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
 

THE NATIONAL - Live in Chicago, 2011 (Flac)

 

A live broadcast special by WXRT FM, to promote the National’s then current album ‘High Violet’, released on 10 May, 2010. The 13 song set-list is equally split between the new album and ‘Boxer’ from 2007, including six tracks a piece with one older classic, ‘Mr. November’ from ‘Alligator’ (2005).

For sound quality, this is the best National show I have come across to date. It’s crystal clear and features the vocals and guitars high up in a brilliant, sparkling stereo mix. There is so much drive and energy to this performance, it’s really life affirming and if you’ve read many of the comments I’ve made throughout the Bootlegs of the Year document, you will know I’m not given to such hyperbole. I’ve listened to many great live shows in 2021 but this is certainly one of the absolute best and a personal favourite, just superb.

After suffering a family loss and the ensuing trauma over the Christmas Holiday period, it was a show that helped me through a difficult time. It's included in the yet to be published, latest edition of Bootlegs of the Year (2015-21). Which, hopefully should be ready sometime in April. 

The National
UIC Pavillion, Chicago, IL.
24 April, 2011

Recorded from the WXRT FM re-broadcast on 21 April, 2013

01. Anyone's Ghost 3:17
02. Mistaken for Strangers 3:44
03. Bloodbuzz Ohio 4:45
04. Slow Show 4:57
05. Squalor Victoria 4:47
06. Afraid of Everyone (w/Richard Perry) 4:54
07. Conversation 16 4:27
08. Apartment Story 3:50
09. England 5:17
10. Fake Empire 3:28
11. Start a War (w/Wynn Butler) 3:41
12. Mr. November 4:51
13. Terrible Love 4:35

Time: 56:39

Lineage: HD over fm>Sangean HDT-1>Rotel-05 SE>SoundBlaster (Live! 24 bit External)>wav(CD Wave Editor)>flac

Note: This is not your normal FM broadcast. The performance, the mix and recording are virtually perfect, it sounds so good and is reminiscent of a high quality pre-FM source. Play loud and enjoy.  

LINK 

 

 

THE LEMONHEADS - Live in London 1996 (Flac)

This BBC FM broadcast was included in the best bootlegs 2015-20 document. I noted that, "It was a superb show in excellent quality with a tremendous mix." 

The majority of the broadcast set-list is drawn from the current album ‘Car Button Cloth’ and the two albums prior to its release, It’s A Shame about Ray (1992) and C’mon Feel The Lemonheads (1993), their 5^th and 6^th albums respectively, which led to the band achieving international acclaim and success. 

The first seven tracks from Car Button Cloth (1996) are included in this set along with its closer ‘One More Time’. The album wasn’t as successful as the previous two and reviews were more muted. In recent years it has gained a more favourable reception.

It's surprising that the the band covered three 'Smudge' tracks during this show. Singer Evan Dando had met Tom Morgan, guitarist and vocalist with the Australian band in the early 90s and had become songwriting partners. They had written songs together for the Lemonheads album 'It's A Shame About Ray'.

THE LEMONHEADS
Astoria, London
3 October 1996
 

BBC Radio 1 FM - Live In Concert) off DAT Master

Setlist:
01. DJ intro (0:34)
02. It's All True (2:33)
03. If I Could Talk I'd Tell You (2:42)
04. It's a Shame About Ray (3:12)
05. Tenderfoot (Smudge cover) (2:14)
06. Hospital (2:19)
07. My Drug Buddy (3:17)
08. Break Me (3:08)
09. DJ talk (0;27)
10. The Outdoor Type (Smudge cover) (2:31)
11. Losing Your Mind (5:39)
12. One More Time (2:45)
13. Something's Missing (2:40)
14. Confetti (2:55)
15. Rudderless (2:57)
16. DJ talk (0;32)
17. Divan (Smudge cover) (1:30)
18. Hannah & Gabi (2:35)
19. Big Gay Heart (5:44)
20. It's About Time (2:13)
21. DJ talk (0:13)
22. Into Your Arms (3:02)
            
Gloomy Sunday (Kalmár Pál cover) - not included

Lineage: 1Live Radio > Sony DAT D3 > DAT tape > Tascam DA-20 MKII > Tascam CD-RW900 MK II > CDRW > Audio Logic (editing) > act > you

Notes:
The quality is A+.
Transferred the DAT master yesterday...means brand new transfer. Complete radio broadcast.

Enjoy, best
Bobfather
Posted on Dimeadozen tracker on Sun 18th Oct, 2020

LINK 

CALEXICO - The KCRW Sessions (2008-18)

 

Ten years ago Calexico were featured on one of the very first posts I made to the blog on 11 January, 2012. Yes, we've been here that long! 

As I featured the earlier band from the Roskilde Festival.

That post is available here:

We now take a look at the latter band and this post gives you a flavour of the background behind each album, via the informative interviews. It includes the last three KCRW sessions that the band have performed. The period 2008-18 takes in four album releases but only the 'Algiers' album didn't have a promotional visit to the KCRW radio studios.

The four albums were Carried To Dust (2008), Algiers (2012), Edge of the Sun (2015) and The Thread That Keeps Us (2018)

 

CALEXICO - Live in Session on MBE KCRW FM

KCRW Radio FM Broadcast
Santa Monica, California.
Live in studio session at time of broadcast
Stereo Capture

Aired: Tuesday September 30, 2008

Tucson’s Calexico explore and expand the sound of the Southwest when they return to Morning Becomes Eclectic

01. intro
02. Two Silver Trees
03. Red Blooms
04. Inspiracion
05. Nic Interviews the band
06. The News About William
07. Slowness
08. Victor Jara's Hands
09. Writer's Minor Holiday
10. outro
 
The Band:
Joey Burns - Vocals, Guitar
John Convertino - Drums, Percussion
Paul Niehuas - Pedal Steel, Guitar
Jacob Valenzuela - Keys, Trumpet, Vibes, Vocals
Martin Wenk - Trumpet, Guitar, Vibes, Harmonica, Vocals
Volker Zander - Bass
Jairo Zavala - Guitar, Vocals

Lineage: FM> Onkyo HT-R520 > Analog Out > Sony RCD W500C  > Audio CDR.WAV > TSSTcorpCDDVDW SH-S202N > EAC > CD WAVE(Tracking-Flac.8)->

Enjoy,
Nibbler

LINK 

 

CALEXICO - Live In Session On MBE KCRW FM

KCRW Radio FM Broadcast
Santa Monica, California.
Source: FM Broadcast
Aired: Tuesday January 15, 2013

Calexico has always had a distinctive Southwestern influence to their music, but their latest album was inspired by a stint in New Orleans. We hear the new songs live on Morning Becomes Eclectic.

01. Intro
02. Splitter
03. talk
04. Dead Moon
05. talk
06. Maybe On Monday
07. Interview
08. Fortune Teller
09. talk
10. Puerto
11. talk
12. The Vanishing Mind
13. outro
14. Epic (incomplete-outro overlap)

Notes:
Last song stepped on by DJ - As per usual

Lineage: FM > Onkyo HT-R520 > Analog Out (2 - RCA Mono Out) > 2 - 1/4 Inch Mono Phone Jacks In > Zoom H4n > r8Brain 24bit-96KHz - Dithered to 16bit-44KHz > CD WAVE Tracking > TLH Checksums Flac.8)

The Band:
John Convertino - Drums,
Joey Burns - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar,
Paul Niehaus - Pedal Steel, Electric Guitar,
Ryan Alfred - Upright, Electric Guitar,
Sergio Mendoza - Piano, Keys, Vocals,
Jacob Valenzuela - Trumpet, Vocals, Vibes,
Martin Wenk - Trumpet, Vocals, Keys, Baritone Guitar, Accordion

Enjoy,
Nibbler

LINK

 

CALEXICO - Live In Session on MBE KCRW FM

KCRW Radio FM Broadcast
Santa Monica, California.
Source: FM Broadcast
Aired: June 4, 2018

Calexico returned to KCRW to promote their ninth studio album 'The Thread That Keeps Us'. The set included seven new album tracks ending with 'Stray' from 'The Black Light' album, recently re-issued as a 2 disc set, marking its 20th year anniversary of release. The final track is one of the best versions of the song I've heard. The band are still performing at the highest level artistically & musically. Be sure to check this one out, better still go see them live when you get the chance.

01. End Of The World With You
02. Under The Wheels
03. Unconditional Waltz
04. The Town & Miss Lorraine
05. Interview
06. Voices In The Field
07. Flores y Tamales
08. Music Box
09. Stray

Lineage: FM Receiver -> CDRW700 -> EAC -> Soundforge -> FLAC

LINK 

JOHN PEEL SHOW - Monday 14 September 1981

On this day in 2004, BBC Radio One DJ John Peel sadly passed away while on holiday in Peru. His show had ran from the birth of the radio station in 1967. He quickly became the most influential radio DJ in British radio history, much to the astonishment of the radio station's management.

There is only one way to recognize his brilliance and that is to listen to a show.

This superb programme from 40-years ago gives an aural account of the alternate music scene in the UK at that time. You can read about it in books but this recording puts you back there.

BBC Radio 1 - The John Peel show
Monday 14 September 1981
Running Time: 90:34
In Session: Theatre Of Hate, Freeze

 

01. Frantic Elevators: Searching For The Only One
3rd single by the band, amongst their members was a young Mick Hucknall, of future ‘Simply Red’ fame.

02. Positive Noise: Love Like Property
Sounding a bit like Bauhaus on this compilation track, taken from the ‘Cabaret Futura - Fools Rush In Where Angels Dare To Tread’ album released on the Martyrwell Music label. The recordings on the album were recorded live at Soho’s Cabaret Futura club in London during spring 1981. Richard Strange, who had been influenced by his experiences living in Manhattan, New York, set up the club as a performance art space. 

03. Theatre Of Hate: Propaganda (session)
2nd Peel session, this opening track was an early preview of the song that would later be found on the b-side of the single ‘Do You Believe In The West World?’ released in 1982. Peel refers to football for the last time tonight, he tells his listeners!

04. Gregory Isaacs: Substitute
After playing this track from one of the Cool Ruler’s most accomplished and consistent albums. ‘More Gregory’ on the Mango label, an offshoot of Island. Peel again refers to Liverpool FC and his disappointment at the start they have made to the new football season in England. Despite his views Liverpool went on to win the 1st Division title by 4pts (not the 8pts+ he had wagered on) with Ipswich Town finishing 2nd.

05. Flock Of Seagulls: Telecommunication

The band was formed in Liverpool during 1979, this 2nd single produced by Bill Nelson (see track below) and released on the Jive label, would also appear on their debut album, released in April 1982. The band would secure a number of international hits including three singles in the Billboard US Hot 100 Chart; I Ran, Space Age Love Song and Wishing (I Had A Photograph Of You).

06. Bill Nelson: Living In My Limousine

Bill was a particular favourite of Peel and would appear regularly on his show. He was the vocalist, guitarist and songwriter of the British group Be Bop Deluxe for whom big things were predicted by the mid seventies rock press. Bill was ahead of his time but the group floundered during the punk rock explosion of 1976-77. They released their final album in 1978 and Nelson reconfigured the band becoming ‘Bill Nelson’s Red Noise’. He then decided to go solo and was very active in the early 80’s releasing numerous singles and collaborating with artists such as David Sylvian & Gary Numan.
After playing this 7” single on the Mercury label, also spun previously by John’s BBC Radio One colleague, Richard Skinner. Peel describes how the remainder of his weekend went, listening to new music and venting his disappointment about it. “Truly awful new records, most of them were pretentious, unimaginative and or just plain flatulent. It’s really difficult finding new records to play on the radio.”

He was impressed by the ‘Freeze’ session.

07. Freeze: From The Bizarre (session)
Freeze were formed by a group of school friends in Linlithgow, Scotland during the late seventies. This was their second and final session. There is a noticeable ‘Cure’ influence on this track.

08. Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five: The Birthday Party 

This 12" single released on the Sugar Hill label was played after Peel had been inspired by reading ‘Collusion’ magazine. 

It was founded in 1981 and folded in 1983, after only five, but influential issues. It focused on what is now known as ‘World Music.’ Peel recalls, that he thought he and his listeners were missing out on not hearing these sounds. 

Indeed as the 80’s progressed his programmes became ever and ever more eclectic. An article in the magazine felt that there was an inherent bias in music journalism regarding genre and race. 

This perhaps prompted Peel as well as his disappointment at wasting his weekend listening to rubbish, to look outside the UK press for further information on the latest trends. 

A few months later he would invite US correspondent, Bob George on the show to discuss and play tracks from the current New York music scene.

09. Birthday Party: Release The Bats
Previously called ‘The Boys Next Door’. Nick Cave would go on to worldwide fame with his next band, the Bad Seeds. This single was released on the influential label 4AD and became a particular favourite of Peel and his listeners. The all-time Festive 50 for 1981 saw it placed at #19 sandwiched between the Clash & the Undertones.

10. Freeze: Building On Holes (session)
Announced as Theatre of Hate, this was in fact the 2nd session track by Freeze. It’s a very strong track endorsed by Peel. The band would change their name to ‘Cindytalk’ and move to London in 1982, releasing a debut album ‘Camouflage Heart’ two years later.

 

11. Ann Sydney: The Boy In The Woolly Sweater
Peel would often drop in a seemingly completely out of place song from a different time and age, entirely incongruous to the rest of the show. I’m sure he was just doing it to have fun at his listener’s expense, sometimes it would provoke angrily worded letters arriving for him via the BBC. This 1965 single was released on the His Masters Voice label. 

 

12. Misty In Roots: City Blues
Sweet roots reggae music from one of Britain’s finest reggae acts. This track was selected from their second album ‘Wise And Foolish’ on the band’s own People Unite label.

13. Theatre Of Hate: Love Is A Ghost (session)
An early version of a track that appeared on the 1982 debut album ‘West World’ produced by Mick Jones of the Clash.

14. Damned: Neat Neat Neat
Peel unusually plays a listener’s request. This classic punk single, was released in early 1977 on the Stiff label.

15. John Martyn: Please Fall In Love With Me
The album ‘Glorious Fool’ released on WEA was less acclaimed than the 1980 ‘Grace & Danger’ album also with Phil Collins on drums.. This track emphasizes Collins skill on the drum kit and the woozy lazy sounding vocal style that shot Martyn to fame on his enduring classic 1973 album ‘Solid Air’. 

16. The Creatures: Mad Eyed Screamer
A double pack single titled ‘Wild Things’ released on the Polydor label. It features Siouxsie on vocals and Budgie from the Banshees on drums and percussion. Extending a rhythmic and prominent drums sequence that began with the previous track by John Martyn and ran through to the Pop Group.

17. Theatre Of Hate: Conquistador (session)
This early song would also appear on the debut album. It received mixed reviews, many complaining about the thin sound and the producer’s inexperience. The reviewers were apparently expecting a facsimile of the band’s live performance.

18. Scientist: The Winner
This track by maestro dub producer & engineer Scientist, appeared on a split album ‘Three The Hard Way’ with Maxie & Barnabas. It was released on the Silver Camel label

19. Rip Rig + Panic: Totally Naked (Without Lock Or Key)
Taken from the debut album ‘God’ released by Virgin, on two 12-inch singles playing at 45rpm. Singer Neneh Cherry went on to a successful solo career in the late 80’s.

20. Roland Kirk Quartet featuring Elvin Jones: Rip, Rig & Panic
A rare occurrence Peel plays jazz. There were often underlying themes on his show. The band above was named after this 1965 jazz album title, released on the Mercury label.

21. Pop Group: She Is Beyond Good And Evil
A classic 1979 single released on the Radar label. A reviewer commented that it was “One of the greatest debuts in the history of rock music, it grabs you by the throat from the first few seconds. Mark Stewart sounds like a man possessed while guitars chime and Bruce Smith's drums lope menacingly. Bringing in legendary reggae producer Dennis Bovell was an inspired idea.”

22. Associates: A
The band’s seventh single was released on the Fiction label. Following three top ten UK indie chart singles this missed the chart, like the earlier‘Kites’ single. In 1982 the band would go on to have commercial success with the UK top ten ‘Sulk’ album and charting singles.

23. Freeze: Location (session)
Their final session track, sessions would usually consist of four songs.

24. Cramps: Save It
Much of the music played on tonight’s programme has a raw rhythmic intensity and passion to it. Not the kind you can play in the background, this Cramps track from the 12-inch single ‘The Crusher’ released on IRS is a prime example with its sparse sound and verve.

25. Barrington Levy: Deep In The Dark
The fourth reggae track played on tonight’s show. This single released on the B.L. Sounds label unfortunately cuts out as the cassette tape runs out. Many of these recordings were made using C-90 cassette tapes. The 90-minute cassette was an ideal compromise with 45+ minutes on each side. After a quick change over at the 45-minute mark, it meant a good three-quarter of the programme could be recorded. The longer C-120 tapes enabled a two-hour recording but the thinner tape used was prone to breakages, stretching or jamming in the tape mechanism. 

 

Lineage: 

BBC Radio 1 FM broadcast > Sugden T28 Tuner > C-90 Cassette > Nakamichi Cassette Deck > Unknown digitising process > WAV > 320k mp3

Recording not split into individual tracks.

LINK

BOB HARRIS - Country Show: June 3, 2021 (Flac)

I previously mentioned at the end of the Waterboys post that I would include some of my FM recordings, celebrating some of the greatest disc jockeys that the UK has produced. I've posted a Rodigan show, albeit one with a special guest and will return to his Reggae & Dancehall show in a future post. John Peel & Andy Kershaw will also feature but for now I would like to concentrate on one of the greatest DJ & TV hosts that I first listened to as a youth.

Bob Harris has been around since the early 70's and his career began in parallel with my growing interest in music. As a pre-teen that interest grew into a passion through early glam rock bands and artists like, David Bowie, Marc Bolan & T-Rex, Roxy Music, Slade and Mott The Hoople etc. whose singles were played daily on BBC Radio 1. The only two music TV shows at the time were 'Top Of The Pops' - and as the name implies, it played the chart hits of the time.

Much more interesting was the alternative 'The Old Grey Whistle Test' presented by 'Whispering' Bob Harris. On his show I discovered many of the classic artists (as they are now known) that a big brother or sister would pass down (via their albums) to their younger siblings. Bob became a de-facto substitute big brother, as I had no one older to shape my musical outlook.

British radio was a bit provincial in those days (apart from John Peel) and Bob Harris spread the word about many of the exciting new bands that existed far across the Atlantic ocean. 

On the OGWT I discovered the likes of Little Feat, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, Southside Johnny & The Asbury Dukes, The Steve Miller Band as well as Britain's very own Queen and a band that would become renowned throughout the world, from Jamaica - The Wailers.

When a new radio show was proposed for broadcast on BBC Radio 2 FM, to play Country, roots and Americana, including archive classics and modern recordings, Bob Harris was the perfect choice to begin presenting the new show on Thursday 5 January, 2006. The show continues to this day, now at a later time of 9pm. This posted show was broadcast on Thursday 3 June, 2021. Lineage details are included below and it's likely that the show is being made available world-wide for the first time in FM Stereo.

Much of the new music played echoes that of the past and Bob reels off a list of influences that Blackberry Smoke & The Steel Woods for example, invoke.
Some radio shows have a flow and feel to them that just work perfectly. This is one such programme. Turn it up loud and revel in the glory of American roots music. It's a wonderful show and though the internet has enabled new ways of finding music, never forget your radio has some of the most knowledgeable influencers in music. Bob Harris has an unerring ability to select a track from an album that inevitably turns out to be the best or one of the very best on that particular release.

The Country Show with Bob Harris
BBC Radio 2 FM Stereo
Thursday 3 June, 2021 / 9-10pm (complete show + bonus tracks)

Brand new exclusive live music from Blackberry Smoke, new songs, old songs and a whole lot more!
With a new album in the Top 10 in the UK and a tour just announced for 2022, Georgian country rockers Blackberry Smoke contribute three exclusive live songs to this week's show, alongside great new tracks from the Steel Woods, Brothers Osborne and Lukas Nelson! Plus classics from Little Big Town and Florida Georgia Line, the reissue of the week is from Hank Williams.

01. Florida Georgia Line - Round Here | Here's To The Good Times (Republic Nashville) 2012
02. Bobbie Gentry - Ode to Billie Joe | Greatest Hits (Classic Cuts) 1990
03. Blackberry Smoke - Ain't The Same (Country Show exclusive)
04. Little Big Town - Girl Crush | Pain Killer (Capital Records Nashville) 2014
05. Lori McKenna - The Way Back Home | The Tree (CN /Thirty Tigers) 2018
06. The Steel Woods - All Of Your Stones | All Of Your Stones (Thirty Tigers) 2021
07. Hank Williams - Tennessee Border | Pictures From Life's Other Side, Volume 2 (BMG) 2021
08. Blackberry Smoke - Hey Delilah (Country Show exclusive)
09. Gabby Barrett - The Good Ones | Goldmine (Warner Music Nashville) 2020
10. Brothers Osborne - Younger Me | Digital Single (EMI Nashville) 2021
11. Blackberry Smoke - You Hear Georgia (Country Show exclusive)
12. Lukas Nelson - Leave 'Em Behind | A Few Stars Apart (Fantasy) 2021

bonus tracks: 10 June (t13-14) & 17 June (t15-17)
13. Gretchen Peters - The Secret of Life | The Secret of Life 1996
14. Valerie June - Colors | The Moon And Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers 2021
15. Kezia Gill - Country Song | The Mess I Made EP 2021
16. Son Volt - Reverie | Electro Melodier 2021  
17. Jakob Dylan - Nothing But The Whole Wide World | Women + Country 2010

Lineage: BBC Radio 2 FM Stereo broadcast > Denon Tuner TU-260L > Audacity 2.1.3 > WAV > FLAC 8

 LINK

PAVEMENT - Trigger Cuts: A Bootleg Compilation (Flac)

Between 1992 and 1999 Pavement released five studio albums: Slanted and Enchanted (1992), Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (1994), Wowee Zowee (1995), Brighten the Corners (1997) and Terror Twilight (1999). This excellent compilation features tracks that appeared on all five of those albums.

It's a tight well crafted sequence of songs packing 21-tracks into less than 80-minutes. Ideal for those unfamiliar with this US indie band, who stayed loyal to the independent label Matador, throughout their career in the 90's.

Nearly three-quarters of this live compilation was sourced from four venues: E-Werk, Cologne / Poppodium 013, Tilburg, Netherlands / Reading Festival, England and Jay's Upstairs, Missoula, MT, US. 

If you are averse to live compilations and prefer listening to the complete live sets then I would recommend you begin with the above four shows. They are available from sites mentioned in the bootlegs of the year document.

PAVEMENT
"Trigger Cuts" (A Bootleg Compilation)
Live 1992-1999

Sources: all excellent FM and soundboard except track 11
Time: 79:28

Tracklist:
01. In The Mouth A Desert [Cologne, 6-26-1995]
02. Rattled By The Rush [Cologne, 6-26-1995]
03. Silent Kid [Reading Festival, 8-26-1994]
04. Summer Babe [Reading Festival, 8-26-1994]
05. Kennel District [Cologne, 6-26-1995]
06. Gold Soundz [Tilburg, 11-16-1999]
07. Grounded [John Peel Session, 3-13-1995]
08. Shoot The Singer [Cologne, 6-26-1995]
09. Spit on A Stranger [Tilburg, 11-16-1999]
10. Type Slowly [Missoula, 4-21-1997]
11. Loretta's Scars [Seattle, 1-27-1996]
12. Kentucky Cocktail [Chapel Hill, 9-11-1992]
13. Trigger Cut [Frankfurt, 3-06-1994]
14. Stop Breathin' [Amsterdam, 3-02-1994]
15. Stereo [Tilburg, 11-16-1999]
16. Range Life [Reading Festival, 8-27-1995]
17. The Killing Moon [Liverpool, 10-28-1999]
18. ...And Then (The Hexx) [Missoula, 4-21-1997]
19. Pueblo [Cologne, 6-26-1995]
20. Debris Slide [Tilburg, 11-16-1999]
21. Fight This Generation [Tilburg, 11-16-1999]

LINK 

 Selections were taken from the live shows listed below:
September 11, 1992. Cat's Cradle, Chapel Hill NC.
26 August, 1994. Reading Festival, England.
27 August 1995. Reading Festival, England.
March 2, 1994 Melkweg, Amsterdam, Netherlands
March 6, 1994. Batschkapp, Frankfurt, Germany
March 13, 1995. Studio session, Maida Vale, London.
June 26, 1995. E-Werk, Cologne, Germany.
January 27, 1996. Moe's Mo' Rockin' Cafe, Seattle, WA.
April 21, 1997. Jay's Upstairs, Missoula, MT.
October 28, 1999. Royal Court Theatre (Sound City '99), Liverpool, England
November 16, 1999. Poppodium 013, Tilburg, Netherlands.

BEASTIE BOYS - Saul's Boutique (Flac)

An amazing spell of great weather has finally broken here in the UK. It has provided the opportunity to work on a new post and get it shared to all like minded music lovers out there in the blogosphere.

There haven't been any hip-hop posts on the blog (apart from the Costello/Roots collaboration, not because I don't like the music, far from it, but mainly due to a lack of high quality bootlegs in my collection. This is one all hip-hop heads should enjoy as well as fans of 70's soul and funk.

Beastie Boys - Saul's Boutique

Original Uploader's Notes:
"The quick and to the point version is this is a collection of instrumental versions of the tracks from the Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique album. They were primarily sourced from the vinyl intended to be used for their live tour circa 1989, though that tour did not happen as planned and the vinyl went mostly unused, eventually falling into the hands of collectors.

There are several versions of the instrumentals from Paul's Boutique around, but most are either mp3 sourced or very low quality. Unless there is an official release of these instrumentals, this will probably be the best quality version available, period.

There are some small patches where there were skips and jumps that were unable to be repaired, but you probably won't notice them unless you're really into digging for such detail. Seriously, I think I covered them up pretty good. Also, the name is from Saul's Boutique having been written in sharpie on the label of one of the show vinyls.

This is a project I did with some friends. One of those friends would like to remain anonymous, but they generously provided the raw audio. The other friend is Harvey Cliff, artist and all-around awesome guy, who did the artwork and handled the physical packaging. Myself, I cleaned-up the audio a bit, edited it, sequenced and pseudo-mastered it. We had some professionally manufactured cassettes made that we gave to friends and intend to give copies of to the remaining Beasties and the Dust Brothers.

Lineage: STU > Vinyl > WAV > edited in SoudForge and iZotope RX > foobar2000 FLAC frontend > FLAC

Track list:
01 Ask for Janice, Pt. II
02 Shake Your Rump
03 Johnny Ryall
04 Egg Man
05 High Plains Drifter
06 The Sounds of Science
07 3-Minute Rule
08 Hey Ladies
09 Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun
10 Car Thief
11 What Goes Around
12 Shadrach
13 59 Chrystie Street
14 Stop That Train
15 A Year and a Day
16 Hello Brooklyn
17 Dropping Names
18 Lay It on Me
19 Mike on the Mic
20 A.W.O.L.
21 Some Dumb Cop Gave Me Two Tickets Already

LINK 

       ------------------------------------------------------

          Notes about the original album released in 1989

"The Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique was a masterpiece in sampling, and an album that could never be made in the same way again. Created during the golden age of sampling – that is, before stricter copyright laws were enforced – it epitomised the times. Alongside 3 Feet High & Rising by De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest’s Low End Theory, Paul’s Boutique marked a change in hip-hop, towards the D.A.I.S.Y. Age of rap music you could dance to.

At the time of its release Paul’s Boutique was a relative commercial dud for the Beasties, given that the success of Licensed To Ill had taken the trio from middle-class punk kids to rap poster boys overnight. In Licensed To Ill the Beastie Boys came to disturb the peace, at least for the white, middle-American music market Def Jam were looking to break into. They succeeded in that. “I’m real mad at the Beastie Boys, they definitely messed up a lot of things for me,” said LL Cool J in a 1987 interview. But the Licensed To Ill formula was not built to last. You can only play the teenage rebels for so long.

Anything from “100 to 300” samples lie within Paul’s Boutique according to one of its creators, Mike Simpson of The Dust Brothers. With production partner John King the duo crafted Paul’s Boutique from their LA studio armed with an MPC and a near-encyclopaedic knowledge of funk, soul, rock, rap, jazz and everything in-between. For the Beasties, Paul’s Boutique was their unabashed ode to ’70s funk and bravado, an album as lyrically potent as it was tongue-in-cheek and one that helped set the tone for rap music throughout the ‘90s."

Paul's Boutique tracklist

To All the Girls

Shake Your Rump

Johnny Ryall

Egg Man

High Plains Drifter

The Sounds of Science

3-Minute Rule

Hey Ladies

5-Piece Chicken Dinner

Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun

Car Thief

What Comes Around

Shadrach

Ask for Janice

B-Boy Bouillabaisse:  

a. 59 Chrystie Street  b. Get on the Mic  c. Stop That Train  d. A Year and a Day  e. Hello Brooklyn  f. Dropping Names  g. Lay It on Me  h. Mike on the Mic  i. A.W.O.L.

The website ‘Paul’s Boutique Samples and References List’ is the ultimate resource for the album Paul’s Boutique by the Beastie Boys. It has been compiled through internet collaboration since about 1993, it stands to document the samples and references included on the album.

see: https://paulsboutique.info/

I’ve included one example for the track ‘Shake Your Rump’ of the kind of information that is included on the site.

For further info on all the tracks, including b-sides go to the above website.

track 2. ‘Shake Your Rump’

Sample: Alphonse Mouzon - ‘Funky Snakefoot’ from Funky Snakefoot (Blue Note, 1974)

As one of the most underrated breaks in sampling Alphonse Mouzon’s criminally slept on ‘Funky Snakefoot’ appears only a handful of times in modern day hip-hop. Although Kris Kross’s ‘I Missed the Bus’ didn’t exactly set the world alight, the Mouzon break would become the backbone to one of the Beastie’s most recognisable party anthems ‘Shake Your Rump’.

• The main drum roll is from “Funky Snakefoot” by Alphonze Mouzon from the 1973 album “Funky Snakefoot”

• Beat is Harvey Scales’s “Dancing Room Only” from the 1979 album Hot Foot (A Funque Dizco Opera)
• Additional beats from “Super Mellow” by Paul Humphrey from the album "The Drum Suite"
• "Shake Your Rump-ah" - from the Unity album by James Brown and Afrika Bambaataa

• Mostly taken from the "Car Wash" soundtrack by Rose Royce
• "It's the Joint" - song of same title by Funky 4+1
• Bong hit
• ‘Scratch’ heard under "the most packinest", "your belief, chief" and at the end - "Could you be Loved" by Bob Marley
• "Hoo-ha! Got them all in check." - "8th Wonder" by The Sugarhill Gang
• Afrika Bambaataa’s, "Jazzy Sensation"
• Ronnie Laws, "Tell Me Something Good"

• The sound similar to a straw being pulled through a soft drink lid is an African percussion instrument known as a "cuica" (kwee-kuh). The instrument was originally used in Africa for lion hunting because the sound produced is very similar to a female lion’s roar, thus attracting the male. The cuica’s sound is produced by pulling and pushing a wet cloth on the bamboo stick. 
• The disco call is from Foxy’s "Get Off"
• After the chorus phrase "Shake Your Rump-a" there is a drum break with synth. The first two run throughs, right before the rap starts again,
• The concluding drum fill is from "Good Time Bad Times" by Led Zeppelin.