Stealing from The Beatles and the Ramones with equally gleeful abandon England's The Breakdowns are poised for a break-through. Watch them:
or just listen:
Saturday, September 24, 2011
The Breakdowns: The Kids Don't Wanna Bop No More (2011)
Stealing from The Beatles and the Ramones with equally gleeful abandon England's The Breakdowns are poised for a break-through. Watch them:
or just listen:
Thursday, September 22, 2011
R.E.M. and The Byrds do Dylan (And More!)
Well as the title implies this is a meeting of two massively influential forces in American music that occurred on 5/11/88. On that day, ex-Byrd Roger McGuinn joined 3/4 of R.E.M. (more HERE) and the band ran through a set of Byrds classics including, not surprisingly, three Bob Dylan covers ("You Ain't Goin' Nowhere", "Mr. Tambourine Man and "Knocking on Heaven's Door"). Of course other Byrds' classics like "Turn, Turn, Turn", "Eight Miles High" and my personal favourite, "Feel a Whole Lot Better" as well as then-new McGuinn songs like "The Tears" are well-represented ".
Michael Stipe, as he did when the band backed up The Troggs, Warren Zevon et al, absented himself leaving just the Southern Gentlemen (Bill Berry, Mike Mills, and Peter Buck) to give McGuinn wings on this fine-sounding bootleg.
Over El Vagon Alternativo McGuinn himslef dropped by to speak tersely of this release, "This is a bootleg. They did not release this recording under any name. The guys showed up at a Roger McGuinn show and sat in for a few songs."
Track Listing:
1.
Sunshine Love 2:27
2.
The Tears 3:30
3.
Chestnut Mare 5:33
4.
Tiffany Queen 2 3:11
5.
You Ain't Going Nowhere 3:37
6.
I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better 2:46
7.
Mr. Spaceman 2:43
8.
The Bells Of Rhymney 3:38
9.
Mr. Tambourine Man 2:40
10.
Turn, Turn, Turn 3:57
11.
Eight Miles High 5:00
12.
Knockin' On Heaven's Door 5:16
What do you make of this meting of the generations? Let us know in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find the 'REMember the Byrds' link).
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R.I.P. R.E.M. (The Unreleased Live Album, 1984)
"Pretty Persuasion."
That was the first R.E.M. song I ever heard. It would've been sometime in early 1985 and my hipper, cooler brother-in-law made me a tape which included everything from the New York Dolls to The Psychedelic Furs to Black Flag to Hanoi Rocks to The Enigmas to, of course, R.E.M. I quickly became obsessed with that soon-to-be-legendary intersection of mumble and jangle. I devoured Reckoning and its follow-up, Fables of the Reconstruction and I used them as my albums to fall asleep to (in a good way).
Now that R.E.M. have called it quits, I suppose it's time to re-visit a band I've hardly payed attention to for the last 15 years. What better way to do glance backwards than to present this live bootleg that, according to the liner notes, was supposed to be their final album for I.R.S. till it was nixed by lead singer, Michael Stipe. While this sounds a little fanciful to me, the performance and the sound quality are excellent reminders of why we should all mourn the passing of R.E.M.
REM "THE UNRELEASED LIVE LP" live R.E.M. Soundboard.
1 Chinese Bros.
2 Catapult
3 Radio Free Europe
4 9-9
5 Gardening At Night
6 Windout
7 Letter Never Sent
8 Kohoutek
9 So. Central Rain
10 (Don't Go Back To) Rockville
11 1,000,000
12 Hyena
13 West Of The Fields
14 Old Man Kensey
15 Second Guessing
16 Hyena
17 Letter Never Sent
18 Driver 8
19 Old Man Kensey
20 Pretty Persuasion
21 1,000,000
22 Second Guessing
Tracks 1 to 15 recorded live on Sept. 24, 1984 at Duke University in Durham, NC on the North American "Little America" tour.
Tracks 16 to 22 are bonus live tracks with no dates given.
So what was the first R.E.M. song you heard? Let us know in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find the Unreleased Live Album link).
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Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Andy Blade (Ex-Eater): Break the News (1980)
Roberto's Rarities:
An irregular MRML series powered by the wild generosity of our reader, Roberto: Enjoy and don't forget to leave our benefactor a thank-you COMMENT.
Underaged punkers Eater got maligned a lot back in the day "("Dire." opined Trouser Press editor Ira Robbins, "Yesterday's worst hardcore.") but their reputation has grown over time. Eater's Anglo-Egyptian singer and guitarist Andy Blade (Ashruf Radwan) went onto a few interesting projects including this more Roxy Music-ish solo single in 1980.
To learn more about the apprenticeship of Andy Blade read this excellent interview.
Reactions to this Eater-related new wave rarity are strongly encouraged and can be left in the COMMENTS section (where the Break the News link can be found).
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
The Weakerthans with Sarah Harmer: CBC Sessions (2005)
Yesterday we talked up Greg Macpherson (see HERE), one of Winnipeg's favoured lefty-indie-punk sons. So that seems to be as good as reason as any to remind you of Winnipeg's more famous lefty-indie punks sons, The Weakerthans (more HERE). What we have for you today is a CBC session of the band playing a set alongside Toronto alt-country heroine, Sarah Harmer.
The Weakerthans with Sarah Harmer, Glenn Gould Studio, Toronto, 18 November 2005
1) My Favourite Chords
2) Reconstruction Site
3) Psalm for the Elks Lodge Last Call
4) Utilities
5) Night Windows
6) Swinging Party (The Replacements cover)
7) Reasons
8) Past-Due
Sarah Harmer with The Weakerthans, Glen Gould Studio, Toronto, 18 November 2005
1) I am Aglow
2) Escarpment Blues
3) Weakened State
4) Islands in the Stream (Bee Gees cover)
5) Gone for Good (The Shins cover)
6) I’m a Mountain
7) Lodestar
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