Sunday, March 03, 2013

(Another) repost: The go-betweens's Acoustic Stories (the mp3's)

Here's another repost.
I assume many of you, if you are go-betweens' fans, already know the "That striped sunlight sound"DVD, which is divided into two sections: one the proper concert, and two the Acoustic Stories part, where Robert and Grant talked about their career and performed 11 songs out of it in splendid stripped-down acoustic versions. I had been looking for the MP3's of that acoustic performance for a long time but with no luck, then I finally rolled up my sleeves, found the right software and did it myself: it took me some time so I really hope you appreciate it.
I have also decided to create two zip files: one with the "complete"acoustic stories (including all the talks inbetweens songs), and one songs-only.

Tracklist:

    Lee Remick
    Cattle and Cane
    Part Company
    Bachelor Kisses
    Head Full of Steam
    Bye Bye Price
    Dive for Your Memory
    German Farm House
    Too Much of One Thing
    Here Comes the City
    Finding You


The Acoustic Stories
The "Complete" Acoustic Stories

Sunday, February 24, 2013

16 Lovers Lane: Don't Try To Push Me "EP"



I had already talked about this EP. Anyway, it is now on bandcamp as well.


Thursday, February 21, 2013

The Go-Betweens: Ep's and Singles (REPOST)

















And so here's the first repost. A lot of you left comments for this so... If there are any other GoB's stuff you'd like to see on this blog just let me know.

These are the Go-Betweens' B-Sides to their 2000-years Singles (and the Worlds Apart EP), a quite hard to find treasure. Plus the 7'' edit to Finding You and, as some kind of bonus track, a Suicide At Home live in Munich in 1999.

PS And by the way: Girl lying on a beach is one my favourite Forster's songs ever.

Tracklist:

01 Finding you (7" version)
02 Instant replay
03 The city of lights
04 Sleeping giant
05 The locust girls
06 Crystal shacks
07 Erotic sunshine
08 Woman across the way
09 Stone
10 Girl lying on a beach
11 Suicide at home (The BR 2 Session, live 1999)

 Ep's and Singles

Friday, February 15, 2013

Robert Forster Live Subterania 1991

This one is quite peculiar. The quality of the recording is not so good, actually only half decent. But still: it is quite a set from a period (early 90's) from which boots (of Forster's live stuff) are hard to find. Plus, I love the tracklist, you know I think Robert played in his early career some of his best music (aka the "Danger in the past" record) and some great from the GoBs repertoire (among these: a very rare acoustic redition of Part company).
I have also found a review of the concert from those days, so I'll quote some of it:
[...] Barely communicative, borrowing drinks from the audience, 'Is This What You Call Change' and 'Part Company' are edgy and quavering, open-heart surgery with a battered acoustic. But he has more muscle to call on, a drilled new German band to give his songs a more resolute, wired flavour.
[...] Forster has re-invigorated his old songs, given them sharp new arrangements where Franc Schmiechen's swirling organs is as prominent as the twin guitars. So 'People Say' - "One of the ten best pop songs ever written", claims its writer modestly - gets a stirring exhumation and 'The House That Jack Kerouac Built' becomes the dense, rich epic it always threatened to be.
Forster soon finds his confidence, of course; an arch, detachedly flamboyant performer who behaves like a 19th century poet with an Open University degree in rock 'n' roll. Newer solo material like 'Dear Black Dream' and 'Leave Here Satisfied' balance faintly camp melodrama with cohesive power surges unimaginable in The Go-Betweens.

Last two songs are suppossed to be with Grant Mclennan. No doubt about Clouds, but I can't really hear Grant on Danger in the past.

(The picture is not directly relevant to that concert, but at least it's from the same year, the best I could find).

Tracklist:

01. Is This What You Call Change
02. Love is a Sign
03. Part Company
04. The River People
05. Rock 'n' Roll Friend
06. Hear Out To Tender
07. People Say
08. Dear Black Dream
09. Dive For Your Memory
10. I've Been Looking For Somebody
11. Baby Stones
12. Leave Here Satisfied
13. The House That Jack Kerouac Built
14. The Clarke Sisters
15. Clouds
16. Danger In The Past


Live Subterania 1991

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

About re-ups...

I don't have much time these days. If I post something I usually prefer picking something new.
I'll see.
(Ok, I've thought about it: I'll try to post some reups in the next weeks, maybe the EP's and something else).

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Grant McLennan Live 1995, Brussels

I had promised myself to post more stuff about the go-betweens, so I kind of saw it as a sign when I found this one, a Grant McLennan's concert from his 1995 tour. It is an audience recording, but a very (very) good one. Plus, as you may know if you are a GoBes'fan: there are not many McLennan boots out there (from his solo career). Actually I think I own only another one, (the radio shows) and that's it.
About the actual bootleg: there are quite good songs in here, although I can't really say I love his band or its sound (it may be the recording but the second/electric guitar lacks room and character), mainly because it is some kind of semi-acoustic concert struggling sometimes to sound big. Let's say I find the more stripped down songs (and the ballads) more convincing than the rockers (I have always thought that McLennan's talent was a a natural match with ballads...). Anyway, good versions of Clouds, Horsebreaker star (one of my favourites among his) etc, and some weird stuff (the last I know why, an unreleased one I suppose...really weird, much like Tallulah's Cut it out).

PS The picture is from the "Bands of your town" event (a good way to celebrate this great songwriter). Photograph courtesy of The Go-Betweens Credit: Bleddyn Butcher.


Tracklist: 

01. When Word Gets Around
02. The Sign Of The Unicorn
03. All The Songs
04. Hold On To What You've Got
05. Lighting Fires
06. Coming Up For Air
07. I'll Call You Wild
08. Easy Come, Easy Go
09. Don't You Cry for Me No More
10. Horsebreaker Star
11. Right Here 

12. Dropping You
13. Bye Bye Pride 

14. Haven't I Been A Fool
15. I Don't Want The Days To Change
16. Was There Anything I Could Do 

[encore]
17. Clouds
18. I Know Why


Grant McLennan Live 1995, Brussels

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Azra: Singl ploce 1979-1982


Here's another favourite band of mine from ex Yugoslavia: Azra were one of the most popular rock groups of the yugoslavian new wave (if not THE most popular), and even today, fiteen years after their break up, they are something more than a cult not only in Croatia (they came from Zagreb) but also in the rest of the Balkans. 
This album is a compilation with their first singles, spanning from 1979 to 1982 and it contains also music prior to their first eponymous album (1980). It's probably not their best release but it's a very good introduction.
And for those who don't know a thing about yugoslav new rock and about Branimir "Johnny" Štulić (the leader of Azra and now a kind of mysterious exiled artist, totally unwilling to come back to his former country, if you can call it so after the war in the nineties), I'd urge you to view this nice documentary, "Sretno djete", about the Zagreb scene in the eighties (with english subtitles).

This is one of the songs from the compilation. With english translation of the lyrics (from LyricsTranslate).


A šta da radim (And what should I do)

And what should i do
When my friends leave
When a girl leaves
On which I throw my gazes.
And so day by day
On public places with a guitar
Ofcourse someone always comes
to hear me at least furtively
Nothing is important to me anymore
I found a good band
I only want to play
To get my kicks and that's all.
And what should i do
When my friends leave
When a girl leaves
On which I throw my gazes.
People just talk
Why are you so nervous?
People just say
Don't be so horrible.
Human lips whisper
sneak through the city
Stay out of trouble
They will take your head off.
Nothing is important for to me anymore
I found a good band
I only want to play
To get my kicks and that's all.
And what should i do
When my friends leave
When a girl leaves
On which I throw my gazes.
Instrumental
Nothing is important to me anymore
I found a good band
I only want to play
To get my kicks and that's all
To get my kicks and that's all
To get my kicks and that's all