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



5 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. You bet, chuck. Thanks for the thanks.

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  2. Check out their Fork Songs album!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have it, but haven't listened to it. On your recommendation, I will give it a spin...

      Delete
    2. Ya I've listened to most of em and for some reason that one stands out for me and gets the most spins

      Delete

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