navigate the 'nac
almanac mp3 archives almanac shared mp3 archive
live show photo archive boston-area live shots on flickr
'my life or some dream'
original mp3 compilation

free mp3 compilation on club fub
bands i've been in bands i've played drums in
the almanac faq
contact info and more

the 'nac on the 'net
the almanac rss feed
subscribe to my rss feed
follow me on twitter the almanac twitter account
the 'nac on facebook the 'nac on facebook
hype machine 'nac page the almanac hype machine page
the 'nac songkick gig page the almanac songkick gig page
the almanac last.fm page the almanac last.fm page

the almanac archives



search the 'nac


recommended boston area events

thursday, july 2nd

the church

adam franklin (swervedriver)

@ showcase live, foxborough


sunday, july 5th

city breathing

deep sea diver

adam rich

steve pardo & lindley cameron

@ the middle east upstairs


saturday, july 11th

the luxury

the click five

midatlantic

aloud

@ the paradise


sunday, july 12th

the dead weather

screaming females

@ the house of blues


saturday, july 18th

butterflies

travels

@ pa's lounge


sunday, july 19th

grand duchy (w/frank black)

the bunnies

van elk (w/valerie mistle thrush)

@ the middle east downstairs


sunday, july 19th

lymbyc systym

coralcola

the cush

the pandas

@ the middle east upstairs


monday, july 20th

you can be a wesley (cd release!)

casper & the cookies

everything, now!

magic magic

@ the middle east upstairs


monday, july 20th

green day

the bravery

@ the garden


tuesday, july 21st

mark eitzel & marc capelle

performing american music club songs

@ the lizard lounge


friday, july 24th

varsity drag (cd release!)

the grownup noise

winterpills

brendan boogie & the best intentions

@ the middle east upstairs


sunday, july 26th

pete yorn

@ the house of blues


tuesday, july 28th

cass mccombs

jennifer o'connor & band

mike bones

@ tt the bears


wednesday, july 29th

foreign born

the veils

faces on film

@ tt the bears


thursday, july 30th

justin ripley & his band

@ pa's lounge


friday, july 31st

destroyer (dan bejar)

iran

wooden wand

@ the paradise


friday, july 31st

depeche mode

peter bjorn & john

@ great woods


saturday, august 1st

alasdair roberts

@ lorem ipsum books, inman square


saturday, august 1st

wheat (cd release show!)

the xyz affair

@ great scott


sunday, august 2nd

soft power (featuring mary timony)

gramercy arms (featuring dave derby)

@ tt the bears


monday, august 3rd

billy bragg

@ the berklee performance center


monday, august 3rd

tinted windows

(james iha, adam schlesinger,

taylor hanson, & bun e. carlos)

@ the paradise


monday, august 3rd

coldplay

elbow

kitty daisy & lewis

@ the comcast center


wednesday, august 5th

the rural alberta advantage

joshua english (ex-six going on seven)

with lisa molinaro

baby teeth

@ the middle east upstairs


wednesday, august 5th

arctic monkeys

modey lemon

@ the paradise


wednesday, august 5th

joe pernice (solo show & book tour)

@ the brattle theatre (2 shows)


wednesday and thursday

august 5th and 6th

paul mccartney

@ fenway park


friday, august 7th

the electric prunes

love

sky saxon (of the seeds)

@ the middle east downstairs


saturday, august 8th

blondie

pat benatar

@ the b.o.a. pavilion


wednesday, august 12th

the warlocks

@ great scott


wednesday, august 12th

the pretenders

cat power

juliette lewis

@ the bank of american pavilion


thursday, august 13th

bat for lashes

@ the paradise


friday, august 14th

six finger satellite

@ tt the bears


sunday, august 16th

the decemberists

heartless bastards

@ mountain park, holyoke


sunday, august 16th

trashcan sinatras

@ tt the bears


monday, august 17th

the breeders

@ the paradise


friday, august 21st

choo choo la rouge (cd release!)

the big disappointments

impossible hair

the operators

@ pa's lounge


saturday & sunday

august 22nd & 23rd

bruce springsteen & the e street band

@ the comcast center / great woods


saturday, august 29th

caspain

actors & actresses

irepress

arms & sleepers

@ tt the bears


sunday, august 30th

the flaming lips

explosions in the sky

stardeath and white dwarfs

@ the boa pavilion


thursday, september 3rd

kay hanley (letters to cleo)

antisocialites

ingenue

@ tt the bears


saturday, september 5th

the pains of being pure at heart

cymbals eat guitars

depreciation guild

@ the middle east downstairs


saturday, september 5th

pet shop boys

@ the house of blues


thursday, september 10th

autolux

sleepy sun

@ the paradise


thursday, september 10th

dirty three

@ the i.c.a. boston


friday, september 11th

kings of leon

glasvegas

@ the comcast center / great woods


saturday, september 12th

the cult

performing 'love' in its entirety

@ the house of blues


sunday, september 13th

down

melvins

@ the house of blues


tuesday, september 15th

the horrors

@ the paradise


saturday & sunday

september 19th & 20th

boston lebowski fest

with movie screening & bowling

@ the house of blues & kings


sunday, september 20th

u2

snow patrol

@ gillette stadium


tuesday, september 22nd

son volt

@ the paradise


friday, september 25th

township

the lights out (cd release!)

reverse

gravehaven

@ tt the bears


friday, september 25th

charlatans uk

hatcham social

@ the paradise


saturday, september 26th

kmfdm

@ the house of blues


sunday, september 20th

maximo park

@ the paradise


monday, september 28th

sunny day real estate

@ the house of blues


wednesday, september 30th

mono

maserati

@ the middle east downstairs


sunday, october 4th

the "loud & rich" tour

richard thompson &

loudon wainwright iii

performing solo & together

@ the sanders theatre, harvard


wednesday, october 7th

bob mould

@ the paradise


saturday, october 10th

the psychedelic furs

happy monday

@ the house of blues


wednesday, october 14th

loney dear

asobi seksu

@ great scott


wednesday, october 21st

mum

@ the somerville theatre


saturday, october 31st

pinback

@ the paradise


friday, november 13th

janeane garofalo

rob riggle

two shows @ the wilbur theatre


visit tourfilter for more shows



Monday, May 01, 2006

Mp3s: Clearing the Decks

It's about time I did another one of my catch-all mp3 posts, pulling together lots of live songs I've been gathering over time but haven't yet had an opportunity to share.

Random live recordings from six bands this time: Five from The Crystal Skulls, a few each from Metal Hearts and locals Frank Smith, a complete Dios (Malos) set, a couple from The Twenty-Twos, and just one from Boston's own The Luxury. Most of 'em were opening acts, and the lack of complete sets is either explained by my own tardiness, or by the bands playing new songs that haven't seen a proper studio recording. I've left those unreleased ones out in deference to the artists (that's the case with Metal Hearts, The Luxury, & the Twenty-Twos).

Much variety to be found below, and remember, an easy way to hear 'em all is to check out the Almanac stream on the Hype Machine, which should update itself with these songs shortly...


It was a year ago, on April 28th, 2005 to be exact, that I first heard of the Crystal Skulls, when they opened for the Wedding Present at the Middle East Downstairs in Cambridge, MA. Naturally the set consisted of songs from their then-current album, last year's 'Blocked Numbers', but they did play a new one that ended up on their just-released disc, 'Outgoing Behavior'...


Listen to more at the Crystal Skulls' MySpace page, or grab a couple songs from their site.


Another band on the ace Suicide Squeeze label, Metal Hearts, played a strange show at Northeastern University a couple weeks ago. It certainly wasn't their set, which was as good as I'd hoped it would be, that made it strange, but the setting. A large student lounge, and just a few kids in attendance, most of whom seemed to be friends of the 'headlining' pop-punk band. The place made Metal Hearts start early, so much so that I sadly missed the first couple songs. As it was, they were scheduled against a new episode of '24', so most TiVo-deprived students were getting their Bauer on and missing a great band in their own school yard.

The MH duo of Anar & Flora were somehow able to bring the bedroom-vibe of their 'Socialize' album to the odd live setting, and the addition of the recording engineer Sam on drums did nothing to take away from that. He brought just the right touches to the material, and it was great to find out that he's playing on the follow-up. The new stuff I heard that night was promising indeed.

Here are live versions of a few songs from 'Socialize', recorded on April 17th, 2006...



(note: mp3 files removed on 10/1/2006)

Metal Hearts
Gentlemen's Spell (live)
Foothills (live)
Vampires / Tendency to Run (live)

Hear more at their MySpace page, where you can also see the new video for 'Foothills' (or try YouTube). Also well worth hearing is their recent live set at WOXY, recorded just a few days ago. Metal Hearts are in the middle of a huge tour that's taking them all over North America, and they'll be back in the Boston area on March 22nd.


I'd read some good things about Boston-based band Frank Smith before I found out they'd be opening for that free New Pornographers show at the Paradise a few weeks ago, but wasn't sure they'd be my cuppa tea until they took the stage. I was overly psyched for the New Pornos, but found myself pleasantly surprised by the laid-back banjo-dusted songs the openers offered up. Here are a few, recorded on April 10th, 2006...

(note: mp3 files removed on 10/1/2006)


It's to the point where I don't need to say you can find more at their MySpace page... just assume it, and do it. You can also head to the Phoenix's On the Download blog for another mp3.


I was completely unfamiliar with Dios (Malos) when I caught them opening for Matt Pond PA back on February 8th of this year, and I'm still not entirely sure what to make of them. I do know their recordings have a more lo-fi, meandering feel than their live stuff, which came across as more fleshed out and energetic than the mp3s I've heard since. I think I need to spend more time with the latest album before I call myself a fan, but I do remember enjoying their set as I saw it. Here's the whole thing...


MySpace songs? Yup.


Amie looooved the Twenty-Twos far more than I did when we saw them back on January 20th at Great Scott in Allston, but she's a sucker for girls pop-rockin' it on their guitars. The pure greatness of the Editors set that came after them sort of overpowered any impression I'd had, but Amie had to leave early and was psyched to pick up the Twenty-Twos' self-titled EP. Too bad the thing has that Sony ECP DRM crap on it... not going near my cd-rom drive, thank you very much. At least I can hear some MySpace songs, and a couple live tracks here...



(note: mp3 files removed on 10/1/2006)

The Twenty-Twos
She Does (live)
Touch & Go (live)


And lastly, a live song from the Luxury, a Boston band fronted by ex-Halogen Jason Dunn, playing with ex-members of the band Baby Strange. Their full-length debut, 'This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things', is on the way, and you can grab the first song from it at On the Download. They played a bunch of stuff at TT the Bears back on January 22nd that I assume will also be found on the album, but since the song 'Docile' sits in demo form on their MySpace page, I'll share the live version up here...



(note: mp3 files removed on 10/1/2006)

The Luxury
Docile (live)

And speaking of The Halogens, they'll be playing a one-off reunion show this Friday, May 5th, at Bill's Bar. Word is they'll be handing out free discs of unreleased material to those in attendance.


the blahblahblah: If any of the artists above have an issue with this live material being made available, just say the word (email link on left). No worries if you want something yanked.

Recorded with a Sony ECM-719 mic and a Sony MZ-RH10 minidisc, converted to .wav and then edited to 192kbps mp3s. And keep in mind, sets are made available for a few weeks, and are not reposted once removed.

Labels:











featured mp3 download
the wooden birds
a few songs live at tt's
on saturday, april 18th, 2009

'nac twitter action


    latest live band pics



    recent posts on the 'nac...


    latest comments...


    on the mp3 player

    on the screen

    on the nightstand


    other boston-area music blogs


    boston music media


    boston live show / event info


    music blogroll


    music audiocasts


    surf-worthy


    other frequent haunts


    boston-centric


    some cele-bloggers



    Locations of visitors to this page




    Weblog Commenting by HaloScan.com

    This page is powered by Blogger Pro.

    Blog Directory - Blogged