12 live tracks from 3 different shows. Enjoy!
Moss Icon Live
The first 5 tracks were recorded live in Annaplois in March of 1988. I had these tracks on a cassette that a friend had made for me back in the mid '90s, and just recently got around to converting the tape to mp3s. This is a rare set, and probably one of the earliest live recordings of this band you're likely to find.
Tracks 6-10 is a set from '91 that i recently found online, and a great contrast from the band's late '80s hardcore sound to the more subdued and "emo" sound they developed into the early '90s.
The last 2 tracks are from side 2 of the "It Disappears" LP, recorded live sometime between 1990-1991, and released on Vermin Scum Records in 1994. The last track, "It Disappears" is announced as "The Life" for some reason. But those are certainly 2 different songs.
original lineup:
Jonathan Vance - vocals
Tonie Joy - guitar
Monica DiGialleonardo - bass
Mark Laurence - drums
Tonie Joy also played in bands Universal Order of Armageddon, Born Against, Lava, The Great Unraveling, and The Convocation Of...
been enjoying the blog but never commented...thanks so much for all the posts and this one especially...you rule!
ReplyDeleteThe early live set is awesome. Thanks for this.
ReplyDeleteI've got a studio version of that "It's taking it's time" song, I can upload if you don't have it.
Chris, that would be great. Where is the studio version from? Are their more songs from that session? Yeah, that early live set is great, i just wish it were longer. I doubt it's the full set.
ReplyDeletestr8ev, thanks for the compliment.
Vin
It's from a cdr ripped from a tape that also has all the songs from the silver bearing split, the memorial 7", sioux day and the 7" version of the life. The song is from the same session as those later recordings.
ReplyDeleteThere wasn't much info with the cdr, but I remember seeing someone on ebay selling a cassette on vermin scum called "Memorial" and i'm fairly sure it's that.
I can upload the song later, do you have a preferred format? I can do it lossless if you want.
Great job, i really enjoy the effort you put in every post. That and your taste in good music makes your blog really special.
ReplyDeleteAnd it shows that rare stuff can be quite interesting and not just ... "be rare".
Thanks for not boring me
gh
Chris, it turns out i have that exact CDR. Mine's labeled "1991 Demo", but it has all those tracks. Mine has no track-list, but the song is on there. Thanks anyway.
ReplyDeletegh, thanks man.
ive been looking for this for close to a decade. thank you.
ReplyDeleteI would only like to add that I think that "It's Taking its Time" is actually considered to be part of Lyburnum Wit's End as opposed to a seperate song. It makes much more sense listening to it as a whole song...and I'm not sure that they ever recorded it in the studio.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the upload though!
Also, the reason Jon introduces "it Disappears" as "the Life" is because they've simply spliced in an earlier monologue he gave at the same show (Crofton VFH) because it was so good. In fact, at that same show he reads some poetry that is pretty cool. I used to have the whole show on tape but the gremlins took it...
ReplyDeleteagain wonder of your posts, how good they are. i never knew, there were so many of MI's live records, and listened only to those from It Disappears LP(and the same titled song is one of their greatest, in my opinion, btw - is there a studio version of it?).
ReplyDeleteand, bob, it's too bad, that you lost that tape, too bad.. i wish i hear it
Gaddang, I can't believe I missed this post. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteAlso, that spambot above me has pretty good taste!
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ReplyDeleteI'm fairly certain that songs 6-10 are from a show I recorded at the Safari Club in DC in 1991. I can't remember who was headlining, Hated or Moss Icon. I used 2 mics to a Tascam 4 track. I lent the original tape to a friend about 20 years ago, and never heard back. I think there were a few more songs played that night. The sound was very crisp, it was a good sound in there, but the Hated's was very muddy. Great to find these songs again, and that you've converted them digitally. This was always my favorite recording of some of those songs, especially "It's Taking It's Time" - a beautiful composition.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the venue name / supporting act / recording info, Matthew - thank you as well for taking the time to record and preserve the show in the first place. I used to have a full copy of the show; sadly, my entire collection of live/demo/rare recordings was lost a few years ago, or I'd gladly share it with you.
ReplyDeleteI initially acquired this particular recording after it was uploaded (as FLAC files) to the bootleg-only torrent tracker DimeADozen, at some point between mid-2012 and early 2013 if I'm remembering right. I believe it was shared with the venue and exact date unknown, labeled simply as having been recorded in the D.C. area in 1991, which makes me suspect it is indeed your recording. The full recording had around 8-9 songs, including absolutely incredible takes on "Kick the Can", "The Life", and most notably a version of "It Disappears" that blew away the released version (not an easy feat).
The same person also posted several more Moss Icon live sets - I believe one was a slightly longer version of the Annapolis set that opens B&Q's live compilation here, with one or two additional songs. One was a longer excerpt of the Crofton Fire Hall show, from which "I'm Back" and "It Disappears" (on the It Disappears 12") are culled; I think it was only around 6 songs long, so probably not the full set. Finally, there was a brief set (or excerpt of a longer one) that I believe was from 1990/91/92, also around 5 songs long, which included an otherwise totally unknown tune called "Home of the Brave Song" which was really quite amazing. I have a vague recollection of the notes attached to this last set explaining that it was part of a multi-band benefit affair along the lines of the Positive Force shows of the day.
I would love to reacquire these special recordings for obvious reasons. They have not been reposted to DimeADozen to my knowledge, but the fact that they were initially distributed there is encouraging - after all, these are digital files that dozens of people downloaded only a few years ago, not a single copy of an analog tape slowly degrading in someone's garage. Hopefully the limited information I detailed above will encourage others to seek these recordings out and/or make them accessible to other fans of this unique and wonderful band. If anyone who has copies of one or more of these M.I. shows (or any others) sees this message, I'd be extremely appreciative if you could get in touch with me at:
theclassicrremains｟ᴬᵀ｠ɢᴍᴀɪʟ｟ᴰᴼᵀ｠ᴄᴏᴍ
(replace the latter part of the address with @gmail.com - this is to avoid my address being harvested & spammed.)