Handsome revisited…

Several months ago I did a post about Handsome, undoubtedly one of the greatest bands ever, and that write-up generated by far the most shockingly positive and overwhelming response of anything I've written about thus far. I've received more comments and emails about that single post than damn near any other 10 posts combined! Well, to my dismay I still haven't been able to obtain their alleged unreleased second record (and extremely elusive, if it does exist it must be one of the rarest recordings of all time), and believe me I've got about five or six other people heavily on the hunt as well, but I have recently been supplied with some other excellent rarities from one kind soul who I simply cannot thank enough.

First is an alternate recording of "Dim the Lights" with additional vocal harmonies and guitar melodies, for which no details are available, though this rendition is said to have been tracked after the album version:

Handsome "Dim the Lights" (re-recorded)

Then there's a seven-track live set recorded on June 14, 1997 at the Hultsfred Festival in Sweden, which aired on Swedish radio channel P3. Now, I'm generally not into live recordings at all, and I'm very picky about sound quality, but I have to say, this performance gets my seal of approval 100% in terms of shockingly strong sound, and the fact that there's an unreleased track in the setlist ("Swivel") only makes things all the more desirable! The songs had already been faded at the ends, so it doesn't play through like a true live set or anything, but fuck if I care! I boosted the volume levels to make things sound a little more consistent otherwise:

1. "Needles"
2. "Thrown Away"
3. "Swivel"
4. "Swimming"
5. "Closer"
6. "Lead Bellied"
7. "Going to Panic"

And finally there's the amazing (and very Orange 9mm-esque, which reminds me that I should post about Orange 9mm soon) KRS-One track "Just to Prove a Point", for which Handsome was the backing band. Now, I've never been much of a KRS-One fan per se, but this song is fucking phenomenal, so I'd actually love to have heard him explore more of this style:

KRS-One (with Handsome) "Just to Prove a Point"

Needless to say, if a second, unreleased Handsome record exists then someone, somewhere needs to take measures to ensure that this material receives a proper release of some sort. There is an audience out there that truly loves this band and would voraciously devour any unreleased material that they could get their hands on, and you'd better believe I'm right near the front of that line. If anyone has any other rare tracks from this ingenious and sorely missed outfit, please get in touch. It causes me an immense amount of complete and total rage to imagine what unheard Handsome majesties may exist out there. It is entirely wrong on every level for such brilliance to remain set aside and shrouded in mystery.