#62 THE SMITHS - Troy Tate mixes (Tate 2) (Flac)

THE SMITHS
Troy Tate Recordings - "Tate 2"

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These are the original notes:

Tuesday, April 26, 2011
"These things take time: Smiths (new) Troy Tate Mixes. Well, this was sooner than I expected of myself, but that's what a (previously scheduled) day off work will get ya...
As referenced on our sibling blog Extra Track (and a tacky badge), via smithstorrents, a new massive upgrade has surfaced of the "rarer" set of Troy Tate mixes destined for the Smiths' aborted Tate-produced debut LP, courtesy Soundsville Paul.

The common set of Tate mixes, circulating since the early 1990s (if not earlier), is more "primitive" than these in that these "new" mixes feature additional overdubs, etc. An interesting theory - not confirmed - is that these "new" mixes resulted from the original Tate final mixes being given to John Porter with the thoughts of tarting them up for the record, before Porter binned them as unsalvageable and brought the band in to re-record the songs from scratch. See this post over on Smithstorrents for further details.

This new source is a massive upgrade of the 2006-era surfacing of these "new" mixes, with at least one never-heard version. While still not perfect (some dropouts, tape azimuth issues here and there, and a bit noisy in spots), they are still a million times better than what we had before.
Of course I had to run them through the patented Analog Loyalist wringer... I'm not 10000% satisfied with my cleanup job - I had to rely on a couple tools I don't normally like to overuse, and in spots I think this may have suffered as a result - but that said, it's still an improvement from the raw versions. Overall listenability is massively improved, and as I'm most critical of myself I'm probably the only one who thinks I can do better.

Here's hoping for an even better source to show up - after all, who would have thought the John Porter recording of "Sheila Take A Bow" would surface after all these years?"

THE SMITHS
Troy Tate Recordings - "Tate 2"
April 2011 Analog Loyalist mastering
Alternate mixes of the common circulating variants
- New Soundsville Paul source

01 What Difference Does It Make? #1 (same as we used before, but better!)
02 Accept Yourself #1 (unsurfaced NEW take!)
03 The Hand That Rocks The Cradle
04 You've Got Everything Now
05 These Things Take Time
06 What Difference Does It Make? #2
07 Hand In Glove
08 Handsome Devil
09 Accept Yourself #2 (same as we used before, but better!)
10 Wonderful Woman (same as we used before, but better!)
11 I Don't Owe You Anything
12 Jeane
13 Suffer Little Children *
14 Miserable Lie
15 Reel Around The Fountain (same as we used originally, but better!)

Source: Cassette uploaded by Soundsville Paul to smithstorrents; obtained from a "friend of the band" in the mid-1980s
* sadly, not the version with the beautiful piano coda which Johnny resurrected a couple years later to form "Asleep"

LINK

#61 WILCO - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Demos & Engineer Reference Demos (Flac)

WILCO
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Demos

 WILCO YHF etc… the story

Given the chance to write a fresh batch of songs, to match with more Woody Guthrie lyrics, Wilco contributed a number of songs, to the second Mermaid Avenue record, one of which ("Someday Some Morning Sometime") was a key signpost to the path the band would take. Leaving the denseness of Summerteeth behind, the sometimes ghostly, ethereal "Someday Some Morning Sometime" was the first hint towards a more atmospheric, moody path the band would often revisit, refine and expand in the 2000s.

Then everything went berserk.

The group began writing songs for their next album, and recorded them in their own loft studio space, with Jay Bennett (guitars, keyboards & song writing) engineering the sessions. They agreed to be filmed, for a future feature-length film* on the band and the making of the record. Original drummer Ken Coomer was fired from the band and replaced with the talented Glenn Kotche. This happened on the very same day that filmmaker Sam Jones showed up with all of his gear to start making the film.

Despite a long, drawn-out mixing process, pitting multi-talented Jay Bennett against the avant-garde Jim O'Rourke, Jeff Tweedy's choice of mixer. The record was finally completed, one that initially sounded like ‘Summerteeth Part II’ had now become much more intimate, experimental and unique. On hearing the album, Reprise (an arm of Warner Bros Records) thought it too un-commercial and decided to drop them from the label. Sam Jones’ cameras catch the conversation where Reprise tells manager Tony Margherita that they have dropped the band. Initially Wilco was to pay $50,000 to get the rights to their new record back, but eventually Reprise let them go for free.

Before signing a new deal, the band fired the aforementioned Jay Bennett - losing a key songwriter, guitarist, and superb keyboardist. They were now down to a four-piece: Jeff Tweedy (songwriter, guitars & vocals) John Stirratt (bass), Leroy Bach (keyboards & guitars) and Glenn Kotche (drums & percussion). They signed to Nonesuch, another Warner Bros imprint; essentially getting Warner’s to pay twice for their new album – one that was eventually released in April 2002 titled ‘Yankee Hotel Foxtrot’.

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Demos

01 - I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
02 - Ashes of American Flags
03 - I'm The Man Who Loves You
04 - A Magazine Called Sunset
05 - Reservations
06 - Kamera
07 - Not For the Season
08 - Shakin' Sugar (aka 'Alone')
09 - Nothing Up My Sleeve
10 - Venus Stop the Train
11 - Cars Can't Escape (aka 'Rhythm')
12 - Poor Places
13 - Won't You Let Down
14 - Heavy Metal Drummer
15 - Let Me Come Home (aka 'Instrumental 1')
16 - Corduroy Cutoff Girl (aka 'Instrumental 2')
17 - Corduroy Cutoff Girl (aka 'Instrumental 2') (alternate)
18 - Kamera (alternate)
19 - A Magazine Called Sunset (alternate)
20 - Shakin' Sugar (aka 'Alone') (alternate)
21 - Not For the Season (alternate)

The so-called "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Demos" - actually consisting of both true demos and completed-but-discarded studio tracks from the YHF sessions - have been called "the great lost Wilco album." In fact, it sometimes seems that these recordings have inspired as much fawning praise from critics as the officially-released album.

The tracks fall into two basic categories. First, there are early, sometimes radically different versions of songs that ended up on the record. Indeed, fans who aren't wild about the sonic experimentation on YHF can find more straightforward renditions of some of the songs here.

Second, and even more stunning, are the songs that didn't make the cut at all, a number of them as good as just about anything in the Wilco catalog. It's not hard to guess why pop gems like "Magazine Called Sunset," "Alone" and "Nothing Up My Sleeve," all of which would have been right at home on Summerteeth, didn't fit in with what Tweedy was trying to accomplish with YHF, but that doesn't make them any less wonderful. "Not For The Season" is terrific, too, and was a longtime staple of Wilco's live set (they still bust it out on occasion), but it didn't make the grade either, perhaps because Tweedy had other plans for the song. (It ended up, sapped of most of its passion, as "Laminated Cat" on the first album by Tweedy's Loose Fur side project.) And "Will Not Let You Down" sounds like Wilco brought Exile-era Keith Richards in as a ringer one day -- it's rollicking fun, even if it had no natural place on YHF.

Yet, the omission of two of these songs from YHF defies explanation. "Cars Can't Escape" is one of Wilco's loveliest ballads, and although the band gave it away online to anyone who purchased YHF, and even toss it into their live setlist every now and then, they have never treated it as much more than a throw-away. It's been added to this collection.

But if these recordings do comprise some sort of alternate-universe classic, then "Venus Stop The Train" is THE great lost Wilco track. Achingly beautiful and hauntingly produced, it would have been an absolute highlight of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and consistent in every way with the sound and ethos of that classic record. Instead, it has never been released, or performed live. Not even once. Until that far-off day when a career-spanning Wilco box set sees the light of day, this is the only way you'll ever hear this positively gorgeous song.

Engineer Reference Demos

01 I'm The Man Who Loves You
xx Kamera (officially released on More Like The Moon EP & Rarities box)
xx A Magazine Called Sunset (officially released on More Like The Moon EP & Rarities box)
02 Poor Places
03 Shakin Sugar
04 War On War
05 Ashes Of American Flags
06 Cars Can't Escape
07 Pot Kettle Black
08 The Good Part
09 I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
10 Reservations
11 Let Me Come Home
12 Heavy Metal Drummer
13 Nothing Up My Sleeve
14 Radio Cure (Corduroy Cutoff Girl)
15 Never Let You Down
16 Venus Stop the Train

Source: Studio SBD Chicago, IL. (2001)
Lineage: unknown
FLAC Fingerprint annd Shntool MD5 Fingerprint files created with Trader's Little Helper.
officially released tracks removed.

Notes:
These are previously uncirculated studio versions of the songs off Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. They are all at least somewhat different from the 21 track verson of the YHF Demos listed above. The early working version of "Radio Cure" (titled "Corduroy Cutoff Girl"), as well as alternate studio versions of "Pot Kettle Black" and War On War have never been on any other bootleg.  "A Magazine Called Sunset" and "Kamera" were previously included on the Kamera / More Like The Moon EP. Everything else is at least somewhat different than anything previously circulated.

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Following is an expanded list of YHF session tracks, one that includes the two unique demo / engineering leaks, as well as the final album versions and additional released tracks. It gives a perspective on what is available on bootleg and the tracks that have been officially released. 
In comparing the early versions to the finished ones. It's noticeable that the prototypes often feature the track as it sounded with former drummer Ken Coomer, while the finished feature Glenn Kotche. 
Furthermore, if you sequence the record including the tracks that ultimately were dropped from the final running order, you really do have what could have been ‘Summerteeth’ Part II - which, obviously, Jeff Tweedy had no interest in making.

KEY:

"Demo" - available on the 21-track leaked demo CD, supposedly from tracks recorded before drummer Ken Coomer was fired and replaced by Glenn Kotche. The drumming sounds more like Ken than his replacement, in that, the drums have fewer nuances than Glenn's drumming.

"Engineer Reference" - available on the unknown-lineage leaked CD that supposedly was used as a mixing reference during the final mix down sessions with Jim O'Rourke. It’s unknown who the drummer was on these tracks I have no evidence but I think the drums sound more like Glenn than Ken, and they are much closer to the final mix versions than the earlier demos. The disc has some glitches, as initially leaked, and includes tape spin-up sounds at the beginning of some tracks.

“YHF album” - available on the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot album. Jim O'Rourke's final mixes are clearly more defined, less sprawling, and, frankly, better than the original demo versions or the Engineer Reference variants. Just compare the three versions of "Poor Places" - the upbeat, honky-tonk Demo variant is miles away from the final album track - and it's much better for Jim O'Rourke's involvement.

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot session tracks

I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
01 Demo
02 Engineer Reference
03 YHF album*

Kamera
04 Demo, take 1
05 Demo, take 2
06 Engineer Reference* on More like The Moon EP & the box set 
07 YHF album*

Radio Cure
08 Engineer Reference - vocal, entitled "Corduroy Cutoff Girl"
09 YHF album*

War On War
10 Engineer Reference
11 YHF album*

Jesus, etc.
12 YHF album*
no known demo version has leaked

Ashes of American Flags
13 Demo
14 Engineer Reference (Glenn drums?)
15 YHF album* (Jay's rough-mix drums were used on this track)

Heavy Metal Drummer
16 Demo
17 Engineer Reference
18 YHF album*

I'm The Man Who Loves You
19 Demo
20 Engineer Reference
21 YHF album*

Pot Kettle Black
22 Engineer Reference
23 YHF album*

Poor Places
24 Demo
25 Engineer Reference
26 YHF album*

Reservations
27 Demo
28 Engineer Reference
29 YHF album*

Non-album plus unreleased tracks

A Magazine Called Sunset
30 Demo, take 1
31 Demo, take 2
32 Engineer Reference* on ‘More like The Moon’ EP & the box set
 
Not For The Season
33 Demo, take 1
34 Demo, take 2
remade as a Loose Fur track (Tweedy/O'Rourke/Kotche) and retitled "Laminated Cat", with a much sparser sound

Shakin' Sugar
35 Demo, take 1
36 Demo, take 2
37 Engineer Reference
re-recorded and released by Jay Bennett on his debut solo release The Palace at 4 AM

Nothing Up My Sleeve
38 Demo
39 Engineer Reference

Venus Stop The Train
40 Demo
41 Engineer Reference
re-recorded and released by Jay Bennett on his debut solo release The Palace at 4 AM

Cars Can't Escape
42 Demo
43 Engineer Reference
44 Wilcoworld.net Roadcase* official download version & the box set
 
Won't Let You Down
45 Demo
46 Engineer Reference

The Good Part
47 Engineer Reference
48 B-side to "War On War" single* & the box set

Corduroy Cutoff Girl
49 Demo - instrumental, take 1
50 Demo - instrumental, take 2

Let Me Come Home
51 Demo - instrumental
52 Engineer Reference – vocal* released on benefit CD 'Amos House Collection Vol.3' & the box set

Of the 52 tracks listed here 16* have been officially released, the remaining 36 tracks can be found on the YHF demos and the YHF Engineer demos. The source for this article was an earlier blog post by ‘analogloyalist’ in 2009. It has been edited, re-written in parts and brought up to date with current information

* The official tracks can currently be found on the two following releases: 

Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Nonesuch -79669-2)

Released: 23 April 2002

Wilco - Alpha Mike Foxtrot: Rare Tracks 1994-2014 (Nonesuch - 543675-2)

Released:  17 Nov 2014

* The Sam Jones film can be seen on the DVD release:

Wilco - I Am Trying To Break Your Heart [2002] (Plexifilm – 007)

Released: 1 April, 2003

 



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#60 PETER TOSH - Bottom Line, NYC. 1979 (Flac)

The Bottom Line,
New York City, NY.
8 March 1979

FM broadcast
(This is the repaired version)

The final part of a trilogy from the superb and legendary New York venue The Bottom Line.

There are numerous live shows circulating by Peter Tosh. This is my favourite from his live performances in the 70's apart from 'Live And Dangerous Boston 1976' the official live release, which is amongst the great live reggae albums and a must have for any reggae fan.

Between the end of the 'Bush Doctor' tour in late '78 and recording sessions for the 'Mystic Man' album. Sly and Robbie had set up their own label 'Taxi' and were soon enjoying hits by reggae stars such as Junior Delgado, Dennis Brown, Wailing Souls, Tamlins and a #1 hit with Gregory Isaacs 'Soon Forward'. It was a time of innovation for the talented duo. Disco was the dominant mainstream musical sound at this time and reggae artists like others sought to include elements in their own music. Sly had started using an open snare combining it with a Syn drum, this produced a more militant and powerful live sound.

After touring dates in the US throughout February, Peter had come to New York city for two consecutive dates at the Bottom Line on the 7th and 8th of March. Few reggae artists had performed here apart from the Mighty Diamonds and Toots & the Maytals, three years earlier. Seven dollars for a ticket, they sold out fast, especially after Peter's TV exposure, just before Christmas, performing with Mick Jagger on 'Saturday Night Live'.

He arrived at the venue in style, stepping out of a black limousine. The New York Times reviews said "Peter Tosh brought the tightest, most powerful reggae that has yet played in the United States", and "backed by a solid band with three back-up singers, he weaves a powerful path from the slower easier paced numbers which open his show to the strong biting and bitter statements that bring the audience to its feet cheering. They were simply overwhelming." High praise indeed from the hardbitten and not easily impressed New York reporters. The shows were the talk of the town, Peter quoting to a radio presenter that reggae music is "breaking down all the barriers that have been put up, seen?"

What makes this one special is the involvement of the crack rhythm team Sly & Robbie (Sly Dunbar & Robbie Shakespeare) who were part of Peter's live band at this time, second only to the Wailers rhythm section - the Barrett Brothers. The venue's intimate ambience, the quality of the recording, a perfect sound mix with each instrument and the vocals in equal balance, the sound of the crowd and like the previous Santana post it's an extremely warm and percussive performance, all of these factors play their part.

If you like reggae you need this one, even if you don't, try it you may change your mind!

01. 400 Years
02. Stepping Razor
03. Pick Myself Up
04. African
05. Burial
06. Soon Come
07. The Toughest
08. Bush Doctor
09. (You Gotta Walk) Don't Look Back
10. Get Up, Stand Up
11. Babylon Queendom
12. Jam

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April 2016
The gaps between tracks were removed by Wavlab
Additional lineage: original flac files > Wav > Wavlab editing > Flac (8)

remaining flaws:
t6 Soon Come cuts near end
t7 The Toughest is missing the beginning
t9 Don't Look Back beginning slightly cut

*******************AN UPGRADE OF THIS FROM A PRE-FM SOURCE***************** was made available on the Dimeadozen tracker during March 2019

#59 SANTANA - Bottom Line, NYC 1978 (Flac)

SANTANA
The Bottom Line, New York, NY
16 October, 1978
FM broadcast

This was one of the best bootlegs I downloaded last year and is a fabulous show broadcast live on WNEW FM (New York) and WMMR FM (Philadelphia). In front of an intimate crowd at New York’s famed Bottom Line. (see the notes below on the importance of the 'Bottom Line' as a live venue).

This set drew on tracks from six of the ten albums that Santana had released at the time. Four tracks are taken from ‘Santana III’ (1971), and five from ‘Moonflower’ (1977) two of them covers - both sixties hits 'Black Magic Woman' and 'She’s Not There' re-imagined for the seventies and every bit as successful and enduring as the originals have been.

I’ve heard a few Santana bootlegs that seemed flat and lifeless sounding; this one doesn’t and is a keeper, the best from 1978 – it’s warm and percussive, rock music you can dance too.
Make sure you get this one, it's free of the micro gaps, errors and dropouts on some circulating versions..

CD1:
01. intro > Well Alright (6:19)
02. Black Magic Woman > Gypsy Queen (7:08)
03. Dance Sister Dance (7:57)
04. Europa (7:50)
05. Dealer (5:33)
06. Incident At Neshabur (6:31)
07. Move On (10:47)
08. Batuka > No One To Depend On (4:46)

CD2:
01. One Chain (6:27)
02. Toussaint L' Overture (9:19)
03. She's Not There (5:05)
04. Open Invitation (5:11)
05. Jungle Strut (5:55)
06. Transcendence (6:54)
07. Evil Ways (5:26)

Running Time: 56:56, 44:19


 from the Bottom Line archives:
" This show as well as the show we did with Van Morrison almost a month later, Nov 1, 1978, was very special to Stanley and myself. Bill Graham, someone we both admired, introduced both of those artists from our stage the night of those shows. Graham told us that he felt the Bottom Line stage had become as important in New York City as the Fillmore stage in terms of an artist¹s career. That was the ultimate compliment coming from the person we most admired. Words do not convey what Bill's comp[liment meant to us because we always thought of the club as a mini-Fillmore.
You cannot imagine the joy it brought to hear him introduce SANTANA in that initimible Bill Graham way...N.Y. Let's have a warm Bottom Line greeting for... "

#58 GIL SCOTT-HERON & BRIAN JACKSON - Bottom Line, NYC. 1977 (Flac)

Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson
Live at the Bottom Line
New York, NY
August 20th, 1977

Recorded SBD - PCM > WAV

Gil Scott-Heron - genius, activist, brilliant poet, jazz-funk pioneer, rap pioneer, possessed of a beautiful spoken and singing voice, possessed of both a searing intelligence and a sense of humour. The guy's had his troubles with drugs in recent years, but got it together for a final album 'I'm New Here' released in February 2010 his first release since 1994's 'Spirits'. A fitting epitaph, the world can ill afford to lose people of his calibre. In combination with Brian Jackson he's just unbeatable.

Some unreleased live recordings sound like they've been recorded from the venue's bathroom, then there are the quality ones like this one. This fantastic, powerhouse two hour performance was recorded straight from mixing desk at the Bottom Line club into a PCM, an early digital recorder, then transferred to WAV and then FLAC. It sounds great, and is now my favourite live Gil Scott-Heron album. 

This performance comes a year after the mostly-live album "It's Your World" and the week before the release of "Bridges". It's comprised mostly of tracks from the latter, with some favourites and one-offs added. These are not just renditions of album tracks - the Midnight Band is steaming, with long percussion sections and improvisation. So even if you've got all of these tracks, and all of his live albums, you really, really need this.

Gil starts with a ten minute monologue that turns into the poem "New Deal". He starts seemingly casually talking about the state of the world, and builds into a scathing media commentary, an africanist world perspective and an account of a black hostage taker in Cleveland whose demands were "All white folks leave Earth!". The starker and darker his commentary becomes, the more humour he brings in ... It's extraordinary to hear his summation of "change" at the end of the monologue and to realise the resonance of his discourse on contemporary thought and politics.

This band is HOT - up to three people on rhodes with Brian Jackson at the forefront - check the fifteen minutes of keyboard and brass workouts on "Home is Where the Hatred Is" - three or more people on percussion under the guidance of Barnett Williams, latin-tinged trumpet solos from Delbert Taylor, great sax work from Allan Barnes.

The percussion workouts here are insanely good. The band follow the monologue with the five minute percussion / chanting of "Gumbai", and there are six minutes in the middle of "The Bottle" with just latin percussion and voice.

I think there's something about the intimacy of the Bottom Line that brings out the best in people. I could go on all day and all night about how good this 1977 concert is - but i'll hold back and say: just download it and enjoy it. (Thanks to Simon666 for the notes, artwork and making this available)

disc one
01. New Deal - 10:20
02. Gumbai - 5.28
03. Race Track In France - 10.50
04. 95 South - 6.47
05. Hello Sunday, Hello Road - 3.51
06. It's Your World - 6:57
07. Home Is Where The Hatred Is - 15:55

disc 2
08. Almost Lost Detroit - 7.22
09. Vildgolia (Deaf, Dumb & Blind) - 12:44
10. Winter In America - 6:54
11. Under The Hammer - 5:06
12. The Bottle - 16.02
13. Johannesburg - 5.44

MUSICIANS

Gil Scott-Heron - electric piano, vocals
Brian Jackson - piano, electric piano, clavinet, synths, flute, vocals
Allan Barnes - flute, tenor sax, synthesizer
Reggie Brisbane - percussion, drums
Siggie Dillard - bass
Tony Duncanson - timbales, percussion, djembe
Delbert Taylor - trumpet, electric piano (on "95 South" & "Home Is Where the Hatred Is")
Barnett Williams - djembe, congas

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Lineage: 48kHz 16 bit 1,536kbps (DAT) Audio quality (DAT lossless) Encoder settings PCM
        > dBpoweramp converted to > WAV 16bit 44kHz 1,411kbps
        > FLAC 16bit 44kHz 1,411kbps

Disc one tracks 01-07
proven lossless see Tau Analyzer - 1.2 screen shots

Disc two tracks 08-13
proven lossless see Tau Analyzer - 1.2 screen shots

There are lossy versions of this circulating claiming to be Flac, they are in fact lossy.
These audio files have been checked and proven to be lossless, see images provided from Tau Analyzer.
(thebasement67, July 2016)

#57 REM - Passaic, NJ. June 9, 1984 (Flac)

This superb REM soundboard was first posted on analog loyalists blog - the power of independent trucking.
Because of issues with storage providers (take a bow Mediafire) and also ongoing problems with takedown notices it was unavailable. Easily one of the best bootlegs of last year, 2015. (A massive upgrade from previously existing versions) I am making it available here on the blog. I will let analog loyalist take over now with his original notes.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

R.E.M. 

Passaic, New Jersey

 9 June 1984

Soudboard - analogloyalist master

"Ask me what my favorite live era is for R.E.M. and depending on the day (and my mood) it'll vacillate between their 1984 (Little America) and 1985 (Reconstruction) tours.  On the one hand, in 1984 they are, at the base, still the garage band of their pre-I.R.S. days playing garage punk folk.  On the other, in 1985 what they lose of that garage sense is made up for by increased mysticism and atmosphere.

I'm not sure if Peter Buck changed his rig between tours, but the 1984 sets feature that signature jangle crunch, perhaps at its finest, while 1985 saw Buck's tone gain a fair bit of range (it sounds like he discovered chorus pedals, that is).  The difference is there, though - any of the band's pre-Fables material, when played on the Reconstruction tour, does sound markedly different in terms of guitar sonics. So depending on my mood and mental place I'll either reach for an '84 soundboard, or one of the many '85 gigs.

Of late I've been studiously evaluating my catalog of '84 soundboard recordings.  I guess one would place, from a pure sonic perspective, the July 7, 1984 Aragon Ballroom, Chicago (Brawlroom as we lovingly/hatingly referred to it, my relationship with that venue tends more to the hate side than love, but that's a story for another day) - as released on the Reckoning Deluxe Edition - at the top of the heap, with the others ranked against it as the baseline.

While there are rarer sets than today's feature, or more interesting from a setlist or performance perspective, there are - in my humble opinion - no greater-sounding sets than the band's one-off (for MTV) gig June 9, 1984 at the Capital Theatre, Passaic, New Jersey.
This set was a one-off arranged for MTV, for their "Rock Influences: Folk Rock" episode.  As such, and the band still relatively tight from having recently come off an European tour, the band wasn't as sloppily loose as sets from this era could be.  

It's obvious that the band is intent on delivering a knockout punch, both for the TV audience and for the assorted celebs/heroes that were in attendance, because the last three songs (not included here, as they were not broadcast/on the master reels) featured various Byrds and others guesting.  It's a wonderfully tight, smooth, well-executed gig by an amazing rock band.

So as not to be completely professional, the band chose this spotlight to debut not one, but three new tracks: "Hyena", "Old Man Kensey" and "Driver 8".  Except "Hyena" which is - moreso than the others - clearly a work-in-progress, the new tracks sound as if they could have been in the set for years.

I'm not sure the provenance of the tape/source used for this post, as I've had it in my collection on CD-R for years, but it's certainly not a recording of the TV broadcast, and not an after-the-fact radio rebroadcast either.  I would bet a hundred Bucks (Peter) that this is copied from the actual master or a first-generation dub of it.  There's no hallmarks of FM or TV lineage, it's got full frequency range up to 22.5 kHz (FM cuts off at ~17kHz, and TV even lower), and it doesn't have that classic FM compression feel to it.  It also is thankfully lacking in that high-frequency "smearing" (usually audible in the cymbals) characteristic of FM broadcast.  

Nearly all the other circulating soundboard sets of '84 R.E.M. are ultimately broadcast-sourced, or Nth-generation tape dubs of pre-broadcast radio show LPs (such as the Seattle "The Source" gig), and come nowhere close to sounding as good as this.

How does this Passaic set compare to the Chicago set used on the Reckoning Deluxe Edition?  I think it's of a piece with it - while I disagree with the mastering on the Chicago set, I have no quibbles with the performance or overall sound.  I would just rather listen to this gig than the Chicago set.

I spent a fair bit of time touching up this Passaic set to the point that the band could lift this set from this blog and release it tomorrow, and nobody would know it was mastered by some dork in his bedroom office.  It's *that* good.  You can put that (put that put that) on your wall.

I don't care if you've grabbed this gig in the past from any other place on the Intarwebs, this version here is the definitive version.  I place my reputation on it."

R.E.M.
9 June 1984
Capital Theatre, Passaic, New Jersey
For MTV's "Rock Influences: Folk Rock" episode
mastered February 2012 by Analog Loyalist
Soundboard reel -> ? -> FLAC -> analogloyalist mastering -> you

Setlist:
01. ...intro...
02. Pale Blue Eyes
03. Second Guessing
04. Hyena *
05. Letter Never Sent
06. Harborcoat
07. Seven Chinese Brothers
08. Pretty Persuasion
09. So. Central Rain
10. Gardening At Night
11. 9-9
12. Windout
13. Old Man Kensey *
14. Sitting Still
15. Driver 8 *
16. Carnival Of Sorts (Boxcars)
17. Radio Free Europe
18. Little America
-- So You Want To Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star (w/Roger McGuinn)**
-- Do You Believe In Magic (w/John Sebastian) **
-- Gloria (w/Roger McGuinn) **

* - live debut.
** - not broadcast, and not included here. (I've never seen these on any soundboard set from this gig; it appears only an audience recording captured them.)

LINK

#56 THE CRAMPS - Ohio Demos (Flac)

The Cramps - Ohio Demos 3 X 7" EP

Here`s my all-time fav Cramps boot, Ohio demos 1979, "remastered" from vinyl.
The band and the sound quality is excellent on these much-booted tracks.

Studio outtakes, Akron, Ohio - 1979
Sound quality: A-

01. Twist & Shout (later became “Drug Train”)
02. All Tore Up (aka I Can't Stand It)
03. Mystery Plane
04. TV Set
05. Rockin' Bones
06. What's Behind the Mask?
07. Uranium Rock
08. Under the Wires
09. Teenage Werewolf / Sunglasses After Dark
10. Jungle Hop
11. Mad Daddy

Extra: Voodoo Idol 7" bootleg with Studio outtakes:

12. Human Fly
13. Love Me
14. Voodoo Idol

Lineage: Vinyl: EX+ > VG+ > Rega Planar 2 > CD-Recorder > EAC > Soundforge > FLAC

 

The notes below by an uncredited writer accompany the audio files.

"This collection of crisp, loud and extremely crazed 1979 demos blow clean away any official Cramps release, and that includes “Songs The Lord Taught Us” and “Psychedelic Jungle”.

I’ve gone on record as calling it the greatest bootleg of all time, and now I’ll tell you why.

I own this collection as an LP called “All Tore Up” but it has also been unofficially released as an LP called “Ohio Demos” and a 3x7” box set called the same thing, as well as a CD called “All Tore Up” with a different cover.

Every song is a total raw-assed blast, full of hot fuzz and ultra-reverbed chords, as well as minimalist drumming recorded so up front & alive you’ll swear that Nick Knox was an understated genius (as I do). The lineup includes what are arguably their best set of tunes not called “Human Fly” or “The Way I Walk”.

Everything that was great about 1950s rockabilly was vacuumed up and then owned by The Cramps, and they happened to infuse what was already a wild form with a simultaneous punk rock abandon and a sense of detached cool that made for a pretty goddamn compelling package. You’ll never hear them better than on this collection; the set that came out soon thereafter as “Songs the Lord Taught Us” sounds so thin and lifeless by comparison – and I love that record." 

LINK 

#55 NEIL YOUNG - Chrome Dreams (Rust Edition) (Flac)

Neil Young
Chrome Dreams (Rust Edition)
1975-1976

Source/Lineage: Remastered from the best available sources of each track.
No other version of Chrome Dreams can compare to this.
SHN > foobar2000 1.1.2 (convered and bitverified identical) > FLAC 

Tracklist:
01. Pocahontas
02. Will To Love
03. Star Of Bethlehem
04. Like A Hurricane
05. Too Far Gone
06. Hold Back The Tears
07. Homegrown
08. Captain Kennedy
09. Stringman
10. Sedan Delivery
11. Powderfinger
12. Look Out For My Love

Bonus Tracks:
13. River Of Pride ('White Line', Unreleased Studio Version, 27 NOV 75)
14. Campaigner (Unedited, Unreleased Studio Version, Summer 1976)
15. No One Seems To Know (Live, Tokyo, Japan, 10 Mar 76)
16. Give Me Strength (Live, Chicago, IL, 15 Nov 76)
17. Peace Of Mind (Live, Chicago, IL, 15 Nov 76)
18. Human Highway (CSNY, Unreleased Studio Version, April 76)

Artwork by Paleojack.

CHROME DREAMS (RUST EDITION)

Neil Young was on a creative high in 1975.  By the end of the Summer, "Zuma" was finished, though still not released, yet Neil carried on recording his new songs. Sometimes he recorded solo and sometimes with
Crazy Horse.  Lots of these songs would remain unheard by the public until quite a while later, but by late '75 Neil had already written and recorded versions of such future classics as Like a Hurricane, Powderfinger, Sedan Delivery, Pocahontas and Ride My Llama.

He carried on recording in 1976.  More great songs were put down on tape, such as Will To Love, Stringman and Campaigner.  Some of us may feel that the "Long May You Run" album with Stephen Stills robbed us of the natural successor to "Zuma", but Stills always suspected that Neil was holding back his best stuff for his solo album.  That solo album was a work in progress throughout this period.  Titles were reported in the press. "Ride My Llama".  "In My Neighborhood".  "American Stars 'n Bars". "Chrome
Dreams".

When "American Stars 'n Bars" was released in 1977, Neil had scrapped most of the material he'd been recording since late '75, replacing much of it with a series of rough hewn cowboy songs.  Fun stuff to be sure, but had Neil committed the latest in a series of difficult to explain career suicides?  Who else, except maybe Bob Dylan, would sit on a stash of such quality songs and not let the public hear them?

Tracks 1 to 12 of this compilation are thought to be the unreleased "Chrome Dreams" album, readied for release weeks before Neil recorded those country hoedowns and rethought his strategy.  Some of these song
titles will be more than familiar to you, but actual the performances may surprise you.  Powderfinger is performed as an unadorned solo acoustic song; Sedan Delivery, a second song destined for 'Rust Never Sleeps' is presented in its pre-punked up arrangement and in many people's opinion sounds all the better for that; you'll also find the definitive Stringman, a song not given an official airing until Neil's 'Unplugged' set, heard here in a 1976 live performance enhanced by subtle yet beautiful studio vocal and guitar overdubs; Hold Back the Tears is another solo performance, longer and more ghostly than its later remake for "American Stars 'n Bars"; Pocahontas is the same performance as the one that made "Rust Never Sleeps", but in its original 'naked' mix; Too Far Gone wouldn't be officially released until the "Freedom" album in 1989, yet here's a version from 14 years earlier with Poncho Sampedro adding a tasty mandolin part.

The other six songs from the album were released unchanged on the albums "American Stars 'n Bars", "Comes a Time" and "Hawks and Doves", yet you may still be able to pick out slight differences in the mixes.  Homegrown, for one, would seem to have a little more fire in the guitars.  Have a listen and see what you think.
We've chosen a select batch of bonus cuts to give you a further taste of just how creative Neil was during this fertile period.  If the version of White Line (here retitled River of Pride, maybe because Neil forgot to
sing the actual "white line" lyric) didn't make the "Chrome Dreams" shortlist, then its continued circulation amongst collectors is something of a mystery.  Maybe it was pressed onto acetate as a possible contender
for "Decade", which Neil was also preparing at this time.  Whatever the truth, it's a stupendous version of the song, recorded in 1975 with a loose and joyful Crazy Horse.  Neil's remake for "Ragged Glory" in 1990
may have been fine, but it doesn't quite capture the spirit of this earlier version.  Campaigner did make "Decade", but not before losing one of its verses.  You can hear the full length version here.

Three live cuts follow: No One Seems to Know is an aching piano ballad that Neil once described as part 2 of A Man Needs a Maid, it's first class but remains unreleased; Give me Strength dates from an earlier ill-fated album called 'Homegrown' (an album that would have also featured Star of Bethlehem, the oldest cut in this collection) and is another lost classic; Peace of Mind is heard as an electric rock song played with the Horse and very different from the version Neil released on "Comes a Time".

And as a nod to "Zuma", we close with Crosby Stills Nash & Young.  Human Highway was recorded during the Stills-Young Band sessions in 1976.  The song was always meant to be a CSNY track, but Neil had run out of patience by the "Comes a Time" LP.  Now you can have a glimpse of what might have been.
Which, come to think of it, is also true of the whole collection.
(Jules Gray, 20 May 2004)