Garcia Peoples: October 3, 2019 Nublu

As I mentioned the other day, I am very grateful that the Live Music Archive exists. If you’re not familiar with the Live Music Archive, you should really rectify that situation.

I’ve also extolled the virtues of NYC Taper and asked you support what they do, but I’m going to do so again. Please support them so they can continue making shows like this possible (browse posts at this site tagged with “NYC Taper” to see what I’m talking about.

It occurred to me the other day that I haven’t posted about New Jersey’s Garcia Peoples and I couldn’t believe that was possible, so I looked and it was not only possible, it was the sad, sad reality. I couldn’t think of a better way to break that trend than with this VERY recent (10/03/19) show at New York’s Nublu. NYC Taper says:

“Let’s get real here: You already know we love Garcia Peoples. I’m getting this recording to you less than 24 hours after it occurred. So if you want to know our opinions on GP and their shows, read any number of other reviews on this site. I’m here to tell you the basics:

1. This is part of a month-long residency at Nublu . Buy tix to the other shows here.

2. These shows celebrate the release of their latest LP on Beyond Beyond is Beyond, One Step Behind. Buy it here.

3. Garcia Peoples are good peoples, and they rule. See items #1 and #2.

I recorded this set with Schoeps MK4Vs on the right side toward the front. The sound is excellent. Enjoy!”

• Follow Garcia Peoples at Facebook.

• Visit the show’s page at NYC Taper.

• Visit the page’s show at the Live Music Archive.

• Support Garcia Peoples at Bandcamp.

• Purchase Garcia Peoples’ music at Bandcamp.

Tortoise Live At The Dead Pigeon

I’ve been continuing to go through some of the live concert recordings I’ve kept over the years. I got rid of a ton during one of our moves, but I also kept a ton. This 1995 Tortoise show from The Dead Pigeon in Muncie, IN.

It’s been amazing to me how many of these lives shows I get excited about sharing, thinking that it might be a nice addition to the internets, only to discover that it already exists thanks to the Live Music Archive. I am severely thankful that the Live Music Archive exists and it certainly saves time in posting some of these shows.

Enjoy this 1995 gem.

• Visit Tortoises’s official website.

• Follow Tortoise on Facebook.

• Follow Tortoise on Twitter.

• Support Tortoise at Bandcamp.

• Purchase Tortoise’s music at Amazon.

Dirty Three's Lyrical Instrumentals

An Australian instrumental trio that’s not Silver Ray. You didn’t think I’d be able to post about Silver Ray without posting about Dirty Three today, did you? And this doesn’t even mention The Necks.

Dirty Three is one of my all-time favorite bands and consists of Jim White (drums), Mick Turner (guitar), and Warren Ellis (violin). Don’t let this sparse lineup fool you, the group plays huge instrumental pieces drowning lyricism.

Here’s the group’s 2012 Tiny Desk Concert.

Here’s the group performing “Distant Shore” in 1998.

• Follow the group on Facebook.

• Visit the group’s profile at Bella Union Records.

• Support Dirty Three at Bandcamp.

• Purchase Dirty Three’s music at Amazon.

• Listen to "I Remember A Time When Once You Used To Love Me" by Dirty Three. From the 1996 album Horse Stories on Episode 03 of The Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.

Silver Ray: Swirling Cinematic Instrumentals

An Australian instrumental trio that’s not Dirty Three (or the Necks), Silver Ray play sweeping, swirling, urgent pieces with piano, guitar and drums. The group consists of Cam Butler (guitar), Julitha Ryan (piano/keyboards), and Brett Poliness (drums). They put out four albums on Pharmacy Records, the last of which being (I think) 2008’s “Homes For Everyone.”

I don’t believe the group is active any longer but those four albums are all really solid and worth your time hunting down.

Here’s “Trail of Deception” from “Homes For Everyone”

Here’s “True Believer” live in 2004.

• Visit the group’s page at Pharmacy Records.

Kurt Vile: "(bottle back) Documentary"

From the Youtube page:

“In early September 2018, on the eve of the announcement of his latest album, 'Bottle It In' (celebrating its one-year anniversary this October), Kurt Vile – along with friends and fellow musicians – decamped to the Catskill Mountains in upper state New York to rehearse, prepare and ponder the year’s road ahead.”

• Visit Kurt Vile’s website.

• Follow Kurt Vile on Facebook.

• Follow Kurt Vile on Twitter.

• Purchase Kurt Vile’s music at Amazon.

Harsh Narayan: Grand Canyon Sarangi

Phoenician and tabla player (“tablist?”)Shreyas Iyer operates the Dhaa School of Music. Their website says:

“Dhaa School of Music strives to teach this complex musical instrument, Tabla, in a fun and supportive environment. The goal is to cultivate the seed of love for this instrument so that it becomes a lifelong journey for each and every student.”

On Sunday October 20, the Dhaa School of Music, together with Authentic Yoga Teacher Training are hosting and evening of live music with Harsh Narayan and Shreyas Iyer “Only 60 seats available and these are filling up fast. Get your tickets soon.”

Here is “A beautiful short clip of Harsh Narayan bonding with the elements at Grand Canyon. Thanks to Camillo Scherer for some great camera work.”

• Visit Harsh Narayan’s official website.

• Purchase tickets for the event.

Ustad Ali Akbar Khan Live in Eugene, OR (1983)

I was reminded of this recording the other day while listening to “Stir” from the fantastic One Eleven Heavy album, Desire Path. One of the songs references listening to Ali Akbar, and it prompted me to pull out this gem and give is a reconsideration. If you’re not familiar with Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, The Wikipedias tell us that Ali Akbar Khan:

“was a Hindustani classical musician of the Maihar gharana, known for his virtuosity in playing the sarod. Trained as a classical musician and instrumentalist by his father, Allauddin Khan, he also composed several classical ragas and film scores. He established a music school in Calcutta in 1956, and the Ali Akbar College of Music in 1967, which moved with him to the United States and is now based in San Rafael, California, with a branch in Basel, Switzerland.”

This is a live recording that I’e had for several years, and according to the wonderful Flat, Black and Classical blog (where you can also download the show):

“Here we have another in the series of cassettes which AMMP Music Productions (i.e., the AACM) released in the mid 1980s documenting the Ustad's collection of concert recordings. The story I have heard, not independently verified by any of the principals, is that Mary Johnson Khan began discovering boxes of reels of recordings of live concerts by her husband placed in odd locations in their home. Places like under a couch or in closets. She apparently decided to start to archive these recordings with the goal of eventually making them available to the public.”

Tabla by Swapan Chaudhuri.

Side A of the cassette begins with Khan explaining what he'll play that evening, followed by “Raga Hem Behag:”

Side B of the cassette features “Raga Bihag:”

• Visit the official website for the Ali Akbar College of Music.

• Purchase Khan’s music at Amazon.

• Listen to “Raga Hem Behag” as featured on Episode 46 of the Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.

Hiss Golden Messenger: "Happy Birthday, Baby" Live at Adult Swim

Hiss Golden Messenger’s MC Taylor has been making the rounds lately in support of the phenomenal album “Terms of Surrender.” Taylor recently stopped by the Adult Swim studios to perform “Happy Birthday, Baby.” Plus, Phil Cook.

If songs like this don’t push you to reconsider all your stupid notions about “Dad Rock,” then I don’t know what to tell you. I love that Taylor is a family man and weaves that throughout his music.

• Visit Hiss Golden Messenger’s official website.

• Follow Hiss Golden Messenger at Facebook.

• Follow Hiss Golden Messenger at Twitter.

• Support Hiss Golden Messenger at Bandcamp.

• Purchase Hiss Golden Messenger’s music at Amazon.

Sandy Bull

Believe it or not, I was recently looking for video of “American Primitive” guitarists on YouTube and there was one glaring absence. Though maybe not as well known as John Fahey, Leo Kottke or even Robbie Basho, Sandy Bull was no less accomplished or influential.

Bull passed away in 2001 but, for whatever reason, had largely gone unnoticed in the public eye. There’s just not a lot out there. That’s part of what makes this new video so exciting. Thanks to Photo of the 21st century for posting this gem: “Acoustic music and interviews taped live in front of an audience in Marina del Rey (Los Angeles) 10/23/89.”

• Visit Sandy Bull’s page at Drag City.

• Purchase Sandy Bull’s music at Amazon.
  
  

One Eleven Heavy Hot Potato Soup

Thanks for Curtis Lee Voight for capturing, editing, and sharing this recent footage of One Eleven Heavy live and in the wild. As I posted earlier, I dig One Eleven Heavy. The new album, “Desire Path” has helped solidify the band’s sound while allowing the group to open up and explore more space.

One Eleven Heavy. Live in Plymouth, WI on 9.6.19.

• Visit the band’s official website.

• Support One Eleven Heavy at Bandcamp.

• Follow the group at Facebook.

• Follow the band at Twitter.

• Visit One Eleven Heavy’s page at Riot Act Media.

• Purchase the group’s music at Amazon.

• View all my posts about One Eleven Heavy.

75 Dollar Bill Y'All

You know how I keep trying to describe some of my favorite undescribable bands? Well, here’s another one. 75 Dollar Bill is the musical duo of guitarist Che Chen and percussionist Rick Brown. who plays a custom plywood crate. This core is often orbited by other musicians but Chen and Brown are the constants.

The band’s Bandcamp page begins to introduce them by saying:

“Rick Brown was born in San Francisco, CA and is a clerical worker at a law school in NYC. Che Chen was born in New Haven, CT and works for a cancer diagnostics company in Stonybrook, NY. They met via myspace and started playing together as 75 Dollar Bill approximately eight years later. Brown plays percussion and homemade horns and Chen plays electric guitar.”

But this doesn’t begin to do the group’s unique perspective any justice. One of their records comes with a sticker describing them as “Trance-inducing desert blues.” Pitchfork describes them as “blurring genres and record-store categories” and, while that’s correct, it still doesn’t help pinpoint the sound. The Guardian says the music is: “placeless, gripping grooves” and that’s also true but unhelpful. Many will point to Chen’s time in Mauritania as being pivotal for the band, but as Johny Lamb writes for Quietus:

I have noticed that there’s stuff online concerning the influence of Moorish modal music with 75 Dollar Bill, but as far as I can tell, Chen spent only a short time in Mauritania and he acknowledges the impact as inevitably “superficial”. Besides, I think I hear as much John Cale here as I do North West Africa.

Sometimes it is the artists who confound description that best capture the human element of what makes us connect so deeply with music in the first place. It is guttural. Moving. Enticing. Entrancing. It makes us meditate and move and groove. All at once. Swirling guitar meditations float above urgent and insistent percussion. This is what it means to be alive.

Best just to listen for yourselves.

Here’s "WZN#3" live at WFMU in 2016:

Here’s a half-hour live set featuring Steve Maing on guitar and Sue Garner on bass and percussion. This set was wad live at Reverb in Baltimore, 09.04.16.

• Support 75 Dollar Bill at Bandcamp.

• Purchase 75 Dollar Bill’s music at Amazon.

• Listen to "Beni Said" by 75 Dollar Bill rom the album 2016 album Wood / Metal / Plastic / Pattern / Rhythm / Rock on Episode 07 of the Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.

Joshua Abrams And Natural Information Society Live in Italy

I often find myself drawn to music that defies easy categorization. I’m not sure how I would describe them to someone who had never heard them. “Long-form, minimalist global drone jazz?” Wikipedia gives it a go by quoting them being called “ecstatic minimalism”.[1]

Like the Necks (previously featured here), the group specializes in long-form, minimalist pieces with unfolding and unraveling melodies that trace themselves insight out. The more I think about it, the more I like the descriptor ““ecstatic minimalism”. There is not not only a sense of introspection to these pieces, but there is also certainly ecstasy to be found for those with ears to hear.

The band’s website says:

“Joshua Abrams formed Natural Information Society (NIS) in 2010. With Abrams' orchestration of traditional & contemporary instrumentation, NIS creates long-form psychedelic environments informed by jazz, minimalism & traditional musics.”

The band’s most recent release, the sprawling 81-minute (with none of them wasted) Mandatory Reality is one of the best releases of 2019 and well worth your time. Pitchfork says the album is a “a minimalist mountain of an album, one whose slow pace and gradual changes prove unusually mesmerizing, even sublime.”

Here is the band performing an amazing set earlier this year Dobialab in Italy. Enjoy.

This lineup features:

• Joshua Abrams - guimbri, contrabbasso

• Lisa Alvarado - harmonium, gong

• Jason Stein - clarinetto basso

• Mikel Avery - batteria

• Visit the official website.

• Support Joshua Abrams and Natural Information Society at Bandcamp.

• Purchase Joshua Abrams and Natural Information Society’s music at Amazon.

• Listen to “Maroon Dune” by Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society (From the 2017 album Simultonality) on Episode 43 of The Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.

Tom Waits: Austin City Limits 1978

Thanks to my good friend Kyle, I had the chance to see Tom Waits at the Palace Theatre in Louisville, KY in 2006. Hands down one of the best live shows I have ever seen and something I will never forget. But forgive me, I’m just bragging.

In 1978, Waits appeared on Austin City Limits. Video of the show sometimes appears on PBS affiliates but to my knowledge, it has never been released in any sort of official capacity (lthough you can watch “Silent Night/Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis” at the Austin City Limits’ page for the show). But that doesn’t mean the concert hasn’t been widely distributed. Along with the 1973 Bob Marley set I posted the other day, this one was a show found on just about every tape trader’s list. At least any tape traders I would trade tapes with.

The night includes a classic setlist:

Summertime/Burma Shave
Annie's Back in Town/I Wish I Was in New Orleans
A Sweet Little Bullet From a Pretty Blue Gun
On the Nickel
Romeo is Bleeding
Silent Night/Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis
Small Change

• Visit Tom Waits’ official website.

• Purchase Tom Waits music on Amazon.

Bob Marley Live in Boston 1973

This is another live recording I’ve held on to for a long time. Just about everyone I know who collects live recordings has it. It’s not a secret recording. It’s not rare. But there are some distortions at as the volume increases and I can see why they did not want it released commercially (at least the recording I have).

But, man, this band is on fire. Don’t let anyone tell you that Reggae is just hippy-dippy beach-bro Sublime with some other singer type-vibes. This band means business and this is one of my favorite recordings. I love the hiss. I love the crackle. I love the distortion. This is protest music, so let’s feel it.

Tracklisting:

1. Lively Up Yourself

2. 400 Years

3. Stir It Up

4. Slave Driver

5. Stop That Train

6. Kinky Reggae

7. Concrete Jungle

8. Get Up, Stand Up

• Visit Bob Marley’s official website.

• Purchase Bob Marley music at Amazon.

Patiokings: Live at Iron Horse Music Hall 2004

I don’t remember anything about this band, but I dig this 2004 set at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton, MA and apparently, I helped upload it to the Live Music Archive in 2004. Sorry, but apparently in 2004, I didn’t know how to title the files. But we do have the show information.

I don’t think this band is still around, but I’d like to be proven wrong. Funky soul with groove galore. The perfect soundtrack to your late Summer cookout jam.

Tracklisting and Notes:

First Set
(first tune of the night was Living Like a King but did not get recorded)
Freeman (beginning cut off)
Untitled new tune
Left For the Last Time
Better Than Yesterday
One More Once
Two Steps Away
Cover tune medley
Kings of Kingsford (end cut off)

Second Set
Trouble
Rhythm & Sunshine
Nine to Five
One Way
Keep On
As it Was
Step Down (end cut off)

(Encore was “Living For the City,” Stevie Wonder cover, but did not get recorded)

Notes

Unfortunalety there is some distortion in parts. It was recorded off the board into a four track but the gain was just a little too high.

• Purchase 2000’s “My Friends and I” at CDBaby.

• Purchase 2004’s “Brand New Bag” at CDBaby.

• Purchase Patiokings music at Amazon.

Hoooo-Weeee! One Eleven Heavy! Detroit and NYC!

If you don’t know the music of One Eleven Heavy, then what kind of friend have I been to you? I’m sorry. Allow me to remedy that. Aquarium Drunkard says:

A transatlantic affair, the group features songwriters James Toth (Wooden Wand) and Nick Mitchell Maiato (Desmadrados Soldados De Ventura), along with bassist Dan Brown (Royal Trux), drummer Ryan Jewell (Solar Motel Band), and pianist Hans Chew (Steve Gunn, Hiss Golden Messenger).

NPR says:

There's a dancing bear slapped on the back of a station wagon cranking out a copy of Europe '72 — it's no deep dive from one of Dick's Picks, but it's a solid collection of live sets, with Grateful Dead at the top of its game. You exchange eyes with the driver, acknowledge the good-times jams, and counter with a '77 date. Soon enough, you're holding up traffic, but the songs keep on truckin'.

This wasn't quite the Cosmic Americana meet-cute for James Toth (Wooden Wand) and Nick Mitchell Maiato (of Manchester psych-rockers Desmadrados Soldados De Ventura), but it's not too far off. When Toth was on a U.K. tour 10 years ago, the two bonded over Crazy Horse, the Dead and Little Feat — rock bands that thrived on wild-eyed improvisation, but still knew how to write an easygoing melody.

The band’s debut Everything’s Better is a terrific slice of Cosmic Americana and the band’s second album Desire Path is due out September 20 and is available for preorder now.

The fabulous NYC Taper recently recorded and posted the One Eleven Heavy 09/01/19 show at Union Pool in NYC. Stream here and head over to the show’s page at NYC Taper to download for yourself. And, please, thank and support tapers and the bands they tape.

And, as if that fabulous recording is not enough, the fantastic Detroit Lightning blog recorded and posted the band’s 09/05/19 show at Outer Limits Lounge, Hamtramck, MI. You can stream the show here but head over to the show’s page at Detroit Lightning to download the show for yourself. And, please, thank and support tapers and the bands they tape.

Hear “Mardi Gras” from the upcoming album Desire Path.

• Visit the band’s official website.

• Support One Eleven Heavy at Bandcamp.

• Follow the group at Facebook.

• Follow the band at Twitter.

• Visit One Eleven Heavy’s page at Riot Act Media.

• Purchase the group’s music at Amazon.

Papa Mali Live at The Catacomb on 2001-07-08

This is another great live show that I’ve been holding on to for years. Why not share it?! I just realized that this show also has a page at the Live Music Archive and it says that I was involved in uploading it, which I only vaguely remember. In keeping with looking back on the incredible Fog City Records lineup, here is Papa Mali Live at The Catacomb in San Francisco on 2001-07-08.

This is not a complete show and was recorded from a stream that was presented by Fog City’s Dan Prothero.

Tracklisting:

01. Talking
02. Sugarland
03. Sweet Potato Vine
04. Talking
05. Walk on Guilded Splinters
06. People Get Ready *
07. Feel Like Going Home

Notes

* w/ Chuck Prophet

This is not a complete show. I don’t know of any recordings of the full show. This was originally posted to the Web by Dan Prothero as a streaming REAL media file. It was captured from this streaming file and as such, may have a couple of very minor dropouts. While this is not a complete show, it is terrific! Great sound quality and absolutely solid playing. This is a solo performance by Papa Mali (with the exception of Chuck Prophet sitting in on one track), which seem hard to come by in the download world.

• Visit the show’s page at the Live Music Archive to download the show for yourself.

• Follow Papa Mali on Facebook.

• Follow Papa Mali on Twitter.

• Purchase Papa Mali’s music on Amazon.

JJ Grey and Mofro: BOOM BOOM!

Here is another live show that I acquired somewhere along the way when I used to do a lot of trading.

You can visit the show’s Live Music Archive page to download the show for yourself, or you can stream it below, download it here as one big file.

I think this was still when they were just going by Mofro and were associated with the Fog City Records label. There was a period when I would buy any album on Fog City. Papa Mali, Galactic, Mofro, Robert Walter’s 20th Congress, Stanton Moore, Garage a Trois, come on, son. Fog City ruled.

Anyway, enjoy JJ Grey and Mofro live at the Boom Boom Room in San Francisco, courtesy of Fog City’s Dan Prothero.

• Visit JJ Grey and Mofro’s official website.

• Follow the group on Facebook.

• Follow JJ Grey and Mofro at Twitter.

Lyle Lovett: Live at the Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis, MN (01.27.92)

Here’s a nice live set from January, 1992 by Lyle Lovett. I don’t remember where I got this recording but it’s a clear and clean soundboard recording and includes a nice selection of early-ish material including one of my personal favorite songs “If I Had A Boat,” from the 1987 album Pontiac. This show also features a terrific version of “LA County” from the same 1987 release.

I couldn’t find out anything about this show but it would have been between 1989’s Lyle Lovett and His Large Band album and Joshua Judges Ruth, which came out March 1992, about a month after this concert. He previews several songs from the album and references it being released.

This show features Lovett on acoustic guitar, accompanied by bass, cello, and percussion. The song audio quality is clear and audible but the talky parts (and there are several) are very quiet. This show came to me as-is as one complete file. It did not include any source information. You know what I do. I have not done anything to it other than hoard it for many years and now pass it along for you.

“You Can’t Resist it” and “North Dakota", both from Joshua Judges Ruth are standouts for me, but this show includes a performances a performance of one of my favorite songs: “If I Had A Boat” and closes out the night with the Dead’s “Friend of the Devil.”

Definitely worth a listen.

• Visit Lyle Lovett’s official website.

• Follow Lovett at Facebook.

• Follow Lovett at Twitter.

• Purchase Lyle Lovett music at Amazon.

The Necks in Three Performances

The Necks are a piano jazz trio from Australia. Though it’s probably a bit misleading to let you think that they are filling smoking bars with jazz standards. “Avant-Jazz” might be a bit more appropriate. The Necks specialize in long-form improvisational pieces that blur the lines between jazz and minimalism.

As you might expect, they develop a theme and then deconstruct and recreate that theme. Their typical track is about an hour long. The Free Music Archive has made available three different radio appearances, which you can stream or download below.

The Necks Live at WFMU 2/10/2009 

The Necks Live at ISSUE Project Room (1/28/2010) // Night One Set Two

The Necks Live at ISSUE Project Room (1/28/2010) // Night Two Set Two

• Visit the Necks official website.

• Visit the group at Facebook.

• Purchase The Necks’ music at Bandcamp.

• Purchase The Necks’ music at Amazon.