Rob's Pages

Friday, August 26

Tall Dwarfs - Live in N.Z. 1994 & 1996 (aud)

Bar Bodega 
Wellington, N.Z.
June 10, 1994

audience recording (sound quality: VG-)

01 Another String Change Song
Tall Dwarfs were Chris Knox (left) & Alec Bathgate
02 Road and Hedgehog
03 banter - There's No PA UC
04 And Other Kinds
05 banter - You Look Like Madonna
06 Luck or Loveliness
07 banter - We Sold 12 Copies 
08 Feedback Mayhem
09 Entropy
10 banter - Choosing a Song
11 Mr. Brocolli
12 Walking Home
13 banter - More Beer
14 Paul's Place
15 banter - tuning
16 Highrise
17 When Poets Start to Read...
18 Nothing's Going to Happen
19 The Slide
20 Chris Knox Tests the Reverb 
21 Wings
22 Life Is Strange
23 banter (tape runs out)

ROB SEZ: I overlooked Tall Dwarfs last year when I ran my multi-month New Zealand bands series — probably because TD occupies the more "willfully obscure" end of the pop-rock spectrum compared to the groups I normally prefer. That said, the involvement of NZ legend / TD co-founder Chris Knox makes this a combo worth knowing about. The recent release of the excellent Tall Dwarfs comp Unravelled: 1981–2002 by Merge Records prompted me to revisit my original assessment and check my archive for anything I could post here. These two recordings are courtesy of Cyrus, who shared them a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, neither one represents a complete performance, but you get most of both. After giving TD's music another listen recently, I didn't exactly change my mind. But I did decide I needed to buy Unravelled as well as TD's 3EPs to add to my collection. And you? Maybe Tall Dwarfs will be your favorite new band...
 
Find additional live & rare tracks by Tall Dwarfs 
and lots of other Flying Nun artists HERE

Bar Bodega 
Wellington, N.Z.
Aug. 28, 1996

audience recording (sound quality: VG-) 

01 end of unknown song (cuts in)
02 banter - haven't played together for quite some time
03 Clover
04 Pretty Poison
05 Broken String Hollowness (with ad-libbed lyrics)
06 banter - improvisation, etc.
07 Life Is Strange
08 intro to 09
09 The Brain That Wouldn't Die
10 Paul's Place
11 intro to 12
12 Crush
13 applause, tuning
14 Nothing's Going to Happen
15 chat - Chris Knox & Alec Bathgate with bar owner 


Your next essential purchase?
The new Tall Dwarfs compilation,
Unravelled: 1981-2002 is out now on Merge
& available in LP, CD & digital formats



Friday, August 19

Outrageous Cherry - Live On WFMU 2005 + 2009

Live Session
WFMU Radio 
Jersey City, N.J.
April 3, 2005

webstream captures
(sound quality: VG+)

01 Girl, You Have the Magic
     Inside You
02 You're Not a Nice Girl
03 Pretty Girls Go Insane
04 Unless
05 The Unseen Devourers
06 Young & Miserable
07 Our Love Will Change 
     the World 
08 Astral Transit Authority
09 chat with DJ Joe Belock

Outrageous Cherry (2005):
Matthew Smith - lead vocals, guitar
Larry Ray (R.I.P.) - guitar
Cary Gustafson - drums, vocals
Courtney Sheedy - bass, vocals

ROB SEZ: Outrageous Cherry — great name, right? "Outrageous" because I hadn't heard of this combo until recently, which should be a musical crime of some variety. If you like your pop mixed with a healthy dose of garage, indie rock, and occasional psychedelica, you need to know about Outrageous Cherry, the Detroit band led by musician and producer Matt Smith. Like so many other bands featured here, O.C. has toiled in the vineyards of oblivion for many years, making great music, only to be heard by Detroit-area scenesters and other cognoscenti. Now, it's your turn. (Their recorded output is even better than these live recordings, as enjoyable as they are...)

Live Session
WFMU Radio
Jersey City, N.J. 
Sept. 1, 2009

01 Illuminated Council 

02 I Recognized Her  

03 Get Out While You Can  

04 Stay Happy  

05 Anymore 

06 It's Not Rock & Roll and I Don't Like It  

07 Unless  

08 New Creature  

09 Horizon 

10 a chat with DJ Evan “Funk” Davies

Outrageous Cherry (2009):

Matthew Smith - vocals/guitar/piano

Larry Ray (R.I.P.) - guitar

Sean Ellwood - bass/vocals

Samantha Linn - drums/vocals 


FLAC lossless capture, lossy source


MP3@320

  

Friday, August 5

El vis Cos tello - 'My Aim Is True' 45th Anniv. Celebration (Demos + Live)

EC & Flip City
Nearly Complete Demos
1974-1975

rec. Maida Vale Studios, London
and Hope & Anchor Studios, Islington

soundboard recordings (sound quality: VG+)

01 Exiles Road (1)
02 Baseball Heroes
03 Radio Soul (1)
04 Third Rate Romance (1) 
05 Living In Paradise
06 Radio Soul (2)
07 Radio Soul (3)
08 Pay It Back
09 Imagination Is a Powerful Deceiver (1)
xx Imagination Is a P-ful Deceiver (2)*
11 Imagination Is a Powerful Deceiver (3)
12 Third Rate Romance (2)
13 Knockin' On Heaven's Door
14 I'm Packing Up (1)
15 I'm Packing Up (2)
16 (Please Mister) Don't Stop the Band
17 Exiles Road (2)
18. Wreck On the Slide
19 On the Road
20 You Win Again
21 Sweet Revival

*Track 10 Imagination Is A Powerful Deceiver (2) was officially released in 2001 as Track 7, Disc 2 on the Rhino Records 2-CD reissue of My Aim Is True, which explain why it is absent here.

Flip City:
Declan P. MacManus - guitar, lead vocals  |  Mich Kent - bass, vocals
Steve Hazelhurst - guitar, vocals, keyboards, sax  |  Malcolm Dennis - drums (early session only)
Ian Powling - drums (last sessions)  |  Dickie Faulkner - percussion, vocals (last sessions)

ROB SEZ: I can't let the 45th anniversary of the seminal debut album pass without proper recognition. Before EC & The Attractions, and before EC & Clover, there was Flip City. This is the "pre-professional" band with whom Elvis learned how to sing, write songs, and perform live. It was during this time he also worked his day job as a computer operator. In these demos, you can hear EC & company getting it together — with the promise of much more (and better) things to come, just a year or two later. Below is a live, 25th anniversary celebration of the album performed by EC and most of the members of Clover, the band that backed him during the album sessions. The performance is a marvel, considering how many years elapsed between the recoring of the album and this reunion. Big thanks to the Teenage Dogs In Trouble blog for originally sharing the live recording. Please enjoy.

EC & Clover
Great American Music Hall
San Francisco, CA
November 8, 2007

audience recording (sound quality: VG+)

For the 30th anniversary of My Aim Is True, and for a benefit for the child of Austin De Lone, EC and Clover re-created the album they recorded together in 1977. Clover members present were John McFee on guitar and pedal steel, Sean Hopper on keyboards and John Ciambotti on bass. Clover's drummer was unavailable and was replaced by Pete Thomas. Clover's vocalists didn't participate in the 1977 album recording sessions or this concert.

Following the top-to-bottom playing of the My Aim Is True with original arrangements, EC and the rest of the musicians in various combinations played a second set of songs all written before 1977, the declared rule for the evening.

DISC ONE
 
EC & Clover (above), 46 or 47 years ago...
and reunited onstage in S.F., Nov. 2007
1. Introduction
2. Welcome to the Working Week 
3. Miracle Man
4. No Dancing
5. Blame it On Cain
6. Alison
7. Sneaky Feelings
8. (Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes
9. Less Than Zero
10. Mystery Dance
11. Pay it Back
12. I'm Not Angry
13. Waiting for the End of the World
14. Watching the Detectives

DISC TWO
1. Just Like a Jukebox ? (EC solo)
2. Wave a White Flag (EC solo)
3. Blue Minute (EC solo)
4. Jump Up (EC solo) 
5. ? (EC solo)
6. Living in Paradise
7. Stranger In the House
8. (old song with new arrangement)
9. Radio Sweetheart
10. Mr. Moon
11. ?
12. chatter
13. ?
14. (What's So Funny Bout)  Peace, Love and Understanding? (all)