Soul Coughing - Double M Demos

OH MY GAWD!!! I feel like I found the Holy Grail! That said, I'm about as close to performing a holy quest as Monty Python were, so I'm probably gonna get pelted with livestock soon, but first, while digging through an old external hard-drive for a Flaming Lips compilation, I found something I've been looking for for months. I'm sure you've guessed what that is by the title of this post, but here is a little info for those who don't know much about Soul Coughing's early days.

First off, if anyone's wondering where the name of this collection comes from, I am the responsible party. When I initially found this collection, it was listed as Ruby Vroom demos, which is a somewhat appropriate name, but these tracks were recorded earlier than the finalized versions of the songs that were re-recorded for RV. If I am remembering correctly, and I'm pretty sure I am, the Cough, prior to signing with Slash, were discussing a contract with John Zorn's Tzadik label. Their album was tentatively named Double M or MM, which is Doughty's nickname for the millenium (see Uh, Zoom Zip). I don't know if the deal fell through or the band simply received a better deal from Slash and Warners, but the Double M album was not to be. These demos though, being definitely from before the band were on Slash, were most likely for the purpose of them getting a deal and recording their first album with that tentative name I mentioned. So, rather than just list these as Ruby Vroom demos, I thought Double M Demos was a more appropriate title. Of course, if you have these tracks under a different name you can simply disregard my creative re-titling.

Anyway, I found these demos on Soulseek or another file sharing service quite a few years ago. Since then, I've only run into one other person that had these demos. I've spent quite a bit of time trying to find anyone else with these tracks as I had given up hope of finding them in my collection, but tonight was the night. So, I want to share my good fortune with you my lovely readers.

About the contents of this collection, the versions of the songs included here are peculiar to say the least. While I've listed the last four tracks as versions, I'm not trying to imply they're remixes or dubs or anything of that sort, they are actually different recordings although they sound like they are from the same era. Also, Doughty doesn't sound nearly as energetic in places as he did on later Cough recordings. His oddly subdued vocal on Casiotone Nation is perplexing. To put it nicely, he sounds stoned, but it could just be that the band was producing the demos themselves and didn't know how to get the vibe right, that or their producer didn't know how to motivate him. The unreleased numbers are nice enough but similarly subdued. The standout is I Shot Lily Brick Down where Doughty actually sings. Jersey Devil is funky but it's understandable why the song didn't get re-recorded as is, although some of the lyrics ended up in The Brooklynites. Michael Jackson is probably the weakest of the unused songs with Doughty telling a rather strange tale about Michael talking to animals and people he doesn't recognize while being paranoid.

There might be another SC post in a few days as I was able to locate an even earlier demo tape from 1992. Most of this tape seems to be recorded live at the very first SC show at the Knitting Factory, although the credits from the tape state that the lineup on one of the songs is completely different from the regular band apart from Doughty. Enjoy!


Soul Coughing - Double M Demos

01 Moon Sammy
02 Supra Genius
03 City Of Motors
04 Bus To Beelzebub
05 Casiotone Nation
06 Mr. Bitterness
07 Screenwriter's Blues
08 I Shot Lily Brick Down
09 Uh, Zoom Zip
10 Jersey Devil
11 Michael Jackson
12 Bus To Beelzebub (Version)
13 Screenwriter's Blues (Version)
14 Supra Genius (Version)
15 City Of Motors (Version)

Neil Young - Trans (Alternate Version)

Continuing with the Neil theme, here is the alternate version of Trans that was withdrawn shortly before the album's release. To be honest, it isn't terribly different from the released version, but there are things worth noting about it. First of all, this version includes If You Got Love which was listed on initial pressings but was not present and remains unreleased. On top of that, this also features the slightly longer version of Like An Inca which is now available on all CD reissues of the album but was otherwise unreleased until 1993. Also featured, although not noted as being present in any info I can find, is the longer version of Sample and Hold which is also present on all CD reissues from 1993 onward. I'm quite surprised not to see this mentioned anywhere, but that's the internet for you. Because of the CD reissue, which is identical to this minus If You Got Love, this version of the album doesn't circulate that wildly any longer, but it's still worth having.

Trans, at one point or another, went by the name Human Highway. Who actually knows when that changed but Trans, in my opinion, is a better album name. Naming the album Human Highway though is understandable as several tracks from the album appeared in Neil's freaky film of the same name. If I ever get into sharing films on this blog I'll have to post that one. Neil Young, Devo, nuclear apocalypse, general weirdness, etc. makes it a definite stoner flick or oddball party entertainer.

On the slim chance someone reading this has a better copy of this, one confirmed as sourced from the acetate in lossless quality perhaps, I would love to hear from you, especially if you might be able to share it with me. I'm not the pickiest guy about compressed audio, but whenever I can get something better I prefer to go that way, and 128kbps MP3s, while passable, are on the low end of my spectrum. Another reason I'd like a lossless rip of the acetate is that they tend to sound great and I would love to compare between a lossless acetate rip and the retail CD.

Oh yeah, don't forget to hit Side Street Records site for their page dedicated to this version of the album. Their site may be disappearing soon so check them out before they go the way of the Dodo.


Neil Young - Trans (Alternate Version)

01 A Little Thing Called Love
02 If You Got Love
03 Computer Age
04 We R In Control
05 Transformer Man
06 Computer Cowboy (aka Skycrusher)
07 Hold On To Your Love
08 Sample and Hold
09 Mr. Soul
10 Like An Inca

Neil Young - Chrome Dreams

There was a mention in the comments recently asking about Neil Young material that didn't make the cut in the first volume of his enormous Archives box set. Well, I'm not the biggest fan of Neil so I can't say that I have much from his earlier years, but I do find his mid to late seventies recordings interesting and have spent some time researching Chrome Dreams, Tonight's The Night and his early eighties computer freak-out, Trans. This said, I've got a few things that are worth posting so, if you like Neil, keep your eyes peeled for the next month or two as there are at least two more posts in the works, but for my first installment of Neil Young goodies, I'm putting the focus on Chrome Dreams.

For those unfamiliar with Chrome Dreams, let's start in 1976 when Neil was preparing the Decade retrospective. It was supposed to see release that November but didn't appear. Rumors abounded that Neil might have suffered an overdose causing Reprise to cancel the release as damage control, but six months later he released a new album, American Stars 'N Bars. By today's standards, this is pretty typical Neil, but in '76, this was confusing business, especially since reviewers had received test pressings of Decade and it was looked at as an easy sell within the industry. Stranger yet, there had been mentions prior to the release of Stars of a different album, even albums, named Ride My Llama (AWESOME ALBUM NAME!!!) and Chrome Dreams.

Apparently Llama and Chrome Dreams were the same albums with different names, but it didn't matter because nothing was heard about either until 1992. That's when a collector found an acetate dated March 16, 1977 that contained some previously released material from the Stars era as well as a number of either completely unreleased songs or versions. Initially, many fans were skeptical and varying information about the acetate's origin further clouded the topic, but eventually a bootleg CD appeared that proved the legitimacy of the acetate as well as confirmation by several fans who were able to examine and play the acetate first hand.

Since then, excellent quality copies of the acetate have circulated and the album, now widely accepted as Chrome Dreams, has been labeled a classic that should have seen release. That said, there is still speculation that the acetate may have actually been an early version of American Stars 'N Bars, but that doesn't take away from the importance of it's discovery. For die-hard fans, finds like these are practically just as good as legitimate new releases, especially when they sound as nice as this one does.

Most of my information about Chrome Dreams comes from the excellent Neil Young database at Side Street Records which discusses many of his rare or unreleased albums in great detail. If you're interested in Neil or Chrome Dreams you should definitely pay them a visit.


Neil Young - Chrome Dreams

01 Pocahontas
02 Will To Love
03 Star Of Bethlehem
04 Like A Hurricane
05 Too Far Gone
06 Hold Back The Tears
07 Homegrown
08 Captain Kennedy
09 Stringman
10 Sedan Delivery
11 Powderfinger
12 Look Out For My Love

Artful Dodger - Self Titled 1975

I'm not going to spend a lot of time explaining the history of this band, especially since there are a lot of sites that do it much better, including their very own site, just DO NOT confuse them for the similarly named British group that produce dance music. That said, this probably won't stay up for too long anyway because the band is pretty vocal about not having their stuff shared online, but that's a problem since all but one of their albums are unavailable, and when I get asked if I have any of their stuff, it's always this album that no one has but everyone wants. The band has said several times that this album, as well as their third and fourth albums, are awaiting reissue via American Beat records, but that's been said since 2007 and nothing has come of it, so I honestly don't think I'm doing anyone a disservice by posting this, but if anyone from the band or representing them would like this removed from my blog, please leave me a message either in the comments or by e-mail and I will gladly comply.


Artful Dodger - Artful Dodger (1975)

01 Wayside
02 You Know It's Alright
03 It's Over
04 Follow Me
05 Long Time Away
06 Think Think
07 Silver and Gold
08 Things I'd Like To Do Again
09 Waiting Place
10 New York City


UPDATE: Sorry guys, but as requested by the band, I am removing the album from download. I feel it's only right that if the artist in question takes the time to request their work is not shared, even if it's not available anywhere else via legal channels, that it is only right to respect their wishes. Let's do like they asked and support the band by requesting the label that owns the distribution rights, American Beat Records, get more reissues on the shelves as soon as possible.

INTERLUDE

So I was going to do a post on Cibo Matto, and I may still do just that, although it's going to have to wait a short while. I thought I had an arsenal of rare Cibo Matto stuff but I've found that the majority of it is readily available. Actually, if you're not familiar with Cibo, you should do yourself a favor and get their first album, VIVA! La Woman!, or the Pom Pom compilation on Rhino. That Pom Pom comp is nice as it has some rare tracks and lots of stuff from both of their full-lengths, but it has eight of the ten songs on VIVA and while that's most of the album, it's missing the track Theme. Man, that track is an ambient love-fest and should not be missed. I recall lots of fun with an ex whenever that track came on in mixtapes and such. What the hell, I'll put that track in this post, but a more detailed Cibo Matto post may be in your future.

As for the remainder of this interlude, I was rather upset to see that my Michael Jackson/Nirvana post was removed in it's entirety and I wasn't notified in any way that it happened. In the wake of Michael's death, I'm not completely surprised at it's disappearance, but I didn't say anything negative about him and I wasn't trying to benefit financially from his passing. Hell, I keep this blog ad-free because I don't think it's right to profit from things the artist may not have wanted released but found their way to the public regardless. So, I would have gladly removed the post if asked to do so, but when I don't even get a bullshit letter from the DMCA saying I pissed them off, I just see the post removed, that really boils my blood. So, if anyone is looking for the Michael Jackson Dangerous Demos, I'm not going to post the links here but, if you're resourceful, I'm sure you'll find them. They're in the same place they were earlier, just not visible from this site. And to whomever is going after people like myself for posting some interesting Jackson-related stuff for the public to enjoy, why don't you go after the people selling bootleg T-Shirts memorializing his death or the people trying to scalp tickets to the service at the Staples Center. I will respect your copyright if you've got an issue with what I'm doing, but send me an e-mail. Hell, I would have been less angry if I'd gotten a message from the DMCA or Blogger directly, but just doing this without telling me is WRONG. No ifs, ands or buts about it, it is wrong. I spend a lot of time writing the dialogue contained on this site and putting up interesting things for people to enjoy, and I don't see why you should be able to derail any of my work, apart from the removal of something you own the copyright to. You don't own my text or the thoughts contained therein, so leave those the hell alone!

Okay, the extremely angry and somewhat juvenile rant is now over. Enjoy some MP3s. Some MP3s more random than others!

Cibo Matto - Theme
Gloria Estefan - Everlasting Love (Classic Paradise Radio Mix)
Gloria Estefan - Everlasting Love (Classic Paradise Mix)


UPDATE: I don't think the post being removed necessarily had anything to do with Michael Jackson, but rather Nirvana. For whatever reason, the Michael Jackson tracks weren't removed from MediaFire, at least not in their entirety, but the Nirvana post was and twice. Can anyone give me some advice about things of this sort? I would like to know if there is some sort of retaliation I can take towards these actions, other than bitching, whining and kvetching like someone on Parking Wars. HELP?

Miles Davis - Sessions UPDATE

Damn! Just as I was ready to publish this post, I got even more unreleased Miles stuff! I was intending for this to be my last post of unreleased Miles for a while but now it looks like I will have to do a few more. So, while this one is probably the largest one you'll see here, keep your eyes opened for even more!

For those familiar with bootleg Miles recordings, there is a series of releases known as the Unknown Sessions compilations. They cover studio material from 1970 through 1976, although they're not known for detailed session information. Using their details as well as those of the aforementioned Miles Ahead, I've taken every track featured in those collections that has not been officially released and I'm including them here. Everything from the original post is included in these files so I'm deleting those links from the initial post. There are now roughly three hours of unreleased material which has been, to the best of my knowledge, accurately labeled and dated. Of course, I'm not claiming to be a Miles Davis expert, I'll give that credit to the Miles Ahead folks, but I definitely love his music, especially his seventies recordings, and I hope you enjoy these recordings as much as I do. Oh, and if you need another reason to visit Miles Ahead (as if I haven't pushed you in that direction firmly enough), I'm not going to list the line-ups for all these recordings. It took a long time the first time and it'll take forever this time, so please forgive my laziness but I'm sure you'll enjoy these recordings regardless.

There are other recordings I've since acquired which I thought about posting here, but they are available elsewhere and I'd like to give credit to someone who has been rather helpful in my search for Miles goodies, so I'd like to refer you to JR Heat Warps' excellent blog, The Heat Warps. There you will find a plethora of jazz and fusion goodies, but you will also find volumes one and two of the Deep Brew compilations which feature unedited recordings from the actual Bitches Brew sessions! I love Bitches Brew and the box-set dedicated to it's source material, but it's name, The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions, is terribly misleading. None of the unedited session recordings are featured on it and they are fascinating, so snatch this up over at The Heat Warps and and some spice to your brew!


Miles Davis - Sessions
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four

01 So What (incomplete take, 3/20/70)
02 Untitled Original (unknown take, 4/7/70)
03 Jabali (Take 2, 7/12/72)
04 Billy Preston (unknown take, 12/8/72)
05 Untitled Original A (Take 2, 4/24/73)
06 Untitled Original A (Take 3, 4/24/73)
07 Untitled Original B (Take 1, 4/24/73)
08 Big Fun (Take 1, 7/26/73)
09 Peace (Remake Take 3a, 7/26/73)
10 Peace (Remake Take 3b, 7/26/73)
11 Dominique (Take 1, 6/20/74)
12 Sound (Take 2, 11/6/74)
13 What They Do (Take 13, 11/6/74)
14 Turn Of The Century (unknown take, 2/27/75)
15 Minnie (Takes 3 and 4, 5/5/75)
16 Minnie (Take 6, 5/5/75)
17 Minnie (Take 6 Remix, 5/5/75)
18 Minnie (Take 7, 5/5/75)
19 Minnie (Take 7 Remix, 5/5/75)
20 Untitled Original (Take 2, 5/5/75)
21 Untitled Original (Take 3, 3/30/76)
22 Untitled Original (Take 5, 3/30/76)
23 Song Of Landa (Take 2, 3/30/76)
24 Song Of Landa (Take 6, 3/30/76)
25 TDK Funk (incomplete take, 12/27/76)


...And for those who want a brief preview of what they'll be getting themselves into, here are a few sample tracks for your listening enjoyment.
TDK Funk
Sound (Take 2, 11/6/74)
Untitled Original (Take 2, 5/5/75)

Plone - Plaything

So I'm watching television and a commercial comes on with a song I SWEAR I recognize, and when I finally realize what it is I'm hearing I'm even further confused. This would be a commercial for Reeses Peanut Butter Cups which features the song Plaything by the band Plone. Plone, for the uninitiated, were Mark Cancellara, Mike Johnston and Billy Bainbridge who were all from Birmingham, England. Their sound focused on older, analogue keyboards and they released a few singles in the late nineties prior to their debut album, For Beginner Piano, on Warp Records in 1999. The band continued to record and finished a second album, but with Rob Mitchell, one of the founders of Warp and the responsible party for their signing, having been diagnosed with cancer and eventually dying in 2001, their album sat in limbo and they eventually disbanded. Billy Bainbridge joined Broadcast and formed the band Seeland with ex-Broadcast member Tim Felton. Mike Johnston did solo work as Mike In Mono and joined the ZX Spectrum Orchestra and the Modified Toy Orchestra. Mark Cancellara is a dj for a reggae club named Silver Dollar in Birmingham.

Plone's unreleased second album eventually leaked to the net and the collective joy of their fans, but Plaything is a footnote which I'm rather shocked has reappeared. The track was released in 1998 on a Warp Records compilation named We Are Reasonable People. The compilation was given a limited release and is now out of print, apart from digitally via Warp's Bleep website, and all of the tracks, at least at the time, were not going to be made available elsewhere, although that rule has been broken once or twice. Plaything was ripe to be forgotten, understandably, what with an independent label (a large one no doubt, but independent nonetheless) that added the track to a limited release compilation that was not made available in all countries, making it even harder to find due to having to import it, and also for listing it as a single release instead of an album despite it's length. So, when it showed up in a US advertising campaign, the first thought that came to my mind was "someone is really earning their pay!" The second thought was "WHY ISN'T THIS MY JOB???"

So, for your listening pleasure, I present to you Plone's Plaything as well as their untitled and unreleased second album. Also, if I may suggest the We Are Reasonable People compilation as a worthy purchase for download as it contains a lot of great, otherwise impossible to find tracks from the cream of the IDM Electronic scene in the late nineties. That list includes exclusive tracks from Boards Of Canada, Plaid, Autechre, Two Lone Swordsmen, Mark Bell (LFO) and a collaboration between AFX, better known as Aphex Twin, and Squarepusher. The AFX/Squarepusher track is worth the price of admission alone, but I'm sure you'll find plenty of fun throughout this excellent compilation. Just don't try to listen to it all at once, it doesn't really suit itself to that purpose as each track is more like aural wallpaper.


Plone - Plaything


Plone - unreleased second album
01 Multitonal
02 140
03 Slow Arp
04 Swing It
05 Can't Think
06 Farm Yard
07 Arpeggios
08 Saw
09 Grandfather Clock
10 One Song
11 Smoothie Ribbons
12 Dry Pen
13 Old Shoe
14 RY30
15 Smile Song
16 Another One Of Them
17 No Drums