Flesh the Racist Crayon
12.12.2010
The Trunk Space, Phoenix, AZ

Source:  Mix [Microtech Gefell M300’s > Lunatec V3] + [DPA 4060’s > DAD6001’s] > Oade Mod Edirol R44 @ 24/48 > Adobe Audition 3.0 > Resample to 16/44.1 > CDWave

Setlist:
1. intro
2. Los Feliz
3. The Microphone Fixing Song
4. Farmer’s Love Song
5. Christmas Lights (Out of Season)
6. “Better”
7. Buttons
8. Bums
9. Happy Birthday
10. Sammy the Snake
11. Satan’s Sweetheart
(Encore)
12. 2010

Here’s a Fishboy set from ’09, in a stellar lineup which included Iji, Red Pony Clock and more.  The band just released a new LP, available through Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records.

Fishboy
8.21.2009
The Trunk Space, Phoenix, AZ

Source:  Microtech Gefell M300’s > Lunatec V3 > digi-coax > Oade Mod Edirol R-44 @ 24/48 > SDHC > Adobe Audition 3.0 > Resample to 16/44.1 > CDWave
Taped by:  Lance Stack

Setlist:
1. stretch time
2. Cheer Up Great Pumpkin!
3. Gabe Saucedo Hates My Guts
4. Bricks Part 1
5. Iji story
6. “Flash Flood” (title unknown)
7. Parachute (Using The Ghost Of Buddy Holly As A)
8. Blackout / Flashback
9. A Surprise Return
10. Vespas In Texas
11. Half Time At The Proper Name Spelling Bee

What do you get when bands take advantage of the dive bar next door before playing a non-alcoholic venue?  A drunk, out-of-tune, very fun set…also known as an Arizoner Boner! :)

Red Pony Clock
8.21.2009
The Trunk Space, Phoenix, AZ

Source:  Microtech Gefell M300’s > Lunatec V3 > digi-coax > Oade Mod Edirol R-44 @ 24/48 > SDHC > Adobe Audition 3.0 > Resample to 16/44.1 > CDWave
Taped by:  Lance Stack

Setlist:
1. unknown
2. Positivity
3. Take A Side
4. Waiting For You
5. Time
6. The Hardest Half
7. Knock Three Times
8. unknown
9. Don’t Forget Who Your Friends Are
10. Happy Birthday
11. My New Best Friends

While hard at work on her upcoming album (titled Mariana), Michelle Blades has been sneaking in frequent shows around Phoenix.  Here’s a full band performance opening for Flesh the Racist Crayon at The Trunk Space.  Michelle’s last two releases are both available via bandcamp.

Michelle Blades
12.12.2010
The Trunk Space, Phoenix, AZ

Source:  Mix [Microtech Gefell M300’s > Lunatec V3 + DPA 4060’s > DAD6001’s] > Oade Mod Edirol R44 @ 24/48 > SDHC > Adobe Audition 3.0 > Resample to 16/44.1 > CDWave
Taped by: Lance Stack

Setlist:
1. unknown (soundcheck)
2. Strawberry Ghost
3. To M.L’s Paintings
4. Like Wildflowers
5. Heart of Clover
6. Mariana
7. La Vérité
8. improv song

A zipfile of the mp3s is available here.
FLAC files can be downloaded as a zipfile here.

Here’s one of my AZ favorites, Stephen Steinbrink and French Quarter.  I’d previously seen French Quarter at Rhinoceropolis, but it was nice to see the band playing on their home turf.  Most of Stephen’s output is available for purchase from Life’s Blood and Gilgongo.

Stephen Steinbrink and French Quarter
12.12.2010
The Trunk Space, Phoenix, AZ

Source:  Mix [Microtech Gefell M300’s > Lunatec V3 + DPA 4060’s > DAD6001’s] > Oade Mod Edirol R44 @ 24/48 > SDHC > Adobe Audition 3.0 > Resample to 16/44.1 > CDWave
Taped by:  Lance Stack

Setlist:
1. intro/soundcheck
2. It’s Not Just Kissing
3. Lucky Passing Dream
4. unknown
5. Goodbye Alligator Skin
6. More Real [The Necessaries]
7. A Tiny Seed
8. When I Was A Young Girl [trad.]
9. Wet Cloud
10. Neighbors In The Bedroom

A zipfile of the mp3s is available here.
FLAC files can be downloaded as a zipfile here.

Here’s an Iji show from last summer at The Trunk Space.  Also on the bill were Fishboy, Red Pony Clock, Watercolor Paintings, and Haunted Cologne.

Iji
8.21.2009
The Trunk Space, Phoenix, AZ

Source:  Microtech Gefell M300’s > Lunatec V3 > digi-coax > Oade Mod Edirol R-44 @ 24/48 > SDHC > Adobe Audition 3.0 > Resample to 16/44.1 > CDWave
Taped by:  Lance Stack

Setlist:
1. Long Branches and Roots
2. Open Curtains
3. Tiny Antennassssss
4. Street Light
5. Giant Bite
6. unknown
7. How We’ll Know
8. unknown
9. Peanut Butter Astral Projections
10. Wild Pack of Something
11. 4 Counts After the End of the World

Notes:
Some buzzing/grounding issues throughout the recording.

A zipfile of the mp3s is available here.
FLAC files can be downloaded as a zipfile here.

This show was completely unplugged in the middle of the room, making it a bit hard to capture on tape (wind and other background noise), but the singalongs were unforgettable!

Watercolor Paintings
8.21.2009
The Trunk Space, Phoenix, AZ

Source:  Microtech Gefell M300’s > Lunatec V3 > digi-coax > Oade Mod Edirol R-44 @ 24/48 > Adobe Audition 3.0 > Resample to 16/44.1 > CDWave
Taped by:  Lance Stack

Setlist:
1. So Many
2. Telephone Wires
3. Dress Pockets
4. A Possibility
5. With the Light On
6. Snail
7. Sneezes
8. unknown
9. All of Our Lives
10. Indiana
11. A Simple Hello
12. Open Your Mouth

A zipfile of the mp3s is available here.
FLAC files can be downloaded as a zipfile here.

Evening two of the Arizona run:  We’re hanging out in a Scottsdale strip mall and break the news to Brian that it’s Valentine’s Day.  It’s only 30 minutes before doors, but you can see the mental gears grinding away, searching for material worthy of bolstering the Greeting Card Association membership’s market value.  An hour later, the homage is nothing less than genius!

Brian Dewan
2.14.2009
Chyro Arts Venue, Scottsdale, AZ

Source:  DPA 4060/Microtech Gefell M300 Mix > Adobe Audition 3.0 > CDWave
Source #1: DPA 4060s (Core-Sound HEBs) clipped to vocal mic stand > battery box > M-Audio Microtrack 2 > CF
Source #2: Microtech Gefell M300’s > Lunatec V3 (opti-mod) > Nomad JB3
Taped by:  Lance Stack

Setlist:
1. (Valentine’s Day intro)
2. I Will Give My Love an Apple [trad.]
3. I Hold Your Hand in Mine [Tom Lehrer]
4. Girl [Beatles]
5. Girls [Iggy Pop]
6. The Human Heart
7. (Brian tells a joke)
8. Brain Surgery Without Anesthesia
9. Sovey the Female Highwayman [trad.]
10. The True Lover’s Farewell [trad.]

A zipfile of the mp3s is available here.
FLAC files can be downloaded as a zipfile here.

Joining The Music Tapes and Nana Grizol on their recent tour, Brian Dewan schooled punctual E6 fans on the physics of making dead-serious musical historiography and eccentricity converge.   Brian is very fervent about the traditional songs he unearths for listeners, yet never fails to inject a breath of humor into every performance.  Every geek musical fact withdrawn from the treasury comes with a joke stashed away in a separate account.  Every antique zither or film projector on-stage comes with a ridiculous suit jacket or tie.

This set from Solar Culture in Tucson was comprised primarily of material from The Operating Theater and Words of Wisdom.  Most tunes can’t be pegged to a single songwriter, any accreditation having been lost to the winds of time, but we can at least give Brian the credit of delivering them to our ears.

Brian Dewan
2.13.2009
Solar Culture, Tucson, AZ

Source:  Microtech Gefell M300’s > Lunatec V3 (opti-mod) > Nomad JB3 > WAV > Adobe Audition 3.0 > CDWave > Flac16
Taped by:  Lance Stack

Setlist:
1. Big Rock Candy Mountains
2. The Kettle Valley Line
3. The Mountaineer’s Wedding
4. Niagara Falls
5. Where They Belong
6. Home Movies
7. Fruitless Labors
8. Kids
9. Rumpelstiltskin
10. Flexible Flyer
11. Cadavers
12. unknown
13. The Mistletoe

A zipfile of the mp3s is available here.
FLAC files can be downloaded as a zipfile here.

(Photo by Mike White.)

I finally witnessed a proper pair of Nana Grizol shows last weekend, opening for The Music Tapes.  Catching NG live has been on my todo list since August, when I pretty much missed the entirety of their PopFest performance.  This particular show had a very small crowd due to a pair of circumstances:

1. The show was only booked 10 days in advance
2. Nobody takes their significant other out to a concert on Valentine’s Day

As such, the band took this opportunity to play a very un-pressured set, filled with banter, musical teases, and plenty of new material.  (In fact, only three of the tracks here are on the band’s debut album.)  The new songs are great, but don’t overlook their released material on 2008’s Love It, Love It (link below).

Nana Grizol
2.14.2009
Chyro Arts Venue, Scottsdale, AZ

Source:  Microtch Gefell M300’s > Lunatec V3 (opti-mod) > Nomad JB3 > WAV > Adobe Audition 3.0 > CDWave > Flac16
Taped by:  Lance Stack

Setlist:
1. In My Life (tease)
2. Circles ‘Round the Moon
3. Galaxies
4. Voices Echo Down Thee Halls (For Jared)
5. Motion in the Ocean
6. Ginsburg
7. (new song)
8. Black Box
9. Cynicism

FLAC files and other audio formats are available at the Live Music Archive.

Purchase the debut Nana Grizol album:
2008 – Love It, Love It (Orange Twin | Digital Download)