Ashtapes: Live Recording

Sun Araw Live at Passos Manuel
Porto, Portugal 04.11.2010

Recording Equipment: CA-14 > STC 9100 > Tascam DR-07

Just a few weeks after the release of his new EP Off Duty, Cameron Stallones aka Sun Araw -- who is also responsible for one of this year's essential LPs, On Patrol -- played a much anticipated gig in Porto. The concert took place last thursday in a small downtown cinema and was part of Sun Araw's european fall tour with live collaborator (and Sohni Chambers partner) Nick Malkis.

Using reverb-drenched guitar lines, looping pedals, haunted organs, old-school samples and Stallones' mantric vocals, Sun Araw took us on a splendid sonic trip that has as much of adventure as it has of nostalgia. And I think this audio recording pretty much captures that cosmic, past-meets-future blending of tropical psychedelia, dub, drone, reggae, free-jazz and afrobeat that makes Stallones one of the most interesting and creative artists from the prolific city of Los Angeles.

I can't figure out which are the missing songs from the setlist so they might be new tunes or just something that I'm not recognizing -- any hints would be appreciated. As a teaser, I've uploaded below Sun Araw's stunning cover of Neil Young's "Barstool Blues". Enjoy!

Setlist:
1. Last Chants | 2. Canopy | 3. Heavy Deeds | 4. Ma Holo | 5. ??? | 6. ??? | 7. Barstool Blues (Neil Young Cover) | Encore: 8. Horse Steppin'

Sun Araw - Barstool Blues Live (Neil Young Cover) by ashtapes

Download: Sun Araw Live at Passos Manuel

We used to post live recordings of concerts very often around here. Actually that was one of the main reasons why we started this blog. Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to attend any gigs lately, but I hope I'll get back to that as soon as possible. In the meantime, there's something really special we want to share with you today, though it wasn't recorded by ourselves.

The amazing Kevin Greenspon has just sent us this top-notch live recording called Push You Away Forever that we are delighted to share for the first time online. "Basically I was on the KXLU 88.9 FM radio station in Los Angeles on September 5, and recorded this set live. These songs are the same ones that I was performing on tour with Vehicle Blues, so it is a very accurate document of the shows on tour!", Kevin told us.

In case you haven't heard of him yet, Kevin Greenspon is a prolific young artist from La Puente, California and the man behind the awesome Bridgetown Records. His numerous recordings are uncommonly eclectic, shifting from lo-fi garage songs with happy-go-lucky melodies and screwed-up lyrics to more experimental, drone-y stuff that flows between placid guitarwork and destructive noise convulsions. Push You Away Forever is an extraordinary example of these latter sonic explorations.

Kevin was so happy with the quality of this live recording "that I decided to make a limited edition CDr (50 copies) to give to my friends, take on tour, and send to people who order from my label". However, "I am sold out already, which is why I put it on Mediafire and shared it with you". Follow the link at the end of the post to download this short yet rewarding live set.

Setlist:
1. Unwelcoming / Threshold | 2. Ache | 3. Push You Away Forever

Here's some video footage from this live performance:

Download: Kevin Greenspon, Push You Away Forever at KXLU

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

Plano B, Porto, Portugal

Recording Equipment: CA Cardioids > STC 9100 > Tascam DR-07

There hasn't been many gigs here in Porto lately -- the side effects of the Primavera Sounds in Barcelona are over and summer festivals are approaching... -- so I was highly anticipating Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti return to Portugal for a while. Like many other artists, I first heard of Ariel Pink some years ago from the writings of Mr Simon Reynolds, who recently chose The Doldrums (2004) as his favorite album of the 2000s. Despite his cult status, Ariel Pink is experiencing more recognition with his latest album, Before Today, than ever before. Luckily -- you never know what to expect in this venue, in general, and with Ariel Pink, in particular -- everything went right yesterday night. The sound was decent, the crowd was reacting and Ariel Pink and his band were in an excellent mood. They played for almost one and half hour (including two encores), but i could totally stay there all night listening to their weird, chilled, decadent pop songs. The recording is pretty cool too.

Setlist:

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Bright Lit Blue Skies by ashtapes

Download: Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti at Plano B

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & The Cairo Gang + Susanna

Teatro Aveirense, Aveiro, Portugal

Recording Equipment: CA Cardioids > STC 9100 > Tascam DR-07

06.06.2010

You never know what to expect from Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Will Oldham's complex and fascinating pseudonym. Yesterday night, in Aveiro, he was in a good mood, he was wearing an incredibly tacky outfit and, most noticeably, he was shaved -- he still had a nice mustache, but that's nothing compared to his previous ambitious beard. He was also accompanied by Emmet Kelly of The Cairo Gang on the acoustic guitar, Susanna of Susanna and The Magical Orchestra on the vocals and special guest Shahzad Ismaily of Secret Chiefs 3 on the electric guitar. For one and a half hour they took us to the heart of the old America through beautiful alt.Country landscapes and stories about freedom, love and sex.

The setlist was mainly focused on the tracks from the Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & The Cairo Gang collaboration album, The Wonder Show Of The World, released earlier this year. To avoid running out of songs, they also turned to the traditional american folk songbook ("Love Is Teasing", "In Spite of Ourselves", "Shine It On Me", "It's Been Rough And Rocky Travellin'") and Susanna's material ("Better Days", "Home Recording"). For the 5-song encore, Bonnie broke the protocol and played a classic from his own solo discography -- nothing less than a completely acoustic version of the much-requested "I See A Darkness". You can watch a video of this memorable moment here and, of course, download the complete live recording below.

Setlist:

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & The Cairo Gang - Go Folks, Go Live in Aveiro by ashtapes

Download: Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & The Cairo Gang at Teatro Aveirense | MP3 | 160 MB

As we've told you before, No Age's recent stay in Portugal didn't go that well. First, they were beaten up in Lisbon and the day after they had a tepid night in Porto. Anyway, the LA duo -- actually they're touring as a trio with a guy simply called William Kai Strangeland Menchaca doing some noise projections -- played three new songs, including, according to them, a really brand new one (the third one below). So, in case you're curious to hear what No Age are trying out on stage but you don't want to download the whole recording, have a sneak peek here.

No Age - New Song Live in Porto by ashtapes

No Age + The Oh Sees
Plano B, Porto, Portugal
Recording Equipment: CA Cardioids > STC 9000 > Tascam DR-07
26.05.2010

I don't know if it was because of the tough night in Lisbon the day before, but I guess No Age's sound engineer Scott Cornish missed something during the band's first gig in Porto. The sound was a bit messy and it was difficult to hear Dean Spunt's voice. I wouldn't say it was that big of a deal, but apparently people here are kind of sensitive. The (small) room wasn't full from the beginning -- the fact that the incredibly dull The XX were playing a long-time sold-out gig that same night in Porto may explain something --, but at the end it was almost reduced to half. And that was a pity because despite all the setbacks, No Age were actually playing with intensity and devotion. Unfortunately, this is the kind of concert that needs to be fueled with sweat from the crowd, there has to be a physical connection between both parts, otherwise it doesn't work -- as it didn't. During "Miner", the last song of their short set, Randy Randall even passed his guitar to the crowd, probably expecting people to have fun with it, but all he got was a very shy reaction. I mean, it wasn't bad and of course there were a few people actually having fun, but it lacked the energy you're expecting in a No Age concert. Guess this trip to Portugal was just doomed from the beginning and I really hope they come back soon in other circumstances. Lo-fiers Thee Oh Sees, on the contrary, gathered a lot of sympathy from the audience, surprising everyone with a killer opening set of flippant psychedelic rock songs.

Thee Oh Sees - I Was Denied Live at Plano B by ashtapes

No Age - Sleeper Hold Live at Plano B by ashtapes

Download: Thee Oh Sees Live at Plano B | MP3 | 73 MB

Download: No Age Live At Plano B | MP3 | 94 MB

Shellac + Mission Of Burma
Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto, Portugal
Recording Equipment: CA Cardioid > STC 9100 > Tascam DR-07
25.05.2010

Shellac don't tour a lot, you know, so getting the chance to see Steve Albini, Bob Weston and Todd Trainer play in my hometown, 5 minutes away from my house, is kind of pure luck (and persistence from the promoters). Now add to the lineup post-punk legends Mission Of Burma and I guess you can't really ask for more. This was my first Shellac gig and certainly one of the best ones I've been to. Mission of Burma were awesome, combining the rawness of punk with some more sophisticated elements -- somewhere between the Ramones and the Wire -- but Shellac are Shellac. All I can say is that if you've never seen them live and you happen to catch them, don't think twice, 'cause it's true what people say about them: they're the best live act around. Three immensely talented, eccentric guys improvising a setlist of fucked up minimalist rock songs, a mix of brutality and velocity, style and sarcasm, guts and brains.
As for the recording, it's probably our best one so far, the sound is very clear and natural. I'm missing 4 songs of the Shellac setlist, so in case you spot them, drop us a line. Also, if you're interested in the FLAC files of the audio recording, I will trade them for video footage of this night. Finally, I've included the traditional Shellac Q&A for streaming below plus two songs from each band. I guess this will whet your appetite.

Setlist - Mission Of Burma
1. 1,2,3 Party | 2. 1001 Pleasant Dreams | 3. Good Cheer | 4. Donna Summeria | 5. That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate | 6. Them Two | 7. After The Rain | 8. 2wice | 9. Let Yourself Go | 10. This Is Not A Photograph | 11. Academy Fight Song | 12. Max Ernst

Setlist - Shellac
1. Ghosts | 2. Copper | 3. My Black Ass | 4. ??? | 5. Canada | 6. A Minute | 7. Squirrel | 8. ??? | 9. Steady As She Goes | 10. Prayer To God | 11. Killers | 12. Il Porno Star | 13. The End Of Radio | 14. ??? | 15. ~~???~~ Boycott | 16. Poke

Mission Of Burma - Let Yourself Go Live At Serralves by ashtapes

Shellac - Steady As She Goes Live At Serralves by ashtapes

Shellac Q&A Live At Serralves by ashtapes

Download: Mission Of Burma at Serralves | MP3 | 80 MB

Download: Shellac at Serralves | MP3 | 130 MB

As you've may noticed before, the two persons behind this blog are from -- and live in -- different countries. I am from Portugal, while charlie is from Italy. The reason why we (try to) write in english is because that's actually the way we (try to) communicate with each other, as my attempts to speak in italian are pathetic and charlie's portuguese is, well, funny. As if our communication problems weren't already enough, we met last week in Barcelona, Spain, spicing up our peculiar vocabulary with some lousy spanish and catalan.

We're still licking our fingers from those delicious patates braves, but here's a small recuerdo we brought to you. The Intelligence are one of our favourite lo-fi american bands and they played a gig in Sala Monasterio, a sort of basement near Port Vell, that we couldn't miss. There weren't many people there, but there was a great, sweaty atmosphere in the room with the crowd responding frenetically to their flipped out, incendiary garage songs. The sound was loud as it should be and we left the place with the feeling it was a very special night.

Setlist

The Intelligence - Universal Babysitter Live at Sala Monasterio by ashtapes

Download: The Intelligence at Sala Monasterio

If it wasn't for the two encores, this would have been a very nice concert from a band that proved to still be -- as if they needed to -- in great shape. With the two encores featuring songs as "Candle" and "Death Valley 69" this was a memorable concert. I'm not one of those who thinks that Sonic Youth should be paying more attention to their old stuff. No, they don't really need to. They're still releasing good and relevant material. Yesterday -- as in their recent shows, with the exception of two dates in Spain last week due to Mark Ibold's absence -- they played The Eternal almost in its entirety in a bit more than one hour plus two songs from Sister, "(I Got A) Catholic Block" and "Stereo Sanctity". The album works extremely well live, but it was the last four songs that made the night so special. And this is not a bad sign. This is what happens when a band has to carry the burden of releasing albums such as Daydream Nation and EVOL relatively early in their career. Albums that were not only genre-defining, but also crashed into people's lives and crossed generations.

The recording is not as bad as i thought it would be, considering the high, echoing ceiling of Porto's Coliseum and the fact that i was way more focused on Kim Gordon's legs than on my recorder. Anyway, you can tell for yourself.

Setlist

Sonic Youth - Sacred Trickster Live At Coliseu by ashtapes

Sonic Youth - Candle Live at Coliseu by ashtapes

Download: Sonic Youth at Coliseu do Porto

I wanted to see Crystal Antlers live since I heard their terrific first EP on Touch&Go two years ago. And last night's show - their first in Portugal - did not disappoint at any level. Actually I was surprised with how faithful they are to their sound on record. They go from tempestuous noise songs to more contemplative and organ-driven moves, giving everything they have in each song, as you could see from the sweaty faces, some shirtless bodies and an incredible percussionist named Sexual Chocolate who played cymbals and hand-drums while doing a sort of odd tribal dance. Great concert.
Before Crystal Antlers we had The Sticks playing a very cool, very cheerful 60's-influenced punk and Times New Viking. These last ones were a total bummer. That nice lo-fi garage they have on record was completely lost on stage and replaced by some flimsy rock songs. Nothing else to add, besides that I regret having recorded their whole performance and just one song from The Sticks.
The Crystal Antlers' live recording includes 3 songs I couldn't identify (one of them was "recorded last month in Mexico"), one surprising Bob Dylan cover and a very special moment - Crystal Antlers playing an unorthodox Happy Birthday to the promoter of the show. Lucky guy!

Crystal Antlers - Vexation Live at Plano B by ashtapes

Times New Viking - Live #8 by ashtapes

A friend of mine organized this 2-day, 100% new portuguese music festival in Porto - so new that some of the bands were actually playing live for the first time. I particularly enjoyed a sort of jam session between Manuel Gião and Lobster's drummer (and a hell of a drummer) Ricardo Martins. I'll leave you with a few recordings I made from each act and myspace links, in case this whets your appetite.

Manuel Gião + Ricardo Martins
myspace.com/manuelgiao
myspace.com/wearelobsters

Manuel Gião & Ricardo Martins at Passos Manuel by ashtapes

Dreams
myspace.com/dreamsdontloveyou

Dreams Live at Passos Manuel by ashtapes

Coelho Radioactivo
myspace.com/ocoelhoradioactivo

Coelho Radioactivo at Passos Manuel by ashtapes

Cão da Morte
myspace.com/ocaodamorte

Cão da Morte at Passos Manuel by ashtapes

Peltzer
myspace.com/peltzermusic

Peltzer - Live at Passos Manuel by ashtapes

Here's the live recording of Kylesa's first concert in Portugal. I was never a metal guy, but thanks to this wonderful promoter I've been opening my horizons to some heavier stuff. There was a very good atmosphere in the room, almost everyone was jumping and moshing and screaming like crazy. I think Kylesa pretty much gave people what they wanted: 1 hour of epic hard-core songs full of energy and anger.

The beginning of the recording is a bit strange, but in general the sound is good and you can really feel the vibe of the crowd. Stream "Running Red" and one song from the opening band, Dark Castle, below. Download link is at the end of the post.

Kylesa - Running Red Live at Porto Rio by ashtapes

Dark Castle - Live at Porto Rio by ashtapes

Download: Kylesa at Porto Rio

As there's nothing from Phil Selway's debut solo record out there yet and we got the chance to record him live this week with Lisa Germano in Porto, we decided to put all the 11 songs he played in one folder (without the talking/clapping parts), so you can have a closer look to what Radiohead's drummer is working on. Sounds good, hmm?

Download

I didn't really know what to expect from this Lisa Germano + Phil Selway show. I knew they were going to be together on stage, but i didn't know what they were playing exactly. It came out to be an intimate, informal and unusual concert: each one played their own stuff alternately (check the setlist below), Lisa exploring mostly her latest album, Magic Neighbors, on the piano and Phil introducing his debut solo record to be released later this year. This was the last show of their tour together and they were joined by multi-instrumentalists Sebastian Steinberg and David Coulter. Lisa Germano is a brilliant singer-songwriter with a great voice and live her songs get a new and bigger dimension. While Lisa was singing, Phil basically stayed there still, sat down behind his floor tom watching her. As for Radiohead's drummer, he is essentially playing beautiful and stripped down folkish songs on his acoustic guitar with the support of some strings and Lisa's piano or electric guitar. No echoes of Thom Yorke and Co. here. It reminded me of some Wilco (who are producing his upcoming album) and Josh Rouse.

The live recording came out with a very good quality (turn the volume a bit up to take the most of it). I split the files, but there are no cuts. I hope you enjoy it.

Here's two previews of the show and at the end you can download the whole thing:

Lisa Germano - Snow Live at Casa da Musica by ashtapes

Here's the live recording of Beach House's last european tour date, in Guimarães. Once again, we had to record the show without the proper equipment, but it came out in a decent quality. Beach House played the new critically acclaimed Teen Dream almost in its entirety plus a few songs from their previous albums. Cloudy atmospheres and warm textures in a concert where time passed unnoticed.

Beach House - Zebra Live at CCVF by ashtapes

Download: Beach House at CCVF 18 03 2010

UPDATE:
Due to some requests, I decided to split the file in separated tracks. This .zip file includes all the 13 songs of the concert plus the artwork we made so that you can have your itunes all fancy. Here you go:

http://www.mediafire.com/?g2uwbz5owdz

Here is the complete live recording of Russian Circles at Plano B, Porto, last tuesday. The sound was recorded directly to a digital recorder, which means that the quality is not great but, given the circumstances, i think it's quite acceptable. Throughout the recording you will hear the voice of an annoying girl that didn't keep her mouth shut during the entire concert but, anyway, I'm pretty sure this will bring nice memories of RC impressive performance.

Setlist:
1_Harper Lewis | 2_Malko | 3_Hexed All | 4_Death Rides A Horse | 5_Philos | 6_Youngblood | 7_Geneva | 8_Carpe | (Encore) | 9_Station

In case you have any doubts, here's a teaser:

Russian Circles - Station Live at Plano B by ashtapes

Download: Russian Circles at Plano B 16 03 2010

Sound editing by peppefritto&davide cairo

Sunday, 7 November 2010

Live Recording > Sun Araw at Passos Manuel, Porto

Tuesday, 28 September 2010

Live Recording > Kevin Greenspon at KXLU, Los Angeles

Monday, 28 June 2010

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti > Plano B > Live Recording

Monday, 7 June 2010

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & The Cairo Gang > Teatro Aveirense > Live Recording

Sunday, 30 May 2010

New Age

Saturday, 29 May 2010

No Age + Thee Oh Sees > Plano B > Live Recording

Thursday, 27 May 2010

Shellac + Mission Of Burma > Serralves > Live Recording

Sunday, 9 May 2010

The Intelligence > Sala Monasterio > Live Recording

Saturday, 24 April 2010

Sonic Youth > Coliseu do Porto > Live Recording

Wednesday, 21 April 2010

Crystal Antlers + Times New Viking + The Sticks > Plano B > Live Recording

Saturday, 17 April 2010

Um Beijinho Para A Minha Mãe > Passos Manuel > Live Recording

Sunday, 11 April 2010

Kylesa > Porto Rio > Live Recording

Saturday, 10 April 2010

A post for Phil

Thursday, 8 April 2010

Lisa Germano + Phil Selway > Casa da Música > Live Recording

Friday, 19 March 2010

Beach House > CCVF > Live Recording

Thursday, 18 March 2010

Russian Circles > Plano B > Live Recording

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