

Source (audio): FM broadcast.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@320kbps.

Genre: Funk, Soul, R&B.

Set: Full set.

Set List:

01 - Intro
02 - If You Call
03 - She Ain't A Child No More
04 - Give It Back
05 - Interview
06 - Window Shopping
07 - I Learned The Hard Way
08 - Mama Don't Like My Man
09 - Dead Air
10 - Better Things
11 - Banter
12 - Money

Website: Official Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings HERE. KCRW HERE.

Audio download link in comments below.

The Ozark Mountain Daredevils - The Roxy 1975.

2011-11-10T20:58:00.000Z

This is The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, live at The Roxy, Los Angeles, California, back on December 11th, 1975. This was the final gig from a three night residency at the venue and was broadcast on FM radio.

The Ozark Mountain Daredevils formed in 1972 in Springfield, Missouri, USA. They are most widely known for their singles "If You Wanna Get To Heaven" in 1974 and "Jackie Blue" in 1975.

The group's demo tape eventually caught the attention of A&M Records staff producer David Anderle, who was looking for an Eagles country rock type of band to place on the label. Anderle and the Eagles' first producer, Glyn Johns, flew to Missouri to catch one of the band's performances. But the band, nervous about Johns and Anderle being in the audience, did not play their best. Later on, Peterson invited the two men back to his place to hear the band give an unplugged performance by candlelight. This time Anderle and Johns were blown away and they were signed to A&M and sent to England to record their first record with Johns at the helm.

The first record, Ozark Mountain Daredevils (also referred to as "The Quilt Album"), was released in December 1973 and spawned the Top 30 hit "If You Wanna Get to Heaven" in the summer of 1974. The album introduced the band's unique mixture of rock, country, bluegrass and pop to the world and is still the favorite of many of the group's fans.

For the second album, It'll Shine When It Shines (October 1974), Johns and Anderle came to Missouri to record, utilizing a mobile recording truck set up outside of the band's rehearsal home. During the sessions, Johns overheard Larry Lee sitting at a piano playing and singing a song about a mysterious friend of his who sometimes dealt drugs on the side. Johns loved the melody and thought it could be a smash hit if the lyrics were altered to be about a girl and the drug references downplayed. Lee and Cash did as Johns asked and the song, "Jackie Blue," became the Daredevils' signature song and a huge hit (No. 3) in early 1975.

The Ozark's third release, The Car Over the Lake Album (Fall 1975), produced by Anderle alone, featured their old compatriot, Bill Jones, joining them to play and arrange their songs. He also toured with them in 1975-1976. A brand new live album by the Daredevils, a two-disc set featuring 21 tracks, including old favorites, rare songs and a couple of new ones, titled Alive & Wild, was made available in October 2011. This was taken from shows performed at Wildwood Springs Lodge in Steelville, Missouri in the fall of 2010.

Source: FM broadcast..

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@224kbps.

Genre: Southern rock, country rock.

Set: Full set.

Set List:

1. Absolute Zero
2. Walkin’ Down The Road
3. Black Sky
4. Chicken Train
5. Noah
6. Road To Glory
7. Out On The Sea
8. Jackie Blue
9. E.E. Lawson
10. Better Days
11. If You Wanna Get To Heaven
12. 15 Chihuahuas
13. Time Warp
14. Look Away

Website: Official HERE.

Download link in comments below.

The Charlatans - Manchester UK 2007

2011-11-06T21:46:00.000Z

This is The Charlatans live at the Apollo, Manchester, UK, back on the 11th December 2007. The Charlatans, The Cribs and The Courteeners were just some of the bands who played at Xfm's Winter Wonderland concert at the Manchester Apollo in aid of Shelter (a UK charity that supports the homeless and lobbies on housing issues).

The band played a number of high-profile supporting gigs in mid-2007, including for The Who and The Rolling Stones, at venues including Wembley Stadium and Twickenham Stadium in London, as well as the Bingley Music Live event, Nass festival 2007, and at Delamere Forest in Cheshire. A recording of Live At Delamere Forest was released as a download only via the official website in five parts for a limited time only.

In an October 2007 issue of the NME, the band contributed the song "Blank Heart, Blank Mind" to the magazine's free Love Music, Hate Racism compilation CD. Later the same month, the new single "You Cross My Path" was released as a free download exclusively through the XFM website. On the 3 March 2008, The Charlatans teamed up with Xfm again to become the first UK band to release an album completely free to download via a radio station ('You Cross My Path,' was the band's tenth studio album).

Some of the tracks on the XFM released album were performed within the Manchester gig. The links for the free album are still active HERE.

Source: Soundboard pro mix.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@310kbps (variable).

Genre: Alternative rock, Madchester, Britpop, Indie rock.

Set: Full set.

Set List:
01 - Intro
02 - Feel The Pressure
03 - Oh Vanity
04 - The Only One I Know
05 - Just Lookin'
06 - Weirdo
07 - Bad Days
08 - Love Is The Key
09 - Blackened Blue Eyes
10 - You Cross My Path
11 - Here Comes A Soul Saver
12 - This Is The End
13 - You're So Pretty, We're So Pretty
14 - Sproston Green

Website: Official HERE.

Download link in comments below.

Indigo Girls - Redrocks 1994

2011-11-03T19:49:00.000Z

This is the Indigo Girls recorded live at Redrocks Amphitheater Morrison, CO in the USA, and broadcast on FM radio back on the 21st June 1994. The actual concert would appear to be from 1990 or 1991 in support of the Nomads Indians Saints which was their third studio album.

The Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. They met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. They started performing with the name “Indigo Girls” as students at Emory University, performing weekly at The Dugout, a bar in the Emory Village.

They released a self-produced, full-length record album in 1987 and contracted with a major record company in 1988. After releasing nine albums with major record labels from 1988 through 2007, they have now resumed self-producing albums with their own IG Recordings company.

The Indigo Girls have toured as a duo and with a band. In 1990, they toured with the Atlanta band, the Ellen James Society, backing them; they have also toured with side players, with one distinct group from 1991 to 1998 and a second from 1999 onwards.

Amy Ray and Emily Saliers do not ordinarily collaborate in writing songs. They tend to write separately and work out the arrangements together.

Source: FM radio broadcast.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@320kbps.

Genre: Folk Rock.

Set: Broadcast set.

Set List:

1. Secure Yourself
2. World Falls
3. Hammer And A Nail
4. Loves Recovery
5. Pushing The Needle Too Far
6. Crazy Game
7. No Way To Treat A Friend
8. Southland In The Spring Time
9. Watershed
10. The Ballad Of Squeeky Fromme
11. History Of Us
12. Land Of Cannan

Website: Official HERE.

Download link in comments below.

2011Candy - October Edition

2011-10-31T22:31:00.000Z

Background: Marilyn Carino is a straight up Bensonhurst, Brooklyn Sicilian-American woman, born on the mean streets of The French Connection with a corner fish shop known as a killing floor for mafia hits. Her cousin was in the CIA, her grandmother split the scene to jet-set with the queen of Spain, and her father was a real life Mad Men-esque ad exec.

Marilyn Carino’s undeniable talent and full-throttle attitude have moved her through headline performances at the iconic Blue Note jazz club in NYC, playing and recording with Mike Mills of R.E.M. and Billy Talbot of Crazy Horse, recording her first album at Neil Young’s studio, and being hand-picked as a lyricist by legendary producers Sly and Robbie (Bob Dylan, Herbie Hancock, Grace Jones, Madonna). She has also gone beyond her records and live performances into the big bad world of television and film, with her songs “Hero of the World” and “Blown” prominently featured in the SyFy Channel series “Regenesis,” and other tracks used in the feature films "Slutty Summer," "Vampires in Venice," and "Going Down in LaLa Land."

Marilyn Carino is that rare artist who shocks but also grounds her listeners. Uncompromising, humanistic, and insightful, her music is about your life, just in a way you’ve yet to consider. “I keep trying to be brave, be totally myself. It’s sexy to care about art and excellence and the happiness of other people, and it’s important that my life and music encourage people to find those things in themselves.” She sincerely loves you all, but don’t get it twisted.

Featured Track: King Of The World. Web: Official.
2011Candy Says: The vocals are powerful, the music is sharp, the passion sets the song apart. This song is a little like a movie soundtrack but don't be fooled there is a lot more to Marilyn, consider this just one dimension.
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Background: In anticipation of the Nov 8th release of their new album Welcome To Condale, Summer Camp have created a beautiful scrapbook/zine to go along with the album.

It's available on their own website right now and they've also set up a version of the zine on issuu.com.

Check more out at their own website HERE, or you take a look at the scrap book HERE.

Featured Track: Better Off Without You.

2011Candy Says: Great song, pure and simple, this is a great pop song.

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Background: The ghost stories, murder ballads, and grimoires on the new full length album “If Then Not When” by Louisville, KY’s King’s Daughters and Sons are haunting, spare and at times explosively unsettling; part William Faulkner, part Led Zeppelin. Informed by, but not beholden to the history of its members (Shipping News, Rachel’s, The For Carnation, Shannon Wright), their songs are singular, thoughtful and best heard on very large speakers.
The recording was made direct to 2 inch tape in 2008 and 2009 at The Funeral Home by Kevin Ratterman, engineer for California Guitar Trio, My Morning Jacket and Wax Fang. Mastering by Bob Weston, Chicago Mastering Service.

The band are Kyle Crabtree - drums; Todd Cook - bass; Rachel Grimes - piano, voice; Joe Manning - guitar, voice; Michael Heineman - guitar, voice.

The music of King’s Daughters & Sons is dense, thickly layered and emotional. It can be calculated and stark, overt and loud. The band is by no means redefining music made by guitars; rather, it is offering a new talking point to the discussion. These songs live somewhere between post-rock tinkling and road music. Manning’s twangy growl blends with Heineman’s smooth tenor and Grimes’ alto to construct sublime, creative harmonies, while the oft-fingerpicked guitars tangle atop a march of drums and bass. It is a grand and dramatic soundtrack with well-placed pauses and explosions that demand patience and grace among its players, and attentiveness of its listeners.

Featured Track: Volunteer. Web: Official.
2011Candy Says: Reminds us of at least a dozen great bands of the last 10 or 20 years. Distinct music for those who like their art done in style and with a hint of uniqueness thrown in for good measure.
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Background: Building on a mutual affection for all things dissonant and atonal, Mutiny Mutiny crafts noisy art rock that mines sonic territory previously explored by bands like Unwound, Sonic Youth, Jawbox, Slint and Mission of Burma. Constellation, the debut album from the Seattle-based trio brings together angular chaos and gorgeous noise in 11 songs that meld the band’s diverse musical backgrounds with a good dose of homage to the bands that they love. Since forming in late 2009, they have shared bills around Seattle with bands like Screaming Females, forgetters, Title Tracks and others.

Mutiny Mutiny’s songs are crafted from an assortment of textures, combining delicate, brooding melodies with pleasantly punishing explosions of musical clatter. Guitarist Jason Dean’s jagged riffs and bright, feathery passages dance around bassist Jenn Schmidt’s driving melodic rhythms, inspired by her background as a classically-trained cellist. Drummer Marc Mazique completes the mix by shifting between rock-steady beats, jittery rhythmic pulses, and light percussion punctuated with accentual flourishes. Vocal duties ranging from gritty snarls to delicate harmonies are shared by all three members.

Featured Track: The Damage Is Done. Web: Official.
2011Candy Says: Ensuring that visitors to Beehive Candy don't nod off when checking out the new music selection we have Mutiny Mutiny. No nonsense music for lovers of no nonsense music. Superb chorus as well.
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Background: Ed Hale and the Transcendence - All Your Heroes Become Villains is certainly titled appropriately for the times we live in. Like a shadow of today's chaotic world, "The Villains album," due out November 15th on the Dying Van Gogh Record label, is dark, moody and heavy, and yet every now and then it glimmers with hope and those catchy ear-candy melodies that fans of the band have come to love and expect.The collective, which reached up to 12 members during the recording process of their latest, weaves together their trademark post-modern rock meets Brit pop -- creating an unforgettable aural soundscape that is larger than life and will leave you humming.

It has been a fruitful time for members of the tight-knit collective: during this period the band self-released the digitally exclusive rarities collection The City of Lost Children while each member released a solo album. Hale recorded Ballad On Third Avenue, lead guitarist Fernando Perdomo formed the prog-pop group Dreaming In Stereo, and bassist Roger Houdaille released an album by the side group he formed called Ex Norwegian (also releasing their follow-up album, Sketch, on November 15th). Hale and the band worked for over a year, bringing in other musicians when needed as varied as a gospel singer, a second drummer, a Los Angeles DJ, and various horn players. The result is a mashup of sounds but highly cohesive as an album still recognizable as having "that Transcendence sound." Haunting melodies, bold sonic experimentation and Hale's richly layered and impassioned vocals all come together to create a highly memorable and moving listening experience. Sounding more like a rock musical or a concept album, the songs both musically and lyrically tie into one another seamlessly in one cohesively bold brash and powerful listen more akin to Pink Floyd or David Bowie's Diamond Dogs.

Featured Track: Blind Eye. Web: Official.
2011Candy Says: Read the above promo stuff to get Ed Hale and band in context, then engulf yourself in the fact that their is an incredible amount of new ideas on hand, that makes the band 'a tad special'.
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Background: Eight Bit Tiger is an electronic dance duo from Chicago composed of the Widman brothers, Erik and Kent, and is the new side project to the brothers’ indie rock outfit Love in October. The experiment began 15 years ago when the brothers started playing music together in a bedroom in northern Sweden and has mutated into a radioactive sonic isotope.

The music is influenced by 70s funk and 80s synth-pop, taking notes from artists like Michael Jackson, while borrowing the pop sensibility of Peter, Bjorn, and John, and mixing in the dance element of bands like Daft Punk. There is also the distinct vintage pop vibe of acts like Prince, New Order, and Blondie that harkens to a different sonic era.

“There’s so much music out there that is depressing, so we wanted to make something that makes you feel good when you listen to it. That’s what the world needs right now,” says vocalist Erik Widman.

Their debut album Parallel Synchronized Randomness was primarily recorded in Eight Bit Tiger’s tiny Chicago apartment, with some additional tracking done in Toronto, ON at Chemical Sound Studio. The brothers took the approach of treating themselves as an old record, sampling themselves, creating bass and guitar loops, and overall trying to recreate the sound of decades past. The loops are glued together with rich layers of synthesizer and pumping drums, creating a unique sound that spans decades of styles.

In their live act, the Widman brothers are joined by Chris Pagnani on the drums. Eight Bit Tiger will be performing shows throughout the Midwest and East Coast in support of their new album this fall.

Featured Track: Numbers. Web: Official.
2011Candy Says: Takes us back to the eighties, whilst reminded us that good dance/electronic/pop music can be as timeless as any other genre if done to this standard.
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Background: Vancouver’s Said the Whale recently announced the release of the first new music since 2009’s acclaimed full-length, Islands Disappear. On November 8, Hidden Pony Records will release the New Brighton EP, a 4-track digital EP, across North America.

The band recorded the EP this summer in addition to the album recording sessions at Blue Wave and Vertical Studios in Vancouver with longtime producer, Tom Dobrzanski. The new album, yet untitled, is being mixed by Jack Joseph Puig, a multiple Grammy Award winner who has worked with U2, Weezer and No Doubt and the official album release date has been set for release on March 6, 2012. On October 18, the first New Brighton EP track, "Lines," was released exclusively through Said the Whale’s website. The rest of the New Brighton EP tracks will follow, available digitally as of November 8th.

Featured Track: Little Bird. Web: Official.
2011Candy Says: Simple advice, if you are new to the Said The Whale, dig a little deeper, if you are a fan then buy the EP as the featured track needs all three other songs. Seriously, if this song gets your attention, we reckon you will love this band.

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Background: Starting November 29th the energetic and spunky duo Loves It! will begin their tour to around 50 different cities. The group who will be touring to promote their up and coming album YAY! which will be released on December 6th, combines the genres of folk, country, Americana, and Indie Pop to create their unique sound.

With Vaughn Walters on banjo, guitar, and vocals, and Jenny Parrott on guitar, mandolin, fiddle, and vocals, their tour is sure to gain lots of attention. Although neither members are strangers to the life of touring, both having played hundreds of shows a year with their other bands, this is their first major tour as Loves It!. "We show up, meet everyone who works there, and set up and talk a bit with whoever is there. We stand up, and sing our hearts out. It's the most wonderful thing, and I always have moments where I feel blessed and privileged to have music as my job." As talented multi-instrumentalists, both Walters and Parrott were in-demand players in Austin's wide-open music scene, but their personal and musical bond slowly drew them closer. They started writing together about a year ago, and the songs they composed became the foundation of their self-produced album YAY!

"We made the album at home," Parrott says. "Vaughn was set to record with another band, but the sessions kept getting canceled. So we rented some fancy mics and started on our own record. Vaughn has always been interested in recording and engineering and he took to it like an Austin musician takes to breakfast tacos. We made the album in a week, while I busy playing shows with another band and doing pre-production for an album for yet another band. It was a busy and wonderful time."

Walters and Parrott met in their adopted hometown of Austin, Texas five years ago. Walters is originally from West Virginia and grew up listening to folk, punk and honky tonk country music. Parrott comes from New Haven, Connecticut where she fell in love with soul, swing and gospel music. "We were best friends and then we fell into the big hole of love," Parrott explains. "We're both touring musicians and we were doing 150 or 200 shows a year on opposite schedules, and we decided to see where we could go doing our own thing. Vaughn's a great singer and songwriter and easy to work with, so I thought our own band would be the ticket to fun and musical fulfillment.

Although they've only been playing as Loves It! for a year, the duo is already winning fans with their exuberant presence, sparkling harmonies and ingenious song craft. "We're looking forward to jumping on the Loves It! train full time," Parrott says. "Living in Austin has made it possible to be touring musicians, a dream that may never have gotten off the ground had we lived in a less positive, less musical town. And the breakfast tacos are the blood of life."

Featured Track: My So Called Life. Web: Official.
2011Candy Says: Keep it simple if you have the charm and talent these folk's have. Damn fine music, so catch up with them if you get the chance, either live or recorded.
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Background: Recorded on vintage equipment in the heart of Sydney, Fallon Cush shares some words of wisdom, as they release their second single, "Sleeping Giant", off their self-titled album.
In "Sleeping Giant", singer and chief songwriter Steve Smith borrows from the fables we heard growing up in this modern day cautionary tale. Hindsight is always 20/20, and it seems to be the case for Smith. As the song progresses, he warns listeners to be careful what they wish for, as things are not always what they appear to be. It's clear that Smith had to learn from his own mistakes of a failed relationship himself, but he also asserts that he's not dwelling on those mistakes or living on regrets, another piece of advice he has for his listeners. The song itself, led by his warm acoustic guitar, and accompanied by Scott Alpin's soft touch on the piano, gives it all the makings of a classic pop tune. A few more words of wisdom? Don't miss Fallon Cush's second single off their upcoming self-titled album, due out November 1.

There is so much to love about Fallon Cush. And the results, nifty and polished though they may be, only hint at where this amalgam could go.
-Something Else! Reviews - Nick DeRiso

For fans of good old fashioned pop-rock, Fallon Cush will warm the cockles of your heart and give all music lovers genuine hope for the future.
-Power of Pop

Smith has a cadence similar to Tom Petty and/or Mike Viola and the album displays an easy-going pop jangle on most songs... A very rewarding and mesmerizing listen.
-Powerpopaholic

Featured Track: Sleeping Giant. Web: MySpace.
2011Candy Says: Fallon Cush do music as if they have been around for ever. We are hearing some Bob Dylan influences on this song, take that as an endorsement, we don't give out Bob awards that often!

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Background: Residing in Porto, Portugal A Beta Movement recently evolved into a trio with the addition of vocalist Marcela Freitas. Her voice mirrors the salty, shore-town vibes from which it resonates. In a similar vein as Marissa Nadler but with a sweeter finish, to which guitarist Pedro Cordeiro and his rustier cadence provide a gentle complement. A Beta Movement creates atmospheric pop with a steady pulse, as though these sounds floated across the Atlantic upon a lackadaisical breeze.

A Beta Movement began with the shared goal of fusing sound and the visual experience, an annotation on human perception. Citing Max Wertheimer's famous 1912 Experimental Studies on the Seeing of Motion as a formative influence of their sound, and band name, A Beta Movement seeks to create a sense of space through perceived physically sensual encounters. "Colour Mixing System" is a flourishing, tumbling track that blossoms and withers like a leaky metamorphosis. Hypnotic with just a touch of melancholy, the track is splashed with handclaps and vibrant instrumentals, reminding us that A Beta Movement will stay true to the visual element that was their primary inspiration.

Featured Track: Colour Mixing System. Web: MySpace.
2011Candy Says: Our initial reaction was 'love the vocals and harmonies'. Played it a couple of more times and discovered some seriously good rhythms as well.
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Background: The Sound: Comasoft is a pop rock band with a fuzzy keyboard fascination. Catchy hook choruses, anchored with melodic instrumentation and vocal harmonies, combine with dancey rhythms to create a bouncing sing-along party. Popular rock structure, combined with pulsing retro keyboard riffs, create a dance rock feel that still has the changes and builds of a pop rock song. The songs deal with themes like the nervous anticipation of a new love, paranoia and the recklessness of youth.

The Band: Comasoft started as Jay Ramirez, a Michigan native who moved to Chicago to form a band. Dan Evans and Jay began writing songs together soon after meeting in 2007. Chris Polinski joined after the band he was in played a show with Comasoft. Jay has played the drums since childhood and tracks most of the drums himself. Dan and Chris both play bass, guitar and keyboards, so the writing process is a culmination of ideas and parts played by whomever happens to be holding whatever instrument at any given time. Comasoft isn't just a band of talented musicians, they are best friends hoping to win over the world one listener at a time.

The Record: Burn to Shine is a 6 song EP featuring the single 10Volt. The video for the single was released in September of 2011. Each song is crafted with catchy vocal hooks and driving riffs. Powerful bridges lead to grand outtro choruses and endings.

The Mission: Comasoft hopes to reach as many people as possible with their music. they are looking to team up with the right label to push forward to new heights.

Featured Track: 10 Volt. Web: Official.
2011Candy Says: Powerful music, contrasting vocals and a energetic pulse throughout. Seems a little retro however for some reason it has clicked with the Beehive, probably because it is so cleanly mixed and to the point.

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Background: October 11th marked the debut of super-hip-chill band, Sola Rosa’s debut of “Get It Together,” in North America. Eager fans have been waiting for release at the edge of their seats.

Since the start of the 2000s, Andrew Spraggon’s first formative releases as Sola Rosa has built him a growing reputation for his deft synthesis of styles and quiet disregard for the niceties of genre boundaries. Blending a sensational mix of hip hop, reggae, jazz, latin, soul and funk, Sola Rosa will take you on a musical journey like no other.

Already big names like Baeble and Popmatters have jumped on the Sola Rosa bandwagon and premiered the group’s U.S. debut single and video for “Turn Around,” featuring singer Iva Lamkum, that will stop you dead in your tracks. Filled with funky drumbeats, sultry and smooth vocals, and brilliant bass and horns, this track is sure to get you out of your seat and dancing around the club. The song blends a mixture of musical elements and genres, creating the perfect cocktail of melodic ecstasy. Something that is not easy to accomplish, but Sola Rosa does it perfectly. The rest of the album is just as amazing. Each track fills the room and takes you on a musical journey.

Andrew Spraggon brings his most ambitious project to date to the table, just in time for you to make your Year End Lists. With long time collaborators Matt Short (bass), Ben White (guitar), and Will Scott (drums), the group is joined by Spikey Tee (Jah Wobble, Mr. Scruff, Bomb the Bass), MC Serocee , Bajka and Iva Lamkum.

Featured Track: Turn Around. Web: Official.
2011Candy Says: Musically this is just superb, the vocals extend the wonderful vibe and someone has sprinkled the required amount of 'fairy dust' to make the whole thing marvelous music...

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Background: Mirador is the music project of twenty-something Philadelphia resident Kyle Robinson. Kyle spent the majority of his youth planning for a career in the visual arts, and though he has since shifted his focus to music, this background is still very much apparent. Listening to Mirador is as much about what you see with your mind's eye as what you hear with your ears.

Combining the limitless instrumental palate of electronic music (soft synths and samplers) with live guitar, synth, effects pedals and percussion, Mirador build intricate worlds of sound for the listener to explore. Escapist in the best way, the music uses ambient textures and samples to conjure dense and surreal soundscapes, while using melodic themes and varied instrumentation to tell a story or take you on a journey. Another reference point could be a key line spoken by Bill Pullman in David Lynch's Lost Highway: “I like to remember things my own way. How I remembered them, not necessarily the way they happened.” The music of Mirador works in much the same way, seeking to capture in sound the sprawling, intangible essence or feeling of a time or place, in all its ineffable power and potency.

Featured Track: Dance Of The Lantern People. Web: Bandcamp.
2011Candy Says: We finish this latest new music round up with Mirador. And why not as we like to end things on a high.
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Featured Tracks:

The Decemberists - Tower Theater 2007

2011-10-25T22:15:00.001+01:00

This is The Decemberists live in concert at the Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA, USA, back on March 27th, 2007 plus broadcast on WXPN FM and for lovers of detail recorded via a Kenwood 104AR Receiver . If it was not for the eruption of independent music blogs around a decade ago, I often wonder if I would have found out about bands such as The Decemberists. Their name kept on 'coming up', I checked them out and as the saying goes "the rest was history". Great band and this is a fine concert recording.

From Wikipedia - The Decemberists are an indie folk rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States, fronted by singer/songwriter Colin Meloy. The other members of the band are Chris Funk (guitar, multi-instrumentalist), Jenny Conlee (hammond organ, accordion, melodica, piano, keyboards, harmonica), Nate Query (bass guitar, string bass), and John Moen (drums, backing vocals, melodica, guitar).

The band's debut EP, 5 Songs, was self-released in 2001. Their sixth full-length album, The King Is Dead, was released on 14 January 2011, by Capitol Records. It was the band's third record with the label.

In addition to their lyrics, which often focus on historical incidents and/or folklore, The Decemberists are also well known for their eclectic live shows. Audience participation is often a part of each performance, typically during encores. The band stages whimsical reenactments of sea battles and other centuries-old events, typically of regional interest, or acts out songs with members of the crowd. During their European tour in the winter of 2010, the band performed "The Mariner's Revenge Song" at the conclusion of each date. The audience was encouraged to scream as if they were being consumed by a whale mentioned in the track's narrative while the band pretended to die on stage, (more here).

Source: FM radio broadcast.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@192kbps.

Genre: Indie rock, folk rock, art rock, baroque pop, progressive rock, alt-country.

Set: Full set.

Set List:

01 introduction
02 The Crane Wife 3
03 July, July!
04 The Soldiering Life
05 The Infanta
06 The Bachelor and the Bride
07 Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then) (with Shara Worden)
08 Culling of the Fold
09 The Legionnaire's Lament
10 O Valencia!
11 16 Military Wives
12 The Island, Come And See, The Landlord's Daughter, You'll Not Feel The Drowning
13 When the War Came
-- encore
14 Mariner's Revenge Song
15 Southern Girls

Website: Official HERE.

Download links in comments below.

Jane's Addiction - Paris 2003

2011-10-21T21:57:00.000+01:00

This is Jane's Addiction performing live at Elysée Montmartre, Paris, France back on the 25th October 2003. The concert was broadcast by the French radio "OUI FM", the concert was in support of their "Strays" album release.

Jane's Addiction is an American alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985. The band's original line-up featured Perry Farrell (vocals), Dave Navarro (guitar), Eric Avery (bass) and Stephen Perkins (drums). After breaking up in 1991, Jane's Addiction briefly reunited in 1997 and again in 2001, both times with Avery declining to participate. In 2008, the band's "classic" line-up, featuring Avery, reunited and embarked on a world tour. Avery subsequently left the band in early 2010 as the group began work on new material. To date, they have released four studio albums.

Strays was the third studio album by Jane's Addiction, released on July 22, 2003 on Capitol Records, and the first album to be recorded by a reunited Jane's Addiction. Released 13 years after Ritual de lo Habitual (1990), the album marks the band's longest gap between studio albums, and is the first to feature bassist Chris Chaney. Regarding the decision to record a new studio album after 13 years, drummer Stephen Perkins stated that the band had already completed two reunion tours performing old material, and that Jane's was ready for "a new challenge." Vocalist Perry Farrell states that the band "went into the studio thinking fast, hard, modern and to the point."

Upon its first week of release, the album sold 110,500 copies in the United States and is currently certified Gold. In the UK, the album is certified Silver, having sold over 60,000 copies. The single, "Just Because", was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2004.

The album received generally positive reviews, with a Metacritic score of 75, based on 19 reviews. Playlouder noted that "their glee and enthusiasm can be heard coursing through every bar.", while NME claimed that Strays was "one of the best rock albums of 2003." and Alternative Press stated that the album was "better than anyone could have predicted.

Five tracks from the album are included in this concert.

Source: FM radio broadcast.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@192kbps.

Genre: Alternative rock, alternative metal, hard rock

Set: Broadcast set.

Set List:

1- Up The Beach
2- Stop
3- Ain't No Right
4- True Nature
5- Been Caught Stealing
6- Three Days
7- Everybody's Friend
8- Just Because (acoustic)
9- Strays
10- The Riches (FM recording lost part of this song).
11- Ocean Size
12- Mountain Song
13- Jane Says

Website: Official HERE.

Download links in comments below.

Los Lobos - Portland USA 1997

2011-10-17T22:06:00.000+01:00

This is Los Lobos performing live at The Pavilion, Portland, ME, USA back on the 27th July 1997.

Los Lobos are a multiple Grammy Award–winning American Chicano rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional Spanish and Mexican music such as cumbia, boleros and norteños.

From Wikipedia - Originally, they called themselve Los Lobos del Este (de Los Angeles) ["The Wolves of the East of Los Angeles"], which was a play on the name of a norteno band called Los Lobos del Norte and the fact that they (Los Lobos del Este) were from east L.A. The name was quickly shortened to Los Lobos. The band's first noteworthy public appearance occurred in 1980 at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles when they were hired by David Ferguson and CD Presents to open for Public Image Ltd. In the late 1980s and early 1990s the band toured extensively throughout the world, opening for such acts as Bob Dylan, U2 and the Grateful Dead.

Los Lobos returned with The Neighborhood in 1990, and the creative and wildly experimental Kiko (produced by Mitchell Froom) in 1992. In 1991, the band contributed a lively cover of Bertha, a song which they often performed live, to the Grateful Dead tribute/rain forest benefit album Deadicated. In 1994 they also contributed a track, Down Where the Drunkards Roll, to the Richard Thompson tribute album Beat the Retreat. In 1993, they performeed "Feliz Navidad" on the film Sesame Street Stays Up Late!. On the band's twenty-year anniversary they released a two-CD collection of singles, out-takes, live recordings and hits entitled Just Another Band from East L.A.

In 1995, Los Lobos released the prestigious and bestselling record Papa's Dream on Music for Little People Records along with veteran guitarist and singer Lalo Guerrero. The band also scored the film Desperado. The album track "Mariachi Suite" won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance, and stands as their last Grammy Award to date (the other two Grammy Awards were in the category of Best Mexican-American Performance in 1983 and 1989 for the song Anselma and the album La Pistola y El Corazon).

In 1996 they released Colossal Head. In spite of the fact that the album was critically acclaimed, Warner Brothers decided to drop the band from their roster. Los Lobos spent the next few years on side projects. The band contributed along with Money Markto the AIDS benefit album Silencio=Muerte: Red Hot + Latin produced by the Red Hot Organization performing "Pepe and Irene." Los Lobos signed to Hollywood Records in 1999, and released This Time. Hollywood also reissued 1977's Del Este de Los Angeles. In 2000, Rhino/Warner Archives released the Cancionero: Mas y Mas boxed set.

The band continue to perform with the same line up (see their website for the most recent info on the band).

Source: Soundboard.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@320kbps.

Genre: Chicano rock, roots rock, Latin rock, Tex-Mex, Americana.

Set: Full set.

Set List:

Angels With Dirty Faces
Don't Worry Baby
Down on the Riverbed
I Walk Alone
Revolution
Everybody Loves a Train
One Time, One Night
Colossal Head
Maricela
That Train Don't Stop Here Anymore
Kiko and the Lavender Moon
Ay Te Dejo en San Antonio
Los Ojos de Pancha
Volver, Volver
Marie Marie
This Bird's Gonna Fly
Mas y Mas
Encores:
Estoy Sentado Aqui
Cinnamon Girl
I Got to Let You Know
Let's Say Goodnight
Jam - Bertha

Website: Official HERE.

Download links in comments below.

Gram Parsons - Under Your Spell Again

2011-10-13T16:12:00.000+01:00

This is a compilation bootleg of Gram Parsons that was 'released' as a two CD album called 'Under Your Spell Again' (on the Colosseum label). The material includes both live and studio recordings that span 1964 through to 1972.

Audio quality varies as described below, however as an alternative reflection of Gram Parsons career this is fascinating material.

This bootleg was reviewed on the allmusic.com website by Mark Deming as follows - Despite wildly inconsistent sound quality, and several performances of interest only to the hardest of hardcore fans, this two-disc bootleg is one of the few truly comprehensive portraits of the career of Gram Parsons, offering rare and often fascinating recordings from every stage of his career. The set opens with a rough, splicey, but historically priceless tape of Parsons and his teenage band the Legends rocking out on Little Richard's "Rip It Up"; whoever is playing guitar offers up a killer solo, indicating Parsons had already learned the importance of surrounding himself with gifted musicians.

Next up is the International Submarine Band's rare 1967 single on Columbia; this was before the group dove head-first into country, and the excellent A-side, "Sum Up Broke," sounds like a cross between 5D-era Byrds and early Moby Grape. The flip, "One Day Week," rocks pretty hard while suggesting Parsons' country & western-tinged melodic sense was just about to emerge. These cuts are followed by eight songs from a muddy audience tape of Parsons performing with the Byrds in London in 1968 (despite what the liner notes say, this wasn't Parson' last show with the band, although it was close to the end of the line); you're probably better off listening to Sweetheart of the Rodeo for most of this segment, though the final three songs, with Parsons on organ, give a much clearer picture of what his role in the band was originally intended to be.

Next up is a six-song set with the Flying Burrito Brothers from 1969's Seattle Pop Festival; the sound is OK (it sounds hi-fi compared to the Byrds cuts that precede it), while the performance is focused on covers, the highlight being a great rocked-up version of Roy Orbison's "Sweet Dreams Baby." Disc one closes out with the Burritos playing for a less than attentive audience at Hollywood's home of country music, the Palomino Club; it must have been their appearance that put off the crowd, because the band sounds fine and the recording is clear and well-balanced, if a bit boomy. Disc two leads off with a solo recording from Parsons' tenure with the Shilos; this is Parson in strict folky mode, and it's an adequate substitute for unreleased recordings from that group. The next six tunes are the set's highlight; 1972 acoustic demos of songs that would later appear on G.P., and if the audio is only a few steps up from "boom box in someone's living room," the performances are warm, heartfelt, and utterly priceless, especially on "How Much I Lied" and "A Song for You." Next, Parsons, Emmylou Harris, and N.D. Smart II stop by a Boston radio station to plug both G.P. and an upcoming local gig while Parsons and Emmylou swap lovely harmonies on two covers and Smart cracks some funny jokes; the opening chat is quite amusing as Parsons discusses his problems with record companies and life on the road. After a detour back to the Burritos era, with cuts from concerts in San Francisco (a place Parsons calls "the jivest town in the world" in a Crawdaddy interview reprinted in the liner notes) and North Hollywood (another night from the same stand at the Palomino), you're treated to some cuts from a Houston, TX, date on Parsons' final tour with the Fallen Angels that sound tighter a good bit more energetic than the set preserved on the Live 1973 album (especially "Six Days on the Road"), though the sound quality is only fair.

And finally, the set closes out with two alternate mixes of cuts from Grievous Angel rescued from lightly noisy but still listenable discs; neither is strikingly different, but they're still fine to hear. The set's packaging is splendid by bootleg standards, with a handful of rare photos of Parsons on stage with his various bands in the accompanying booklet and a handsomely printed gatefold LP-style folder (with equally attractive printed inner sleeves).

Despite the breadth of Parsons' career and his continuing influence, no one has seen fit to compile a box set of his best material, or even release a reasonably complete single-disc sampler in the United States ( Rhino Records, are you listening?), so for fans, Under Your Spell Again is especially valuable; it not only preserves a number of worthy performances from country-rock's single most important artist, but offers a better perspective on the many facets of his career than any authorized set has done to date.

Source: Soundboard - demos - audience recordings.

Sound Quality: Variable standards average to good all mp3@320kbps.

Genre: Country, country rock, rock.

Track List:

Disc 1 - 77.41
The Legends - 1964:
1 Rip It Up 2.41

International Submarine Band - 1967:
2 Sum Up Broke 2.16
3 One Day Week 2.47

The Byrds - London 68-June-7 (NOT the final show w/ the Byrds):
4 Hickory Wind 4.37
5 Sing Me Back Home 3.13
6 The Christian Life 2.39
7 Under Your Spell Again 2.36
8 You Don't Miss Your Water 3.40
9 Eight Miles High 4.42
10 Space Odyssey 4.13
11 Tribal Gathering 1.26

The Flying Burrito Brothers - Seattle Pop Festival 1969:
12 Sin City 4.01
13 Take A Message To Mary 3.29
14 She Thinks I Still Care 3.10
15 Christine's Tune 3.21
16 Sweet Dreams Baby 2.52
17 Wake Up Little Susie 2.44

The Flying Burrito Brothers - 69-June-6 Palomino Club - N Hollywood, CA:
18 Buckaroo 2.35
19 Another Place, Another Time 3.51
20 High On A Hilltop 3.53
21 She Once Lived Here 4.00
22 Hot Burrito #1 3.58
23 Everyone Loves A Winner 4.47

Disc 2 - 77.44
Gram Parsons - Solo 1964:
1 Race With The Devil 3.41

Gram Parsons - GP Demo's 1972:
2 How Much I Lied 3.05
3 The New Soft Shoe 3.43
4 Still Feeling Blue 3.00
5 A Song For You 5.58
6 Big Mouth Blues 3.29
7 Kiss The Children 3.41

Gram Parsons - 73-Mar-18 Radio Studio Session (WBCN Boston):
8 Fallen Angels (band talking)   3.15
9 Widow Maker 3.00
10 Love Hurts 5.01
11 Sin City 6.14

The Flying Burrito Brothers - 69-Apr-6 Avalon Ballroom, SF:
12 You're Still On My Mind 2.33

The Flying Burrito Brothers - 69-June-6 Palomino Club, N Hollywood:
13 Undo The Right > 1.38
   Somebody's Back In Town 3.15
14 Lucille 2.35
15 I Threw Away The Roll4.13
16 Train Song 3.24

Fallen Angels - 73-Feb-23 Liberty Hall - Houston, TX:
17 Six Days On The Road 3.11
18 Close Up The Honky Tonks 2.56

Fallen Angels - 1973
19 We'll Sweep Out The Ashes 3.39

Studio - Alternate Mixes (sound very similar to the LP versions):
20 Return Of The Grievous Angel   3.54
21 Hearts On Fire 3.48

Website: Official HERE.

Download links in comments below.

Rubblebucket - North Star Bar 2010.

2011-10-08T22:20:00.000+01:00

This is Rubblebucket live at the North Star Bar, Philadelphia, PA, USA recorded live on the 17th April, 2010.

Beehive Candy featured Rubblebucket in October 2009 as a reasonably new band to checkout, this is what we had to say in part back then - It's not only my opinion that Rubblebucket are one outstanding band, Seven Days Vermont named them best band of 2008, and others have equally applauded their excellent music and live performances.

Their second album (following up on last years debut 'Rose Dream') is simply titled Rubblebucket, and cutting straight to the point I absolutely love it.

If all of this is sounding like an over the top plug for Rubblebucket then I apologise, it's just that they are really, really one hot outfit. As things stand the new album may become my favorite of the year OK so it's still only October however as a contender, Rubblebucket have raised the bar considerably.

In March 2010 Rubblebucket relocated to Brooklyn, NY and continued to tour nationally through the summer with appearances at festivals such as High Sierra, All Good Music Festival, and the Liberate Music and Dance Festival. On October 19, 2010 they released their Triangular Daisies EP which included a cover of the Beatle's "Michelle" which Paste Magazine named on their list of 50 Greatest Beatles Covers of All Time.

In Spring 2011 Rubblebucket released their third full length album Omega La La. It was recorded at DFA studios and produced by Eric Broucek (LCD Soundsystem, !!!, Holy Ghost) & mastered by Joe Lambert (Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors, Herbie Hancock). On April 4, 2011 the band released it as a free download via their website preceding an official physical release on June 21 through MRI Distribution.

Source: Audience Matrix (choeps mk4 (DIN/FOB/ROC) > actives > NBox+ > Sound Devices 722 Firewire > Wavelab 5.0a(+3dB Gain/Fades/Resampler 192/UV22HR Dither) > CD Wave).

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@192kbps (variable).

Genre: Indie dance.

Set: Full set.

Set List:

01. L'Homme
02. Landing
03. Bad Mr. Kurtz
04. Don't Exaggerate
05. 540 Groove
06. Our Silly Fathers
07. Bikes
08. Down In The Yards
09. Red Line Beat
10. Phillip's Van
11. Ba Donso
12. Violent Rays
13. November
14. Came Out Of A Lady
15. (encore and break)
16. Cat Potatoes

Website: Official HERE.

Download link in comments below.

Quicksilver Messenger Service - Studio Out takes First Album

2011-10-04T22:28:00.000+01:00

This is a selection of studio outtakes from Quicksilver Messenger Service during the recording of their first album in 1968 and probably came from founder member John Cipollina's personal archive. The first album was noted for its instrumental passages (most notably in "Gold and Silver" and "The Fool"), the album displayed the group's jam sound amidst lighter pop-oriented songs. Unlike contemporaries such as the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver's jams were highly planned as can be heard by comparing the studio versions of songs with those from bootleg live performances.

Quicksilver Messenger Service are an American psychedelic rock band, formed in 1965 in San Francisco and is considered one of the leading acts on the city's psychedelic scene in the mid-to-late 1960s.

Quicksilver Messenger Service gained wide popularity in the Bay Area and, through their recordings, with psychedelic rock enthusiasts around the globe and several of their albums ranked in the Top 30 of the Billboard Pop charts. Although not as commercially successful as contemporaries Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead, QMS was integral to the beginnings of their genre. With their jazz and classical influences, as well as a strong folk background, the band attempted to create a sound that was individual and innovative. Member Dino Valenti drew heavily on musical influences he picked up during the folk revival of his formative musical years. The style he developed from these sources is evident in Quicksilver Messenger Service's swung rhythms and twanging guitar sounds.

After many years, the band has attempted to reform despite the deaths of several members. Recently, original members Gary Duncan and David Freiberg have been touring as the Quicksilver Messenger Service, using different musicians to back them up.

Source: Studio Soundboard - Demo Recordings.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@320kbps.

Genre: Acid rock, psychedelic rock, jam.

Set List:

01 Camaro Advert
02 The Fool
03 Dino's Song
04 Gold and Silver
05 Light Your Windows
06 Pride of Man
07 I Hear You Knockin'
08 Dino's Song(2)
09 Gold and Silver(2)
10 Codine
11 Dandelion

Website: Official HERE.

Download link in comments below.

2011Candy - September Edition Two

2011-09-28T21:30:00.008+01:00

Background: On their third album (released a few days ago) 'Letters From The Coast' The Caseworker exude the feel of a shoegazing Velvet Underground reared by the Flying Nun label - the perfect balance of drone and chime. The band creates an enigmatic intimacy and atmosphere, which they wrap around immaculately crafted pop songs like smoke. Perfectly intoxicating.

With opening track and lead single ‘National Runner’, The Caseworker have an instant pop classic on their hands. The song's consummate mix of hypnotic guitars and driving rhythm section are perfectly balanced with Conor Devlin's starry-eyed vocal. Elsewhere, bassist Eimer Devlin assumes lead vocal duties for ‘The Slow Track’ and ‘Sea Years’, both reminiscent of prime Yo La Tengo, while standout ‘Boats’ carries the listener away on its buoyant yet melancholic waves of arpeggios and feedback. The album exudes a wonderful sense of timelessness and romanticism - these are songs to attach to memories.

“The Caseworker extract darkness from inside whispery, ambient pop… completely enraptured and awesomely dazed” – Rolling Stone

2011Candy Says: Imagine The Stone Roses doing guitar lead riffing music, well for some reason that's what I thought, cant quite put my finger on it but this really does get my attention.
Featured Track: National Runner. Web: Official.
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Background: Lenny Marcus hails from Wash, DC, but he worked for many years in New Orleans, studying and performing with legends such as Ray Bryant, Ellis Marsalis, Alvin Batiste, and recording with David " Fathead" Newman, Charlie Byrd, Frank Foster, Sonny Fortune, Brian Lynch, Jane Powell and others. His band is a well schooled jazz group. " Their jazz is infectious!" Jazz Times magazine.

Lenny has recorded 18 CD's to date, performed in two international jazz festivals, and has had his music featured on the National Weather Channel (many songs over the last several years), NPR's ALL that Jazz and ALL Songs Considered. Two of his songs were finalists in the ISC international song writer's competition.

Lenny's music goes from modern high energy to a more contemplative, meditative approach.

Lenny is a highly trained jazz pianist who also plays flute and adds vocals. His compositions are refreshing and uplifting, and he has been compared to Vince Guaraldi, Oscar Peterson, Keith Jarrett, McCoy Tyner, Mose Allison-type vocal style, Ray Bryant, and many others. His original melodies and harmonic counterpoints also provide a high potential for film/TV soundtrack.

2011Candy Says: This is wonderful, simply wonderful. I love genres getting mixed up and boundaries crossed, I reckon this takes us to a new level. More please!
Featured Track: Ode To Joy. Web: Official.
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Background: Aaron Harris and Yosef Munro met as teenagers in Pittsburgh, PA and have been playing music together ever since. After high school they both moved to Montreal to be music majors at McGill University, but Harris dropped out when he got a chance to play drums in the pop band Islands. When that ended the two relocated to Brooklyn, got their bearings, and after a few false starts met up with with guitarist Jesse Newkirk and Steel Phantoms was born. The boys developed a plan to compose deft, deceptively simple pop hits with one foot firmly rooted in garage rock and 80s new wave and the other stepping blindly into oblivion.

Yos and Aaron see the pop canon as a funnel of ideas moving through spacetime, little portions eddying off at times, strong tendrils forcing themselves in at others, large swaths glowing with ingenuity and pulling the surrounding dust with them ever closer to the end of existence. They note the holes in the great stream and see with immeasurable clarity where and how those empty patches can be filled, and they see themselves, quite humbly, as having been vouchsafed the infinite power and vision to do just that.

Their second EP, Forer, is more congruent and introspective than their first and eponymous EP, and its subdued intensity gives it a power and energy all its own. The EP's single, Bedouin, is a tight, synthy, new-wave inspired gem that takes several subtle twists and turns, its stunningly smooth and bright guitar textures complementing the dark vocals and driving percussion.

2011Candy Says; Excellent mood vocals over well thought out music, add a touch of doing your own thing and you get Steel Phantoms.
Featured Track: Bedouin. Web: Bandcamp.
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Background: Michael Paolino spent the last three years feeling like he didn’t have a story to tell. Then he got hitched young and everything changed. Michael’s story – grit, sweetness and all, is captured in his epic indie-rock songs.

Expect intense, broody tracks jam-packed full of melody.

Written in his home studio in Perth, Australia and recorded, mixed and mastered by Rob Agostini at Soundbaker Studios, it’s the first collection of tracks released under Michael’s moniker, Husband.

You may recognise him as the lead guitarist in indie-pop-tronic outfit, Carl Fox; or as the crooning front man and chief songwriter of indie-rock trio, Luna Parade.

Over the years, Luna Parade released two EPs, garnered Triple J airplay and played the Big Day Out. They were offered notable support slots with the likes of Cut Off Your Hands, Birds of Tokyo, Shihad and British India.

Husband plays live as a five-piece, which includes Carl Fox (Carl Fox, Good Little Fox) on guitar, Darrel Sundai (Carl Fox, Luna Parade) on drums, Seb Kane (Luna Parade) on bass and Connor Gamble (Lacey) on keys.

2011Candy Says: This guy has a really powerful voice that dominates without suffocating the music mix. it's also a great song with a timeless feel.
Featured Track: Ordinary. Web: Official.
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Background: Delivering on the promise of their self titled CD/EP, Charlottesville, VA’s Borrowed Beams of Light drop the needle on summer with their first full length album, Stellar Hoax.

While the Voynich Manuscript, a centuries old handwritten book with unknown origins provides a thematic foundation for the album, frontmen Adam Brock and Nate Walsh give us ten tracks that burn with their own strange heat.

Careening with imagination and delirious, sun-drunk joy, the album opens with the infectious “Plants.” It gallops towards the rambunctiously poppy “Holy Cow,” and ends on “Stellar Hoax” a bracing ballad with a riptide of melancholy. Album highlight, “Half Light,” is a stop-you-in-your-tracks anthem that strums the chords of brotherhood, love, and loss.

Brock, who cites the Kinks and Fleetwood Mac as influences, does justice to these songs with his infectious vocals. The album is shot through with high pitched harmonies sure to lift your heart while you crank down the car window.

It may be called Stellar Hoax, but these tracks speak the universal truth of rock and roll. The album is out now via speakertree/World Recs (LP/CD/digital).

2011Candy Says: The featured track is a slow starting song that suddenly goes off in a different direction and a very pleasing one at that. The vocals give it an edge and the influences are there but in a positive way.
Featured Track: Half Light. Web: Official.
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Background: Why stop now? The best adventure could be just beyond that hill...Americana artist, Sharaya Mikael captures that road-weary but hopeful feeling in her first single from her forthcoming "Rush" EP, "3 Ft. From Gold". Beginning with gentle acoustic guitar and Mikael's evocative alto, the song gradually moves to a more driving tone, taking the listener along on the road trip. There's a reason for this imagery, as Mikael reveals the inspiration behind the song. She and her friend Ally Spotts had embarked on a 50 state road trip which was filled with self-booked shows for Mikael and priceless opportunities for Spotts to gain writing experience. "When I was on the 50 state tour, Ally and I stopped in Colorado in a gold mining town and I considered how the gold miners never knew when they would strike gold, but they kept digging," she says. "The thought occurred to me that in life we so often give up too soon just when we could have been so close to 'striking gold'. It's for anyone who is thinking about giving up, on a dream, on a relationship, or on life in general."

Sharaya Mikael quit her day job less than a year ago, but the talented singer/songwriter and guitarist has already created a buzz with her freewheeling approach to her career. Her first five song EP, Far Field, was independently released in 2010. It sold over 2,000 copies, most of them at gigs on a marathon 50-state promotional tour. Jessy Ribordy, leader of Portland's eclectic folk/bluegrass powerhouse The River Empires, produced the EP, giving it a warm folk pop feel to compliment Mikael's burnished alto. The title track was featured on Portland's KINK.FM Spotlight series and earned a "Best of 2010" mention in the popular Welcome Hohmes music blog.

Ribordy was also behind the boards and played most of the instruments, on Rush, Mikael's new EP. "This time, I recorded songs that I'd been performing for a few months," Mikael explains. "I had time to get comfortable with them and knew exactly how I wanted them to sound. Jessy helped me be more expressive and capture the emotion of each song. I'd say most of them are a result of spending too many nights staring out the window at the rain and having too much time to contemplate relationships and life."

2011Candy Says: As Beehive Candy are mad about good quality Americana songs the entry level is high and getting higher by the year. Sharaya cruised through with this charming song.
Featured Track: 3Ft From Gold. Web: Official.
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Background: Rivers and homes., is the new album from J.Viewz, a multi-genre electronic project brought together under the direction of Brooklyn based producer and songwriter Jonathan Dagan.

Up until this point, J.Viewz has released new songs, music videos, and remixes piecemeal to fans without actively promoting them to the music press. Yet through word of mouth the songs and videos surrounding rivers and homes. have been listened to and viewed hundreds of thousands of times, with the J.Viewz Youtube channel registering over 700,000 views on its own. A drop in the bucket for Lady Gaga, but a grand accomplishment for a project that has had no outside promotion.

J.Viewz sound alternately combines elements of soft breakbeat, hazy nostalgia, glitchy chillout, and strong vocal performances. The album vacillates between the high energy pop of “far too close” to calming expansive dreamscapes like “building a home”, but is pulled together cohesively by Dagan’s deft aesthetic vision.

rivers and homes. originated as an idea Dagan dubbed “Work In Progress” that he began developing in the Spring of 2010. The plan was to make an album available for pre-order, and then record and release tracks gradually over the course of a year to fans that subscribed to the process. In many ways this approach ran contrary to today’s current model, which usually sees artists offering their music up for free in the hopes people will deem it worthy of purchase. But from early on the quality of J.Viewz output drew subscribers in, and allowed the project to flourish. For Dagan this approach was positive on a few different levels. One of them was the immediacy of the process. Each song was recorded and released in the same weather, mindset, and period-in-life in which it had been conceived, giving fans an intimate real time look at the artistic evolution of the album. Another was the motivation that came with people paying for his album in advance. That fans were subscribing to his output gave Dagan reason as well as an obligation to fully realize material he might have otherwise left unfinished.

Through the subscription process Dagan was also able to fund the recording of new songs and remixes each month, as well as produce videos for select tracks. For their pre-order of the album/subscription fee, fans gained access to any recordings Dagan made as they were released, special remixes, access to song stems in order to make their own remixes, discounted tickets to shows, first looks at music videos, and now that it is complete, they have all been sent their own copy of the beautiful 26 page Booklet/CD rivers and homes.

Because of their involvement in funding the record, and the motivation and feedback they provided, Dagan describes his subscribers as “Associate Producers”. Some of the subscribers who uploaded their photos to the Work in Progress project have their pictures included within the rivers and homes. booklet.
rivers and homes. also bears the imprint of the talented musicians, vocalists, and artists Dagan invited to take part in his “Work In Progress” project. Each song features a different arrangement of players, and each is augmented by a piece of artwork or photography that can be found within the pages of the booklet. Pulled together they form a diverse aural and visual experience, presented in an engaging format that is as unique as the process by which the divergent parts were assembled.

2011Candy Says: I guess the featured track could be described as driving music to start with, then it gets real funky and you might need to pull over and dance!
Featured Track: Far To Close. Web: Official.
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Background: From Paper Garden Records Lovely Hearts Club - Envision if you can, one of those eerie man made lakes, you know the kind made out of some small valley town? Usually for the sake of water supply or electricity, all the locals would have to relocate up the mountain when the valley filled up, their homes becoming a reservoir of murky remains.

Every now and again when the lake gets low, people swear you can see the tops of these old buildings peeking just above the surface, struggling for the chance of resuscitation. Gun Lake‘s “June”, off their debut album Balfour, is the soundtrack to those moments; witnessing from the green shoreline, with just a pang of wistfulness, the reflection of their life recycled and restored for better or worse. Ann Arbor’s Mark Fain is an immense talent. His voice coos and hollers throughout said valley, echoing our own impulses to forgive and somehow forget.

We first heard about Gun Lake as they opened for our pals Little Tybee in Detroit this summer. We kept in touch via Turntable.fm and whatnot, and we’re so psyched to finally be teaming up! Be sure to watch the video below, as Gun Lake performs their crooning “Backwards” tucked away in a lofty, quilted attic. Fall is on it’s way!

2011Candy Says: Loads of comparisons spring to mind for me with Gun Lake (I'll keep them to myself) however the vocals are really spot on, the band totally together and this song is superb.
Featured Track: June. Web: Official.
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Background: Matt Andersen began to build his name on the Canadian circuit, his imposing voice and slashing slide guitar making a monolithic impression on audiences. He debuted with 2002’s One Size Never Fits, and followed with the likewise-warmly received Solo at Session (2004) and Live at Liberty House (2005).

After playing the prestigious 2004 East Coast Music Awards, Matt continued cultivating crowds, appearing with Randy Bachman, Bo Diddley, Little Feat, America, Loverboy, April Wine, and others. He signed with Busted Flat Records for a string of exalted albums: 2007’s Second Time Around, 2008’s Something in Between, and 2009’s Piggyback (a duo set with harmonica king Mike Stevens) and Live at the Phoenix Theatre.

By 2009 Matt had become a frequent guest on Stuart McLean’s CBC radio show “The Vinyl Café” and had completed his fourth tour of the UK, where The Times called him “Canada’s greatest guitarist.” In 2010 he became the first Canadian to win Memphis’s famed International Blues Challenge, which led to festival dates in France, Italy, and the US, where he toured with Old Crow Medicine Show.

Matt’s newest album, Coal Mining Blues, was produced by Colin Linden (who co-wrote and plays on several tunes) and recorded at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, New York. Featuring the Band keyboardist Garth Hudson and Olabelle singer Amy Helm, it’s a rich vein of new songs, many addressing the trying lives of working people: There’s the self-explanatory “Work Hard for the Luxury,” and the moving title track, which rings true in mining communities from Cape Breton to Sheffield and West Virginia. But not all of Coal Mining Blues is about hard work, as rollicking up-tempo cuts like “Lay it on the Line” and “Fired Up” bear out.

What is it Matt hopes audiences experience when they hear him? “I’m not trying to change anyone’s lives in a big way, but I love it when [listeners] really get involved in the music,” says Matt, performs over 200 shows a year and in 2011 won the Maple Blues Awards for Entertainer of the Year and Acoustic Act of the Year and was nominated for four East Coast Music Association awards. “That’s what really makes it a great night, for everyone.”

As Matt Andersen continues to do what he was born to do—play his exhilarating music—fans can look forward to many great nights, indeed.

2011Candy Says: If you are going to do stripped down blues rock, do it with passion. If you love this type of music and a good band and great backing vocals Matt Andersen is for you.
Featured Track: Fired Up. Web: Official.
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Background: “Even if they hadn’t drafted Robert Forster as producer, The John Steel Singers’ debut album would still be a charmer.” 4 Stars
- Doug Wallen, Rolling Stone Magazine

“The melodic, chaotic explosion of pop still gives you a thrill, and you can’t help but grin and dance.”
- Rave Magazine

“[The John Steel Singers] specialise in summery pop melodies, dashing harmonies and quirky, colourful indie gems like ‘Overpass.’”
- Jim Carroll, irishtimes.com

The John Steel Singers’ adventurous song writing has been making heads bop and feet tap since they scored triple j’s Unearthed J Award in 2008. With six members traversing across instruments like explorers, the Brisbane natives bring another dimension to the experimental pop aesthetic with an accomplished brass section on trombone and trumpet amongst the staple guitars, bass and drums.

Their debut album Tangalooma maintains their signature sense of indie rock meets dance-a-long pop, whilst juxtaposing their feel for unassumingly darker storylines. This has been their trademark on hits such as “Overpass,” “Rainbow Kraut” and “The Masochist.” Produced by Robert Forster (The Go-Betweens) and mixed by New York record engineer Nicholas Vernhes (Animal collective, Deerhunter), Tangalooma shows a depth of songwriting and is as lasting and infectious as ever. It’s the sort of album that would be best appreciated/enjoyed when listened to in full as a vinyl on a record player. This is what the band has always wanted to create, and looking back it’s been a busy journey to get there.

Tangalooma was released a couple of weeks ago, September 13, 2011 through digital in North America via Universal Music.

2011Candy Says: I love the name (The John Steel Singers) because you kinda get something else that is punchy, energetic and fun. And then it gets even better...
Featured Track: Rainbow Kraut. Web: Official.
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Background: LA's Pizza! presents a taste of the next-level weirdo pop eclecticism that runs rampant on the group’s upcoming album available this fall from Vanity Projects. “Riding Through the Jungle” is a linear epic that combines group sing-along vocals with an abstract, dubby groove, while “Buttersaw” is a straight-ahead new wave rager built behind lyrics addressing the uncomfortable truths of post-Bush America. As a bonus, the single includes a hard-hitting, club-ready remix of “Riding Through the Jungle” from rising electro heroes Kid Infinity.

Pizza! is comprised of these five fun-lovin' bros, from left to right: Geoff Geis (lead vocals, guitars), Rand Voorhies (drums, guitars), Tyler Sabbag (drums), Duncan Thum (bass, keyboards, vocals), Alex Myrvold (keyboards, bass, vocals). Photo by Andy Quinn.

In 2010, the band released a collection called Bogus Rimshots from the Fourth (download here) via Kill/Hurt Cassettes. In August of this year, the group released a video for the song "Be a Man" (view on Youtube).

The members of Pizza! have participated in these other notable musical projects: Big Whup, Dnonkong, Evan Voytas, Fol Chen, Geoff Geis, Liars, Walter Meego.

2011Candy Says: Attention grabbed, song approved, vocals and harmonies spot on and suddenly Frank Zappa leaps out! Well I guess at some point in time another band will remind me of Zappa, then they go off and do something else and stamp their own mark on the song and all is well with the world...
Featured Track: Riding Through The Jungle. Web: Official.
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Background: SONOIO, born Alessandro Cortini, has embarked on a month-long tour opening for Ladytron, including stops in Mexico City, Los Angeles, New York, and Miami. As the former keyboard player of Nine Inch Nails who has recorded tracks with with Ladytron, toured with Muse and recently remixed tracks by HEALTH, Big Black Delta and Nine Inch Nails, Cortini is no stranger to the industry. His work as SONOIO, however, has taken its own path. “This particular project is a materialization of me working on my own for the first time and trying to get as much out of a limited amount of tools, as opposed to using everything that is available to produce music these days.” All of the songs on the records are based on the meaning of the word/name SONOIO, which comes from the Italian phrase “sono io,” meaning, “it is I.”

For his two premiere albums Blue and Red, Cortini has carved out a new creative direction by using solely a Buchla analog synthesizer, an obsolete instrument from the 70’s, to produce all of the sounds in the recording process. “The whole compositional process felt like a chess game, where I would make a move, trying to compose in a certain way, only to be antagonized by either the limitations of the instrument, or its quirkiness, ” explains Cortini. “This ‘back and forth’ process led me to composing the bulk of the Blue and Red SONOIO records, allowing me to create something unique sounding, yet familiar and memorable.”

SONOIO's limited amount of tools had an effect on both the composition and sound design of his music, and sparked another great idea for promotional merchandise. In conjunction with the release of his albums, Cortini had a custom-made synthesizer, SuONOIO, manufactured for fans to create their own SONOIO-inspired music. As a collaboration with The Harvestman, the fully-functional SuONOIO synthesizer utilizes sounds found on the Red and Blue albums, allowing users to reshape them into new sounds, rhythms, textures, and drones.

At once gritty and melodious, Red and Blue draw from Cortini’s past collaborations while exploring a fresh territory more akin to the likes of Crystal Castles and Salem. The result is a series of multi-layered pop records that reveal new emotional terrain with each listen. Cortini spurned heavy-handed studio production with the help of Jonathan Bates (Big Black Delta), while also recording and mixing both the albums himself. Likewise, his live show is an intricate one-man production. Be sure to check out the tour dates listed below... if you are in the area, we'd love for you to come out and experience the live performance for yourself!

9.29 Seattle, WA @ Decibel Festival
10.1 Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
10.3 Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Lie Music Cafe
10.4 Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre
10.5 Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
10.6 Montreal, QC @ Telus Theater
10.7 Boston, MA @ Paradise
10.8 New York, NY @ Terminal 5
10.9 Philadelphia, PA @ Theater of Living Arts
10.11 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
10.13 Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade (Heaven Stage)
10.14 Pensacola, FL @ DeLuna Fest
10.15 Miami, FL @ Grand Central

2011Candy Says: This is heavy metal done without the guitars and hairy people. So turn it up to eleven and enjoy!
Featured Track: Can You Hear Me. Web: Official.
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Background: Little Wind is the sophomore release from Minneapolis’ Caroline Smith & the Good Night Sleeps. The album expands upon the band’s debut LP Backyard Tent Set’s storytelling whimsy, but shifts its foundation from the simplicities of gentle folk instrumentation to greater nuances of musical arrangement and soundscape rooted in modern indie rock. Loyal to the heart of the band’s sound, however, their songs continue to be characterized by unforgettable and endearing pop melodies. Most recognizable throughout their music, and the defining quality to their success, is Caroline Smith’s alto timbre, quivering through vibrato, classic, and controlled with the presence of Billie Holiday, Leslie Feist, and Joanna Newsom.

Caroline Smith & the Good Night Sleeps began with just Caroline Smith as an 18-year-old songwriter in 2006, who earned her place in the Midwest music community. She began her career with a residency at Minneapolis' 400 Bar, a venue pivotal in shaping the careers of Elliott Smith, Conor Oberst, and local hero, Mason Jennings, who less than a decade before began his own career with the same residency. A year later, Caroline befriended drummer Arlen Peiffer (Cloud Cult), bassist Jesse Schuster, and multi-instrumentalist David Earl and the boys joined forces to support Caroline's folk tunes as “the Good Night Sleeps.” The release of their debut LP Backyard Tent Set, seven national tours, and constant circuit through the Midwest has garnered a committed following of audiences around the US.

The newest LP, set to be released on September 20th via United Interests, tested the Good Night Sleeps’ boundaries and the developed intricacies of each song and the album as a whole shine in each of the ten tracks.

"This record took a lot out of us as a band. We were in a huge transitional period when we were writing these songs and still not completely comfortable with any of them when we finally went into the studio. But because we were so unsettled with everything, the songs and the band, the record means so much more to us now because we got to see it all come together in front of our eyes and turn in to something we are all so proud of," says Caroline Smith.

Little Wind was recorded at the Terrarium in Minneapolis with Jason Orris (Polara, Happy Apple, Haley Bonar) and was mixed by Tom Herbers (Low, Dark Dark Dark, Andrew Bird.

2011Candy Says: I love the vocals (Joanna Newsom comparisons accepted but this is natural so whats the problem?), I love the band, I love the song, hence I finish this round up on a high! Simple as that.
Featured Track: Calliope. Web: Official.
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Featured Tracks:

David Bowie - Atlantis Live 2003

2011-09-23T22:47:00.000+01:00

This is David Bowie back on the 20th December 2003 at the Atlantis (resort & casino) on Nassau, Bahamas.

The Atlantis Paradise Island is a resort and waterpark located on Paradise Island, The Bahamas. Officially opened in 1998, the resort was created by South African hotel magnate Sol Kerzner and Kerzner International Limited. Paradise Island first opened its Coral and Beach Towers as the Trump Plaza, then changed its name to Atlantis when the Royal Towers were built.

2002 saw the release of Heathen, and, during the second half of the year, the Heathen Tour. Taking in Europe and North America, the tour opened at London's annual Meltdown festival, for which David Bowie was that year appointed artistic director. Among the acts he selected for the festival were Philip Glass, Television and The Polyphonic Spree. As well as songs from the new album, the tour featured material from Bowie's Low era.

Reality (2003) followed, and its accompanying world tour, the A Reality Tour, (from which this concert recording is sourced) with an estimated attendance of 722,000, grossed more than any other in 2004. Onstage in Oslo, Norway, on 18 June, Bowie was hit in the eye with a lollipop thrown by a fan; a week later he suffered chest pain while performing at the Hurricane Festival in Scheeßel, Germany. Originally thought to be a pinched nerve in his shoulder, the pain was later diagnosed as an acutely blocked artery, requiring an emergency angioplasty in Hamburg. The remaining 14 dates of the tour were cancelled.

Since recuperating from the heart surgery, David has reduced his musical output, making only one-off appearances on stage and in the studio. 'Fall Dog Bombs The Moon' is a stand out track in this quality recording, lets hope we can enjoy more new music from David Bowie, otherwise enjoy the man at his best.

Source: FM Broadcast

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@248kbps (variable).

Genre: Rock, pop, unique.

Set: Full recorded set.

Set List:

01. New Killer Star
02. Rebel Rebel
03. Fashion
04. Fall Dog Bombs The Moon
05. Cactus
06. Ashes To Ashes
07. The Man Who Sold The World
08. The Loneliest Guy
09. She'll Drive The Big Car
10. I'm Afraid Of Americans
11. Sunday
12. Heroes
13. Band Introduction
14. China Girl

Website: Official HERE.

Download link in comments below.

Arcade Fire - I-Day Festival 2010.

2011-09-20T20:22:00.000+01:00

This is Arcade Fire in concert at the I-Day Festival in Bologna, Italy, back on the 2nd September 2010. The tour in support of the release of The Suburbs album was in my opinion their best yet and musically this is a very good example. However be warned, a rather annoying Italian DJ pops up on occasion practicing his skills (or inflating his ego even further) as this concert was broadcast live on FM and this recording sourced from that broadcast.

From wikipedia regarding recent events for the band - On January 13, 2011 it was announced that Arcade Fire would perform at the 53rd Grammy Awards in February 2011. The band was nominated for Grammy Awards in three categories: Album of the Year, Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and Best Alternative Music Album (for The Suburbs). Out of the three nominations, they won the award for Album of the Year.

At the 2011 BRIT Awards, "The Suburbs" won Best International Album, and Arcade Fire won the Award for Best International Group. In March 2011, Arcade Fire was honored at the Juno Awards of 2011. They won Group of the Year and Songwriter of the Year for "Ready To Start", "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)", and "We Used To Wait", all off "The Suburbs". "The Suburbs" also won Album of the Year and Alternative Album of the Year.

On April 19, 2011 it was announced that Arcade Fire will release a deluxe edition of their album The Suburbs featuring the short film Scenes from the Suburbs, by director Spike Jonze, as well as two new tracks, "Culture War" and "Speaking in Tongues" featuring David Byrne. Scenes from the Suburbs, which debuted at the Berlin International Film Festival 2011, has a running time of 30 minutes. The film screened at the SXSW Film Festival 2011 and saw its online premiere on MUBI on June 27, 2011. Writing for the Canadian Press, Nick Patch called the film "a sci-fi puzzler that seems to blend the paranoia of Terry Gilliam films with the nostalgia of classic Steven Spielberg flicks."

On June 16, the album was named as a longlisted nominee (one of 40) for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize. On July 6, the album was named as a shortlisted (one of 10) nominee for the 2011 award. On September 20, 2011, they were awarded the Polaris Prize.

Source: FM Broadcast

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@300kbps (variable).

Genre: Indie rock, baroque pop, art rock.

Set: Full Set.

Set List:

01-intro
02-Ready to Start
03-Month of May
04-Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
05-Crown of Love
06-Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
07-The Suburbs
08-Suburban War
09-Intervention
10-Modern Man
11-No Cars Go
12-Haïti
13-We Used To Wait
14-Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
15-Rebellion (Lies)
16-encore break and radio banter
17-Keep The Car Running
18-Wake Up
19-radio outro

Website: Official HERE.

Download links (three) in comments below.

Traffic - The Low Spark Of High Heeled Sessions

2011-09-16T21:49:00.000+01:00

This is Traffic during 'The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys' recording sessions, at Olympic Studios, London, developed across various dates in 1971.

After the break-up of Blind Faith in 1969, Steve Winwood began working on a solo recording, bringing in Chris Wood and Jim Capaldi to contribute, and the project eventually turned into a new Traffic album, John Barleycorn Must Die, their most successful album yet. Traffic went on to expand its lineup late in 1970, adding Ric Grech on bass. The group further expanded in 1971 with drummer Jim Gordon of Derek and the Dominos and percussionist Rebop Kwaku Baah. The live album Welcome to the Canteen was released in September and marked the band's break with United Artists Records. It did not bear the "Traffic" name on the cover, and instead was credited to the band's individual members including Dave Mason, who returned for his third and final spell with the band. The album ended with a version of The Spencer Davis Group song "Gimme Some Loving", which became a minor hit.

Following the departure of Dave Mason, Traffic released The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (1971), which was a Top 10 American album but did not chart in the UK; the LP is also notable for its striking die-cut cover. It sold over half a million copies in 1972 when it received a gold disc, and was awarded a R.I.A.A. platinum disc in March 1976 for over a million total sales. Once again, however, personnel problems wracked the band as Grech and Gordon left the band in December 1971, and the month after, Winwood's struggles with peritonitis brought Traffic to a standstill. Jim Capaldi used this hiatus to record a solo album, Oh How We Danced, which would prove to be the beginning of a long and successful solo career. The album included a surplus recording from The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys, "Open Your Heart", and the new tracks featured drummer Roger Hawkins and bassist David Hood, from the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio house band. Capaldi soon brought them on board to replace Grech and Gordon.

Source: Studio Soundboard - Demo Recordings.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@320kbps.

Genre: Progressive rock, psychedelic rock, folk rock, jazz fusion

Set List:

1. The Low Spark Of High-Heeled Boys - alternate take, February 9, 1971
2. Rock And Roll Stew - alternate take, May 19, 1971
3. Rainmaker - alternate take, May 19, 1971
4. Rock And Roll Stew - alternate mix, August 25, 1971
5. Light Up Or Leave Me Alone - alternate mix, August 25, 1971
6. Traffic Jam #1 - take 2
7. Traffic Jam #2 - with Muscle Shoals Horns
8. Traffic Jam #3 - with Muscle Shoals Horns
9. It's So Hard - Jim Capaldi & Jim Gordon demo #1
10. It's So Hard - Jim Capaldi & Jim Gordon demo #2
11. Easter Weekend - Jim Capaldi demo #1
12. Easter Weekend - Jim Capaldi demo #2

Websites: Steve Winwood HERE. Jim Capaldi HERE. Dave Mason HERE. Chris Wood HERE.

Download links (two) in comments below.

REM - KCRW Live Session 1991

2011-09-11T21:48:00.000+01:00

This is R.E.M. with tracks 1-15 performed live at KCRW Studios, Santa Monica, California, April 3rd, 1991. Tracks 16-17 were perfomed on Saturday Night Live, in New York, on April 13th, 1991.

Regarding the lead up to this period of R.E.M. and the gigs themselves wikipedia informs us - The band's 1988 Warner Bros. debut, Green, was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, and showcased the group experimenting with its sound. The record's tracks ranged from the upbeat first single "Stand" (a hit in the United States), to more political material, like the rock-oriented "Orange Crush" and "World Leader Pretend", which address the Vietnam War and the Cold War, respectively. Green has gone on to sell four million copies worldwide. The band supported the album with its biggest and most visually developed tour to date, featuring back-projections and art films playing on the stage. After the Green tour, the band members unofficially decided to take the following year off, the first extended break in the band's career.

R.E.M. reconvened in mid-1990 to record its seventh album, Out of Time. In a departure from Green, the band members often wrote the music with non-traditional rock instrumentation including mandolin, organ, and acoustic guitar instead of adding them as overdubs later in the creative process. Released in March 1991, Out of Time was the band's first album to top both the US and UK charts. The record eventually sold 4.2 million copies in the US alone,[50] and about 12 million copies worldwide by 1996. The album's lead single "Losing My Religion" was a worldwide hit that received heavy rotation on radio, as did the music video on MTV.[51] "Losing My Religion" was R.E.M.'s highest-charting single in the US, reaching number four on the Billboard charts. "There have been very few life-changing events in our career because our career has been so gradual," Mills said years later. "If you want to talk about life changing, I think 'Losing My Religion' is the closest it gets". The album's second single. "Shiny Happy People" (one of three songs on the record to feature vocals from Kate Pierson of fellow Athens band The B-52's), was also a major hit, reaching number 10 in the US and number six in the UK.[22] Out of Time garnered R.E.M. seven nominations at the 1992 Grammy Awards, the most nominations of any artist that year. The band won three awards: one for Best Alternative Music Album and two for "Losing My Religion", Best Short Form Music Video and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. R.E.M. did not tour to promote Out of Time; instead the group played a series of one-off shows, including an appearance taped for an episode of MTV Unplugged.

Source: FM and TV broadcast audio.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@320kbps.

Genre: Alternative rock, college rock, jangle pop

Set: Full Set.

Set List:

1. World Leader Pretend
2. Half a World Away
3. Disturbance at the Heron House
4. Radio Song
5. Low
6. Love is All Around
7. Tusk
8. Losing My Religion
9. Bandwagon
10. Endgame
11. Jackson
12. Swan Swan H
13. Spooky
14. Radio Ethiopia
15. Fall on Me
16. Losing My religion
17. Shiny Happy People

Website: Official HERE.

Download links (two) in comments below.

Josh Ritter - Toronto 2005

2011-09-06T21:44:00.000+01:00

This is Josh Ritter live at The Rivoli, Toronto, Ontario, Canada back on January 29th, 2005. This is a solo set recorded to a high standard and a must for any fans of his music and a great acoustic introduction for others. Josh Ritter was born in Moscow, Idaho in 1976. As a teenager, after hearing Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan’s “Girl from the North Country” on his parents' copy of Nashville Skyline, he attempted to write songs on a lute that his father had built, before abandoning the lute and buying his first guitar at K-Mart.

Josh Ritter attended Oberlin College to study neuroscience, but later changed his major to the self-created "American History Through Narrative Folk Music". At the age of 21 Josh recorded his first album Josh Ritter at a recording studio on campus. After graduating, Josh moved to Scotland to attend the School of Scottish Folk Studies for six months. Josh then moved back to Idaho for a few months, before moving to Providence, Rhode Island, then Somerville, Massachusetts where he worked temporary jobs and played at open mic nights. During this time, Ritter sold copies of his album and was spotted by Glen Hansard and his band The Frames, who invited him to return with them to Ireland. As an early sign of his success to come, Ritter found on the trip to Ireland that his album sold particularly well at open mics there. With the money from merchandise sales, Ritter was eventually able to quit his day job and devote himself to music full-time.

A year and a half after recording Josh Ritter, Ritter recorded his second album Golden Age of Radio for $1000 and self-published it. The album was recorded in three different studios: Soundgun in Philadelphia, Electric Cave in New Hampshire, and a friend's basement studio. While promoting Golden Age of Radio, he met Jim Olsen, head of independent record label Signature Sounds, who offered to remaster and re-release the album after hearing Ritter play. The song "Me & Jiggs" was subsequently released as a single in Ireland, where Ritter was quickly becoming a word-of-mouth success, first opening for The Frames, then headlining his own shows. Ritter's third record, Hello Starling, produced by former Frames guitarist Dave Odlum, debuted at #2 on the Irish charts. Ritter, left, in concert with long time bassist Zack Hickman

In 2003, Ritter shared top billing with the French Kicks at Sepomana, the annual music festival produced by WRMC 91.1 FM. Ritter and Ron Sexsmith headlined the Friday night singer-songwriter event at the Hotel Viking at the 2004 Newport Folk Festival. He also appeared at Oxegen 2005, and has headlined with artists such as Joan Baez, who later released her own version of Ritter's song "Wings" on her album Dark Chords on a Big Guitar. He was signed by a British label, V2 Records, in 2005 and Hello Starling was subsequently re-released. He began performing and touring in a crossover duo with the classical violinist Hilary Hahn in 2005.

Source: Soundboard ( + KM184 > V2 > emagic A62 > laptop (Kristal 4x16/44.1) Lineage: Cool Edit Pro 2.1 (Waves C4/32 bit mixdown) > Waves L2(dither).

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@192kbps (variable).

Genre: Americana, Folk, Alternative Country, Rock.

Set: Full Set.

Set List:

1. Intro
2. California*
3. Bright Smile
4. Me And Jiggs
5. Girl In The War
6. Man Burning
7. Harrisburg
8. Wings
9. You Don't Make It Easy Babe
10. In The Dark
11. Kathleen
12. Lillian
13. Something
14. Bone Of Song
15. Murder On My Mind
16. Golden Age Of Radio**
17. Snow Is Gone
18. Chelsea Hotel No.2
19. Mercury***
20. Stuck To You

*unplugged
**string breaks
***w/Kathleen Edwards

Website: Official HERE.

Download links (two) in comments below.

2011Candy - September Edition One

2011-09-02T12:54:00.000+01:00

Background: The Coasts are Eric Mount and Ike Peters. The two met as freshman in college, became best friends, played music together just once, and laid down a rock n' roll album shortly thereafter. Enter Lovely Hearts Club. The advent of turntable.fm has allowed us to not only meet a ton of really great folks out there on the interweb but also hear some really special demos. Ike, a copywriter in Little Rock and one half of The Coasts, played a track for us in the Paper Garden Records room and we were hooked. How do we promote ourselves? Do we suck? These were just a few questions The Coasts had for us. No, you don't suck. You rule. Let us promote you! So here we are.

The Coasts are just effortlessly fun, as if The Black Keys and Elvis Costello conceived an uncombed lovechild. The first track off their self-titled release, which you can listen to here, "Poltergeist" is a infectious, rolling pop song about moving into a haunted house. The thing is, you're never quite sure if they're celebrating or lamenting the fact that they live with ghosts because it's just that catchy. The track that really caught our attention though was "Handshakers", a quirky anthem that's equal parts gritty rockabilly and punching pop. A portion of the record sales for The Coasts will go towards the Hope For Haiti's Children Foundation.

2011Candy Says: This is just fine good old rock and pop with a catchy feel and nice harmonies. First of a few this time around that are just great for a sunny day!
Featured Track: Handshakers. Web: Bandcamp.
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Background: What others have said about Australian band San Cisco - "['Golden Revolver' is] a warm track featuring gang choruses, Vampire Weekend-ish guitar riffs and the cowbell, Golden Revolver certainly makes the case for one of the better summer tracks this year." - Panicl Manual

"This new Australian group is full of sweet, summery pop goodness. The likes that Vampire Weekend or Foreign Born might deliver with the added bonus of a girl drummer.” - The OCMD

"Confident with stage presence and strong with vocals, San Cisco brings to the table an impressive brand of upbeat summer pop." - Concrete Opinions

"Golden Revolver is their first EP, an eclectic mix of indie pop with folk undertones, slashes of synth and influences ranging from Bright Eyes to Vampire Weekend." - We Heart Music

"If Vampire Weekend had an Australian baby (and a girl drummer), this is what they would sound like." - Indie Shuffle

"Perth, Australia youngsters, San Cisco, deliver indie pop like old pros." - TSURURADIO.

2011Candy Says: Another group that confirm Australia is not short of up and coming bands to watch out for where ever you are on the planet. Feel good music delivered with style and enthusiasm.
Featured Track: Golden Revolver. Web: MySpace.
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Background: With deep roots throughout Oregon, John Craig grew up in Eugene playing alongside Blind Pilot’s Ryan Dobrowski in their college band named Tympanic. Exploring state highways, back roads and small venues along the West Coast, Tympanic flourished until graduation eventually brought things to an end.

In 2009, Craig released his solo debut EP, Umlaut, making waves and receiving hometown love from Portland’s Willamette Week, Portland Mercury, Portland Tribune and Eugene Weekly, to name a few. Then he released a couple of singles in 2010, “Ghosts” and “Broken Branches,” and began writing for his sophomore LP - Numbers - with influences spanning Bowie and Prince to Cut Copy and Ra Ra Riot. With a new band called The Weekend - comprised of Nicole Berke, Tommy Illk, Josh Lava, and Craig, the group is out to heat up the dance floor, with ambitious touring plans for 2011 and beyond.

Numbers was recorded in Craig’s basement studio and at a small lake house on the Oregon Coast. Final tracking was done at Cloud City in Portland, Oregon and was engineered by Justin Phelps (Mars Volta, Bob Weir and Ratdog, Dead Kennedys, Chris Isaak, Cake). Numbers was released nationally on August 30th, 2011 on Loophole Records with a national tour to follow. Also notable, "Ticking" from Craig’s 2009 EP Umlaut will appear in the forthcoming feature film, Tucker & Dale vs Evil slated for a Sept 30th release.

Numbers hit iTunes, Amazon, and record stores worldwide on August 30th.

2011Candy Says: This song gently builds into something quite special. The piano's dominance fades as the song develops but seems to come back and give a haunting background that really works.
Featured Track: Don't Think Make Mistakes - Pt1. Web: Official.
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Background: If you don’t already know Olga, just listen to her music - and you will. As this lithe, willowy woman settles into her guitar, the throaty voice that pours out of her takes you by surprise, transporting you to the easy rhythm of a sultry New Orleans afternoon. Gritty and honest, soulful and stirring, Olga sings about love and loss, relationships and the road ahead.

Fans all over the world will tell you that Olga’s songs have an undeniable authenticity to them, stemming from inspiration drawn from her own life—a journey steeped in music, and the blues. Olga spent years honing her sound in the hill country of northern Mississippi, with friends and mentors like Los Lobos (her “favorite band, and people!”) and blues legend Jessie Mae Hemphill helping shape her musical trajectory.

Olga’s music continues to evolve and push her to new creative heights, but always with a Southern twist, a veritable tip-of-the-hat to her blues roots.

“Music has been a journey for me, one that I continue to learn from,” she says. “I have been blessed to experience many things throughout my life, often with intensity. You have to take the good with the bad, and then learn to just let it all go.”

And as she begins to sing, you just can’t help but groove to her beat.

2011Candy Says: That 'southern twist' is definitely there, along with some Americana and some country rock thrown in for good measure. Great song from an artist that we will definitely listening to some more.
Featured Track: Whatever You Want. Web: MySpace.
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Background: In 2005, Deanna Reuben released her debut album, The Look Of Love, celebrating with a performance at Gerald Veasley’s Jazz Base. Critical acclaim and national airplay would follow, and encouraged Reuben to stay the course. By 2008, she began making her own contributions to the great American songbook, composing two haunting ballads with R. Martin Mellinger. “Here In the Night” and “How Do You Measure Love” both appear on Reuben’s sophomore album, On Life And Love.

Reuben has shown an ability to combine the lyricism of Puccini with the panache of a stage performer and a personality and vulnerability that are innate, creating a near-perfect musical conduit for personal connections with her audience. Reuben’s third album, The Very Thought Of You, promises great things. With a backing band who have collectively played with such artists as Woody Herman, Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Tony Bennett, Pat Martino and Phil Woods, among others, and Reuben’s tremendous sense of style and vocal talent, it is hard to imagine Deanna Reuben not making the jump to nationally known recording artist.

Jazz and pop standards continually draw new performers, from unknowns singing in their living rooms to established pop and rock stars looking to return to their roots. For such an established genre there is no end of fresh approaches, yet the freshest approach these days involves getting in touch with the roots of the music. Reuben understands where the music came from, and where it’s going.

Deanna Reuben may not be a household name. Yet. But she is one of the finest interpreters of the Great American Songbook working today.

2011Candy Says: This is oh so smooth. Jazz with all the essential ingrediants, topped off with Deanna's natural and quite superb voice.
Featured Track: Easy To Love. Web: Official.
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Background: Mild Mannered are true to their name -- Clark Kent everyman concealing Superman rock prowess. The evolution of Mild Mannered is vintage midwest charm blended with big city anecdotes, and their sound is one part rock, one part indie-pop, and one part tenacity. The genesis of Mild Mannered was in the basement of Jennifer and Pat Casa’s Cleveland, Ohio home, where they rehearsed, recorded and released two full-length albums under the name Starberry. The indie-rock duo paired Pat on drums and Jennifer on vocals and guitars and was known to celebrate “that international wonderful indie-pop sound.” Fast forward with a desire to push their music to its full potential, they left their cozy basement and headed to a recording studio in the city. They recruited Pat’s lifelong friend, guitarist Tim Parnin (Sweet Apple, Cobra Verde, Chuck Mosley Band), and the Mild Mannered sound was forged, unleashing Believeland, Mild Mannered’s debut tour de force. The album is a 10-song testament to hard work and perseverance, believing in something and making it a reality. In true DIY fashion, the little engine that could just did.

Mild Mannered believes the best rock still originates in the basement, even when you’re the one paying the mortgage. With an eye to the future, Mild Mannered has recently added Tony Bunce (The Twilight) on bass to round out the group on stage, placing an all-star in every position. The quartet is once again rehearsing in the basement, making preparations for live shows that will make believers out of you all.

2011Candy Says: No nonsense rock delivered with passion and style. Simple as that!
Featured Track: The Demand. Web: Official.
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Background: "Big Black Delta’s maiden voyage (which will be out on Coming Home Records) is a triumph of man and machine, not to mention man over record-industry machinations.
” - Buzzbands LA

“Jonathan Bates aka Big Black Delta makes some of the noisiest and most fun pop music you're likely to hear for a long time coming.” - The Culture of Me

As a successor to the free debut EP (bbdep1), Los Angeles experimental pop project Big Black Delta’s debut LP BBDLP1 will be released on September 26th on Coming Home Records. Citing “being out of tune” as a muse, the songs on the album are the spawn of multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Bate’s imagination and inspired musical exploration. It was recorded entirely on a laptop given to him by Alessandro Cortini (Nine Inch Nails, SONOIO) in and all over Los Angeles, from assorted apartments and friends’ houses to backyards across the city, often at all hours of the night. Guests on the album include Cortini, who played his buchla on “The Zebrah,” as well as Morgan Kibby (M83, White Sea) whose vocals are featured on “Dreary Moon.” Big supporter of the band, Los Angeles tastemaker Kevin Bronson premiered the track "Capsize" on Buzzbands.la yesterday.

"My Grandfather was good drinking buddies with Ernest Hemingway. They'd get drunk and go fishing off the coast of Peru. This song sounds like being woozy on a ship full of reckless dicks."

In promotion of the upcoming release, Big Black Delta will have a September residency at elite Los Angeles venue The Satellite. For each Monday of the month, Bates will be performing with live vocals, dancing, an orchestrated light show, and dueling female drummers Mahsa Zargaran and Amy Wood.

2011Candy Says: This is a fine song and we hope a great taste of things to come from Big Black Delta. Layers of sound driven by a marching rythmn.
Featured Track: Capsize. Web: Official.
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Background: The second Pocketbooks album was recorded during the winter of 2010. The band gathered in the basement underneath a ukulele shop in east London’s Brick Lane, and played songs late into the night. It would have been a wintry record anyway, but the snow and the dark nights definitely played their part.
The album begins and finishes with a bleak, distant piano, but inbetween there’s a mix of bright harmonies, shimmering guitars and gorgeous strings.

The band were joined by the violin section of A Little Orchestra (set up by The Pipettes’ maestro Monster Bobby) who added some warmth and sadness in equal measure. The album was recorded by Simon Trought, who has also produced The Wave Pictures, Allo Darlin’, Fanfarlo and Darren Hayman. It will be released on CD and as downloads by Odd Box Records.

Pocketbooks are a pop band from London. Their first album, Flight Paths, was released in 2009 on How Does It Feel To Be Loved?, and its songs picked up radio play on BBC Radio 1, BBC 6Music and Xfm. Their song Fleeting Moments appears on the Rough Trade Shops Indiepop 09 compilation.
Members of the band are involved in organising the annual Indietracks festival, which takes place on a 1950s steam railway in Derbyshire. This years event has already had a 4 star review in the Guardian.

2011Candy Says: The Pocketbooks make great pop music. Call it indiepop if you like, it's gorgeous and I love it!
Featured Track: Promises Promises. Web:MySpace.
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Background: Carrie Clark is watching you. Oh, maybe not literally, but one constant running throughout Between the Bed Sheets & Turpentine is the Seattle songwriter's keen eye for the telling detail and quirks of human nature. These thirteen originals span a gamut of styles, from classic country ("I'm A Lark," "Where Are You") and surging rock ("What Have We Done," "Down At My Knees") to mischievous music hall numbers ("The Night Before") and jazz ("The Stranger"), but all of them showcase her astute powers of observation.

As they like to say in Hollywood, all the events in Carrie Clark's music are based on a true story. Not just curious events, but the gamut of emotions brought to the fore by challenges both large and small, and how our voices, faces and body language reflect different sentiments. On the surface, many of these originals may seem primarily concerned with having fun and doling out generous doses of sassiness, yet they reveal myriad layers upon closer inspection. The album's title, Between the Bed Sheets & Turpentine, is a line from one of the more lighthearted selections ("The Night Before"), but it neatly summarizes the emotional scope of the disc, which encompasses not only all the feelings that can crop up in the bedroom—passion, loneliness, dreams—but also the sometimes hard work of cleaning up after life's mishaps.

The follow-up to 2006's Seems So Civilized, Between the Bed Sheets & Turpentine boasts the fullest sound and most fully realized arrangements in her catalog yet. Much of the credit, she demurs, goes to her band, the Lonesome Lovers; multi- instrumentalist and arranger Greg Fulton ("my right arm") has been with Clark since 2003, and the other members of the quintet, Kohen Burrill (Tubaluba), Kevin Emerson (Central Services), Dave Pascal (Love Markets) and Rob Witmer (Love Markets), all boast tenures of two years or longer.

She also underscores the pivotal role played by producer Martin Feveyer (Blue Scholars, Zoe Muth and the Lost High Rollers, Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter) in helping make her fourth independently released record the finest in her canon yet, pushing Clark and all her musicians to the utmost. The producer also encouraged them to experiment and tease out the unique character within each song, taking full advantage of the ensemble's versatile musicianship. A few of them changed quite drastically, and Clark cites "What Have We Done"—a state-of-the-world meditation inspired by her toddler nephew—as an especially successful example.

"I'm really proud of this record," she concludes. "I've grown a lot since the last one, and I'm excited to share this music." Carrie Clark is watching you; you'd be wise to keep your eyes—and ears—on Carrie Clark and the Lonesome Lovers, too.

2011Candy Says: Are we being spoiled this time around or what? Carrie Clark's vocals over a superb band and arrangement = great songs every time.
Featured Track: Bum Bah Dum. Web: Official.
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Background: On October 11th Lefse Records will be releasing the debut EP Wasted Youth Blues from Denver's The Morning Clouds. With lush guitars, and hushed vocals The Morning Clouds are the perfect soundtrack for a foggy drive. Look out for them at CMJ, and an upcoming West Coast tour where they will have limited 7 inches available.

Life has a funny way of coming around full circle when you least expect it. Take, for example, Josh Wambeke and The Morning Clouds. He spent the better part of the previous decade as half of Phineas Gage’s psychedelic songwriting axis then leading Fell through shoegaze and space-rock realms. After trampling to the farthest reaches of the cosmos and center of the mind, he found himself straying back into the realms of late-night solo songwriting that marked some of his earliest forays into home four-tracking.

As easily as Wambeke slipped back into the one-man explorations of classic pop, he’s worlds away from his days as a budding home recorder. To start, this time around he had his own local recording studio – which has quietly been making a name for itself among Denver rock circles – at his disposal. He also had a decade to hone his craft. Those luxuries immediately made themselves apparent. Instead of drifting around in his other acts’ densely crafted soundscapes, Wambeke curls up comfortably in his bedroom, dipping into the same well of inspiration that guided everyone from The Ronettes to The Ramones to The Jesus And Mary Chain through the years.

Wambeke slinks into a record-collector pop aesthetic on Wasted Youth Blues. There’s still enough cosmic dust left over from Fell’s travels to the edge of the universe to coat The Morning Clouds’ songs and cast an ethereal shimmer over that comfortably familiar classic pop framework. Just like the Ramones roughed it up with punk and JAMC’s C86 aesthetic yanked it into the new wave, Wasted Youth Blues filters the sound through Wambeke’s spaced-out sensibilities.

2011Candy Says; OK so I am hearing the Beach Boys singing over a Phil Spector sounding arrangement. Incredible song without a doubt!
Featured Track: The Wrong Things. Web: Facebook.

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Background: New Orleans-based Sun Hotel have spent the better part of the last two years blazing their own narrative of what it means to be a bona fide rock and roll band – in an era over-congested with charlatanistic pseudo-artists dead set on making indie gold – by applying a punk ethic to the familiar sounds of post-gospel. The four-piece – led by the hauntingly brusque vocals of songwriter Tyler Scurlock – has prided itself on telling a colorfully authentic story of coming-of-age Americana from the unified point of view of a group of young men with a perceptiveness far beyond their years without losing grasp of the fiery, manic creativity that informs every part of their youth.

After self-releasing several digital EP’s in late 2009 and early 2010, they, along with best friends and sibling band Caddywhompus, decided to found Chinquapin Records as an avenue to officially manifest their shared appreciation for the infinite creative, artistic and personal rewards to be reaped from operating a purely DIY organization. In the short time since, Chinquapin has become a flourishing center of activity for a modest but growing community of people with the singular goal of creating quality music.

Their latest offering, Gifts (out October 11th), may prove to be the most earnest quintessence of the uncompromisingly guarded yet wholly collaborative nature of Sun Hotel’s songwriting. Suffusing every guitar string, bass rattle and whisper with wave after wave of echo-imbued reverb, in-house living room recording prodigy Ross Farbe manages to balance the pop leanings of the album’s infectious hooks with deafening walls of white noise while the concussive rhythms of their multi-percussion setup create a chaotic rumble throughout. Elsewhere, the bass and lead guitar tandem of John St. Cyr and Alex Hertz, respectively, overlay each track’s epic structure with a thick, warm tone equal parts nostalgia and melancholy as Scurlock wistfully sings of a subject matter that charmingly belies the raucous, visceral thrill of a live Sun Hotel experience.

2011Candy Says: Talking of wall of sound music, we certainly have some of that with Sun Hotel plus some good old rock'n'roll mixed in and a gentle touch to keep you listening and wondering where they will go next.
Featured Track: Talks. Web: Official.
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Background: “Music is the only thing in the world that makes me feel complete. I have to share that; I feel it’s what I was sent here to do.”

Defining creative musicians by genre is often a difficult task, but in the case of Rahe, it’s virtually impossible. And describing her as a singer/songwriter simply doesn’t do justice to an artist whose songs weave beautifully melodic lines with complex, compelling chord changes, soulfully powerful lyrics and a diaspora of world rhythms into a musical vision that is entirely her own. With a life story as colorful and diverse as her music, Rahe (pronounced “ray”) has been on a direct path toward her stunningly mature musical vision for nearly all of her 23 years. It is now in full bloom, as evidenced by her group – Rahe & illumiNation - a stunning ensemble featuring Rahe on vocals and nylon string acoustic guitar, a saxophone quartet (alto, tenor and two baritones), and drums.

In full throttle mode toward that purpose, Rahe’s first album – Out of the Box - a totally acoustic, multi-lingual foray into the entire spectrum of her musical vision has just been released on Outward Visions Music. Created in the classic style of organic development through collective participation and live recording of the ensemble, Rahe’s enchanting songs are framed by stunning arrangements featuring highly unique instrumentation, dynamic rhythms, brilliant musicianship and constant surprises. This project is also the subject of a documentary film that will be released later this year.

Unquestionably, this music will offer the world of music - so hungry for something original and inspirational - a brilliant new artist, unfettered by convention and unbounded in the potential to achieve her defining goal:

"I want to inspire and touch the hearts of people from all walks of life; to cross cultural barriers and bridge generational gaps by making music that is not only innovative and uniquely my own, but also passionate, universal and timeless."

2011Candy Says: The arrangements for Rahe's songs are varied but somehow always manage to suit her voice and singing. This song being just one example and a pretty good song come to that!
Featured Track: Two Steps Back. Web: Official.
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Background: Icarus Himself’s sophomore full-length Career Culture is a sonic cinema in electro-psych-folk, drenched in the influences of artists like Kurt Vile, Deerhunter, The Who, and David Bowie.

The story begins with frontman Nick Whetro living in Indiana, working third shift in a window manufacturing plant. “Wake Up / It’s time to do it all over again” (the opening track) evokes images of the film Metropolis. After his shift at the factory in this sepia-shaded scene, “Mornings At The Bar” sets the mood for the sunrise as workers trek to the bar at six in the morning. “There was nothing else to do in town. It’s about people who have nothing to look forward to but getting their paycheck and spending it at the bar. It seemed like they never wanted to leave,” illustrates Whetro.

“WI via IN” marks the shift in Career Culture. As the montage of the fictitious soundtrack, the looped bass line with added organs and synth give the song a Planet of the Apes/The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly vibe. This is where he makes a break for it. Whetro leaves the depressing factory life to start over in Madison, Wisconsin. No epic journey would be complete without the love story, and Career Culture is no different. “On Your Side,” is replete with love-soaked euphoria. Written about the girl our protagonist would marry, the song is about “trusting someone that’s close to you” built on a loop of a drum machine hi-hat and a fuzzed-out Casio synth. “I found it hard / to think of past times / I’ve stopped trying now / because you’re on my side.”

Icarus Himself was started by Nick Whetro in 2008 as a solo project and has developed into a trio to include drummer Brad Kolberg and multi-instrumentalist Karl Christenson. Career Culture is the third in a series of auto-biographical recordings, beginning with Coffins, released by Science of Sound in May of 2009, followed by the EP Mexico, released almost exactly one year later. This new album was recorded at Science of Sound’s studio, engineered by Ricky Riemer and mixed with the band with the help of Riemer. Guest players include Michael Gallope on keys (Janka Nabay & the Bubu Gang, Starring, Skeletons), Jonathan Lang on keys and clarinet, Jacqueline Kursel on cello, and Rob Ferrett on tenor sax.

Icarus Himself has played with groups such as Detroit psych-folk duo Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Brooklyn’s noisy indie-folk band Here We Go Magic, indie rockers Tapes 'n' Tapes, and the heritage neo-psych pop quintet Elf Power. They’ll be touring the U.S. heading east this Fall, and west in the Spring.

2011Candy Says: So there are some clear influences in the music of Icarus Himself however this song also demonstrates plenty of self born ideas and musical direction. Love the driving bass line and guitar riffs.
Featured Track: On Your Side. Web: Tumblr.
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Featured Tracks:

Sade - Ahoy Hallen, Rotterdam,1984

2011-08-28T20:24:00.000+01:00

This is Sade performing live at Ahoy Hallen, Rotterdam, back on the 21st September 1984. This was a few months after her single 'Your Love Is King' launched her successful musical career.

Her web sites biography includes the following - Music was not her first choice as a career. She studied fashion at St Martin's School Of Art and only began singing after two old school friends with a fledgling group approached her to help them out with the vocals.

Somewhat to her surprise, she found that while the singing made her nervous, she enjoyed writing songs. Two years later she had overcome her stage fright and was regularly singing back up with a North London Latin funk band called Pride. "I used to get on stage with Pride, like, shaking. I was terrified. But I was determined to try my best, and I decided that if I was going to sing, I would sing the way I speak, because it's important to be yourself."

Sade served a long apprenticeship on the road with Pride. For three years, from 1981, she and the other seven members of the band toured the UK, often with her driving. Pride's shows featured a segment in which Sade fronted a quartet that played quieter, jazzier numbers. One of these, a song called Smooth Operator, which Sade had co-written herself, attracted the attention of record company talent scouts. Soon, everybody wanted to sign her, but not the rest of Pride. Obstinately loyal to her friends in the group, Sade refused to depart. 18 months later she relented and signed to Epic records - on condition that she took with her the three band mates who still comprise the entity known as Sade: saxophonist Stuart Matthewman, keyboard player Andrew Hale, and bassist Paul Denman.

Sade's first single, Your Love Is King, became a top 10 British hit in February 1984, and with that her life, and that of the band, changed forever.

Source: TV broadcast audio.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@230kbps (variable).

Genre: Smooth jazz, soul, jazz, R&B, adult contemporary

Set: Full Set.

Set List:

01 Why Can't We Live Together 5:16
02 Your Love Is King 4:25
03 Hang On to Your Love 5:48
04 Frankie's Frist Affair 4:06
05 Spirit 5:11
06 Sally 5:22
07 Red Eye 3:29
08 Cherry Pie 5:48
09 Is It a Crime 5:55
10 Smooth Operator 6:48
11 Red Eye 2:23
12 Applause-encore 1:28
13 Don't Play Around with Me 4:25

Website: Official HERE.

Download links (two) in comments below.

Manic Street Preachers - Early Demos 1985 - 1990.

2011-08-25T10:12:00.000+01:00

This is a collection of demo recordings from the Manic Street Preachers, recorded between 1985 and 1990 (it is more likely that the earliest material was actually recorded in 1986). A reasonable amount of this was probably recorded before Richey Edwards became a member of the band. An early version of their debut single (plus B side is included). Of the rest some made it on to B sides of single releases, some would eventually morph into tracks for the first album and some remained just as demos.

From Wikipedia regarding the early days of the Manics - The band was formed in 1986 in Oakdale Comprehensive School, Blackwood, south Wales. During this time, Bradfield had tried writing lyrics, but this later changed and Wire wrote all their earliest lyrics, leaving Bradfield, alongside the classically-trained Sean Moore when he joined, to write the music. Original bassist Flicker (Miles Woodward) left the band in early 1988, reportedly because he believed that the band were moving away from their punk roots. The band continued as a three-piece, with Wire switching from guitar to bass, and in 1989 they recorded their first single, "Suicide Alley". Edwards joined the band on guitar and often made contributions to lyrics with Wire, designing record sleeves and other artwork, and driving the band to and from gigs.

In 1990, they signed a deal with label Damaged Goods Records for one EP. The four-track New Art Riot attracted as much media interest for its attacks on fellow musicians as for the actual music. With the help of Hall or Nothing management, the Manics signed to indie label Heavenly Records. The band recorded their first single for the label, entitled "Motown Junk".

The band released their next single, entitled You Love Us, and again displayed a huge cultural scope. The single sampled Penderecki's "Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima" as well as Iggy Pop. The video featured Nicky Wire in drag as Marilyn Monroe and contained visual references to Betty Blue and Aleister Crowley. In a now legendary interview with then NME journalist Steve Lamacq, Edwards carved the phrase "4REAL" into his arm with a razor blade to prove their sincerity. He was taken to hospital and received a total of seventeen stitches. Columbia Records of Sony Music UK signed the band shortly afterwards and they began work on their debut album.

Source: Soundboard.

Sound Quality: Good stereo mp3@128kbps.

Genre: Alternative rock, hard rock, glam punk, post-punk.

Set List:

1. Faceless Sense Of Void (Early version of Love's Sweet Exile)
2. Go Buzz Baby Go (Early Version of Motorcycle Emptiness)
3. Just Can't Be Happy
4. R.P. McMurphy
5. Suicide Alley (Self released debut single 1989)
6. New Art Riot
7. England Is A Bitch
8. This Girl Got Nothing
9. Love In A Make-Up Bag
10. Generation Terrorists (Early version of Stay Beautiful)
11. UK Channel Boredom (Released as a split flexi single 1990)
12. Sunglass Asthetic
13. You Love Us
14. Methadone Pretty
15. Dying A Thousand Deaths
16. Eating Myself From The Inside
17. Democracy Coma
18. Repeat
19. Behave Yourself Baby
20. Repeat
21. Razorblade Beat
22. Where Have All The Good Things Gone
23. Whiskey Psychosis
24. Soul Contamination
25. Tennessee (I Get Low - Suicide Alley B Side, Early version of Tennessee)

Website: Official HERE.

Download link in comments below.

Leonard Cohen - More From The 1979 Tour

2011-08-19T22:56:00.000+01:00

The officially released album 'Field Commander Cohen - Tour of 1979' is a live album by Leonard Cohen released in 2001. Songs were recorded live at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, on 4th, 5th, and December 6th, 1979 and at the Dome Theatre, Brighton, on December 15th, 1979. Leonard Cohen said it was his best tour ever. Accompanying Leonard Cohen was the jazz band Passenger from Austin, Texas, see line up details below.

These additional recordings include six songs from the Brighton Dome Concert Hall, (Brighton, England 15th December 1979) that were not on the official release including a stunning version of 'Silent Night'.

The Birmingham concert has circulated as a bootleg in it's own right. The sound leveling and editing on a couple of songs suggests this was a soundboard tape that was not part of the material recorded for the live album, that said this is a wonderful concert and the overall audio is fantastic.

From Wikipedia regarding this era - In 1979, Leonard Cohen returned with the more traditional Recent Songs, which blended his acoustic style with jazz and Oriental and Mediterranean influences. Beginning with this record, praised in 2001 by Cohen as his favourite, Cohen began to co-produce his albums. Produced by Cohen and Henry Lewy (Joni Mitchell's sound engineer), Recent Songs included performances by Austin-based jazz-fusion band Passenger whom were introduced to Cohen by Mitchell. The band helped Cohen create a new sound by featuring instruments like the oud, the Gypsy violin and the mandolin. The album was supported by Cohen's major tour with the new band, and Jennifer Warnes and Sharon Robinson on the backing vocals, in Europe in late 1979, and again in Australia, Israel and Europe in 1980. The tour was filmed by Harry Rasky as The Song of Leonard Cohen, and the film was broadcast on television in 1980. Cohen also gave couple of major TV appearances in 1979, including German's ZDF television. In 2000 Columbia released an album of live recordings of songs from the 1979 tour, entitled Field Commander Cohen: Tour of 1979; the album (with different track list) was originally rejected by the label in 1980.

Source: Soundboard.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@320kbps Birmingham and mp3@200kbps variable Brighton.

Genre: Folk, folk rock, rock, spoken word.

Set: Full set Birmingham, non officially released material Brighton .

Set List:

Birmingham:
1. Sisters Of Mercy
2. Diamonds In The Mine
3. The Smokey Life
4. The Gypsy's Wife
5. 2 Quatrains
6. Chelsea Hotel #2
7. A Singer Must Die
8. The Partisan
9. Famous Blue raincoat
10. Our Lady Of Solitude
11. Billy Sunday

Brighton:
01. Memories
02. Suzanne
03. Billy Sunday
04. Joan of Arc
05. I Tried to leave you
06. Silent Night

Lineup:

Vocalists:
Sharon Robinson
Jennifer Warnes

The Band:
Roscoe Beck - bass guitar
John Bilezikjian - oud, mandolin
Bill Ginn - keyboards
Raffi Hakopian - violin
Steve Meador - drums
Paul Ostermayer - wind
Mitch Watkins - electric guitar

Website: Official HERE.

Download links (three) in comments below.

Lucinda Williams - KPFK Los Angeles 1989

2011-08-14T12:04:00.000+01:00

This is a recording of Lucinda Williams from KPFK-FM Radio, in Los Angeles, CA performed on the 26th February 1989. This has circulated as 'Sweet And Tender Kisses', and included three songs that were officially released and have been excluded from this version in line with our music sharing policy.

This performance features mostly material from her third album (titled Lucinda Williams) which was released a few months prior to this performance. The recording has been professionally edited down for a radio programme and excludes any audience noise and thankfully no DJ chatter.

The three officially released songs are 'Nothing In Rambling', 'Disgusted' and 'Side Of The Road', which were included originally on her 'Passionate Kisses' EP and subsequently on the reissue of Lucinda Williams'.

From Allmusic.com regarding Lucinda around this time - Lucinda Williams eventually caught on with an unlikely partner -- the British indie label Rough Trade, which was historically better known for its punk output. The simply titled Lucinda Williams was released in 1988, and although it didn't make any waves in the mainstream, it received glowing reviews from those who did hear it. With help from guitarist/co-producer Gurf Morlix, Williams' sound had evolved into a seamless blend of country, blues, folk, and rock; while it made perfect sense to roots music enthusiasts, it didn't fit into the rigid tastes of radio programmers. But it was clear that she had found her songwriting voice -- the album brimmed with confidence, and so did its assertive female characters, who seemed to answer only to their own passions.

Many critics hailed Lucinda Williams as a major statement by a major new talent. Rough Trade issued a couple of EPs that featured live performances and material from Lucinda Williams, and Patty Loveless covered "The Night's Too Long" for a Top 20 country hit.

Source: Soundboard/FM.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@320kbps.

Genre: Alt Country, American, Folk Rock.

Set: Full Set (excluding three commercially released songs).

Set List:

01 Big Red Sun Blues
02 Crescent City
03 Like A Rose
04 All I Want (It Don’t Matter To Me)
05 Abandoned
06 Wild And Blue
07 Something About What Happens When We Talk
08 Sundays

Lineup:
Lucinda Williams - guitar, vocals
Gurf Morlix - guitar, background vocals
Dr. John Ciambotti - bass

Website: Official HERE.

Download link in comments below.

Isaac Hayes - Indianapolis Jazz Festival 1999

2011-08-09T21:47:00.000+01:00

This is Isaac Hayes live in concert at the Indianapolis Jazz Festival back on the 19th June 1999. Isaac Hayes was born in Covington, Tennessee, in Tipton County. He was the second child of Isaac Hayes, Sr. and Eula Hayes.

After his mother died young, and his father abandoned his family, Isaac, Jr., was raised by his maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Willie Wade, Sr. The child of a poor sharecropper family, he grew up working on farms in Shelby County, Tennessee and in Tipton County.

Isaac dropped out of high school, but he was later encouraged by his former high school teachers at Manassas High School in Memphis to complete his high school diploma, which he did at the age of 21. After graduating from high school, Hayes was offered several music scholarships from colleges and universities. Hayes turned down all of them because of his obligations to his immediate family. Hayes next worked at a meat-packing plant in Memphis by day, and he played music at nightclubs and juke joints several evenings a week in Memphis and nearby northern Mississippi.

During the late 1990s, Isaac Hayes gained new popularity as the voice of Chef on the Comedy Central animated television series South Park. Chef was a soul-singing cafeteria worker for South Park Elementary. A song from the series performed by Chef, "Chocolate Salty Balls (P.S. I Love You)", received international radio airplay in 1999. It reached number-one on the UK singles chart and also on the Irish singles chart. The track also appeared on the album Chef Aid: The South Park Album in 1998.

Highly regarded for his own work and his wonderful interpretation of many 'famous songs' as this set demonstrates, Isaac will surely be remembered for all manner of reasons. This concert adds the South Park dimension and is a must for any lover of his music.

Source: Soundboard tapes.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@192kbps.

Genre: R&B, funk, soul, jazz.

Set: Full Set.

Set List:

01.Don´t Let Go
02.Summer In The City
03.Don´t You Ever Take Your Love From Me
04.Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalmystic
05.Walk On By
06.Drums
07.Chocolate Salty Balls
08.I Stand Accused
09.Theme From Shaft

Website: Official HERE .

Download link in comments below.