bradley's almanac - a boston-based music blog

almanac mp3 archives
live show photo archive
'my life or some dream' original mp3 compilation
bands i've been in
the 'nac faq & contact info

the almanac rss feed
follow me on twitter
become a fan on facebook
hype machine 'nac page
the 'nac songkick gig page
almanac events on sponty
the almanac last.fm page

the almanac archives

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

A single post rings on, and on, and on ...

A slew of good shows have been announced or gone on sale in the Boston area lately, including the return of Mark Kozelek (with his Sun Kil Moon / Red House Painters drummer Phil Carney), who will be playing the Museum of Fine Arts on Friday, May 26th. I've never seen a less-than-great show there, so hopes are pretty high.

It's extremely rare that I'll spend more than 20 bucks a ticket, but one of those exceptions arrives at the Somerville Theatre on Thursday, March 23rd. Billy Bragg is back, this time supporting his nine-cd box set (out in late February on Yep Roc). Between the $35 tickets and that multi-cd expense, it's a pricey time to be a devoted Bragg fan.

When I saw the initial list of dates on Neko Case's short April tour, Boston was sadly missing. A day later, and we're on. That's Wednesday, April 5th at the Roxy.

Saturday, March 4th is a rough one: A couple weeks after grabbing tix for Ted Leo's appearance at the Paradise that night, I learned that Catherine Wheel's Rob Dickinson is playing at the same time, just a few hundred feet closer to the street in the connected Paradise Lounge. Damn the double-up. Hopefully the stars will align and their sets will not, so I'll be able to catch one and then the other without even seeing the evening sky. That's assuming Mr. Dickinson doesn't sell out, which is not a safe assumption.

Wanna see what we're in for? Here's a clip of Rob performing a song from his solo album, along with some interview bits.

Teddy got himself some (unintended?) major crossover web-action last week when something he wrote on his website was then picked up by VH1's Best Week Ever blog. I'll spare Ted any direct quoting since he quickly removed the (completely and totally justified) Bono-blasting post from his page. In any case, I'm in complete agreement. 'Someday?!'. So weak.

Oh, and congrats to due to Mr. Leo, who was able to leave the financially-troubled Lookout Records behind and sign with one of my longtime favorite labels, Touch & Go.

The following month, and also at the Paradise, Ambulance LTD performs as part of the 'The Taste Greatness Concert Series', sponsored by, um, a long-since irrelevant mainstream music magazine and a big-time brewery. Ok then. That show is on Saturday, April 29th, and Ambulance's new EP, entitled 'New English', arrives on February 28th. Their sophomore album is due 'later this year'.

Built to Spill comes back to Boston two days later, on Monday, May 1st at the Roxy. They'll be touring in support of 'You In Reverse', out on April 11th, and supposedly some of those dates include Camper Van Beethoven as an opening act. Not sure if the Boston stop does, but that'd be swell.

Pre-sale tickets for the Boston date of that Death Cab For Cutie / Franz Ferdinand jumbo-tour went on sale about twenty minutes ago (well, longer than that by the time I actually post this)... and they're already gone. No surprise there. If you're down with seeing DCFC and FF at Boston University's too-huge Agganis Arena with 7,000 of your closest college-aged friends, then you'll have to hit Ticketmaster tomorrow morning at 10am EST. I'm gonna avoid the masses and let my fond memories of Death Cab's small-club past sustain me.

Since I'm writing so much about area shows, allow me to whine again about one that's skipping Boston: Stereolab. The closest they're coming on their March tour is western Mass., and while I keep hoping they'll add us to their itinerary, it's looking more and more unlikely. I may end up driving a couple hours westwards, especially if their next album ('Fab Four Suture', out March 11th) blows me away.

Tonight: Matt Pond PA with dios (malos) at the 'Dise.

And after we get home from the show: Sigur R�s on Conan O'Brien. I didn't go to their Boston performance yesterday (Todd did, here's his review), as I can't imagine them being any better than they were when they played the Opera House a few months back. When they tour again with some new songs, I'm there.

Another show I skipped: Low and His Name Is Alive at the Somerville Theatre last week. The last time I saw Low, which was at the same venue early last year, I was fairly disappointed. Having seem them probably 10 times, it was the first I can remember feeling that way, and given that they're touring on the same material, I figured a break was needed. Their slight shift towards louder dynamics may be leaving me behind, as it was always the delicacy of their music that set them apart, the perfect lull that took hold and transported me. I didn't get that last time around, and maybe never will again... might be time for me to let go of the live Low I used to know and love, and rediscover them as something new.

In any case, Brainwashed shows me what I missed as far as His Name Is Alive goes, with a 27 minute video of live bits and interview action. Very nice.

Dinosaur Jr. back in the studio for a new album? That's just... weird. In a good way, I guess. We shall see. For now, I'm more excited about the re-release of a remastered Sebadoh III on March 21st.

The Clogs' new album on Brassland hit stores yesterday, and it's a beauty. Anyone who heard the live mp3s I posted back in November knew we were in for something good with the arrival of 'Lantern'. Speaking of which, I'll be removing those live tracks in a few days, so get grabbing if you haven't yet.

Also out yesterday was "To: Elliott, From Portland", the Elliott Smith tribute featuring The Decemberists, We Are Telephone, Helio Sequence, Eric Matthews, & more. You can stream the entire thing over at aol music. (thanks brooklynvegan)

I mentioned Emma Anderson's Sing-Sing in last week's live Lush mp3 post, and their new album, which arrives on Valentine's Day. Well, here's a new interview with Emma & co-Sing-Singer Lisa O�Neill over at Aversion.

I have much love for 'No Love For Ned', especially last week's streaming installment in which he played a song by a band I was in called The Four Color Manual, and went straight from that into the Wedding Present. I so loved being in that band, and hearing 'Chambers' brought me right back to making music with Colin & Dan. You totally made my week, Ned.

Here's the song he played: The Four Color Manual - 'Chambers'. You can find another 4CM song right over here.

Speaking of my former Four Color bandmate, Colin Clary, he just released an honest-to-goodness 'cassingle' on Sanitary Records called 'Darling on a Landline'. 4 song, 5 minutes, 2 dollars. Time to dust off that tape deck.

Also kinda Colin-centric, Too Much Rock just posted their review of The Smittens show at the Middle East Upstairs back on New Year's Day with The Specific Heats, B For Brontosaurus, & Math The Band. Pictures, words, and video abounds, so check it.

The Smittens also have a free downloadable song on the new 'Recycling The Throwaways' compilation from 'A Bunch of Beatniks Riding a Rocket'. 23 other tracks to be found there, worth a visit at the very least.

Which brings us to a little Specific Heats news update: They are finishing up their first full-length, with just artwork and little mixing to go. In the meantime, they've already been writing new songs, and you can preview a couple by grabbing these lo-fi 4-track demos: 'Things Get in The Way' and 'Standards'. The fine print, from the band: "if it sounds a bit sloppy, that's because it is."

I totally missed out on that Mission of Burma limited edition singles club thing that Matador is doing for the next album (due on May 9th). 8 songs from the record, released weekly, a single-sided 12'' at a time, followed by 8 more on single-song cds. Ah well, at least we'll eventually get to hear 'em all.

I should've mentioned this long ago: Free streaming goodness thanks to Apollo Audio: Entire albums by The Sixth Great Lake, Bound Stems, & many more. The Sixth Great Lake's beautiful 'Sunday Bridge' has only been released on vinyl, so that's the only way you're going to hear it digitally until some label wises up and puts that sucker out on cd.

Morgan Spurlock, the guy behind fast-food documentary 'Super Size Me' and the F/X show '30 days' gives word that season two is on the way: "I leave tomorrow to shoot my episode for the season premiere of season two of 30 Days. The show should hit F/X in July and the DVD from season one will be a few months before (around May is the tentative street date)." Glad to hear it. While the episodes in season one were of seriously varied quality, I look forward to see what he comes up with next (and hope he and his girlfriend are featured in most of 'em).

Some even-more-excellent TV news: Ricky Gervais himself is writing an episode of the U.S version of his show, The Office. I think the show has really come into its own, and an original script from Gervais has me so, so psyched.

I'm in the middle of a pretty intense obsession with Japanese author Haruki Murakami ever since I finished his incredibly moving 'Kafka On The Shore' last week. It really, really impacted me... moreso than any book I've read in years. I immediately grabbed what a friend calls his opus, 'The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle', and I'm cruising through it. The fact that he happened to have an original short story ('A Shinagawa Monkey') in the latest New Yorker is a completely perfect coincidence.

Creative Commons author and Boing-Boing co-editor Cory Doctorow is coming to Boston next week, and will be making two public appearances: One at MIT, and another at Harvard. Go here for more info, including a couple other area appearances.

I conciously haven't written about anything political here on the 'Nac in a very long time, but this incident just infuriated me. Just when you think things can't get any worse.

Amie and I missed the first one, so last night we checked out the second official Exploit Boston Game Night, this time at Common Ground in Allston. Tons of board games, bunches of people playing, good food, custom-made ipod playlists on the stereo system, and lots of beers on tap. Can't really beat that. Abby was there, too, although I didn't get a chance to meet her. Been reading her blog for awhile, so maybe next time.

Only one small complaint, and this certainly doesn't fall at the feet of the organizers: the somewhat overly-enthusiastic couple near us, who were either very drunk or really rude (both?). Maybe they were high on Hungry Hungry Hippos? Not only did they cause the quick exit of a frightened family ('um, check please'), but they apparantly bailed without tipping or signing their bill. Uncool. Hopefully the crew at Common Ground was happy enough with how things turned out overall to ignore those clowns and have another one hosted there, 'cuz boy did we dig it.

I always said if I found a place with free wi-fi and Brooklyn Lager on tap that I was in real trouble. Well, Common Ground is that place. I'll be the guy with the laptop and the 20 ounce glass of the good stuff.

I will leave you today with something so completely surreal: Iggy Pop appearing on the Dinah Shore show with David Bowie. When worlds collide, indeed.

posted by brad at 3:54 PM | direct link |