WHAT A TEMPER!

Sunday, October 4, 2009

REACHED THE END, LURED BACK TO THE BEGINNING

Saturday and Sunday were spent finishing up work on the house: removing the scaffolding, last of the painting, placing the mountain of accumulated house debris and trash in the 20 cubic yard roll-off. With the exception of putting all my tools away until next year, I was done. To celebrate this momentous occasion this Sunday evening, I climbed out onto the highest point on the roof, with cigar, a couple shots of tequila, my music and a lawn chair to watch the gray clouds overhead darken with the approach of evening.

People of the book

Quest for illumination

Blinded by the light

Failed wars lies resound

Fool-me-once skepticism

New claims on deaf ears

First up was Echo & The Bunnymen's January 17, 1981 "Shine So Hard" show at the Pavilion Botanical Gardens in Buxton, Derbyshire, UK. A great sounding recording, first released as a video followed by a live four-track EP from the soundtrack. Each song a Bunnymen classic.

Chris Adams says this about the Shine So Hard endeavor:

While the Bunnymen were completing the Camo Tout, Bill Drummond had the idea to kickstart 1981 with a secret happening, an event akin to The Beatles "Magical Mystery Tour." The concept was to transport fans from all over the country to an undisclosed location, where the Bunnymen would play a show in full camouflage regalia within the Faustian nightmare of the stage set. Bill Butt would capture the whole event on film. It would be a celebration of the Bunnymen's successes over the previous year, and an appetizer for future glories.

Despite the pomp and preparation, the concert itself was something of an anti-climax. Due to heavy snow, the show was under-attended, and the momentum of the performance was constantly interrupted by lighting and camera arrangements. The Bunnymen were a little uneasy and confused by the whole production, and the show reflected their bewilderment.

The band lacked power and commitment, the very qualities for which they'd previously been championed, and looked as if they'd lost their way. The rock press turned on them for the first time and the band were shaken. - Mark Cooper, Liverpool Explodes

I feel a bit let down. You come all this way and I suppose I expected a bit more, really. It wasn't as if there was any mystery 'cos we all knew where the gig was going to be ages ago. - Unnamed attendee, 1981

I didn't like it much. It was really embarrassing to see myself on film, where everything I did looked unnatural. - Les Pattinson, 1983

Gray clouds move northward

Pines feel coming winters chill

Swaying in the wind

Chores are completed
A seasons work at an end
Heavy weight lifted

Turns his eyes away
In the approaching darkness
See only the past

Next up this evening was the Bunnymen's live performance at a club called Eric's on September 15, 1979. An excellent recording, the band a bit rough around the edges but you could sense they had the talent to take it much farther. Twenty year olds on the verge of fame. Ian starts with "Hello, we're the Bunnymen." This was less than a year since they first stepped on that same stage when they stunned the crowd with their debut performance. Their drum machine pulsating in the background, a few months before they invited drummer Pete de Freitas to become a full fledged Bunnymen.

Download Eric's here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XTXN4ID6

Saturday, October 3, 2009

MAC AND WILL'S FIXION, AND JOAN ELECTRIFY

Another week gone and we are into October. Where is it all going?

Fun part was I had lunch with a fellow Bunnymen fan. We talked business first and pleasure second. This way I get my parking pass paid for. I was told of another alternative that I had not thought of that makes my trip to Liverpool a much more relaxing and enjoyable experience. It's now a done deal. Three nights with the Bunnymen in their home town.

I wanted something a little different tonight and pulled out a mix of studio and live songs, a collection labeled as Electrafixion Live Mix (1994-1996).

Wikipedia describes the band as follows:

Electrafixion were 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 released one album, Burned, and four singles and EPs before splitting up in 1996, due to the reformation of the Bunnymen. A posthumous limited edition 7" single, "Baseball Bill" was released in 1997. When touring, the band included Julian Phillips (formerly of Marion) on bass and his brother, George Phillips, on drums.

The music of Electrafixion has been described as The Bunneymen on steroids. It is a great collection of songs that, in my opinion, sounds better than much of what EATB has put since then.

"It's a bit heavier than the Bunnymen. We did Zephyr in Mac's basement on a 12-track, and we did the other three songs in just a couple of days, just basically treating them like a garage band thing. They're a bit 'rough and ready.' - Will Sergeant, 1994

"This record is hard-hitting. It's me and Will fighting back and staking our claim. A lot of this current stuff is ours, and we want to claim it back." - Ian McCulloch, 1995

...the kind of groove-driven, metal-edged noise that might appeal to the NIN crowd, though post-industrial Echo fans will probably not be disappointed...all the songs are full-blooded guitar feasts, served up on a bed of grinding bass lines and smashing drums, glazed with McCulloch's otherworldly vocals. The new recipe is convincing... - Seattle Stranger, 1995

Travels the distance

Immune to the suffering

Seeks the holy grail

Change we all can hear

An angels voice that's fallen

Ian's growing up

Download it here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9UJTK8H6

I thought it would be a one CD night but after getting juiced up with Electrafixion, I was left wanting more. I turned to someone I had not listened to for a long time, Joan Jett and The Blackhearts. I don't remember exactly when, but it must have been in 1983 or 1984 when I saw Joan and her band perform live in Columbia, South Carolina. I had downloaded a couple of her concert for a night like this one. I wanted hard edged rock and roll!

According to Wikipedia:

Her musical and song-writing approach is heavily influenced by the hard-edged, hard beat-driven rhythms common to many rock bands of her native Philadelphia, often featuring lyrics surrounding themes of lost love, criticisms of insincerity, the struggles and resolution of the American working class, and the quest for authenticity.

Download it here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QCXB8YUW

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

LOUD IN LA

A day spent putting finishing touches on the house siding project: touching up spots, small areas of trim, final painting (front) and polyurethaneing (back) the front door. The project is in its final stage. A roll-off has been ordered and the trash pile will soon be gone. Hallelujah!

Saturday night was spent with Van Halen performing at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angles, CA on July 24, 1988. The sound was a B quality audience recording with considerable audience noise, straining to hear what Sammy had to say on stage. This is the second night they were at the coliseum, a problem on the first night causing Sammy to pledge that they were going to perform better and longer. According to reports , the audience at one of the LA shows (the day before?) tried to rush the stage and over 200 police officers were used to control the crowd.

A very pleasant evening outside. I was a bit more relaxed knowing there were no big accomplishments scheduled for the next day. A bright first quarter moon lit the sky overhead.

Monday, September 28, 2009

PRETENDING TO BE IN TWO PLACES AT ONCE

The week ended on a downer, events at wthe office making me wonder whether the people who we work with are on our side or not. Problems arising both internal to the organization as well as from outside. But looking forward to a weekend of drudgery working on the house effectively pushed all that nonsense aside. Ha, ha, ha... Especially since it was Friday night and music was in the air!

The bright spot was that after an agonizing time trying to say yes or no, I took the plunge, finally deciding to go to Liverpool.

As has been the case for some time, two shows were planned for this cool evening. The first was with The Pretenders, appearing live at Glastonbury on June 25, 1994. An excellent audience recording. I'm not sure what it was but the sound during the first half of the show seemed to lack the crisp, sharp edges of the guitars so characteristic of their sound, making me wonder whether it was due to the other performers on stage with Chrissie. Wikipedia says:

By 1993, Hynde had teamed with ex-Katydids guitarist Adam Seymour to form a new version of the Pretenders. The team of Hynde and Seymour then hired a number of session musicians to record Last of the Independents that year (released May 10, 1994), including ex-Smiths bassist Andy Rourke. But by the end of the album sessions (and for the subsequent tour) the official band line-up was Hynde, Seymour, bassist Andy Hobson, and returning drummer Martin Chambers.

So the peculiar sound may have attributable to the band's lineup at that time.

An endless parade

Soldiers on the TV screen

Faces of the dead

Tossing and turning

Pursued by his fevered dreams

Jumps off the minds edge

A love so precious

Inhabiting our small lives

Saddened by the loss

Download it here:

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

Next up were Echo & The Bunnymen appearing live at the SXSW festival on March 21, 2009 at the Bat Bar in Austin, TX. An excellent soundboard recording, or close to it. They all perform flawlessly, putting on a great performance. Ian's voice sounded really good considering its 2009. During his stage banter with the audience, when you can understand it, he mentions that they were asked to perform for 42 minutes. "Can ya make it 42 minutes long? What else is 42 minutes long? Ah, oh, ah."

Mario Tarradell of The Dallas Morning News wrote:

Certainly much of the arty nonchalance, the elegant despair and the graceful melancholy at the heart of Echo & the Bunnymen can be credited to lead singer-songwriter Ian McCulloch. Onstage Saturday afternoon at the Bat Bar inside the Austin Convention Center, McCulloch led his four Bunnymen cohorts through an hour's worth of familiar songs during the band's return engagement to South by Southwest. The SXSW Live taping - yes, large cameras took up valuable space in an already overcrowded room - encapsulated the Bunnymen magic. McCulloch, dressed in black with dark sunglasses, epitomized the new romantic British movement from which the band emerged. Angst, psychedelia, new wave and anthem rock played into cheered-on staples "Seven Seas," "Bring On the Dancing Horses," "Nothing Lasts Forever," "The Killing Moon" and of course "Lips Like Sugar." McCulloch, an expert at brooding resignation, can now be definitely seen as one of the architects of the sound that would influence big bands of today such as Coldplay, the Killers and Radiohead.