Friday, December 21

Best of 2012 - Live

The dB's
The Best of 2012 Live
various venues & dates

FM & web stream (sound quality Ex-; all these recordings sound great).

BIG THANKS to the stations & other media outlets that broadcast these (plus TheBynumite for the video of “Write Back”)!

My holiday gift to you, dear blog followers, is a collection of the best-sounding and best-performed live songs played and sung by The dB’s in 2012. I wanted to post something to commemorate this amazing year for the guys, releasing an album of new songs as well as playing dozens of live shows. I think you’re gonna really like this one... (Please leave a comment to let me know what you think)  
The dB’s play Le Poisson Rouge in NYC, June 2012
photo by hulaedwyn via Flickr
ABOUT THIS COLLECTION: Even though there wasn’t enough material for a concert-length set, I decided to sequence this as if it were a live performance — with the end of one song flowing as smoothly as possible into the next. The collection begins and ends with recordings from my favorite dB’s show of 2012, the band’s triumphant “World Café Live” appearance for WXPN in Philadelphia on the Friday of Labor Day Weekend. (I slightly prefer the audience recording I posted HERE; it’s 2 songs longer and you get a better feel for the atmospherics than with the web stream). The sound quality on these and all the others in the collection is pretty much pristine. 

Oh yeah, as a special this-time-only bonus, I’m posting this in lossless as well as MP3.

As always … ENJOY!  

SAMPLE: "Far Away & Log Ago (Best of 2012 Live)"

01 That Time Is Gone
02 Before We Were Born
03 Happenstance 
04 I Didn't Meant to Say That
05 Send Me Something Real
06 Far Away & Long Ago
07 World to Cry
08 The Adventures of Albatross and Doggerel
09 Write Back (first time ever live!)
10 Love Is for Lovers
11 (I Thought) You Wanted to Know
12 Living a Lie
13 The Wonder of Love

TT: 51:23

SOURCES
01 WXPN-FM, “World Café Live,” Philadelphia, PA 2012-08-31 
02 (same as #1) 
03 Threadgill's, Austin, TX (SXSW “Music Fog” show) 2012-03-17
04 Mountain Stage, Charleston, WV 2012-06-24
05 WXPN-FM, “World Café Live,” Philadelphia, PA 2012-08-31 
06 Mountain Stage, Charleston, WV 2012-06-24 
07 KDHX-FM, St. Louis, MO 2012-11-17 
08 SXSW, Austin, TX (Paste Magazine tent) 2012-03-15 
09 Motorco, Durham, NC (album release party) 2012-06-09 
10 SXSW, Austin, TX (Paste Magazine tent) 2012-03-15 
11 KDHX-FM, St. Louis, MO 2012-11-17 
12 WXPN-FM, “World Café Live,” Philadelphia, 2012-08-31 
13 (same as #12)
Two songs in this collection come from the band’s performance on “Mountain Stage” in Charleston, WV this past June.
photo by Amos Perrine via No Depression
Alt. Link (MF)

Lossless WAV files
NEW LINKS FORTHCOMING

P.S. - If anyone uploads these files & lists them on a torrent tracker, please credit "Rob-In-Brevard" with creating the compilation and please provide a link to this blog.  

The dB's:
Peter Holsapple: guitar, vocals
Chris Stamey: guitar, vocals 
*Gene Holder: bass
**Will Rigby: drums, backing vocals 
Brett Harris - keyboards & additional guitar
  
*Mitch Easter filled in for Gene for the SXSW performances 
**Chris Stephenson filled in for Will for the Mountain Stage performance
  
The dB's play The Hideout in Chicago, Nov. 2012
photo by Max Herman / Time Out Chicago
   

Friday, December 7

Love Tractor – Iowa City 1989 & 1983 bonus

Polo Club
Iowa City, Iowa
KRUI-FM broadcast
1989-XX-XX        

FM broadcast (sound quality VG+)

Repercussion: Mitch Easter produced the 1989 Love Tractor album Themes from Venus, and members of Love Tractor were some of the pioneers of the Athens, GA indie music scene, along with B-52s, Pylon and (of course) R.E.M.
 
What kind of photos would you expect
 from a group named “Love Tractor”?!?

BIG THANKS to the taper, original uploader and those who posted the videos from which I ripped the audio...

01 Nightclub Scene
02 Neon Lights
03 Themes from Venus
04 Venice
05 Festival
06 Beatle Boots
07 brief station ID
08 Sixty Degrees Below
09 Cartoon Kiddies
10 Hey Mess
11 Nova Express
12 Outside With Ma

Atlanta Arts Festival
Atlanta, GA
May 17, 1983
VHS audio rip (sound quality VG-)
13 Buy Me a Million Dollars
14 Paint
15 Tropical

Athens, GA
1983-XX-XX
VHS audio rip (sound quality VG-)
16 Sharp Dressed Man*
           *Track 16 with Peter Buck and Mike Mills of R.E.M.

Any help identifying tracks 5 & 15 will be appreciated…
This is Love Tractor's original lineup. The band re-grouped
some years ago and remains active today.

Love Tractor:
Mark Cline
Mike Richmond
Kit Swartz
Armistead Wellford
(Andrew Carter may have played in place of Kit S. for 1989 show)
  
Learn more about Love Tractor and its music at AllMusic, the band's MySpace site, or blog.
 

Friday, November 30

2012 Midwest 'Mini Tour' Souvenir

The Hideout
Chicago, IL
November 15 or 16, 2012 

audience recording (sound quality VG-; audio rip from YouTube videos)

SUBSTANTIAL THANKS to seijinlee for recording and posting these!

FAIR WARNING: all of the music below comes from video sources, more or less as I received them. Therefore, there are several cut-ins, end cuts, and abrupt audio transitions from one song to the next.

FULL COVERAGE of THE dB'S MIDWESTERN MINI TOUR IS HERE
 
The dB's play The Hideout in Chicago, November 2012
photo by Max Herman / Time Out Chicago (see lots more of his photos HERE)


SAMPLE: "(I Thought) You Wanted to Know (Chicago 2012)"

01 Before We Were Born
02 Happenstance
03 Ask for Jill
04 World to Cry
05 Excitement
06 Love Is for Lovers
07 (I Thought) You Wanted to Know
08 I Didn't Mean to Say That
09 Big Brown Eyes
10 Neverland
11 I Don't Want the Night to End (Nick Lowe cover)
12 The Summer Sun
13 Black and White
14 Nothing Is Wrong
15 If and When
16 pH Factor
17 Money (That's What I Want)
 
Blueberry Hill St. Louis, MO November 17, 2012

Highlight: I'm with Tom L, who reviewed this show for the blog, saying, "The band was loud, proud and tight from playing the previous two nights."

SINCERE THANKS to NovelNeoNomad for recording and posting these!
  
Found Their Thrill: The dB's Played Blueberry Hill, St. Louis, MO
November 17, 2012  (Tom Lippard photo)
01 That Time Is Gone 
02 Before We Were Born
03 Happenstance
04 Lonely Is as Lonely Does
05 Ask for Jill
06 World to Cry
07 Love is for Lovers
08 (I Thought) You Wanted to Know

The dB’s:
Gene Holder – bass
Will Rigby – drums
Chris Stamey – guitar & vocals
Peter Holsapple – guitar & vocals
Brett Harris – keyboards & additional guitar
 
AWESOME RHYTHMS, COURTESY of WILL and GENE
Max Herman photo

Part 1 (MP3@320)
DB link 
MF link 

Part 2 (MP3@320) 
DB link 
MF link
  
 

The Embarrassment - Lawrence, KS 1981 + bonus

Off the Wall Hall
Lawrence, KS
June 27, 1981
 


audience recording (sound quality VG; vocals are a tad distant; I did some tweaking to balance out the sound and raise the overall volume)

REPERCUSSION: Coupla weeks ago, I posted part of a 1983 radio show and four tracks from a 1981 Embos show in Witchita. As cool as those are, I kept thinking a complete live show would be more satisfying. Fantom came up with this one and — whomp — here it is. (Go to the earlier post if you want to learn the tangential relationship between The dB’s and The Embos.)

WHOLE BUNCHA THANKS to R. Hellman for taping this one and, once again, to fantom for the share!
 
01 Can't Forget
02 Two Week Vacation
03 Chapter 12
04 Celebrity Art Party
05 Elizabeth Montgomery's Face
06 Sound of Wasps
07 Godfrey Harold Hardy
08 Don't Choose the Wrong Song
09 Wellsville
10 I'm a Don Juan
11 Jazz Face
12 Dino in the Congo
13 Sexy Singer Girl
14 Lewis and Clark
15 Nothing to Eat
16 Picture Women
17 Two Cars
18 D-Rings
19 Pretty Woman
20 Drive Me to the Park
21 Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
22 Patio Set
23 Pushin' Too Hard














 


The Embarrassment:
John Nichols – guitar, vocals, keyboard
Brent “Woody” Giessmann – drums, vocals, sax
Bill Goffrier – guitar, vocals
Ron Klaus – bass

Freaky double Michael Jackson reference: the name of the venue plus MJ cover, track 21

BONUS: 3 live tracks from Big Dog Soundstage, Witchita, KS 1988-12-31 
A kind and generous Embos fan sent me these, for which I am very grateful. They're from a New Year's Eve show -- that had a magician as the warm-up act (!). 

BIG THANKS to Bo for sharing... 

soundboard (Ex- sound quality) 
 
01 Wellsville 
02 Two Cars 
03 Two-Week Vacation 

MP3@320

Learn more about The Embarrassment's music at TrouserPress, AllMusic or the band's web site
 
 

Friday, November 23

Cat's Cradle, Chapel Hill, NC - Jan. 1982

The dB’s
Cat’s Cradle
Chapel Hill, NC
Jan. 6, 1982

audience recording (sound quality VG; there's fairly persistent background crowd chatter, but it doesn’t ruin the show) 

HIGHLIGHT: It's a previously unknown dB's show from the Repercussion era; so it's ALL highlight!

VERY SIZABLE THANKS to the taper and to dB’s Fan for sharing!
 
THE dB'S - IN FULL FLIGHT
SAMPLE: "Dynamite (Cat's Cradle 1982)"

SET 1:  
01 Living a Lie
02 We Were Happy There
03 Bad Reputation
04 I Feel Good (Today)
05 Storm Warning
06 (I Thought) You Wanted to Know
07 Judy
08 Excitement
09 The Fight
10 Ups and Downs
11 Happenstance

SET 2:
01 Ask for Jill (cuts in)
02 Soul Kiss
03 Dynamite
04 Molly Says
05 The Summer Sun
06 Big Time
07 Neverland
08 (applause, hooting, catcalls, etc)
09 Big Brown Eyes 

MP3@320 
Alt. Link

The dB’s:
Gene Holder – bass guitar
Peter Holsapple – guitar, vocals, keyboard
Will Rigby – drums, backing vocals
Chris Stamey – guitar, vocals