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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






Friday, June 03, 2005

Summertime Sundry
"Life is grand, and I will say this at the risk of falling from favor with those of you who have appointed yourselves to expect us to say something darker..." - CVB

A perfect seventy degree day here in Boston, the sun shining, and the Sox are on the radio here at work. Amie called just to say 'hi', and I'll be making music with friends tonight. Got no complaints, and that's sayin' somethin'. Right now, I'm knockin' wood, and I guess I'm not the only one... David Ortiz's bat just knocked a walk-off home run to beat the O's. And things get even better.

June's always a good month, when Boston calms down a bit as students leave town for the summer. Traffic eases a up little, the temps climb, the TV season's over, the outside time increases. Livin' is easy as I get ready to log off, leave work, and head home to Aim, our pets, the grill, a Corona with lime, and then off to rock practice. Yeah, summertime...


So obviously I decided to let the live Nada Surf & Rilo Kiley mp3s keep focus for an extra week, 'cuz they're just that good. I'll be cooking up something else for Monday, although the rest of next week might be a quiet one; I'll be bunkered down in a suburban classroom for five days of twelve-hour training classes. Ouch.

Lemme try and quickly clear out my links-list before I head out for the day...


The Mundane Sounds record label has just released the fourth volume of their entirely free-n-downloadable New Music Sampler, so get grabbin', because it's only up for a limited time. 15 tracks, including songs from The Lucksmiths, Edith Frost, Piano Magic, and the yow!-inducing Colin Clary.


I get a fair amount of random, unsolicited music-related promo emails & mp3s here at the 'Nac, and every once in awhile one of them really hits the spot. Case in point: an message about the NYC-based band Dirty On Purpose, who are playing TTs on June 16th with Rogue Wave. Their 'Sleep Late For A Better Tomorrow' EP is a keeper, all catchy, sparkly guitars, soft male & female vocals, and really nice production. Grabbed me from the get go, and I'll be at the show for sure. Head to their site for a couple mp3s, including one from the EP another from their 2003 demo. Just click the pick.


More fine free music: My Mean Magpie has made the entirety of pop duo Georgia's 'Nothing New (Deluxe Edition)' album available for download, and it's so worth the bandwidth. 19 mostly-sweet songs, including Beat Happening & Eric's Trip covers as bonuses.


While you're downloading, how about some new Robert Pollard (ex-GBV) demos? (thanks to hold my life).


Following up on the news that Nada Surf would be releasing their next record in September, they've posted more details on their website
"Produced by Chris Walla (DCFC) and Nada Surf, the record is scheduled for release on September 12th in the UK/Europe (City Slang) and September 20th in the US (Barsuk). Plans are being made in other territories as well.

The track listing is:

1. Concrete Bed
2. Do it Again
3. Always Love
4. What is Your Secret
5. Your Legs Grow
6. All is a Game
7. Blankest Year
8. Comes a Time
9. In the Mirror
10. Armies Walk
11. Imaginary Friends
(Thanks for the heads up, catbirdseat)


Shame on me for not spotting this top-notch David Gedge/Wedding Present/Cinerama fansite, Something and Nothing, until now.


Bookmarked for personal reference: a guide to Boston Area Pool Halls (via universal hub)


Fans of online & syndicated comic strips should definitely check out Tapestry Comics, a directory of RSS feeds for online panel-pushers, including Alien Loves Predator, Dilbert, Peanuts, Penny Arcade, PvP, User Friendly, and many more. It's far too easy to get your favorite daily strips through your feed reader.


That reminds me, my preferred RSS reader, Sauce Reader, finally released version 2.0. I'm looking forward to checking out the new features when I finish up this post. (edit to add: Don't upgrade just yet... the new version was re-coded from scratch, and it's riddled with bugs. Back to the previous version I go.)


Really looking forward to Brian Wood's upcoming graphic tale (with Riccardo Burchielli) entitled DMZ. He offers up a preview of the first cover here. There's not a lot of info yet (like a release date or story length), but hopefully soon.


Ah, sweet sweet nostalgia, how is it you simultaneously comfort yet cheapen? Case in point, Matt's recent post, where he mentions the upcoming on-stage reunion of the entire Breakfast Club cast on MTV (it's not a real reunion unless Carl the Janitor is there too). That slightly sickens me, and yet, I'll be compelled to watch it. Curse you, EmpTyV! Then there's that whole 'Hit Me Baby One More Time' NBC thing, which we TiVo'd and haven't watched. Believe me, I'll literally have nothing better to do when I finally get around to watching it.

If it's old Loverboy action you want, you're much better off watching this. So uncomfortably hilarious.

And if it's rehashed 80s-era songs you want, might as well just look forward to the High School Reunion disc that arrives this fall. People like Kristin Hersh, Matthew Sweet, Vic Chesnutt, & John Strohm covering old songs by bands like Echo & the Bunnymen, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, & the Pixies. Not much of this lineup really smacks of 'newer vs. older', but more of a 'not-quite-as-old vs. older'. Kinda cool how Kristin Hersh gets away with covering her friends and longtime 4AD labelmates (doing the Pixies 'Wave of Mutilation'). Really looking forward to hearing that one.


Some great new sources (to me, anyway) for downloadable live recordings: The Pure Live Gigs community, and a guy named Bryan's personal site, the subtley named Bootlegs! Bootlegs! Bootlegs!.


I love me some Alex Robinson comics. I was a big fan of his award-winning Box Office Poison, so I'm excited to hear about his long-awaited next project, Tricked, which is due in August on Top Shelf. Four years in the making, and a massive 352-pages. Very nice.


If you were one of the lucky ones who caught a preview screening of Joss Whedon's Serenity film, one of the best parts of the experience was seeing Whedon's filmed introduction. Relive it by reading this transcript (and don't worry, there's no spoilers in there). Any fan of Whedon's work will get a kick out of what he has to say. "If this movie matters to you, let somebody know. Let everybody know. Make yourselves heard. If you don't like the movie, this is a time for quiet, silent contemplation."


Amie and I saw Matthew Vaughan's British crime film Layer Cake last weekend, and it was ace. Lovedlovedloved it. I actually liked it more than Guy Ritchie's like-minded Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels or Snatch. I was pretty comforted to know that the next X-Men movie would be in this guy's hands... until he quit the project just a few days later. Latest rumor is that Vaughan wasn't going to get enough time or budget to do the movie the way he wanted to do it, which doesn't bode well for whoever fills his shoes. And if it ends up being Brett 'Rush Hour' Ratner (I can't believe I'm saying this), then I'll actually be looking forward more to Vaughan's next film than I will be to X3.


Even though it's summer, and the standard TV seasons are now a memory, there's still a few things to keep the tube and TiVo warm while we're hangin' outside...
  • On Tuesday, June 7th, HBO runs a marathon of the entire second season of Deadwood. The uninitiated should record it, Netflix the first season, and overdose on wild western awesomeness. What are ya, lily-livered?

  • There's this documentary on PBS's Independent Lens program called Double Dare that looks good, too, so I've just added it to my machine's 'To Do' list. It's the story of a couple of stuntwomen that's been playing at film fests and getting some good feedback. (hey, thanks for the tip, Erin)

  • The rest of the summer TV schedule deserves some attention, as there's a bunch of returning shows worth watching. I'll be grabbing the new seasons of Battlestar Galactica (July 15th), The 4400 (June 5th), Six Feet Under (June 6th), Celebrity Poker Showdown (Aug. 18th), Rescue Me (June 21st), and yes, I'll even give Real World: Austin a one-or-two episode tryout. I just can't help myself.

  • There's some potentially promising new stuff, too, like Angel/Firefly writer Tim Minear's The Inside (June 8th). Minear's the writer/creator, and the staff includes other talented Whedon-verse scribes like Jane Espenson and David Fury. Other stuff I might watch: HBO's The Comeback (June 5th), the Into the West mini-series (June 10th), (maybe one episode of) the bound-to-be-bad Rock Star: INXS thing (July 11th), and the docu-show 30 days, hosted by Super Size Me director/star Morgan Spurlock (June 15th).
  • That's plenty o' TV to tide me and similarly-minded masses over until the fall, when all this goes down. Yup, that's the whole fall 2005 tv schedule... and it looks a might weak, don't it?


    ... so now it's Friday afternoon and I'm back at the keyboard, hoping to fire off this post before the weekend hits. Tonight we're heading to the Brattle for that screening of Hal Hartley's new movie, The Girl From Monday, and the man himself will be there hosting it. In the presence of greatness, can't wait to see and hear Mr. Hartley in person.


    Tomorrow night brings another Charlene show at TT the Bears, this time we're playing with Ohio's (via NYC) The National, Pela, and Cotton Ponies. We're on around 10 if you're looking for somethin' to do.


    I'll leave you with this: Today is Free Donut Day at all Krispy Kreme locations. Too bad I don't eat those little circles of heaven anymore, right? Y'know, I really shouldn't have looked at that picture, I can practically smell the glazed goodness... hmmm... and the double K is right across the street, beckoning me. I'm clearly having a Homer moment... must... fight...











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