Imogen Heap 11/09/09 - The Music Box @ The Fonda, Hollywood, CA.

(Update 12/03/09: Recording has been temporarily removed due to a "DMCA {Digital Millennium Copyright Act} complaint. Until/if it's resolved, the show is only available by special request only)

Last week, Imogen Heap played the first stop of her first U.S. tour (supporting the release of her new cd "Ellipse") at the The Music Box @ The Fonda in Hollywood. Originally, this show was supposed to be the second stop - the first was to be the night before in Santa Barbara; however, Ms. Heap was feeling under the weather and the show was postponed/canceled. We of course are no strangers to Imogen Heap - an older performance of hers was posted here last July.

Anyway, oddly enough I almost ended up not attending this show. The morning of the performance, Ms. Heap tweeted that "my voice is like gravel but I'm giving tonight's LA show a shot for those wondering to make the journey or not. So unfair! Sorry LA :(" Needless to say, I wasn't feeling very enthusiastic about going upon reading this news - I already wasn't in the mood to go due to work and other things. However, I didn't really wish to eat the price of the ticket, so I went down to the theatre, with the intention of perhaps trying to sell the ticket to someone who might be in need of one. As it turned, the only people looking to buy were the usual scalpers (who, as time goes on become more and more recognizable - seriously, you're not fooling anyone guys)

So, with no ticket buyers in sight, I ended up staying and attending the show. Which turned out to be a good thing, as Ms. Heap sounded much better than I thought she would, and ended up playing for almost two hours. Naturally, the setlist included most of songs from "Ellipse" (with the exception of "Earth" and "The Fire") and favorites from "Speak For Yourself" such as "Headlock", "Just For Now," and "Hide and Seek."

Like most Imogen Heap shows, sound levels are extreme. This recording tends toward the average sound - I ended up stuck in an less-than-desirable sounding area of the room, so this could have sounded better, but oh well. Crowd got loud between songs (this was the first and seemingly quickest show on the tour to sell out, so there were a lot of fans in the house)

Bat For Lashes 8/31/09 - The Music Box @ The Fonda, Hollywood, CA.

This week, Bat For Lashes (a.k.a Natasha Kahn and company) made their final stop on their current U.S. tour at The Music Box (formally known as the Henry Fonda Theater) When we previously posted about Bat For Lashes earlier this summer, Natasha and a band member performed an acoustic in-store set squeezed in during her previous U.S. jaunt. However, this night's show (continuing a trend of sold-out-ahead of time performances, not unlike June's El Rey show) was a full-band spectacle on the opposite end of the spectrum.

The setlist was a mix of material from both Fur and Gold and the newer Two Suns. Show was somewhat shorter than I would have preferred (kind of like The Raveonettes show from January), and may have benefited from throwing in a cover or (a favorite) "Seal's Jubilee," but one can't really complain. Also, others have said that her live performances don't sound any different from the studio-recorded versions, but I didn't find this to be the case - they sounded far bolder and less restrained on stage.

On another note, I had a bit of a difficult time taping this show (part of it was being a bit unprepared on my part, and another is the venue), so I was worried how this recording would end up sounding. Fortunately, this show came out better than I expected - although, since the Fonda can be a boomy-sounding venue, some of that may be apparent to the listener. Levels were extreme as well (performances ranged from acoustic to loud electronica-flavored levels) so adjust accordingly.

1.) Glass FLAC MP3
2.) Sleep Alone FLAC MP3
3.) Horse and I FLAC MP3
4.) Travelling Woman FLAC MP3
5.) Siren Song FLAC MP3
6.) The Wizard FLAC MP3
7.) Trophy FLAC MP3
8.) Tahiti FLAC MP3
9.) What's A Girl To Do? FLAC MP3
10.) Two Planets FLAC MP3
11.) E: Prescilla FLAC MP3
12.) E: Good Love FLAC MP3
13.) E: Moon and Moon FLAC MP3
14.) E: Pearl's Dream FLAC MP3
15.) E: Daniel FLAC MP3
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The Raveonettes 1/24/09 - The Music Box @ The Fonda, Hollywood, CA.

I first heard of The Raveonettes back in 2002 or '03 when I pick up their "Whip It On" EP on a whim. I remember liking it well enough; however, I suppose it wasn't enough to buy the released-shorty-thereafter full-length "Chain Gang Of Love" (that, plus I had heard someone describe it as "being too commerical" or something) I didn't really listen to them again until a few years later when (again, on a whim) I got the "50's and 60's"- influenced "Pretty In Black."

With that, I finally got to see them live in 2007 at one of the Little Radio Summercamp shows, which precluded the release of their last full-length "Lust Lust Lust." I saw them again last year also at the very hot (literally) Make Music Festival in Pasadena - although briefly, because I had a previous engagement later that evening. Those particular shows from that period are notable because Sharin Foo's sister Louise was filling in for her because Sharin was pregnant at the time. (I didn't get to record this particular show, but a source is floating around online) Also last year, they also released 4 ep's ("Remixed," "Beauty Dies," "Sometimes They Drop By," and a Christmas-themed one)

So, the Fonda show. This was the last of a mini-east and west coast tour, and the last before recording their next album. Show feature Jennifer (from Zaza and ex-The Warlocks) on bass, and Heinsenflei on drums (who is best known from the Los Angeles-based band The Pity Party). Good show, but pretty short (just under an hour), which seems like it was norm for the tour. Like the previously-posted Autolux show from the same venue, I think it sounds pretty good, though I think The Fonda should maybe look into upgrading their sound system.

1.) You Say You Lie FLAC MP3
2.) Dead Sound FLAC MP3
3.) Hallucinations FLAC MP3
4.) Here Comes Mary FLAC MP3
5.) Black Satin FLAC MP3
6.) Noisy Summer FLAC MP3
7.) Black/White FLAC MP3
8.) Love In A Trashcan FLAC mp3
9.) Attack Of The Ghost Riders FLAC MP3
10.) Lust FLAC MP3
11.) My Tornado FLAC MP3
12.) Young And Beautiful FLAC MP3
13.) Twilight FLAC MP3
14.) E: Love Can Destroy Everything* FLAC MP3
15.) E: Aly, Walk With Me FLAC MP3
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*Sune and Sharin only

Autolux 1/17/09 - The Music Box @ The Fonda, Hollywood, CA.

Ah, Autolux. Admittedly, it took some time for me to "click" with this band. More than a couple of years, actually.

I first saw Autolux when they opened for Queens Of The Stone Age/Nine Inch Nails in October 2005. at the Hollywood Bowl. I didn't really give them much of a chance at the time, possibly to due to the heady distraction of QOTSA/NIN and seeing them from front row garden box seats (thanks to good luck on ticketbastard the night before) I ended up seeing them twice again before the year was up, this time opening for QOTSA at The Wiltern on their "infamous" back-to-back pre-Christmas headlining shows. Again, they didn't make much of an impression on me, but I did record them nevertheless (only one came out good)

Awhile later, I did eventually aquire their one and only full length release Future Perfect, and it remained in random rotation for some time before I started to give it more attention. I can't say for sure why and when their music started "clicking", but it was enough for me to specifically seek them out at the MakeMusic Festival in Pasadena last year. There, I finally started seeing how good this band really was (well, it helped that it was a free show, even though it ended up being hotter than hell out there. there is a nice recording of it floating around)

So, we come to this full-length, proper show of theirs at the Fonda recently. It was a good mixture of old and new songs, with a nice cover of The Velvet Underground's "After Hours" thrown in. (and yes, I'm one of those people wondering "where's the second album already?") I think it may even be good enough for a "best of the year" list - well, okay, it may be a little early for that. Wooden Shijps opened for them - not really my cup of tea, I was bored during their set, oh well.

1.) In The Way
FLAC: http://www.mediafire.com/?lyzt5v4xn0z
MP3: http://www.mediafire.com/?zndlywljdyn

2.) Audience No. 2
FLAC: http://www.mediafire.com/?zogmwezy2qf
MP3: http://www.mediafire.com/?xqizytkmomy

3.) Supertoys
FLAC: http://www.mediafire.com/?0knfo2gi2lm
MP3: http://www.mediafire.com/?dznmyy01ttr

4.) Capital Kind Of Strain
FLAC: http://www.mediafire.com/?mfelowtmz3d
MP3: http://www.mediafire.com/?0jmudzun1ya

5.) Here Comes Everybody
FLAC: http://www.mediafire.com/?dmdjd0jorzd
MP3: http://www.mediafire.com/?zwwxnjrym5m

6.) Headless
FLAC: http://www.mediafire.com/?2dmzmdmznti
MP3: http://www.mediafire.com/?nnmitrjzm53 (fixed, should be working now)

7.) Turnstile Blues
FLAC: http://www.mediafire.com/?tjmiyjgyyzx
MP3: http://www.mediafire.com/?yjffmjxxku1

8.) The Science Of Imaginary Solutions
FLAC: http://www.mediafire.com/?adjhnzwdltm
MP3: http://www.mediafire.com/?kmgmyjj0jun

9.) Blanket
FLAC: http://www.mediafire.com/?mnimzzgooyn
MP3: http://www.mediafire.com/?zt2uf2rzmnn

10.) Subzero Fun
FLAC: http://www.mediafire.com/?omqdjzwjctt
MP3: http://www.mediafire.com/?zlkmrfy3fy0

11.) Finder's Fee
FLAC: http://www.mediafire.com/?dywduyzhqjn
MP3: http://www.mediafire.com/?h0m1jyedn4q

12.) SYRH
FLAC: http://www.mediafire.com/?qy34d3zijyj
MP3: http://www.mediafire.com/?zyz2amrmzzz

13.) E: After Hours (The Velvet Underground)
FLAC: http://www.mediafire.com/?d4hjn0yydnm
MP3: http://www.mediafire.com/?m2oojh5zmr2

14.) E: Plantlife
FLAC: http://www.mediafire.com/?lhz0yzdy2ko
MP3: http://www.mediafire.com/?yiyzqu0jyme

15.) E: Reappearing
FLAC: http://www.mediafire.com/?m3mfomjzenz
MP3: http://www.mediafire.com/?gwhyg20hwgd

Text: http://www.mediafire.com/?myrmm40yj2m
MD5: http://www.mediafire.com/?ndtmwync0mz
Fingerprints: http://www.mediafire.com/?dm3k51jionj