Beck - Beck Select, Vol. 1: One of These Days (2002)

"Beck Select, Vol. 1: One of These Days" gathers together some of the very best folk and blues recordings from Beck's prodigious catalog, capturing both Beck's unique suburban folk style, sung from the frayed edges of modernity, as well as a number of beautifully rendered covers, creating an essential, albeit unofficial album for the Beck discography.
There's also two more volumes in this bootleg compilation of Beck rarities that I'll maybe post someday soon...

Tracklist: 1. Fourteen Rivers Fourteen Floods (Live), 2. Bogusflow, 3. Stagolee, 4. Drivin' Nails In My Coffin (With Willie Nelson), 5. Untitled (KCRW Sessions), 6. Devil Got My Woman, 7. Goin' Nowhere Fast, 8. Got No Mind, 9. Sin City (With Emmylou Harris), 10. Lampshade, 11. Untitled (KXLU Sessions), 12. Totally Confused, 13. To See That Woman of Mine, 14. Supergolden Sunchild, 15. One of These Days, 16. Go Easy, 17. The World May Loose Its Motion, 18. Got No Home In This World, 19. Lonesome Whistle, 20. No Expectations (Live With Beth Orton), 21. Leave Me On the Moon, 22. Your Cheatin' Heart, 23. Whiskeyfaced, Radioactive, Blowdrying Lady.

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Official Site / Fan Site / Beck @ MySpace / Beck @ Wikipedia

Roky Erickson & The Explosives - Casting the Runes (1987)

A quick follow-up to last nights Roky post: Here's a version of the French bootleg album "Casting the Runes" - re-released as an expanded CD edition with 19 tracks.

Tracklist: 1. The Wind and More, 2. Night of the Vampire, 3. Mine Mine Mind, 4. For You (I'll Do Anything), 5. You're Gonna Miss Me, 6. I Walked With a Zombie, 7. Love How You Love Me, 8. Don't Shake Me Lucifer, 9. Bloody Hammer, 10. Stand For the Fire Demon, 11. Heroin, 12. You're Gonna Miss Me, 13. Wake Up to Rock N' Roll, 14. Gonna Die More, 15. Bo Diddley Is a Headhunter, 16. Cold Night For Alligators, 17. Song For Abe Lincoln, 18. John Lawman, 19. Heroin.
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Roky Erickson & The Explosives - Øyafestivalen, Oslo, Norway 10.08.2007

It's late, so I'll keep it short: This is a bootleg of the amazing Roky Erickson & The Explosives live at Øyafestivalen in Oslo, Norway yesterday - Friday August 10th 2007.

Tracklist: 1. Cold Night For Alligators, 2. White Faces, 3. Don't Shake Me Lucifer, 4. The Interpreter, 5. The Beast, 6. Bermuda, 7. Splash 1, 8. Creature With the Atom Brain, 9. Starry Eyes, 10. Bloody Hammer, 11. Before You Accuse Me, 12. Two Headed Dog, 13. You're Gonna Miss Me, 14. 'Audience', 15. Night of the Vampire, 16. The Wind and More, 17. I Walked With a Zombie.
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Beck - Don't Get Bent Out of Shape (1988)

Here's an early and rare cassette release by Beck from 1988 - can't find any info on it, except for what's written on the cover:
"Songs herein writ and played off Beck's guitar. Thanks to Steve for lending banjo and squeezebox, and to Rev. Mike for hosting the proceedings."

Tracklist: 1. Fume, 2. That Highway Won't Get You to Heaven, 3. Why Can't I Believe In You, 4. Get Yourself Back Home, 5. Ace of Spades, 6. Whiskey Be Your Lover, 7. Hollow Log, 8. In the Eyes of the Lord, 9. Don't Shit Me Mama, 10. You Done Wrong, 11. When the Water Will Take Back the Land, 12. Cut In Half Blues, 13. Run From the World, 14. Poor Misguided Soul, 15. Don't Believe the Joke They Put on You, 16. Don't Get Bent Out of Shape, 17. In This World, 18. Mexico, 19. A Man Named Will.
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Ween - B-Sides, Demos & Rarities, Vol. 1-4 (2005)

"B-Sides, Demos & Rarities, Vol. 1-4" is a great compilation of rare Ween tracks put together by the fans - for the fans.
Includes B-sides, demos and rarities such as television performances, songs from soundtracks or songs Ween did for special occasions.
"B-Sides, Demos & Rarities, Vol. 1-4" consists of 100 tracks from way back when the band started and up to the Quebec-sessions in 2005. Super collection of classics, and a must have for everyone who's into Dean & Gene. Quality: 320 kbps MP3's - converted straight from the original Flac-files.
Ween released the 5-track EP "The Friends" a couple of weeks ago, and their new album - the first with new material since "Quebec" in 2003 - "La Cucaracha" will be out this fall.

B-Sides, Demos & Rarities, Vol. 1: 1. I Smoke Some Grass And Get Really Really High (B-side), 2. Mango Woman (B-side), 3. Puerto Rican Power, Pt.1&2 (B-side), 4. Now I'm Freaking Out (C&C outtake/B-side), 5. There's A Pig (B-side), 6. Vallejo (B-side), 7. Ode To Rene' (B-side), 8. Bakersfield, 9. Skycruiser, 10. Cruise Control, 11. Sweet Texas Fire (Piss Up A Rope B-side), 12. Albino Sunburned Girl (Holland 1990-From Jug Is Quaid Tape), 13. Hippy Smell, 14. I'm Fat, 15. I'm Fat pt.2, 16. Fat Albert, 17. Little Peta, 18. Oblongs (Little Peta diff.mix), 19. Little Peta (drum mix), 20. Koko (demo?), 21. Koko, 22. Silent Night, 23. Mr.Mocha (Pure Guave outtake version), 24. Big Dick Black, 25. Spleen, 26. Motown (with vocals), 27. Main Vein, 28. S'amuse Comme Un Peut, 29. Transitions, 30. Grounded For Life (13 second T.V. version)
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B-Sides, Demos & Rarities, Vol. 2: 31. I Got No Darkside (12 GCG outtake), 32. So Long Jerry (12 GCG outtake), 33. Booze Me Up And Get Me High (Mollusk outtake), 34. I'll Be Your Johnny On The Spot (demo version), 35. Mr Richard Smoker (90 Second TV version-never used), 36. Cornbread Red, 37. Cornbread Red (dub mix), 38. Who Dat?, 39. Shot Heard 'Round The World (Schoolhouse Rocks), 40. Boys Club, 41. I'll Miss You (Beautiful Girls Soundtrack), 42. Eye 2 The Sky (rejected song for 'Muppets In Space'), 43. Love (Orgasmo Soundtrack), 44. Fancy Pants (Crank Yankers version), 45. Greg The Bunny (written for TV show-never used), 46. Homo Rainbow (demo), 47. Homo Rainbow (Chef Aid version), 48. Loop De Loop (Spongebob Squarepants episode), 49. I Can't Put My Finger On It (Conan O'Brien), 50. Freedom Of 76' (120 Minutes Performance-1995), 51. Golden Eel (Viva Variety-1997)), 52. Buckingham Green (Nothing TV-Public Access Television show-1997), 53. She Wanted To Leave (Nothing TV-Public Access Television show-1997), 54. Mutitlated Lips (Oddville-1997), 55. Exactly Where I'm At (Letterman-2000), 56. Making Love In The Gravy (Electro Harmonix Micro Synth Demo), 57. Dual (Electro Harmonix Micro Synth Demo)
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B-Sides, Demos & Rarities, Vol. 3: 58. Beacon Light (X-Files Soundtrack), 59. Stallion Pt.4 (C&C Outtake), 60. Did You See Me? (Mollusk Outtake), 61. I Still Love You (Done for Mickey and Aaron's Insurance Salesman), 62. Junky Boy (Pandy Fackler Tape), 63. No More Tears (Pandy Fackler Tape), 64. Numb To The Lung (Pandy Fackler Tape), 65. Nicole Pt.4 (Pandy Fackler Tape), 66. Purple Haze (Deaner Does Jimi Tape), 67. The Wind Cries Mary (Deaner Does Jimi Tape), 68. Bold As Love (Deaner Does Jimi Tape), 69. Little Wing (Deaner Does Jimi Tape), 70. Kansas City Star, 71. Love Will Conquer All, 72. Chairman Of My Destiny, 73. Unknown Title (demo), 74. Baboon Pt.2, 75. Time To Yourself, 76. Surfeited, 77. Little Miss Mandee, 78. Happy Colored Marbles (Carson Daly Show-2003)
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B-Sides, Demos & Rarities, Vol. 4: 79. Square Wave Jam (Electro Harmonix Micro Synth Demo), 80. Touch My Tooter (KCRW Radioshow-Morning Becomes Eclectic), 81. Buenos Tardes Amigo (demo), 82. Flutes Of The Chi (Mollusk Outtake/Reject version), 83. Ocean Man (demo version), 84. Mickey (Pigface-Deaner & Andrew), 85. Cold-Mickey pt.2 (Pigface-Deaner & Andrew), 86. Hello Johnny (White Pepper Demo), 87. I'll Wait (Mollusk Outtake/Demo), 86. She'll Just Get You (White Pepper Demo), 89. Fool To Cry (Rolling Stones Cover), 90. Argus (Not Quebec version-completely diff.song), 91. Even If You Don't (demo), 92. Where'd The Cheese Go? (Pizza Hut Commercial rejected song), 93. Where'd The Motherfucking Cheese Go At? (reworked Pizza Hut jingle), 94. Champagne Jam (Run Ronnie Run Soundtrack), 95. Transdermal Celebration (Quebec rehearsals), 96. Ooh Va La (Quebec rehearsals), 97. Tried And True (Quebec rehearsals), 98. Alcan Road (Quebec rehearsals), 99. Ooh Va La (Quebec outtake/B-side), 100. Mountains And Buffalos (Quebec outtake/B-side)
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Brand new Rock Band preview & interview!

The Loudness War

The phrase loudness war (or loudness race) refers to the music industry's tendency to record, produce and broadcast music at progressively increasing levels of loudness to create a sound that stands out from others. This phenomenon can be observed in many areas of the music industry, particularly broadcasting and albums released on CD and DVD. In the case of CDs, the war stems from a desire to create CDs that sound as loud as possible or louder than CDs from competing artists or recording labels.
However, as the maximum amplitude of a CD cannot be increased, the overall loudness can only be increased by reducing the dynamic range and distorting or clipping the waveform of the recording.
Initially, a loudness war started between FM stations competing for listener ratings. Subsequently, record labels began increasing the loudness of their releases, both on vinyl and on CD, resulting in a volume "arms race". The main reason for this practice is that when comparing two recordings with different levels, it is likely that the louder one will be regarded as sounding better. This can be attributed to the way in which the human ear responds to sound pressure at different levels: as our ability to respond to sound frequencies change according to differences in sound pressure level (SPL), the more the SPL increases, the greater the amount of low and high frequency content we perceive. Music with higher levels is easily heard and understood in noisy environments such as: riding a car, a train, or walking on a busy city street. Higher levels can also result in subjectively better sounding recordings on low quality reproduction systems such as: web audio formats, AM radio, mono television and telephones. Compounding this loudness problem is the fact that artists are more inclined to request that their mastered CDs match the loudness level of top contemporary CDs.
Apart from audiophiles and hi-fi enthusiasts, this practice has been condemned by several recording industry professionals including Grammy Award-winning mastering engineer Doug Sax, engineer Geoff Emerick (noted for his work with The Beatles from Revolver to Abbey Road), and many others. Even Bob Dylan has condemned the practice, saying "You listen to these modern records, they’re atrocious, they have sound all over them. There’s no definition of nothing, no vocal, no nothing, just like – static."
If a CD is broadcast by a radio station, the station will apply its own signal processing, which further reduces the dynamic range of the broadcast material to closely match levels of absolute amplitude, regardless of the original record loudness.
Opponents have also called for immediate changes in the music industry regarding the level of loudness. In August 2006, the vice-president of A&R for One Haven Music, a Sony Music company, in an open letter decrying the "loudness wars" claimed that mastering engineers are being forced against their will or are preemptively making releases louder in order to get the attention of industry heads. Some music bands are being petitioned to re-release CDs with less distortion. This may indicate a general public discontent to this practice, and a call to put an end to the "Loudness War".
Source: Wikipedia

More on the subject:
What Happened to Dynamic Range?
Dynamics & Dynamic Range
Everything Louder Than Everything Else
How CDs Are Remastering the Art of Noise
The Loudness War
Loudness

X - Los Angeles (1980/2001)

X is a noted punk rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1977. While they achieved only limited mainstream success, they were widely considered one of the most accessible and tuneful of Los Angeles' many punk bands. Their landmark 1980 record Los Angeles resonated so loudly with the artisans of the city it is named after, that the band received an Official Certificate of Recognition from the City of Los Angeles in acknowledgment of their important contributions to Los Angeles music and culture. They were hugely influential on various genres of music, including punk, hardcore, and folk.
Original members were Exene Cervenka (born Christine Cervenka, vocals), John Doe (born John Duchac, bass and vocals), Billy Zoom (born Tyson Kindell, guitar) and DJ Bonebrake (born Donald J. Bonebrake, drums). After Zoom retired from the band, Tony Gilkyson replaced him on guitar. Zoom reunited with X in 1998. The original line-up now tours sporadically.
Their albums had a hard-driving sound that occasionally flirted with country and blues; one critic suggests that X "were not just one of the greatest punk bands, but one of the greatest live rock acts of all time."
In many ways — from songwriting to performances — X were arguably a bit more sophisticated and diverse than many of their punk peers (except Cervenka, all band members had previous musical experience before forming X.) One critic writes that X were "too self-conscious, artsy and ambitious to simply spew" in typical punk fashion.
X's first record deal was with pioneering indepedent label Dangerhouse, for which the band produced two singles, "Los Angeles" and "Adult Books." The Dangerhouse session version of "Los Angeles" was also featured in a Dangerhouse compilation called "Yes LA", a picture disc that featured other early-punk era LA bands like the Weirdos and Black Randy. As the band became the flag bearer for the local scene, a larger independent label, Slash, signed the band to issue its first LP.
The result was their first LP release, the appropriately titled Los Angeles (1980) (produced by The Doors' keyboard player, Ray Manzarek), was a minor hit and well received by the underground press and mainstream media. Much of X's early material had a rockabilly edge. Doe and Cervenka co-wrote most of the group's songs, and their slightly off-kilter harmony vocals remain perhaps the group's most distinctive element. Their lyrics tended to be straight-out poetry, and comparisons to Charles Bukowski and Raymond Chandler were made from the start.
Source: Wikipedia

This is the remastered version released in 2001 - includes some cool demos and alternative versions.

Tracks: 1. Your Phone's Off the Hook, But You're Not, 2. Johnny Hit and Run Paulene, 3. Soul Kitchen, 4. Nausea, 5. Sugarlight, 6. Los Angeles, 7. Sex and Dying In High Society, 8. The Unheard Music, 9. The World's a Mess; It's In My Kiss, 10. I'm Coming Over (Demo), 11. Adult Books (Demo), 12. Delta 88 (Demo), 13. Cyrano De Berger's Back (Rehearsal), 14. Los Angeles (Dangerhouse Version).
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Rock Band: E3 Stage Demo

Kneel down and pray to the gods of rock!

My Midnight Creeps - Hove Festival, Norway 26.06.2007

The extremely gifted Norwegian musician Robert Burås was found dead in his apartment in Oslo yesterday, at the age of 31.
During his short career in music Robert managed to make a huge impact on rock fans - both as guitarist for Madrugada and as singer/guitarist for his own band My Midnight Creeps.
This is one of My Midnight Creeps' last shows from the Hove Festival in Norway on June 26th.

Tracklist: 1. Kitchie Kitchie Ki Me O, 2. Violet, 3. Shaking of My Demons, 4. Made of Stone, 5. Don't Let It Bring You Down, 6. Speaking In Tongues, 7. Shot By the Blues, 8. You Need a Substitute.
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Madrugada / My Midnight Creeps / Robert Burås @ Wikipedia / Madrugada @ Wikipedia / My Midnight Creeps @ Wikipedia

R.I.P.