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.

Various Artists - The Best of Bonaroo

This is a free compilation that was put out to promote voting for the 2008 US presidential election. It doesn't seems to be available anymore, so I've uploaded it, rather than post a link like I normally do.
Anyway, this compilation pulls together the best live performances from Bonnaroo. There's a bit of an emphasis on jam bands, which really isn't my thing, but this is made up for by the quality of the rest of the songs. Worth particular mention is My Morning Jacket's cover of the Velvet Underground's Oh! Sweet Nuthin', which they recently reprised following Lou Reed's death.

Bull Black Nova [Wilco]
Animal [Pearl Jam]
Inaudible Melodies [Jack Johnson]
Rapunzel [Dave Matthews Band]
Cath... [Death Cab for Cutie]
Fuel [Ani DiFranco]
Kill Devil Falls [Phish]
Banks of the Deep End [Gov't Mule]
Delicate Few [O.A.R.]
Not Coming Down [moe.]
100 Yard Dash [Raphael Saadiq]
Throwing Stones [Bob Weir & Rat Dog]
And the Ladies Were the Rest of the Night [The Disco Biscuits]
The Wanting Comes in Waves [The Decemberists]
Oh! Sweet Nuthin' [My Morning Jacket]
Happier [Guster]
Box of Rain [Phil Lesh]

https://mega.co.nz/#F!9J8yUACL!tu4fJKFl4mZ9eU2i-92XBw

Bruce Springsteen & Eddie Vedder

I'm not planning on putting up the whole Springsteen show since every show on the tour is going to be sold through his website, but I figure a few people are going to be keen to hear this. So here are the first two songs of the set, which happen to feature Eddie Vedder. Make sure to download the full show when it becomes available in a week or so.

Highway to Hell (with Eddie Vedder)
Darkness of the Edge of Town (with Eddie Vedder)

https://www.mediafire.com/folder/49cfag5zagmi5/Springsteen_%26_Vedder_-_15_Feb

A soundboard recording of this show is now available for paid download from Bruce Springsteen's website. I've downloaded it and it sounds great. On the other hand, it's looking increasingly like night 2 isn't going to be released. Given the length of that show, my recorder ran out part way through the show (despite changing cards part way through), but I'll process and make available what I got if this isn't released in the next week or two).

Updates

Just a quick word to say that I've updated a couple of old posts with new material. Pearl Jam's 2013 Xmas single has been released. I've added it to the Xmas singles post as well as adding a link just for each of the two new songs for anyone that has already downloaded the old singles.

Also, just in time for their Australian tour, Okkervil River have released a new addition to their Golden Opportunities series. A link to Golden Opportunities 3 is in the original Golden Opportunities post (along with links to the other two EPs if you haven't got them yet).

Pearl Jam - Best Live Shows

Like I said a while back, everything you could ever want of live Pearl Jam is easily available on the net. The downside to that is wading through it all and trying to figure out where to start and where to go after that. To help out I've produced this list of my favourite Pearl Jam shows and links to where you can get them. Since they've been around for a while there are some differences between 'eras' so I've tried to cover them all.

Rotterdam '93 (the Ten era)

I've previously mentioned the wonderful JWB Soundboard Remasters series, which features remastered versions of 14 great pre-2000 shows (all of the other pre-2000 shows link to these remasters since they sound better than the versions I orginally discovered). For some reason the band had a love affair with the Netherlands in the Ten era, invariably playing great shows there, and often professing their love for the country and desire to relocate there. By the time the band returned for their second run of European shows they had added some new songs to the setlist that would go on to appear on Vs., and replaced the Beatles' I've Got a Feeling (official version on the Japanese version of Ten) with covers like Fuckin' Up and Sonic Reducer that continue to feature today. Of course, if you'd rather hear the part of the tour, the Soundboard Remasters has five of those shows too.

Atlanta '94 (the Vs/Vitalogy era)

This is probably my all time favourite Pearl Jam show. It probably helps that I first got a copy of this way back in the mid-90s. The show is on the Vs tour, but the band play three songs that would end up on Vitalogy (Whipping, Betterman and Satan's Bed). For hardcore fans the highlight of this show is an ultra rare complete performance of WMA, sometimes things like this provide a good demonstration of why the song is a rarity, but in this case the performance is fantastic. The remainder of the set are songs that still feature regularly on setlists now, but the performances are all phenomenal and the audio quality is perfect. If you only want to download one Pearl Jam show, this is the one I'd recommend.

Berlin '96 (the No Code era)

Waaaaay back in the day I used to go to a record store in the nearest big town which was about the only place it was possible to get bootlegs (this was before downloading from the internet). It was always a bit hit and miss, but that probably made it more exciting when I got hold of really great recordings. And this one was fantastic. No Code might not be everyone's favourite Pearl Jam record, but it stands out to me as a time when they experimented a bit and, generally, it worked. As always this set mixes in some older stuff. Now, when every show is officially released, the setlist probably doesn't look as interesting. But back when it was hard to find shows that hit the sweet spot of fantastic sound quality (this was broadcast on German radio) and amazing performance, this was a widely lauded show.

Melbourne '98 (the Yield era)

Another show I owned as an actual bootleg, this was broadcast over the radio (my version still has some of the radio commentary, but I think the version linked to has it removed), so it is pretty widely bootlegged.

Seattle '00 (the Binaural era)

This was the final show of the Binaural tour, the first one where the band released official bootlegs for every show. The audio quality of the shows from the European leg isn't great, but by the US leg they had largely sorted it out. This show was also noteworthy because it was the first time the band played such a long show that they were forced to release it on three CDs. The set itself is solid, and features some songs that were relatively rare at the time, but are more commonly played now (or it might just be that any time they get played we have access to a soundboard quality recording).

Boston/Mansfield '03 (the Riot Act era)

For mine, this is the worst Pearl Jam era. But just like Neil Young in 1986/87, there's something interesting about seeing how a band copes when they are doing things tough, and in Pearl Jam's case, it wasn't even that bad, just an album that wasn't very good. This was the third show in the Boston area and the band had promised to try to play every song in their catalogue over the course of the shows. To help out in that regard, this show (the final one in the three show run) features an acoustic set prior to Sleater Kinney's opening set. On top of this, the band plays a normal length main set, meaning this is another very long show. There are plenty of rarities (although, like all the shows it was played at, Arc is not part of the official bootleg).

Gems & Rhinestones (Australia '09 tour compilation - the Backspacer era)

I've only listened to the Backspacer tour shows I went to, so while I'm sure there are some great ones out there, I'm not in a position to recommend one. Instead, I'd recommend starting off with the Gems & Rhinestones compilation, which culls the best material from the Australia/NZ tour to form a set designed to sound something like a normal show. This tends to go more for rarity value than quality in a couple of cases, but in the main this is a really great way to hear what the Backspacer era sounded like.

If you're wondering why there isn't anything from the Riot Act tour, it's because I mainly listen to the Gorge boxset. Finally, for anyone who just wants the previous Australian shows, they're all available at Rearviewmirror (who also have compilations covering the Australian Riot Act tour and the Australian Pearl Jam tour) and We Got Shit.

Pearl Jam - Anything in Between

For anyone who wants a more bite size dose of Pearl Jam, here's a relatively rare disc. This was circulated internally within their record company to set out the type of thing that they were imagining Lost Dogs might be. Although some of the material ended up on Lost Dogs (or released elsewhere), some of this has never seen the light of day. Probably no real hidden gems, but still some solid songs.

I know said when I put up Pearl Jam's Xmas singles that I wasn't going to put up a live show since they're all so easily available, but I've changed my mind somewhat. Since there are some great sites that cover everything you could ever want, I'll put up a post linking to what I think are the best shows covering Pearl Jam's career.

Anything in Between
In the Moonlight
Fatal
Sad
Wishing Well
Hitchhiker
Puzzles and Games
Education
Sweet Lew
Sunburn
Hold On
Just a Girl
Alone
Brother
Don't Gimme No Lip
Bee Girl
Against the 70's
New Jeremy

https://mega.co.nz/#F!wFNizCzI!EP5M_ldVY-MM9X53esMOMQ

Pearl Jam - Xmas Singles

I was kinda hoping that the rumours that Pearl Jam were going to headline Big Day Out weren't true, since I'd much rather see them play their own shows. Now I'm hoping that since this is the start of the tour for their new album they will (for the first time ever) make two trips through Australia for this album.

Given they release every show they play there isn't much that is hard to get anymore (they also allow shows that are no longer available to be freely traded - check out the links section for sites that have their previous Australian shows for download). Every year Pearl Jam put out a vinyl single to their fan club. The quality of the material varies enormously, but some of it is outstanding (their only number one was originally an Xmas single). This is a collection of all the singles released to date (nothing was released in 1994, so they released a double single in 1995).

I'll try to add the new singles as they're released, but if this isn't up to date in the future just drop me a line. Lastly, for anyone who is easily offended by nasty words, probably best to skip Ramblings Pt 3.

[Update: I've added the 2013 single. If you want everything then click the link at the bottom of the page. If you only want the new songs click on each of them below]

Let Me Sleep
Ramblings
Sonic Reducer
Ramblings Pt 2
Angel
Ramblings Pt 3
History Never Repears (w/ Tim and Neil Finn) [Live]
Sonic Reducer (w/ Joey Ramone) [Live]
Swallow My Pride (Green River) [Live]
My Way (Eddie Vedder and Terry Presley) [Live]
Olympic Platinum
Smile [Live]
Happy When I'm Crying
Live for Today [1997 was a split single with REM, so this isn't by Pearl Jam]
Soldier of Love [Live]
Last Kis
Strangest Tribe
Driftin'
Crown of Thorns [Live]
Can't Help Falling in Love [Live]
Last Soldier [Live]
Indifference (w/ Ben Harper) [Live]
Gimme Some Truth [Live]
I Just Wanna Have Something to Do (Jeff Ament)
Don't Believe in Christmas
Sleepless Nights (w/ Beck) [Live]
Reach Down (w/ Chris Cornell) [Live]
I Believe in Miracles [Live]
Someday at Christmas
Betterman [Molo Session]
Little Sister (w/ Robert Plant) [Live]
Gone [Demo]
Love, Reign O'er Me
Rockin' in the Free World (w/ Bono and The Edge) [Live]
Santa God
Jingle Bells [Instrumental]
Santa Cruz
The Golden State (Eddie Vedder and Corin Tucker)
Turning Mist

Hawaii '78 [Live] [Pretty sure this is with Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, but I can't confirm it]

No Jeremy [Live]

Falling Down [Live]

Better Things

Devil Doll (X and Eddie Vedder)

All Night [Live]

In the Moonlight (w/ Josh Homme) [Live]

99 Problems (w/ Jay-Z) [Live]
Shattered (w/ Jeanne Triplehorn) [Live]

https://mega.co.nz/#F!lVEBwR4S!foMoRh5RdxtEnGsMbLE4Vg

Pearl Jam - Soundboard Remasters Series

There's a bit of a feast or famine thing with Pearl Jam, in that since 2000 they've released official soundboard recordings of virtually every show they've played, but prior to that it can be tough to get decent quality recordings. To make life easier the folks over at We Got Shit have remastered what they consider to be the 14 essential pre-2000 soundboards. The two key questions are whether these are great shows and whether the quality is decent. So far I've only listened to the Rotterdam '93 recording, since the early days are usually the hardest shows to find in good quality. I've got to say that the sound is stunning. This is absolutely perfect quality. If the remaining recordings are on a par (and I'm now planning on getting them all) this series will be a major boon for Pearl Jam fans that want the key recordings from each period, but not every single show. With regards to performance quality my favourite shows (Atlanta '94, Berlin '96, Melbourne '98 are there) so that's promising. Overall, this looks like being a must-have for Pearl Jam fans.

Pearl Jam - Melbourne 1998

I promised a while back to put up Pearl Jam's show from Atlanta in 1994.  I haven't yet because one of the tracks is corrupted and I'm struggling to get a replacement.  In the meantime here is another of the half dozen 'must have' shows for Pearl Jam fans, and it happens to be from right here in Melbourne.  This was broadcast on Triple J, so the sound is perfect.  As is usual for the band the set mixes tracks from their career to that point, and includes a (at the time) unusual intro to Porch with the funky version of the song.  I have a few things lined up for the next few weeks, but I'll also be trying to find a solid version of that Atlanta show for those looking for it.

Release
Brain of J
Animal
Faithful
In My Tree
I Got Shit

Corduroy

Wishlist

Even Flow

Spin The Black Circle

Daughter

Given To Fly

Hail, Hail

MFC

Crazy Mary/Small Town

Off He Goes

State Of Love And Trust

Do The Evolution

Alive

Go

Black

Rearviewmirror

Immortality

Indifference

Porch

 http://www.mediafire.com/?a8wpstl5u6qk2

Classic Bootlegs - Pearl Jam Pinkpop '92

Looks like there is a clear preference for Pearl Jam in the classic bootlegs poll, so I thought I'd upload a few in addition to the Atlanta '94 show.  This is a pre-Vs show in front of the biggest crowd they'd played to that date.  As a festival set its fairly short, but everthing is a gem. There is also a pro-shot video of this, which is worth the download simply for Eddie climbing onto the camera boom and insisting they swing him out over the crowd for stage dive, followed by the crowd attempting to tear him apart.  The show is followed by an interview.  Normally things like that are pretty boring but there are a few gems in this.  My favourite:

Interviewer: Now Eddie, your name is 'Vedder' it sounds very Dutch.

EV: Yeah, I think it was, it was um, it was from ah, ohhh, Denmark, yeah it is, uh, Dutch.

Interviewer: Its almost Holland, but its a different country Denmark.
EV: Yeah but, it doesn't matter, ah uh, because uh the people in Holland have been so good to us really its like family, especially places like Utrecht, and people at the Tivoli, uh guy named Eric and all those people there, its like family y'know.

I'm not sure but I'm guessing that maybe all those people that have treated you like family might think the difference between Denmark and Holland is kind of important.

Why Go
Jeremy
Deep
Alive
Black
Outshined/Leash
Suggestion/Pulled Up/Rockin' in the Free World
Leash
Interview

http://www.mediafire.com/?1qq1i438urcou