ANOTHER COUNTRY with Ricky Ross - The Best Music of 2021 pt. 2 (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. This is the second part of the show (see here for part one).

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

The Best Music of 2021 part two

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. Hailey Whitters - The Ride (ft. Jordan Davis) | Living The Dream
02. Son Volt - Livin' In The USA | Electro Melodier
03. Joy Oladokun - Judas | In defense of my own happiness
04. Hayes Carll - You Get It All
05. Caylee Hammack & Chris Stapleton - Small Town Hypocrite
06. Billy Strings - Know It All
07. Sturgill Simpson - Go In Peace
08. Lily Rose - Overnight Sensation
09. Carly Pearce & Ashley McBryde - Never Wanted To Be That Girl | 29: Written In Stone.
10. Buffalo Nichols - Lost & Lonesome | Buffalo Nichols
11. Roseanne Reid - Tentsmuir Sky | Horticulture EP
12. Watchhouse - Belly Of The Beast | Watchhouse
13. Jackson Browne - A Human Touch | Downhill From Everywhere

01. Hailey Whitters - The Ride (ft. Jordan Davis) | Living The Dream
From the album Living the Dream (Deluxe Edition) and was released in 2021. The video for the track was premiered on YouTube on Friday the 15th of January, 2021. This deluxe edition of her critically-acclaimed 2020 album THE DREAM features five new songs, and will be released on February 26 via Pigasus/Big Loud/Songs & Daughters. The deluxe album finds Whitters moving from fantasizing about “the dream” to actually living it, calling upon her close friends and collaborators Brent Cobb, Jordan Davis, Hillary Lindsey, Little Big Town, Lori McKenna and Trisha Yearwood to contribute vocals to the fresh tracks.

02. Son Volt - Livin' In The USA | Electro Melodier
Reviews mention that "Electro Melodier sounds more like the work of a commentator than an activist, but Jay Farrar has something to say and he says it with intelligence and eloquence. As his hero Woody Guthrie proved ages ago, that's no small thing. The album was released on July 30.

03. Joy Oladokun - Judas | In defense of my own happiness
This new deluxe version, was released on July 9 via Amigo Records/Verve Forecast/Republic Records. The special extended edition includes all 14 tracks from her major label debut, in defense of my own happiness, as well as the ten additional songs from her self-released 2020 record, in defense of my own happiness (the beginnings), plus one new track, “Judas” broadcast here.

 

04. Hayes Carll - You Get It All
The title track from the new album released on October 30. Discussing his 8th album, Hayes Carll says, "“I like to tug at heartstrings, find commonality with others, reflect on my own life, and sometimes I do it in a lighthearted way. A lot of musical styles found their way onto this record, but my first and most formative influences came from country music. This is a country singer-songwriter record. It’s just unapologetically me.”

05. Caylee Hammack & Chris Stapleton - Small Town Hypocrite
Caylee Hammack has turned her song “Small Town Hypocrite” into a new collaboration with Chris Stapleton. The original version first appeared on Hammack’s 2020 album If It Wasn’t for You. It's an autobiographical story about betrayal and crushed dreams, “Small Town Hypocrite” was a standout from a solid album on the strength of Hammack’s emotive voice and sharp songwriting. “Took all my plans and I put ‘em in a box/Phantom pains for the wings I lost,” she sings, chiding the ex who broke her heart. Stapleton adds some lower harmony to Hammack’s melody, their two voices intertwining to deepen the feeling of loss and regret.
Hammack said in a release, “My one whim for this song was to hear Chris Stapleton accompany me on it. Two years after I spoke this wish out loud in the studio, Chris agreed to sing the part I had written in hopes of hearing his voice on it. Life is a beautiful full circle sometimes. I am so grateful to Chris for singing on this song.” Released April 19

06. Billy Strings - Know It All
Billy Strings is able to pick the living hell out of an acoustic guitar. The six-string machine and his band released this bluegrass boot stomping single "Know It All," from his critically acclaimed 2021 album Renewal, which was released on September 24

07. Sturgill Simpson - Go In Peace
This single was taken from the album The Ballad of Dood & Juanita, released on August 20. Pitchfork described the album as, "A bluegrass concept album recorded with the stunning group he has dubbed the Hillbilly Avengers, is an even more audacious salvo in Simpson’s back-to-the-roots campaign. By turns romantic, playful, sympathetic, and solemn, it's compelling update on American frontier mythmaking, delivered by a band good enough to push lovingly against genre conventions.
Dood and Juanita is unequal parts love story, history lesson, and action-adventure tale, a cross as classic as the sounds around it.
It works so well because Simpson sounds comfortable within this form and just beyond it. He reaches bluegrass’ nasal apogee during “Go in Peace,” his voice expressing the same anxiety as Scott Vestal’s restless banjo. For Simpson, this music is a return to terra firma, to land he knows innately. Bluegrass has long benefited from a lineage of weirdo rebels. Simpson fits right in, even if he might one day slip right out."

 08. Lily Rose - Overnight Sensation
"Overnight Sensation” tell Lily's story, as she’s famously known for the Tiktok virality of her debut single “Villain”, which catapulted her career by landing her a record deal and airplay on Country radio; however, the song was actually written in 2019. While it seems like Rose manifested her success, it’s no surprise that her authentic songwriting and smooth vocals are resonating with fans.  
“After all of the booze and tears and patience, I’m an overnight sensation, thirteen years in the making”
The stripped back production is paired perfectly with Rose’s soothing vocals to deliver a captivating story. Her willingness to be vulnerable in her songwriting sets her apart from others. This song shares a fresh and relatable perspective about hard-work, careers, self-doubt, nostalgia and wanting to make your parents proud. Released May 4.

09. Carly Pearce & Ashley McBryde - Never Wanted To Be That Girl | 29: Written In Stone.
This hit country song was released as the second single from Carly Pearce's third studio album, 29: Written In Stone. It's about a cheating man and has united country fans who’ve been there, Carly and Ashley dug deep to collaborate on ‘Never Wanted To Be That Girl’ — not to further a trope, but to humanize it.  McBryde sings from the perspective of a woman who meets a man who isn’t wearing a ring when he asks her to go for a drink. Six months pass, and then it switches to Pearce, singing the part of the suspicious wife who waits for him at home and checks his phone for signs of cheating. The chorus reflects their individual yet very similar horror: “I never wanted to be that girl, I never wanted to hate myself, I thought this kind of lonely only happens to somebody else. / Bein’ the other one when there’s another one, God, this feels like hell.” Released September 17.

10. Buffalo Nichols - Lost & Lonesome | Buffalo Nichols
Since his earliest infatuations with guitar, Buffalo Nichols has asked himself the same question: How can I bring the blues of the past into the future? After cutting his teeth between a Baptist church and bars in Milwaukee, it was a globetrotting trip through West Africa and Europe during a creative down period that began to reveal the answer. This single from his self titled debut album was released on October 15.

11. Roseanne Reid - Tentsmuir Sky | Horticulture EP
The four-track Horticulture EP was released on April 30. DJ Ricky Ross talks about Fife’s Tentsmuir Forest, which inspired this gorgeous song. The track, in Rosanne'’s own words. “"Tries to capture the magic of a place which has offered me both escape from and reconnection with the world. The Redshank and Roe Deer referenced in the opening lines highlight just a fraction of the amazing variety of wildlife that inhabit the forest, at the edge of which the sea meets the sky”."

12. Watchhouse - Belly Of The Beast | Watchhouse
Watchhouse is Andrew Marlin & Emily Frantz (formerly Mandolin Orange) from Chapel Hill in North Carolina. The pandemic lockdown and a change of musical direction brought on their decision to change the name of the band after a decade. This track previously recorded and released by Mandolin Orange in 2019 was redone for inclusion on their new album and released on August 13.

13. Jackson Browne - A Human Touch | Downhill From Everywhere
It's nearly five decades on since the release of Jackson's debut album. This track from 'Downhill From Everywhere' his 15th studio album, was released on July 23. Allmusic ended their review with these closing words. "An album full of strong performances, few missteps, and the weary charisma that has been one of the singer's hallmarks. That timeless feeling that signified even Browne's earliest releases is still present, if ever-so-slightly more shopworn by time's passing."

 LINK

 

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

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

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 

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 

 

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 

THE BEATLES - Twickenham Sessions 1969 (1CD) Flac

 

THE BEATLES - Twickenham Sessions 1969
----------------------------------------------------------

The 4 disc ‘Daddy Has Gone Away Now’ set comprised 109 tracks and the compilation ran for about about 5-hours with 46 songs and/or instrumentals. Many of these were the Beatles goofing about, half-hearted attempts or straight up parodies, basically the Beatles having fun as a means of alleviating the boredom of the Twickenham rehearsals.

The most interesting tracks are those where the band are working on new songs and improvising lyrics to them while playing. The titles may be familiar but not the way the band play them. The best are those that were eventually finished and included on Abbey Road and Let It Be, plus the two songs that would appear on solo albums, after their split.    

I've been working on this single disc for some time. It was put aside and listened to again with fresh ears. The aim was to get it ready for early December, before the Beatle film was released. The original idea for the cinema film was dropped and it was made available in three parts comprising six-hours of footage on the Disney channel. I'm sure if you are a Beatles fan and haven't seen it all, you'll be attempting to catch up with it over the festive period.

From the original 4CD (5 hours) I've whittled it down to just over an hour - for those like myself who just want a flavour of the best tracks from these sessions. 

The new official release only includes a small number of tracks from the Twickenham sessions. So this post gives an earlier preview of the birth of some of the latter day Beatles classics as opposed to the later Apple sessions featured on the new official box set.

All tracks were selected from the 4 disc collection "Daddy Has Gone Away Now" (Nite Owl NO-2019-07) (2019) (FLAC Tracks)

It was remastered by Captain Acid in January 2021, who applied phase and level correction and a very gentle touch of new EQ.

Tracklist:

01 - I've Got A Feeling (3:43)                  
02 - Two Of Us (4:21)                                  
03 - The Palace Of The King Of Birds (5:37)

04 - All Things Must Pass (3:35)            
05 - Oh Darling (2:37)                    
06 - Dig A Pony (1:13)                
07 - Gimme Some Truth (1:25)                
08 - Don't Let Me Down (2:49)                
09 - The Long And Winding Road (2:31)            
10 - Golden Slumbers (3:42)               
11 - Carry That Weight (2:40)                
12 - I Me Mine (2:22)                    
13 - She Came In Through The Bathroom Window  (3:52)     
14 - Across The Universe (3:55)            
15 - Let It Be (3:16)                    
16 - Woman (2:11)                    
17 - The Back Seat Of My Car (4:37)            
18 - Get Back (2:29)                    
19 - Mean Mr Mustard (4:15)                

60:10

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

ORIGINAL NOTES:
Best of the Twickenham Rehearsals - 50th anniversary edition - in stereo (no camera beeps)
Recorded 2-14 January 1969 at the Twickenham Film Studios, Richmond upon Thames, London

The selections were compiled from the raw and unedited Get Back rehearsals that took place at Twickenham studios.
The roughly 40 hours of soundtrack recorded at the studio sound stage between 2 and 14 January 1969 - weekends excepted - has been carefully sifted through and distilled. While there is little that is truly great, there is much that is at least interesting, and on this compilation the "good" has been hand-picked and the "bad" left on the cutting room floor.

All of the annoying sync beeps are gone, and the listening experience is further enhanced, the edited compilation, originally recorded in mono, has been processed into a stereo presentation using modern de-mixing software (NOT micro-second delay or ADT in one channel).

Audio source: Purple Chick's 'A/B Road' v.1.1 (jameskg etc.); for identification purposes, the DDSI numbers in parentheses correspond to tracks on that revised set. All tracks de-mixed to stereo and edited from the film soundtrack Nagra tape reels, except * mono.
Camera sync beeps ("bloop slates" removed by filtering, editing and patching. (A Nite Owl production (NO-2019-07)).

For further background, read Jonathan Cott & David Dalton's article from 1970:https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/daddy-has-gone-away-now-let-it-be-169042/

Only available over the Christmas holidays. Further details are in the 'Bootlegs of the Year.'