Jim Boggia - Acoustic Radio Show

Here's a great acoustic radio show from Jim Boggia. Most of the material is from his latest release "Misadventures In Stereo". However there is one new track and one from his all star project 4 Way Street. I continue to maintain that Boggia is one of the great Power Pop artists playing today.

Enjoy this beautifully recorded session. Great stuff.

By the way, the demise of the Snowcap music download service really impacts the availability of Jim Boggia's rare track back catalog. He had posted many of his rare demos on Snowcap and since its end the only way to get them is at his concerts.

The Davenports - Where is the Great Gallop?

Whatever the cause, waiting for great Power Pop album that never comes out can be extremely frustrating. (Credit the current screwed-up state of the music industry.) In late 2008, the Davenports released a single and a few b-sides from the soon to be released third album "Why the Great Gallop". The tracks were great, filled with terrific hooks and clever word play, sounding a bit like Fountains of Wayne. (This makes sense since singer Scott Klass spent some time in an earlier version incarnation of FOW.)

2009 comes and goes and no album. A Scott Klass solo track shows up on a compilation and that track is wonderful too. According to a recent post on the the band's Facebook site, they are remixing the album yet again. Hopefully this time they can navigate through the murky waters of the music business and get this great album released. I can't wait to buy the whole thing. Listen to this taster of early tracks and let me know if you don't love this as much as I do.

Jason Falkner - Softcore

Over the last month, I have been listening a lot to the new Jason Falkner CD "All Quite on the Noise Floor". I think its one of his best in years. It really shows you the great work that Jason is capable of.

A great effort like this brings out the completest fan in me and I recently discovered a few Jason tracks from soundtrack of the movie "The Informers" that I didn't know existed. With these tracks, Jason returns to that 80s Gary Numan synth sound he explored with TV Eyes (his 2006 project with Roger Joseph Manning Jr. and Brian Reitzell). If you haven't heard the TV Eyes album, head over to King Size Mong's blog and check it out straight away.

I've collected a companion collection of Falkner tracks either with Manning and Reitzell or in the 80's synth pop style of TV Eyes. Included are four early demo tracks by TV Eyes from when the group was going to be known as "Softcore". These are different versions/mixes of four of the tracks that eventually ended up on the TV Eyes CD. Special thanks to King Size Mong for making me aware of the hard to find TV Eyes "Softcore EP" they also released.

Below is a track listing of the collection. Enjoy and please let me know if you have something I have missed in this vein.

1. Search for Tomorrow (From "Logan's Sanctuary" by Falkner, Manning Jr., Reitzell)
2. Won't Last Forever (From "Softcore EP" by TV Eyes)
3. Only You (From "The Informers" Soundtrack by Falkner, Meldal-Johnsen, Palmer, Stanley)
4. Fade Away (From "Softcore Demos" by TV Eyes)
5. Touch and Go (From "Substitution Mass Confusion" Cars Tribute by Falkner)
6. Assimilation Process (From "Softcore EP" by TV Eyes)
7. Stop Me (From "Softcore EP" by TV Eyes)
8. Playground Love (Air live with vocals by Jason)
9. She's a Study (From "Softcore Demos" by TV Eyes)
10. On the Subway (From "Lost in Translation Soundtrack" by Manning Jr., Reitzell)
11. Another Night (From "The Informers" Soundtrack by Falkner, Meldal-Johnsen, Stanley)
12. Shibuya (From "Lost in Translation" Soundtrack by Manning Jr., Reitzell)
13. The Party's Over (From "Softcore Demos" by TV Eyes)
14. Mission Submission (From "Softcore Demos" by TV Eyes)
15. Gone For Good (From "The Informers" Soundtrack by Falkner, Meldal-Johnsen, Stanley)

Stamey Holsapple - On The Radio

I loved the "Now and Then" CD by Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple, released earlier in 2009 - one of the best releases of the year in my opinion. If you were lucky enough to see them live, you saw them play a number of covers that didn't make it on the official release. They regularly played the Everly Brothers classic "Lord of the Manor"and the Chris Bell/Big Star song "I Am the Cosmos" in addition to hauling out some older DB's classics.

What follows is a collection of tracks from their Mountain Stage concert and an in studio acoustic performance from WFMU. Nice sounding recordings from some of my personal favorites.

Fountains of Wayne - New Acoustic Tracks

I really like the two new songs that Fountains of Wayne performed at their recent Mountain Stage Acoustic Concert, "The Summer Place" and"Cemetery Guns". I also think that the song entitled "Cold Comfort Flowers" is a great tune as well.

...so it looks like the new Fountains of Wayne project is going to be another great effort by the boys from New Jersey. Until the new CD is out, enjoy these acoustic tracks. They sound great!

Mitch Easter - More Rare Tracks

Below is a second volume of Mitch Easter rare tracks . I'm very happy to say that these were gathered from (or suggested by) comments about the previous Mitch Easter Rare Track compilation posted in July. I had lots of suggestions about tracks I had missed.

A number of readers posted their own compilations and now that some of these links are dead I have compiled them together. This group of tracks are primarily studio tracks and are the first of three posts. I'll post the other two compilations of live tracks in weeks to come.

For me this is really the point of this blog. Thanks to everyone for their contribution. I really appreciate it!

1. Gimme Gimme Good Lovin (From "Right to Chews" Bubblegum Compilation - Dean Suggested)
2. Sudden Crown Drop (1999 Alternate Version - Posted by Anon)
3. Kizza Me (From "Not The Singers But The Songs" A Tribute To Alex Chilton - Posted by Anon)
4. Chalk Outline (Unreleased Songs From Mountain Stage - Posted by Anon)
5. Nature (Unreleased Songs From Mountain Stage - Posted by Anon)
6. Jane (Dead End) (Unreleased Songs From Mountain Stage - Posted by Anon)
7. Decline and Fall (Sneakers Remix)
8. Invisible Hills (Unreleased Bonus Track by Let's Active)
9. Sweepstakes Winner (Alternate Version - Bonus Track by Let's Active)
10. Horizon (Alternate Version - Bonus Track by Let's Active)
11. Bad Machinery (Alternate Version - Bonus Track by Let's Active)
12. A Room With A View (Alternate Version - From Mondo Montage by Let's Active, Fantom clarified)
13. Prying Eyes (From Shake to Date, Correctly labeled this time - Requested by Jim, Fantom clarified)
14. Law Averages (From Shake to Date - Requested by Jim, Fantom clarified)
15. Dirty Reasons (Posted by Fantom)
16. We Do What If (Posted by Fantom)
17. Premonition (Posted by Fantom)
18. I'm Sorry (Posted by Fantom)

Mike Viola - Kenmore Square

For completist Candy Butchers fans, here is the Kenmore Square album by Mike Viola and Snap. This album, originally released in 1990, is quite good. Catchy songs that sound very much like later Candy Butchers tracks. "One More Word" for instance, foreshadows "The Killing Floor" from "Falling into Place", released nine years later.

To my ears, this album has more to do with later Candy Butcher albums like "Falling into Place" or "Play With Your Head" than the more acoustic self titled "Candy Butchers" album released on Blue Thumb or the "Live At La Bonbonniere" EP. Anyway, its Mike Viola and that means its great. Well worth a listen.

Sorry about the low quality tracks. I got these years ago and I forget where I got them....also please let me know if anyone has any more Mike Viola or Candy Butcher rarities.

Enjoy.