the of mirror eye

* 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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* Fred Anderson Trio: II (excerpt) (1.0 mb) | Fred_Anderson_Trio_MP3 (111.5 mb) | Fred_Anderson_Trio_Flac (356.0 mb)
From Live In France : Feb 01, 2008

In Continuing on the “masters of Chicago jazz vein”, one cannot ignore Mr. Fred Anderson. Long time improvisational saxophone player/bar owner, Fred Anderson has directly nurtured and taught what seems like generations of musicians that have dedicated their time to out there jazz. And as one of the founding members of the Association For The Advancement Of Creative Musicians, he paved the way for so many others.

Although he’s played with a who’s who of the jazz world, this trio with a rhythm section consisting of Hamid Drake (drum/percussion) and Harrison Bankhead (bass/cello) is one of my absolute favorites. The musicians have an incredible musical interplay that absolutely blows my mind. And really, when you have three musicians as great as these three, there’s no way you can go wrong.

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* The Vandermark 5: IV (11.0 mb) | Vandermark_5_MP3 (82.0 mb) | Vandermark_5_Flac (292.0 mb)
From Live At The Beat Kitchen : Dec 29th, 2006 : Chicago, IL

One of the problems with living in such a culturally rich city is that you begin taking things for granted. Recently, it’s been way too easy to say: “I’ll skip this show/art opening/whatever tonight because similar things’ll come along again”. But luckily I’ve snapped out of it and been going out to see more shows and whatnot. And it all started with an incredible show by Ken Vandermark (local improv saxophonist extraordinaire) and Paal Nilssen-Love (maniac Norwegian drummer). It’d been a long while since I’d seen some free jazz and this show reminded me of why I love it so much.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen Ken Vandermark play, but each time is a revelation. His main group The Vandermark 5, is a highly honed jazz/improv ensemble. They played weekly shows for the longest time and you can really tell, by how well they play together. This show, played at The Beat Kitchen in Chicago is totally awesome. What I really like about this group is that it’s not just about free improvisation. They work off of scores, so there’s a lot of structure to their songs, which are complemented by the free improv sections. Enjoy!

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* Souled American: IV (5.0 mb) | Souled_American_MP3 (96.0 mb) | Souled_American_Flac (350.5 mb)
From Live At The Catalyst : July 20th, 1989 : Santa Cruz, CA

For the longest time, Souled American seemed like a myth. I’d heard about this band that played a woozy, boozy, broken hearted, avant-garde style of Americana that was the total antithesis to the Uncle Tupelo styled insurgent country that was gaining popularity at the time. They seemed totally up my alley, except I couldn’t find a single one of their albums. Long out of print by the time I’d heard about Souled American, it seemed like I’d never get the chance to hear these guys. Luckily, their first four albums were reissued by the fine folks at tUMULt Records and I was finally able to hear what the fuss was about. And they didn’t disappoint me one bit.

Ostensibly a rock band, their sound continually shifted and twisted. The first two albums are a ramshackle conglomeration of warm muted guitars, strangled harmonies, and dubby, slippery underwater bass. Foot stomping backwoods raveups and rickety bluesy crawls, stretching their sound into muted swamp blues, languid and syrupy. Their third album is a drowsy and drawling, skeletal country, that hints at the murk and mire to come, less sound and more space. And their last Rough Trade album, “Sonny”, is truly the pure distillate of their vision; a tarpit of old creaking country 78’s and mosquito-buzzing back porch ballads. A record of mostly covers, that would fit as nicely between your Low and Labradford records as it would between your Hank Williams and John Prine. (tUMULt Records)

I kept listening to their albums, thinking that they’d long since broken up and were onto other things. And then, to my great surprise and joy, I got the chance to see them play not too long ago. And what a doozy of a show it was. Pared down to just Chris Grigoroff (guitar, voice) and Joe Adducci (guitar, bass, voice), the band was as amazing as I thought they’d be.

This show is pretty early on in their career, when they were still a four piece and not quite as languid as they’d become. But it’s still a kick-ass performance. The one caveat is that the first song (II) has the left channel missing for about the first minute and 45 seconds. Otherwise, this is an amazing show and everyone should be listening.

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* Neutral Milk Hotel: Holland, 1945 (4.5 mb) NMH_CowHaus_MP3 (94.0 mb) | NMH_CowHaus_Flac (414.0 mb)
From Live At The Cow Haus : Feb 7th, 1998 : Tallahassee, FL

Alright, I know what y’all are going to be saying already: “But CB, you already posted a concert by this band not too long ago (look here). Why’re you posting more?” Well, because in my opinion, you really can’t have to much of a great thing. And this band, Neutral Milk Hotel, are a great thing. What’s interesting to me is how a band that released two albums and a couple of singles ten years ago can still have such a hold on so many people. Obviously, I’m one of those people that were so incredibly affected by their work that I just can’t let go. In fact I can still remember sitting in my college radio station, February of 1996, snow piled deep on the ground, lights dimmed and blasting my brains with their first album. Their music was an incredible revelation to me, as I’d never heard anything like it before.

At any rate, here’s an incredible performance at the 1998 Florida Popfest (wish I could’ve been there).

It seemed like that was the show where everyone, the fans, Jeff, the rest of the band, realised something more was going on here than just another “indie pick of the month”. The festival was two or three nights if I remember and NMH were to close the last night of the festival. Because of various delays, NMH didn’t get to come on until about 2 am. You would think most of the kids would have been exhausted by this point and shuffling home. But they didn’t. The place was packed and it seemed as if the whole crowd was one person, all jumping and screaming every last word Jeff was singing back at him. I have a great memory of Jeff looking back at Julian with this, “What the hell is all this about?” look. (Chris M)

Honestly, this recording isn’t the greatest (the sound is kind of compressed sounding). But don’t let that deter you one bit. This is the real deal and provides, for those of us who weren’t fortunate/smart enough to see them when they were around, an opportunity to hear their power.

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Also, I came across this rather in depth/amazing thesis project on In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. You can view part one here, with links to the other parts at the end of the first part.

* Iron & Wine: Naked As We Came (5.5 mb) | Iron_&_Wine_MP3 (116.5 mb) | Iron_&_Wine_Flac (265.5 mb)
From Live At The Meow Meow : Dec 11th, 2004 : Portland, OR

What can be said about this fine band, Iron & Wine (aka Sam Beam) that hasn’t already been said before. With three critically acclaimed albums, plus numerous EPs and Singles, under his belt, Sam Beam has become known for his lyrical beauty and remarkable song writing. Personally, I’m more interested in his earlier two albums, with their quiet, more acoustic based music than his last album, but it’s all pretty amazing and who can blame an artist for wanting to change things up.

This is a remarkable show, recorded around the release of his second full length, Our Endless Numbered Days. Mostly a solo acoustic performance, his buddy Sam Jayne pops up a couple times with an extra guitar for added effects.

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