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recommended boston area events

thursday, september 2nd

lou barlow + the missingmen

wye oak

the unfamiliars

@ the middle east upstairs


saturday, september 4th

mg lederman (ex-victory at sea)

cd release show with

the wrong reasons

the beat awfuls

brant deatley

@ the plough & stars


sunday, september 5th

sweet apple

(w/j mascis on drums)

black helicopter

zombie radio

@ the middle east downstairs


sunday, september 5th

the milling gowns

what time is it, mr. fox?

faux ox

jaggery

@ harper's ferry


monday, september 6th

wallcreeper

@ charlie's kitchen


monday, september 6th

shellac

helen money

@ the middle east downstairs


tuesday, september 7th

tortoise

greg davis

ben vidas

@ the paradise


tuesday, september 7th

someone still loves you boris yeltsin

telekinesis

golden bloom

@ tt the bears


tuesday, september 7th

kele (from bloc party)

does it offend you, yeah?

@ the royale boston


wednesday, september 8th

hot hot heat

22-20s

hey rosetta!

@ the middle east downstairs


wednesday, september 8th

airborne toxic event (acoustic)

with the calder string quartet

@ the somerville theatre


thursday, september 9th

apple betty

this blue heaven

the backup factor

apollo run

@ tt the bears


friday, september 10th

i, pistol

black fortress of opium

the crushing low

@ precinct


friday, september 10th

the charlatans uk

sherlock's daughter

@ the royale boston


saturday, september 11th

school of seven bells

active child

@ the middle east downstairs


saturday, september 11th

neutral uke hotel (nmh covers on ukelele)

the michael j. epstein memorial library

@ cafe 939, berklee


saturday, september 11th

28 degrees taurus

magic shoppe (record release!)

@ the rosebud


saturday, september 11th

jamie lidell

@ the royale boston


friday + saturday

september 11th + 12th

the life is good festival

lots of bands, raising money for kids

over 2 days in canton, ma


sunday, september 12th

jarrod gorbel

(of the honorary title)

air traffic controller

@ great scott


sunday, september 12th

blondie

@ the house of blues


sunday, september 12th

vampire weekend

beach house

dum dum girls

@ the boa pavilion


monday, september 13th

dirty projectors

owen pallett (final fantasy)

@ the wilbur theatre


monday, september 13th

isobel campbell

mark lanegan

willy mason

@ the middle east downstairs


tuesday, september 14th

rush

@ the td garden


wednesday, september 15th

laura veirs + the hall of flames

the watson twins

led to sea

@ tt the bears


thursday, september 16th

of montreal

janelle monae

@ the house of blues boston


friday, september 17th

one happy island

kevin dunn

cotton candy

7:30pm @ the lily pad, cambridge


friday, september 17th

broken social scene

@ the house of blues


friday & saturday

september 17th & 18th

the 5th annual

viva la vinal festival!

with live performances from

audrey ryan, kingsley flood,

this blue heaven, bridget + the squares,

the international string trio, & justin shorey

6-10pm on friday + 12-9 on saturday

@ somerville community growing center

on vinal ave. in somerville's union square


saturday, september 18th

pavement

jenny (lewis) + johnny (rice)

@ agganis arena


saturday, september 18th

wavves

@ brandeis university, waltham


sunday, september 19th

thee oh sees

the human tail

thick shakes

@ the magic room gallery, brighton


sunday, september 19th

caribou

holy fuck

emeralds

@ the paradise


monday, september 20th

girlfriends

carnivores

weekend dads

@ o'brien's


tuesday, september 21st

superchunk

versus

@ royale boston


tuesday, september 21st

basia bulat

the acorn

john shade

@ tt the bears


tuesday, september 21st

sea wolf (alex acoustic)

sera cahoone

patrick park

@ the middle east upstairs


wednesday, september 22nd

phantogram

railbird

@ the paradise


wednesday, september 22nd

david bazan

the mynabirds

@ tt the bears


wednesday, september 22nd

field music

@ great scott


thursday, september 23rd

aloud (album release party!)

st. claire

old jack

with special emcee

poet/author james caroline

@ church of boston


thursday, september 23rd

stars

wild nothing

@ the house of blues


thursday, september 23rd

!!! (chk chk chk)

fol chen

@ the royale boston


thursday, september 23rd

bettie serveert

meandjoancollins

the painted lights

@ tt the bears


friday, september 24th

eels

@ the royale boston


saturday, september 25th

teenage fanclub

@ the royale boston


saturday, september 25th

james

ed harcourt

@ the paradise


sunday, september 26th

come (reunited!)

wussy

@ tt the bears


sunday, september 26th

mr. sister (debut album release!)

coyote kolb

tallahassee

@ great scott


sunday, september 26th

mates of state

@ the paradise


monday, september 27th

rogue wave

midlake

peter wolf crier

@ royale boston


tuesday, september 28th

lcd soundsystem

sleigh bells

@ the orpheum


tuesday, september 28th

best coast

male bonding

@ the middle east downstairs


wednesday, september 29th

quilt

paper castles

toothache

@ the lilypad


wednesday, september 29th

foals

esben + the witch

@ the paradise


thursday, september 30th

mc frontalot

@ tt the bears


thursday, september 30th

menomena

suckers

@ the royale boston


thursday + friday

sept 30th + oct 1st

built to spill

revolt revolt

pretty & nice

@ the paradise


friday, october 1st

the tallest man on earth

s. carey (of bon iver's band)

@ the somerville theatre


friday, october 1st

ra ra riot

chikita violenta

we barbarians

@ the royale boston


saturday, october 2nd

gayngs

(with bon iver's justin vernon)

glasser

@ the paradise


saturday, october 2nd

film school

the depreciation guild

static of the gods

night fruit

@ tt the bears


sunday, october 3rd

the xx

@ the orpheum


sunday, october 3rd

tom tom club

caravan of thieves

tony castles

@ the paradise


sunday, october 3rd

lost in the trees

@ tt the bears


tuesday, october 5th

the vaselines

jeffrey lewis

@ the paradise


tuesday, october 5th

chapterhouse

ulrich schnauss

@ the middle east downstairs


tuesday, october 5th

ratatat

dom

@ the house of blues boston


wednesday, october 6th

gorillaz

@ agganis arena


wednesday, october 6th

the hold steady

wintersleep

@ the royale boston


thursday, october 7th

the walkmen

a.a. bondy

blood feathers

@ the royale boston


friday, october 8th

death

@ the middle east downstairs


friday, october 8th

fountains of wayne

marshall crenshaw (solo)

@ the paradise


friday, october 8th

bell x1 (acoustic)

@ the brattle theatre


saturday, october 9th

paul f. tompkins

@ the brattle theatre


sunday, october 10th

deerhoof

xiu xiu

father murphy

first show @ the paramount!


sunday, october 10th

miike snow

@ the house of blues


sunday, october 10th

primus

mucca pazza

@ the orpheum


tuesday, october 12th

ingrid michaelson

@ the house of blues


wednesday, october 13th

dead kennedys

@ the paradise


thursday, october 14th

the thermals

cymbals eat guitars

@ the paradise


thursday, october 14th

the morning after girls

the lovetones

the december sound

ghost box orchestra

@ tt the bears


friday, october 15th

nick lowe + his band

graham parker (solo acoustic)

@ the somerville theatre


friday, october 15th

jimmy eat world

@ the house of blues


friday, october 15th

bowerbirds

death vessel

@ tt the bears


friday, october 15th

belle + sebastian

@ the wang theatre / citi center


saturday, october 16th

deerhunter

real estate

casino vs. japan

@ royale boston


sunday, october 17th

the henry clay people

the dig

@ tt the bears


monday, october 18th

greg dulli

(afghan whigs/twilight singers)

first-ever solo tour

with opener craig wedren

(of shudder to think)

@ the brattle theatre


monday, october 18th

bad religion

the bouncing souls

@ the house of blues


monday, october 18th

the drums

the hairs

@ the paradise


monday, october 18th

phoenix

two door cinema club

wavves

@ agganis arena


tuesday, october 19th

massive attack

thievery corporation

@ the orpheum


wednesday, october 20th

the pains of being pure at heart

yuck

eternal summers

@ the paradise


wednesday, october 20th

helmet

@ the middle east downstairs


sunday, october 22nd

gary numan

rasputina

playing 'the pleasure principle'

@ the paradise


saturday, october 23rd

local natives

the ruby suns

union line

@ the house of blues


sunday, october 24th

woven bones

frankie rose & the outs

@ tt the bears


monday, october 25th

the corin tucker band

hungry ghost

darren hanlon

@ the paradise


wednesday, october 27th

a sunny day in glasgow

candy claws

@ great scott


wednesday, october 27th

black prairie

(members of the decemberists)

sarah jarosz

@ the middle east upstairs


thursday, october 28th

the tt's halloween bash

with members of mean creek + campaign

for real time (as talking heads)

john powhida (as todd rundgren)

preacher roe (as guided by voices)

@ tt the bears


friday, october 29th

frightened rabbit

plants and animals

the phantom band

@ the paradise


saturday, october 30th

hallelujah the hills

magic magic

boy without god

@ great scott


sunday, october 31st

florence and the machine

the smith westerns

@ the house of blues


monday, november 1st

blonde redhead

pantha du prince

@ the paradise


monday, november 1st

social distortion

lucero

frank turner

@ the house of blues boston


tuesday, november 2nd

junip (jose gonzales)

sharon van etten

@ the royale boston


tuesday, november 2nd

black mountain

the black angels

@ the paradise


wednesday, november 3rd

the dandy warhols

blue giant

@ tt the bears


wednesday, november 3rd

land of talk

suuns

little scream

@ tt the bears


thursday, november 4th

through sunday, november 7th

the international pop overthrow

4 nights @ pa's lounge


thursday, november 4th

matt + kim

javelin

@ the house of blues


thursday, november 4th

blitzen trapper

@ the paradise


friday, november 5th

guided by voices

blitzen trapper

@ the paradise


sunday, november 7th

drivin 'n cryin

@ tt the bears


monday, november 8th

clinic

the fresh & onlys

@ the paradise


tuesday, november 9th

the morning benders

@ the paradise


thursday + friday

november 11th + 12th

sufjan stevens

@ the orpheum


thursday, november 11th

shearwater

horse feathers

damien jurado

anais mitchell

@ the house of blues


thursday, november 11th

deer tick

@ the royale boston


thursday, november 11th

mumford & sons

cadillac sky

king charles

@ the house of blues


friday, november 12th

bottomless pit

black helicopter

chris brokaw

@ the middle east downstairs


saturday, november 13th

roky erickson

@ the royale boston


saturday, november 13th

grinderman

(nick cave, warren ellis, + more)

@ the house of blues


sunday, november 14th

elizabeth mitchell (of ida)

and friends

(a children's show!)

4:30pm @ club passim


sunday, november 14th

man or astro-man?

@ the middle east downstairs


monday, november 15th

la roux

@ the house of blues


tuesday, november 16th

a night of springsteen covers

with chris keene (mean creek),

corin ashley, dave aaronoff,

brendan little, hilken mancini,

the dirty truckers, drew o'doherty,

and more to be announced

marking the release of the new

6-disk 'darkness on the edge of town'

box set @ tt the bears


tuesday, november 16th

the posies

brendan benson

aqueduct

@ the royale boston


wednesday, november 17th

cornershop

@ the middle east downstairs


thursday, november 18th

kate nash

@ the paradise


thursday, november 18th

bear in heaven

@ the middle east downstairs


friday, november 19th

township

the lights out

the organ beats

@ tt the bears


saturday, november 20th

delorean

lemonade

@ the middle east downstairs


wednesday, november 24th

idlewild

happy hollows

@ the middle east downstairs


thursday, december 2nd

director/actor kevin smith

@ the house of blues


saturday, december 4th

peter hook + the light

play joy division's "unknown pleasures"

@ the royale boston


saturday, december 4th

killing joke

@ the paradise


visit tourfilter for more shows






Tuesday, August 10, 2004

Here Comes the Flood
Finally caught my first Red Sox game of the summer last night, and the only thing that kept it from being an absolutely perfect evening at the ballpark was the fact that, well, we didn't freakin' win.

Incredible seats in a front row (leg room!), ideal weather, Schilling on the mound against a mediocre Tampa Bay. All the ingredients were there, but still no victory. Remarkably, it seems I've mentally separated myself enough from my seemingly lifeless team that I can still enjoy the hell out of a game even when we, um, suck. Which, lately, is quite a lot.

Oh, and I think I may have caught Manny Ramirez's 'flu-like-symptoms'. Thanks a lot, slugger.


So it's time to play blog-catch-up, fast and not-really-furious ...


You may notice that my little MP3 of the Week thang is back with a live Franz Ferdinand song from their recent appearance on Conan. Their performance of that song was what pulled me onto the bandwagon (their on-stage energy helped a lot), and I think it sounds a hell of a lot better than the album version.

Going to try to keep the weekly mp3 going for awhile, knowing I get discouraged by the pure awesomeness of the constant linkage over at LHB and CW. I am but the student to those mp3 masters.


You can finally order the very promising "I Could Live In Hope: A Tribute to Low" cd direct from Fractured Discs, beating it's September 2nd release date by a few weeks. That's what impatient me just did. Ah, sweet PayPal, how I love thee.

The details, from the Fractured site...
It's been ten years since the release of Low's beautiful first album, 1994s I Could Live in Hope. In celebration of this milestone we, being such staunch admirers of Low, have gathered together a few of Low's personal friends and fans to record their own definitive versions of the eleven songs that appeared on the actual release. We took creative liberty by slightly skewing the original tracklisting to include two starkly contrasting versions of the often requested first song 'words'. Much like the amazing originals, We Could Live in Hope's twelve gorgeously rendered interpretations will ultimately capture, softly shape and soothe your mood. Their collective sounds resonate and sway within that raw, utopian essence of what makes Low so familiar to us all- that glorious uniqueness of feeling simultaneously safe and vulnerable. By fans, from fans, for fans. Fractured Discs sincerely hopes that you enjoy this tribute.

Tracklisting:

1. Daniel G. Harmann - words
2. Pale Horse and Rider - fear
3. The Strugglers - cut
4. A Northern Chorus - slide
5. Mark Kozelek - lazy
6. Kid Dakota - lullaby
7. Misc / ill lit - sea
8. Jessica Bailiff - down
9. The Winter Blanket - drag
10. Idaho - rope
11. Migala - words
12. His Name is Alive (w/Nanang Tatang) - sunshine 'super low rmx'
That lineup is ace, and I'm so looking forward to hearing the Mark Kozelek and Idaho contributions.


Doom 3 is indeed all that and a big, bloody bag of chips. I wasn't going to splurge for it, but winning a $50 Best Buy gift took care of that. And, well, wow. After a couple initial crashes (and an update to the latest and greatest ATI video drivers), I was off and gunning. It's smooth, gorgeous, and yes, freakin' scary. Turn off the lights, turn up the sound, be prepared to jump out of your seat every few minutes. They've perfected the first-person shooter interface, and I'm especially digging the whole PDA-updates-as-mission-info thing. Talk about attention to detail. I found a web address in an in-game email, and sure enough... it's an existing page for the fictional Union Aerospace Corporation. Nice.

Oh, and I'm generally not into pure fighting games, but this trailer for the upcoming Fight Club game looks pretty spiffy.

Long as we're talkin' videogames, here, have some online retro game links. Not old school enough for you? Grab some ancient Scott Adams text adventure action. I think I just crushed my nostalgia quotient.

Oh, fine, here's some more: Floppy Sleeve Flashback


Amie and I caught the 'feel bad movie of the summer!', aka Open Water, last week. I can admire the skill that went into making a film that triggers such an intense emotional reaction (especially in Amie), while still not being able to say that we 'enjoyed' it. Or even liked it. One thing's for sure... whatever small desire I had to try open water diving someday has disappeared. Gone. Snorkling? Doubtful.

I have a theory. Maybe the husband & wife filmmaking (and diving) team behind this thing were getting tired of increasing crowds at their favorite scuba spots, and decided to do something about it. If that's the case... nice work, ya twisted freaks.


Seen quite a few other flicks recently, including the excellent (and missed by many) Spartan, a film both written and directed by David Mamet. I was hooked into this Val Kilmer spy-fest from the get-go (although I had to stop myself from thinking about Top Secret!). Mamet's dialogue crackles, even with one-too-many sentences ending in the word "baby". Swingers this ain't. Way cool to see a command post set up right inside Harvard Stadium, and to watch a helicopter fly over the Charles and land right on that football field, not a mile from my house. Wonder when they filmed it, and why I wasn't payin' attention.

I also rented, and loved, Dirty Pretty Things. Can't get enough Audrey Tatou, and lead-guy Chiwetel Ejiofor blew me away. (Really glad to know this is the man they've cast as "The Operative" in the now-filming Firefly feature film, Serenity). How can you not enjoy a love story set against a tale of live organ stealing? Seriously, rent away.

And I really wanted to like Vozvrashcheniye (aka The Return). I saw it alone in London and it did absolutely nothing for me. Well, it looked good, but that's about it. I found it too long, deadly slow, and entirely depressing. I'm game for the occasional stab at Russian cinema, but this one just didn't float my boat. So to speak. (you won't get that terrible joke unless you've seen the film. and if you've seen it... i'm so sorry.)


I was pretty riveted by the carjacking eppy of Six Feet Under a couple weeks back, glued to the set during David's abduction by that freak-boy named Jake. Watching Garden State soon after, I knew that Kenny, the cop who pulled over Large's speeding motorcycle, looked pretty familiar. Whoa, same guy. His name's Michael Weston, and damn, he can act.


Jimmy Eat World's next album, Futures, is recorded, mastered, and on the way for October 19th. Their Clarity is one of my favorite records, but Bleed American didn't stick with me very well. Entered my ears but never settled in my brain. A little too much riffin' and rockin', not enough sweetness and light. I'm probably hoping in vain for a return to form, rather than an even more power-chordy direction, but if the third song in this preview medley is any indication, I might get a little bit of it. They've got that clip streaming on their site, so I grabbed it for download. The three songs sampled there are supposedly Pain, Just Tonight, and Polaris.


I finally picked up Top Shelf's "Conversation #1", a collaborative mini-comic from James "American Elf" Kochalka & Craig "Goodbye, Chunky Rice" Thompson, and I'm so damn glad I did. They emailed half-finished panels back and forth, completing each other's work using photoshop, each responding to dialogue that meanders around the subject of the religion, self-expression, and the true meaning of art. I loved every bit of it, totally dug the blending of their styles, the way it flowed so naturally from one page to the next. Plus, there's cute little talking birds and an evil octopus. What's not to love?

Check out a recent interview with James Kochalka in the Onion AV Club. And buy his collected Sketchbook Diaries. Epic masterwork of the year.


Everyone in my little IT/InfoSec circle is talking about the big Windows XP SP2 update that was officially released on Friday, and is being slowly rolled out to users over the next few weeks. I grabbed it over the weekend and did a bunch of testing. The verdict: Nice work, Microsoft. It's slick, easy to install, didn't screw anything up on my machine (at least not yet), and has some excellent user interface changes.

The new wireless network selection screen is much improved, the Security Center is nice and simple (will definitely help your average virus-prone home (l)user). I like the little changes as well as the big ones... new icons for wireless network connections, a new download confirmation dialogue, a slicker firewall interface. All good. The new firewall implementation even integrates with existing software firewalls like Zonealarm and Checkpoint SecureClient's VPN Policy Server. With SC's SecureClient Verification, you can just choose to 'ignore' Windows Internet Connection Firewall (ICF), and still connect from home like a champ. Saves us many headaches here at work.

Just one minor bug so far: It upgrades Internet Explorer, which inadvertently renders Lotus Notes Sametime Meeting functions inoperable. No worky. Hopefully Lotus will release a patch or a newer version sometime soon, since that's the chat client we use here in the office.

If you're looking to grab the XP SP2 update quick-like, before your machine gets it automatically, check out this post over at Kevin Rose's site (the comments have some BitTorrent download locations). If you're patient, and want your own disk copy, place your order with Microsoft here.


Very glad to find out that The Wire: Season 1 will be out on DVD in a couple months. Oh, how I adore this show, and I missed a few episodes from the first year. Funny how Comcast "On Demand" doesn't actually have the shows available that I, uh, demand.

Here's an old article on the show from CNN. If you're not watching The Wire, you damn well should be, especially if you were a fan of Homicide. And if you are watching, hey, didja catch Nick Sobotka in the Manchurian Candidate remake? Don't blink, ya might miss him.


Speaking of great shows on DVD, this Arrested Development: Season One set looks super sweet. Comes out right around the same time as the Wire, in late October. My birthday prezzie list is growing.


OoooOOoo... just a couple more weeks until the Donnie Darko Director's Cut hits theaters here in Boston. I dropped an email to Newmarket Films asking if and when Boston would be one of the 'select cities', and they responded with a Brattle Theatre release date of August 27th. That's the same place I saw the original on it's first run, so not too surprising. Cannot wait.


I have my doubts about the film itself, but the soundtrack to Wicker Park looks great. Acoustic Death Cab for Cutie, an unreleased Stills track, non-album Shins and Postal Service, plus Snow Patrol and Mazzy Star. Whoa. Are good soundtrack albums making a comeback? Between this and Garden State, could we be returning to the days of Pretty in Pink and A Matter of Degrees?


The next batch of VH1's guilty-pleasure Bands Reunited arrives on September 6th, and the lineup is kind of... meh. I'm slightly into seeing ambushed attempts to reunite The English Beat, and even ABC (Shoot that poison arrow, baby), but The Motels, Haircut 100, and freakin' New Kids On The Block?! Yeah, I'm sure that one went well. Got a feeling there's no concert at the end of that shortened episode.


It's a good time to be a tv sci-fi fan. Not only do we get the much-deserved return of Farscape to our screens in October (check out that trailer), and a Firefly movie next year, but we may also get a Firefly comic book to go along with it. Joss Whedon, who now seems more than comfortable writing comics himself, would be penning them, of course. Hooray for multimedia pop-culture marketing.


From screen to comics, and from comics to screen: Look, Sin City Posters. I'm trying to restrain my hopes, but it just ain't happenin'.


I'm always missing cool guests or good bands on late night TV, even with two TiVo's in da house. Mostly, it's just because I wasn't paying attention. Well, I found a place that makes it easy, The Late Night TV Page. Complete guest schedules for late night (and some daytime) programming, updated often. They've even got a variety of handy RSS feeds. Nice.


I just realized that I may never have shared up the link for Pilot To Gunner's Barrio Superstarrio video. Consider that remedied, and keep an eye out for a second video sometime soon.


Ok, that's it. I'm outta time, outta gas, and my fast-typing fingers are sore. I really gotta work on my post pacing, y'know?











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arcade fire
live at the boa pavilion
in boston, mass.
on sunday, august 1st, 2010

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