2010-03-28

Thee Oh Sees - 2010-03-28 - Founders Park USC



This features the final March 2010 Thee Oh Sees recording, at the University Of Southern California.  The last post covered opening group Entrance Band, as our recordist had got there a bit too late to capture opening act The Growlers set.

Thee Oh Sees
2010-03-28
Founders Park
USC

Recorded directly in front of Brigid Dawson, by 'bcingyou' (Mark B.)

equipment:

M-Audio MicrotrackII + Sony ECM990-F > WAV(44.1 sample rate/16bit) > CD Wave Editor track split  FLAC level 8

setlist:

intro / Enemy Destruct / Contraption / I Was Denied / Tidal Wave / Block Of Ice / Dead Energy / Crack In Your Eye / Ghost In The Trees / Quadrospazzed / Warm Slime


Complete audio recording (pCloud FLAC).

I've also upped a full video recording of the show, synced to the audio recording.


2010-03-26

Thee Oh Sees - 2010-03-26 - Social Science Trailer No.103 - UC Irvine CA


Third in a series of four March 2010 Southern California shows from the San Francisco-based quartet, taped by the indomitable bcingyou.

I was NOT denied...
La la la la la...
La la la la la...

Who but these guys would play in a portable CLASSROOM???

Four score people got the show of their lives.  If this group isn't one of the best live bands on this planet and you don't groove when they play, you must be DEAD, DEAD, DEAD, DEAD...
 
from bcingyou:

"Wow...fucking Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!



The 3rd night seeing Thee Oh Sees was a thrill ride....playing in a portable classroom on UC Irvine campus...I didn't think anyone would be able to find this place but the crazies came out of the woodwork and filled this classroom with a capacity of 80 max (campus security made sure no more got in)...easily the most energy intense show I've EVER attended....the only show where I got hit so hard from behind that my tomahawk mic went flying out of my hands and I was stunned wondering: "why are my hands empty and where's my mic"....landed next to Brigid's feet under her keyboard...4 a.m. and I'm still wired...."



THEE OH SEES
26 March 2010
Social Science Trailer #103, UC Irvine Campus, Irvine, CA

Audience Master Recording by bcingyou.
Recorded directly beside keyboardist, Brigid Dawson. Band and audience at floor level.

M-Audio MicrotrackII + Sony ECM990-F > WAV(44.1 sample rate/16bit) > CD Wave Editor track split > FLAC level 8

01. Enemy Destruct
02. Contraption (mic hits ground at 20 sec. mark)
03. I Was Denied
04. Meat Step Lively
05. Dead Energy
06. Block Of Ice
07. AA Warm Breeze
08. Ghost In The Trees
09. Crack In Your Eye
10. Tidal Wave
11. Warm Slime (Summertime Jam)

Total time - 45:05

Audio recording (pCloud FLAC format)


bcingyou documented the openers as well, here's the Cosmonauts' set:

COSMONAUTS
26 March 2010
Social Science Trailer #103, UC Irvine Campus, Irvine, CA

00.  (song cut?)  
01.  Like A French Assassin
02.  Dorothy
03.  Electric Chemicals
04.  T.V. Californnia
05.  Neon Kids
06.  Our Man Flint

Cosmonauts (pCloud FLAC

And Sandwitches...most of the songs they played are on their album 'How To Make Ambient Sadcake' but there's a couple that are pretty new which I can't identify.

SANDWITCHES
26 March 2010
Social Science Trailer #103, UC Irvine Campus, Irvine, CA

01.  (new song)  "I Walk Up To You". [YouTube of Sep 2010 Eagle Tavern performance]
02.  Back To The Sea
03.  Relax At The Beach
04.  (new song)  "Hold Me"  [YouTube of Mar 2010 SXSW performance]
05.  Wicked Inger
06.  The Revisionist
07.  Kiss Your Feet
08.  Fire

Sandwitches (pCloud FLAC)

I dug up a photoset of the bands....

And at some point a recording of 25m of video of TOS may very well surface...

(this actually referenced to the Founders' Park video, seen in my post from that show.)

2010-03-25

Thee Oh Sees - 2010-03-25 - Casual Encounters LA



Second installment of Thee Oh See's "March Madness" shows in SoCal.

Dispatch from the front, courtesy of our correspondent bcingyou:

"Last Thursday's show is finished and I included all photos I took. This recording is AMAZING! I'm really proud of this and I fixed the problem that was causing some connector pops in the earlier Oh Sees recording.  To my ears this sounds perfect raw with no post tampering required. This night they did Ghost In The Trees and an even more amazing version of new song
Summertime Jam (Warm Slime).

Attached a pic I found on Flicker from thurs show and one I took of John's beautiful green guitar [both on display here]."



THEE OH SEES
25 March 2010
Casual Encounters Warehouse, 1257 E. 6th St., Los Angeles, CA

Audience Master Recording by bcingyou.
Recorded directly in front of singer/guitarist John Dwyer. Band and audience at floor level.  Equipment:  M-Audio MicrotrackII + Sony ECM990-F > WAV(44.1 sample rate/16bit)>  CD Wave Editor track split > FLAC level 8

John and his Burns
01. intro
02. Enemy Destruct
03. Block Of Ice
04. I Was Denied
05. Meat Step Lively
06. Tidal Wave
07. Contraption
08. AA Warm Breeze
09. Ghost In The Trees
10. Crack In Your Eye
11. Dead Energy
12. Warm Slime (Summertime Jam)
13. Mega Feast
Encore:
14. Opposition(*)
15. (after show chatter)

Total Time – 59:23

Listen to bcingyou's recording (pCloud FLAC format)

(*) The identification of the last song is still tentative, as this song as far as I know remains unreleased, and this is the only live recording I have of it.

Unfortunately, I haven't yet turned up any video of this show, but there are plenty of good photos in the FLAC set above as well as the following:

Some great photos by Ronny.  (Wayback Machine URL, but sadly, Flickr set has been deleted)

More great photos. (Wayback Machine URL, works)

2010 Thee Oh Sees Songlist


bcingyou also provided me a recording of opening act Sandwitches (in case the Myspace link doesn't do it for you, go here instead):

tracklist needs a bit of work, ?'s are likely new songs:

intro / ? / Tarantula Arms / The Revisionist / Wicked Inger / Fire / ? / ? / ? 
 

2010-03-20

Cheer Up? F*** Off: Xiu Xiu - 2010-03-20 - Bottom Of The Hill SF

 

 
(photo collage by thehappyone)


Xiu Xiu
2010-03-20
Bottom Of The Hill
San Francisco CA

taper: thehappyone

kit: Sonic Studios DSM-6L's / Edirol R-09HR combo

Setlist

00a -pre-gig PA  [3:48]
00b - Arabic Music and soundchecking  [12:34]
01 - intro  [1:17]
02 - Black Drum Machine  [5:28]
03 - Apistat Commander  [4:37]
04 - Gray Death  [3:21]
05 - Dear God, I Hate Myself [3:31]
06 - Muppet Face  [4:13]
07 - Gayle Lynn  [5:05]
08 - I Love The Valley Oh!  [5:18]
09 - Falkland Rd  [3:19]
10 - Poe Poe  [4:09]
11 - Gunatanamo Canto  [3:40]
12 - This Too Shall Pass Away (For Freddy)  [3:45]
13 - Chocolate Makes You Happy  [4:21]
14 - Boy Soprano  [6:19]
15 - outro  [1:43]
 
Total 76:48
 
The soundcheck part at the start features a piece by Mulla Abdussaheb called "Ya Yumma Weya Baba


Followed by one from Sayed Abboud called "Min Fergetak Lilyom"

And then Sultana Youssef's "Khouthni Bthemmetak


All from a collection called "Songs Of The Brokenhearted - Baghdad 1925-29"....extraordinary...

While this is playing, and while the band is setting up, we spot a Nintendo DS (running Korg DS-10 software) that's being used as a sound generating (synth) by the group...this will feature throughout the set.  I actually have one with presumably the same Korg software they were using, but not even a thousandth of the wherewithal to make all the twisted, glitchy noise on display here.  Way earlier than anything Teenage Engineering was doing...

After "Black Drum Machine", some woman facetiously and asininely suggests to Jamie to cheer up.  He tells her to fuck off.

Not sure why I didn't feature this on AMH, as I didn't share it on DIME...maybe as a time capsule for an older self to reflect back on.

Video from recycleyourpets, featuring "Gayle Lynn":


And "I Love The Valley OH!"...

And dug out from my archives my own video recording of this...


Think Jamie stepped away for a bit after this song (the video above cuts off at the end of the track) presumably not happy about something, but he did come back to perform about seven more songs including one of the standouts of Dear God, I Hate Myself ("This Too Shall Pass Away") and old chestnut "The Boy Soprano".

XIU DOWNLOAD - FLAC AUDIO

Also captured:

The sets for Noveller 

https://www.atmyheels.com/2010/10/noveller-2010-03-20-bottom-of-hill-sf.html

And Tune-Yards

https://www.atmyheels.com/2010/10/tune-yards-2010-03-20-bottom-of-hill-sf.html

 

Rescuing strays: Noveller - 2010-03-20 - Bottom Of The Hill SF

'I didn't realize the show started', said your humble narrator, as he pressed 'record'.  As Sarah of Noveller built up her guitar drones via sample-and-hold looping, folks quieted down and stared forward, in rapt attention.  I will not hopefully offend anyone (see Anonymous responding to my use of 'little person' in my Chameleons VOX post) if I happen to point out that this was being delivered by a very attractive young woman from Brooklyn.

Up until it all suddenly stopped.  A photographer had inadvertently stepped on a power strip and brought it all to a halt, creating one of those memorable Awkward Moments this side of one of those Letterman interviews, forever seared into your mind.

'Um, can you please not lean on the power strip?  Yeah, like, just...just, don't touch it at all, please.'. 

Nonplussed, she introduced herself, and a bit unsure on how to proceed, then said she would fix it, and started the song 'St. Powers' over. And it was all better.

I'm not sure if 'Noveller' refers to the online microblogging site (subject to its fair share of satire) or arises from something buried deep in the collective conscience, but the music Sarah Lipstate makes is lovely beyond words.


What more could you ask for?  Maybe a chance to hear it?  I did capture a clip of 'Bleached Beach'.




And of course, I recorded the entire set.

Details after the jump.

2010-03-11

Thee Oh Sees - 2010-03-11 - Nomad Gallery LA



When somebody who's been going to shows for thirty some-odd years says he's just been to the best one he's ever seen, you take notice.  And when he comes back for more, not just once or twice, but *three* more times in the same month, the band in question has to be something special.  And they are.


This is the first of a series of four bcingyou recordings of Thee Oh Sees from March of 2010.  Enjoy!


Thee Oh Sees

11 March 2010 
Nomad Gallery, 1993 Blake Ave., Los Angeles, CA 
Audience Master Recording by bcingyou 
 

Recorded directly in front of singer/guitarist John Dwyer, band and audience at floor level. 
M-Audio MicrotrackII + Sony ECM990-F>WAV(44.1 sample rate/16bit)>CD Wave Editor track split 
 

01. intro 
02. Enemy Destruct 
03. Contraption
04. I Was Denied  (HD video: sallenp)
05. Block of Ice 
06. Meat Step Lively 
07. Crack In Your Eye 
08. Mega Feast 
09. AA Warm Breeze 
10. Tidal Wave 
11. Dead Energy 
12. Warm Slime (Summertime Jam), at the 9:12 point the recording drops to mono due to mic connector 'pops' in one channel.  Video footage here.


Total Time – 50:25


Listen! (pCloud FLAC format) 

2010-03-03

Real Live Flesh: tUnE-yArDs - 2010-03-20 - Bottom Of The Hill, SF

credit: RecycleYourPets
Digging through this year's archives for this one.  Have to say this was my second-or-third favorite performance of 2010.

tUnE-yArDs is Merrill Garbus, on loopstation, drums, ukelele, and earth-scorching, soulful vocals.

I had the extreme pleasure of seeing her open along with Noveller (featured in a previous post) for Xiu Xiu back in March.

If Merrill Garbus is ever in your vicinity, RUN, not walk, to see her perform.  To be honest, not much that the legendary record label 4AD has signed over the past few years has caught my fancy...until tUnE-yArDs.  A web search should turn up all the raves she's getting for her live performances...very much well deserved.  She pretty much killed it, as the kids would say these days.  Utterly, unbelievably good, trust me on this one. :)  So good, I bought all the merch on offer, letting her pick the color of my T-Shirt (blue)...

She was joined by frequent cohort Nate Brenner on bass and a saxophonist who provided appropriate bleeting sounds at opportune intervals.  Even the most grumpy rump-addled punter (meaning yours truly) started grooving and shaking their butts to the rhythms on display.  Oh.  My.  Fucking.  God.  Just mind-blowing.

I felt sorry for Jamie Stewart, there would have been no way for Xiu Xiu to top what we had just seen here, short of acting out on the impulses which propel his quite extreme images in his lyrics...no fault of their own, but kudos to him for having her on board on tour to co-headline...even if he was Buzzcocks to her Joy Division.