Pylon - Danceteria, NYC 1982

LOSSLESS REPOST

Danceteria

New York City  

April 10, 1982

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

Pylon: early eighties indie rock heroes

DISC 1 (first set)

1.  intro

2.  Crazy

3.  Working Is No Problem

4.  Read a Book

5.  Cool

6.  Gravity

7.  Altitude

8.  Italian Movie Theme

9.  Reptiles

10. Beep (early version)

11. Stop It

12. Volume

13. encore applause

14. M-Train (brief cut repaired at 2:33)

DISC 2 (second set)

1.  Crazy

2.  3x3

3.  Gravity

4.  Dub

5.  Cool

6.  Danger

7.  Weather Radio

8.  No Clocks

9.  Stop It

10. Beep

11. Volume

12. encore applause

13. M-Train

14. Feast on My Heart (brief cut repaired at 2:41)

15. encore applause

16. Driving School

17. outro

REPERCUSSION: Chris and Gene produced Chomp, Pylon’s second (and some say best) album, most of which was recorded at Mitch Easter’s Drive-In Studio. Have a listen to this show and hear why R.E.M. covered the Pylon song "Crazy" and R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry told Rolling Stone that Pylon (not R.E.M.) were “the best band in America.” Propulsive rhythms that you can dance to, jagged-but-hooky guitar riffs, yelping/growling vocals — how bizarre-cool can you get?? 

BIG OL’ THANKS to the taper and dclubok for sharing!

Someone at the torrent tracker had these comments about some of the tracks:

Set 1: Track 10 - Beep (from Chomp, but the lyrics seem a bit different, perhaps these were just working lyrics prior to completing the lyrics that ended up on the album)

Set 2: Track 2 - 3x3 (unreleased as far as I know, only performed live)

Set 2: Track 16 - Driving School (from Gyrate, was on original pressings, later pressings [as well as European pressings] used "Recent Title" instead)
               
FLAC

  
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Pylon:

Randall Bewley (R.I.P.) - guitar

Michael Lachowski - bass

Curtis Crowe - drums

Vanessa Briscoe – vocals

MORE REPERCUSSION: Here's Vanessa Briscoe Hay (Pylon vocalist), describing the recording of the band's second album, Chomp (produced by Chris Stamey and Gene Holder) to music writer Fred Mills in 2007:
   

"Working with Chris and Gene, they both had such different personalities and they really complemented each other. Chris was playing around with things, stuff we hadn't thought of, like noisegating the drums; he just thought outside the box, and he didn't look at anything like it was a problem, but more like, ‘Well, if this isn't going to work, what else can we do?'" 

Learn more about the music of Pylon

• at AllMusic
• Vanessa Briscoe Hay's personal recollections
• these fan pages
• buy the amazing new 4-disc Pylon box set from New West Records HERE (single-disc remastered albums also available)

 

Pylon - Athens, GA + Columbia, S.C. 1981

LOSSLESS REPOST

Tyrone's O.C.
Athens, GA
March 15, 1981

soundboard recording (quality VG++; sounds like a master tape source; unlike other boots, this recording responds well to treble adjustment)

01 Driving School (fades in)
02 Information
03 Efficiency
04 Italian Movie Theme
05 Precaution

06 Working Is No Problem
07 Modern Day Fashion Woman 
08 Read a Book
09 The Human body
10 Recent Title*
11 Gravity
12 Cool
13 Weather Radio 
14 Reptile
15 Danger
16 Dub
17 Volume
18 No Clocks

19 Stop It

20 Feast On My Heart

21 3 x 3

22 Batman/Wipeout Medley (fades out)

*set two begins with track 10

TT: 1 hr. 15 mins.

 

Pylon: live 1981
fab photo by Jay Thomas

Von Henmon's

Columbia, S.C.
Summer 1981

audience recording (sound quality VG+; 2ng-gen tape source; quite listenable show [this was said to be a soundboard, but it can't be b/c crowd is as loud as the band])

01 Cool (fades in)
02 Crazy
03 Weather Radio 
04 Danger
05 3X301 Driving School (fades in)

02 Information
03 Efficiency
04 Italian Movie Theme
05 Precaution

06 Working Is No Problem
07 Modern Day Fashion Woman 
08 Read a Book
09 The Human body
10 Recent Title*
11 Gravity
12 Cool
13 Weather Radio 
14 Reptile
15 Danger
16 Dub
17 Volume
18 No Clocks
19 Stop It
20 Feast On My Heart 
21 3X3
22 Batman/Wipeout Medley (fades out)

*set two begins with track 10

TT: 1 hr. 15 mins.

Pylon at Little Kings, 2007.
Cool photos by Mike White via Flickr

06 No Clocks
07 Stop It
08 Driving School 
09 Gravity
10 Read a Book 
11 Precaution 
12 Crazy (repeated) 
13 Reptile 
14 Dub 
15 Volume 
16 Feast On My Heart 
17 M-Train 
18 Cool

TT: 1 hr. 2 mins. 

Pylon:
Randall Bewley (R.I.P.) - guitar 
Michael Lachowski - bass
Curtis Crowe - drums
Vanessa Briscoe Hay - vocals
   
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The dB's - CMJ Music Awards 1984 (sbd)

Studio 54
New York, N.Y.
Nov. 9, 1984

soundboard recording (quality: VG+, video source) 

The dB's - newly-posted pro-shot video from 1984

01 Neverland (fades in)

02 Love Is for Lovers

03 She Got Soul

04 Amplifier

05 Big Brown Eyes

06 White Train

07 Suspicious Minds

08 New Gun In Town

09 Black & White

The dB’s:

Peter Holsapple - vocals, rhythm guitar, mandolin 

Gene Holder - lead guitar

Will Rigby - drums, vocals

Rick Wagner - bass, vocals

WATCH THE COMPLETE SET HERE.

ROB SEZ: Ya never know when something featuring our heroes might turn up. I don't know anything about the person who posted this, but here's my guess: he was doing some pandemic cleaning, found this, and recently decided to post it. I don't know of any other pro-shot video footage in circulation that features a full set by The dB's. Consider this a very rare treat. HUGE THANKS to seeamanaboutahorse for sharing. The audio rip turned out pretty well, I think, after a bit of post-production work. Comments are welcome (hint)!

FLAC lossless capture, lossy source

MP3@320

Silver Jews - WFMU Live Session 2008 (complete)

WFMU Live Session 
Benjamin Walker Show
East Orange, N.J.
Sept. 7, 2008 (broadcast Sept. 8) 

complete live session, including David Berman interview

webstream recording (sound quality: VG+)

Silver Jews - onstage, 2008

01 DJ intro

02 What Is Not But Could Be If

03 Trains Across the Sea

04 Smith and Jones Forever

05 Tennessee

06 David berman chats with the DJ 

07 San Francisco B.C.

08 How to Rent a Room

09 Random Rules

10 Sometimes a Pony Gets Depressed

11 David Berman again chats with the DJ

12 Suffering Jukebox

13 Horseleg Swastikas

14 David Berman chats (for a third time!) 

     with the DJ

15 Party Barge

16 DJ outro

ROB SEZ: I’d heard about Silver Jews and even sampled their music some time ago, when founder-leader David Berman still walked the earth. The band's music and I didn't gee haw at the time, I guess, 'cuz I left 'em to their own devices. Fast forward a decade or so: a deadly worldwide pandemic must've put me on Berman’s musical wavelength. Even if you’re not typically a fan of sardonic, laconic indie music with a folk-country flavor, you might still enjoy this. There’s a reason AllMusic & others give Silver Jews very high ratings. Huge thanks to Benjamin Walker and the WFMU crew for recording and sharing this.

FLAC lossless capture, lossy source

MP3@320

Learn more about the music of Silver Jews at

AllMusic and Wikipedia

      

B-52's - Edenhall, Amsterdam, 1980

LOSSLESS REPOST

Edenhall

Amsterdam

The Netherlands

Nov. 11, 1980

The B-52's were on their first headlining tour in 1980 when this was recorded

audience recording (sound quality range: VG to VG+; quite a solid recording; sounds like Hans used raised mics because the crowd noise is more subdued than with most audies)
 

MUCHAS GRACIAS to Hans de Vente for recording and sharing

01 Lava

The B-52's deserve the title "ultimate party band"

02 Give Me Back 

     My Man

03 6060-842

04 Devil In My Car

05 Fifty-Two Girls

06 Quiche Lorraine

07 Dirty Back Road

08 Private Idaho

09 Strobe Light

10 Runnin’ Around

11 Rock Lobster

12 Dance This 

     Mess Around

13 Planet Claire

14 Party Out of Bounds

TT: 54:47 mins.

WAV lossless files

MP3@320

Quite groovy graphic by Fritz Bol

The B-52’s:

Kate Pierson

Fred Schneider

Keith Strickland

Cindy Wilson

Ricky Wilson (R.I.P.)

 Learn more about the music of The B-52's at Wikipedia or the band's official site

Kiwi Jr. - Live 2017 + Tasty Extras

Horseshoe Tavern

Toronto, Ontario, Canada 
July 2017 (exact date unknown)

audience recording (sound quality: VG)

opening set in front of headliners

"tasty extra" tracks as noted below

SAMPLE VIDEO TRACK: "Gimme More" (live 2019)

     (audio for this track is included in the download)

01 Won't Do That Again*

02 Murder In the Cathedral

03 Football Money

04 Gimme More

05 Salary Man

06 She Waits*

07 Wicked Witches

08 Leslie

09 It Can’t Be Me*

10 Nothing Really Changes

*NOTE: titles 1, 6 & 9 are guesses, based on song lyrics

- Gimme More (sbd - live in Montreal 2019-09-26)

- Salary Man (sbd - live in Montreal 2019-09-26)

- Tugboat (Galaxie 500 cover)

ROB SEZ: Ready for a talented-as-heck rock/pop band with catchy tunes and a humorous bent? Look no further than Toronto's Kiwi Jr. Check the sample video, and you'll see what the buzz is about. Fans of The dB's and Let's Active are unlikely to be disappointed. HUGE THANKS to Ethan H. for recording & sharing the 2017 live set, to Lost Opus for recording & sharing the 2019 live tracks, and to Kiwi Jr. for sharing the G500 cover.

FLAC (lossless captures of lossy sources)

MP3@320

Learn more about Kiwi Jr. 

at the band's FB page, Sub Pop, or AllMusic

Veronica Falls - London 2011

Rough Trade East 
London, UK
Oct. 20, 2011

audience recording (sound quality: VG)

01 The Box

02 Stephen

03 Found Love In a Graveyard 

04 Bad Feeling

05 Buried Alive

06 The Fountain

07 Beachy Head

08 Starry Eyes

09 Come On Over

ROB SEZ: A short, but solid set from the late, great Veronica Falls. The group came & went like a blazing comet that leaves witnesses wondering, "Did we really experience that?" Attentive readers know I'm a huge fan of this band, but if you missed the comet, you can still enjoy the bright trail of stardust it left in its wake. I didn't catch the names of the taper & sharer, but I am indebted to them for this. I thought the original files as received needed some work, so I raised the levels and added one pass of compression and eq to bring out the best in the recording. Please enjoy.

My prior Veronica Falls post, with a double dose of goodies, is HERE

FLAC

MP3@320

     

Blue Aeroplanes - Convent, London, UK 2016 (sbd)

The Convent
London, UK
April 29, 2016

soundboard recording (quality: Ex-)

00 intro & band entrance

01 …And Stones

02 Dead Tree! Dead Tree!

03 Elvis Festival

04 Police (38 Divinity)

05 Go Along With Me On This One 

06 Jacket Hangs

07 Oak‐Apple Day

08 Gunning the Works

09 Cardboard Box

10 Skin

11 riffing & tuning

12 My Hurricane

13 Jack Leaves - Back Spring

14 Sulphur

15 Yr Own World

16 Fun

17 band intros

18 Breakin' In My Heart (T. Verlaine)

Blue Aeroplanes: still making great music; still cool

  

Gerard Langley: the Jack Nicholson
of 1980s & 90s Indie Music? Discuss.

ROB SEZ: Yes, I'm still posting new material when I get the time & inspiration. Like many (I suppose), I'd nearly forgotten about the mighty Blue Aeroplanes when a blog reader commented on this recording. HUGE THANKS to Gramophone Armageddon for sharing and to blureu for pointing me to this well-performed treasure. I threw together the cover image, using a gig poster I found online. (Original source was lossy, so no FLAC set this time around.) Please enjoy.

MP3@320