Nine Chip Nails

Anyone who has seen my wallet or has read this blog before pretty much know my obsessions with Nintendo and my fanboy worship of Nine Inch Nails. (the guitar hanging on our home studio wall is testament enough).

Well in a "you got YOUR chocolate in MY peanut butter" tradition, 2 of my guilty pleasures have just been merged into one bizzare creation...

A free album tribute to Nine Inch Nails made entirely with an 8-bit video game sound system... all trent's hits, sounding as if they are the final boss battle in the original Metroid.

It's weird. And Fun. Not terribly GOOD, but worth a listen and great for a laugh. Interested in either of the 2? then this DL is a no-brainer...

Download: Nine Chip Nails: Various Artists (zipped)

Merry Christmas #2: G 'N R First Sessions

Holy crap, the Christmas presents just continue... can I keep it up for the next 23 days? This site might just turn into an Advent Calendar of unreleased rarities!

Today I have the first complete 1987 recordings of Guns N' Roses before the release of Appetite For Destruction.

It is pretty damned thorough, and absolutely a fantastic rock treasure. check out some of the covers: Jumpin' Jack Flash, Heartbreak Hotel, Mama Kin...

And notice 2 songs that made the much-later Use Your Illusion albums: Don't Cry and November Rain! Amazing. I knew nothing of this stufff, till I found it quite by accident trolling around the intertubes.

Here's the description that came with it:

GUNS N'ROSES SESSIONS - Liberated Bootleg
Japanese Silver Pressed Discs
Label: 'Uzi Suicide' - Unofficial
Matrix: GNR871/GNR872

*PROMOTIONAL COPY NOT FOR SALE*

This 2CD Japanese silver set features almost all of the tracks recorded during Guns N' Roses 1987 demo sessions.
Hence the name "Sessions". The only tracks missing are 'Out Ta Get Me', an alternate take of 'Rocket Queen', and an acoustic version of 'Move To The City'. Why these tracks were omitted is beyond me.

These discs have also released as No Refrain (CD1) and November Rain (CD2).

The tracks on 'Sessions' seem to come from a better source/transfer as there are less audible artifacts present in the background.

Highlights of 'Sessions' include two completely unique versions of 'November Rain', as well as raw early versions of 'Paradise City', Nightrain', 'Don't Cry','Back Off Bitch', 'Shadow Of Your Love', and multiple takes of two unreleased covers; 'Heartbreak Hotel', and, 'Jumpin' Jack Flash'.

This incredible document of the early years of Guns N' Roses career is a must for any hard rock fan.

CD I 60:06

[01] Jumping Jack Flash
[02] You're Crazy
[03] Reckless Life
[04] Heartbreak Hotel
[05] Shadow Of Your Love
[06] Welcome To The Jungle
[07] Move To The City
[08] Mama Kin
[09] Mama Kin
[10] Heartbreak Hotel
[11] Instrumental Jam
[12] Jumping Jack Flash
[13] Jumping Jack Flash
[14] West Coast Junkie....
[15] November Rain

CD II 64:35

[01] Rocket Queen
[02] Night Train
[03] My Michelle
[04] You're Crazy
[05] Paradise City
[06] Move To The City
[07] November Rain
[08] Shadow Of Your Love
[09] Wreckless Life
[10] Think About You
[11] Welcome To The Jungle
[12] Don't Cry
[13] Nice Boys
[14] Back Off Bitch
[15] Anything Goes


Download: Guns 'N Roses: First Sessions (zipped)

as always, enjoy! (and we'll see what I can dig up tomorrow!)

Under The Covers With Wilco

Not a long post tonight, I am too fried. But I have been waiting for a WHILE to post this, so hold on to your hats.

I have (thanks to Heather at Fuel/Friends) a fantastic career-spannning collection of rare live cover songs from Wilco. It is a 2 Zip set, and it is fantastic. Audio quality ranges from song to song because of the different sources (and age of some of the recordings) but has a great overall feeling. A MUST for any Wilco fan, and a real treasure-trove for those who love a good cover!

here's the tracklisting (as best I have, anyway):

##################################
WILCO: SOMEONE ELSE'S SONGS - DISC ONE
##################################

Listen to Her Heart (9/10/95): Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Peace, Love and Understanding (4/17/96): Nick Lowe - (Golden Smog)

Love & Mercy (4/17/96): Brian Wilson - (Golden Smog)

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (1/11/97): Jane Taylor

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow (2/15/97): Carole King

Color Me Impressed (5/10/97): The Replacements

I Wanna Be Sedated (5/10/97): The Ramones

Drown (5/23/97): Son Volt

True Love Will Find You in the End (9/4/97): Daniel Johnston

Ever Fallen in Love (10/30/97): The Buzzcocks

Sunday Bloody Sunday (11/4/97): U2

Sugar Baby (11/7/97): Doc Boggs

Tear Stained Eye (11/7/97): Son Volt

If It Makes You Happy (11/7/97): Sheryl Crow

Won't Get Fooled Again (11/7/97): The Who

Ingrid Bergman (3/26/98 ): Woody Guthrie/Billy Bragg

John Wesley Harding (3/26/98): Bob Dylan

100 Years from Now (6/12/98): Gram Parsons

James Alley Blues (8/30/98): Richard "Rabbit" Brown

A Fool Such As I (10/19/98): Elvis Presley

I'm Only Sleeping (11/12/98): The Beatles

Yesterday (11/15/98): The Beatles

Rainbow Connection (12/30/98): Kermit The Frog

She's a Jar, hip-hop version (6/15/99): Wilco

Oklahoma USA (10/20/99): The Kinks

Thirteen (10/20/99): Big Star

Dreaming (10/21/99): Blondie

Any Major Dude (11/5/99): Steely Dan

Cock in My Pocket (11/5/99): The Stooges



#################################
WILCO: SOMEONE ELSE'S SONGS - DISC 2
#################################

Give Back the Key to My Heart (11/22/99): Doug Sahm

Kingsport Town (1/4/00): Bob Dylan

Lookin' for a Love (1/4/00): Neil Young

King of Carrot Flowers, Part 1 (1/9/00): Neutral Milk Hotel

Rock Salt and Nails (5/14/00): Bob Dylan

Organ Blues (5/14/00): T. Rex

Reflections in a Crystal Wind (9/12/00): Richard & Mimi Farina

I'm Into Something Good (9/13/00): Herman's Hermits

Colon song (11/16/00)

Stairway to Heaven (12/20/00): Led Zeppelin - (Golden Smog)

Ripple (2/25/01): Grateful Dead

I Wish I Was Your Mother (9/15/01): Mott The Hoople

No Depression (11/18/01): The Carter Family

It's Alright to Cry (2/17/02): Rosie Grier

Three Is a Magic Number (2/17/02): Schoolhouse Rock

Yellow Submarine (2/17/02): The Beatles

We Will Rock You (2/17/02): Queen

Be Not So Fearful (4/6/02): Bill Fay

TV Eye (5/26/02): The Stooges

Henry & the H-Bombs (6/10/02): Mott The Hoople

Here are the zips

Download: WILCO: Other People's Songs Disc 01 (zipped)

Download: WILCO: Other People's Songs Disc 02 (zipped)


Download and Enjoy.

Some Folks Inherit Star Spangled Eyes

This blog has been posting a lot of youtube political clips lately, so I thought it was time to steer it back (momentarily) to it's more musical pursuits. I swear, I don't think I am going to MAKE IT 12 more days... my tension/anxiety level is through the roof...

Shuffling the iPod during my nighttime walk saved the day again, when REM's cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen The Rain?" came up. I then remembered some great OTHER covers and collaborations I had of CCR and John Fogerty, so I thought that this election season would be a timely time to post them!

Culled here are 6 x tracks, R.E.M. (1985), Pearl Jam (Rock for Choice 2004), Foo Fighters (Hurricane Katrina Benefit), and Bruce Springsteen with John Fogerty (Rock for Choice 2004).

Download: R.E.M: Have You Ever Seen The Rain? (CCR)

Download: Pearl Jam: Fortunate Son (CCR)

Download: Foo Fighters: Born On The Bayou (CCR)

Download: Bruce Springsteen w John Fogerty (1993): Who'll Stop The Rain?

Download: Bruce Springsteen w John Fogerty (2004): Proud Mary

Download: Bruce Springsteen w John Fogerty (2004): Bad Moon Rising

And, as an added bonus for all you John Fogerty/CCR lovers out there, I have a big ol' ZIP file of a bootleg of John Fogerty "Swampfox." Unfortunately I don't have a lot of notation on it (Where? When? Setlist?) But the sound quality is A+ and the setlist is fantastic.

Here's the Zip!

Download: John Fogerty: Live "Swampfox" (zipped)

Download and enjoy!

P.S. I have a metric TON of the concerts, collabortations and rarities from the 2004 Rock For Change Tour (Bruce, PJ, REM, John Fogerty, Bonnie Raitt, the list goes on and on) so if this post proves to be a hit, let me know, and I'll dig out some other stuff and post it! Feedback is the only way I can tell who's liking what, and what more I should post!

Lucky Stars In Your Eyes...

Well, this is the first of what will likely be MANY Pearl Jam/Eddie Vedder posts in this blog's future (although I promised myself that I would try my best to give an interesting mix... After all, there are a MILLION (far superior) Pearl Jam-dedicated blogs already doing a fantastic job out there. But a few weeks ago Alicia and I had tickets to see Eddie Vedder on his East Coast Solo tour, mostly in support of his BRILLIANT Soundtrack to Sean Penn's film "Into the Wild."

Playing 2 consecutive nights (August 4th and 5th) at Harlem's United Palace Theater, we scored tickets to both nights, and while there were many songs that crossed over both night's sets, there were several rarities and standout tracks special to each night that definitely made a repeat viewer happy.

Although Pearl Jam (and Eddie Vedder in particular) have been completely gracious and approving of live taping/trading/bootlegging, for some reason these small club shows have been extremely difficult (to near impossible) to get a hold of, so while I would LOVE to get a 'boot of these 2 nights, I simply have not been able to so far.

However, this was leg-2 of the tour, the first leg being the West Coast in April, and I was able to scrounge up a 'boot from that tour, so I offer it to you in the hopes that someone reading this blog might have more that they are willing to share.

The setlist is fantastic, filled with rarities, a light and jokey Eddie, some laughing, some noisy drum-cirlce outside the theater that makes Eddie screw up a couple of times... political activism (he prides himself that the right wing media refers to him, Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins as the "Activists of Evil" HA!) an urge to vote, the list goes on.

Standouts on the fantastic setlist are "Growin' Up" (Bruce Springsteen), "Millworker" (James Taylor), and an amazingly reworked and modernized "here's to the State..." by Phil Ochs, updated to skewer Cheney, Roberts, and Bush (the REAL AXIS).

Here's the tracklisting;

01 Introduction Music, Tuolumne
02 Walking The Cow (Daniel Johnston)
03 Around The Bend
04 I Am Mine
05 Talk: (Never went to school)
06 Dead Man
07 Talk: (You Think this is just music...)
08 I'm Open
09 Man of the Hour
10 Talk: (The Worst Fucking Drum Circle...)
11 Setting Forth
12 Guaranteed
13 No Ceiling
14 Far Behind
15 Rise
16 Millworker (James Taylor)
17 Goodbye
18 Talk: (West Memphis Three)
19 Satellite
20 Drifting
21 Youve Got To Hide Your Love Away (Beatles)
22 Talk: (Intro to Heres To The State)
23 Heres To The State... (Phil Ochs)
24 Trouble (Cat Stevens)
25 If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out (Cat Stevens)
26 Talk: (Now you guys shut the fuck up)
27 Parting Ways
28 Forever Young (Bob Dylan)
29 Porch
30 Talk: (Encore break and intro to Society)
31 Society (with Jerry Hannan)
32 Growin Up (Bruce Springsteen)
33 Lukin
34 Talk: (Intro to No More, Body of War)
35 No More
36 Arc
37 Hard Sun (Gordon Peterson)


Download: Eddie Vedder 2008 Solo ITW Tour, Berkley, CA