Dropkick Murphys: Acoustic Sessions (1998)

I've followed the Dropkick Murphys since their first album but never felt they delivered a full album worthy of their influences till this years Going Out in Style. Trying to meld two disparate genres (Irish folk and American hardcore), each with a history of glamorizing violence, requires a deft song-writing touch to keep all that aggro from overwhelming the proceedings. While Going Out in Style is still a flinty, hard-nosed affair, the eleven new songs (plus two from back in the mists of time) have a vintage freshness about them, steeped in history but fully in the moment.



A crucial fact is while the band's sound is reasonably consistent from album to album, they've been adventurous in their collaboration, willing to throw in their lot with the likes of Woody Guthrie, The Boston Red Sox (and The Bruins!), Aerosmith, director Martin Scorsese, The Pogues' Shane McGowan, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Bruce Springsteen, The Dubliners' Ronnie Drew, NOFX'S Fat Mike and organized labour in general damnnit!.



Hey, don't forget to leave a comment on these here Dropkick Murphys. 
 
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The Mighty Mighty Bosstones: Hitting You Like A Ton of Bricks

This one is for brink and his rockin' family

Here's a cool 1998 bootleg of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (more here) at the apex of their fame, such as it was.

1 Intro Music
2 Noise Brigade
3 The Rascal King
4 Doctor D
5 Royal Oil
6 Do Something Crazy
7 Hell of a Hat
8 Someday I Suppose
9 1-2-8
10 Simmer Down
11 Dogs and Chaplains
12 Numbered Days
13 Hope I Never Lose My Wallet
14 Another Drinkin' Song
15 Cowboy Coffee
16 The Impression That I Get
17 Nevermind Me
18 Lights Out
19 Interlude
20 He's Back
21 (aborted song)
22 Where'd You Go
23 Holy Smoke



C-O-M-M-M-E-N-T-S-!-!

Speaking 'o COMMENTS, that's where the link is to Hitting You Like A Ton of Bricks, so once you've begin clicking you might as well type a few words...


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The Mighty Mighty Bosstones: Toe Tapping Treats

This one's for Longy...

This digital bootleg, with borrowed artwork, has been cleaned up by MRML to avoid ANY overlap with Boston punk/ska/metal band The Mighty Mighty Bosstones' surprisingly-brief rarities collection, Medium Rare. (As a result of these edits, the numbering detailed below will be waaay off, which will effect the fine music that is left not a whit!)
(For more Bosstones on MRML go here.)



01.Every Trick in the Book [Last Dead Mouse 7" Single - 1993]
02.Detroit Rock city [Detroit Rock City Single - 1994]
03.Pirate Ship [Question The Answers Double 10" - 1994]
04.How We Got Away (Unreleased Demo Version) [Fat City: Bands We Like Vol. 1 Compilation - ????]
05.Patricia (New Version) [Pictures to Prove It Single - 1995]
06.That's Another Story [Hell of a Hat Single - 1995]
07.Providence Is... [Warped Tour: 2001 Compilation - 2001]
08.Old School Off The Bright (Original Version) [Fabled Barney and the Population Single - 2001]
09.Storm Hit [The Impression That I Get Australian Import Single - 1997]
10.Wake Up Call [The Impression That I Get Import UK Single #2 - 1997]
11.
12.Wrong Thing Right Then [Wrong Thing Right Then Single - 1997]
13.Ocean (w/ The Pietasters) [Music For Our Mother Ocean II Compilation - 1997]
14.X'Mas Time (It Sure Doesn't Feel Like It) [Home For The Holidays Compilation - 1997]
15.Common Decency [Video Stew - 1997]
15.Zig Zag Dance [Elmopalooza! Compilation - 1998]
16.Who's Foolin' Who [Mashin' Up The Nation: The Best of American Ska, Vols. 3 & 4 Compilation - 1998]
17.Meaning [Pay Attention Double 12" - 2000]
18.The Skeleton Song (Demo) [Pay Attention Double 12" - 2000]
19.New England Memories [Pay Attention Double 12" - 2000]
20. Where D'Ya Go ["Hitting You Like A Ton Bricks" bootleg]



COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Yeah we like comments - it's just the way it is...)

Speaking 'o COMMENTS, that's where the link is to Toe Tapping Treats, so once you've begin clicking you might as well type a few words...


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V.A. Dylan Covered

Since we've recently been discussing Hugh Cornwell here (as well as his former band The Stranglers over here) and tribute albums here and Dylan covers collections here; let's try to put all that together with this long-unavailable MOJO Dylan collection from 2005 that sorta acts as a slightly more mainstream version of those Nobody Sings Dylan Like Dylan comps we've been obsessing over all year.






COMMENTS? OH YES, COMMENTS ARE AN EXTREMELY GOOD THING INDEED!

Speaking of COMMENTS that's the section in which you will find the Dylan Covered link

Hugh Cornwell: Wolf (1988)

Up to $100.00 on Amazon to hear how Hugh Cornwell (more here) sounded in the late eighties.




The single, "Another Kind of Love" isn't so bad really, considering its time of origin. Plus the video, made by Jan Svankmajer the designer of Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" video, is quite charming. It certainly isn't to everyone's tastes but what here is?


Don't you miss the luxurious and resplendent artwork that used to accompany (and amplify) an album back in the LP era?


What do you make of Hugh Cornwell's Wolf? Let us know in the comments?

Speaking of comments, that is the section wherein you will find the Wolf link.



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Hugh Cornwell: One in a Million 12" (1985)

A request from styreneboy for some of Hugh Cornwell's eighties work. While I prefer his newer stuff, this 1985 single has its own merits.




What do you make of this era of this of Hugh Cornwell's career? Let us know in the comments?

Speaking of comments, that is the section wherein you will find the One in a Million link.




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Hugh Cornwell: White Room 7" (1979)

Speaking of the album that Hugh Cornwell (more here) made with Robert Williams (from Captain Beefherart's Magic Band) plus a Zappa alumni (Ian Underwood) and two Devo brothers (Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh), here''s the lone single:



Yup it's an evisceration of a sixties rock classic (as all you Cream fans out there knew when I posted this earlier today) done in a rather Devo-friendly style. The B-side is an instrumental but what the hell...


What do you make of Hugh & Co.'s attack on Cream?

Speaking of comments, that is the section wherein you will find the White Room 7" link.


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Hugh Cornwell: Radio Sessions

Most bands would be dominated by a strong lead singer/guitarist/song-writer but The Stranglers are not most bands. To be fair, the leaving of Hugh Cornwell, lead singer/guitarist extraordinaire knocked all concerned for a loop back in 1990. I'm not conversant enough in either Cornwell's or The Strangler's nineties work to pronounce who came out on top but based on the last two Stranglers' albums and Hugh's recent work (like 2008's Hooverdam) I'd say both camps have gained in strength. (Waaaaaay more Stranglers can be found here!)



Today's offering is a bootleg of some of Mr. Cornwell's radio sessions over the years. And just to remind you that Hugh first went solo (in 1979 with Captain Beefheart's Magic Band's drummer in tow) here's a video from Nosferatu:




What do you make of the Hugh Cornwell Experience? Let us know in the comments?

Speaking of comments, that is the section wherein you will find the Radio Sessions link.


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V.A. Teenage Treats Vol. Three (1977-1979)

I was ready to cancel this series for the ridiculously low number of comments volume one brought but then came an avalanche for volume two, including stalwart word-leavers like Roberto, Revolutionary Bum, Woodworker, Longy , Big Scott 1962, and many more. This volume is dedicated to all of them!!

Here's a new series (well, the late 1990's, technically), consisting of ten volumes that explore the seedy underbelly of the already seedy underbelly that was British punk rock in the late seventies and early eighties.



Highlights of this volume may (or may not - taste in seedy underbellies varies widely) include:



* Sid Never Did It / Breaking Rocks On Riker's Island (Surgeons, 1979, only 7")
* School Girls In Bondage / Dregs of Humanity (Dregs, 1979, from only 7")
* Speed of the City (Intravein, 1978, from 1.7")
* Electrocute Your Cock (Vom, USA, 1978, from only 7")
* Ultimatum (Klips 88, 1979, from Voxhall Tracks compilation EP)
* Bugger Off (Blitzkrieg Bop, 1977, from 1.7")
* Murder (Friction, 1979, from Voxhall Tracks compilation EP)
* Fascist DJ (Exile, 1977, from 1.7")
* Money=Time (Paranoia, 1979, from Voxhall Tracks compilation EP)
* Apathy (Exits, 1978, from 2.7")

Comments are what keep the rarities flowing...

Please don't neglect to communicate!!


Speaking of those rarity-fueling comments, that is the section where you will find the Teenage Treats # 3 link.

*

Two important notes:

#1 Many, many thanks to Roberto for sending us the fantastic scans of TT vol.'s 1-5!

#2 If Anyone has even remotely decent scans of vol.'s 6-10 (front and/or back) please let us know in the comments!

V.A. Nobody Sings Dylan Like Dylan Volume Twenty-Eight

This thirty-THREE (!) volume series features artists covering Bob Dylan songs. All of the tracks are recordings of independent origin (ROIO) and hence officially unreleased.

Once again this series cuts a wide swath, covering aughts alt country (Calexico, Lambchop), vets of the punk era (Billy Bragg, Robyn Hithcock), sixties survivors (Chris Hillman, Gene Clark - separately), British folk-rock (Ashley Hutchings, June Tabor and The Oyster Band), singer/songwriter types (Eliza Gilkyson, Nanci Griffith) and artists who exist beyond critical categories like the sadly-departed Ted Hawkins.



01 Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine - Mudcrutch (May 1, 2008, The Troubador, Los Angeles, CA)
02 Love Minus Zero - Eliza Gilkyson (Oct 4, 2008, The Met, Bury, UK)
03 You're a Big Girl Now - Lambchop (Oct 23, 2008, Loewensaal, Nuremberg, Germany)
04 Too Much of Nothing - Robyn Hitchcock (Feb 19, 2000, Largo, Los Angeles, CA)
05 Billy - Calexico (July 12, 2007, Zeltival Am Tollhaus, Karlsruhe, Germany)
06 This Wheel's On Fire - June Tabor and the Oyster Band (Feb 1991, First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN)
07 When I Paint My Masterpiece - Hayes Carll (fEB 3, 2007, The Continental Club, Austin, TX)
08 Forever Young - Chris Robinson & The Wooden Family(May 20th 2007, The Lawn @ Henry Miller Library, Big Sur, CA)
09 Highway 61 Revisited - Mason Ruffner (Jun 28, 1995, Chesterfield Cafe, Paris, France)
10 Mr. Tambourine Man - Chris Hillman with Herb Pederson & Bill Bryson, Jul 26, 2008, Simsbury Meadows, Simsbury, CT)
11 Gates of Eden - Gene Clark (Apr 4, 1985, Dingwall's, London, UK)
12 All Along the Watchtower - Mike McCready (Aug 27, 2008, Tractor Tavern, Seattle, WA)
13 She Belongs To Me - I See Hawks in L.A. (Sep 21, 2008, The Echo, Los Angeles, CA)
14 Angelina - Ashley Hutchings (May 20, 1988, Colchester Arts Centre, Colchester, England)
15 Boots of Spanish Leather - Nanci Griffith (Oct 23, 1992, Symphony Hall, Boston, MA)
16 Blowin' in the Wind - Ted Hawkins (Jun 13, 1987, Manchester International, Manchester, England)
17 The Lonesome Death of Ruth Corrie - Billy Bragg (Mar 26, 2006, The Birchmere, Alexandria, VA)

If you'd like the series to continue - - - please don't forget to leave a comment behind!

Speaking of comments, the Nobody Sings Dylan Like Dylan Volume Twenty-Eight link is in there.

Thanks to Jeffs98119 for compiling these and to stewART for the images.

• Thanks to Karl Erik @ Expecting Rain for tagging these for iTunes
  

• For V.'s 1-26 of Nobody Sings Dylan Like Dylan go here
  

• For slugline's impressive spreadsheet of the whole series go here

V.A. No More Heroes: A Tribute to The Stranglers

Hey, Stranglers fans - come check out Ten MORE Great Stranglers videos (1978-1981) over at THE BIG TAKEOVER - please come take a look and leave a COMMENT to keep The Silence at bay!

Unlike, say, The Ramones, where doing a Xeroxed knock-off cover version is always an option, covering The Stranglers can be a daunting task. So, therefore, a lot of the bands on this 1998 Elevator Music Records collection of (mostly) American bands gives The Stranglers' catalog a more guitar-heavy, straight-up punk sound - like, say, The Ramones! Of course there's still variety of sounds here from oi!, to ska, to garage-rock and beyond, so check out some possible highlights below:



Comments on these (or others) Stranglers covers are most welcome!

Speaking of comments, that is the section wherein you will find the No More Heroes link.




(Waaaaaay more Stranglers stuff on MRML can be found here!)


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The Stranglers: Live in Paris, 2004 (FM)

Here's what I was hoping to find yesterday, the 21st century version of the band (the earlier in the decade, five-man version) belting it out in all their glory in fantastic-sounding FM broadcast quality sound - enjoy!! (Waaaaaay more Stranglers can be found here!)



Paris, 2004 link is in the COMMENTS!! section...


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The Stranglers: Sheffield, 2010

When my friend CallPastorJekface told me back in 2004 that I had to listen to the new Stranglers album, my response was likely both incredulous and dismissive. After all, at that point, I hadn't listened to a new Stranglers album since I mistakenly picked up Dream Time on L.P. back in the 80's. But low, behold and HOLY HELL Norfolk Coast was one of the mightiest comebacks I'd ever heard. With a new lead singer (or two) the band had bludgeoned together aspects from all over it's career (and not just my beloved '77). Witness, the amazing "Big Thing Coming" from that album as proof:



or check out "Specter of Love" this from their 2006 follow-up, Suite XIV



Or even their latest single from 2010:



This Sheffield show is an audience recording but a good-sounding one and there's only enough audience noise to remind you that you made it though the door and get to take in the show from right up close. It's well worth a listen, especially as it offers hard proof of how much bottle this band has left at this late stage of the game.



Comments on The Stranglers of the 21st century are most welcome!

Speaking of comments, that is the section wherein you will find the Sheffield, 2010 (parts one and two) link.


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The Stranglers: All Twelve Inches

The Epic years of The Stranglers (more here) represent a not-so-gradual subsuming of all the musical elements that made the band wholly original. The music is still fine by eighties standards but it's really not The Stranglers as we knew them.



This long out-of-print collection ($129.00 on Amazon!) collects up the extended versions of their eighties hits.


Comments on the Epic years (1983-1990) and their place in Stranglers' history are invited!

Speaking of comments, that is the section wherein you will find All Twelve Inches link.


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The Stranglers: Live in London

A live hodge-podge culled from various dates in the 80's, that proves that The Stranglers (more here) could still show their mettle on stage if not always in the studio.





Comments on The Stranglers live work in the 80's are strongly encouraged!

Speaking of comments, that is the section wherein you will find the Live in London link.




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The Stranglers: BBC Live (Hammersmith Odeon, 1982)

By 1982 things were changing in Strangler-land. 1981's La Folie represents kind of a dividing line between the Stranglers (more here) we'd loved to hate (and vice versa) and The Stranglers we'd have to settle for a long, long time. One the one hand, the album has catchy but still snarky tunes like "Duchess":



But then of course the album has the lovely-but-let's-still-call-it-an-ominous sign, "Golden Brown".



I'm done a volte face and am now a proud owner of La Folie (despite the CD re-issues' criminal neglect of "Who Wants the World") but it marks the last Stranglers album of the 20th century in my collection. That said, this never-aired BBC concert, which includes punchier takes on lots of the band's early 80's material, would be a welcome addition to a well-curated Stranglers collection.


Comments on the La Folie-era Stranglers are encouraged!

Speaking of comments, that is the section wherein you will find the BBC Live link.


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V.A. Teenage Treats Vol. 2 (1977-1980)

I was ready to cancel this series for the ridiculously low number of comments the first volume brought but then Bristol Boy from the award-winning (well, it should be award-winning for fuck's sake) blog My Life's A Jigsaw came through with some thoughtful words. So this post is for him!

Here's a new series (well, the late 1990's, technically), consisting of ten volumes that explore the seedy underbelly of the already seedy underbelly that was British punk rock in the late seventies and early eighties.




Highlights of this volume may (or may not - taste in seedy underbellies varies widely) include:

The Dole:


The Flys:


and The Strike (UK):



* Teenage Treats (Wasps, 1977, from 1.7")
* Language School (Tours, 1979, from 1.7")
* New Wave Love (Dole, 1978, from only 7")
* Paper Dolls (Screams, USA, 1979, from only 7")
* Big City Boys (Warm Jets, 1979, from 1.7"?)
* Total Control (Red Rage, 1980, from only 7")
* Nora's Diary (Jimmy Edwards & The Profile, 1979, from 1.7")
* Teenage Rebel (Strike, 1980, from only 7")
* Love & A Molotov Cocktail (Flys, 1977, from 1.7" [Bunch of Five EP])
* Gutter Kids (Dyaks, 1978, from only 7")
* Real People (Exile, 1977, from 2.7")
* Answers (Neon Hearts, 1978, from 2.7")

(P.S. includes a couple repeats from vol. 1, which had been a really tiny pressing)


Comments are what keep the rarities flowing...

Please don't neglect to communicate!!


Speaking of those rarity-fueling comments, that is the section where you will find the Teenage Treats # 2 link.

*

Two important notes:

#1 Many, many thanks to Roberto for sending us the fantastic scans of TT vol.'s 1-5!

#2 If Anyone has remotely decent scans of vol.'s 6-10 (front and/or back) please let us know in the comments!

V.A. Nobody Sings Dylan Like Dylan Volume Twenty-Seven

This thirty-THREE (!) volume series features artists covering Bob Dylan songs. All of the tracks are recordings of independent origin (ROIO) and hence officially unreleased.

Since I don't have much to say about this volume, I would just like to advocate for Richie Havens as one of the more underrated Dylan interpreters. As my opening offer here's Haven's doing an arguably-superior take on Dylan's Infidels-era track, "License To Kill":



And it's impossible to ignore the joy he evinces on this recent version of the not-so-easy-to-cover "Tombstone Blues":



And lest we forget the cover that IS on this volume, here's RH doing his version of "All Along the Watchtower".




01 All Along the Watchtower - Richie Havens (Mar 13, 2008, Studio 104, Maison de la Radio, Paris)
02 Tangled Up in Blue - Robert Earl Keen (Sep 19, 2003, Zilker Park, Austin, TX)
03 On the Road Again - J.J. Cale and Christine Lakeland (Nov 2, 1983, Old Town Bar & Grill, Eureka, CA)
04 Abandoned Love - Johan Asherton (Oct 4, 2007, La Pomme d'Eve, Paris)
05 To Ramona - Doug Sahm and the Last Real Texas Blues Band (Aug 11, 1995, Lokeren, Belgium)
06 I Don't Believe You - Lloyd Cole and the Commotions (Feb 3, 1986, Rolling Stone, Milano, Italy)
07 Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar - John Wesley Harding and Steve Wynn (Nov 24, 1990, Club Lingerie, Hollywood, CA)
08 Positively Fourth Street - Jimmy LaFave (Jan 18, 1996, La Laiterie, Strasbourg, France)
09 Gotta Serve Somebody - Mountain (Jun 5, 2007, Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa,, FL)
10 Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You - Jeff Beck Group (Jun 29, 1972, Paris Theater, London)
11 Lay Lady Lay - The Byrds (Feb 22, 1969, Boston, MA)
12 Don't Think TWice - The Waifs (Sep 26, 2002, The Ark, Ann Arobor MI)
13 Buckets of Rain - Jeffrey Foucault (Feb 21, 2008, La Pomme d'Eve, Paris)
14 Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues - The Coal Porters (Sep 29, 1995, Grosser Saal, E-Werk, Erlangen, Germany)
15 Knockin' on Heaven's Door - The Meters (May 15, 1993, Tramps, New York, NY)
16 Like a Rolling Stone - Jeff Healey Band (Dec 1, 1988, Paradiso, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

If you'd like the series to continue - - - please don't forget to leave a comment behind!

Speaking of comments, the Nobody Sings Dylan Like Dylan Volume Twenty-Seven link is in there.

Thanks to Jeffs98119 for compiling these and to stewART for the images.

• Thanks to Karl Erik @ Expecting Rain for tagging these for iTunes
  

• For V.'s 1-26 of Nobody Sings Dylan Like Dylan go here
  

• For slugline's impressive spreadsheet of the whole series go here

The Stranglers: Live in Toronto (1980)

Hey, Stranglers fans. I've posted Ten Great Stranglers videos (1976-1978) over at THE BIG TAKEOVER - please come visit, take a look and leave a COMMENT over there before I get spooked by the silence.

As a Canadian adolescent, you couldn't find The Stranglers' (more here) 1980 album The Raven domestically, instead we followed band's progress via an I.R.S. Records' North American hodge-podge entitled The Stranglers IV (see below):


The album was a chronological mess but it did offer some early rarities and a cherry-picking of the hits from The Raven as well as few killer then-new tracks like "Who Wants the World (more cool stuff on this subject can be found here).



This particular bootleg, a great-sounding FM broadcast, captures the taut, aggressive show from 1980 tour, the era between The Raven and the indulgently-disappointing The Meninblack.


Comments on The Raven-era Stranglers are most welcome!

Speaking of comments, that is the section wherein you will find Live in Toronto link.


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