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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






Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Mp3s: David Bazan live in Cambridge, MA
First, the semi-straight facts: In the beginning, Pedro the Lion was David Bazan, and David Bazan was Pedro the Lion. A revolving cast of musical friends made up the studio and touring band, and he/they released a couple 7-inches, an EP, and then his/their first full length, the brilliant 'It's Hard To Find a Friend', on Seattle's Made in Mexico Records in 1998. Their next stop was Jade Tree, who re-released the album, co-released another EP, and then put out the second disc, 'Winners Never Quit', in 2000. A couple excellent full-lengths later, frequent touring bassist TW Walsh (a damn fine songwriter in his own right, but more on the great new Soft Drugs EP later this week) became an official PTL member, and helped create what would become their last official output, 'Achilles Heel', in 2004. Meanwhile, David had decided to record some songs sans-guitar, just keys and drums, so his newly named Headphones released a debut disc in 2005.

During the overlap, you wouldn't see Pedro play any Headphones songs live, nor would you see Headphones perform any Pedro songs. A short time later, David decided to retire the PTL band name, part creative ways with co-conspirator TW, and resolve to put out his guitar-based songs under his own name. So as a solo live performer, he now pulls from a long list of whatever material he wants. In his own words from the stage: "It's a Venn diagram that intersects right here with me."

He came to Cambridge a couple nights back to sing his songs of death and doubt in front of an obviously enraptured crowd at TT the Bears. I'm not sure I've ever missed any of his various incarnations' Boston area appearances, and this one surely ranks with the best of them. Songs spread throughout his recorded history, along with all the songs from his newly released 'Fewer Broken Parts' EP (which conveniently appeared in my mailbox just hours before the show).

More on that disc after this gift, mp3s of David's 17 song set (with bonus between-song banter), shared here with his kind permission...


For those keeping score: Song 1 is from the PTL 'Progress' EP; 2, 9, 12, & 19 come from PTL's 'Achilles Heel', and 3 can be found on their 'Control' disc; 4, 7, 14, 22, & 25 are all from the new solo EP; 11 & 16 are both Headphones songs, and 20 is from PTL's 'Winners Never Quit'; 5, 23, & 27 are all from 'It's Hard to Find a Friend'.

I think David's been doing candid mid-show question & answer breaks for about as long as he's been playing out, and depending on what the audience serves up for Q's, the A's can be worth the price of admission alone. Better some potentially interesting interaction than the clich� between-song cheeze you might get elsewhere (and if you've never seen Sense & Sensibility... spoiler alert!).

There's a lot I dig about the guy: Aside from the obvious (his knack for catchy melody, his way with words, and that voice), I admire his ability to channel the darker aspects of humanity in his songs, his willingness to not only sing frankly about his faith but to question it (for which he has this agnostic's respect), his politics, and his refreshing honesty, both within his lyrics and his conversation. He's not afraid to wear more than just his heart on his sleeve.

Pay special attention to song #7 above, the Q&A that precedes it, and the words that follow it. It's 'Selling Advertising', the first song on the new EP, and it's pointedly directed at Pitchfork's head hooer, Ryan Schreiber. As a longtime P-fork detractor, I'm glad to see Bazan put himself out there and mix it up with the so-called 'indie tastemaker'. Back in 2000, there was a long string of infuriating reviews of records I loved (and even a couple I didn't) that were so poorly written that they formed a lasting foundation for my disdain, which has since been diluted a bit by apathy. I still occasionally hit them up for news alone, but even that is becoming irrelevant; their daily updates increasingly include items I've read elsewhere much earlier. A friend pointed me to their recent review of the Billy Bragg box set, complete with misquoted lyrics and inaccurate song titles... so it seems not much has changed. It usually makes me feel dirty to even mention 'em, but this deserves it.

Mr. Bazan's beef: One of those hack reviews I mentioned was this one of Pedro's 'Winners Never Quit' disc. A near-personal attack that talks little about the music, it's a shining turd of an example of P-fork at it's worst. And while it's not written by Schreiber, word is he's responsible for the random numbers that rate every reviewed release. Ever wonder why a write-up's text occasionally doesn't really jibe with the rating? Well, there ya go. More evidence of the douchebaggery: This swell PTL news item and another little review.

Have at thee, Schreiber! The lyrics to David Bazan's 'Selling Advertising'...
You're so creative with your reviews
Of what other people do
How satisfying that must be for you
Am I a Christian? Are you a Jew?
Did you kill my Lord? Must I forgive you?

I know it's hard to be original
In fact, nothing scares me more
Because Jesus only lets me do
What has been done before

The path of least resistance
The ancient holy wars
The same old easy targets
Yeah, we've all been there before

So if it starts to get you down
Just pretend
That you don't make your living
From selling advertising
Tracking trends, corralling demographics,
And maximizing traffic

Then if you get tired of making taste for free
You can always start a band with me
Or anybody
As David himself says after the song, not exactly open to interpretation, eh? Gotta love the religion-teasing he throws out there. And how many points do you think P-fork will give the EP? It's a catch-22: Too low and they're taking the bait, too high and they're attempting to cover their hipster asses ('hey, look at us, we're above that petty stuff!'). Can they resist the urge to get even muddier, and instead just ignore it?

To stream the entire 'Fewer Moving Parts' EP, which includes 10 songs (five new ones and their acoustic demo counterparts), head to PureVolume. You can also hear a few of them over at his MySpace page.

The title track (which Bazan called 'the saddest song I know') is a great one about his musical split with TW Walsh. 'Backwoods Nation' takes a look at the sorry side of the close-minded America we've seen over the last five years, and has been reworked nicely from a previous appearance on a 2002 Jade Tree compilation (that vocal distortion in the live version is a cool touch). Another song, 'Cold Beer and Cigarettes', lived a couple of previous lives as 'The Devil Is Beating His Wife', which you can find online as an acoustic demo (also on the EP) and an electric demo as well.

Forget about online availability, though -- This EP is something you really need to hold in your hands... not just for the higher-fi, but for the beautiful drawings by Eisner-nominated artist/publisher Zak Sally (more than just the 'ex-Low bassist'). The mini-comic-slash-lyric-booklet helps make the thing a genuine work of album art (if only it was an actual LP). Buy the whole pretty package either straight from the Undertow music collective or from Jade Tree, or at an upcoming show, where you can also score a larger version of the Zak Sally art in the form of a spiffy tour poster. The remaining dates...
Wed 06/21 Hoboken NJ @ Maxwell's (early show)
Thu 06/22 Philadelphia PA @ World Cafe Live
Fri 06/23 Washington DC @ Black Cat Backstage
Sat 06/24 Pittsburgh PA @ Club Cafe Live
Sun 06/25 Newport KY @ Southgate House - Parlor
Wed 07/19 Portland OR @ Doug Fir - w/ Micah P. Hinson
Thu 07/20 Eugene OR @ WOW Hall - w/ Micah P. Hinson
Fri 07/21 Chico CA @ Market Cafe - w/ Micah P. Hinson
Sat 07/22 Modesto CA @ Xclamation Festival w/ Micah P. Hinson
Sun 07/23 Pomona CA @ Glass House - w/ Micah P. Hinson
Mon 07/24 San Diego CA @ The Casbah - w/ Micah P. Hinson
Tue 07/25 Los Angeles CA @ Tangiers - w/ Micah P. Hinson
Thu 07/27 San Francisco CA @ Bottom of the Hill - w/ Micah P. Hinson
Sat 07/29 Seattle WA @ Tractor Tavern - w/ Micah P. Hinson
Some links before I go...
  • Kirstiecat has some words and pictures from David's recent Chicago stop, the first of the tour.

  • The Onion AV Club writes a bit about the Chicago show as well.

  • Yeti Don't Dance writes up last night's Brooklyn show here.

  • Indie Interviews chatted with him back in March, and I shared up a bonus excerpt here.

  • Get your Bazan-centric chat on at the PedroTheLion.org forum or the Undertow messageboard.

  • Save me some bandwidth by streaming the above show on the Hype Machine.

  • The ever-present fine print: Recorded with a Sony ECM-719 mic and a Sony MZ-RH10 minidisc, converted to .wav and then edited to 192kbps mp3s. Mp3s are made available for a limited time, and are not reposted once removed.

    This particular set may be available for a very limited time, as for the first time I've exceeded my bandwidth limit for the month (blame radiohead & cat power). I'm limping along until July begins, and while my provider may pull the plug at any moment, I'll do my best to return quickly... tall dollars be damned...

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