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

Here I sit on the first day of a much-needed mini-vacation, already feeling reborn as the Boston temperature has dropped like 25 degrees from the humid hell of yesterday. Seems like it's been a month since our air-conditioner's had a rest, but y'know, I feel kinda silly whining about late-July heat, realizing other people were so much the worse for weather. And, y'know, it is summer after all.

Getting down to bizness, today's post is gonna be another rapid-fire clearing of the decks, since as of this morning I'm on a glorious six-day work-break. I won't totally be relaxing, since it includes a couple of rock shows (one down in NYC on Saturday, one back here on Monday), but I'll definitely be avoiding the computer as much as I can. That said, I'm hoping for some correspondence catch-up, so if you've been waiting for an email answer from me, keep an eye out.

Warning: Much randomness follows...

The 'official bootleg' Twilight Singers live DVD that the band has put out is freakin' white-hot. Seriously, I got one of the first batch of 100, and it was worth every Paypal penny I spent on it. 21 songs, almost two hours long, and an encore that not only features Greg Dulli's former Afghan Whigs bandmate John Curley on bass playing Whigs songs, but an appearance by former Scrawl vocalist Marcy Mays, who joins them to play 'My Curse' off of 'Gentlemen'. I swear, Bobby McIntyre, Twilight's ascot-wearing drummer, is my freakin' stick-wiedling hero. Plus, he's Barry Gibb's godson.

I digress. The reason I mention the DVD is because there are now more available from the band via ebay. Any self-respecting Whigs-Twilight-Dulli fan needs this sucker in their collection. Amazing audio quality, mutiple camera shots, a great performance.

Oh, and as one of those fans, I can't wait to finally see 'Ladies and Gentlemen', the Afghan Whigs documentary that is premiering this weekend at the Lite Brite Test Fest in their hometown of Cincinnati. I can only hope that means it'll be playing elsewhere, or at least out on DVD soon. For an article on the docuementary, head here, and for a quick look at what each AW member is doing now, go here.

So I've heard the new Depeche Mode song, and it is... actually quite good. Brings the long-ago days of non-stop listening to 'Violator' rushing right back. If you're looking to hunt it down, start right here. I can't think about Depeche without remembering hearing the bleep-bloops of 'See You' over the PA system at Fenway Park during a Sox game last summer. Strangest culture-clash moment ever. 'You know that it's true...'.

I was a Mineral and Gloria Record fan despite the fact that the vocals occasionally got on my nerves. The music made up for it, though, and I found enough else in there to love. Well, their singer/guitarist Chris Simpson is back with a solo moniker called Zookeeper, and he's got a MySpace page (although, who doesn't now?) with three demos on it. (courtesy unfinished)

OooooOOO... how can I get myself to Chicago in early November? Flower15, the 15th anniversary celebration for the wonderful Flower Booking company, is taking place at the Metro from Nov. 8th to the 12th, and the lineup is looking gooood. Ted Leo, American Analog Set, a reunited Promise Ring, The Essex Green, Maritime, Jimmy Eat World, and a bunch more. Gotta convince my boss I need to pay a visit to our Chicago office.

Speaking of Mr. Ted Leo, I believe I failed to point out this excellent article on him in the Newport Mercy, written by WMBR dj Tim Kelly.

As I mentioned, I got my Boston Sigur R�s tickets a couple weeks ago, and I can't wait to see them play stuff from their upcoming album, 'Takk', which is out on September 12th. In the meantime, any bittorrent-types can check out this recent live show with a bunch of those new songs.

Nice little article on Nada Surf in Filter Magazine (link from largehearted boy). I so cannot wait to sit down with their upcoming disc, 'The Weight is a Gift'. The songs I've heard so far are hitting me just right.

I'm surely not the first blogger to tell you this, but stellar-indie-station KCRW is podcasting. So, um, stick that in your aggregator and smoke it. Or something.

Did someone say the word 'podcast'? Wait, that was me. Here's one that will be of interest to fans of writers Warren Ellis, John Rogers, or of really good sci-fi TV in general: Evil Genius Chronicles has posted a two-part podcast interview (one, two) with Mr. Rogers about the whole Global Frequency unaired-but-leaked-pilot situation. It's a pretty interesting listen.

Using that as a segue into comic-booky stuff, the latest All The Rage rumor column reported that one of my favorite comics in recent years, The Losers, garnered the adaptation-interest of actor/director Peter Berg. Looks like it may be more rumor than fact, as Losers writer Andy Diggle used his brand new blog to put the kibosh on it. Sort of. And not on the movie, just Berg's possible involvement. Bookmark Diggle's blog, by the way. Well worth a regular visit.

Recent comic purchases of note: The second issue of Ellis' Desolation Jones (loving it), the first issue of Joss Whedon's Serenity comic (which will bridge the criminally-cancelled Firefly series to the upcoming Serenity film), and the new Frank Miller / Jim Lee All Star Batman & Robin book (soooo disappointing). It's not Lee's artwork, which is alright, it's Miller's now-cliche choppy writing style that's bugging the hell out of me. The guy only has to come up with half as many words as most comic scribes, since everything gets repeated. Yes. Everything. Gets. Repeated. It. Just. Gets. Repeated. Everything. Like this. Kinda. Like. This. I just. Can't. Take it. Plus, did we really need four pages of Vicki Vale in her undies?

Lots of cool comic-related news came out of this years San Diego ~~Movie-Con~~ Comic-Con, including the details of some work that writer/artist Brian Wood has coming out. One is the Vertigo series DMZ, in which a near-future Manhattan becomes a war-zone, and a 12-issue Oni series called Local, which will focus on "normal people in extraordinary, life changing situations. Each issue takes place in a different [real world] town, with that town playing as much of a role as the characters themselves." Locations include Portland, OR, Richmond, VA, and our shared former stomping ground of Burlington, Vermont. Really looking forward to that one. For some artwork samples from Local, have a look over here.

Also at the Con, writer Brian K. Vaughan talked about the in-the-works film adaptations of his Ex Machina and Y the Last Man books. I hope Hollywood handles them well, and I'm glad to know that he's working on the screenplays himself.

Following Joss Whedon down the TV-writer turns comic-writer road, it was also announced that "Oz" and "Homicide: Life on the Street" creator Tom Fontana will be writing an original Batman graphic novel. Won't be out until fall 2006, but will hopefully be worth the wait.

If you've been reading the 'Nac for any length of time, you know I'm a big fan of Surviving Grady, the best Red Sox blog out there. Check out this interview with S.G. blogger Tim 'Red' McCarney, conducted by Popimage's Brian Domingos.

If you're into Boston-based author Dennis Lehane, and have grown a bit impatient waiting for news of a follow up to 2003's Shutter Island (which itself followed up 2001's Mystic River), you can tide yourself over with an 18-page short story called 'Until Gwen' in the 2005 edition of 'New Stories From The South'. Yes, a Boston-raised writer in a collection of Dixieland tales. Read an article about the book here (bugmenot login here).

The wait for his next book hopefully won't be much longer, as this past Monday Lehane read excerpts from the novel at Boston's Fanueil Hall, and later at a Dorchester library. Regrettable, I didn't find out about it until after the fact, so if anyone reading this was there, I'd love to hear how it was.

Daily Show fans who are looking forward to Stephen Colbert's upcoming solo-show, 'The Colbert Report', should check out this write-up in the New Yorker. Can't wait.

I realized I never got a chance to write about how great Freaks & Geeks creator Paul Feig's appearance at the Coolidge a few weeks back was. After hearing him read some (seriously embarrassing) material from his new book, 'Superstud', I enjoyed reading it even more. Some bits of info from the Q&A session...

He'll soon be working on a movie adaptation of the novel 'Star Girl' by Jerry Spinelli.

After his book tour, he was heading back to LA to direct the season premiere of 'Arrested Development'.

He's hoping to find time to write a series of young adult sci-fi comedy books.

He read an unreleased chapter called 'The Big Red Shoe Diaries' that may be in his next book, but you can actually find it online right here. Great stuff, even better in person.

Speaking of his next book, he plans on making it the third in a trilogy, with the first (Kick Me) about his time in school, the second (Superstud) about past relationships, and the next about his work experiences.

At his talk in New York, he told the crowd about a new show he's working on called "Nice Guys", about normal nice people in their 20s looking for love. Meaning, of course, it'll probably never get made.

As I sit here finishing up this post, Matt is over at the Boston waterfront finishing up the freakin' Mass. Bar Exam. Years of law school, and weeks of prep-classes and it all comes down to this. Send your extra brain cells his way, he's probably just about out of 'em. And as long as you're at it, send some good luck vibes his way as he searches for a law-type job. The man's got some loans to pay. Although, maybe Mary can sell enough super-cool crafty stuff to cover 'em.

Alright, the weather's way too nice to sit here any longer, so I'm out. If you end up coming to see Charlene on Saturday night at Brooklyn's Trash Bar (with Picastro and Broken River Prophet), or maybe on Monday at Cambridge's Lizard Lounge (with SIANspheric and A Northern Chorus), make sure you say hello to the guy behind the drums.

posted by brad at 4:22 PM | direct link |