Stuff I've been listening to...

Ok, so I know things have been quiet round here, but this is probably about the pace I can keep up - once every week or two. In the meantime though, I've been listening to a bunch of great stuff from other sites. Here are some recommendations:

Bob Dylan - Amsterdam 2013

I've been listening to this in advance of his show next week. The setlist is pretty much identical to what he is doing at present (this show has What Good Am I?, he tends to put Workingman's Blues #2 in that spot mostly, but still ocassionally plays What Good Am I?). The fact he's not varying the setlists takes a bit of the excitement out, but on the other hand, reports are that he's really nailing the songs. As usual, some of these versions are significantly different to the originals (or the version he played on his last tour here). The sound is very good audience recording quality.

Bob Dylan - Outfidel Intakes

More Dylan, just because I love him lots. This one pulls together material from the various sessions for Infidels. As any fan will know, a lot of Dylan's best stuff never made it on to the album they were recorded for (Blind Willie McTell is on this set, Foot of Pride was also recorded for this session but released on the Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3 [so not here], but there's also Lay Down Your Weary Tune, Series of Dreams, Cross the Green Mountains, Postively 4th St, etc etc). Likewise, the versions that are eventually released aren't always the best ones - apparently the musicians who recorded the Infidels album were stunned by what was eventually released.

This set has two parts, the first is the best of the material that Mark Knopfler played on [when he finished he took recordings of the material, which eventually made it's way to the public]. The second is a collection of outtakes and alternate versions. Fans argue that this set is much better than the official album, for fans of his 80's work [and I know it isn't his most popular period] this is a must have.

Pearl Jam - Friends at High Tide

I mentioned this a while back, it's a compilation pulling together 'the best' of their 2003 Australian tour into a something that sounds a bit like an album. I say 'the best' because a) this was a bit of a low point in their career, and (more importantly) b) I don't think this does a good job of grabbing the best stuff from the tour. It's interesting nonetheless, but I think it could have been better.

The Chills - Melkweg, 20 February 1987

A great New Zealand band, who have recently returned to touring (and apparently have a new album in the bag). No word of an Australian tour yet, but their European shows are getting rave reviews. This is a soundboard recording of a great show of a band that doesn't get recorded too often [Note: a friend gave me a recording of this, so if the website I've linked to doesn't work, I can put up my own version].

The Mutton Birds - B-Sides & Rarities

Don McGlashan is one of my favourite NZ musicians, and incredibly underrated. This website has a lot of great stuff, but the two b-sides and rarities collections are both fantastic and a good place to start.

Warren Zevon - Los Angeles, 24 April 1978

Speaking of incredibly talented and underrated, this is the broadcast portion of a Warren Zevon show from 1978. It's from the tour for Excitable Boy, so it features lots of his biggest songs. Also a good introduction for the uninitiated.