Monday, August 31, 2009

Uncle Tupelo Demos Part 1- Colorblind And Rhymeless

For the next installment of my on-going series, "Before They Was Famous", I give you part one of a three part series, the Uncle Tupelo demos. All three of these self released demo cassettes were recorded before the first Uncle Tupelo album, No Depression (1990) was released. These rough and ready versions of many of the songs that make up the first album provide a good indication of things to come as their sound combines a fine blend of alternative rock and country, played with a punk attitude. They were considered the first alternative country band whose energy and authentic ability to teeter both genres have been a influence of the many "alt-country" bands that have followed. If you're a fan of bands like the Jayhawks, Bottle Rockets, Drive By Truckers or Tweedy and Farrar's bands, Wilco and Son Volt, these tapes (and all their official releases) will open your eyes to one of the greatest influential bands of the nineties. I've been wanting to share these demos for a while, so please have a listen and leave a comment. Enjoy! UNCLE TUPELO Colorblind And Rhymeless (1987) Before I Break I Got Drunk Screen Door Blues Die Hard Pickle River Download: Uncle Tupelo-Colorblind and Rhymeness .rar

Sunday, August 23, 2009

The Vees- The Vees


If you are or were a fan of Jale, you may already own this, but if you don't, trust me, this is worth the download. After the demise of Jale and the departure of Eve Hartling, the three remaining members of Jale reformed as the Vees. They toured Canada a couple of times and they're only recorded output was this self-titled 5-song EP released in 1996 on Murder Records. This EP received little or no attention, even now there's no information on the internet and this EP would be classified as hard-to-find. The songs sound very similar to Jale and the music is pretty good, especially the first two songs. Drummer Mike Belitsky (of the band the Sadies) even takes a turn at the mike with lead vocal credits on Denied, overall a nice teaser for a short-lived band.

The Vees are:
Mike Belinsky (drums, vocals)
Jennifer Pierce (guitar, vocals)
Laura Stein (bass, vocals)

1. Chicago Lights
2. A
3. Denied
4. Seven Thirty
5. Circumstance

download: The Vees-The Vees.rar

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Jale- Closed EP


This is my very first blog entry written on my brand-new laptop I purchased yesterday. Having the portability and availability (instaed of having to share the desktop with my wife and daughter), I now have the freedom to post new entrys from anywhere and hopefully more often.

Two of my co-workers are presently on the East Coast on vacation (with a third following next week) and it got me thinking of the great Canadian bands that have come from out East, specifically Halifax. Sloan, Superfriendz, Thrush Hermit, Plumtree and Jale, but to name a few.

The late great Jale formed in 1993 and released two fine full-length CD's, a handful of 7"ers and an EP. Their EP, Closed was released between their first album, Dreamcake and their last, So Wound. It still featured their original lineup of Jennifer Pierce, Alyson MacLeod, Laura Stein and Eve Hartling, if you take the first letter of their first name, you have JALE. I never had the chance to see Jale live, but I almost did during their last tour when they were scheduled to play our town, but the tour was abruptly cancelled when guitarist Eve Hartling announced she was pregnant and unable to complete the tour, the band soon after disbanded in 1996. The other three members of the band reformed as the Vees, but more on them later.
Enjoy!

JALE
Closed (1995)
1. Nine Years Now
2. Wash My Hands
3. Jesus Loves Me
4. Long Way Home
5. Double Edge

Download: Jale-Closed EP. rar

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Be Back Soon!

Oops, I goofed! I'm away on my holidays right now (I have been for the last week) and I intended to continue posting some music and photos. I uploaded a couple of interesting albums with the theory of posting them while I'm away. Where I am internet is only available at the public library, so I uploaded to my online storage, but I have vacation-brain freeze and can't remember my password. So, I apologize and I promise to be up and running again next week when I return to my own computer.
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