Tortilla Flat - SWF Sessions 12/12/73
Tortilla Flat are beyond obscura and more like arcana with a single album (Fur Ein 3/4 Stündchen) to their name that sparks some discussion among German rock collectors and I count myself in the pro camp with the album, so when I was provided with a copy of this ultrarare live date from one of the classic German music sessions, I was only expecting the best, and I was given that and then some. Some of these German archives are just incredible quality and this is one of them, better in sound than the album itself. Apparently the crossover in music between album and session lies just on the long first track, but that’s just a pointer for where it goes. Musically they’re a bit hard to place even from their era, they remind me of Xhol Caravan in that they’re jazz-rock oriented, like to base their songs on long riffs, and seem to have a touch of Canterbury influence. Generally they get some tricky line going in repetition and lay down all sorts of nice solos, from great guitar work to surprise violin a little later. The whole thing took me by surprise even with expecting it to be great, to hear the band in greater clarity without the vinyl noise was a real treat. This REALLY needs a release along with the album, Tortilla Flat were definitely in the unfairly section of the obscure counter.
The Dismemberment Plan - Casbah, San Diego 6/4/03 (DVD)
A 90 minute D-Plan show, I watched this in two chunks, just about in half and had two different experiences. During the first half I was amazed at both the sound and even the audience camera work, the DVD helped by there having been two cams. D-Plan have a great rhythm section for their pop music, which really helped to reel me in, but during the second night and the second half, the bass felt like it was really clipping and the mix not as clear as I had thought, but this might have been the presence of more Emergency & I songs, E&I being the album I know best, possibly making it more obvious. As a show, I thought it was pretty good, the band having good chemistry with the audience, having them choose the songs for a large part of the show, trading banter along with the requests.
Cardiacs - Duchess of York, Leeds 5/30/95 (Videos 2) (DVD)
Yet another great live Cardiacs show, the set list on this being remarkably similar to the show on the first rare video collection, which was fine by me having been won over by them in the first place. As with the other show on this DVD from two years earlier, the band seems to be using keyboard tapes, but if I’m not wrong they really do a good job with it. Again the virtues are in full force: high energy, extreme tightness, surreal songwriting, epic flavor etc. I get the feeling I’m going to be getting a few more plays out of both these collections.