the of mirror eye

* Bill Callahan: Diamond Dancer (6.0 mb) | Callahan_MP3_Part2 (61.0 mb) | Callahan_Flac_Part2 (213.0 mb)
From Live In Vienna : May 22nd, 2008 : Vienna, Austria

Well, as promised, here’s the second part of this concert. Sorry it took so long to post this, but life just got too busy for me. Definitely nothing going wrong, but just had too many things to do. At any rate, I hope you’re enjoying this concert. Although I’m having trouble putting my finger on it, there’s something totally awesome about Bill Callahan.

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I apologize for the long time in between posts. Just wanted to assure everyone that I’m still around and that I haven’t disappeared. It’s just been super busy around these parts. Rest assured, the second part of this show is coming very soon.

* Bill Callahan: Diamond Dancer (6.0 mb) | Callahan_MP3_Part1 (74.5 mb) | Callahan_Flac_Part1 (229.5 mb)
From Live In Vienna : May 22nd, 2008 : Vienna, Austria

As with many of my currently favorite bands, it took awhile for me to warm up to Bill Callahan (aka Smog). I first heard about this band/fellow because The Flaming Lips covered his song, Chosen One. I thought the song was absolutely amazing and Wayne Coyne had a long intro about touring with the band. Unfortunately, when I listened to Julius Caesar, the album with that particular song, I didn’t really get it. The songs were poorly recorded (beyond “lo-fi” it seemed to me) and it just didn’t speak to me, or so I thought. Because apparently it did. A good number of years later, I chanced upon that very same album and decided to give it a second chance. And, obviously (or else we wouldn’t be here right now), I “got it”. The songs started making sense to me and I started listening to his albums. A lot.

With its dark undercurrents, brooding repetition, and sparse, intimate production, Bill Callahan’s music plunges a psychological subconscious at once brutal and sublime. Born in Silver Spring, Md., Callahan’s first homemade cassettes released in the late-Eighties under his longtime moniker Smog were saturated with dissonant Jandek-inspired noise experiments. (Austin Chronicle)

At any rate, even though the music remains pretty much the same, he’s decided to record/tour under his own name. So, what we have here is a pretty awesome performance in Vienna with the horse+donkey band. This is part 1, with the second part to follow shortly. Hope you enjoy!

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* Jonathan Richman: Stop This Car (4.0 mb) | Jonathan_Richman_Oregon_MP3 (79.0 mb) | Jonathan_Richman_Oregon_Flac (285.0 mb)
From Sadly Incomplete In Oregon : 1983 : Portland, Oregon

As you can tell, Jonathan Richman (look here and here) has become one of my favorite artists. His “naive-punk-rocker” songs have forever imprinted themselves in my life and it’s always a joy to rock out to his music. Another thing that endears me to him is his willingness to totally put himself out there for everyone to see and hear. It’s performances like this one, with Jonathan on sax/vocals and Curly Keranen on acoustic bass that really show what a true artist he is.

I know that it’s not too long ago that I posted the last concert, but I had this one already upped to the server and it’s such a fantastic one. Unfortunately, it’s not the whole show, but what’s been captured is just super great.

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