Friday 7 September 2012

#21 NIRVANA - Live at U4, Vienna 1989 (Flac)

Nirvana’s first European tour began in October 1989. The “Heavier Than Heaven” tour as it was subsequently named was a reference to the power of the music and also the weight of front man Tad Doyle of co-headliners Tad.

The intense tour schedule consisted of thirty-seven shows in forty-two days in nine countries leaving no option but to drive overnight to the next venue.

This show from U4 in Vienna is remarkable not just for the performance but the crowd reaction generously titled as crowd banter on a few tracks. There is one member of the audience who in his desperation to hear “About A Girl” is reduced to screaming and shrieking so much he sounds as if he’s having a mental breakdown. His use of ‘Anglo-Saxon’ (swearing) is quite phenomenal for a foreigner. It’s incredible that he wasn’t removed by the security.

This is from a pre-fm source bar the first two tracks and the best quality early live Nirvana show.




----------------------------------------------

NIRVANA
November 22, 1989
U4
Vienna, Austria
(JWB REMASTER)
------------------------
01 (Intro)
02 School
03 Scoff
04 Love Buzz
05 Floyd The Barber
06 Dive
07 (Crowd Banter)
08 About A Girl
09 Spank Thru
10 Big Cheese
11 Sappy
12 Breed
13 (More Crowd Banter)
14 Been A Son
15 Negative Creep
16 Blew
17 (Encore Break)
18 Help Me I'm Hungry

SOURCE: A+ Stereo Soundboard
TOTAL TIME: 61:47

ORIGINAL LINEAGES:
Track 01 (beginning): FM>CDR2>WAV
Track 01-02: DAT>CDR2>WAV (possibly FM)
Tracks 03-18: "Play The Fucking Guitar Man" CD>EAC>WAV (Pre-FM)

REMASTER LINEAGE:
WAV>COOLEDIT>CDWAVE>FLAC

REMASTERING NOTES:
Sources combined to form a complete show
Re-equalizing
Volume fluctuations smoothed over
A few clicks removed
There was no noise reduction, compression, or any other funny business
REMASTERED BY JWB.


Saturday 1 September 2012

#20 CAT POWER - Peel Sessions (Flac)

Standing in a queue waiting to pay for the latest selection of cds I’d chosen. I overheard the girl in front asking what was playing over the shop speakers. When told it was Cat Power’s new album she replied, “I’ll take it too.”

Cat Power at that time was just a name to me despite the Covers Record being her fifth release. Some months later I heard her music for the first time on the John Peel show - the famous long running late night show on BBC radio one.

The session included a selection of songs that had been recorded but not included on the Covers Record. That covers session included here features just Chan’s vocal and acoustic guitar or keyboards. I remember the DJ John Peel being particularly taken by “Freebird,” a minimalist cover lasting barely forty seconds and so completely different from its original incarnation, that it sounds quite bizarre in comparison.

The covers session was recorded on June 18, 2000 at Maida Vale’s studio 4 in London. It was broadcast in two parts, part one on July 20, 2000 including tracks 1 to 4 and track 9. The second part was broadcast on August 31, 2000 and included tracks 5 to 8 with a repeat of “Freebird.” Both parts of the session were broadcast later in the year a few weeks before Christmas.

The second session tracks 10 to 13 date from three years later, recorded on January 23, 2003 as promotion for the follow up release “You Are Free.” It was broadcast on 12 February, 2003. Chan performs another sparse stripped down session emphasizing the haunting soulful beauty of her voice.

This is the complete Maida Vale sessions but not the complete Cat Power Peel sessions. A live session was recorded at John’s home “Peel Acres” on August 23, 2001; the three tracks performed were Untitled, Baby Doll and Come On In My Kitchen.


After posting three classic bootleg recordings in a row, now seems an opportune moment to upload something relatively newer. Cat Power releases her new album “Sun” in a few days time.
--------------------





Cat Power
Peel Sessions

Maida Vale Studio
London, England
Broadcast July 20, & August 2000*
FM > ? > CDR > EAC > FLAC

01 Sophisticated Lady
02 Hard Times In New York City
03 Wonderwall
04 He Was A Friend Of Mine
05 Deep Inside / Come Up In My Kitchen
06 Werewolf
07 Up & Gone
08 Sister / Knocking On Heaven's Door
09 Freebird


Maida Vale Studio
London, England
Broadcast February 12, 2003*

FM > ? > CDR > EAC > FLAC



10 Names
11 Funny Things
12 Evolution
13 I Don't Blame You

*BBC recording dates for sessions given in main text.

An updated version of this is now available see here:
complete peel sessions 



Tuesday 21 August 2012

#19 LITTLE FEAT - Electrif Lycanthrope - Ultrasonic Studios [WLIR], Hempstead, NY. 1974 (Flac)

Little Feat Live
Ultrasonic Studios [WLIR], Hempstead, NY
September 19, 1974




In the previous post, the guest writer mentioned this classic bootleg which has long been available on vinyl. Still unreleased and one of the best ever radio live performances. If you are wondering about the original bootleg title, my assumption is it means electric werewolf or shapeshifter hence the unusual artwork. (sic)
(see correct and detailed expanation below)

01 Rock and Roll Doctor
02 Two Trains
03 The Fan
04 On Your Way Down
05 Spanish Moon >
06 Skin It Back >
07 Fat Man In The Bath Tub
08 Oh Atlanta
09 Willin'
10 Cold Cold Cold >
11 Dixie Chicken >
12 Tripe Face Boogie

Tracks 1-9 Source: PRE-FM (Master 1/2 Track Broadcast RR) >
Mastering (Custom Analog & Digital 10/04) > WAV
Tracks 10-12 Source: FM rebroadcast on WLIR > reel > reel >
m-audio transit > cool edit > cd wave editor 

LINK HERE

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 

 Fri, 28 Aug 2015

Yesterday I received this e-mail from someone who wishes to remain anonymous. They used a temporary email address to protect their privacy but had difficulty posting it in the comments section. I reproduce it below:

Greetings thebasement67 and all:

To begin with, it is very, very kind of you to list 'Electrif Lycanthrope' as one of The 100 Greatest Bootlegs. This is especially delightful considering it began its Fifth Decade Of Providing Listening Joy a few years ago.
And anyone who has not followed your suggestion to get the broadcast is missing an extraordinary opportunity to get a pristine transfer of this performance.

At the time of 'Electrif Lycanthrope''s release, LITTLE FEAT were the definition of A Cult Band. Radio, even FM Radio, rarely played them. Probably more people saw them performing live during those years than ever had ever purchased 'Salin' Shoes' or 'Dixie Chicken". This would, happily, change over the next few years with the next few releases but when 'Electrif Lycanthrope' was originated and released they were far closer to A Well Treasured Secret than Indispensable To Any Record Collection.
Over the years, I have read many interpretations about the packaging. Especially the title. As you have been so very kind in your words about this work, I thought, if you do not mind, I would use this ability to comment here to answer some questions about it.

'Electrif Lycanthrope' contains no misspelled words. It appears exactly as intended. The title was inspired by a motion picture that was been broadcast as the cover was being assembled. Way back when, the US television network ABC ran movies and other odd programming late at night. This night there was a movie about a teenage werewolf that was created by Dick Clark Productions. It was a silly movie but the word "lycanthropy" was repeatedly used throughout it. I liked the overall sound of that word very much. For the cover it was changed to be a singular noun. It was used to represent the transformation we hoped would soon take place to change those who never listened to LITTLE FEAT into those who always listened to LITTLE FEAT. The word 'Electrif' was a portmanteau of two words: 'Electric", for the guitars being played, and 'Terrific', for the way LITTLE FEAT music made us all feel.

The subtitle '(Be-Bop Deluxe)' was not an error and was not listed as a reference to the English band of the same name. It was included as a reference to a genre of music, bebop, with a superlative added and was a phrase used by someone at the Anytown Office to reference any music she thought was "irresistibly cool". Its inclusion as a subtitle was the first of three clues to appear on three different LITTLE FEAT titles on Kornyfone.

The artwork on the cover of 'Electrif Lycanthrope' was from a calendar made, printed and given away by A Local Record Store. It was used because, first and foremost, it was by Neon Park and, just as importantly, the original calendar could be trimmed so that the art would fit the available space on the cover. That the art contained a Rin Tin Tin with antlers and an El Camino Real bell with a quizzical face, both entities seemingly also having transformed, just made it all the better.
It took about two hours to assemble the cover and get it camera ready. Letraset for the titles. A bottle of ink and a drafting pen, as always, for the handwritten text. The final printed piece does not have the Neon Park art in its intended position as the printer changed it after the final camera ready art was delivered. But other than that, it was printed as intended.

By the way, the seemingly nonsensical notes under the song titles, written in and around The Amazing Kornyfone Record Label ongoing mythology, do reference real places and real people. And do tell a little more about the album's creation. For example, the source for "Willin'" was supplied by someone who was, at the time, a Railroad Engineer. And the reference to Second Street was a reference to an actual Second Street and to actual people who gathered in various establishments along it to listen and, particularly, to dance to LITTLE FEAT. Girls dancing are, by definition, A Natural Wonder. And Girls dancing to LITTLE FEAT are far, far closer to Answered Prayers.

I hope this brings a little enlightenment about a few things. And, if nothing else, will answer the questions about the origin of the title once and for all. Thanks again for all of your kind words.

If It's Too Loud, You're Too Old.

Cheers,
THF

--------------------------------------------------

It doesn’t take much reading above to realize that THF or a close friend was involved in the production of this most famous bootleg. Many thanks to him for sharing this invaluable information.

Wednesday 15 August 2012

Recollections from a Bootleg record dealer

A former bootleg record dealer left a comment on the Rolling Stones post live at Oakland Coliseum 1969. I asked him if he would like to share some memories of his former employment and he has agreed to do so. I’m sure many blog readers will be interested in how bootlegs were distributed and sold before the arrival of the Internet enabled us all to gain access to a world of free unreleased music.
He wishes to remain anonymous so I would just like to say many, many thanks ‘Anon’ for your contribution and taking the time to write the following:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I have been asked by `thebasement67` to give a few recollections about being a Record and Bootleg dealer in the U.K.  Don`t `Flame` me if I get some details wrong…can you remember what you did 30 years ago?

In the early 60`s in the U.K. record shops sold Classical and Light Orchestral music, Novelty records and Sheet music...`POP` music records were few and far between.

The only opportunity for us `Teenagers` to listen to `POP` music was late at night on a transistor radio tuned into `Radio Luxemburg` fading in and out as you tried to get a signal.

Then a friend lent me an album called `Freewheelin` by a `Folk Singer` named Bob Dylan …and I was hooked.

A few years later my record collection Jazz, Prog, Blues, Rock, Folk, Beat, Soul etc., had grown so large that I needed to have a clear out, and a friend told me of a sale he had heard of where people gathered to trade and sell records…this was my introduction to the wonderful world of Record Fairs.

Over the next few years I gained Knowledge and developed contacts in the trade, so that when the first Bootleg albums came along I was well placed to start to trade.



The first albums that I recall being available were `The Great White Wonder` by Bob Dylan, and  `H-Bomb` by Deep Purple, though Led Zep, The Who and The Rolling Stones were also well represented, strangely I don`t recall any Beatles bootlegs at this time. The covers were just plain white cardboard sleeves, with in many cases the titles just handwritten or stamped on the sleeve. Later black and white printed covers were just glued onto the cardboard.



I still have my treasured copy of `Electrif Lycanthrope` by Little Feat (the `F` in electrif is not my error, it was a typo at the printers and they had to use it), This must surely rate as one of the best boots ever, (Reputedly mixed by Lowell George himself), The almost `whispered` version of `Willin` is spine tingling, and knocks spots off any commercial version.



Dylan`s `Little White Wonders` Vol. 1 /2 /3 Notable for the unissued tracks of `Dusty Old Fairgrounds` and `Angelina` were much in evidence, thought these were mainly imports from Italy on the `Joker` label.

When it came to labels `Trade mark of Quality` and `Swinging Pig` were the ones to go for as they were usually of good quality.

From this period Bruce Springsteen`s `You can trust Your Car to the Man Who Wears the Star` (Texaco service staff wear a Star on their caps), was by far the biggest seller and fabulous quality, also Elvis Costello`s `Live at the El Mocambo` was better than any of his official albums. Later Prince`s `Black Album` would break all sale records, reputedly selling over 500,000 copies! (In the video for `Alphabet Street` there are letters falling from the sky, if you paused the video at the right place the letters read `Don`t Buy the Black Album`!”



To be able to deal in Bootlegs you first had to find a supplier…..This was like asking Al Capone if he had any jobs going!  Finding a supplier was hard enough, but you then had to convince them that you could keep your mouth shut, and you had lots of cash to buy in bulk, The Masons, MI5, and the Magic Circle were easier to get into!

I recall meeting a contact in the dead of night at a service station on the M1 Motorway to take delivery of my order. Many deals were done behind the skips at the rear of Hotels.

You always had to be wary of being raided by the BPI (British Phonograph Industry) there was always a danger of having all your expensive stock confiscated, placed in plastic bags and taken away, and then you were threatened by court action and a VERY large fine. I saw this happen several times, but luckily not to me, as I did not do the London Fairs, or open markets (Camden Lock). The thing was that the BPI did not have a clue as to what a `Bootleg` actually was! and so they would take anything , they were unable to understand the difference between a `Pirate` album and a `Bootleg` album, no one in the business would ever Pirate an official album.

As far as we were concerned the only `Criminal` action here was the fact that the record companies were content to sit on unissued tracks for years with no intention of ever releasing them to the fans, ( Dylan`s `Blind Willie McTell` ) it was not until the advent of the Internet when their sales plummeted, and they were forced to find another way of generating sales ,that they realised that the true fan would have bought ALL the official albums anyway, and they needed to provide more.

The organizers of the fairs had `Fits` about Bootlegs being sold and often put an outright ban on the sale of any item that might not be legitimate, this was got around by selling from lists on the stall (Lists could be moved quickly!) But this was never satisfactory and the Bootlegs soon appeared again.

Originally most of the Bootlegs were pressed in Belgium and Luxemburg, but later as the covers became more elaborate production moved to the Far East.

As the production values increased the `pride in quality` aspect of Bootlegs fell by the wayside and the record fairs were flooded with poor quality Boots with elaborate covers, and awful quality `Audio tapes` and `Videos`. This was about the time of the `Goth` and `New Romantic` era, which had no interest for me.

Nowadays the Internet has almost put an end to Record fairs, and the `Product` has diversified with so many `Indie` and home produced bands doing their own thing, that the great `Classic` bootlegs are hard to discover, which is why it is important that Blogs like `100GreatestBootlegs` exist to point the way."

Saturday 11 August 2012

#18 THE BEATLES - Esher Demos (Flac)



There are many variations of the Esher demos circulating, speed corrected, phase corrected, remasters etc.
This is as good as you can get at the moment (2012) 

 
THE BEATLES – THE ESHER DEMOS
1: Julia
2: Blackbird
3: Rocky Raccoon
4: Back In The U.S.S.R.
5: Honey Pie
6: Mother Nature's Son
7: Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
8: Junk
9: Dear Prudence
10: Sexy Sadie
11: Cry Baby Cry
12: Child Of Nature
13: The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill
14: I'm So Tired
15: Yer Blues
16: Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey
17: What's The New Mary Jane
18: Revolution
19: While My Guitar Gently Weeps
20: Circles
21: Sour Milk Sea
22: Not Guilty
23: Piggies
24: Happiness Is A Warm Gun
25: Mean Mr. Mustard
26: Polythene Pam
27: Glass Onion
28: Junk (anthology mix)
29: Honey Pie (anthology mix)
(79:44)

Demos from George's house (Kinfauns) and John's house (Kenwood) in late May 1968.
For what it's worth, not only do tracks 1-23 sound better to us than on "From Kinfauns To Chaos" but they're also in the 'correct order', at the correct speed and in true mono for the first time (as best we can tell). Purple Chick PC-135 (2007)

LINK HERE

Wednesday 1 August 2012

#17 THE CURE - L'Olympia, Paris (June 7, 1982) (Flac)

This is the best sounding show from the Pornography tour and a stunning nerve shredding performance. Another bootleg of this show Live At L'Olympia includes Killing An Arab and All Mine but it doesn't have the sound quality of this.



The Cure
1982-06-07
L'Olympia - Paris, France
M bootleg - SBD > ? > Bootleg CD > EAC > CDR

1. M
2. The Drowning Man
3. A Short Term Effect
4. Cold
5. At Night
6. Splintered In Her Head
7. Three Imaginary Boys
8. Primary
9. One Hundred Years
10. Play For Today
11. A Strange Day
12. A Forest
13. 10:15 Saturday Night
14. The Figurehead
15. Pornography

Grade: EX+
Source: SBD
Length: 74 minutes
Artwork included 


Original Set Running Order

1. the figurehead
2. m
3. the drowning man
4. a short term effect
5. cold
6. at night
7. splintered in her head
8. three imaginary boys
9. siamese twins  (missing not broadcast available on an audience recording)
10. primary
11. one hundred years
12. the hanging garden (missing not broadcast available on an audience recording)
13. play for today
14. a strange day
15. a forest
16. pornography 

encore:
17. 10.15 saturday night
18. killing an arab (missing, see link below)
19. all mine (missing, see link below)


from Live at L'Olympia

Killing An Arab (3:03)
All Mine (10:56)



Wednesday 11 July 2012

#16 PORTISHEAD - Live at Tower Ballroom, Blackpool 1995 (Flac)

Next up is another 90's band and again a BBC FM radio production, not pre-fm but a superb performance with sound quality to match.
Portishead released their debut album Dummy in 1994 it's now regarded as a classic and this live set not only features some of the best tracks from that album but includes two songs that would appear two year's later on their second self titled release. Also featured is a live performance of the UK b-side 'It's A Fire which appeared on North American and Australian versions of the debut release.





PORTISHEAD
Tower Ballroom, Blackpool, UK
May 25th, 1995

01. radio intro
02. Numb
03. Wandering Star
04. Mourning Air
05. Strangers
06. Over
07. It's A Fire
08. Glory Box
09. Pedestal
10. Sour Times
11. radio outro

BBC FM Radio broadcast

Thursday 5 July 2012

#15 SMASHING PUMPKINS - bbc in concert #581 (Manchester 1993) (Flac)


Pre-FM BBC transcription disc
September 15, 1993
Manchester Academy, Manchester, UK. 
running time - 51: 16



The Smashing Pumpkins second album Siamese Dream was released in July 1993 and this blistering performance was recorded by the BBC on their third full European tour, the transcription disc concentrates on performances from the new album with only one track 'I Am One' appearing from the debut release Gish

Numerous superb quality Pumpkins recordings are available but this is the best one from '93 now that the Metro performance has been released on DVD 

1.             DJ intro (0:45)
2.             Quiet (3:34)
3.             Today (3:20)
4.             Disarm (3:13)
5.             Rocket (4:12)
6.             Hummer (6:57)
7.             Soma (7:10)
8.             Geek USA (5:01)
9.             Mayonaise (6:45)
10.           Cherub Rock (5:17)
11.           I Am One (5:47)

BAND:
Billy Corgan: vocals, guitar
James Iha: guitar, vocals 
D'arcy Wretzky: bass guitar, vocals
Jimmy Chamberlin: drums, percussion

LINEAGE: 930915 - Manchester Academy; Manchester, UK
BBC Transcription disc TCD 0661 "In Concert 581"
PREFM > CD > CDR


LINK HERE

Friday 22 June 2012

#14 VAN MORRISON - Choppin' Wood (Flac)

In October 2000 Van Morrison began work on his second collaboration with Linda Gail Lewis. The previous month ‘You Win Again’ an album of rock ‘n’ roll, country and blues covers had been released.
 
This next album provisionally titled 'Choppin’ Wood' contained Linda Gail Lewis’s vocals and piano parts overdubbed on all bar one track.
 
Van started work on a rearranged collection, he began to record a new batch of songs and re-recorded Linda’s parts on some of their original recordings For reasons unknown he froze Linda out from the recording process and refused to let her hear any of the new songs, she quit the tour and the album was eventually discarded.
 
‘Down The Road’ took it’s place an inferior and bloated release compared to Choppin’ Wood.




VAN MORRISON
Choppin' Wood (2001)
Aborted Album Project

Source: Cdr > Eac > Flac level 6 align on sector boundaries
Artwork by JTT

01. Choppin' Wood
02. Hey Mr. DJ
03. The Beauty Of The Days Gone By
04. Down The Road
05. Princess Of Darkness
06. Just Like Greta
07. For A While
08. Mama Don't Allow
09. Meet Me In The Indian Summer
10. All Work And No Play

LINK

Thursday 14 June 2012

#13 ROLLING STONES - live at Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, California November 9, 1969 (2nd show) (Flac)


Invented to capture live sound from remote locations during filming, the portable tape recorder could also double as a device to record a live concert. But how would it compare with a professional recording? The father of the modern bootleg, "Dub", answered any doubts on quality when he and his partner Ken issued Live’R Than You’ll Ever Be, on their TMoQ label [Trademark of Quality]. On Live’R was the second set The Rolling Stones played at the Oakland Coliseum in November, 1969, on the US tour that made their fame.

The quality made Rolling Stone magazine endorse the bootleg as a legitimate recording with a proper album review. Did the bootleggers have access to the soundboard and were the tapes bought from an insider?

"Dub acquired a Sennheiser 805 shotgun microphone and a UHER 4000 5-inch reel-to-reel recorder." This was state-of-the-art recording equipment at the time. Dub placed the equipment on stage in front of the onstage monitor speakers to capture the show as the Stones themselves heard it. Listening to it today, you can guess it was not too close to Charlie Watts’ drum kit, sparing us an ear-splitting headache. The guitars and Mick Jagger’s vocals carry the show from strength to strength. Mick Taylor’s fluid solos are a delight to hear.

The speed with which Dub issued his vinyl bootleg in December 1969, about a month after the show, and the enthusiastic reception it received among fans and music critics shocked the Stones’ record company. Decca had also recorded the Nov 27 and 28 shows at Madison Square Gardens in 1969 but had no plans for a release date. But with demand for live shows on the Stones US tour, Decca finally released their own Rolling Stones live album, Get Your Ya Ya’s Out on Sept 29, the following year, 1970. It was rumored to have been heavily doctored in the studio by The Stones for sonic perfection. It would have been an embarrassment to publicly acknowledge the bootleg’s quality. It had 10 tracks compared to the bootleg’s 16 which was the complete show from start to finish.



THE ROLLING STONES –
FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO PARIS
2001 Vinyl Gang Product

live at Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, California November 9, 1969 (2nd show)

1.        Jumpin' Jack Flash 4:25
2.        Carol 3:41
3.        Sympathy For The Devil 6:23
4.        Stray Cat Blues 4:15
5.        Prodigal Son 3:52
6.        You Gotta Move 3:14
7.        Love In Vain 5:22
8.        I'm Free 5:06
9.        Under My Thumb 2:45
10.     Midnight Rambler 7:41
11.     Live With Me 3:30
12.     Gimme Shelter 4:16
13.     Little Queenie 4:20
14.     (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 5:58
15.     Honky Tonk Women 4:02
16.     Street Fighting Man 4:35

Comments: Contains original Oakland '69 2nd show versions of Jumpin' Jack Flash with sound drops and a partial version of Under My Thumb. Cover is a copy of the original Toasted (TMoQ) 2LP.

See here for more information on this most famous of recordings



Sunday 27 May 2012

#12 PATTI SMITH - Live At The Bottom Line NYC. 1975 (Flac)

Patti Smith
The Bottom Line, NYC
December 27, 1975
Late Show




1   Lullaby (I Was Working Real Hard)
2   We're Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together
3   Privilege (Set Me Free)
4   Ain't It Strange
5   Space Monkey
6   Redondo Beach
7   Free Money
8   Pale Blue Eyes >
9   Louie Louie
10  Pumping My Heart
11  My Mafia
12  Birdland
13  band intros / tuning / talk
14  Land > Gloria
15  crowd / tuning
16  Time Is On My Side
17  My Generation
18  crowd / talk
19  Dedication

Taken from
WNEW-FM Reel Master > M-Audio Transit > Cool Edit > Cd Wave Editor > Flac

Running Time: 76:02

Bass - Ivan Kraal
Drums - Jay Dee Daugherty
Guitar - Lenny Kaye
Piano -  Richard Sohl
Vocals - Patti Smith

special guest on My Generation - John Cale





see this site for information on Patti’s bootlegs http://www.oceanstar.com/patti/info/bootlegs.htm

Monday 14 May 2012

#11 MOGWAI - Reading Festival 2001 (pre-fm) (flac)


Those that have already downloaded the New Order - Reading Festival post will need no convincing of the quality of the BBC transcription discs. This is another, this time we move ahead eight years to 2001 when Mogwai headlined the Evening Session stage (named after a BBC Radio 1 programme)


Only six tunes but nearly an hour's worth of music. The set-list features four of Mogwai's best known tracks: Mogwai Fear Satan, New Path To Helicon, Ithica and the epic My Father, My King.

Reading Festival
Evening Session Stage
25 August 2001
Headline show on second stage.


Setlist:
01 4' Applause & Intro (Faded In) (0:04)
02 Sine Wave (4:14)
03 Mogwai Fear Satan (9:56)
04 You Don't Know Jesus (6:17)
05 New Path To Helicon, Part 1 (8:10)
06 Ithica (3:27)
07 My Father My King (25:13)

Generation:
BBC Mastered CD -> EAC V0.9 beta 4 (secure mode) -> FLAC frontend (level 8)
 

"Somehow, it's dark outside as Mogwai soothe our frazzled brains. They are magnificent..."
 a kittenpainting review

LINK HERE

Sunday 6 May 2012

#10 THE DOORS - Isle of Wight 1970 (Flac)



Soundboard recording
August 30, 1970 (early hours of Sunday morning)
East Afton Farm, Isle Of Wight, England
69: 27

1970 was the third and final festival on the island until thirty-two years later. It drew a larger crowd than Woodstock and the Doors took their place on the bill alongside such live heavyweights as the Who and Jimi Hendrix. 

This is the complete show, an unmixed soundboard tape from a multi-track master recording. Some prefer the mix on the bootleg Palace Of Exile but it has a minute missing from The End and When The Music's Over is an edited version.

Scheduled for Saturday night, August 29th the Doors found themselves taking the stage in the early hours of Sunday morning due to the festival times over-running, a common occurrence in those days unlike modern festivals where everything is regimented and run like clockwork, witness the sight of Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie being manhandled offstage at Glastonbury when he decided that the band would play one more song

The set-list was dominated by tracks from the first two albums with only Ship Of Fools and Roadhouse Blues making an appearance mid-set from the current album Morrison Hotel. 

Just over three months later the Doors final live shows with Jim took place on December 11th  & 12th


TRACKS:
1.         Introduction - 0:18
2.         Back Door Man - 4:18
3.         Break On Through - 4:53
4.         When The Music's Over - 13:31
5.         Ship Of Fools - 7:37
6.         Roadhouse Blues - 6:07
7.         Light My Fire - 14:21
8.         The End - 18:18


BAND:
Jim Morrison: lead vocals
Robby Krieger: guitar, vocals
Ray Manzarek: keyboards, keyboard bass, vocals
John Densmore: drums, percussion


ORIGINAL NOTES:

The Doors, August 30, 1970 (Sunday)
East Afton Farm, "The Isle Of Wight Festival"
Isle Of Wight, England [Soundboard Recording]

Multi-Track Master > DAT > DAT > CDR > WAV >
Flac Frontend > FLAC (lvl 8, SBE aligned)

Dust out your Doors collection. Finally, from the vault of an anonymous Doors fan, comes a previously unsurfaced audio recording. Consider it a surprise present to Doors fans on Jim Morrison's birthday.

For years, The Doors' performance at the Isle Of Wight has only been available in an edited or incomplete form. The most popular release, "Palace Of Exile," is missing over a minute in the middle of "The End" and the intro to "When The Music's Over" is severly edited. Audience recordings of the show are missing "Roadhouse Blues." Previously on this site someone offered a matrix of the audience and soundboard sources in order to recreate the complete concert in the best quality available. Now for the first time, we have a master DAT source for the COMPLETE Isle Of Wight concert in perfect soundboard quality. At almost 70 minutes total, this is as good as it gets until an official release gets made -- if one is ever made.

This comes direct from the multi-track master recording. Quality is near perfect. The only downside is that the stereo separation isn't very good. It sounds like it's an unmixed copy of the multi-track master. So you'll hear Ray's organ more in the center than it should be and Ray's vocals are mixed way down so you don't hear them at all during "Break On Through" and other songs. (A good thing for some?) Still, I would place the overall quality as better than "Palace Of Exile." Little to no hiss. Bass level is much more reasonable. Sharper sound quality overall.

Now just what did I do to the original recording before posting it here? Thankfully, not much. There were a handful of clicks/pops throughout the recording that I removed individually using Adobe Audition. (The glitch during the announcer's introduction is on the original tape and couldn't be repaired without cutting it down.) I also swapped the channels so that Robby's guitar is in the right channel where it should be. The biggest change I made was balancing the channel levels and bringing everything up. This small change really punched up the sound compared to the original transfer. There was no EQ or other tricky business involved. Sounds pretty damn good, if I do say so myself. If anyone wants the original transfer, I'm open to trades.

One small note: About 4:29 into "The End," the music drops out for about 5 seconds and you only hear Jim's voice. Not sure why, but "Palace" doesn't have this mixing error. Also, regarding the date of this performance: The Doors were scheduled to play on August 29th, Saturday night, but didn't actually get on stage until 2:00am on Sunday morning, August 30th. Hence the date I have listed. (Date information taken from Greg Shaw's book, The Doors On The Road.)

A big thank you to the Doors fan who shared this rare tape. He/She wishes to remain anonymous on this one. I'm merely acting as middleman, and I'm happy to do so.  -Porsche

Sunday 29 April 2012

#09 BECK & THE FLAMING LIPS - KCRW 2002 (Flac)

Beck’s Sea Change was a downbeat album reflecting on his broken relationship with long-term girlfriend, the designer Leigh Limon. It was released in September 2002 and the resulting tour featured the Flaming Lips as his opening and backing band.

They also recorded together for this partly acoustic session on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic radio show, Christmas Eve 2002, and previously in November for the Austin City Limits show.

This is a more collaborative performance than Austin City Limits where the Flaming Lips sound like any other backing band, here there can be no mistaking their influence on Beck’s live sound.

Versions exist with the interview sections but this remastered source by thir13en contains only the music.  The ten-minute interview with the camera running is available on YouTube, the look on Beck’s face while Wayne dominates the interview is priceless

1.       Golden Age
2.       We Live Again
3.       Cold Brains
4.       Do You Realize ?
5.       Lonesome Tears
6.       Lost Cause
7.       Little One
8.       Paper Tiger
9.       New Pollution

Beck Hansen (vocals, acoustic guitar, tambourine)
Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards)
Michael Ivins (bass)
Steven Drozd (guitar, keyboards, vocals
Kliph Scurlock (drums)
Greg Kurstin (keyboards, vocals)

     KCRW FM Radio Broadcast
 December 24 2002
 KCRW, Santa Monica, CA
 34’23
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
original notes

**Remastered** by thir13en

Beck
w/ Flaming Lips
2002-11-24
KCRW
Santa Monica, CA

Another great in-studio Beck performance, and during his tour with the Flaming Lips as his band. This is fine quality stuff here, from the first to the last note, it's a real nice ride.

I've heard a few sources of this show and come across a few different lossy sourced ones as well. While I wouldn't suggest taping shows from a Grundig radio, this one was the best source I've heard. Much gratitude to our taper for making it happen with the tools that were handy at the time. I cleaned up the static a bit and then smoothed over the spectrum, maximized.

It's a very clear recording, KCRW does exceptional work yet again.

PRE-13 SOURCE INFO

Lineage: Grundig Yachtboy FM radio>G4 OEM minijack input>16 bit aiff>edited, normalized, tracked with Sound Studio>FLAC8 via Xact.

Recorded with a portable radio because my thrift store tuner died the day before.
A stellar performance, more FM noise than usual due to the Grundig radio.
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