[click above for album artwork]
Ahh, the b-side, the demo, and the shitty live cover: like the bastard cousins of the album tracks, these tracks are typically cast off from albums, destined to graze on the fields of some crappy zine compilation or to soften the edges of a radio single. Typically b-sides fail to branch out to a wider audience (or even the sexy confines of an iTunes library) but for some people–those who simply must own everything ever recorded by a given artist even if it sucks–every song in an artist’s portfolio, both good and bad, is an expression of said artist and said artist’s creativity/personality/childhood/internal development/whatever.
Nathaniel and I are two of the latter, “those people,” only we’re not merely raping a band’s back-catalogue…we also love to know (and exploit) a band’s limits. Even bands like Radiohead and The Arcade Fire have created songs, including b-sides, covers, demos, and live performances, that simply suck no matter how you spin it. In other more simple and vulgar terms, everybody poops…and everybody’s poop stinks. So, without further ado, here’s a collection of b-sides, rare tracks, live covers, and other demos covering extremes both excellent and horrifying from a few of our favorite artists. The Ones That Got Away:
When Funeral came out of the clouds and landed in our laps, it seemed to have come from some magical, other-worldy place, its music not the result of man and machine, but as if it were forged in the flames of youthful exuberance, passion, and sorrow alike. But later in that same year, once the band’s popularity has sufficiently skyrocketed, there came a collection of demos reportedly recorded between the years 2000-2002 under the fan-given title Summer 2000 Demos, a group of songs that made us all think twice of our newfound messiahs of indie rock. It became abundantly clear that no, Win and his fellow bandmates were not as chariots, channeling the ideals and frustrations of a new generation, but mere mortals who, akin to alchemists, patiently learned to turn lead into gold. “In The Attic” is definitely the best song on the bootleg, while “Accidents” leaves us a lot to desire.
[MP3] The Arcade Fire – In The Attic
[MP3] The Arcade Fire – Accidents
Official Site | MySpace Site | More MP3s | Buy Neon Bible
Of all the bands of the new wave/post-punk genre that have emerged in the last 7 years or so, Bloc Party stands with a select few that has proven their tremendous durability and longevity in the face of disappointment and criticism. After releasing A Weekend In The City, their highly-anticipated follow up to 2005’s Silent Alarm, the band also released an extra 11-or-so tracks from the same recording sessions, allowing many of those let down by the album to rock out to a collection of songs more closely linked to the style of its predecessor. Even before Silent Alarm, however, Bloc Party released the single for “Little Thoughts” which also contained the b-side “Storm & Stress.” I’m usually a fan of Kele’s vocals, but I think it’s safe to say he’s come a long way.
[MP3] Bloc Party – The Once And Future King
[MP3] Bloc Party – Storm & Stress
Official Site | MySpace Site | More MP3s | Buy A Weekend In The City
I’ve always been a huge fan of The White Stripes and there really isn’t much they can’t do, in my opinion. Of course the drumming could be better and the guitars cleaner, but then they wouldn’t be the band we know and love. The roughness, the variety, the energy…it’s all necessary for their talent and success. “Hand Springs” was actually one of the first songs of theirs that I’d ever heard, an unusual partially spoken-word rock ballad about a boy’s jealousy and frustration at a bowling alley. Recently, Jack was asked to produce a song for a Coca Cola commercial and the result was actually very impressive: an equally unusual throwback to the days of acid-induced mindtrips and The Beatles‘ opus Sgt. Pepper’s.
[MP3] The White Stripes – Hand Springs
[MP3] The White Stripes – What Goes Around (Coke Ad)
Official Site | MySpace Site | More MP3s | Buy Get Behind Me Satan!
Believe it or not, there was a time when Radiohead could do wrong…it’s called Pablo Honey (kidding!). A couple of months ago I attempted to get my hands on every Radiohead b-side and demo that I could find under the flawed reasoning that a Radiohead b-side’s still gotta be better than most bands’ a-sides. I was sorely mistaken. While some songs, like the gorgeously intimate “Fog (Again),” beg me to wonder why they hadn’t been included on the band’s albums, other songs (particularly those from Radiohead’s early days) just about make me laugh out loud at their shallowness and simplicity, like “Pop Is Dead,” for example…a song that attempts to tell us all what Yorke’s generally complex lyrics typically beg us to feel.
[MP3] Radiohead – Fog (Again)
[MP3] Radiohead – Pop Is Dead
Official Site | MySpace Site | More MP3s | Buy Thom Yorke’s The Eraser
The Boy Least Likely To was a surprise favorite for me back in 2005, an interest that I later invested into other indie-pop bands like Islands and Oh No! Oh My!. Around Christmas time of the same year, I was feeling an itch for some new songs and they just so happened to provide a present for their internerd fans, “Little Donkey,” for free from their website. What would have been a jolly experience turned into a major letdown…the song’s just not that good. In mid-2006 the band released a new single for “Hugging My Grudge” with “Rock Upon A Porch With You” as the b-side, a track that in this listener’s mind even trumps the single itself.
[MP3] The Boy Least Likely To – Little Donkey
[MP3] The Boy Least Likely To – Rock Upon A Porch With You
Official Site | MySpace Site | More MP3s | Buy The Best Party Ever
In the four and a half years since Elliott Smith’s untimely and tragic demise, many demos and unreleased tracks have made their way into the hands of his fans, including bootlegs from the Either/Or, Figure 8, and FABOTH sessions, respectively, opening up potentially 2 or 3 albums worth of music to anyone that wans it. While, of course, some of the songs deserved to be left off his albums (like the rough ‘n rocking “Splitsville” below), many are demonstrative of Elliott’s overwhelming output of creativity and talent, particularly those left off his final, posthumous album From A Basement On A Hill. “New Disaster” is one of the latter, a beautifully subtle and dark lamentation that ironically sounds as if it were a message from beyond the grave.
[MP3] Elliott Smith – New Disaster
[MP3] Elliott Smith – Splitsville
Official Site | MySpace Site | More MP3s | Buy Merch
