RUTS, ELECTRAFIXION, TELEVISION, BUNNYMEN, AMY

Friday night starts off with an excellent quality show by The Ruts, live at The Marquee Club in London on July 19, 1979. 

Download it here:

http://sharebee.com/f5799cb6

The main act late this evening was Electrafixion, an alternative rock band, formed by former Echo & the Bunnymen members Ian McCulloch and Will Sergeant in 1994, joined by bass guitarist Leon de Sylva and drummer Tony McGuigan.  They were at the La Route du Rock Festival in St. Malo France on August 14 in 1994, the day after my birthday.  It was broadcast over the radio because the announcer would come on periodically and speak in French, interuppting the flow of the show.

Download it here:
http://sharebee.com/9228be2b

Saturday night staterd off with Television, their second night at the Whisky A Go Go in Los Angeles, CA on April 14, 1977. 

Download it here:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=109FO28Q

Steve the Bunnymen bootleg archivest released a recording of his of a very recent show of theirs.  Echo and the Bunnymen at the London Palladium on September 26, 2011.  The band is tight and Ian is chatty with the audience who willing provides him with suggestions or comments that invariably bring on a witty reply.  At least when you can understand what he's saying, a difficulty for us folks over here in the states.  I still enjoyed the show of their clasic numbers, although I was stunned when they performed "The Fountain" from beginning to end.  I had commented to Will last May in Anaheim that Ian should do this, avoiding the usuals lame response when he beckons the audience to finish a line in the song, his way of gauging our interest in a particular number.

"If these whole-album playbacks are all about bloodless nostalgia, no one has told Ian McCulloch. During a lull in the title track of tonight's offering, Ocean Rain, he orders the bouncers to turf out a pair of chatty punters for disturbing the contemplative atmosphere."

"A jarring reminder, then, that Echo and the Bunnymen's frontman remains the bristling autodidact who brought swagger to an early-Eighties new-wave scene in Liverpool that already brimmed with characters. His band arguably reached their peak with the escapism and aching romance of this, their fourth album."

"Having already revisited Ocean Rain three years ago, and after recently playing earlier works Crocodiles and Heaven up Here, the band should now be about ready to disinter 1999's misfiring What Are You Going to Do with Your Life? Instead, they play two sets, opening with a mixed bag that takes in both ends of their career. Of more recent material, though, only a driving "Stormy Weather" can hold its own with an impassioned "Rescue", Macca's wracked vocal sounding better than his attempts at smooth crooning."

Read it all here:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/echo-amp-the-bunnymen-london-palladium-2365487.html

Download it here:
http://www.fileserve.com/file/2X85EqY/EATB26SEP2011.zip
Thank you Steve!

Sunday night was spent with Amy on the overlook with the mountain view at sunset.  The show was from the Astoria in London, UK from February 19, 2007.

"Amy Winehouse- brilliant rock and roll star, a voice like gloopy syrup and an bunch of songs that makes you weep with pleasure. Her jazz-tastic 8 piece band brought the songs from ‘Back To Black’ to life- the Brit award winning singer played to a packed house, closing the set with a surprise cover of The Zutons ‘Valerie’."

And:

"Her eight-piece band are all suited and booted. Two jiving male backing vocalists keep up terrific dance moves to the right of the stage. A couple of brass players honk atmospherically on the left. The set is studded with red lampshades and ruched curtains, like some Prohibition-era jazz club. Winehouse arrives into this vintage set-up without fanfare and just opens her mouth and starts to sing."

"Her voice is a thing of wonder. Unlike all the ghastly, ululating soul manglers out there, Winehouse doesn't care about showing off her range. She just chews up syllables to suit her mood, reducing 'Addicted', her playful weed ode, to a kind of soulful Klingon tonight. Her rich, murky, weathered voice follows her instincts without effort or obvious manipulation. She is offhand, almost unpremeditated, crooning out 'Wake up Alone' in a waltz-time blur of words."

(http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2007/feb/25/popandrock.features3)

"Never the most salubrious of venues, the Astoria seems to have been transformed into a brothel for the night. Pearly-grey satin hangs in swags down the back of the stage, illuminated by red velvet lamps. It's a glorious setting for Amy Winehouse's impeccably suited backing band, who could have arrived here from the 1965 Motown UK tour. In fact, the only person who hasn't dressed up for the occasion is Winehouse herself. Beneath a vertiginous beehive she wears a greying T-shirt, faded jeans and trainers. Maxine Powell, head of Motown's finishing school, would be horrified."

"Still, Winehouse can afford to be blasé. It apparently requires no effort whatsoever to produce the seductive, furious vocals that last week won her the best solo female artist award at the Brits. Between songs, she scampers about the stage like a child; singing, she sounds decades older, reminiscent of Billie Holiday and Aretha Franklin, yet entirely herself."

(http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2007/feb/21/popandrock.amywinehouse)

Download it here:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WJCZIG9I

SHOCKING IMAGES ELECTRIFY

Last weekend the clouds parted long enough to allow the kids and I to go to the Parker Days Festival and enjoy some of the rides. The 2 days of rain turned the site of the carnival into a field of mud. On the positive side, it was comfortably cool and there were few people, making lines short. I really am getting old because some of the rides, those that lock me tightly into a seat or cage are beginning to freak me out. Thank god for sunglasses to hide the fact I've got my eyes closed!


I stopped by the Mutiny Now Art Gallery and Bookstore on Friday over the lunch hour. How can I resist the temptation of Jack's paintings? I walked away with 3 more. All are hanging in a once barren hallway of the house, the paintings really brightening it up. The kids don't seem to know what to think of them and the wife hates them.

More about the bookstore and the man behind it:

"I stumbled across Mutiny Now Art, Books and Coffee here in Denver about a month after I’d arrived. Its storefront perched innocuously on the corner of Broadway and Ellsworth, I floated in when I had some time to kill prior to a blind date at Michelangelo’s across the street. There behind the counter, a man with a salt-and-pepper pompadour and Buddy Holly glasses smiled at me and said “welcome.” I’ve felt welcome there ever since."

"Meet the man behind the glasses: Jack Jensen. Proprietor, artist and admitted asshole. (On the latter, I beg to differ.) Mutiny Now is a Denver gem: used books across the broadest spectrum you could imagine, classic vinyl and walls lined with thought-provoking eye candy. From admitted bibliophiles to ardent devotees of the bodice-ripper genre, Jack Jensen’s built an artistic empire with something for everyone. Well, almost everyone."

"If you’re looking for the latest Oprah’s Book Club selection – fuck off. Save that treasure A Million Little Pieces (which he proudly displays with the Oprah sticker on the cover on a storefront display when he can wrangle a copy – a disc-shaped middle finger to the icon’s discerning taste in literature). Popular fiction is a rare find at Mutiny Now."

"Instead, what you will find is a treasure trove of art in words nestled amongst a coffee bar (with sub-*bucks pricing) and an eclectic assortment of pop art that beckons your glance from walls on all sides."

http://www.redheadwriting.com/used-books-in-denver-i-jumped-ship-and-found-mutiny-now-things-that-dont-suck-the-one-year-anniversary-edition

Friday night was very pleasant outside, a cigar and music beckoning me to crank it up on the truck stereo. I picked a compilation I made by taking a 3 part Electrafixion singles CD set and burning them onto a single CD. 10 songs from that great sounding era of different style of "Bunnymen" music by the bands principal artists, Ian and Will. I finished off the night by listening to Vampire Weekend's Contra album. I did not expect to stay up so late, in bed sometime shortly after midnight.

Their haloed hero

Is an angel in their eyes

Falling from the sky

One more year has passed

Familiar stars rotate by

Frightens the young mind

ITS HEAVEN UP HERE

After the kids returned from school Friday afternoon, we jumped in the car and began driving west, our destination being Glenwood Springs for a couple days of soaking and skiing. We were in the hot spring pool by 9 PM, an hour relaxing in the water before they close at 10. It was very cold outside, thick clouds of steam rising off the water.

Back to the hotel, change into warm clothing and out I go for a cigar, flask and music. I walked down to the Colorado River but a cold wind coming down the canyon easily cut through the clothing and chilled me, forcing me to look for a more sheltered area. The sheriff patroling the area ensured I did not stand on the bridge overlooking the highway. I found a quiet spot near the hotel and rocked out.

First up was Electrafixion's live show at Sheperds Bush Empire in London on October 22, 1995. I like the hard edge to Ian's and Will's music from that era.

Download it here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RG9S7ORK

This was followed by my listening to Echo & The Bunnymen's Heavan Up Here studio album which included several bonus tracks. A really great album from a time they were making a name for themselves and rising in popularity.

Morning lasts so long

An afternoon in the sun

Then its time to go

Cruise by black and white

Notable odd behavior

Turns to red and blue

PRETENDING ON THE PASS

The week ends with a broken furnace, requiring a repairman and some money. The guy I called could only come out Friday morning, which meant I needed to fire up the kerosene heater and keep a fire burning in the fireplace. It was repaired by noon, but then I needed to unclog the dishwashers water line that contained a small bit of ice, where the line touched the floor which is next to an exposed section of foundation, the frigid cold of the last several days conducting through the floor. Having spent such a wasteful day, I was ready to party that night.

My selection for the evening was a collection of singles by Electrafixion, an alternative rock band, formed by former Echo & The Bunnymen members Ian McCulloch and Will Sergeant in 1994, joined by bass guitarist Leon de Sylva and drummer Tony McGuigan. The sound is a bit louder, gritty and raw when compared to what The Bunnymen produced years earlier.

Download Zephyr here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/115523949/Electrafixion_-_Zephyr.rar

Download CD 1 of Never here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/164574371/Electrafixion_-_Never.rar

Download CD2 of Never here:

http://rs287.rapidshare.com/files/156884088/electrafixion_-_never__cd_2_.rar

Download Lowdown here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/108012067/Electrafixion_-_Lowdown.rar

Saturday night was spent partying on the pass, Loveland Pass, with a plan to go skiing the following day. Although it was windy with light snow falling, there was little chance the pass would be closed so I parked on the turn out part way up the road. I popped The Pretenders into the truck's CD player, their July 3, 1984 show at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, part of California Westwood One/Superstar Concert Series. The radio announcer chimed in at the beginning and end of the show, otherwise it was all rock and roll. There was another car parked nearby with 3 people in it who were trying to sleep (I can't imagine how uncomfortable that must have been!). They did get to sleep, but only after my show was over.

Pressure is building

Events are out of control

Veins are bleeding green

Weighed in dollar signs
A manger lying empty
Jesus forgotten

Nation of the cross

Values measured in spare change

The Wall Street preachers

I spent a half day skiing Loveland during a snow storm, the wind driving the snow sideways. The snow on the few slopes open was only getting better by the hour. But eventually my face was beginning to freeze and the glasses froze up so I called it an early day. I also needed to begin preparing for Liverpool. The drive home was spent listening to What Are You Going To Do With Your Life, a studio album by The Bunnymen, released on April 16, 1999. I enjoyed the music while navigating the slick then wet roads back to Denver.

One more year gone by

Standing there for a moment

Then we must move on

Starts like its endless

Turns and faces the crossing

A blink of the eye

Chairlift ascending

Into the storm's snowy gray

Swaying in the wind

Fall from high above

Snowflakes carried by storm's wind

Melting on his face

Snow falling sideways

Bundled against frigid cold

Tapping on his hood

Pressure is building

Expectations on the rise

Self inflicted wounds

In just an instant

Event sends out its ripples

Life changed forever