Tuesday 19 April 2022

FONTAINES D.C. - Studio 104 , Maison de la Radio, Paris. 2020 (Flac)

FONTAINES D.C. are a band that I remember reading about sometime ago, "ones to watch" and the "new best thing" declared the reviewers. I'd heard a few tracks and agreed that their was certainly some promise but for me the lead singer's voice grated a bit especially on some songs that had repetitive lyrics. It was the single 'Jackie Down The Line' taken from the forthcoming third album (now released) that finally opened my ears to the merits of the band.

As I've got older and with the amount of music I've heard over the years 'the next big thing' hype beloved by the media, can get very tedious. It puts needless pressure on the bands in question and can lead to disappointment on the listener's part, who feel that the music hasn't lived up to the hype.

I downloaded this show and the short World Cafe performance and interview to get a better picture of the band and their live performance, this can often be more revealing than the finished studio product.
After hearing this show I went back to the first two albums and listened through in advance of the release of 'Skinty Fia'.

The third album has become a current favourite and will I'm sure reach a high placing in the end of year album polls. In this instance the hype seems justified much like the acclaim that the Libertines and Arctic Monkeys encountered
in earlier years.

Their Irish roots come through strongly in the lyrics and of course Grian Chatten's umistakeable vocals. Musically you can hear echoes of past post-punk greats such as Joy Division, the Cure, Sonic Youth & the Wedding Present for example, more apparent on the first two albums.

What I like about their music is the synthesis of these influences and heritage to produce something new, that really sounds new, which is a rarity in indie guitar music today. Give this some repeated listening and see what you think. I've moved the intro and interview on the short World Cafe broadcast to the end, so that you can enjoy the three live performances without interruption. 

The Paris radio show has excellent sound with surprisingly few interruptions by the presenting DJ, unusual for a Studio 105 broadcast. The set list is split evenly between the first two albums 'Dogrel' (2019) and 'A Hero's Death' (2020) respectively.  

Studio 104, Maison de la Radio, Paris, France
October 7, 2020

FM (France Inter)

Setlist
01. I Don't Belong        
02. Televised Mind
03. Chequeless Reckless    
04. Sha Sha Sha
05. A Hero's Death
06. Hurricane Laughter
07. Big
08. You Said
09. Oh Such A Spring
10. A Lucid Dream
11. Too Real
12. Boys in the Better Land (cut)

Time: 48m 58s
Lineage: Yamaha RN 602 - Tuner > Tascam DR7 > wav > Adobe Audition > flac

(original upload by smog31)


 LINK

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World Cafe
January 29, 2021
(broadcast date)

13- A Hero's Death
14- I Don't Belong
15- Sunny
16- Interview
Time: 23:45

Lineage: FM > Avermedia Tuner > Adobe Audition > CD Wave Editor > TLH > FLAC (level 8)

LINK 

Monday 18 April 2022

ARCADE FIRE - Bootleg Mix Vol. 2 (Flac)

Arcade Fire will release their sixth studio album on 6 May 2022. Early reviews suggest that it's their best since 'The Suburbs' with one reviewer appearing indifferent about their last album and describing the double album 'Reflektor' as patchy. Often they can be but if cut down to a single album, it's likely that some great songs would also be omitted.

It seems then an opportune moment to post 'Bootleg Mix Volume 2' which includes tracks from the latter period of their career.

Volume 1 can be found HERE

Further information on the complete shows used to compile this live mix, can be found in the latest 'Bootlegs of the Year' document HERE

ARCADE FIRE : Bootleg Mix Vol. 2 (2005-2018)

01. Haiti (5:34)             
02. Black Mirror (4:33)         
03. Antichrist Television Blues (5:10)     
04. Crown of Love (5:03)       
05. Five Years (3:34)       
06. City with No Children (3:38)              
07. Rococo (4:34)                    
08. My Body is a Cage 4:43                
09. We Used To Wait 4:53                
10. The Suburbs cont. > Ready To Start (4:54)        
11. Electric Blue (4:15)                      
12. Put Your Money On Me (6:21)           
13. Afterlife (5:57)                  
14. Reflektor (6:55)                        
15. Signs Of Life (4:34)      
16. We Exist (5:48)           

t1-3: BBC Radio Radcliffe & Maconie, MV, London. b/cast: June 28, 2007
Lineage:  FM Tuner > Wav > Soundforge > flac tlh)

t4-5: First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN. September 29, 2005  KCMP 89.3 FM b/cast 4 Dec, 2005
Lineage: FM > PC > CDWave > wav > flac

t6-9: UIC Pavilion, Chicago, IL US.  Sunday 24 April, 2011
Lineage: FM (Onkyo TX8511)>SoundBlaster (Live! 24 bit External)>wav(CD Wave Editor)>flac

t10: 2017-06-29 Rock Werchter (Belgium)  Studio Brussel FM Broadcasts (June 29 & 30)
Lineage: Marantz M-CR610 & external antenna homemade > Roland Edirol R09HR v.1.04 (16bit/44kHz)

t11-13: 2018 04 28, Paris, FR, Arena Hôtel, Bercy France Inter, ‘Les Concerts d'Inter’ broadcast FM
Lineage: FM > Zoom H1 > USB computer > Magix Studio > TLH Flac 8

t14-16: Isle of Wight Festival, England June 10, 2017 “SBD” lossy stream?
No lineage but my guess is that, it was recorded from the SKY Ultra HD broadcast of the show, see below.

Sky covers Isle of Wight festival in 4K
May 17, 2017 By Nik Roseveare

Sky Arts will broadcast a major music festival live and in Ultra HD for first time next month. The channel will be the exclusive home to the 2017 Isle of Wight festival, with coverage from headline acts including Rod Stewart, Run DMC and Arcade Fire.
Once live coverage of the festival begins on June 9th, Sky Arts viewers will be able to enjoy four hours of live Ultra HD entertainment every night.
---------------------------

Ultra HD: What about sound?
There’s no maximum or minimum sound quality set in the Ultra HD standard, but you can get everything from stereo audio up to 7.1 lossless Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks, depending on the source footage. In other words, you can get amazing sound, but the source of the footage defines the quality and type of soundtrack.

LINK 

 

Monday 11 April 2022

ANOTHER COUNTRY with Ricky Ross - The Best Music of 2021 (Flac)

Continuing our look at some of the best DJ's and radio programmes that the UK has offered past & present.

Like the Bob Harris Country show, this programme has been running for over ten years on UK radio. This complete show was the final programme of 2021. It has an in-depth look at some of the best artists and songs from the 'Americana' genre released in 2021. Call it Alt Country, US Roots music or whatever name suits you best. 

The programme runs for over two hours but includes two five minute+ chunks given over to the news and weather. This cuts the running time down to around approximately one hundred and nine minutes.

Part one is included in this post with the second following next month.

BBC Radio Scotland FM Stereo - Another Country with Ricky Ross
Broadcast: Tuesday 9 November, 2021 / 8-10pm

The Best Music of 2021 part one

Ricky Ross showcases his favourite music of the year as played on Another Country - a guide to the best Americana and country releases of 2021.

01. Eric Church - Heart On Fire 
02. Lainey Wilson - Things A Man Oughta Know
03. Allison Russell - Nightflyer | Outside Child
04. The Wallflowers - Roots and Wings | Exit Wounds
05. Natalie Hemby - Radio Silence | Pins And Needles.
06. Tre Burt - Sweet Misery
07. Todd Snider - Handsome John
08. Saint Sister - Oh My God, Oh Canada
09. Teddy Thompson & Jenni Muldaur - Just Someone I Used To Know | Teddy & Jenni do Porter & Dolly: A Tribute To the Duets...
10. Saint Sister - Oh My God, Oh Canada Pillar of Salt
11. Amythyst Kiah - Fancy Drones (Fracture Me)
12. Charlie Worsham - Fist Through This Town

01. Eric Church - Heart On Fire | Single        
Released as the second single from Church's studio album Heart. In a press release Church said: "Heart On Fire" was the first song we recorded when we got to North Carolina, I already had pretty much, I wrote this song by myself, but I already had this song on the rails and we were heading down the path of what this was going to be. I thought we needed to kind of break the ice and get started on something, [...] This was the song that was kind of the icebreaker for the whole project, and I credit this song a lot for getting us to where we ended up getting to with the project." Website popculture.com described "Heart On Fire" as "an up-tempo, Southern rock-infused track looking back on a young love".  released July 12, 2021

 

02. Lainey Wilson - Things A Man Oughta Know | Single
“Things A Man Oughta Know” reflects Lainey's honesty and self-conviction. “I can hang a picture same as I can take it down/ And how to keep it hidden when a heart gets broke/ Yeah I know a few things a man oughta know,” she croons on the track. Written with Jonathan Singleton and Jason Nix, “It’s really a song about having good character and a song about treating people the way that you want to be treated -- something that we all should know,” she explains. “It’s about standing up for what’s right. I would like for people to hear that through my music too.” It was released as a single in August 2020 and later included on the studio album Sayin' What I'm Thinkin' released February 19, 2021

 

03. Allison Russell - Nightflyer | Outside Child
Outside Child, says Russell “is about resilience, survival, transcendence, the redemptive power of art, community, connection, and chosen family.” Singing about this on “Nightflyer,” Russell ponders the healing power of motherhood, using the track’s wide-open expanse to convey the strength she didn’t know she had. Here, the line “I am the mother of the evening star / I am the love that conquers all” is “the most defiantly triumphant, hopeful line I've ever written...that's about the birth of my daughter and how that transformed me.” Though they had a fraught relationship, Russell remembers how she’d crawl underneath the piano and listen to her own mother play. “I would hum along with her,” Russell recalls. “She said I was humming before I could talk. I was able to feel some kind of comfort or love or connection in a way that she couldn't verbally or physically express - but I could feel in her music that there was love in her.”  released May 21, 2021

 

04. The Wallflowers - Roots And Wings | Exit And Wounds
It’s been nine long years since we’ve heard from the group with whom Jakob Dylan first made his mark, the Wallflowers are silent no more. And Dylan always knew they’d return. “The Wallflowers is much of my life’s work,” he says simply. That life’s work continues with Exit Wounds, the brand-new Wallflowers studio offering. The collection marks the first new Wallflowers material since Glad All Over. Exit Wounds, which, true to its title, is an ode to people – individual and collective – that have, to put it mildly, been through some stuff. “I think everybody – no matter what side of the aisle you’re on – wherever we’re going to next, we're all taking a lot of exit wounds with us,” Dylan says. “Nobody is the same as they were four years ago. That, to me, is what Exit Wounds signifies. And it's not meant to be negative at all. It just means that wherever you’re headed, even if it’s to a better place, you leave people and things behind, and you think about those people and those things and you carry them with you. Those are your exit wounds. And right now, we’re all swimming in them.”  released July 9, 2021

 
05. Natalie Hemby - Radio Silence | Pins And Needles
Revered as one of the music industry’s most notable songwriters creating hit after hit behind the scenes. Now, poised for a breakout, with the release of her exceptional sophomore album. Title track “Pins and Needles was the first song I ever wrote with Brothers Osborne,” says Hemby. "I have always loved this song, and I have always loved them. They almost put it on their record. Years after, I asked them if I could have it. They said yes, so I decided to record it and make it the title track. It’s one of my favorites."
Known for the versatile sonics and storytelling that earned her eight #1 singles, Hemby explores a full range of her musical gifts, spanning influences from Tom Petty to Sheryl Crow and the early 90’s rock and roots she was raised on — with incomparable individuality. “Pins and Needles is the record I never got the chance to make and I always wanted to,” adds Hemby. “It’s the late 90’s sound, which is the sound of my young adult life.”
Like Bonnie Raitt a generation before, Hemby is reaching the pinnacle of her artistry in her 40s.  released October 8, 2021

 

06. Tre Burt - Sweet Misery | You, Yeah, You
Tré Burt is a singer-songwriter based in Sacramento, California and the newest signing to Oh Boy Records. “Caught It From The Rye” Tré Burt’s debut album, was re-released on the label January 31, 2020. It showcased Burt's literary songwriting and lo-fi, rootsy aesthetic, which he honed busking on the streets of San Francisco and traveling the world in search of inspiration. Like his label mate and songwriting hero John Prine, Burt has a poet's eye for detail, a surgeon's sense of narrative precision and a folk singer's natural knack for a timeless melody.
His second album 'You, Yeah, You' is a narrated collection of songs featuring a cast of invented characters; heroes, villains, those destitute of salvation, and those seeking it. The album represents a summoning of the will to fight the unknown rather than surrender to fear and fatigue.  released August 27, 2021

 

07. Todd Snider - Handsome John | First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder
“After my last album Agnostic Hymns, I felt like I was out of ideas and I just didn’t know where to go next,” Snider says. “I tried to study music by other people, and come to this record hoping that I’d have something new to say. I wanted to do what I was calling ‘funk in back and busking up front, with White Album-y shit scattered about.’ I had done a lot of listening to Parliament and James Brown and lots of reggae music, too. It’s embarrassing to admit, but I’ve been trying to think of this sound all my life. This is the closest I’ve come to thinking, ‘Man, I don’t know that I’ve heard anything like this before.’”
Although Snider is broadly speaking an americana artist, the record is described as “more funk than folk, more Sly Stone than singer-songwriter, its fatback-style grooves, full of ghost notes and disparate syncopated elements, slither and slide around Snider’s acoustic guitar with caduceus-like precision.”
Amidst the groovier, more playful songs are two sombre centerpieces about mortality –  ‘Sail On, My Friend’ and ‘Handsome John’ – the latter a gorgeous tribute to John Prine.  Nobody was as important to Snider as a friend and mentor.
Snider says: “I started singing that song about him almost right after he died. Nobody had ever been kinder to me, more vulnerable with me. He’d take the time to sit down and generously explain something that he believed was not serving you. I was young when I met John, so I’m embarrassed to tell you that the lecture that I got from him was a painful one, but it saved my life. It changed my songs completely. I remember I was withdrawing on a plane, and he said, ‘You’re doing this wrong.’ And I had seventeen songs, and he was the only who’d heard them, and he said, ‘You’ve got two songs here.’ And I said, ‘What about the others? And he said, ‘Yeah, let’s talk about those.’ Those conversations changed everything about the way I approached my life. People don’t want to tell everybody what the therapist said, so I’ll leave it there. But very compassionately, he said, ‘Here’s why you’re not happy.’ Of all the people I know who wrote songs and sang, he was the happiest and the one who’d most dialled the troubadour life in and made peace with it. I loved him.”  released April 23, 2021

 

08. Saint Sister - Oh My God, Oh Canada | Where I Should End.
“Oh My God Oh Canada is about the intricacies within your most cherished and complicated relationships. It’s about not knowing where the line is, finding yourself on the wrong side of it and spending months trying to find your way back to the right place. It’s about saying too much and at the same time, nothing at all, giving too much of yourself in one moment but not showing up when you’re needed most I wrote it about wanting to be a better friend, but knowing I never would be.” Hailing from the north of Ireland, Morgana MacIntyre (Belfast) and Gemma Doherty (Derry) met in Dublin in 2014. Both had graduated from the same college that summer and stayed in the city to pursue music.  released June 25, 2021


09. Teddy Thompson & Jenni Muldaur - Teddy & Jenni do Porter & Dolly: A Tribute to the Duets of Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton | 4-track digital EP
The first of three EP's honouring the great music duet partnerships. Released by producer & multi-instrumentalist David Mansfield. He says that "The Thompson/Muldaur classic country duets project, grew out of his pandemic-fueled creativity. “I had to--and wanted to--make my own work when the biz was shut down,” says Mansfield. “And I went down the rabbit hole listening to the NPR podcast Dolly Parton's America.”
Teddy Thompson was the first guest on the streaming Fallout Shelter concert series I did during the pandemic. It all just seemed perfect. In fact, the Porter & Dolly tracking session was an episode of the concert series. It went so well that expanding it seemed like a great idea.”
“I’ve been a big Porter-Dolly fan for years, and this [project] is a combination of knowing that Jenni has always had an affinity for Dolly’s music, and Teddy has a real soft spot for hard country-western. He made a straight country-western album of his own [Up Front and Down Low] and I toured with him on that.”
“It’s something of a ‘preservation mission’ for all concerned,” concludes Mansfield. “I strongly feel this is stuff that is fast receding into the distant past--and it shouldn’t be.”  released on May 21, 2021

 
10. Noah Gundersen & Phoebe Bridgers - Atlantis | A Pillar Of Salt
This track is from US singer-songwriter Noah Gundersen latest album, ‘A Pillar of Salt’. The sombre track sees Gundersen grappling with regret and sorrow with Bridgers over an understated indie folk arrangement. “It’s overdramatic, yeah, I know / Somebody cast me in a TV show / Where I play an addict, a drunken romantic / Always reaching for another drink,” they sing in its chorus.  released October 8, 2021



11. Amethyst Kiah - Fancy Drones | Wary + Strange
With an unforgettable voice that’s both unfettered and exquisitely controlled, the Tennessee-bred singer/songwriter expands on the uncompromising artistry she most recently revealed as part of Our Native Daughters, an all-women-of-color supergroup whose Kiah-penned standout “Black Myself” earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best American Roots Song and won Song of the Year at the 2019 Folk Alliance International Awards. Kiah’s songwriting and sound is a raw yet nuanced examination of grief, alienation, and the hard-won triumph of total self-acceptance.  released on June 18, 2021



12. Charlie Worsham - Fist Through This Town | Single
In a press release, Charlie Worsham recounts how the song "fell onto the page late one solitary night in a little house I used to rent on Lillian Street ... fueled by whiskey and a season of frustration, watched over by a painting of George Jones hanging on the wall, illuminated by the glow of hand-me-down lamps." "I think we all go through those times when it feels like the world is against us, and that’s especially true for anyone who dares to chase down their dream," Worsham reflects. True, "Fist Through This Town" could apply to anyone facing a hurdle in their career or personal life, but for Worsham, the song, he says, "was the first time I got that honest with myself about my anger." "My hoe is that this song can be rocket fuel for everyone else out there struggling to will a dream into existence," Worsham adds.  released April 17, 2021

LINK pt. 1
 


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