Bootleg City by A.B. Elvis


2010-02-15	Ah, Forbidden Fruit...Tasty

Ah yes, the taste, the aroma, the gloriousness of finding something new and the wondering if "gloriousness" even a real word and if it isn't why the hell not? So in the past few month the bootleg world has see some new Beatles. Well, not new, since the Beatles haven't been around for forty some odd years (duh,) but new in the sense of a lollypop. Sweet and tasty. Oh, any not to forget: sticky. Where is this leading? Rockband. No, not the video game, how about the remixes from the video game. You see, to make the Beatles Rockband work, the producers had to go back to the multi-tracks tapes and make mixes where the different instruments are separated out. So when the game is played and you don't hit a note at the right time, nothing plays. Normally during a game this means you suck, but in the case of Beatles Rockband, it means you get to hear a Beatles tune without the guitar, or the bass, or the drums or the vocals. In other words, leave it up to the bootleggers to record all of those isolated tracks separately and go to town like dude with a two for one hooker coupon. New mixes, newly heard instrumentation and BAMM BABY, your two for one coupon just turned into an orgy...free of charge. So lets talk about one in particular release today. The Beatles - Abbey Road - The DVD - Rockband and More. This isn't a remix project per say. What an enterprising bootlegger did was play the game in sort of a test mode that won't kick you out if you suck. The advantage? You get to hear the new remixed version of songs from the album Abbey Road. You get to watch the new animated visuals from the game. You get to hear a butt-load of studio recording of the Beatles yapping and noodling before kicking into a tune. Lastly, you can download it from the web for free instead of having to get you teenage kid to play the game all the way through so you can enjoy the cool new mixes. Sweet...and tasty.
2009-04-30	I'm Living in a Hell Hole

Tap into America dude - Oh ya, we're talking the return of Spinal Tap - again! Unwigged and Unplugged and frickin’ awesome (though you have to say it like that furry dude from BOLT.) Yep, that was my month. Sitting in the tenth row, listening to the boys from Spinal Tap do their unplugged version of some of my favorite songs of all frickin' time (minus a drummer since they couldn't get the insurance to cover one.) Gave me a chub and a half I tell you and dammit I haven't found a bootleg from their tour yet. Kinda pissing me off, but I have faith in the taper community that somebody will come through and when they do - bamm baby!!! Until then, out there in the boot world is an audience recording from Spinal Tap's first tour back in 1984 from Wolfgang's in San Francisco, 8-25, 1984 to be exact. It sounds like shit, it’s got no bottom end, there are some stupid-ass female types talking while the band is playing, and some dude triumphantly announces he has to take a piss right after Tap finishes Hell Hole…but it’s Spinal Tap and fuck it, I’ll just squint my ears, pretend it’s bad AM radio and jam on the air guitar while yelling “I’d like to sink her with my pink torpedo.”
2008-12-31	Oh The Weather Outside Is F@#ked

Ya, I know, it's supposed to be "Frightful", but Christmas is over and this is my time and my words, so I'll just say what I want. Why? 'cause last week I had over a foot of snow to dig out of and we'll just say the snow outside my house is like my Ex. Totally hot to look at, but once you're in it, you're fucked. Massive mounds that are so inviting and once you're between them, you're fucked. Just a gorgeous covered landscape with all the curves in the right places and once you hit one of them you're fucked. Beautiful textured sprawl laid out in front of you, that once you dive into, you're fucked. Could I go on? Sure, but really I look at the snow like the old HR Pufnstuf TV show. I hear that music "Come and Play With Me" and want to go play, only to know that when I get out there, some lightning bolt is gonna hit my ass and I'm fucked. So what did I do while inside? Why download some new bootlegs. What else. New to the stack was a kick ass Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros, boot from August 21, 1999, Germany Calling. Sure the sound is a bit sterile, since it's a soundboard, but Joe sounds mint and it's a great 11 tune set and it made the "stuck in the house" time suck less. As for the snow, well I really I love the snow, love driving in it and love tubing, sledding and pretty much everything about it. So why am I peeved? Well I could't find my damn snow shovel so I'm projecting and really, what's wrong with getting fucked?
2008-03-29	Knee Deep in the Muck of Spring Cleaning

Well, back to the CD organization. What I don't understand is that I can be really organized in life and work, but in my house I have two rooms that are just shitholes (holes full of shit.) One's so deep I have to do a hop skip and jump to get to my drum set. I was on vacation this week (yes, I will need a vacation from this frickin' vacation) and I did sell a bunch of crap on eBay and fill yet another box of donations, but I'm not seeing the dent. It's like that zit you get that's really annoying, but you just can't pop it as it's really deep under the skin just fuckin' with you. Okay maybe that's never happened to some of you, so maybe it's like one of your friends up-chucking in the back seat of your Benz. Okay it's really nothing like that, but I was trying to be inclusive and I digress. Shithole. Do I really need to keep my Wii box? Do I really need to save magazines to bring to work? Do I really need to keep that Meatloaf laser disc? Is there really a reason to keep Grand Theft Auto SA for a stupid Hot Coffee soft core cartoon porn scene? Do I honestly think my REO Speedwagon albums will be collectors items? What do I intend to do with my set of rubber ducks dressed up like the Village People? Will I ever get a chance to find my 6 CD set of Material Issues rarities and if so how many versions of Valerie or Kim the Waitress is there gonna be on them? Shithole...dammit, but those ducks are so cute....

If you email A.B., he'll read it.

abelvis@spudgoodman.com