A couple of rabid music fans posting stuff from their collection for the world to hear. If you're a band or label that wants your song removed, don't sue us, just e-mail us and we'll take it down. Promise.
Thursday March 18th 2010, 8:41 am
Filed under: Live
Posted by: Kevin
As I’m sure most have heard, legendary singer, songwriter and performer Alex Chilton passed away yesterday. We here at TSOI can’t think of a more fitting tribute than posting an amazing recording of Paul Westerberg. Paul has long been Alex Chilton’s biggest champion. [Be sure to read Paul Westerberg's tribute in the New York Times.] Here Paul is playing “Alex Chilton”, his Replacement song that is a loving tribute to Alex as performed live in New York City back in ‘99 (or was it ‘00).
Alex, you will be missed.
I was fortunate to catch Mr. Chilton as he came through town last year with the reformed Big Star. Here is the TSOI post and recording from that memorable show.
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Wednesday March 17th 2010, 12:01 am
Filed under: Live
Posted by: Avalanche, LEED AP
Jigga-Man played his home town last week with a sold-out show at MSG. Like any good hip-hop show, guest cameos were plentiful with highlights being Akon and a soon to be jail-bound Lil Wayne. In a genre where the biggest stars are the biggest has-beens over the course of a week (Fiddy-who?), Jay-Z has continued to mount a mammoth indestructibility over it all. I am the last person who needs to hype Hova but here is a live take on the supremely killer “99 Problems” from the recent show.
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Monday March 15th 2010, 12:01 am
Filed under: Live, Set
Posted by: Kevin
Dappled Cities
The Echo
Los Angeles, CA
3/14/10
When I was making my best of 2009 lists one thing I mentioned was that I didn’t get to see a live performance from a single band that made my Top 10 releases last year. Topping the list of “wanting to see live bands” was Dappled Cities. I was thrilled when their label Dangerbird let me know that they would be playing a set here in LA on their way to their shows at SXSW.
They played a very short set at the Aussie BBQ gig with 9 other bands yesterday. Their set was plagued with technical difficulties which is to be expected when you get a total of 50 minutes to set up, sound check and play a performance. But they were able to overcome that and tear through 5.25 songs from their latest release “Zounds” (listen to the recording, you’ll understand the .25 “song”).
During a chance meeting on the street after the show, one of the guitarists gave us hope that they may be coming back through for a proper show this summer. In the meantime, catch them at SXSW this week, or at one of their many NYC shows later this month. If you’re not going to find yourself in Austin or Brooklyn this month, we’re putting up a recording of yesterday’s show for you to enjoy.
Setlist:
1. Apart
2. The Night Is Young At Heart
3. Wooden Ships
4. Miniature Alas
5. The Answer Is Zero (incomplete)
6. The Price
Sample:
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Friday March 12th 2010, 12:01 am
Filed under: Live
Posted by: Avalanche, LEED AP
The Magnetic Fields are out-and-about on tour having recently released a new album, Realism. Realism pretty much follows the same trajectory set by 69 Love Songs – short pithy songs recorded with acoustic instrumentation. The Magnetic Fields are the only band that I can think of that has pulled a reverse Dylan – hang up their electric instruments and go entirely acoustic. The first half of MF records had keyboards and drum machines. The recent half of recordings, in contrast, eschew entirely what would pass as drums and are otherwise recorded with very lo-fi instruments: ukulele, zither, cello, etc.
I love 69 Love Songs and i as much as the next guy, but I don’t think I am alone when the pre-release press for Distortion came (“more Jesus and Mary Chain than the The Jesus and Mary Chain“), that a strong hope was kindled that MF were to return to at least Get Lost levels of production and instrumentation – which by any other bands standards, is not a high level. Alas, Distortion was a very small deviation from the current lo-fi direction.
After following The Magnetic Fields for over 10 years now, after hearing Realism, and after seeing a few of the shows supporting the album, I think that The Magnetic Fields could use a shake-up. For the next release, I suggest MF get the ‘Butch Vig’ treatment and replace the ukulele for a double neck key-tar and go ‘huge’. That would be sweet.
Here is a live take from a recent show on a classic Get Lost track.
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Out of the many early-to-mid 90’s Stereolab live videos that have been circulated, this one from Danbury, CT is by far the best quality I’ve seen. I can only think it must have been someone’s school project because it’s a great 2 camera setup with audio from what sounds like the soundboard. I can only guess that it was probably some ambitious student’s class project because equipment to do such “fancy” transitions back then wasn’t exactly cheap to come by.
Monday March 08th 2010, 12:01 am
Filed under: Live, Set
Posted by: Kevin
Phantogram
Bordello Bar
Los Angeles, CA
3/4/10
Phantogram came through Los Angeles last week and I got to catch them at one of my favorite venues, Bordello Bar. I was actually pretty shocked that they packed the club. I mistakenly thought I was one of the few people in-the-know about this band. The lucky 200 or so enthusiastic folks who got in were treated to an amazing performance. Do yourself a favor and catch them on this tour because after seeing their performance, I guarantee they will be playing monster-sized venues in the not too distant future.
Setlist:
1. As Far As I Can See
2. Let Me Go
3. Mouthful of Diamonds
4. Running From The Cops
5. You Are The Ocean
6. Unknown Track
7. Turn It Off
8. When I’m Small
9. All Dried Up
10. Unknown Track
Sample:
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Thursday March 04th 2010, 12:01 am
Filed under: Misc. Stuff
Posted by: Kevin
Next to maybe Kill Rock Stars very first spoken word 7″s, this record by Emily’s Sassy Lime might have been the label’s best kept secret. I absolutely loved their full length “Desperate, Scared, but Social” and got to see them in ‘96 (look in the archives for footage from that show), but I didn’t hear about the “Dippity Do-nut” 7″ that this track is from until years after it was released. And unlike now, I was obsessive about keeping up with new releases. I’m still trying to figure out how this one slipped past me. So check out this title track from this under-rated and certainly under-promoted 7″.
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Monday March 01st 2010, 9:02 am
Filed under: Live, Set
Posted by: Kevin
Jonathan Fire*Eater
Phantasmagoria
Wheaton, MD
8/10/96
If you’re a regular TSOI reader, you will notice there hasn’t been a “Monday Set” posted in quite some time. I have to blame that on AT&T’s general shoddy DSL service here in Southern California, uTorrent on Windows 7 causing me ALL KINDS of connection issues and my general laziness. The combination of the three proved deadly for TSOI. Well, The Monday Set is back today and with what I consider one of the serious gems from my collection.
If you look back in the archive, you will find quite a few references to Jonathan Fire*Eater over the past couple of years and it’s a general consensus that most our writers would consider themselves “super fans” of theirs. What makes the shows from the summer of 1996 special is the addition of two “Unknown Tracks” to their live set. From what I can gather, these two songs must have been contenders to be included on “Wolf Songs For Lambs” but didn’t make the cut. It’s amazing that JF*E’s throwaway tracks are better than what most bands will write in their entire carrier. The unfortunate thing is that this is by far the best sounding recording of these two tracks that I’ve ever come across.
Setlist:
1. This Is My Room
2. Search For Cherry Red
3. Unknown Track
4. These Little Monkeys
5. Unknown Track
6. Give Me Daughters
7. Bipolar Summer
8. When Prince Was A Kid
9. When the Curtain Calls for You
10. Audience
Sample:
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Thursday February 25th 2010, 12:01 am
Filed under: Misc. Stuff
Posted by: Kevin
I don’t know if it’s because I live in Los Angeles and have over time adopted the universal jaded attitude that goes along with living here, but I’m notoriously bad about checking out local bands. When I do go to a show, I try and avoid the opening acts as much as possible. Sometimes that bites me in the ass when I hear the band later, but it’s also helped me dodge a few “bad band” bullets as well. Quite a few actually. So I will go months before hearing a new decent LA band. And then I usually I hear a track or two online and have to make a special trip just to catch a local band. That will be the case when Seaspin plays their Monday night residency at the Silverlake Lounge next month.
I’ve had tracks of theirs sitting in my inbox for months now and still haven’t made it to one of their shows. And every time I hear something else by them, it solidifies my desire to see these guys (actually 3 guys and one girl) live. There’s definitely some heavy Curve influences going on here, but I’m fine with that. In fact, I encourage it. Look for them to lead the pack of the shoegaze revival bands.
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Wednesday February 24th 2010, 12:01 am
Filed under: Live
Posted by: Jbird
Local band We Landed on the Moon! headlined a homecoming show that also featured Elsinore the other night to celebrate the release of their new album “This Will Be One for the Books.” (More on Elsinore a littlelater.) I had been meaning to see WLotM! for a long time now, but somehow always missed them. I’m glad I caught them this time — they’re fun and fast and poppy, and they have a great time on stage together. Singer Melissa Eccles has a remarkable and powerful voice. I can only hope Baton Rouge starts to turn out more bands with this kind of potential. God knows this town needs them.
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As I’m sure most have heard, legendary singer, songwriter and performer Alex Chilton passed away yesterday. We here at TSOI can’t think of a more fitting tribute than posting an amazing recording of Paul Westerberg. Paul has long been Alex Chilton’s biggest champion. [Be sure to read Paul Westerberg's tribute in the New York Times.] Here Paul is playing “Alex Chilton”, his Replacement song that is a loving tribute to Alex as performed live in New York City back in ‘99 (or was it ‘00). 
Jigga-Man played his home town last week with a sold-out show at MSG. Like any good hip-hop show, guest cameos were plentiful with highlights being Akon and a soon to be jail-bound Lil Wayne. In a genre where the biggest stars are the biggest has-beens over the course of a week (Fiddy-who?), Jay-Z has continued to mount a mammoth indestructibility over it all. I am the last person who needs to hype Hova but here is a live take on the supremely killer “99 Problems” from the recent show.
The Magnetic Fields are out-and-about on tour having recently released a new album, Realism. Realism pretty much follows the same trajectory set by 69 Love Songs – short pithy songs recorded with acoustic instrumentation. The Magnetic Fields are the only band that I can think of that has pulled a reverse Dylan – hang up their electric instruments and go entirely acoustic. The first half of MF records had keyboards and drum machines. The recent half of recordings, in contrast, eschew entirely what would pass as drums and are otherwise recorded with very lo-fi instruments: ukulele, zither, cello, etc.
Next to maybe Kill Rock Stars very first spoken word 7″s, this record by Emily’s Sassy Lime might have been the label’s best kept secret. I absolutely loved their full length “Desperate, Scared, but Social” and got to see them in ‘96 (look in the archives for footage from that show), but I didn’t hear about the “Dippity Do-nut” 7″ that this track is from until years after it was released. And unlike now, I was obsessive about keeping up with new releases. I’m still trying to figure out how this one slipped past me. So check out this title track from this under-rated and certainly under-promoted 7″.
I don’t know if it’s because I live in Los Angeles and have over time adopted the universal jaded attitude that goes along with living here, but I’m notoriously bad about checking out local bands. When I do go to a show, I try and avoid the opening acts as much as possible. Sometimes that bites me in the ass when I hear the band later, but it’s also helped me dodge a few “bad band” bullets as well. Quite a few actually. So I will go months before hearing a new decent LA band. And then I usually I hear a track or two online and have to make a special trip just to catch a local band. That will be the case when Seaspin plays their Monday night residency at the Silverlake Lounge next month. 