Life of Live - James

I am beginning to struggle now to remember which  tour is which as the James concerts start to come thick and fast.

i think this one was a pre tour to Whiplash. I remember that Tim Booth mentioned when they played a number of new songs (that would later feature on the lp) that Brian Eno was in the audience to give the new songs a listen before the recording process started. We all came away convinced the new lp would be a killer. Which shows how things can change in recording as although it has some killer songs, overall I think it is their weakest lp to date. There was a bit of a flirtation with techno and overall the lp had a much more electronic feel.

Reading Stuart Maconies excellent history of the band , it does seem that recording was a bit fraught, with one or two band members fighting hard to keep the band together and getting the LP made through a shear force of will  

I've not posted any tracks form the LP s I'll do that when I cover the tour that followed its release. Instead here are 3 b sides from the time

Van Gogh's Dog feels like the seed of one of those pretty tunes that Jame usually finish lps with

Chunney Chops built around a repeating riff feels like something born from a jam

Gone to Far follows a manic electronic rhythm