April 2025 Spin Challenge – Well, this is puzzling…

Day 17 - Great live performance / recording

Sloan "Alive & Alright" (2023 Murderecords)
Maritimes represent! Sloan was formed in Nova Scotia in 1991. They started during the alternative era, but by keeping true to their almost-Beatles-esque songwriting abilities, were able to distinguish themselves with catchy power-pop hooks. This allowed them to also have a lot of staying power, still releasing excellent records with 13 studio albums to this day. This live set released in 2023 is from a superbly recorded live show that was played in Scarborough on February 4, 2000 while touring their album Between The Bridges. Housed in a beautiful tip-on sleeve, the vinyl is cut at 45rpm and sounds fantastic. Having these songs on vinyl is great since Between The Bridges hasn't yet been processed through Sloan's great reissue series. 🍁

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They ever gonna reissue this…

 
Day 17 - Great live performance / recording

Stone Temple Pilots - Live In New Haven, 1994
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Three of the six RSD titles I picked up this year were live recordings. So I figured I should probably spin one of those. This is a nice show, it’s them playing right after the release of Purple meaning it consisted almost entirely of tracks from their first two albums.
 
Day 17 - Great live performance / recording

Stone Temple Pilots - Live In New Haven, 1994
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Three of the six RSD titles I picked up this year were live recordings. So I figured I should probably spin one of those. This is a nice show, it’s them playing right after the release of Purple meaning it consisted almost entirely of tracks from their first two albums.

We are playing this right now, too!
 
Day 18 - Spin any record by an artist that you have not yet seen live but want to

Badbadnotgood "III" (2014 Innovative Leisure; 2023 reissue)
To paraphrase Ren & Stimpy's Log ads, "they're better than bad, they're good!". The Toronto jazz band was somewhat unique when they hit the scene in 2010 with their jazzified hip-hop tracks. It wasn't just loungy hip-hop as the drums and basslines still hit hard like a hip hop track should. The drummer wearing a pig mask also gave them a bit of a punk attitude, telling everyone this wasn't you're usual jazz band. It was their third album, aptly titled "III", that got them proper recognition, as this one included originals. One of the tracks being selected on Bonobo's LateNightTales (a series in which they would helm a volume in 2017) helped cement this. They've had some great collaborations over the years, including Ghostface Killah, Kaytranada, Samuel T Herring, MF Doom, Mick Jenkins, Kali Uchis and Andy Shauf, among others. Haven't had the opportunity to see them perform yet, but would love to. 🍁

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Day 18 - Spin any record by an artist that you have not yet seen live but want to

Jerry Garcia Band - Don't Let Go: Orpheum Theatre, San Francisco - May 21, 1976
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Sadly, at this point is my only opportunity will be either for AI technology to advance to a place where we can essentially reincarnate past legends, or have John Mayer stand in for Jerry.

…I think I keep waiting on the AI.
 
Day 16 - The Temple of the Dog album is released on April 16, 1991. Spin any supergroup or collaboration, a song that is a tribute to another artist, or any artist who appeared at a tribute concert.

Day 17 - Great live performance / recording

I accidentally deleted the John Prine at Newport pic I took for Day 16. But it's true, that's what I played.

My wife and I still talk about the Decemberists show from last summer. I'll go with this, it's recorded at the same venue that we saw them.

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