"Barenaked Recess" rears it's head...

[TheHYPO]

I say this with quite a bit of skepticism, so bear that in mind, but it APPEARS that the "lost" Barenaked Ladies cassette, "Barenaked Recess" has finally made an appearance from the grave.

The "legend" (don't ask me for a source on it, it's well before my time) goes that BNL recorded yet another demo tape before Tyler joined the band (pre-summer '90) but [if this is truely the tape], seemingly with Andy still around. The tape far exceeded the number of songs of the Pink Tape (I don't know for a fact if it pre- or post-dates the Pink Tape) and contained the first-recordings (and only-recordings) for a couple songs. There is no known reason the tape was dumped, and reports have it that of the appx. 6 copies that ever existed, some or all were in a shoebox under Ed's bed (which sounds more figurative than literal)

For more info, see:
http://www.rockitoldschool.com/faq2.html

As I said, I'm skeptical as to the authenticity, though I don't have proof either way. I'll outline the pros and cons in a reply in a minute, but here's torrent access to it for those that want to see for themselves:

NOTE: This site sometimes has skantilly clad men or women in adverts, so beware where you open it:
http://isohunt.com/torrent_details/160348641/barenaked?tab=summary

A direct link to the torrent itself: http://isohunt.com/download/160348641/barenaked.torrent

The torrent is from demonoid, but I wasn't sure if you had to be a member of demonoid to download it from there.

More to come in reply...

[McGerkey]

Yeah, I just saw it posted in What today.

Listening now. Sounds pretty legit.

[TheHYPO]

Facts about this release and the tape in general (pros and cons to authenticity):

Recess is alledged to have been recorded before they met Tyler (pre-summer '90).This release features no drums other than some conga or something conga-like, which would more likely be Andy than Tyler.
This release matches a tracklist I have seen before.
At least some of the songs (and I would say all of them) "sound" [basement] studio - calm, some with enough outro to clearly not be applauds cut off at the end, and clear even vocals.
The biggest question mark for me is that Blame It On Me is CLEARLY identical to the Pink tape recording that has been released by two independant rippers. However, since the pink tape was scrapped, it is POSSIBLE that the recording for either Recess or Pink Tape (whichever came first) was used on the other; none of the other four Pink Tape songs are on recess, which means I can't compare any others. I can't notice any major sound difference between Blame It On Me and the other songs on either tape that would suggest Blame it on Me was recorded separately from the rest of the songs on which tape came later.
There is no other studio recording of Skinhead that I know of. This recording sounds awfuly studio-y, so that supports it being from Recess
However, I have long had a copy of skinhead in 128kbps (with even worse compression and sound than 128 would suggest, but no noticable tape hiss) that alledged to be from Recess, but does not match this release. BUT, I will add the caveat that I'm only noticing now very faint sounds of what must be a drum kit (snares and cymbal crashes every once in a while) which would mean that Tyler was there and this file is less likely from recess. It isn't clear where else that file cold come from. The very beginning is cut off and the file cuts off right after the song, so it could be a disguised live recording... Doesn't match any other live recording I have of the song.
There is also no other studio recording that I know of for Material Girl, and the only one of When Doves Cry is clearly different (has drums, is much later)
I would feel more comfortable with at least SOME info on lineage and where this rip came from and how the ripper got ahold of this tape. [Edit: he commented simply that "he's had it a while"


So there are a bunch of question marks, but no specific reason to doubt it from me... A lost relic of barenakeddom may have just been uncovered...

[TheHYPO]

Yeah, I just saw it posted in What today.

Listening now. Sounds pretty legit.

What is the other place I saw it, except with someone who has no idea what they are talking about posting it there, it's listed as 1991 and 192kbps, both of which are false. Just someone trying to cash in on a quick upload credit.

[AnotherHeartbreak]

WOW, Im shocked it was leaked! Sounds good.

[swiss lady]

Thanks a lot Allan!
For finding and sharing this, and all your info.

[bayouBNL]

Thanks for the find! Certainly can't hurt to take a listen, huh? :D

[Bruno]

Thanks, this is on my list right now. Are there similar torrents for the other Barenaked Ladies tapes?

[AnotherHeartbreak]

I put it in my iTunes. I'm a big time neat freak, and in order to be neat it needed to have artwork lol. Since it hasn't been revealed, I just made this lol: http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m196/DanLedoux/BARENAKEDRECESS.gif

[AnotherHeartbreak]

Wow I'm really in love with "Material Girl" and "When Doves Cry". I wish they were recorded for an official album.

[IWakeUpStrange]

Would it be possible for someone who downloaded it from the torrent site to upload the files to a file-sharing site (megaupload or the like)? My university throttles all torrent downloads and I'm obviously very curious to hear it.

:) elise

[AnotherHeartbreak]

Of course, here: http://www.mediafire.com/?wzjxmytymz2

[IWakeUpStrange]

Thank you so much!

:) elise

[AnotherHeartbreak]

No problem, enjoy :)

[jeannie76]

Thanks for posting that link AH! Can't wait to get a listen!

[barenakedboy]

This is huge if this is it! HUGE!!

[IWakeUpStrange]

I've listened to the recordings a few times, and compared a few of the songs to the earliest live recordings I have (from 1989-1990) and I don't think any of them are live recordings. The quality is much better, the sound is different, and, quite frankly, I don't think that there are that many early live recordings floating around out there that bootleg recordings of this quality wouldn't have been stumbled upon. I do agree with Alan -- that version of "Blame It On Me" is the same as the one from "The Pink Tape." Although the sound quality is much better than the "Pink Tape" recordings I have.

I think this may actually be the real deal. What I'd like to know is how it got out. I didn't think it was ever distributed to anyone outside of the band, other than maybe some family and close friends.

Curiouser and curiouser...

:confused: elise

[wildy]

I'm a bit leary about the .torrent software. Anyone out there who grabbed Barenaked Recess willing to send me the files directly? wildysworld@gmail.com is the address. Thanks!

Wildy

[IWakeUpStrange]

You can download it from the MediaFire link AnotherHeartbreak posted. That's not a torrent, just a .zip file.

http://www.mediafire.com/?wzjxmytymz2

:) elise

[TheHYPO]

I've listened to the recordings a few times, and compared a few of the songs to the earliest live recordings I have (from 1989-1990) and I don't think any of them are live recordings. The quality is much better, the sound is different, and, quite frankly, I don't think that there are that many early live recordings floating around out there that bootleg recordings of this quality wouldn't have been stumbled upon. I do agree with Alan -- that version of "Blame It On Me" is the same as the one from "The Pink Tape." Although the sound quality is much better than the "Pink Tape" recordings I have.

I think this may actually be the real deal. What I'd like to know is how it got out. I didn't think it was ever distributed to anyone outside of the band, other than maybe some family and close friends.

Curiouser and curiouser...

:confused: elise

The ripper claims it to be from "a friend of a friend" and a 2nd generation copy. Nothing more than that to tell right now... It's almost 100% "Studio" (read: Steve's basement) - it's not manic like they were live back then (esp. Steve's vocals) tho I have one or two live soundboard boots from that era which sound fairly audiencefree (no audience mics), this is still cleaner.

Compared to the skinhead copy I already had, this is far more calm vocally. The songs are pitch-wise quite uneven. Somer are 20 cents flat (20% of a note), some are 40 cents flat, Brian wilson is pretty perfect, and one or two are actually a bit sharp. We know pink tape was mastered wrong, so recess could have also had pitch issues, or the ripper could have compensated wrong. The hiss on different tracks seems a bit different, so it's hard to tell if the ripper ripped one track at a time, which could contribute to pitch issues... very hard to say without any known legit copies of this tape around.

[Cerulean]

Okay, this is funny....

I just discovered this forum this morning because I've had a copy of this tape sitting around in my bedroom closet for years, but never knew what it was called. I went to the same school as Steve and Ed throughout the '80s, and got a tape-to-tape copy of this shortly after it was recorded, along with the other two demo cassettes.

I had some time off today, so I thought I'd convert all of my old tapes to digital format before tape decks disappear altogether, but it always kinda bugged me that I never knew the title of this one. So I did some Googling, and ended up here.

I knew this tape was rare, but I had no idea that this was a "long lost album" that BNL fans had been searching for for years, or that it had recently been leaked onto Bit Torrent and that this was a big deal (as much as I supported the band while in high school, I haven't followed them closely since around Gordon). When I first heard it way back then, I remember being blown away by Brian Wilson, in particular. I'd always assumed that it got released eventually.

Anyway, to answer some questions, I compared my copy to the torrent version and can confirm that yes, it is absolutely, positively, 100% legit. It is not a live show or anything else. It is indeed a home studio recording that was recorded between Barenaked Lunch and the Yellow Cassette. Andy plays percussion and Tyler didn't exist yet.

The one difference is that my copy doesn't have Blame it on Me. Seeing as the version in the torrent is identical to the Barenaked Lunch version, I'm pretty certain that Blame it on Me is not part of Barenaked Recess. It probably just ended up on the friend of a friend's bootleg tape at some point.

For the record, my copy isn't an official original, but a 1st or 2nd generation copy thereof. I can't really comment on other aspects of the "legend", such as whether there are indeed six original cassettes, or whose shoebox, if any, they are currently in. But I guess you're lucky that that other guy put it online; though I think Barenaked Recess deserves to be heard (Skinhead is a pretty good song for something that never got released, ever), out of respect for the band, I would never have put my copy online without their permission. And since I'm not in touch with them anymore, I never would have bothered asking.

I'm just happy that I finally found out what it was called. :)