Buzzcocks - Sessions and Otherwise

Steve Diggle some time in 1977, I believe.

I am very excited to be attending this special show next month, so here is a somewhat different Buzzcocks retrospective for your potential enjoyment. It contains a Small Faces cover from a tribute compilation, three bonus tracks from the Japanese edition of the "All Set" album, some TV and radio appearances, two radio-transmitted shows from 1979/'80 and one from 1990, a quite wonderful Steve Diggle solo EP ("Heated and Rising"), and a short acoustic session of his own. Actually, the whole first disc of this collection gravitates much more heavily towards Diggle than the Buzzcocks' official discography, and I am very pleased with that, because although he was always relegated to the status of second frontman, I always thought his songwriting and voice were absolutely up to par with Shelley's. His post-Buzzcocks career, both solo and in various band guises (Flag of Convenience, Buzzcocks F.O.C.), is criminally underappreciated and obscure, which is a pity, because those albums are brimming with excellent power-pop/rock songs that more than deserve to be heard. I hope this look at his work will make someone curious enough to check that stuff out - I don't think you'll be disappointed. Of the rest of the material, I am quite partial to the Toronto show, which is no "Entertaining Friends" in terms of sound quality, but is still good-sounding enough to warrant repeated listenings, especially since there hardly was a better live band than the Buzzcocks in 1979; and there is a poignant moment during the Manchester show when Pete dedicates "Strange Thing" to Ian Curtis, who had died a day earlier

A poster for the Toronto show featured here.

Track listing:

Disc One:

1. Here Come the Nice (The Small Faces Cover) (2:55)
2. Holding Me Down (3:52)
3. Television World (3:49)
4. Everyday Sky (3:39)
5. Harmony in My Head (In Bed with Me Dinner 1994) (2:59)
6. Libertine Angel (In Bed with Me Dinner 1994) (2:34)
7. Promises (In Bed with Me Dinner 1994) (2:12)
8. Autonomy (Fuel TV Session 2008) (3:43)
9. Peel Talks (Peel Session 2003) (0:22)
10. Driving You Insane (Peel Session 2003) (2:20)
11. Peel Talks (Peel Session 2003) (0:28)
12. Certain Move (Peel Session 2003) (2:40)
13. Peel Talks (Peel Session 2003) (0:25)
14. Lester Sands (Drop in the Ocean) (Peel Session 2003) (2:32)
15. Peel Talks (Peel Session 2003) (0:10)
16. Jerk (Peel Session 2003) (2:01)
17. Peel Talks (Peel Session 2003) (0:06)
18. Steve Diggle - Heated and Rising (2:50)
19. Steve Diggle - Over and Out (3:42)
20. Steve Diggle - Terminal (3:31)
21. Steve Diggle - Wednesday's Flowers (3:13)
22. Steve Diggle - unknown (The Independent Session 2011) (3:12)
23. Steve Diggle - Planet Star (The Independent Session 2011) (2:42)
24. Steve Diggle - Harmony in My Head (The Independent Session 2011) (4:15)

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Disc Two:

1. Everybody's Happy Nowadays (Live at Hultfredsfestivalen 1990) (3:40)
2. What Do I Get? (Live at Hultfredsfestivalen 1990) (3:18)
3. Ever Fallen in Love with Someone You Shouldn't've? (Live at Hultfredsfestivalen 1990) (2:58)
4. Successful Street (Live at Hultfredsfestivalen 1990) (5:20)
5. Nothing Left (Live at Hultfredsfestivalen 1990) (4:51)
6. Why Can't I Touch It? (Live at Hultfredsfestivalen 1990) (3:54)
7. Isolation (Live in Texas 1993) (3:48)
8. Palm of Your Hand (Live in Texas 1993) (3:16)
9. Unthinkable (Live in Texas 1993) (2:30)
10. Interview (Live on Jonesy's Jukebox 2004) (18:55)
11. What Do I Get (Live on Jonesy's Jukebox 2004) (2:50)
12. Interview (Live on Jonesy's Jukebox 2004) (2:08)
13. Sell You Everything (Live on Jonesy's Jukebox 2004) (2:19)
14. Flat-Pack Philosophy (Live on Jonesy's Jukebox 2004) (2:48)
15. Interview (Live on Jonesy's Jukebox 2004) (3:05)
16. Fiction Romance (Live on Jonesy's Jukebox 2004) (5:22)

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Disc Three:

1. I Don't Mind (Live in Toronto 1979) (2:32)
2. What Do I Get? (Live in Toronto 1979) (3:05)
3. Love You More (Live in Toronto 1979) (2:07)
4. Harmony in My Head (Live in Toronto 1979) (3:38)
5. Sixteen (Live in Toronto 1979) (3:54)
6. Autonomy (Live in Toronto 1979) (3:54)
7. Moving Away from the Pulsebeat (Live in Toronto 1979) (5:43)
8. Nothing Left (Live in Toronto 1979) (4:44)
9. Noise Annoys (Live in Toronto 1979) (3:19)
10. Breakdown (Live in Toronto 1979) (2:06)
11. Orgasm Addict (Live in Toronto 1979) (2:18)
12. Ever Fallen in Love with Someone You Shouldn't've? (Live in Toronto 1979) (2:52)
13. Promises (Live in Toronto 1979) (2:24)
14. Everybody's Happy Nowadays (Live in Toronto 1979) (4:18)
15. Boredom (Live in Toronto 1979) (2:47)
16. Oh Shit (Live in Toronto 1979) (1:56)
17. Fast Cars Intro (Live in Toronto 1979) (1:31)
18. Fast Cars (Live in Toronto 1979) (2:20)
19. I Don't Mind (Live in Manchester 1980) (3:22)
20. Ever Fallen in Love with Someone You Shouldn't've? (Live in Manchester 1980) (3:13)
21. What Do I Get? (Live in Manchester 1980) (3:38)
22. Strange Thing (Live in Manchester 1980) (4:11)
23. Why She's a Girl from the Chainstore (Live in Manchester 1980) (2:30)
24. What Do You Know? (Live in Manchester 1980) (3:50)
25. Autonomy (Live in Manchester 1980) (3:32)

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Various - Tribute to Igich

Here is a compilation of early material by two bands fronted by my friend Igich. It includes two EP's and an album by This Day Will Burn, who have recently added a new singer, and an album by Learning English, who don't exist anymore. I guess TDWB play music that could be called post-hardcore or maybe even screamo (although I normally try to avoid screamo so I wouldn't really know); Learning English were closer to early hardcore, melodic and a bit childish, but hey, we all had to start somewhere. Actually, Igich started in a few even earlier bands, the first of which embarrassingly included yours truly, but I don't have those recordings so they will remain obscure for the time being. You're not missing out on much, although we were probably the first band ever to cover both Big Black and NOFX during the same show, so I guess that counts for something, too?

Track listing:

1. This Day Will Burn - Alpha Romeo (2:43)
2. This Day Will Burn - Whereabouts of Mrs. Niries (3:02)
3. This Day Will Burn - Story of Odette (0:52)
4. This Day Will Burn - Princess Lightning (2:35)
5. This Day Will Burn - Fingers (3:11)
6. This Day Will Burn - Houston You Have a Problem (3:03)
7. This Day Will Burn - Hey Big Jack (3:50)
8. This Day Will Burn - Bloodshot (3:28)
9. This Day Will Burn - As Long As I Keep My Eyes Open (3:27)
10. This Day Will Burn - Who Defines Our Pictures of Life (2:54)
11. This Day Will Burn - Reconsidering the Inevitable (2:37)
12. This Day Will Burn - Kiss on the Forehead (2:44)
13. This Day Will Burn - After the Nightmare (3:02)
14. This Day Will Burn - Imitation of Twisted Nature (2:48)
15. This Day Will Burn - Empty Fields (2:50)
16. This Day Will Burn - Another Fallen Hero (2:45)
17. This Day Will Burn - The Missing Piece of a Puzzle (3:02)
18. This Day Will Burn - Break the Silence (2:56)
19. Learning English - Broken Promises (2:07)
20. Learning English - Just a Bad Dream (0:54)
21. Learning English - Pandora's Box (1:25)
22. Learning English - Dedicated to... (1:59)
23. Learning English - Them (1:49)
24. Learning English - Another Fight Without a Reason (1:38)
25. Learning English - Dead End (1:09)
26. Learning English - Things on My Mind (1:34)
27. Learning English - Dying (1:16)
28. Learning English - Falling in Love (1:30)
29. Learning English - Take Control (1:51)
30. Learning English - The Flame (1:43)
31. Learning English - Let Me Know (1:01)
32. Learning English - Disaster Coming (1:35)
33. Learning English - I Don't Wanna Hear It - Straight Edge (1:56)

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Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Live in Orto Bar, Ljubljana, 05.04.2001.

Some of you may have liked the Bonnie Billy show from KSET, Zagreb, which I posted in one of the older posts - almost 300 hundred downloads of that archive point in that direction, at least. Here, then, is the show from one day earlier, played in Ljubljana's Orto Bar, and thankfully in the same pristine sound quality as the Zagreb show. There is overlap in the material played, but not as much as you'd expect from two shows one day apart; and just like that recording, this one would make a legitimate live album release with no problems whatsoever. Thanks to SoulSeek user "punkica" who I downloaded this from, and I hope she enjoys the Bitch Magnet show from Osijek. :)

Track listing:

Disc One:

1. The Same Love That Made Me Laugh (3:01)
2. Arise Therefore (3:49)
3. Pushkin (4:34)
4. After I Made Love to You (3:56)
5. Nomadic Revery (All Around) (4:28)
6. Rich Wife Full of Happiness (4:15)
7. The Gator (3:16)
8. Riding (4:40)
9. May It Always Be (3:53)
10. A King at Night (4:25)
11. Sheep (2:58)
12. 64 (5:05)
13. I See a Darkness (4:46)

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Disc Two:

1. O How I Enjoy the Light (3:34)
2. In My Mind (3:45)
3. Just to See My Holly Home (3:42)
4. O Let It Be (4:57)
5. All Gone, All Gone (4:05)
6. Southside of the World (3:10)
7. One with the Birds (4:48)
8. I Am a Cinematographer (2:51)
9. Death to Everyone (4:51)
10. 66 (7:25)
11. Careless Love (1:42)
12. Madeleine-Mary (5:55)

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Kepone - 6 Songs

Yet another in the long line of Best Bands Ever, Kepone released at least one 100% perfect masterpiece in their time together, their eponymous third - and sadly last - album, which has managed to pull off such an incredible combination of genres that I really have no-one else to compare them to. They had pop-punk melodies, married to noise-rock playing, interspersed with beautiful exuberant folk passages, which effortlessly crossed the line into redneck humor and back in the space of a few bars. Or at least that's how I hear them? Some more or less similar contemporaries might be Guzzard or Chokebore, but if you know of those bands, you know Kepone, too. Anyway, here is a short collection of their first two seven inches ("Henry/Prisoners" and "295/Phobic"), an appearance on a split single with my beloved Pegboy ("The Ghost"), and a compilation slot ("Holler"). They had one more 7" out, "Conjure Man/Fire on the Double Wide", but as you can buy those songs digitally, I'll refrain from including them here. Enjoy if you are already a fan, and if you are not, start with the "Kepone" album and proceed to your liking. Most of the time you can obtain all three of their CD's for a total of $15 or thereabouts; if you wish to do so, head over here.

Track listing:

1. Henry (5:41)
2. Prisoners (3:42)
3. 295 (2:03)
4. Phobic (2:46)
5. The Ghost (3:12)
6. Holler (4:09)

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Hanson Brothers - Live in Zagreb, Tvornica 30.03.2012.

I've been lucky to see the Hanson Brothers two nights in a row this weekend, supported by the wonderful Invasives (and, on the show in Osijek, my friends This Day Will Burn). For those who don't know, the Hanson Brothers are an alter ego of the legendary Nomeansno - in this guise, they play stupid, catchy, Ramones-influenced (or rather, Ramones-ripped-off) punk rock dedicated to the celebration of "the hockey game". Although Nomeansno are one of my absolutely favourite bands, up until these shows I haven't really "got" the Hansons, thinking they were just a bit TOO stupid for my taste; turns out there's no such thing as "too stupid". I had great drunken fun at both shows and, revisiting their albums afterwards, found out that there really are tons of great songs in their canon. This morning I went on YouTube to check if there were any videos from the shows, and was pleasantly surprised to see that some kind soul had recorded the whole Zagreb show and uploaded it. So, these mp3's are basically just the audio portion of those videos, separated into individual songs and ever so slightly enhanced by a mild equalizer. So don't expect "Bridges to Babylon" here: this is probably just this side of listenable, but I have heard lots of bootlegs that sound even worse and actually sell for real money, so this is still infinitely better. I think I can even hear myself talk sometime between "Rink Rat" and "Lovesick", and even though I can't really understand what I said, I'm 110% sure it was something very smart and funny. So, if you've been to either of the shows, this might be a nice piece of digital memorabilia, and if not, perhaps you'll be able to get an idea of what the whole shenanigan was like. Too bad the Invasives portion was not recorded, as they really are an amazingly fresh and interesting little band, but I'll try to dig out something else by them to share on the blog in the future. Have fun!

Track listing:

1. Intro (1:24)
2. Total Goombah (2:24)
3. The Hockey Song (2:04)
4. 100 and 10 Per Cent (2:14)
5. Tranquil (2:04)
6. Not for Mary Lou (2:58)
7. Stick Boy (3:01)
8. A Night without You (2:52)
9. Third Man In (2:24)
10. Rink Rat (2:09)
11. (banter) (2:48)
12. Lovesick (2:23)
13. Let's Go Out Tonight (2:10)
14. We're Brewing (1:20)
15. Duke It Out (2:09)
16. Sabrina (2:39)
17. Comatose (2:26)
18. (banter) (2:27)
19. (unknown) (2:48)
20. I've Been There (1:13)
21. No Emotion (1:50)
22. Jack Off (2:56)
23. Bad (2:17)
24. (pause) (1:34)
25. Loudmouth (1:49)
26. Havana Affair (1:39)
27. Everything I Wanted (2:20)
28. Danielle (She Don't Care about Hockey) (2:48)
29. (banter) (0:53)
30. You Can't Hide the Heino (3:25)
31. Sudden Death (5:46)

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The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Singles, Sessions and Remixes

Here's a huge collection of the less obvious Blues Explosion stuff, including various singles not included on the "Jukebox Explosion" compilation or recent album reissues, tons of remixes, a few radio sessions and other odds and sods. There's more than four full CD's of stuff here, so if you're a fan, knock yourself out!

Track listing:

Disc One:

1. Implosion (3:35)
2. Maureen (4:44)
3. Alex (3:50)
4. Point of View (4:31)
5. Like a Bat (4:24)
6. Then Again I Will (2:52)
7. All Shook Up (2:00)
8. Kawasaki ZII750 Rock'n'Roll (3:12)
9. Meet Me in the City (4:03)
10. The Devil Got My Woman (live) (1:50)
11. Special Rider Blues (3:49)
12. Cold Cold Eyes (Demo Version) (3:11)
13. Grinding (3:05)
14. The Funky Gremlin (3:05)
15. Rattling (Live on Jonesy's Jukebox) (3:48)
16. Black Betty (2:39)
17. I Wanna Make It All Right (Radio Live) (6:24)
18. Andre Williams & Hit Squad (4:07)
19. Coldcut & Jon Spencer - Everything Is Under Control (3:36)
20. Jon Spencer and the Elegant Too - Here Come the Fuzz (3:52)
21. Bomb the Bass & Jon Spencer - Fuzz Box (5:26)

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Disc Two:

1. Welcome (Daytrotter Session) (0:36)
2. Get Your Pants On (Daytrotter Session) (2:39)
3. Shirt Jac (Daytrotter Session) (1:03)
4. My War (Daytrotter Session) (2:53)
5. No Reservations (Daytrotter Session) (1:14)
6. Texas Blues (Daytrotter Session) (4:01)
7. Intro (KEXP Session) (0:14)
8. No Expectations - Tell Me That You Love Me (KEXP Session) (2:14)
9. My War (KEXP Session) (1:53)
10. Get Your Pants On (KEXP Session) (2:36)
11. Interview (KEXP Session) (2:12)
12. Black Thoughts (KEXP Session) (3:32)
13. Not Clear Still (KEXP Session) (2:07)
14. Interview (KEXP Session) (3:43)
15. Chicken Dog (KEXP Session) (3:45)
16. Interview (KEXP Session) (0:39)
17. Strange Baby - Happy Birthday Elvis (KEXP Session) (2:35)
18. Interview (KEXP Session) (0:44)
19. Outro (KEXP Session) (0:26)
20. Intro (VPRO Session) (1:52)
21. Wriggle & Move - Vacuum of Loneliness (VPRO Session) (3:14)
22. Mo' Chicken - Let's Get Funky (VPRO Session) (2:09)
23. Watermain (VPRO Session) (0:49)
24. Full Grown (VPRO Session) (2:31)
25. Bent (VPRO Session) (2:06)
26. Shirt Jac (VPRO Session) (0:43)
27. Soul Typecast (VPRO Session) (2:00)
28. Very Rare (VPRO Session) (5:49)
29. Curfew Blues (VPRO Session) (2:55)
30. Flavor (VPRO Session) (3:21)
31. Frustrate - Woman Love (VPRO Session) (4:36)
32. Seventeen (VPRO Session) (3:04)
33. Curfew Blues (VPRO Session) (2:32)
34. Jon Spencer & Solex - Complication (2:33)

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Disc Three:

1. Burn It Off (FD Acoustic Session) (3:32)
2. Rock Hard (FD Acoustic Session) (2:08)
3. Honey Bee (FD Acoustic Session) (2:34)
4. Blues X Man (FD Acoustic Session) (3:44)
5. unknown (VPRO Live 2004) (2:59)
6. Help These Blues (VPRO Live 2004) (4:14)
7. Burn It Off (VPRO Live 2004) (2:43)
8. Cold Cold Eyes (VPRO Live 2004) (3:16)
9. Blowing My Mind (VPRO Live 2004) (3:21)
10. Grinding (VPRO Live 2004) (3:09)
11. Rivals (VPRO Live 2004) (2:03)
12. You Been My Baby (VPRO Live 2004) (3:13)
13. Bellbottoms (VPRO Live 2004) (4:18)
14. Sweet 'n' Sour (VPRO Live 2004) (2:41)
15. unknown (VPRO Live 2004) (4:06)
16. She Said (VPRO Live 2004) (1:54)
17. Wail (VPRO Live 2004) (1:45)
18. Greyhound (VPRO Live 2004) (2:36)
19. Money Rock'n'Roll (VPRO Live 2004) (4:59)
20. Blues X Man (live) (4:02)
21. High Gear (live) (1:44)
22. Talk About the Blues (live) (6:43)
23. Point of View (live) (5:32)
24. Shakin' Rock'n'Roll Tonight (live) (2:43)

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Disc Four:

1. Talk About the Blues (Poll A Rock Remix) (3:15)
2. Crunchy (Solex 'Bounce' Remix) (3:00)
3. Bacon (Dub) (4:26)
4. Heavy (SD50 Mix) (3:13)
5. Hot Gossip (Jay Braun Remix) (2:51)
6. Money Rock'n'Roll (Sub Species Mix) (4:20)
7. Not Yet (Sci-Fi Mix) (3:47)
8. 2 Kindsa Love (Duck Rock 105.9 FM Remix) (5:01)
9. Over and Over (Barry Adamson Mix) (5:15)
10. I Wanna Make It All Right (Zebra Ranch) (3:49)
11. She Said (The Tremelo Beer Gut Mix) (2:43)
12. Crunchy (TMJ (!!!) Remix) (6:03)
13. Help These Blues (Poll A Rock Remix) (3:27)
14. Do You Wanna Get Heavy (Duck Rock Hip'N'Bass Remix) (5:55)
15. Hot Gossip (!!! Remix) (4:08)
16. Not Yet (Splatter Mix) (5:06)
17. Over and Over (Techno Animal Remix) (4:08)
18. Hot Gossip (TMJ (!!!) Remix) (5:31)
19. Jon Spencer & Haze XXL - Inbred Vampire - Techno Car Chase (3:21)

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Disc Five:

1. Mars, Arizona (DFA Remix) (10:45)
2. Einstürzende Neubauten - Ende Neu (Spez. Gomez Mix by Jon Spencer) (4:45)
3. Princess Superstar - Do It Like a Robot (Jon Spencer Remix) (4:01)

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MDC - Live Mocvara, Zagreb, 01.07.2003. - VIDEO

The poster is for a show at the same venue, four years later.

Here's a rather good quality video recording of a Croatian MDC show from 2003, shot by a friend and uploaded to YouTube a long time ago, but now in a slightly better looking and sounding MPEG format. Enjoy.

Download part 1
Download part 2
Download part 3