FOURTY FOUR YEARS AGO, JUST LIKE TODAY

Reports came out this week of a tragic event in Afghanistan, a soldier's mind snaps and innocent people pay the price.  This event coincides almost to the day with events in Vietnam 44 years ago when the on March 16, 1968 the men of Charlie Company go on a rampage and massacre 400-500 people in My Lai.  Whether William Calley or Robert Bales, the name does not matter, just that something very wrong happened and men made decisions that had grave consequences.  This one involved 16 deaths, everyone matters to the families involved.  Not too far away in Syria these numbers routinely die every day.  Time proves that in the end it makes very little difference, except for the innocent that pay the ultimate price.  The human race does not appear to learn.

Hear the boots approach
Charlie Company's out for blood
Calley in the lead

Anybody running
Must be our enemy
Shoot man, woman, child

Panicked people run
Herded like wild animals
Heaps of bodies grow

"Not a day goes by
that I do not feel remorse
for that day in My Lai"

Wounded fill the ditch
"Help them out of their misery"
The rifle barrel burns

Stands at point blank range
Unarmed passive woman shot
"She had a grenade"

Blood lust clouds the brain
Guns facing no resistance
Just following orders

Fractured mind that’s crashed
Can only see what’s blood red
Hear the muzzle’s flash

The dawns light brightens
A new day like no other
For the very last time

Child gripped in her arms
Fears she can’t run fast enough
Lie down together

They flee the hunter
Like animals they must run
Yet there’s no escape

Across the rice paddy
The bird’s song interrupted
Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop

With events like these weighing on ones mind, what follows is almost trivial.  Yet it is a means to temporarily escape the turmoil, the hatred, the brutality we hear and see every night on the evening news.

First up this Friday night was Sid Vicious in Sid Singsposthumous solo album. It was released on December 15, 1979 and peaked at number 30 on the British album charts. The bulk of the album comes from lo-fi recordings of performances at Max's Kansas City in New York on 30 September 1978.

"Sid Vicious left a very small recorded legacy, and it's easy to see why. These are live recordings with terrible sound quality and equally bad vocals from Vicious, who is prone to stealing Johnny Rotten's vocal mannerisms. The only track he had a hand in is the Pistols' collaboration "Belsen"; the other nine songs are covers (including a hilarious rearrangement of "My Way"). This album shows Sid Vicious as a follower, not an innovator. He had no originality or intelligence and displayed an astounding lack of talent, augmented by total contempt for his audience. But given punk's ideology, it may make perfect sense that he should become its most celebrated icon. If you follow the logic, Sid Sings is absolutely essential; if not, don't bother."

Download it here:
https://rapidshare.com/#!download|139|907802799|Sid_Vicious_-_1979_-_Sid_Sings__1979_.rar|46179

Next up was Iggy Pop and the Stooges, Disc 3 off of Heavy Liquid, a six-CD limited edition boxed set that chronicles the rehearsals and sessions for Raw Power 1972–1974, the third album by the band. The third disc shows an assortment of songs from various rehearsals in Detroit, Michigan from February to April 1973.

Someone commenting on the album says: "The multi-CD highlights the studio sessions that produced the classic album Raw Power and - as with such releases - the listener is essentially is seated next to the production team."

Go out and buy the box set!

The night ended with Public Image Limited, performing in London at the Queen Elizabeth Hall at the Southbank Centre just a few hours earlier this evening, on March 16, 2012. PIL had announced several days in advance that their show would be broadcast live on the radio for BBC's 6 Music's 10th Birthday Celebrations. I set up the computer and my audio editing program to record the show before leaving for work. Three songs were broadcast out of the whole concert, the first being "Deep Water" off their new EP to be released, "Not a Love" song, and "Warrior." Excellent audio, only disappointed that they did not broadcast the whole show. Johnny sounds real good. I got home in time to catch part of it live. It was cool knowing I was listening in on a live show in London from Denver. The connection was there!

Download it here:
https://rapidshare.com/#!download|483|484507487|PIL_-_2012_-_London_Queen_Elizabeth_Hall__Southbank_Centre_March_16__2012.rar|45846

Continuing with the theme of the last few weekends, Saturday night started off with Van Halen performing on March 3, 2012 at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut.

Here's what some said about this particular performance:

"The show confirmed (if anyone had reason to doubt) that Diamond Dave is one weird dude. He pulled off a few trademark jumps, managed to get down (and back up) for a full split, talked about his sheepdogs and losing money that afternoon at black jack. Mostly he channeled Bob Dylan (in spirit more than sound), altering melodies, relaxing vocal phrases to the point where he’d fall noticeably behind, wavering and wiggling with vibrato."

http://www.ct.com/entertainment/music/news-and-commentary/wtxx-concert-review-van-halen-at-mohegan-sun-in-uncasville-20120305,0,7336254.story

And...

Energizing the crowd starting off with 1981's "Unchained" and "Runnin' With the Devil" off the critically-acclaimed debut 1978 album, the third tune of the show was the new album's second single, the intense "She's the Woman" that featured one of the few Roth trademark kicks that found its way into the concert. "Tattoo" came one song later. But the focus this night was on the rockers long string of popular songs. "Everybody Wants Some!!" off 1980's "Women and Children First," remains a concert staple. Ever the outrageous showman, Roth, 56, sported a white safari hat in reflection of the song's drum-vocal introduction. Eddie Van Halen's screaming guitar stood out as usual, and he dashed across the stage playing before jamming with his son.

http://www.thesunchronicle.com/articles/2012/03/06/go/11111710.txt

Download it here:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/c365839/n/VaHa.2012-03-03.Uncasville.FLAC.by.T.U.B.E.zip

Saturday night ended late with an early show by Nirvana, Club Dreamerz in Chicago IL on July 8, 1989, only three weeks after their first album Bleach was released on June 15, 1989.  Sounds like they were playing to a largely empty club based on the lack of audience noise, with only a small group of people in the back chatting with occasional laughter.  How that would all change following the release of Nevermind over two years later.

Download it here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?ynuzmndnni1
http://www.mediafire.com/?ttt5j5mmdyl