Velvet Crush - Osaka, Japan 1994 + bonus

Club Quattro
Osaka, Japan

July 25, 1994

audience recording

sound quality: VG+ (quite good sound from master tape source; very little crowd noise — except when you expect & want it with a club show like this)

Velvet Crush served up tasty musical caffeine from 1990 to 2004

REPERCUSSION: Mitch Easter not only produced VC’s acclaimed Teenage Symphonies to God album, he also joined the band as a supplemental guitarist for a coupla weeks on the subsequent tour (including this show). And the other “name” non-band-member guitarist who toured later with the band? That was Tommy Keene…

HIGHLIGHTS: this one's all highlight; a really exceptional performance...

Mitch E, on tour with Velvet Crush

01 stage entrance (pre-recorded music)

02 Window to the World

03 My Blank Pages

04 Ash and Earth

05 Time Wraps Around You (false start)

06 Time Wraps Around You

07 Atmosphere

08 Weird Summer

09 White Soul

10 Oh Candy (etc.) medley

11 Drive Me Down

12 Hold Me Up --> So You Want to Be a 
     Rock & Roll Star

13 Rock and Roll Queen

     (Mott the Hoople cover)

14 Elevator Operator (Gene Clark cover)

15 Window to the World (Japanese TV)
16 Hold Me Up (Conan O'Brien)
17 My Blank Pages (Met Cafe)
18 Atmosphere (Denmark '95)

TRACK NOTES
1-14 = audience recording, per above info
15 = Japanese TV broadcast, Aug. 1992
16 = Conan O'Brien show 1995
17 = Met Cafe, Providence, RI (undated)
18 = Denmark, Jan. 1995 (sbd) 

TT: 1:15:35 

MP3@320 (tracks 15-18 = 256kbps) 

Velvet Crush:

Paul Chastain – vocals, bass

Ric Menck – drums, vocals

Jeffrey Borchardt (Underhill) – guitar
Mitch Easter - guitar (tracks 1-14, 16)
 

REVEALED: who plays that awesome guitar solo in "Hold Me Up"

WATCH THE VIDEO, DUDE... 

Learn more about the music of Velvet Crush at Trouser Press and AllMusic

Wanna hear more VC live shows like this one?  

Archive.org has a bunch in lossless... 

Let's Active Reunion Show (!) Aug. 9, 2014

A Let's Active

REUNION SHOW

is scheduled for

Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014

Cat's Cradle, Carrboro, N.C.

An eagle-eyed friend of the blog alerted me to the above listing at the Cat's Cradle web site, and Mitch Easter confirmed today that original Let's Active drummer Sara Romweber will be playing with him:

"Occasionally I'm asked about Let's Active playing at some event and my stock answer has always been 'if you can get Sara to do it, sure...' and that's been the end of it, but in this case somebody got in touch with her and asked and she said yes!  So, she and I are doing this charity show in Carrboro." Mitch went on to describe a recent rehearsal with Sara as "really good. She just has a sound that makes that stuff sound right." A bassist has been identified who will play with Mitch and Sara.

Blurt Online has this preview story.
Get more info and buy tickets at
the Cat's Cradle web site. 
  

Maxwell's, Hoboken, NJ Aug. 1986

The dB’s

Maxwell’s

Hoboken, NJ

August 3, 1986

audience recording (sound quality VG; transfer from first-generation tape source)

RARE LIVE TRACK: "Visible Man" is performed

EXTRA THANKS to the taper and to dB’s Fan for sharing another one

  

SAMPLE: "Working for Somebody Else (Aug. '86)"


01 She Got Soul

02 Visible Man

03 Not Cool

04 Never Say When

05 New Gun In Town
06 White Train

07 I Lie

08 Working for Somebody Else

09 Lonely Is as Lonely Does

10 Amplifier

11 Change With the Changing Times

12 Rains Around Here

13 Love Is for Lovers

The 1985-86 tour evidently was a real blur...

14 A Spy In the House of Love

15 Moving In Your Sleep

16 Heart of the City
    (Rockpile cover)

17 Big Black Truck

18 Smoke On the Water
    (Deep Purple cover)

MP3@320

The dB’s:

Peter Holsapple – guitar & lead vocals

Will Rigby – drums & vocals

Gene Holder – lead guitar

Jeff Beninato - bass & vocals

  

Tommy Keene - Washington, DC 2004 + bonus

9:30 Club

Washington, D.C.

Sept. 11, 2004

soundboard recording (quality VG++; darn fine sounding show; [don’t be fooled by intro, which will make you think this is an audie…])

NO FOOLIN’ THANKS to happymedium27 for sharing this.

TOMMY KEENE: bright lights, not-so-big recognition. Can we fix that, please?!
photo by Chris Grady

ROB SEZ: The late Tommy Keene was another artist in the familiar category “massively talented but lamentably under-appreciated”. The guy made high-quality, guitar-based pop with a rock edge for decades. This hometown show (opening for Guided by Voices) is a good intro for the uninitiated.

DON'T MISS TK's amazing official live album...

01 Call On Me

02 Turning On Blue

03 Highwire Days

04 Compromise

05 No One In This City

06 Long Time Missing

07 Back to Zero

08 When Our Vows Break

09 Places That Are Gone

10 Kill Your Sons (Lou Reed cover)

11 Run Now (live 1990)*

12 Compromise (live 1990)*

13 Places That Are Gone
    (live 1994)^

14 Lost a Number (Nils Lofgren cover)+

Bonus Tracks info

*9:30 Club, Washington, DC March 1990 from the “Open for Business” rockumentary 
       (in so-so sounding mono)

^Conan O’Brien Show Feb. 1, 1994
+Rockville, MD 2004-08-25 (Nils Lofgren Tribute show)

TT: 58 mins., 59 secs.

MP3@256

FLAC (first 10 tracks only from 2004 show; download the MP3 version as well if you want everything)

Learn more about the music of Tommy Keene 

at his web site and at AllMusic
 

Tommy Keene - Live 1989 & 1998

Live in 1989 & 1998

TOMMY KEENE! Come out from behind that curtain and rock!!

Tower Theater

Upper Darby, PA  April 7, 1989  audience recording

  
sound quality: VG (master tape source; very enjoyable recording without much crowd noise — except final track)
 

01 This Could Be Fiction

02 Nothing Can Change You

03 Hanging On to Yesterday

04 Light of Love

05 Based On Happy Times

06 Back to Zero

07 Listen to Me

08 When Our Vows Break

09 My Mother Looked Like Marilyn Monroe — Places That Are Gone

“Morning Becomes Eclectic” with Nic Harcourt

KCRW-FM Santa Monica, CA  May 28, 1998

FM capture

  
sound quality: VG- (multi-generation copy; uploader’s tape had problems evident on some tracks, but TK fans should still give it a listen)

 
10a Interview

10   Astronomy

11   Waiting Without You

11b Interview

12   Long Time Missing

12b Interview

13   When Our Vows Break

13b Interview

14   Compromise

14b Interview

15   Love Is a Dangerous Thing

 

TT: 1:12:29
 

NOTE: If you want to enjoy the music without the KCRW interview, just delete all the “a” and “b” tracks.
 

SPECIAL THANKS to lonetaper for taping & to Doorjam for sharing
 

Tommy Keene Band:

Tommy Keene – guitar, vocals

Brad Quinn - bass

John Richardson - drums

Justin Hibbard – guitar (1989 set)  Scott Johnson - guitar (1998 set)
 

WAV (lossless) files (538 MB)

At the uploader’s request, this is shared ONLY in lossless format; you can convert WAV to MP3 for personal use with iTunes, as well as lots of other free applications.
   

Learn more about the music of Tommy Keene at his web site and at AllMusic

    

A Good Read for dB's Fans

Just found a recent post about The dB's debut album, Stands for deciBels, in an Irish music blog I'd never heard of.

 

Justin McDaid does a great job summarizing what makes 

The deeBs' first album a classic.

WORTH A READ! (here)

Michael Slawter (The Saving Graces) – Finest Outtakes & Rarities

By any name, a talented guy: Michael Slawter

(aka, front man for The Saving Graces, Slawterhaus 5, Neidermeyer)  

various recording dates, locations 1999 - 2007

sound quality: VG+ to Ex-

VERY SPECIAL THANKS to Michael Slawter for generously sharing these with the blog! NOW GO CHECK OUT THE MAN'S OFFICIAL RELEASES (see next post).

SAMPLE: "The Harbour Song" (outtake)

full artwork included in download

01 What She Wants

02 The Harbour Song

03 Before You Left

04 The Passion of the Stars

05 I Believe

06 Astronaut

07 Girl Automatic (live)

08 The Things That Make You Strange (live)

09 I Belong to the Jetset World 
     (live)

10 What She Wants (live)

11 Ever Fallen In Love 
      (live - Buzzcocks cover)

12 Any Other Way (Posies cover)

13 Beth (Kiss cover)

MP3@192kbps

Michael (left) and the late, great Saving Graces

 
REPERCUSSION: Michael was the instigator/compiler/co-producer of the fabulous Let's  Active tribute album, Every Word (which you already own, right?).



Notes from Michael Slawter about these tracks:

01 What She Wants (outtake) - Recorded for Outside Guiding Lights (by The Saving Graces). It wasn't completed because it was decided it was too heavy for the record. I finished it in my home studio. This eventually ended up being recorded by Slawterhaus 5.

02 The Harbour Song (outtake) - Recorded for An Assassination of Someone You Knew, but left off because it just didn't fit. No one liked the telephone except me. The guitar solo is Jerry Chapman.

03 Before You Left (Solid State EP) - I always liked this version. Jamie Hoover changed the bass line and I re-recorded the riff on 12-string for the Assassination version. Real drums were added as well.

04 The Passion of the Stars (Solid State EP) - This demo sounds more powerful than the final. Funny that. We used almost all of this on the final, just added real drums.

05 I Believe (Pulltoy "produced" version) - This was Chris Myers - Bass, Myself - Guitar and Rich Rothermel - Drums. What I refer to as my first real Power Pop song. We'd done a live rehearsal release for mp3.com and the engineer David Roland wanted to re-record a few songs. We brought in Jerry Chapman (Two Pound Planet) to produce. Pulltoy was the band that became Neidermeyer. Rich Rothermel mysteriously passed away not long after this recording. Chris and I got together with Art Gormley (guitar) and Scot Mejan (drums) to just goof around to celebrate Rich and the band was formed. The FOR THOSE ABOUT TO POP (Neidermeyer) album is dedicated to Rich.

06 Astronaut (Pulltoy "produced" version) - Another song from this session. You can hear Rich singing the high part on "President". Jerry and Chris are singing the other background parts and Jerry played tambourine I believe. I made two failed attempts at re-recording this song. This one always leaves a lump in my throat.

TRACKS 07-11 INFO: The Saving Graces live set, The Garage, Winston-Salem, N.C. Feb. 1, 2003 (The Saving Graces opening for The Shazam). Michael Slawter - Guitar, Vocals, Drew Jenkins - Bass, Jay Manley - Guitar, and John Holoman - Drums. (Engineered by Robert Kirk for Treehouse Mobile.)

07 Girl Automatic (live) - Probably the best live version of this song. We always had a problem getting it right live. The crowd response at the end was little jarring. I was not expecting that.

08 The Things That Make You Strange (live) - My attempt at a Nuggets-style 60's rave up.

09 I Belong to the Jetset World (live) - A song that would eventually end up on Outside Guiding Lights. This lineup would play steady for over a year then record live at Jamie Hoover's studio for OGL.

10 What She Wants (live) - This was always our closer. This eventually ended up being recorded by Slawterhaus 5. Sorry about the F-bomb. I was just very excited.

11 Ever Fallen In Love (live) - I've always been a huge Buzzcocks fan, though Magazine has had a more lasting effect.

12 Any Other Way (Posies cover) - Recorded for The Posies tribute but was not chosen?!?! John Holoman - Drums, Myself - Everything Else.

13 Beth (Kiss cover) - Recorded for the About A Girl tribute. Ended up on a bonus CD. Always the bridesmaid. This is myself and Jamie Hoover. All the strings are from a Proteus II (which is what Andy Partridge used on the Apple Venus record). I tried to contact Peter Criss and Gene Simmons. I didn't hear back from either of them.
 

Michael Slawter (et al) - Music Guide

A dB’s Repercussion Blog Guide

to the music of MICHAEL SLAWTER

Do they give every young kid in
Winston-Salem a guitar?!?

Michael was a prince to provide an extensive rarities collection for me to share here at the blog (see previous post). I want to return the favor — but also do you a favor if you don’t know the music he’s made as a solo artist and in collaboration with The Saving Graces and Slawterhaus 5.

Michael grew up in Winston-Salem, N.C. admiring The dB’s and Mitch Easter, absorbing their music and, later, applying what he learned while making his own. The two Saving Graces collections are superior alt-pop, and Michael’s first solo release, An Assassination of Someone You Knew (co-produced by Michael & Jamie Hoover of The Spongetones) is a waiting-to-be-discovered treasure.

Give the samples a listen,
use the links
and GO GET SOME GREAT MUSIC

The Saving Graces – These Stars Are For You EP (2002)
SAMPLE: "Hollywood Sunshine"

Amazon         eMusic         CDBaby (avail. in lossless at CDBaby)

The Saving Graces – Outside Guiding Lights (2004) 
SAMPLE: "Faster Than the Speed of Life"

iTunes         Amazon         eMusic         CDBaby (avail. in lossless at CDBaby)

 

Michael Slawter – An Assassination of Someone You Knew (2007) 

SAMPLE: "My Marion"

eMusic

 

Michael Slawter - Small Victories (best-of comp, 2011) 
SAMPLE: "Rare Violet"

iTunes         Amazon         eMusic         CDBaby (avail. in lossless at CDB)

Slawterhaus 5 – Slawterhaus 5 (2012) 

SAMPLE: "Giving Up the Ghost"

Bandcamp

  

Michael Slawter – Mick In ’69 EP (2013) 

SAMPLE: "Mick In '69"

Bandcamp

   

  
 
...and the oldest of the bunch,  Michael's first band to release an album:

 

Neidermeyer – For Those About to Pop (2001) 
SAMPLE: "(In a) Modern Day"

iTunes         eMusic         CDBaby (avail. in lossless at CDBaby)