Smashing Pumpkins - Gish Deluxe Edition Bonus Tracks - Track By Track Review

Following on from my Siamese Dream post earlier in the week, here's my track by track analysis of the bonus tracks on disc two of the Gish reissue as promised.

 1.    Starla (2011 mix) - a nice new mix of this which accentuates the spacy nature of the verse guitars.
2.    Siva (Peel session) - as previously found on the Peel Session E.P - a very solid live version.
3.    Honeyspider (Reel Time demos / 2011 mix) - a much nicer mix than the one which has circulated previously amongst fans. For those that haven't heard it, this is the Pumpkins at their most shoegazy and psychedelic.
4.    Hippy Trippy (Crush Music Box demo) - a very nice fully formed demo - lots of effects.
5.    Snail (live radio performance) - a good performance but not a great recording with poor separation between instruments and vocals at times very low.
6.    Plume (2011 mix) - an excellent new mix of this - much punchier guitars and a lot more bottom end.
7.    Bury Me (Reel Time demos / 2011 mix) - pretty good again with more lead guitar than the album version and a trippy effect on Billy's vocal during the ''bury me in love '' part which makes you question what you've just heard.
8.    Daydream (Old House demo) - Billy's original vocal demo is superior to the album version. This version almost makes it sound like one of Billy's acoustic Adore era b-sides.
9.    Tristessa (Sub Pop single / 2011 mix) - another nice punchy remix.

10.   Girl Named Sandoz (Peel session) - a great cover certainly, but presumably it'll be on Pisces Iscariot's reissue as well so I'm not sure why we need it here.
11.   Jesus Is The Sun (Apartment demo) - a nice enough demo of this quiet song which certainly would have seemed out of place on Gish, but is nice to have here.
12.   Blue (Gish sessions demo) - a very nice demo with acoustic guitar, bass, vocal and some sort of hand percussion - an excellent alternative to the album version.
13.   Smiley (Gish sessions demo) - the same instrumentation as Blue and again really nice.
14.   I Am One (Reel Time demos / 2011 mix) - an almost identical arrangement to the later released version - Billy's vocals gained a lot of confidence between this take and the recording of the Gish version.
15.   Seam (Suffer / Apartment demo) - another excellent acoustic demo, with some nice exotic percussion and an unexpectedly trippy backwards guitar section. A highlight.
16.   La Dolly Vita (2011 mix) - another nice mix, but really not too different to the released version.
17.   Pulseczar (Gish sessions demo) - same as the previously released version.
18.   Drown (alternate guitar solo) - same mix as the original version until the guitar solo comes in. This alternate solo has a similar approach to the original but I think I prefer it. The rhythm section are also mixed a bit higher throughout the solo than on the original version which helps the song keep it's shape a little better.

So overall not as many surprises as the Siamese Dream bonus disc, but more consistent overall. I would have liked to see tracks like Jennifer Ever, Jackie Blue, Not Worth Asking and some of the otherwise unreleased Reel Time tracks on here, but hopefully they'll still make it onto the Pisces reissue.

Active Listener's Top Twenty New Discoveries of 2011

I'm fully aware that there's stuff on this list that I should have discovered  a long time ago, but better late than never. Here's my favourite twenty albums of all vintages that I've discovered in the last calendar year. Hope you find something to enjoy here too.


1. The La's ( 1990 )
It's ridiculous that I've only just discovered this, I know. I'd previously heard There She Goes and thought it a little twee ( not helped by my over familiarity with the Sixpence None The Richer version ), so hadn't investigated further. I finally gave it a go and it turns out that this is gritty merseybeat of the highest possible order. A necessary purchase for all. Doledrums is absolutely fantastic.

2. The Green Pajamas - The Complete Book of Hours ( 1987 )

My first exposure to this consistently great Seattle psych pop outfit. Fans of the Beatles and Dukes of Stratosphear take note. Still going strong today, their back catalogue is ripe for discovery. Start here.



 
3. Danny & The Champions of the World - Streets of our Time ( 2010 )
Truly great U.K Americana ( eh? ). Echoes of Ryan Adams, Springsteen and more with consistently wonderful songwriting, lovely harmonies and group arrangements bursting with life.


4. The Fallen Angels - It's a Long Way Down ( 1968 )
This is one of the best obscure U.S psychedelic releases I've heard in years. Comparisons to Love's Forever Changes are fair - they have a shared sense of melancholy and musical adventurousness. Much more depth than a lot of albums of this era.


 
 5. Maggie Bjorklund - Coming Home ( 2011 )
Maggie is a Danish pedal steel guitarist. Her wistful compositions are ably complimented by the playing of Calexico and guest vocalists Mark Lanegan and Jon Auer. This sounds more like Black Light era Calexico than Calexico's last few albums have. Beautiful.


6. Michael Head & The Strands - The Magical World of the Strands ( 1997 )
Leader of Liverpool legends Shack tries something a little bit different here. He's still writing classic guitar pop but the mood is more introspective than usual with echoes of Astral Weeks and Forever Changes.


7. The Shangri-La's - The Mercury Years
Leader of the Pack always put me off the Shangri-la's, but these girls are no one hit wonders. There's greatness by the bucketload on offer here, not to mention wonderful arrangements and a high sense of drama. Girl pop of the highest order. The only mystery is why Tarantino hasn't used them in his soundtracks yet.


 
8. Caribou - Andorra ( 2007 )
Great updating of the sixties psych pop sound from this laptop guru. If Tame Impala had grown up listening to the Beach Boys instead of the Beatles they'd sound a lot like this. See also Unknown Mortal Orchestra.

 

9. Robyn Hitchcock - Storefront Hitchcock ( 1998 )
Filmed live in the window of a store by Jonathan Demme, Hitchcock is at his best here - an abstract beat punk Syd Barrett in polka dot shirt. Melodically gifted and with a unique world view, Hitchcock is the definition of a cult artist.



10. The Wolf People - Steeple ( 2010 )
A very English strain of progressive psychedelic rock is on show here - think early Jethro Tull and obscurities like Ginhouse for comparison. Or Fairport Convention's Liege & Lief on acid.
Great however you choose to describe it.




11. Jessica Lea Mayfield - Tell Me ( 2011 )
Produced by the Black Key's Dan Auerbach, Mayfield comes on like a grittier southern Cat Power. Great voice and timeless arrangements that follow in the tradition of Dusty Springfield and Shelby Lynne. A great album and an artist to watch for in the future.



12. Kurt Vile - Smoke Rings For My Halo ( 2011 )
Blissful hipster folk rock which owes as much to Neil Young and Lou Reed as it does to Thurston Moore and J Mascis. Timeless songs and some lovely intricate acoustic guitar picking.



13. Francoise Hardy - La Question ( 1971 )
A much more mature release than her sixties pop material - acoustic guitar, hushed vocals and wonderful string arrangements which bring to mind Robert Kirby's work on Nick Drake's Five Leaves Left. Sublime stuff.



14. Swervedriver - Mezcal Head ( 1993 )
If there was any justice in the world Swervedriver would have been seen as the English Nirvana. Alas brit -pop was the flavor of the day, and quality post-shoegaze alternative guitar rock didn't get a look in. Check out Last Train To Satansville and be blown away.



15. David Vandervelde - Waiting For The Sunrise ( 2008 )
This was a big surprise. Vandervelde's first album was T-Rex inspired glam pop, but for this release he's gone all canyon rock - Fleetwood Mac, Jackson Browne and on the wonderfully Crazy Horse-ish Lyin' In My Bed,  Neil Young. Fans of Midlake's Van Occupanther should investigate post-haste.


 
 16. Matt Berry - Witchazel ( 2011 )
An unexpectedly great prog rock album from the musical geezer from the Mighty Boosh. Berry's affection for the genre is both obvious and infectious. Hugely enjoyable.




 
17. The High Dials - A New Devotion ( 2003 )
This sounds like a lost mid sixties classic. Great sitar playing, supple McCartneyesque bass and excellent songs informed by all the sixties masters, Beatles, Byrds, Beach Boys, Zombies et al.



18. Sleepy Hollow ( 1972 )
A rarity in the pantheon of Beatles inspired bands, Sleepy Hollow seem to be more interested in the Beatles post break-up solo albums - from the lyrical Harrison slide guitars through to the How Do You Sleep string arrangement on Sincerely Yours. The harmonies are top drawer too.


19. Geneva - Further ( 1997 )
Lumped in with the brit pop scene when it was first released, but definitely more Radiohead than Blur. Epic guitars which can shift from shoegaze on one track to glam rock on the next. Think Suede or Mansun, but with Tim Buckley on vocals. Massive. Avoid the follow up at all costs though.


20. The Strawberry Smell - Odorama ( 2001 )
An obscure French outfit this one, with more than a slight whiff of patchouli. Specialising in the kind of Beatles informed, Jon Lord style keyboard heavy psychedelia that Kula Shaker had previously made their own, these guys could have had a future had anyone heard this at the time.

Active Listener's Top Ten Reissues of 2011.

1. Smashing Pumpkins - Gish / Siamese Dream
The original albums nicely remastered and repackaged with a bonus CD and DVD each. The bonus discs are an embarrassment of riches, curated by Billy himself with all manner of unexpected and welcome surprises.
The Gish DVD is an excellent 1990 show with covers of Blue Oyster Cult and Steppenwolf - lots of fun.
The Siamese Dream DVD shows the band's growth and sees them in world beating form.

2. Tame Impala - Innerspeaker
The recent U.S reissue includes an excellent bonus disc full of early b-sides and cast off material and makes what was already a great album essential. The best psychedelic act on the planet at the moment.


3. The Byrds - Complete Columbia Album Collection
The deluxe bonus track versions of all of the Byrds Columbia studio albums lovingly packaged in mini LP sleeves and housed in an attractive mini box. And all for under thirty pounds. There's never been a better way of investigating their essential back catalogue.



4. The Jayhawks - Hollywood Town Hall / Tomorrow The Green Grass
The Jayhawks two masterpieces get the deluxe reissue treatment with informative liner notes and some fantastic contemporary b-sides. Tomorrow the Green Grass also includes the fan favourite Mystery Sessions - a selection of all acoustic demos. Sure to please fans of Olsen and Louris' Ready for the Flood.



5. Suede - Suede / Dog Man Star
The entire Suede catalogue was extensively repackaged this year. The first two albums are the essentials - great albums now packaged with b-sides and alternate versions that are as good as anything on the albums. The long version of the Wild Ones is spectacular. Honorable mention also to their newly compiled 2 disc best of which concentrates mostly on their first three albums and their b-sides and is expertly sequenced to make some sort of Suede super album.



6. Dave Davies - Hidden Treasures
The Kink's Dave Davies was always the grittier of the two Davies but didn't get much of a look in on their albums compared to brother Ray. Steps were made to rectify this in the late sixties, but Dave's album never made it to release, with some of the material finding it's way onto future Kink's LPs and singles.  This release digs into the vaults and reconstructs the intended album as closely as possible and makes compelling listening.



7. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
The Pink Floyd reissue campaign has generally been a bit of a damp squib and an excuse to take fan's money all over again. The experience edition of Wish You Were Here has been it's saving grace up to this point. The interesting bonus tracks include two embryonic live jams which eventually became part of Dogs, an alternate take of Have a Cigar with Gilmour and Waters sharing the vocal and a fascinating take of Wish You Were Here with Stephane Grapelli on violin.


8. The Poets - Wooden Spoon : The Singles Anthology 1964 - 1967
Despite being produced and managed by Andrew Loog Oldham, Scotland's Poets never got the dues they deserved. This excellent collection brings together all of their singles and charts their evolution from beat and r&b through to their masterful freakbeat psych moment In Your Tower.



9. X - Original Album Series
The first 5 albums from the best rockabilly punk band of all time, packaged as vinyl replica's and at a ridiculously low price. Nuff said.
Lots of other great releases in this series too ( Tim Buckley, Little Feat etc. )





10. Tally Ho - Flying Nun's Greatest Bits
A rather excellent two disc distillation of everything that makes New Zealand's Flying Nun one of the most important indie labels. From early gems by the Clean and Verlaines through to exciting new blood in the form of So So Modern's Grayson Gilmour and the Shocking Pinks. Highly influential stuff, and not just for muso's.

H.P Lovecraft - Beginner's Guide

With their appealing blend of psychedelia and folk rock, H.P Lovecraft were one of the best underground American acts of the sixties. Although they only managed to stay together for two years they left an
impressive recorded legacy. Vocalist / Guitarist ( and former folk troubadour ) George Edwards and keyboardist / classically trained vocalist Dave Michaels met playing in a lounge / jazz combo and it wasn't long before their first single Anyway That You Want Me / It's All Over For You was released on Mercury Records, with borrowed members of local Chicago outfit The Rovin' Kind helping out. The A side was a forgettable piece of sixties pop drama, while the B side was a carbon copy of Dylan's It's All Over Now Baby Blue which showed promise.
Within six months a full line up had coalesced and they were recording their debut album. In that time they'd developed their own distinctive style, based around Edwards and Michaels dual lead vocals - an all male counterpoint to Marty Balin and Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane. The majority of the debut is made up of well chosen covers and traditional folk material given the psychedelic treatment - Wayfaring Stranger, The Drifter and That's The Bag I'm In are all concise, well arranged folk rockers with stinging lead guitar licks and keyboard work which wouldn't sound out of place on an early Doors album. The centerpiece of the album though, is a group composition based on a short story by the author H.P Lovecraft. The White Ship is a moodily atmospheric gem full of as much drama and intrigue as the story it's based on.



The album was well received and the next year was spent touring, before record company pressures forced the band into the studio to record album number two. Unfortunately the band weren't given the time for writing and recording that they would have liked and there's a noticeable drop in consistency. With a new bass player and third vocalist on board in the shape of ex Shadows of Night's Jeff Boyan, the new album relied more on originals. At the Mountains of Madness was a successful attempt to replicate the success of The White Ship and again the album highlight. Jeff Boyan's It's About Time is a semi successful counterculture anthem in the style of Jefferson Airplane's Volunteers material with a nice orchestral interlude in the middle. Elsewhere however a little too much LSD seems to have been taken.



The band folded soon after, before Edwards and drummer Michael Tegza reformed the group in 1970 as Lovecraft. Edwards left before their 1970 album was released. A tepid country rock album, it bore almost no traces of the invention that characterized their two sixties albums. Worse was to come in 1975 with a grim new AOR direction.
Good news for fans arrived in the nineties however with the discovery of an immaculately recorded live performance from 1968. Released by archival specialists Sundazed, it paints the band in an entirely new light. Featuring a selection of material from both albums in extended form it's a much more high energy performance than you'd be led to expect from the studio material with busy and propulsive drums, searing acid guitar leads and amazing keyboard work from Michaels. The band are tight and focused and the harmonies are spot on. It's amazing that this was even recorded. An essential archival release.

Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream Deluxe Edition Bonus Tracks - Track By Track Review

Stepping into the more mainstream for a moment here's a blow by blow on the bonus tracks from the Siamese Dream reissue. I received a copy of Siamese Dream for my 13th birthday a month or two after it's original 1993 release, and from that moment on the Smashing Pumpkins were the most important band of my teenage years. I've been waiting impatiently for these reissues since I heard of their impending release so now that they've finally hit the shelves, here's the lowdown. Gish will follow as soon as I get to listen to it.


1. Pissant (Siamese sessions rough mix) - sounds to me like a more bass heavy mix of the previously released b-side version.
2. Siamese Dream (Broadway rehearsal demo) - nothing like the released b-side version this is a much better recording and a totally different full band arrangement. The first half is very tightly structured and has great drums from Jimmy then the second half breaks down into a half time blues jam.
3. STP (rehearsal demo) - awesome heavy riff rocker with some lovely twiddly guitar leads. A very good recording with emphasis on the vocals, guitar and bass with the drums buried in the mix unfortunately.
4. Frail and Bedazzled (soundworks demo) - this is a kick ass instrumental version with the vocal parts replaced by some great lyrical guitar leads. Billy is a great player. It's a pity he doesn't let rip like this much anymore. An early highlight.
5. Luna (apartment demo) -  acoustic guitar, bass and vocal ( with some treatments ) demo. Billy obviously had a very precise idea of what he wanted with this track already at this point as the arrangement is identical to the album version.
6. Quiet (BBC session/BC mix) - a pretty good indicator of how tight the band were live by this point, but there's not really anything happening here that the album version didn't have.
7. Moleasskiss (soundworks demo) - this is probably my favourite unreleased Pumpkins track, so it's great to have a better quality mix of it finally. Shows how Billy could write anthemic choruses in his sleep at this point. Jame's harmony vocal in the chorus could do with being mixed a bit lower though. Or removed.
8. Hello Kitty Kat (soundworks demo) - an interesting early version with a completely different chorus and some different lyrics. Sounds a little hesitant early on but builds up a really good head of steam by the time the guitar solo(s) and outro arrive - both of which are again considerably different to the released version.
9. Today (Broadway rehearsal demo) - huge fuzz guitar on this heavier, slightly slower, early version with none of the dynamics of the released version as well as some different lyrics. Some nice guitar breaks, but a pretty lazy sounding, uncommitted vocal from Billy - but after all this was just intended as a rehearsal so we can't expect too much.
10. Never Let Me Down Again (BBC session) - very similar to the released version but without the treated backing vocals. Apparently Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan prefers the Pumpkins version to their own.
11. Apathy’s Last Kiss (Siamese sessions rough mix) - one of my favourite early pumpkins rarities this is a much more simple mix than the released version with clean slide guitar much higher in the mix and without the echoey vocal treatments. Good as an alternate mix, but the original is still my favourite.
12. Ache (Silverfuck rehearsal demo) - a pretty cumbersome rehearsal - a low point for me on here - there are too many good live versions of this around for me to think I'll ever play this version again.
13. U.S.A. (soundworks demo) - an effortlessly tight instrumental groove ( think gravity demos ) - good stuff.
14. U.S.S.R (soundworks demo) - a pretty basic instrumental demo - short and choppy - something a little different for the Pumpkins.
15. Spaceboy (acoustic mix) - the released version minus the mellotron bits ( which were the best bits in my opinion )
16. Rocket (rehearsal demo) - better than the other rehearsal versions of album tracks on here and with a slight variation to the main riff, but I still can't foresee a time when I'd want to listen to this if the album version was available to me.
17. Disarm (acoustic mix) - the released version minus the tightly strummed acoustic guitars - sounds a little too sparse to start with, but quite beautiful once the chorus strings come into play.
18. Soma (instrumental mix) - exactly what it says it is - there's enough going on for it to stand up on it's own two feet as an instrumental and it benefits from being able to hear some of the layers of lead guitars more clearly.

There was a reasonably negative response from some fans about what is on here compared to what they hoped would be on here, so it's very pleasing to report that this is much much better than expected with only a couple of weak rehearsal tracks that could have been left on the cutting room floor. Great stuff and I can't wait to hear Gish next.

As always comments are appreciated.

Elliott Smith - Misery Let Me Down

An excellent quality studio recording of a previously unreleased Elliott Smith song has just starting circulating online. Recorded in 1997 ( circa Either / Or ) as a warm-up for an appearance on WMUC-FM, a student-run university radio station, it was never broadcast on the show and has only hit the internet this week.




 Listen to it here :



Or Download mp3 here

Okkervil River - Golden Opportunities 2 - E.P Download

The fabulous Okkervil River have just released a free download only e.p as a thank you to their fans. It's available through their website.

Comprising 5 covers it's a sequel to a similar release from 2007.

Tracklisting is:

01 It is So Nice to Get Stoned [Ted Lucas cover]
02 U.F.O. [Jim Sullivan cover]
03 One Soul Less On Your Fiery [the Triffids cover]
04 Plan D [Bill Fay cover]
05 Dry Bones [Traditional]

Download here : http://okkervilriver.com/

Mini Mansions - Obscure Classics ( Review )

Great albums you may have missed


Mini Mansions - Mini Mansions ( 2010 ) 


Formed in 2009 when multi-instrumentalist Michael Shuman got some downtime from his day job as bass player for Queens of the Stone Age, Mini Mansions are an unusual prospect in the indie rock world. Forgoing guitars for the most part, this three piece have a keyboard heavy sound which is obviously indebted to the past but sounds completely contemporary at the same time.
Heavily influenced by the Beatles, it's almost as if you're listening to a late sixties Beatles album that's been transported from an alternative universe where Lennon became obsessed with the fairground style of Being For The Benefit of Mr Kite and stuck with it through his intensely paranoid White Album material.
That's part of the major appeal of this album to me - the swooning harmonies are absolutely gorgeous but somehow manage to co-exist with an ever present sense of claustrophobia and something approaching dread.
Of particular note is the fantastic fuzz bass playing which helps fill in the spaces the guitar would generally inhabit. 
There's not a duff track in sight - one particular highlight is Majik Marker which starts out with the resigned melancholy of I'm So Tired before descending into a cacophanous maelstrom of fuzz bass and drums.
Also fantastic are Monk and Kiddie Hypnogoggia - check out their videos below:





"Genuinely psychedelic with huge hooks... After listening to Mini Mansions just once, you won't be able to get it out of your head.'" Says the Queen's Josh Homme. Who am I to disagree?
Criminally unknown and absolutely necessary for fans of the Beatles, Elliott Smith and of course Queens of the Stone Age.

Alastair Riddell - Space Waltz - Obscure Classics ( Review )

Great albums you might have missed.


Alastair Riddell - Space Waltz ( 1975 )

New Zealand is not the first place many people would think to look for a great lost album from the original seventies glam movement, so Alastair Riddell's Space Waltz project should be a very pleasant surprise for you glitter fiends out there.
Released after winning a national TV talent quest,  Space Waltz's lone release is required glam rock listening which was briefly huge here in New Zealand, and totally unknown overseas.
Ziggy Stardust era David Bowie is obviously Riddell's key influence at this point and while this is admittedly completely derivative it's carried off with such conviction and attention to detail that you can't help but get caught up in the enthusiasm. Indeed if subjected to a blindfold test you could be forgiven for thinking this was a lost Bowie album recorded between Ziggy and Aladdin Sane.
Out on the Street was the big local hit and the one song people seem to remember, but there's a much deeper vein to be tapped here.
Fraulein Love & Beautiful Boy are shoulda been hits that are as immediate as anything coming out of the UK at the time.
Seabird's lyrical guitar licks are pure Mick Ronson ( think Width of a Circle ) and Love The Way He Smiles is an epic closer in the vein of Moonage Daydream.
Naturally Riddell's vocal delivery and mannerisms are highly theatrical which does date this somewhat, but those with a taste for the genre are generally fairly forgiving in this regard.
For such a well known movement there are surprisingly few classic glam rock albums, so a find like this is invaluable.
Fans of Jobriath and similar artists need to investigate immediately.

Built To Spill - Live - Obscure Classics ( Review )

Great albums you may have missed


Built To Spill - Live ( 1999 )

The sixties had Live At Leeds by The Who.
The seventies had Thin Lizzy's Live and Dangerous and Neil Young's Rust Never Sleeps.
I'm not too sure what the eighties has to say for itself.
And I'd like to nominate Built To Spill Live as the great live rock album of the nineties.
Ostensibly an alternative hard rock band pitched somewhere between Dinosaur Jr and Crazy Horse, Built to Spill have been releasing albums since 1993 ( and are still going strong today ) and are the sort of band that release consistently solid studio albums that you can tell aren't quite an accurate representation of their sound.
Culled from 4 separate live dates in 1999, this is a revelation and a definitive statement from a band who are clearly at their most comfortable on stage.
Their three pronged guitar attack have an intuitive understanding of each other and dovetail their guitar parts into some very intricate and beautifully textured places with excellent use of controlled feedback.
They're left plenty of space to stretch out and improvise on a stinging version of Neil Young's Cortez The Killer and their own Broken Chairs both of which find their way to the twenty minute mark without showing signs of lagging.



Car and the Plan offer more concise hooks, along with covers of Love as Laughter's Singing Sores Make Perfect Swords and a version of The Halo Bender's Virginia Reel Around The Fountain which builds to a glorious descending octave riff which threatens to release my inner air-guitarist every time I hear it.
My favourites though are Stop The Show with it's bludgeoning rock star finale and I Would Hurt a Fly - which although quite cryptic appears to be a creepy and insightful look into a troubled relationship with cleverly subversive lyrics.
Essential listening for anyone with a taste for the loud and melodic.