Once again, Neil Young has announced a delay in the release of his Chinese Democracy-esque Archives project. This marks the third delay for 8-CD/2-DVD package. Bad News Beat tells us the delay stems from production issues not economic or blue-ray problems. Now, Neil Young Archives Vol. 1 is due in January or February, but we’ll believe it when we see it.
Here are some links you can both see and believe…
On Monday we told you about the latest Frank Zappa archival release, Joe’s Menage. It seems most Zappa fans weren’t happy with the release and took to the Zappa.com message boards to share their disdain. Gail Zappa responded to the haters with a bizarre tirade. We’re not the biggest Gail fans, but Joe’s Menage looks like a great release to us.
There’s nothing like downloading free legal music from the internet and you’ve got plenty of options to choose from. But determining which free download portals rock and which aren’t worth the trouble is a time consuming endeavor. Luckily, our friends at Jamtopia have saved us the trouble with their list of five free music sites you’re not using (yet).
Let’s start off the week with a batch of links…
Finally, the L.A. Times’ profile of Frank Zappa’s widow - Gail, left us a little cold. The article spends only one sentence discussing her unnecessary war with the cover bands and websites that pay tribute to her husband’s career. She also rants against digital downloads because of the compression schemes used. While we agree that Frank would be anti-mp3, there are plenty of terrific lossless formats she should look into using to spread his music.
There has been lots of buzz about The Replacements lately thanks to Rhino’s new reissues of the band’s first four discs. Wes Orshoski recently interviewed both singer Paul Westerberg and bassist Tommy Stinson for a revealing Billboard magazine profile. Among other things, Westerberg and Stinson discuss how close they came to reuniting for festival season.
Both former members of the ‘Mats seem open to the idea of a reunion, if the timing and circumstances are right. That’s a big switch from the past when the guys were 100% opposed to any possible reunion. So I’m saying there’s a chance.
There’s also a chance we’ll dump a shit load of links on you:
Finally, most people thought Tom Petty was crazy for reforming Mudcrutch after nearly 35 years. But after reading the excellent Mudcrutch profile in the New York Times, Petty’s decision makes more sense. Sometimes artists need to be challenged, and you can’t find a bigger challenge than reforming your original band.
Soundchecks are a touring band’s chance to work out new material, get comfortable with a stage and, sometimes, let loose with each other (non-sexually). This week’s B List kicks off a two-part series in which we’ll feature the best soundcheck videos on YouTube. Some are hilarious, some rock, and others are simply…bizarre.
The first 10 videos follow after the jump, so read on for little-seen footage of Marley in Canada, Steve Vai showing off, Randy Rhoads rockin’ out, Mastodon, Macca, Axl Rose and more. Go on…
Welcome to the second edition of our MP3 Boot Camp department, where we bring you the best in live concert mp3s from the bootleg blogs and official podcasts. We’ve got tons of links for ya this week, so let’s get down on it:
Did we miss any killer boots? Let us know with a comment below…
Six days ago I saw Crowded House deliver an incredible performance at the Masonic Lodge in New York City. The show started me thinking about the stuff I listened to two decades back, when Crowded House first broke. I would listen to the Top 40 radio stations and augment that with the cool shit my older sister Rebecca turned me onto. It was an incredible time for music — alternative was still alternative and smooth pop rock still had some soul.
So this week’s Grousing The Aisles looks back at four legendary shows that happened 20 years ago. This time we’ve provided links to high quality MP3 files for those of you who aren’t into the whole lossless thang.
Peter Gabriel 10/??/1987 SBD (FLAC, MP3):
Petey Gabes was riding a huge wave of success as he finished the So Tour in 1987. Sledgehammer and Big Time were both huge hits, critically and commercially. Gabriel put together an amazing lineup for the extensive world tour: Bass player Tony Levin — the guy who plays with drumsticks — kept the music groovin’, while David Sancious played the keys and David Rhodes handled guitars. Gabriel’s band mixed in material from his five solo albums judiciously. A few of the final shows of the tour were recorded for a radio broadcast, and this week someone uploaded the show to a torrent site: It’s a doozy.
The show opens with a massive version of San Jacinto, which originally was released on Security in 1982. Gabriel played all of his big hits in the set including but not limited to Solsbury Hill, Sledgehammer and Shock The Monkey. My favorite parts of the show are the two beautiful ballads: In Your Eyes and Don’t Give Up. Petey was in fine voice throughout the show, and the band was clearly gellin’ (I’m gellin’ like a felon). If you only have one Peter Gabriel bootleg in your collection, make sure you pick this one.
Read on after the jump for three more incredible shows for download…
