The Ditty Bops - California 2008

For those who are not familiar with The Ditty Bops they are an American band from Los Angeles, California. They were previously with Warner Brothers, however they now self produce their material.

They are noted for their tight vocal harmonies and playful style, and are headed by Abby DeWald (vocals and acoustic guitar) and Amanda Barrett (vocals, mandolin and dulcimer). For those of you who are familiar with their wonderful music, then this is an absolute delight!

This is a full concert of the band performing live at The Freight & Salvage Coffee House (The Home of Traditional Music) in Berkeley, California. This concert took place on the 7th March 2008 and the recording includes both sets.

Source: Soundboard (see comments).

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@192kbps.

Genre: Folk, bluegrass, blues, western swing, ragtime.

Set: Full Set

Set List:

Set One:

1. Intro
2. In The Meantime
3. Million Dollars
4. You Made Me Love You
5. Feel From The Outside In
6. Seed Of Wonder
7. Skinny Bones
8. Audience Banter
9. Painted Eyelids
10. Pale Yellow
11. Summer Rains
12. Interlude for Ten Strings

Set Two:

13. Second Set Intro
14. Whens She Comin' Home
15. Fix-It Men
16. Whispering Light
17. Because We Do
18. Angel With An Attitude
19. Always Remember
20. Awake In A Dream
21. Hunting My Dress
22. Crazy People
23. Encore Break Intro
24. E: I Feel Like Singing

Links: Official site HERE. MySpace site HERE. Freight & Salvage Coffee House HERE.

Comments:

A few notes regarding this recording. It would appear to be from two sources as the second set is noticeably louder. The quality of both sets suggest soundboard as the audience levels on both are as would be expected. Whatever - it is a great gig & the encore sets new standards in live performance !

Download link in comments below or click on the picture above.

Buy: Mp3's at Amazon.co.uk - The Ditty Bops

2010FM - Mighty Tiger

Welcome to 2010FM where Beehive Candy will feature new artists, albums, events and the like, that capture our attention in the coming year.

We kick off a couple of weeks early with Mighty Tiger who have just been signed up to Paper Garden Records and their 'Western Theater' album is scheduled for release on March 9th 2010.

Seattle’s Mighty Tiger are a five-piece Capitol Hill dwelling chamber-pop group and also plan to tour down to SXSW and back with fellow Seattle rockers, 'Grand Hallway'.

Listen:
“33 1/3”



Website: MySpace.
Label/Buy: Paper Garden Records - Release tbc.

Bio: With its members emerging from the Midwest and the Southwest, this particular collection of musicians unified in the dreary Pacific Northwestern Seattle, WA. Drawing from influences as diverse as Harry Nilsson to The Flaming Lips, Mighty Tiger applies vintage pop sensibility to indie rock innovation, creates a sound that is uniquely their own.

Western Theater, Mighty Tiger's full-length debut album, is a testament to the vision of the band: conceptual yet cohesive and relaxed. The spectrum of inspiration is apparent, with nods to the sonic landscapes of Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds and Built To Spill’s Perfect from Now On. But while Mighty Tiger shows a refreshing willingness to wear its musical influences on its sleeve, the primary strength of the album is the way the band’s divergent points of reference unite around a sound that is distinct yet often tastefully unpredictable; whimsical chamber pop swirls in a turbulent sea of epic indie rock glory. Mighty Tiger have created an eclectic atmosphere in Western Theater that is as intellectual as it is intelligible and as somber as it is light-hearted. One thing is clear about this record and about this band: Mighty Tiger wants its listeners to have as much fun listening to Western Theater as they had making it.

Kate Bush - Amsterdam 1979

'The Tour of Life' is the only ever tour by Kate Bush. During the 1979 tour, Kate became the first ever singer to use a wireless headset radio microphone on stage, which enabled her to incorporate extensive dance routines into her live shows.
A number of reasons have been suggested as to why she subsequently abandoned touring, among them her reputed need to be in total control of the final product, which is incompatible with live stage performance, a rumour of a crippling fear of flying, and the suggestion that the death of 21-year-old Bill Duffield severely affected her. Bill Duffield, her lighting director, was killed in an accident during her 2nd April concert at Poole Arts Centre. Kate Bush held a benefit concert on the 12th May, with Peter Gabriel and Steve Harley at London's Hammersmith Odeon for his family.
The tour comprised of 28 dates including five nights at The London Palladium. This is from her concert at the Carr'e Theatre in Amsterdam, Holland on the 29th April 1979.
Typical of her determination to have control, she was involved in every aspect of the shows production, choreography, set design, and staff recruitment. The shows were noted for her dancing, complex lighting and her 17 costume changes per show.
Source: Soundboard.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@320kbps.

Genre: Singer songwriter, art rock, pop rock.

Set: Majority of set.

Set List:

1. Moving
2. Them Heavy People
3. Violin
4. Strange Phenomena
5. Hammer Horror
6. Don't Push Your Foot On The Heartbrake
7. Wow
8. Feel It
9. Kite
10. James & The Cold Gun
11. Oh, England, My Lionheart
12. Wuthering Heights

Links: Official site HERE.

Comments:

It is no surprise that most Kate Bush 'unofficial' material tends to be studio outtakes and demos rather than live concert bootlegs, considering she has only undertaken the one tour.

This concert was first circulated as a silver disc on Italian bootleg label GDR (GDR CD 9213)back in 1992. The CD was entitiled 'Wow' a song which of course was also performed in the show.

Reloaded - 29/May/2015 - download link in comments. 

Buy: Mp3's at Amazon.co.uk - Kate Bush

Beehive Recommends - The Morakestra

If I have some new music that I want to listen to I expect I am not alone in listening whilst doing something else like surfing the net or whatever.

The Morakestra were playing in the background yesterday and I was trying to write an article and in the end I had to turn them off. Not because there was anything wrong, quite the opposite actually as they are so catchy, tuneful, and full of great guitar hooks and songs that they became a total distraction.

Which of course is a joy as I love those moments when you realise you are listening to something that connects home. OK the band themselves have been around for a while, indeed their web site adds 'Founders and key creative minds David and Will Mora are twin brothers who were proudly born and raised in the West Texas border city, El Paso, Texas. Fellow El Pasoan Jim Ward contributed to the rebirth of Morakestra via production and recording of the band's latest album, Witness to Connection, out June 2nd, 2009 on indie label Stratking Records'.

Listen:
'Tell You Something'



Websites: MySpace, Official.
Buy: The Morakestra

It was Texan guitar legends Mario Otero and Charles Teitsworth who first pushed the Mora brothers to turn their early compositions into a polished collection of songs, and before long, the boys had a debut album, “Live from Moraq.” Released in 2007, it showcased a variety of impressive session musicians, but it was the Moras themselves who handled all of the guitar work and vocals, and ultimately produced the album. The brothers spent the following months playing gigs with an ever-changing band to back them up, and buzz grew around the talented twins, who became known as “dueling guitar players.”

"The Morakestra's biggest selling points on Witness To Connection are the addictive guitar riffs that populate every track…Songs show both pop sensibility and a unique style that belongs solely to The Morakestra…Witness To Connection is a powerful effort." - Atlanta Music Guide