bradley's almanac - a boston-based music blog

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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

... already in progress.

Yeah, yeah, sorry about the semi-silence. Been earning my keep, workin' for the man, you know how it goes. Probably the longest I've gone between posts in a couple years. Summertime slack.

The first official summer weekend, and we spent Saturday at a friend's place on a Winthrop beach out in East Boston. The ocean was calm, allowing Nina to take her first-ever full-on Atlantic swim. She's usually scared off by waves before she gets too deep, but not this time, although the frigid water temps kept the rest of us on the sand. The ocean breeze made the high-90s bearable, and we walked off an amazing bbq by exploring Deer (used-to-be-an) Island.

You wouldn't imagine the home of Boston's main wastewater treatment facility as a beautiful place to be... but was it ever. No nasty odor, just an overwhelming mix of wildflowers, salt-water smells, and a small bonfire on the beach. Even the regular whoosh of approaching planes couldn't dampen the mood... if anything, they probably help keep the crowds down. If you've never seen Boston from a Deer Island overlook, you should take the quick 15-minute drive from downtown, 90 east to 1A north past Logan airport, right on 145 and you're there. Public parking, paved pathways, and perfect views. More photos in this flickr set here.

Oh, and those massive white ovals I always called the 'Cadbury Poo Eggs' are actually called 'Digester Eggs', which sounds marginally better.

Sunday was entirely different, as I hid out from the heat in our air conditioned Allston pad. A day for working out, watching the Sox sweep the Phillies, catching up on correspondence, lotsa laundry, and a little studying as I get ready for my upcoming exam. Plus, y'know, this poor neglected blog needed some attention. I squeezed enough summer out of Saturday... Sunday was for stayin' in.

Before I (finally) get to my next long-delayed mp3 posting (live tracks from NYC's Dirty On Purpose and Boston's Tom Thumb & the Latter Day Saints), I figured I'd do a quick link purge to clear off the decks...

(oh, and to any of you who found me through Boston.com's new list of area blogs and podcasts... well, I apologize in advance.)

There Glastonbury Goes: This year's Glastonbury Festival finished up yesterday, but the BBC has made random clips available over here. Fairly high-quality, well-mixed video from The Futureheads (doing Decent Days and Nights), Bloc Party (playing The Pioneers), Doves, Interpol ('NYC'), the return of The La's (you can guess which one), and more.

National Public Bloc Party: There's probably not a Bloc Party fan online that doesn't already know about this entire live set shared up by NPR, of all places. One very long mp3 of their DC show a couple weeks back. The mix is marginal at best... too-loud drums and weak guitars really suck the energy out of some tracks, along with backing vocals that startlingly overtake singer Kele Okereke at times. Bloc Party's sound is such a delicate balancing act, it takes a perfect mix to come close to hitting me like their album does. That NPR set just makes me want to quickly queue up 'Silent Alarm' again.

Pega Luno: Last Bloc Party reference, I swear: Have you not yet heard Death From Above 1979 covering BP's 'Luno'? It's well worth a listen over at DFA1979's MySpace page.

Some Form Of Flattery: In reading about Nike ripping off Dischord Record's iconic Minor Threat album design, I discovered The Knockoff Project, which collects "album cover spoofs, goofs, tributes, send ups, near misses, and coincidences". Very cool to find a couple of friends' bands in there, including the cover of a Stand GT 7'' that I own (and it's Nils counterpart) and an Anchormen album alongside it's original inspiration. Some of the listed designs I never knew were variations on existing work.

All these collected tributes might make you think that Nike's 'appropriation' of Dischord's imagery isn't such a big deal. But when it's a (relatively) unknown band paying tribute to a well-known one, it's one thing... when it's a multi-national corporation with a history of labor abuses ripping off a label that is the antithesis of everything they stand for? Well, that's another. [update: Nike apologizes, withdraws ads. How 'bout that?]

Rico's Not-So-Suave: When Six Feet Under's producers were trying to pick 'hip' bands to contribute to this season's soundtrack, I'd imagine The Arcade Fire was the first and easiest choice ('Funerals', anyone?). The newly recorded song, called 'Cold Wind', is now up on iTunes, and you cheap-types might be able to grab it over at The Daily Refill. Oh, and is anyone else thoroughly unimpressed with the new season of 6FU? Feels like they're just spinning their wheels on over-tread ground. Somebody needs to shake that show up.

Digital Miss: Also finally up on iTunes? Miss Mary's new album, 'Ready 2 Pop'. Details over at M@'s. You can also get a free mp3 of the song 'The Rain' over at Amazon.

Erin who? Ida know. : I'm not at all familiar with Erin McKeown, but I saw that she's got my much-loved Ida opening up a few dates on her tour, which hits Boston's Paradise this Wednesday. Unfortunately, Ida won't be on that date, but Hem will. Coincidentally, my friend Neil Cleary (who's put out couple really great records of his own) is playing drums in McKeown's band, so I'll be there to bear witness, and hear what Erin's all about.

Oh, and in case you missed it, The Brain has a 38 minute quicktime video with interviews and live clips of Ida playing at the Boston MFA back in February. What a stellar show that was.

Double Nickels on the Screen: Finally, I'll get a chance to see the Minutemen documentary 'We Jam Econo' when it comes to town in July. From the website:

"Rocket Fuel Films is proud to present 'We Jam Econo � The Story Of The Minutemen'. This feature length documentary chronicles the ground breaking, early 80�s punk rock band from their humble beginnings in the harbor town of San Pedro, CA to their tragic and untimely demise when lead signer and guitarist D. Boon was killed in a van accident in December of 1985.

Told by those who were there, �We Jam Econo � The Story Of The Minutemen� weaves in footage from over fifty newly shot interviews with archival interviews and live performances to capture the dynamic energy and do-it-yourself spirit of these punk rock pioneers.

After talking to Watt about the idea and getting his approval, we began filming in Jan. 2003. The film had it's premiere on Feb 25, 2005 at the historic Warner Grand Theater in San Pedro, CA. Other screenings are currently being planned."

It'll be at Cambridge's Brattle Theater on July 7th, and starts a short run at the Coolidge the day after.

Idiots Rule: My UK friend Steve started doing indie-slanted Podcasts with a pal, so check out their first installment of Idiot Radio, along with a bunch more 'casts linked from Bonfire Radio. Some great music to be found over there.

Reclusive Syd: I probably couldn't care less that Pink Floyd is reuniting, but it did get me wondering whatever happened to Floyd-founder and disturbed songwriting genius Syd Barrett. Well, this article answers that. Sort of.

New Worlds: I'll be seeing War of the Worlds because of the Spielberg factor, and to see lots of stuff go all explodey, but it'll be despite my deepening discomfort with Crazyman Cruise.

If you're Cruise-averse, but want to see a new version of the H.G. Wells tale, check out Dark Horse's excellent online WOTW graphic adaptation, written by Ian Edginton and drawn by D'Israeli. It's unfolding 12 pages per week, with 24 already posted.

Country Time?: There's long been talk of Greg Rucka's excellent spy-comic, Queen & Country, making it's way to the movies, and here's the supposed latest. For clarity, Rucka himself provides more details on his forum, including a brief mention of the status (or lack thereof) of his Whiteout comics and Atticus Kodiak novels becoming films. Fingers crossed for all of 'em.

September 'Boys': Having read just about everything Neil Gaiman has ever written, whether it be in comic book (Sandman), novel (American Gods), or short story form, I'm very much looking forward to his next novel 'Anansi Boys'. He'll be hitting the road upon its release in late September, with a signing stop in Boston on Friday, September 23rd at the Harvard Book Store.

Make Your Own Myth: My next personal computer project: Build my own PC-based digital video recorder using the MythTV program. It runs on Linux, and the guys over at SYSTM show you how it's done in their second online episode. No subscription fees, and the ability to record HDTV content (which TiVo sadly still can't do). Just requires enough money and time to build the box from scratch. As much as I love my TiVo, I'm always game for getting kinda geeky.

Netflix Statistix: Attention fellow Netflix subscribers... this is kinda cool. If you're logged into your Netflix account, visit this page and send yourself an email of your complete rental history. It's interesting to look at in and of itself, but here's what you can do with it: Go here and follow the instructions. If you upload a text file containing the results, you can find out exactly how much Netflix has been 'throttling' you, meaning how many times have they received one of your movies but waited until the next day or so to mail it out. Apparantly there's some hubbub about an increasing amount of this going on, although I've personally never noticed. According to that site, 9% of my movies have been throttled, and I've rented 258 DVDs over 49 months. That works out to about 5 discs per month, which sounds about right. How do your stats look?

Galactica Rising: Was psyched to see a commercial last night for the soon-to-start second season of Battlestar Galactica (the best sci-fi on tv right now), and it reminded me about this new official video blog that takes you behind the scenes. Good stuff. Don't forget about creator Ron Moore's blog while you're there. I'm sure he'll be updating, and posting new podcasts, once the season gets going on July 15th.

Boba Sings Bass: Oh. My. The Star Wars Musical Edition: Trilogy is coming to Boston. Yes, the MIT Musical Theater Guild present their musical interpretation of all three original movies on November 11th-13th and 17th-19th, 2005. As you've heard said, "I've got a baaaad feeling about this." But I'll probably still go. I mean, how often do you get to see that?!

Yes, It's Really So Strange: And if you thought a Star Wars musical was freaky, how about one featuring the music of... The Smiths? Take a bow, indeed.

Survey Says: Hey, if you're a blogger and haven't yet taken the oft-linked MIT Blog Survey, set aside a few minutes and check a bunch of boxes. They categorize your answers and show you where you place at the end, so you do actually get a little somethin' for your time. Just in case you need some selfish motivation.

Gimme Crime Fiction: I just finished up a fantastic crime fiction novel called 'Prince of Thieves' (about the bank robbing traditions of Charlestown) and while looking for more info on author Chuck Hogan, I stumbled across this handy Crime Fiction Blog. I'm always looking for new stuff to read, and that looks like a pretty good resource to plug in my RSS reader.

Strangely, as I was reading the chapters that had the main characters knocking over an armored car, a real-life armored car robbery-attempt was taking place in Boston's North End. And where was one of the suspects caught? Yup, in Charlestown.

On The List: Imagine my happy shock to flip a page of the latest Entertainment Weekly and find AiT/PlanetLar comic main-man Larry Young on their 2005 Must List. There's not a more deserving publisher out there, as the guy doesn't just spend his time making better comics, but Making. Comics. Better. And also making must-lists. Props to EW for noticing.

Beware of Burning Birds: I'm kind of a sucker for a solid Cameron Crowe flick (and I'm not looking at you, Vanilla Sky... blech), and my dad raised me on a partial diet of early-era Elton, so this extended preview of Crowe's upcoming Elizabethtown hit me just right. Great cast, although I do think this mega-trailer showed a bit too much. So keep that in mind before you go clickin'.

Google's Ad-Non-Sense: You may notice that I recently threw some relatively tame Google-related ads in the left column over there in order to help me out with my hosting costs. And cha-ching, I've even made about three whole bucks in the past month. Click 'em if you're so inclined.

Was the commercial plunge worth it, though? I'm pretty ad-averse, and have never done such a thing in the five or so years since I started this site. I think they're pretty unobtrusive (and sometimes good for a laugh), but there's an unexpected catch to signing up for Google Adsense: I'm getting spammed. Like, a lot. Y'see, I've never used my gmail address for online forms, so I've hardly gotten any junk sent to that mailbox in the many months I've had it. When I signed up for Adsense, though, I used that addy... and almost immediately I started getting tons of spam. Could be coincidence, but I'm doubting. Fortunately Gmail's spam-filters grab it all (which they should. 'cuz if anyone knows it's spam, it'd be the place responsible for spreading it), so I can keep it out of sight, but how incredibly weak of Google. I mean, I'm generally a Google fan, but that is not cool.

Set Your TiVo: The flat-out fantastic documentary Same Sex America makes its television debut tonight on Showtime at 8pm. It follows seven couples and their stories as Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage, and it really impacted me when I saw it at the Independent Film Festival of Boston a couple months back. For more airdates and a trailer, check here.

Alright, this post is overblown and I'm headin' home. I'm skipping a good proofread, so forgive the typos. A music post tomorrow, I promise...

posted by brad at 5:24 PM | direct link |