Wednesday 27 November 2013

Neutral Milk Hotel - Forum Theatre, 15 and 16 November 2013


What can you really say about a show that any reasonably person would have said would never happen? Simply seeing this band would have been enough, but, despite all the positive reviews, my expectations were pretty low, given the standard set by other reunion tours and the fact that Mangum has only recently returned to playing regularly in public. Fortunately the band was amazing and Jeff Mangum's voice doesn't seem to have been affected by time or his period away from the spotlight.

The first night's crowd wasn't as respectful as I'd expected - the person talking through Oh Comely only stopped when she saw the look of violence on my face. That talking and occassional lame or bizarre shouts from the crowd make it into the recording, but they generally don't undermine it too much.

The second night was probably slightly better than the first. Obviously there isn't much room for setlist variation, but they mixed up the order and threw in April 8th. The sound quality of the recording is a bit of an improvement over night one. I doubt anyone will notice, but the lights come on at the end of the set and only went off for the second encore as people were filing out, so the fade in is very short and the acoustics are slightly different as I'd moved to a different spot.

If anyone is interested, I recorded both Superchunk sets as well (up next week), but not M Ward.

15 November 2013

16 November 2013

Sunday 24 November 2013

Simone Felice & Josh Ritter - ABC Music Deli, 13 July 2012


This was a pretty phenomenal tour and I'm really glad to have seen their show at The Corner. Sadly Josh Ritter hasn't been back since then and I was in Sydney to see Wilco when Simone Felice played a solo show.

This is a performance and discussion they did for ABC radio during the tour. It's a nice little sampler for anyone unfamiliar with their work. The only thing that would have made it better is if they'd sung something together as they did at the shows. Finally, although the comment at the end of the main set makes it sound as if there are a few bonus songs available, the only one I could find is Charade. Not sure if that's because there weren't any others or they've been taken down.

New York Times
Folk Bloodbath
Scarecrow
The Temptation of Adam
One More American Song
Change of Time
Charade [Bonus]

https://mega.co.nz/#F!8J8ARITa!IN_Q8Uwl_CVxX14qWfEr5w

Thursday 21 November 2013

Atoms for Peace - Austin City Limits, 13 October 2013



Another recent show - just a bit over a month for this one. I'm not a huge fan of these guys, but their best songs are really good and I know a lot of people like them a lot. No word on whether they'll make it to Australia, but unless something gets announced soon it looks unlikely.

Before Your Very Eyes
Default
The Clock
Ingenue
Unless
And It Rained All Night
Harrowdown Hill
Dropped
Cymbal Rush

Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses
Rabbit in Your Headlights
Paperbag Writer
Amok

Atoms for Peace
Black Swan


https://mega.co.nz/#F!NVcVTTRA!KckpUjZ02RAd9OHRIKVEqA

Monday 18 November 2013

Arcade Fire - Capitol Records, 28 October 2013



I've got a few recent shows that I'll try to put up quickly, rather than do my normal thing of putting them aside until I get round to it. This one is two Arcade Fire sets from a couple of weeks ago. First up is a promotional show at Captiol Records; the other is their show a few days later at Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit. Both shows lean heavily on their new material, which initially sounds quite different to their previous recods, but with repeated listens starts to make more sense in their canon.

Reflektor
Flashbulb Eyes
Afterlife
Supersymmetry [with Perfect Day intro and Satellite of Love outro]
It's Never Over (Oh Orpheus)
We Exist
You Already Know
Normal Person
Here Comes the Night Time

Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

The Suburbs [Bridge Benefit]
Reflektor [Bridge Benefit]
Awful Sound (Oh Eurydice) [Bridge Benefit]
Normal Person [Bridge Benefit]
I Dreamed a Neil Young Song (w/ Neil Young) [Bridge Benefit]
Wake Up [Bridge Benefit]

https://mega.co.nz/#F!IAV10LIS!eF5fAWVzwW0J7oazNiOdUg

Friday 15 November 2013

Free Albums - Jay Z and the Beatles - The Grey Album

I've been trying to figure out other free albums to put up and realised I haven't posted what might be the best of them all - The Grey Album. This was created by the producer Danger Mouse and features vocals from Jay Z's Black Album over music from The Beatles' White Album (hence the title 'The Grey Album).

There a quite a few risks with this type of thing - it can be gimmicky without any real musical value, or it can simply combine the worst of both sources, or it can result in something that is hated by fans of both bands. This manages to avoid all of these, resulting in an album that has had some pretty big crossover success.

Public Service Announcement
What More Can I Say
Encore
December 4th
99 Problems
Dirt Off Your Shoulder
Moment of Clarity
Change Clothes
Allure
Justify My Thug
Interlude
My 1st Song


For anyone that wants more, various other mashups have been done (none of them up to the standard of the Grey Album), including mashups with Pavement, Metallica, and Weezer (among others).

Saturday 9 November 2013

The New Pornographers - Washington DC, 23 June 2010


We're unlikely to see anything from these guys for quite a while, although Neko Case has promised a tour in early 2014, and AC Newman sounds like he is in the middle of recording a new album. Anyway, New Pornographers are great, and this is really good show from way back in 2010 when they were touring their last album - Challengers. Unlike their last two Australian tours, this show includes Dan Bejar, meaning great songs like Myriad Harbour are included.

This is a really good, long and varied set, check it out.

Sing Me Spanish Techno
Up in the Dark
Myriad Harbour
Use It
Crash Years
All the Old Showstoppers
The Body Says No
Jackie
A Bite Out of My Bed
The Bones of an Idol
Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk
To Wild Homes
The End of Medicine
Moves
Your Hands (Together)
My Shepherd
Twin Cinema
Silver Jenny Dollar
Mass Romantic
The Bleeding Heart Show

Challengers
My Rights vs Yours
Electric Version
Testament to Youth in Verse

https://mega.co.nz/#F!YRdDRBIT!Cp2jyFvlO0UAXFoWW2N3AQ

Tuesday 5 November 2013

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Rock en Seine, 24 August 2013


Black Rebel Motorcycle Club were a band I was happy enough to see at Harvest, but wasn't too fussed about seeing for a headline show. At least until I had a listen to this very impressive set from just a couple of months back. There is an initial problem with the sound that I've tried to fix as much as I can, but once it's past this sounds phenomenal. Bands like this tend to have a 'sound' and things can get pretty boring, but these guys do a good job of mixing things up with songs that clearly fit within their style, but also show they can stretch beyond regurgitating variations on a theme.

There seems to be a fanbase for the band, given their show at Billboard was upgraded to the Palace within a few hours. Unfortunately I (and probably others) are going to be forced to miss this because it clashes with Neutral Milk Hotel - if anyone wants a ticket I've got one going for $50, send me an email.

Let the Day Begin
Rival
Beat the Devil's Tattoo
Hate the Taste
Ain't No Easy Way
Berlin
Shuffle Your Feet
Conscience Killer
Six Barrel Shotgun
Weight of the World
Lullaby
Sell It
Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n' Roll (Punk Song)
Spread Your Love


https://mega.co.nz/#F!cUdUXDAY!DZ9GIWSA8UAZFnOMYI0jFQ