January and All That

During December & early January a number of music sites and magazines, indulge in the 'best of' the year passing, often with top 10's 20's 50's and so on.

Nothing wrong with all that, indeed it can be a great way of discovering bands and artists that otherwise may pass you by.

This got me thinking about some of the issues recently, regarding whole postings being deleted on various music sites (including this one) thanks to our friends in big record companies.

I took a quick look through the latter part of 2008, to remind myself of some of the bands and artists that I had discovered thanks in particular to other music bloggers.

Yes some are now already 'established', some yet to release an album, however I wonder if I would have given them any attention if it was not for those enthusiastic postings. The chances of a lot of these artists getting prime time exposure on UK radio, is limited, and in some cases any exposure is unlikely, for the profit driven, play safe industry.

Here are just five examples randomly selected:

Hajen (pictured above) was first featured on Swedesplease, an excellent source for new music from such a vibrant and musically diverse country. Known as Hajen which translates as Shark, Amanda Bergman for me, is one to watch out for in the coming year, to use the well worn cliche 'a breath of fresh air'.

Listen:

MP3: Sharks
Web Link: MySpace

Land of Talk are a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec. The band consists of singer and guitarist Elizabeth Powell, bassist Joe Yarmush and drummer Eric Thibodeau.
Their first full length album, Some Are Lakes, was released in October 2008. For me they have a real buzz, along with a distinctive sound, very accessible.

Listen:

MP3: Death By Fire
Web Link: Official Site
Buy:Land Of Talk mp3

Okkervil River are an indie folk band from Austin, Texas. Formed in 1998, the band takes its name from a short story by Russian author Tatyana Tolstaya. The band released their fifth album The Stand Ins on September 9th 2008, from which the song below lead to my coming across this really fine band.

Listen:

MP3: Lost Coastlines
Web Link: MySpace
Buy:Okkervil River

First Aid Kit are another superb act from Sweden, who have an EP 'Drunken Trees' available through their My Space site. They are in my humble opinion one of the bands to watch out for this year (yes I know), see what you think.

Listen:

MP3: Our Own Pretty Ways
Web Link: MySpace
Buy: First Aid Kit

Amy MacDonald is now doing very well, and deservedly so, she has an exceptional style, and her songs are just far to catchy ! I expect most of you are familiar if not to finish this brief round up feel free to check out Amy here.

Listen:

MP3: Run
Web Link: Official Site
Buy:Amy MacDonald

John Prine - At The BBC - 1973

This is John Prine performing live for BBC Radio One, back in 1973 at the BBC Radio Theatre in London.

Source: One of BBC Radio 1's, 'In Concert' series from this era, originally recorded 'off air'.

Sound Quality: FM stereo, good clean quality.

Genre: Country, Folk, Protest, significant influence for recent Americana.

Set: Full BBC performance.

Set List:

01 Spanish Pipe dream
02 Illegal Smile
03 Donald and Lydia
04 Sam Stone
05 Pretty Good
06 Rocky Mountain
07 Hello In There
08 Everybody Needs Somebody

Links: Official stuff is pretty average, probably best represented by 'official' fan site HERE.

Comments: Back in 1972, Atlantic records released the album 'sampler' The New Age Of Atlantic', a phenomenal album that introduced many 'rock' fans to John Prine and others (check HERE for more album details).

John Prine's inclusion was the song 'Sam Stone' which put concisely by 'Wikipedia' can be interpreted as, a reference to the phenomenon of morphine addiction among war veterans (at that time the Vietnam war) as a result of its use to treat crippling and painful injuries, and its often lifetime repercussions.

Personally I think the song is as relevant today, and on many levels, as when it was originally written and performed by John Prine. Despite my young age at the time (honest), it made a lasting impression on me, but above all it's such a wonderful piece of observational music.

If you would rather just listen to Sam Stone, hit play below, the concert download link is in comments for this posting.



Buy John Prine: John Prine Amazon UK mp3's

Status Quo - Live In Sweden 1971

Lets kick off 2009, with some heads down, no nonsense, mindless boogie, from rock monsters Status Quo !

Source: Concert soundboard.

Sound Quality: Excellent mixed stereo direct recording.

Genre: 1970's Rock'n'roll, hair, flares, and axe heroes.

Set: Performed on the 24th November 1971, at the Koncerthuset, Stockholm, Sweden, this is possibly just the second part of the gig.

Set List:

1. Juniors Wailing 3.36
2. Some one's Learning 8.00
3. Umleitung 7.58
4. In My Chair 3.17
5. Railroad 5.37
6. Roadhouse Blues 8.07

Line Up:

Francis Rossi - Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica
Rick Parfitt - Guitar, Vocals
Alan Lancaster - Bass
John Coghlan - Drums
Plus - Bob 'Bandie' Young - Harp

Links: Status Quo's excellent, comprehensive and well updated, official site HERE.

Comments: 1971 saw the band release the album 'Dog Of Two Head' thus confirming their natural shift to 'rockers'. Three tracks from the album are performed on this boot, Some one's Learning, Umleitung and Railroad.

Remaining ever popular Status Quo have long passed the 'parody of their own selves' stage, into 'cultural' rockers, whose often predictive sound, still sells out concert after concert, along with a lot of product.

Download link in comments below.

Buy Status Quo: Update your Status Quo mp3 collection at our Amazon UK selection Beehive Boogies with the Quo !

Starsailor - Buenos Aires - November 2007

This is Starsailor performing live at 'Festival Yeah' in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the 2nd November 2007.

Source: Audio rip from local TV broadcast, at the time.

Sound Quality: Good stereo, mixed for broadcast, ripped to mp3.

Genre: Indie Rock - latter day Britpop.

Set: Running to just 50 minutes, I think this is the majority, or all, of their festival performance.

Set List:

1. Alcoholic
2. Fidelity/Umbrella
3. In The Crossfire
4. Tell Me It`s Not Over
5. Tie Up My Hands
6. Keep Us Together
7. Good Souls - Tomorrow Never Knows
8. Silence Is Easy - This Time - Dancing Queen
9. Four To The Floor
10. Four To The Floor (version).

Links: Starsailor official site HERE

Comments: If you like Starsailor this is a must, a polished gig, with lots of their best material, and more. Check their official site for details of the new album, and 2009 tour dates.

Buy Starsailor: Download MP3's with whole Starsailor albums for less than £5.00. Beehive Starsailor MP3

Reloaded - 20/May/2015 - download link in comments.

Radiohead - Chicago - August 2008

This is Radiohead live at Lollapaloooza,
Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois, USA, performing on the AT&T Stage, on Friday 1st August 2008.

Source: XM satellite stereo radio stream, full live coverage of the concert.

Sound Quality: Extremely good, stereo mixed for broadcast.

Genre: Indie rock - genuine unique style.

Set: Full Concert

Set List:

1. 15 Step
2. There There
3. All I Need
4. Nude
5. Arpeggi / Weird Fishes
6. The Gloaming
7. The National Anthem
8. Faust Arp
9. No Surprises
10. Jigsaw Falling Into Place
11. Reckoner
12. Lucky
13. The Bends
14. Everything In Its Right Place
15. Fake Plastic Trees
16. Bodysnatchers
17. Encore Break 1
18. Videotape
19. Paranoid Android
20. Dollars and Cents
21. House of Cards
22. Optimistic
23. Encore Break 2
24. 2+2=5
25. Idioteque

Links: Radiohead Official Site essential for anyone with a passing interest in the band. Also Wikipedia Radiohead for 'history' that's reasonably reliable.

Comments: I had great pleasure in travelling up to Manchester, England, on the 29th June 2008, to see Radiohead perform at the 'Old Trafford Cricket Ground' an excellent venue for a truly remarkable concert.

Support band(s) 'Bats For Lashes' and on this specific tour occasion 'MGMT' were highly enjoyable.

Radiohead were in a league of their own, and worth every penny of the 300 miles round trip, hotel bills, and my son who seemed to have sealed pockets, every time someone asked for money.

Hey Ho that's the generation gap for you. This concert is on a par with the Manchester gig, and with personal memories, comes with mega recommendations.

Download links in comments.

Buy Radiohead: MP3's at bargain prices Beehive Radiohead MP3

Pulp - Glastonbury 1995

This is Pulp live at the Glastonbury Festival on the 24th June 1995.

Source: Broadcast in UK on Channel Four TV and BBC Radio One.

Sound Quality: Very Good, mixed from above sources.

Genre: Indie Pop/Rock - Britpop.

Set: Full concert.

Set List:

01. Intro
02. Do You Remember the First Time
03. Razzamatazz
04. Monday Morning
05. Underwear
06. Sorted For E's and Whiz
07. Disco 2000
08. Joyriders
09. Acrylic Afternoons
10. Misshaps
11. Pink Glove
12. Babies
13. Common People
14. Something Changed
15. I Spy

Links: Pulp Wiki

Download Link in Comments

Buy Pulp Mp3's at bargain prices Beehive MP3

Moby - Live In Australia 2005

A man of many musical talents, this is Moby performing on tour in 2005.

In fact I was surprised just how many different projects he has been involved in, and if you are curious yourself, check his Wikipedia entry HERE.

Moby undertook a number of festival gigs in 2005, and clearly by his comments, this was one of his favourites.

With a new album to promote that year the concert still included many of the audiences favorites as you will note from the set list below.

This then is Moby live on the 24th July 2005, at Byron Bay in Australia.

Set list recorded is:

01 - Find My Baby (4:04)
02 - Raining Again (3:53)
03 - Natural Blues (4:52)
04 - Go (4:15)
05 - Beautiful (3:33)
06 - Porcelain (4:23)
07 - We Are All Made Of Stars (3:48)
08 - Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad (4:43)
09 - You Shook Me All Night Long (3:47)
10 - 30 Second Speed Metal Song (1:01)
11 - Bodyrock (4:34)
12 - Lift Me Up (4:22)

The concert was broadcast on FM (stereo) which is the source of this recording.

DOWNLOAD LINK IS IN COMMENTS BELOW.

A few Moby albums in store HERE if you are interested.

Moby web site HERE.

Kraftwerk - Tokyo 1981

This is the second concert from Kraftwerk during their 1981 tour, to be featured on Beehive Candy.

The tour itself, was more or less divided into two parts.

The first tour started May 19th, 1981 at Apollo Teatro, Firenze in Italy and kept going until they had played in Bombay, India on September 25th.

Then they went back to Europe and enjoyed a small break until November 19th when they started a smaller tour with concerts mostly in Germany.

The last concert was held in the venue Zeppelin in Bremen, on December 14th. During the year 1981 Kraftwerk performed on more than 80 occasions in 16 countries.

This recording is from their performance in Tokyo, Japan at the Nakano Sun Plaza on the 7th September 1981.

It has been circulated I understand, as "Virtu ex Machina", and the set list (edited, however a large part of the show nonetheless) is as follows:

01 - Beethoven (Intro)
02 - Nummern
03 - Komputerwelt
04 - Komputerliebe
05 - Heimkomputer
06 - Neonlicht
08 - Schaufensterpuppen
09 - Trans Europa Express
10 - Die Roboter
11 - It's more fun to compute

The sound quality is extremely good (stereo soundboard or high quality FM)

DOWNLOAD LINK IS IN COMMENTS BELOW.

A few Kraftwerk CD options in store HERE and HERE. First Kraftwerk 1981 concert post HERE.

Coldplay - Isle Of Wight 2006

Coldplay are one of those bands that seem to be loved or loathed with equal passion.

Perhaps the fact that the safe playing world of mainstream music radio, and it's need to rotate some of their early hits with annoying regularity has never helped, and of course the 'celebrity' interest also 'grates'.

That said musically they remain a highly distinct sounding band, and lets face it the music blogs are currently awash with articles on the release of the new album 'Viva La Vida'.

So for those of you, who like a little Coldplay, here is a copy of their 2006 appearance at the Isle Of Wight festival in England.

Set list:

1. Square One
2. Politik
3. Yellow
4. Speed Of Sound
5. What If
6. God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
7. Don't Panic
8. White Shadows
9. The Scientist
10. Til Kingdom Come
11. Perfect Day (Lou Reed Cover)
12. Clocks
13. Talk
14. Swallowed In The Sea
15. In My Place
16. Fix You
(plus intro & outro radio chatter)

The quality is quite good - sourced as I understand, from the UK's Virgin Radio DAB output, so not as clean as stereo FM, but highly listenable.

Replacement link in downloads (21st November 2010).

Coldplay's Viva La Vida album in store HERE, their official site HERE, and more HERE.

Whats Up Doc - Number Eleven - June 2008

A summer feel to much of this edition of Whats Up Doc, and why not, it is after all summer here, and we have had some sunny days of late!

In absolutely no order at all here are a few songs that meet the summer criteria for me.

This Is Ivy League have gained a lot of attention of late, with some drawing comparisons with Belle and Sebastian, others even say Simon and Garfunkel.

Links Removed - MP3 Policy.

This Is Ivy League - 01 - The Richest Kids In Town.mp3
This Is Ivy League - 07 - A Summer Chill.mp3
This Is Ivy League - 01 - The Richest Kids In Town.mp3

They are in my humble opinion worthy of further investigation, hopefully the above 'tasters' will have a similar effect on you.

More HERE at their My Space site, where you can also order the album.

Santogold (aka Santi White) is different, hard to categorise her, however very accessible.. oh just have a listen..

Santogold - Lights Out.mp3

MySpace has more HERE.

From Canada (home of so many good artist's!) this is Feist and she is a little bit of Folk and Indie and alternative and... very very listenable.

Feist - 1234 ( My! gay! husband! - get up kid edit).mp3

More HERE at the official site, or if you prefer her MySpace page HERE.

Jeremy Schonfeld has been likened to Billy Joel among others, there is certainly something of a 'moody New York' feel to his music, kind of late night maybe, windows open, traffic noise in the background..

Jeremy Schonfeld - 02 - Try.mp3

Find out more at his site HERE, listen to more, and some purchase options HERE.

Finally an Arcade Fire remix that despite my trepidation before I listened, is actually pretty cool, whadaya think?

Arcade Fire - Black Mirror (team9 remix).mp3

Some Arcade Fire music in store HERE.

There you go an entire post of new and recent music, and not one mention of Coldplay's new album, making this a truly unique music blog at present...