the of mirror eye

* Ghost: IV (9.0 mb) | Ghost_MP3 (81.0 mb) | Ghost_Flac (260.0 mb)
From Live At Terrastock : Oct 11, 2002 : Boston, MA

I’ve been in love with the spiritually psychedelic sounds of this band Ghost, ever since I heard their fourth album, Lama Rabi Rabi. I couldn’t believe their incredible range of sounds, from psychedelic folk to hard rockers. I quickly tracked down every release I could find and immersed myself in their mystical sound visions.

What we have here is a pretty amazing performance at the fifth Terrastock Festival (for those interested, they’re resuming the festival and holding Terrastock 7 in Louisville, KY). A slight word of warning about this recording, the first track is from the soundboard, but the left/right balance seems a little wonky. The rest of the concert is from an audience source, with track 2 being a little rough for the first minute or so. Otherwise, an amazing concert and those little rough spots shouldn’t deter you from downloading this.

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* Freakwater: Keep On The Sunny Side (4.5 mb) | Freakwater_MP3_Part2 (50.0 mb) | Freakwater_Flac_Part2 (240.5 mb)
From Live At The Great American Music Hall : April 17th, 1998 : San Francisco, CA

As promised, here’s the second part to this magnificent concert (look here). Seriously, if you have any sort of interest in roots/country music, than you gotta check this group out.

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* Freakwater: Keep On The Sunny Side (4.5 mb) | Freakwater_MP3_Part1 (53.5 mb) | Freakwater_Flac_Part1 (246.0 mb)
From Live At The Great American Music Hall : April 17th, 1998 : San Francisco, CA

Well, the weather is finally turning towards spring in my part of the world, and it’s feeling great. I love the transition seasons, spring and fall. And always, around this time, my listening habits start to change and I break out the more folk-y/bluegrass-y music. As usual, at the top of my faves is this band, Freakwater (look here).

If you follow the link above, you’ll note that I already posted a portion of this concert before. But this concert is so amazing, I just had to post the whole thing. I just love the familiarity that Janet Bean and Catherine Irwin have with each other. I guess 15 years (at the time of this show) of playing and singing together will do that to a group. The addition of Dave Gay on the low end and multi-instrumentalist Max Johnston on everything else, ensure that this show is an exceptional one. As always, I hope you enjoy the high lonesome sounds of this fantastic band. Part 2 to come later this week.

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* Musica Transonic: III (6.5 mb) | Musica_Transonic_MP3 (47.5 mb) | Musica_Transonic_Flac (216.0 mb)
From Live At Seikazoku : April 30th, 1997 : Najoya, Japan

Seriously. How could it get any better than this? If this seriously stacked line-up of Asahito Nanjo (Bass, Concept), Makoto Kawabata (Guitar) and Tatsuya Yoshida (Drums) isn’t enough to convince you of their psychedelic glory, than just listen to the racket they produce. It would be really, really hard to top the collective awesomeness of the members of this band.

We got Asahito Nanjo, who’s led/played bass in some of the most down and dirty punk rock/psychedelic bands out there. From Red Alert to High Rise to Mainliner, this man has contributed some heavy duty sounds to whatever he’s involved in. Then we got Makoto Kawabata, one of the main instigators in my personal faves, The Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO. This group of fun loving psychedelic freaks continually blow my mind with their inventiveness. And last but not least, we got Tatsuya Yoshida who plays primarily with The Ruins, an incredible prog/psych based duo of drums and bass that never fail to amaze.

So, if you haven’t been convinced yet of this groups awesomeness, I’m not sure what else I can say, except to download this and give it a listen at top, top volume. Enjoy!

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Sparklehorse: Saturday (4.5 mb) | Sparklehorse_MP3 (107.0 mb) | Sparklehorse_Flac (356.0 mb)
From Live At KB : Nov 2nd, 2006 : Malmo, Sweden

We’ve been having a ton of unusual spring weather recently. Days of 50 degree weather, followed by days of dark, dreary, snowy times. The dark, dreary times are perfectly accompanied by this band, Sparklehorse. I’ve been a fan of this band since I first heard their cracked take on American music back in 1995. Filled with creaks, groans and distortions, lead man, Mark Linkous, has an amazingly gothic and surrealistic vision that he vets out in his home studio.

So, what we have here is a wonderfully recorded performance of Sparklehorse, who are in ultra-fine form. They run the gamut from the loud, abrasive rockers to the quietly crackling intimate songs. Great stuff, indeed.

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* Neutral Milk Hotel: Holland, 1945 (4.5 mb) | Neutral_Milk_Hotel_MP3 (63.5 mb) | Neutral_Milk_Hotel_Flac (241.5 mb)
From Live At Terrastock II : April 18th, 1998 : San Francisco, CA

Speaking of all time favorite bands. This one, Neutral Milk Hotel (look here) more than definitely falls in that category. I’ve loved them ever since I first heard their debut album, over a decade ago. What’s amazing to me is that even after all this time, their albums don’t bore me. Each listen always brings new surprises. An instrument I hadn’t heard before or a vocal inflection that blows my mind.

What we’ve got here is a wonderful performance of Neutral Milk Hotel, augmented by members of The Olivia Tremor Control and Elf Power, at the second of the ever wonderful Terrastock festivals. Broadcast over the FM airwaves and captured by some awesome person, those of us who missed seeing them live get to experience their power and majesty vicariously.

If you want to know more about Neutral Milk Hotel, there’s tons of stuff about them on the web, but I’d highly, highly recommend getting the 33 1/3 book on In The Aeropland Over The Sea.

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Well, I just stumbled upon this super cool website, Tomatoes & Radiowire, that takes In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, by Neutral Milk Hotel as inspiration for various video pieces. As tends to be the case, the quality is up and down, but overall it’s a site very worth visiting.