Posts

The Smashing Pumpkins - Atlanta, GA, 1998

Image
This is  The Smashing Pumpkins recorded live back on August 4th, 1998 at the Fox Theatre, Atlanta GA, USA. The show was broadcast locally by  99X, Atlanta. The concert was part of the bands Adore tour and is a fairly typical example of the songs performed at this time. After the marathon Infinite Sadness tour, the band embarked on a scaled-back 36-date world tour entitled An Evening with The Smashing Pumpkins to support Adore. Abroad, the Pumpkins played at what had been called an "eclectic mix of interesting venues", among them the rooftop of a FNAC record store in Paris, France, in the botanic gardens of Brussels, Belgium, at the Cannes Film Festival, and at an International Shipping Harbor in Sydney, Australia. In the United States, the Pumpkins donated 100% of their ticket profits to local charities (yet one stop on the tour, Minneapolis, was a free concert and underestimated the attendance of the show). In the end, the Pumpkins, with the help of their fans, raised o

Clare and the Reasons - WFMU 2012

Image
This is  Clare and the Reasons back on July 16th this year performing on Irene Trudel's programme at WFMU . Clare and the Reasons call Brooklyn home, but after touring around the world extensively for their first two albums with Van Dyke Parks, My Brightest Diamond, and on their own, they needed a new setting – one that would make them see and hear differently. For 8 months in 2011 they lived in an apartment on Berlin’s Bergstrasse, on the western edges of what used to be the East. They got a 1968 Schwalbe moped – model KR-51 – and sped around the city at a velocity the congested New York streets would have prohibited. While riding under the vast skies of Berlin, the city a blurred filmstrip of cobblestones, trees, and graffiti, they dreamed up the sounds of this new record. After months of writing under the influence of Berlin they packed up a van and drove to Haldern-Rees, a little German village, to record KR-51.  In Oct-Nov of 2011, they recorded for long hours, in betw

Camper Van Beethoven - Athens USA 2012

Image
This is Camper Van Beethoven live at the  40 Watt Club in Athens, Georgia, USA earlier this year on March 2nd. The band have a simple taping policy. It's okay with us to tape live Camper Van Beethoven performances and trade them freely, so long as no money changes hands. You send 'em a blank, they make you a tape, and vise-versa. As soon as money enters in on any level, it's a commercial transaction; and with our music, decisions on commerce are ours and ours alone. This is a really superb recording both audio and performance wise. From wikipedia - Camper Van Beethoven is an American alternative rock group formed in Redlands, California in 1983 and later located in Santa Cruz and San Francisco. Their eclectic and ever-evolving style mixes elements of pop, ska, punk rock, folk, alternative country, and various types of world music. The band initially polarized audiences within the hardcore punk scene of California's Inland Empire before finding wider acceptance and,

2012Candy - October

Image
Background: Having grown up with two home towns, it was almost destined that Sarah Beatty would occupy the space that exists between things. She grew up in Rochester, NY and Parry Sound, ON and cut her musical teeth in Parry Sound and Niagara. This singer-songwriter now calls Hamilton home. Her first full length album Black Gramophone was released earlier this year on May 24th. Earning her a spot at this year’s Mariposa Showcase, Beatty has gone straight to the fundamentals in her debut solo effort. In the collection of 12 original songs, she pares down the instrumentation and ramps up the contemplation, curiosity, and charm of honest-to-goodness song writing. Recorded live off the floor, hers are where lyric, melody, and rhythm exist in distilled form. Purposeful in her approach, Beatty is a courageous one, letting smart lyrics, strong melodies, and a listener’s imagination take centre stage in this intimate and conversational recording. Sarah Beatty writes, most simply, cont

Beirut - Austin USA 2007

Image
This is Beirut  recorded live back on  March 16th  2007.  This was at the  KLRU studios in the  communication building on the University of Texas campus, on the  Austin City Limits Stage, (where they produce the TV show). The actual recording was from KEXP Seattle who re-broadcast the concert. Beirut is an American band that was originally the solo musical project of Santa Fe native Zachary Francis Condon, and later expanded into a band. The band's first performances were in New York, in May 2006, to support the release of their debut album, Gulag Orkestar. Beirut's music combines elements of indie-rock and world music.  Wikipedia tells us - On his return from Europe,  Zachary  Condon enrolled at the University of New Mexico, where he studied Portuguese and photography. Condon recorded the bulk of the material used for Gulag Orkestar by himself in his bedroom, going into the studio to finish the album with the assistance of Jeremy Barnes (Neutral Milk Hotel, A Hawk and a

2012Candy - September

Image
Background: The Peach Kings , Texan Paige McClain Wood and Californian Steven Trezevant Dies, recently released their new EP Handsome Moves  (September 6, 2012). They describe their sound as "gypsydelic," which is just what it sounds like. Stemming from their inability to choose one genre of music to play, they coined the term in order to reflect their own personal view of the band. "Gypsy-" because they were inspired by playing outdoors and "-delic" because it contains just a hint of strange.  Paige and Steven are strongly influenced by visuals in cinema and fashion. In fact, Drew Barrymore discovered their music and selected them to be a part of her Spring Music Preview spread for V Magazine, alongside the likes of Mayer Hawthorne, M83, Spank Rock, Warpaint, and The Drums. The duo fill the gap between upbeat rock and downtempo electronic, with comparisons being made to The Black Keys, Mazzy Star and The XX. Similarities can also be drawn to Little