Let’s keep on riding the smooth wave that is Iron and Wine/Calexico. This set is a little on the softer side and just as fine as the NPR recording.
Iron and Wine/Calexico, from the Triple Door (KEXP):
He Lays in the Reins
Red Dust
All Tomorrow’s Parties
Prison on Route 41
A History of Lovers
Dead Man’s Will
Wild Horses
Iron and Wine/Calexico on NPR
OK, the set you’ve all been waiting for, perhaps? It’s a good one with great covers of Wild Horses, All Tomorrow’s Parties and Always on My Mind.
Iron and Wine/Calexico, live from 9:30 Club (NPR All Songs Considered webcast):
He Lays in the Reins
Red Dust
All Tomorrow’s Parties
16, Maybe Less
Prison on Route 41
A History of Lovers
Always on My Mind
Burn That Broken Bed
Encore
Wild Horses
Dead Man’s Will
Iron and Wine on NPR
Joel Didriksen for www.kingpinphoto.com
Here’s the second batch of songs from NPR’s webcast of the Calexico and Iron and Wine concert. Combined set to follow.
Iron and Wine, live from 9:30 Club (NPR All Songs Considered webcast):
Hickory
Sodom, South Georgia
Cinder and Smoke
Evening on the Ground (Lilith’s Song)
On Your Wings
An Angry Blade
Woman King
The Trapeze Swinger
Calexico’s set on NPR
Joel Didriksen for www.kingpinphoto.com
Here’s the first batch of tracks from the Calexico and Iron and Wine concert that was webcast by NPR last night.
Did what I could with the recording. The webcast is sent at an extremely low kbps to begin with, but hopefully they sound all right. NPR’s site did say downloadable versions of the sets would be available later this week, in which case I can simply split the download into separate tracks.
So, until then …
Calexico, live from 9:30 Club (NPR All Songs Considered webcast):
Yours and Mine
Panic Open String
Alone Again Or
Deep Down
Bisbee Blue
Crystal Frontier
All Systems Go
Wednesday night drunk 45 mix
OK, so we’re a little (read: a lot) drunk. It’s 2:42 a.m. and we’re ripping records with my wife and my boy Royce and drinking vokda/gin and tonics. We had sushi and we’re digging in the 45s.
So, this Otis Redding 45 has all sorts of crackling and excellent analog warmth. Love it. You like the crackling. You do. We’re drunk. You like Kriss Kross, too.
By the way, the Iron and Wine/Calexico concert was recorded from NPR. Those mp3s are coming soon. Very soon.
Otis Redding | (Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay
Kris Kross | Warm it Up (Dupri’s Mix)
New Edition | Cool it Now
Atmosphere
With the exception of a couple of blogs, I didn’t see too much about the recent release of Atmosphere’s You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having.
I just jumped into it yesterday, and I’m starting to feel it. I may have to take back my statement that Blackalicious’ The Craft is the lone standout hip-hop album of the year. I always feel like I have to be in a certain mood to listen to Slug, but I think the guy is a talent sorely needed in the genre. (Despite what Pitchfork says; by the way, I’m giving Pitchfork a 0.4 for that really lame play-on words to open the review.)
Be sure to check the track That Night, which recounts the story of a 16-year-old girl who was raped and killed at an Atmosphere show in Albuquerque. Read a news story about the incident here.
Atmosphere | Get Fly
Atmosphere | That Night
Laura Veirs on KCRW
Dodge kindly asked me if I’d convert Laura Veirs’ performance on KCRW into mp3s. Of course I would. I kindly obliged … only about two weeks later.
Here it is, at long last. I’ll admit: This is the first I’d listened to her, and it’s quite intriguing. At times, her voice feels slightly unsettling, but her writing is amazingly vivid and her enunciation is forceful (a female John Darnielle?).
If it’s a selling point at all, her latest, Year of Meteors, is on Nonesuch, home of that little band Wilco.
Anyway, she crammed in nine songs from Year of Meteors into the performance. So get your download on.
Laura Veirs, on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic:
Cool Water
Rialto
Parisian Dream
Lake Swimming
Fire Snakes
Spelunking
Magnetized
Secret Someones
Galaxies
The Silver State
I first heard of Las Vegas’ the Silver State a few months back, when they played a couple of shows (in Flagstaff, Ariz., and Vegas) with sourceVictoria. Unable to go to either, I finally settled into a few of their tunes recently and wanted to share.
What strikes me most about the band is that there seems to be a certain restraint in the music because nothing sounds forced or trite. It’s more impressive considering they flirt with different styles and tempos with excellent results. I think these two tracks are a good example of that.
Stream a couple more tracks (I suggest The Question) and buy the Silver State’s EP here. Visit them at MySpace here.
The Silver State | Plastic Rose
The Silver State | Batting Average
Elbow b-side / Territorial Cup
Well, Chris and Dodge already set the bar high with their year-end best-of lists. So it got me thinking about mine, and there’s little doubt in my mind that Elbow’s Leaders of the Free World will end up somewhere at least in the top 10, if not in the top 5. They seem to be forgotten amid all the UK exports.
It’s a bit of misnomer to call this track a “b-side” — from a Forget Myself single — because it didn’t come off a vinyl pressing. Nevertheless, it’s a great song, with some thick guitars and a heavy drum beat. Although, if you’ve listened to Leaders, it might seem out of place; so it probably was best left on the cutting room floor.
Elbow | The Good Day
In sports news, today is the Territorial Cup, the fight for bragging rights in Arizona: Univ. of Arizona at Arizona State. I’d be more amped up about it if I actually thought my Sun Devils would win. That’s right: I’m conceding victory to UA (reverse psychology?). This year has been such a disappointment that it wouldn’t surprise me at all to top it off with a loss to the hated rivals.
A win guarantees ASU nothing more than a trip to the Insight Bowl on Dec. 27, just across the Valley in Phoenix. Needless to say, this isn’t the glamorous bowl I had in mind when ASU opened the season ranked in the top 15.
Still, the rivalry is fun and intense and maybe a little overlooked during rivalry week. Those punks from UA got our ‘A’ Mountain with red and blue paint. Both schools have an ‘A’ Mountain that is heavily guarded during the week of the game. I’ve been to games in both Tempe and Tucson, and the drinking, swearing and trash-talking is ruthless. If UA is losing, it’s a sure bet their fans will come back with this trusty line: “Wait til basketball season.”
Well, for what it’s worth, here’s an mp3 of the Maroon and Gold fight song.
Two b-sides: Death Cab and Bloc Party
Wow. A man doesn’t post for one night, and the traffic takes a noticeable drop. OK, I get it. I can take a hint. Sheesh.
Anyway, my new cartridge/stylus came in the mail last week from KAB, a great and helpful resource for all things phonograph. At the advice of KAB’s guru, I picked up the Stanton Discmaster II, which is modified with a hi-fi elliptical stylus, for my Technics 1200. Yes, I’ve totally geeked out.
But this comes with benefits for you, like more vinyl-to-mp3 conversions. The new cartridge/stylus combo is a big improvement in sound. The only downside is some of the pops and clicks seem more pronounced.
That said, here are the first two conversions with the new setup. The first is from a Soul Meets Body 45 that I got as a random freebie at my local Zia. The second is the b-side to a 12″ single for Bloc Party’s Tulips, which was part of an excellent birthday gift from my brother and his wife.
Death Cab for Cutie | Jealousy Rides With Me
Bloc Party | Tulips (club version)