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The 35 Minutes That Sum It Up Best: Motivational Karaoke, "Spring Training Eve"

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Today while driving around South Austin, my iPod bringed me a blast from me past.  A 35-minute segment of Motivational Karoke, the WESN radio show that Chris Golwitzer and I painstakingly crafted from 2002-2005.  It wunt crafted.  It wunt no pain. Part 5 of "SPRING TRAINING EVE (2/22/04) just seemed to sum up what we were about. It starts with an interview with Ted Leo after he blew out his voice in Champaign and I finished the singing for him.  That ends with a clip of Babe Ruth with a fake swear word beeped in. We played Ted Leo quite a bit. A new song that's old now. A lengthy, lie-riddled microphone break, back-selling a lot of things that we used to play.  A tongue lashing of the DJs on before us. An explanation of what Google is and how to spell it, followed by the futile spelling of our very long impossible find website. We were doing Dream Warriorisms then because we were on from 12-2am at that time.  We went retro and pulled out...
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SLUMFEST '05

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Slumfest '05.  Slumfest was Dudestalk, but in the Fall and for the die-hards.  It was cold. (Courtest of Dylan Stanford/FlyTV) That's what Dudestalk '04 was for reference. There are certain staples of Dudestalk/Slumfest. 1.  Resinators 2.  Demolition Derby 3.  blacking out. You can usually count on some Indiana punk bands trying to move to a better slot in the lineup so they can get out before their IQ goes up. Legendary Lexington producer, Bill Spectre, records the madness.  I came across a few CDs from the evening of 10/22/05.  I not only have the RESINATORS set, but I have HANDSOME MICK ONE-MAN-BAND opening for them.  Not only do I have DEMOLITION DERBY, I also have DEMOLITION DERBY... the 2nd set. With no further ado... Choose your own adventure. HANDSOME MICK ONE-MAN-BAND! RESINATORS! DEMOLITION DERBY A! DEMOLITION DERBY B! Click to do damage.
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Rock Turkey Finished. Super88 and Burning Sensation.

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My studio fell victim to mold.  I ripped up the carpet, cut into the wall... fixed it... learned how to patch drywall... putting it back together now, but I revisited, in my makeshift studio... Thanksgiving and the Rock Turkey series. The previously posted GOLDEN FLEECE recording came strait from the board.  They were well balanced in the mix and were easy to work with. The BURNING SENSATION set here was pretty balanced.  The main objective of this project is to salvage, restore and enhance non-ideal recordings.  They came out pretty well. The SUPER88 set is a little different.  I had a board recording, totally whack because our amps were apparently really loud, especially the bass, which isn't even involved in the board mix.  I also have an MP3 room recording that Chris Anderson captured with his field recorder. Combining the two was a bitch the first time around.  The timing just didn't match up and attempts to change the length of one to mat...
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LOS DESPEINADOS! Who?

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Songs by Mario Guzman and his guitar.  Nick Hagen on bass, Phil Stern on drums.  I think that was it.  Steve Bullwinkel's 8-track reel-to-reel machine and mixer.  Spent the first 5 hours trying to figure it out.  Turned out a couple channels didn't work and the heads were very dirty.  We were in Phil's mom's basement.  She was out of town and we went late.  A posse came looking for Steve. Tony SanFilippo mixed this in his studio, I believe.  I wasn't involved in that.  He did a great mix.  I just cranked it.  Made it look mean. TRACK 1 TRACK 2 TRACK 3 TRACK 4 TRACK 5 I would buy that EP.
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Rock Turkey '15 Recap #1: Golden Fleece.

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These guys was good.  I was troubleshooting my recording setup during the first half of their set, but I got 16 good minutes.  Mastered it real quick in my mother's living room before I drove back to Texas.  This board mix worked pretty well, thanks in part to the band's excellent balance with the stage volume.  Brandon O. did the rest with knobs, faders and a lot of help getting it from the board to my thing.  The stage manager in me salutes you! Download it, listen to it, see them tonight! Golden Fleece ROCK TURKEY '15 at Peoria Pizza Works.MP3
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Super88 Remasters for the Big Thanksgiving Reunion.

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In 2003, maybe 2002, Super88 rolled into Lisa Falzone studios, in Joel Madigan's basement.  We cut 5 songs.  I was still pretty new to the band.  I think we had Joel remix it 2 or 3 times, before he did himself a favor and erased the masters.  I found an unmastered mix recently going through moldy boxes of CDs.  The disc unfortunately had some glitches in the audio that couldn't be fixed, but I went ahead anyway. Download the album ZIP file Listen to it WHOLE Sometime after that we recorded again in Dave Moe's basement studio, I think.  It was a hazy crazy time and PBR was running the show.  This collection was mixed pretty loud.  I'm not sure if I did anything to it already, but it sounded pretty dry.  I just mastered it.  Big and loud.  I like it. Download the 2003 or 2004 Dave Moe Mix (aka "The White Album") .ZIP Listen to it as it was intended.mp3
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2 Nights of Madness, with ArsoNick Scum.

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Dates are getting hazy.  By dates, I mean remember what year something happened.  I think this happened in 1998 or 1999.  I was living in a house with 3 other people on Oak St. in Normal. Keith Harrell had a CD of sound effects and I used it over night to make this ridiculous collection of madness.  "PSYCHOSIS!"  The longer tracks with the madnessy songs weren't made that night, but around that time.  Keith recently sent me these MP3s.  He likely has the only surviving copy of that very short run cassette.  He and I may have had the only two. I don't know what to tell you.  You have to download a ZIP file on this one.  I'll put one up for a sample, and then you're on your own. ArsoNick Scum - PSYCHOSIS!.ZIP Listen to "A NO GOOD BUM." Night of Madness #2 took place while I was living in Dimmitt's Grove in Bloomington.  This was 1999, definitely after the first night of madness.  One of my roommates was Matt Pulford, ow...
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Just Download the Damn Album As a Whole.

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Coldcock Jones - "2-Minute Warnings: The Gospels of Moderation" I worked countless hours making this album sound perfect.   I would really appreciate it if you would appreciate it. It’s hard not being appreciated. This is one of those annoying concept albums that is better as a whole.
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Super88 Trilogy Finale: Part III: Section B; Super88 at The Beat Kitchen (Chicago) Feb. 25, 2012.

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What I remember most was having a nasty sinus headache and being doped up on pseudo-ephedrine.  Sounds pretty fun, though.  I think someone with the Sleepers recorded this with a field recorder.  My Super88 live recording reclamation project has led me to believe that MP3s are better for ipods than mixing/mastering software.  I knew that, but I had to see what would happen. We were in better shape for this one that the Sweethearts dance.  The much shorter set exposed less of our windedness.  We pulled it together a few times for some magical moments. Super88 @ The Beat Kitchen Click n' Listen.  Download.  I dare you.
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Super88 Trilogy Part 3: Section A. 2012 Sweethearts Dance & Reunion @Peoria Pizza Works.

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About 10 days before I left Chicago for Austin, we played a couple reunion shows, starting with this one, then in Chicago at the Beat Kitchen, reunionizing with friends, THE SLEEPERS , and IROCK Z . Reunion is kind of a funny term for this.  Various Super88 reunions of various lineups tend to happen once or twice a year.  And they should.  Around Thanksgiving works for me. I'm not sure how this was recorded.  I just made it sound a little clearer and a lot louder. The orginal MP3 posted here has now been replaced.  I rushed it, posted it, then listened to it on the way to work and almost puked.  The only copy of this show I had to work with was an MP3 recorded on a field recorder.  I really just magnified the sizzly garble residing in the high end of an MP3.  Its not awesome now, but the more I listen to this, the more it sounds done. Listen/Download the UPDATED Sweethearts Magic!
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Super88 vol. 2: One Month Later - Halloween @ One World Coffee.

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This was "high energy."  We never played a tight show.  Never had consistent, balanced gear and never had the right amount of alcohol.  We had the right time and place this time.  We were 26-30, so close to knowing better. Someone recorded this from the back of the room on a digital recorder.  I salvaged it from an MP3 file, which means "don't over think it." http://www.mediafire.com/listen/z8ku39s4jdulhwd ... listen & learn.
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