bradley's almanac - a boston-based music blog

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wednesday, march 17th

joanna newsom

@ the sanders theatre, harvard

wednesday, march 17th

henry rollins (spoken word)

@ the somerville theatre

thursday, march 18th

TOURFILTER DJ NIGHT!

when tourfilter's chris +

the almanac's brad (aka, me)

spin songs by bands coming to

the boston area sometime soon

9pm sharp @ river gods

thursday, march 18th

apollo sunshine

drug rug

@ the paradise

friday, march 19th

i, pistol

mascara

planetoid

forgetful jones

@ tt the bears

saturday, march 20th

the whitehaus family blastfest

needy visions, manners,

morgan shaker, avi jacob,

and many more

@ cambridge ymca theatre

saturday, march 20th

air

@ berklee performance center

sunday, march 21st

the clientele

field music

@ great scott

wednesday, march 24th

extraneous noise presents...

golden spurs

spirit kid

some say fire

the novel ideas

@ the middle east upstairs

thursday, march 25th

"thursday night alright!" with

the beatings

aloud

action camp

hello ninja

@ great scott

thursday, march 25th

the donnas

@ the paradise

friday, march 26th

eldridge rodriguez (the beatings)

ryan lee crosby

ted billings (age rings/hot protestants)

@ the somerville armory

friday, march 26th

basia bulat

marissa nadler

lady lamb the beekeeper

@ tt the bears

saturday, march 27th

your say party! we say die!

the new collisions

static of the gods (cd release)

@ tt the bears

saturday, march 27th

the big pink

a place to bury strangers

magic magic

@ the paradise

saturday, march 27th

spoon

deerhunter

@ the house of blues

sunday, march 28th

beach house

bachelorette

@ the paradise

monday, march 29th

the soft pack

nodzzz

beaters

@ great scott

tuesday, march 30th

shearwater

wye oak

hospital ships

@ tt the bears

tuesday, march 30th

manchester orchestra

the features

biffy clyro

o'brother

@ the paradise

wednesday, march 31st

japandroids

love is all

girlfriends

@ the middle east downstairs

wednesday, march 31st

miike snow

delorean

@ the paradise

wednesday, march 31st

a sunny day in glasgow

pants yell!

bearstronaut

@ great scott

thursday, april 1st

girls

dum dum girls

@ the paradise

friday, april 2nd

the xx

jj (late show only)

two shows @ the paradise

friday, april 2nd

drive-by truckers

lucero

langhorne slim

@ the house of blues

saturday, april 3rd

cassavettes

the grownup noise

kingsley flood (cd release)

spouse

@ the middle east upstairs

saturday, april 3rd

black rebel motorcycle club

alberta cross

@ the house of blues

saturday, april 3rd

nada surf

dawn landes & the hounds

@ the paradise

sunday, april 4th

serena maneesh

depreciation guild

black fortress of opium

@ tt the bears

tuesday, april 6th

wilco

@ the orpheum

tuesday, april 6th

ben folds & a piano

kate miller-heidke

@ the house of blues

wednesday, april 7th

florence & the machine

@ the paradise

wednesday, april 7th

rocky votolato

brooke waggoner

@ great scott

thursday, april 8th

faces on film

hands & knees

st. claire (cd release!)

mr. sister

@ tt the bears

thursday, april 8th

thom yorke + atoms for peace

flying lotus

@ the citi/wang theatre

friday, april 9th

midlake

@ the paradise

saturday, april 10th

xiu xiu

tune-yards

@ the middle east downstairs

saturday, april 10th

ted leo & the pharmacists

obits

screaming females

@ the paradise

saturday, april 10th

pissed jeans

confines

sqrm

@ great scott

sunday, april 11th

fanfarlo

lawrence arabia

robert francis

@ the paradise

monday, april 12th

the wedding present

play their 1989 lp 'bizarro'

with openers girl in a coma

@ the middle east downstairs

monday, april 12th

titus andronicus

the babies

@ great scott

thursday, april 15th

jakob dylan with guests

neko case + kelly hogan

@ the wilbur theatre

thursday, april 15th

red sparowes

doomriders

@ the middle east downstairs

friday, april 16th

guillermo sexo

freddie t and the people

(ex-june of 44 / hoover)

travels

ghost box orchestra

@ pa's lounge

friday, april 16th

have nots (vinyl release!)

the appreciation post

razors in the night

wicked whiskey

the swaggerin growlers

@ tt the bears

saturday, april 17th

kaki king

an horse

@ the middle east downstairs

saturday, april 17th

the morning benders

miniature tigers

@ tt the bears

sunday, april 18th

heavy trash (w/jon spencer)

the konks

the cobra-matics

@ tt the bears

sunday, april 18th

the thermals

past lives

@ the middle east downstairs

monday, april 19th

trans am

@ the middle east downstairs

tuesday, april 20th

owen pallett (aka final fantasy)

@ the ica boston

tuesday, april 20th

elvis costello & the sugarcanes

@ the orpheum

tuesday, april 20th

the low anthem

timber timbre

@ the paradise

tuesday, april 20th

quasi

let's wrestle

@ the middle east downstairs

wednesday, april 21st

the church

special 30th anniversary

acoustic career retrospective

@ the somerville armory

wednesday, april 21st through

wednesday, april 28th

the 8th annual independent

film festival of boston

@ various boston area theatres

including the somerville + brattle

thursday, april 22nd

the mary onettes

@ great scott

saturday, april 24th

graham parker with

the figgs

@ johnny d's, somerville

saturday, april 24th

los campesinos!

here we go magic

@ the paradise

sunday, april 25th

harlem

@ great scott

monday, april 26th

echo + the bunneymen

hatcham social

@ the paradise

wednesday, april 28th

gogol bordello

devotchka

jesse malin

st. mark's social

@ the house of blues

thursday, april 29th

frightened rabbit

@ the paradise

friday, april 30th

the everyday visuals

the lights out

the flying machines

aloud

@ tt the bears

friday, april 30th

corinne bailey ray

@ the house of blues

friday, april 30th

the album leaf

sea wolf

@ the paradise

wednesday, april 28th

little boots

dragonette

fan death

@ the middle east downstairs

saturday, may 1st

white rabbits

here we go magic

@ the paradise

monday, may 3rd

yeasayer

sleigh bells

@ the paradise

tuesday, may 4th

gregory & the hawk

lady lamb the beekeeper

@ tt the bears

tuesday & wednesday

may 4th & 5th

public image ltd.

@ the royale (formerly the roxy)

wednesday, may 5th

minus the bear

@ the wilbur theatre

wednesday & thursday

may 5th & 6th

jonsi (from sigur ros)

@ the house of blues

thursday, may 6th

shout out louds

@ the paradise

friday, may 7th

ok go

earl greyhound

robert francis

@ the paradise

saturday, may 8th

local natives

@ great scott

tuesday & wednesday

may 11th & 12th

dr. dog

deer tick

@ the paradise

thursday, may 13th

small brown bike

bridge and tunnel

your skull my closet

wallcreeper

@ great scott

saturday, may 22nd

killing joke

@ the paradise

tuesday, may 18th

spectrum (featuring sonic boom

from spacemen 3 + e.a.r.)

with the broken river prophet

@ the middle east upstairs

tuesday, may 25th

the smittens

allo darlin'

one happy island

hearts!attack

a smile and a ribbon

horowitz

@ the lizard lounge

wednesday, may 26th

reverend horton heat

cracker

miss derringer

@ the house of blues

friday, may 28th

mono

the twilight sad

@ the middle east downstairs

wednesday, june 2nd

kings of convenience

franklin for short

@ the paradise

wednesday, june 2nd

ryan bingham & the dead horses

@ tt the bears

wednesday & thursday

june 2nd & 3rd

the national

@ the house of blues

friday, june 4th

brian jonestown massacre

@ the paradise

friday, june 18th

reigning sound

movers & shakers

triplethick

@ tt the bears

saturday, june 19th

james taylor

carole king

@ the garden

sunday + monday

june 20th + 21st

isis

melvins

totimoshi

@ the paradise

thursday + saturday

august 19th + 21st

tom petty + the heartbreakers

my morning jacket

@ the comcast center

visit tourfilter for more shows

Yeah, it's a song title from my least favorite Ride album, but it fits. The most ideal New England spring weekend just finished up, and despite the fact that I'm back in the old cube farm, I'm still on a bit of a high from it.

Lots of time spent with Amie and Nina on Saturday, a relaxing drive up to Gloucester, oceanside on Wingaersheek beach, a lunch of fried clams and Corona, then back to Boston for Fever Pitch (the power of the Sox compelled us) and a great meal at Panaficio. Sunday was errand day, did some work on the house, then relaxed with videogames, dvds, and comics. So many of my favorite things packed into two near-perfect days (only two Sox losses kept it from perfection). If my life had a TiVo, I'd hit rewind do it all over again.

I know it was kinda quiet here on the 'Nac this past week... which means my real world was the polar opposite. If it wasn't for the stress relief of the weekend, I'm not sure I'd be functioning right now. A couple doses of employment-related weirdness knocked me out, but things are settling down and I'm nearing normal...

Here, have a couple live-from-tv mp3s to make up for my absence (each featuring a guest appearance by a damn talented lady). A new song from John Doe, and a Sabbath cover...

John Doe with Neko Case - 'Highway 5' (live on Conan)

The Flaming Lips with Cat Power - 'War Pigs' (live on Austin City Limits)

I'll be posting that long-awaited five song set from Jodi Buonanno later on today or tomorrow morning, so definitely come back for that.

And now, a quick brain-purge...

So today the Red Sox get their World Series rings, and a few of us from work are taking late lunches to watch the ceremony at the bar next door. Seeing Fever Pitch got me in the mood, although until then I'd been less than enthusiastic about this new season (even before our pitching staff started us out in last place). Call it coming down from the highs of last year, but I feel like that big payoff, the near-heartbreak and emotional rescue, the total drama and impossible wins... it feels like whatever hunger I had has been satiated. I'm still full from it, and anything else is anti-climactic, y'know? It's not surprising, even a little expected, but maybe today (and a couple of wins against the yanks?) will get me back in the game.

Oh, and speaking o' the Sox, Matt is exactly right about this crap. Lighten the hell up, folks... we won the whole damn thing, in spectacular freakin' fashion, and nothin' else matters (and besides, the movie was actually pretty good). It's not like Fallon ran out and got in the way of a Dave Roberts' season-saving second base slide. Yeesh.

And for New England sports fans: Sports radio station WEEI now has their live web stream up and running. Yeah, you won't be able to listen to Red Sox games (the MLB has a legal lock on that), but you can at least listen to them blather before and after (and listen to the ring ceremony this afternoon?). You have to sign up for their listener network, though. Hey, y'know what I'm thankful for? That the presidential election is finally far behind us, and I don't have to listen to their occasional political pearls of wisdom. Man, that made last fall a little painful, and nearly put me off WEEI for good. Kindly keep your politics outta my sports, fellas.

Switching gears: Easytree is dead. Long live Dime A Dozen. Yeah, the Easytree torrent-sharing site was intimidated into closure by the RIAA, but faster than I could even mention it, Dime A Dozen arose to take it's place, using the same user and torrent database. No need to even re-register. Damn glad to see that happen, and we'll see if they stay or get scared away.

Good news in game land: The follow-up to Call of Duty, the best combat-related first person PC game ever, is coming this fall. The hyperbole starts with a bang, but I'm a believer. I'm also pretty jazzed about the in-the-works Half Life 2 expansion. Gimme.

Many thanks to WMPG DJ (and apparant Almanac reader) Tom Flynn for letting me know that Crooked Fingers stopped by their Portland, Maine studio a couple weeks ago and played a live acoustic set on their Local Motives program. All five songs, interview clips, and some pictures are available for download right here. Such a treat.

Also relating to quality independent radio: The Late Risers Club program has been running on Boston's WMBR for almost 30 years, and a new documentary by Marissa Acosta celebrates and explains how its early days. A bastion of the independent airwaves, the LRC is one of life's few comforting constants. From 10am to noon on weekdays, there's always a place to turn. The documentary screens at 11:55pm this Friday, April 15th, at the Coolidge Corner Theater.

Bob Mould just finished up his next solo album on Saturday. Looking forward to it.

So yeah, we saw Fever Pitch and it was good for a few laughs, and some inevitable warm fuzzies when they showed Sox winning it all. That footage just never fails me.

But that's far from the best movie I saw last week. That'd be the preview screening of freakin' Kung-Fu Hustle, baby. If you're a Stephen Chow fan (Shaolin Soccer, God of Cookery), you know what you're in for... he breaks the martial arts and special effects rules, making what amounts to exaggerated live action cartoons, and I gotta say, this one may be his peak. Blatant lifts from (and homages to) Looney Toons, Spider-Man, Star Wars, even broadway musicals. It starts off hiliriously and doesn't let up. The crowd I saw it with ate it up, the thing got major applause afterwards, and my friend Adam is now referring to life events like this: B.K.F.H and A.K.F.U. (Before Kung-Fu Hustle and After Kung-Fu Hustle). It's that good, and I am so seeing it again after it opens on April 22nd.

Also starting that weekend is the Independent Film Festival of Boston, which kicks off on the 21st. My friend Alex spent much of the past couple years producing one of the films featured in this years fest, a documentary called 'Same Sex America', which "follows the fallout of the Massachusetts Supreme Court decision that allowed same-sex couples to obtain marriage licenses." Can't get much more timely and locally relevant than that, can ya? Check out the trailer here, and grab tickets to one of three screenings in Boston that weekend. If you miss out, word is that it'll be on Showtime in June. Can't wait to see it.

Oh, and heads up: Steve Buscemi will be hosting the East Coast premiere of the new film he directed, Lonesome Jim, on the opening night of the festival, and there are tickets available (just bought my two!). Just ten bucks each and no service charge, so go here and scroll down to get 'em. That's April 21st at 7pm, and I'll be rushing from there over to catch the Wedding Present at the Middle East right after. Great night, that'll be.

So I updated the 'upcoming shows' list on the left, and there's some really great stuff coming up here in Boston. Not only do we get Mary Timony and that Wedding Present show later this month, but Ted Leo returns in a couple weeks for a college gig, and Pinback hit the Paradise. That's just a few of many that I need to check out. I also need a big bag of cash to fall out the sky in front of me.

Back to the grind, then I'm off to watch the Red Sox World Series ring ceremony. Yeah, I still need all the visual proof I can get that the whole thing actually happened....

posted by brad at 12:39 PM | direct link | rss (1 :2) |