MUSE - Berlin, Germany 2009

This one's a winner, great sound, trust me, download it, have a good weekend, okay bye.

MUSE
O2 World - Berlin, Germany - October 29, 2009 (AUD @320 kbps)
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LED ZEPPELIN - Baton Rouge, LA 1975 (HOT NEW LINX!)

Greetings from once-sunny Los Angeles, where the rain continues to come down with such torrential, apocalyptic force that it appears Blade Runner's long-ago vision of the soaked city may finally be coming to pass...nine years early, in fact.

And what better soundtrack for such an epic time than the mighty levee-breakers of Led Zep?

This live boot is particularly exciting because it's brand-new, and according to my bros at BigO:

"The soundboard version of this show has just surfaced -- previous versions were audience recordings...

For those who need a bit of refreshing, Led Zep’s 1975 tour took place about two years since the group last toured and, as the Wiki pointed out, 'as a result, some critics have suggested that the band seemed sluggish and rusty upon their return to the stage, with the group lacking dynamics and giving rather ''heavy'' performances.'

Barely four days earlier, Led Zep released the Physical Graffiti album and songs from the album which were played for the first time on this tour included 'Sick Again', 'In My Time of Dying', 'Kashmir' and 'Trampled Under Foot'."

So Zeppelin giving a "heavy" performance is a bad thing? Okay...well, whatever Wiki says about early 1975 Zep, this performance sounds absolutely top-flight to me. The sound quality is just phenomenal; after a slight bit of distortion early on it smooths out into slashing, shattering, staggering, offical-release-quality blood and thunder. It's at 320 kbps here, and it's one of the killerest Zep boots I've ever heard, so git it!

LED ZEPPELIN
"Rampaging Cajun"
LSU Assembly Center - Baton Rouge, LA - February 28, 1975 (SBD @320 kbps)
DOWNLOAD 1 / DOWNLOAD 2 / DOWNLOAD 3 / DOWNLOAD 4

Cheers as always to T.U.B.E. Mach 3.

THE STOOGES - New Orleans, LA 2003

Regarding the news of this year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, the main thing is this: congrats to Iggy and the Dum Dum Boys. After seven years of nomination sans induction -- a shameful slight outdone only by Black Sabbath's preposterous 10-year wait -- ya finally made it, punks!

Of course, Sir Ig is probably also deserving of induction for his spotty but amazingly long-lived and occasionally brilliant (at least on his first three LPs, The Idiot, Lust for Life and New Values) solo career, so he's got that goin' for him. Which is nice.

Too bad poor old Ron Asheton didn’t make it -- missed out by a year. But hey, that’s the Stooges' luck for ya. If they didn't have bad luck, they'd have no kind at all. (Speaking of which, the MC5 probably deserve a shot as well, but I won’t hold my breath.)

So here, behold the freshly reunited Stooges tearing it up in NOLA. I wanna be your dog...two times!

THE STOOGES
"The Battle of New Orleans"
Voodoo Music Experience
City Park - New Orleans, LA - November 1, 2003 (SBD @256 kbps)
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ELVIS PRESLEY - Richmond, VA 1972 (HAPPY 75TH BIRTHDAY TO THE KING!)

Hey, hey, what can I say? Elvis would have been 75 today.

Far be it from li'l ol' me not to celebrate that stunning fact the best way I know how -- with a live boot fit for a King. This one was recorded by MGM cameras for the MIA-on-DVD 1972 doc Elvis on Tour, so the performance, setlist and audio quality all rule.

Elvis, ya left the building for the last time a helluva long time ago, but damn if we don't still miss the hell outta ya...

Happy 75th to The King!

ELVIS PRESLEY
"Red-Hot in Richmond"
Richmond Coliseum - Richmond, VA - April 10, 1972 (SBD)
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VAMPIRE WEEKEND - Santa Monica, CA 2008

First post of 2010!

This band also happens to be playing my first concert of this year, next week at Hollywood's Henry Fonda Theatre, tickets to which were bought by darling Rochelle, my then-girlfriend and now fiancée. Bless ya, luv!

I must confess that Vampire Weekend is usually just the sort of Pitchfork-approved, cooler-than-thou band of indie-hipster twits that drives me up the wall...hey, I'm over 40 now, what can I say?

But these particular kids are unique. A posse of L.A.-obsessed Columbia grads -- the love children of Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Talking Heads, Fela Kuti, King Sunny Adé and a whole big-ass bunch of philosophy professors -- they make music that is just so smart, so clever and sophisticated and fresh and witty and elegant and strange and inventive and sublimely melodic, it's impossible not to dig 'em. So clean-cut and well dressed, too! (Man, I must be over 40.)

If you're a VW fan like me, and psyched for the release of their delightful sophomore effort, Contra (out next Tuesday the 12th, streaming until the 18th on KCRW.com; I've already spun it five or six times), then snag this show. It's a 320 kbps FM broadcast -- complete with interview segment -- from Valentine's Day two years ago, just after the release of their magnificent debut album.

Happy New Year, and Up the Vamps!

VAMPIRE WEEKEND
"Morning Becomes Eclectic"
KCRW Studios, Santa Monica College
Santa Monica, CA - February 14, 2008 (FMB @320 kbps)
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