Mutton Birds - Auckland, NZ 2012 (webstream)

King's Arms Tavern 

Auckland, New Zealand

Feb. 2012
(exact date unknown)

webstream capture (sound quality: Ex-)

01 Envy of Angels

Don & Co. played here in 2012, but the pub closed in 2018

  

02 Dominion Road

  

03 Ngaire

  

04 A Thing Well Made

  

05 Too Close to the Sun 

  

06 band intros

  

07 Queen's English

  

08 Nature (audience participation)

  

09 Anchor Me

ROB SEZ: There was ZERO response to the very cool Mutton Birds post I shared recently. What's a dedicated blogger to do? POST MORE of the same ... until there's a comment one way or the other, of course. Here’s a great hometown show from the band's very brief reunion tour in 2012. Radio New Zealand recorded and shared part of the show, for which I am grateful. I'm especially grateful RNZ did such a quality job with the recording & mixing. This sounds amazing for a webstream capture ... if I do say so myself. Please enjoy.

The Mutton Birds:

Don McGlashan – vocals, guitar, euphonium  
Alan Gregg – bass, vocals 

David Long - guitar

Ross Burge - drums 

FLAC

MP3@320

Mutton Birds - Manchester, UK 1999 (sbd)

Band On the Wall pub 
Manchester, UK
Feb. 14, 1999
  
soundboard recording (quality: Ex-; source: CD rip)
      

  

ROB SEZ: Here's an "authorized bootleg" that was available exclusively from the band for a few years. AllMusic says it's a 4-star album. It's very hard to come by these days, and I thought 20 years would be a long enough wait before sharing it. I had some minor flooding in my music storage area recently, and salvaged the CD from the mess, which explains the odd stainage visible on the rear of the cardboard sleeve. My ears thought Sam Gibson's original mix had Don McGlashan's voice too low, so I added compression (one pass) to raise the volume of the vocals. Devoted Mutton Birds fans probably have this one already, but here it is for everyone else. (There's also a mystery bonus share hiding in plain sight.) Cheers & enjoy.

FLAC

MP3@320

The Mutton Birds - 2012 Radio Sessions

Wellington, NZ & London, UK

Radio Sessions

January & October 2012

FM recordings (sound quality Ex-; excellent FM captures with only a handful of very minor glitches)

BIG KIWI THANKS to Spence and his collaborators at areligionofakind.co.uk for sharing these (and a lot of other great stuff for fans of Mutton Birds, et al). Check out Spence's site if you like what you hear.
 

ROB SEZ: The Mutton Birds are one of the all-time great, but nearly unknown, alt-pop groups on the face of the planet. In fact, I’ll make a second bold claim: if you like even a few of the artists featured at this blog, chances are very good you will be delighted to discover The Mutton Birds. The New Zealand-based group made a courageous go of it in the 1990s before disbanding in 2002. Fans like me were thrilled to hear they recently reformed to play some live shows and issue a great live album (Free Range, released in 2012).

On a recent long car ride filled with Mutton Birds listening, my teenage daughter said to me (as we puzzled over the group’s relative lack of success), “It must’ve been their name, Dad, ‘cuz their music is amazing.”

01 Dominion Road

02 Anchor Me

03 While You Sleep

04 Dominion Road

05 While You Sleep

06 A Thing Well Made

07 Envy of Angels

08 Friday I'm In Love (Cure cover)

Tracks 1-3 = New Zealand National Radio, 2012-01-27

Tracks 4-6, BBC 6Music, Gideon Coe, 2012-10-25

Tracks 7-8 = BBC Radio 2, Dermot O'Leary, 2012-10-27
  

The Mutton Birds:

Alan Gregg – bass, vocals 

David Long - guitar

Ross Burge - drums 

Don McGlashan – vocals, guitar, euphonium 

MP3@192

(new link - 2017)

Explore the music of The Mutton Birds 

at AllMusic