October 29, 2006
The Dears, The Current, MPR, 3 June 2005
UPDATE: Hey folks, me again. I have jumped ship, leaving ezarchive for my own server. I have updated the files below (and added the interview files) so they now reside at my new home – B(oot)log Radio. As you can see, there is nothing there at the moment except a picture of a monkey but I plan to move this site over there so stay tuned. The files from previous posts will be migrated there or will be updated on my ezarchive account which i have until the end of april or something. Anyway, some big changes are ahead just thought I’d let you know. Hopefully my past posts will sort themselves out before too long. Cheers, r.
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I really didn’t plan on posting this (and I don’t particularly like doing two MPR sets in a row) but Ezarchive is undergoing an upgrade which is really fucking things up. I wasn’t able to upload the files for my planned post and I am not really sure the files I did upload in lieu of it are even working. Please let me know if you have any problems. Anyway, because of Ezarchive’s nonsense, I needed something fairly small that was ready and here we are, back to The Dears. Nothing really has changed since the last time I posted about them – same powerful vocals and sweeping orchestrations. Glorious, emotional and dramatic pretty much sums it up. What is new is that their tour supporting the new album is swinging through Kingston – they are coming to AJ’s on November 15th. I haven’t seen them live yet so I am looking forward to this show. I am just posting the songs from the set today but will add the interview bits later (does anyone even listen to the talk-y bits? am I wasting my time?). Anyway, I hope this works. Things may be messed up for a while around here. I am working on it so please bear with me.
The Dears, The Current, MPR, 3 June 2005
1) Murray on Canadian Radio.mp3
3) Murray learns to play guitar.mp3
4) Who Are You, Defenders Of The Universe.mp3
5) Murray on being a tyrant.mp3
7) outro.mp3
October 19, 2006
TV on the Radio, The Current, MPR, 8 October 2006
photo from an in-store performance at Sonic Boom Records (Seattle), 25 April 2004
Given how hot TV on the Radio are at the moment, I am quite surprised that no one else has posted this MPR in-studio performance (at least I haven’t seen it if they have). Kyp Malone and Tunde Adebimpe visited MPR to chat about being the best band in Brooklyn and to play three extremely stripped down songs. It filled with soulful harmonies, gently strummed guitar and sleighbells. I think it is pretty rad, hope you do too.
Eagle-eyed readers will notice that this post is going up early. This weekend I am going The Land of Chocolate (.mp3 via, well actually not Germany, but this one) so I wanted to make sure you didn’t have to wait until Monday. I’m considerate like that. See you next week.
TV on the Radio, The Current, MPR, 8 October 2006
1) intro.mp3 (0.3 MB)
2) Young Liars.mp3 (5.49 MB)
3) interview 1.mp3 (3.44 MB)
4) Dry Drunk Emperor.mp3 (5.24 MB)
5) interview 2.mp3 (2.91 MB)
6) Wash the Day Away.mp3 (7.4 MB)
Buy TV on the Radio from MPR.
MPR Photo/Derrick Stevens
October 15, 2006
controller.controller, CBC Radio3 Session, Toronto, 2004
Photo by Simon.y from the Red Room, 1 April 2005
On September 14th I saw controller.controller with YSP!WSD! and The D’Urbervilles. It was a pretty great show and this time, like the few others times I have seen them, something conspired to prevent me from recording their show (this time – technical malfunction, most likely caused by user error, although I am pretty sure I got decent recordings of the two earlier acts). The fact that I screwed it up is even more irksome since it looks like I won’t get another chance as this was what turns out to be their last tour. Lead singer Nirmala Basnayake has left the band. In place of a recording by me of c.c, I offer up to you a CBCRadio3 Studio Session from the December 10-16, 2004 issue of CBC3 Magazine. Listen and relive those days of red lights, sultry vocals, thumping bass, and razor-sharp guitar licks.
controller.controller, CBC Radio3 Session, Toronto, 2004
1) Intro.mp3 (0.3 MB)
2) PF.mp3 (3.16 MB)
3) Watch the speed up talk.mp3 (0.2 MB)
4) Poison/Safe.mp3 (4.17 MB)
5) The Raw No.mp3 (3.19 MB)
6) Less suck talk.mp3 (0.4 MB)
7) City of Daggers.mp3 (3.6 MB)
8 ) Stab it talk.mp3 (0.2 MB)
9) Disco Blackout.mp3 (4.32 MB)
10) Shhhh talk.mp3 (0.5 MB)
11) Silent Seven.mp3 (4.23 MB)
12) Magnetic Strip.mp3 (4.14 MB)
Buy c.c records from Paber Bag.
October 7, 2006
Jill Barber, The Grad Club, Kingston, 3 February 2005
Photo by Paige_Eliz of Jill at her CD Release at St. Matthew’s United Church, Halifax, 30 September 2006.
I’ve featured the lovely Jill Barber in these pages before, so I trust you are all familiar with her and her wonderfulness and I shall cut right to the chase. Every time Jill graces the Grad Club stage Kingston is given a special treat. There is a familiarity and intimacy that I don’t think I’ve seen with any other artist here. It is like she is playing in your living room. Between almost every song she engages the audience, telling charming tales in hushed tones, speaking warmly of her Kingston days and giving little glimpses of her life now. Onstage, Jill is delicate but never vulnerable as she sings beautiful songs about love, loss, heartbreak and hope. She demands your attention – as you will see in the tracks below you would have been able to hear a pin drop – but you are richly rewarded for it.
This week, Jill released her first full length album “For All Time” and is touring to support her album, including her first tour in the UK and Ireland (see her Myspace to stream tracks from the new album and tour dates – she is back in Kingston November 23rd). On her new album, the wonderful lyrics and warm vocals we have grown accustomed to are accompanied by a stellar backing cast which brings vocal harmonies and rich instrumentation which borrows from blue-grass and country (ie pedal steel and mandolin) as well as the folk and jazz of her previous recordings, adding an extraordinary richness to her music. I can’t recommend Jill highly enough. Go out and see her live and get her albums. You won’t regret it.
To my fellow Canuks – Have a fantastic Thanksgiving. To everyone else – I hope you enjoy your normal two-day weekend.
Jill Barber, The Grad Club, Kingston, 3 February 2005
1) An old flame (intro).mp3 (0.5 MB)
2) A 7th Minor.mp3 (2.96 MB)
3) Kingston is a great city, Queen’s is not bad talk.mp3 (1.08 MB)
4) Oh Heart.mp3 (3.82 MB)
5) any questions? talk.mp3 (1.01 MB)
6) In Perfect Time.mp3 (3.4 MB)
7) a rockin’ song talk.mp3 (0.5 MB)
8 ) Broken in Two.mp3 (3.66 MB)
9) Matthew, the Grad Club, the Move, and Martini night talk.mp3 (2.53 MB)
10) Love/Death (Matthew Barber cover).mp3 (3.56 MB)
11) a gin and tonic song and Jill is not a sports fan talk.mp3 (2.21 MB)
12) Measures & Scales (edit).mp3 (3.86 MB) [the very end of this song was cut off. sorry]
13) love long distance talk.mp3 (0.6 MB)
14) Somewhere Else.mp3 (3.56 MB)
15) Nothing On Me.mp3 (4.32 MB)
16) The Move talk.mp3 (3.19 MB)
17) Starting to Show.mp3 (3.61 MB)
Buy Jill’s new cd For all Time and/or the 2004 ep Oh Heart now and you can get a Dependent Sampler (as if you needed more incentive!). Or head on over to Zunior to get high-quality downloads of the albums including the 2002 ep A Note to Follow So.
Photo of Jill at the Hillside Festival, 30 July 2006, by Easternblot.
PS: Ezarchive is going through a major update so and they have warned us that service may (i.e. most certainly will) be disrupted. So if the tracks aren’t loading please try again later. If the photos aren’t loading that is probably a good clue that the music won’t be there either. Hopefully they get things sorted out soon.
B(oot)log 
