bradley's almanac - a boston music blog

boston area shows of note:

friday, july 25th

comedian joel mchale

(from the soup)

@ the wilbur theatre

saturday, july 26th

bon iver

bowerbirds

@ the museum of fine arts

sunday, july 27th

the new collisions (debut)

red quiet

melt

@ tt the bears

sunday, july 27th

sunfold

antiques

@ the middle east upstairs

wednesday, july 30th

we are scientists

@ the middle east downstairs

wednesday, july 30th

earlimart

@ the middle east upstairs

wednesday, july 30th

spiritualized

the dirtbombs

@ the wilbur theatre

thursday, july 31st

the police

elvis costello & the impersonators

@ the tweeter center

friday & saturday

august 1st & 2nd

eddie vedder

liam finn

solo @ the opera house

saturday, august 2nd

wolf parade

@ the paradise

monday, august 4th

coldplay

@ the garden

tuesday, august 5th

(and every tuesday this month)

neil cleary's 'doozy'

a guest-packed 4-show residency

@ the lizard lounge

wednesday, august 6th

neil halstead (slowdive/mojave 3)

rogue wave

jack johnson

@ the tweeter center

saturday, august 9th

margot & the nuclear so and so's

@ the middle east

saturday, august 9th

melvins

@ the paradise

sunday, august 10th

ho-ag

six finger satellite

the in-out

certainly, sir

@ great scott

tuesday, august 12th

thao nguyen with

the get down stay down

david schultz & the skyline

pepi ginsberg

@ tt the bears

tuesday, august 12th

(and every tuesday this month)

neil cleary's 'doozy'

a guest-packed 4-show residency

@ the lizard lounge

wednesday, august 13th

radiohead

grizzly bear

@ the tweeter center

thursday, august 14th

grizzly bear

violens

outside in the courtyard

@ the museum of fine arts

friday, august 15th

the ex

getachew mekuria

debo band

@ the middle east downstairs

saturday, august 16th

+/- (plus minus)

broken river prophet (cd release!)

animal hospital

ba-na-nas

free kickass cupcakes from 9-10pm!

@ the middle east upstairs

tuesday, august 19th

(and every tuesday this month)

neil cleary's 'doozy'

a guest-packed 4-show residency

@ the lizard lounge

wednesday, august 20th

human league, belinda carlisle, abc,

flock of seagulls, naked eyes

@ the bank of america pavilion

thursday, august 21st

yndi halda

caspian

irepress

@ tt the bears

friday, august 22nd

obits (ex-hot snakes/rftc)

@ the middle east

saturday, august 23rd

amo joy!

franklin bruno

(from nothing painted blue)

one happy island (ep release!)

@ the lily pad

saturday, august 23rd

newbury comics / unnatural axe

30th anniversary bash

the meatmen, queers, nasties,

unnatural axe, sleazies

@ the middle east down

tuesday, august 26th

the final installment of...

neil cleary's 'doozy'

a guest-packed august residency

@ the lizard lounge

wednesday, august 27th

liz phair performing

'exile in guyville'

@ the paradise

wednesday, august 27th

xiu xiu

prurient

@ the paradise

monday, september 1st

the juan maclean

@ the middle east downstairs

friday, september 5th

silver jews

@ the middle east downstairs

saturday, september 6th

my morning jacket

@ the bank of america pavilion

sunday, september 7th

ryan adams & the cardinals

@ the bank of america pavilion

tuesday, september 9th

paul weller

@ the berklee performance center

saturday, september 13th

wfnx disorientation 2008

the kooks, flogging molly,

alkaline trio, rogue wave,

and more to be announced

@ bank of america pavilion

monday, september 15th

james

@ the paradise

tuesday, september 16th

a place to bury strangers

@ the paradise

thursday, september 18th

the walkmen

@ the middle east downstairs

friday, september 19th

sigur ros

@ the bank of america pavilion

friday, september 19th to

sunday, september 21st

all tomorrow's parties

with my bloody valentine, low

built to spill, mogwai, shellac,

polvo, yo la tengo, lilys, autolux

dinosaur jr, mercury rev, & more

@ the catskills in nyc

monday, september 22nd

mogwai

fuck buttons

@ the wilbur theatre

tuesday, september 23rd

writer dennis lehane

(release day for 'the given day')

@ the coolidge corner theatre

wednesday, september 24th

low

@ the museum of fine arts boston

saturday, september 27th

built to spill

performing 'perfect from now on'

dinosaur jr.

meat puppets

@ the orpheum

sunday, september 28th

the bird and the bee

willoughby

@ great scott

thursday, september 30th

boston spaceships

(gbv's robert pollard)

big dipper

@ the paradise

sunday, october 5th

pinback

@ the paradise

monday, october 6th

the wedding present

@ the middle east downstairs

monday, october 6th

stereolab

monade

@ the paradise

wednesday, october 8th

wire

@ the middle east downstairs

sunday, october 12th

the residents

@ showcase live, foxboro

sunday, october 12th

the notwist

@ the roxy

tuesday, october 14th

cold war kids

@ the paradise

friday, october 17th

jonathan richman

with drummer tommy larkin

@ the somerville theatre

saturday, october 18th

ra ra riot

walter meego

the morning benders

@ the middle east

tuesday & wednesday

october 21st & 22nd

billy bragg

@ the somerville theatre

wednesday, october 22nd

lyle lovett & john hiatt

(acoustic, on stage together)

@ the orpheum

thursday, october 30th

of montreal

@ the orpheum

saturday, november 1st

henry rollins (spoken word)

@ the orpheum

monday, november 3rd

coldplay

@ the td banknorth garden

visit tourfilter for more shows

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Giving Thanks for Boston Music

As this long Thanksgiving weekend winds down, I wanted to take a moment to show a little gratitude for some of our area music-makers and supporters, the ones that help make Boston the great-sounding city it can be for me. I often feel like I don't give the local scene enough written love here on the 'Nac, spending what little blogging time I have focusing mostly on visiting out-of-town faves. This too-small post isn't meant to make up for that, but hopefully it'll help motivate me to pay more attention in '07...

First off, a big thanks to a certain handful of area independent promoters who consistently do their DIY thing and do it so well. Without them, I wouldn't see half the shows I do; so many local acts would be without solid lineups to jump on; and a whole bunch of touring bands would be struggling for the nights they need. So cheers to Stacie Slotnick at CPR; Carl Lavin & Ben Sisto for all the shows at Great Scott, O'Brien's, and elsewhere; Aliza Shapiro at Truth Serum; Dan Shea at BoWAaC, and Dan Hirsch for the amazing evenings he helps put together at the MFA Boston.

Speaking of which, here's to the alternative venues that have popped up during the past few years, and have continued to give me an oft-needed break from the ol' big two in Central Square. I've seen countless memorable shows at Great Scott, PA's Lounge, the MFA's Remis Auditorium, and the Lily Pad. Viva variety.

Thanks to one of my favorite local labels (hell, one of my faves period), Kimchee Records. Co-run by Andy Hong and Bob Dubrow, the imprint is celebrating it's 10-year anniversary with two upcoming shows, the first on Friday, December 29th at the Middle East in Cambridge, the second on Friday, January 5th at TT the Bears next door. Just check out the bands playing these shows: Seekonk, Hilken Mancini (ex-Fuzzy) & Chris Colbourn (Buffalo Tom), Tiger Saw, Geoff Farina (ex-Karate), 27, a reunited Cordelia's Dad, Thalia Zedek, the Paula Kelley Orchestra, Heidi Saperstein, Willard Grant Conspiracy, and Chris Brokaw. Check the list on the left for the exact where and when.

And as Kimchee hits their decade mark, here's to the upstart Post Meridian Records, who now have a year under their belts and are throwing a holiday party at the Abbey Lounge on Thursday, December 21st. The label was recently profiled in a nice Boston Globe article, and next year looks to be an important one for them as their initial signees release more music. Keep an ear out for those future full-lengths from The Westward Trail (myspace) and Logan 5 & The Runners (myspace).

Thanks for the Band In Boston podcast, which is coming up on six months of not only playing songs from area artists and in-town visitors, but hosting their own 'Flophouse Sessions', where locals get to play live. Here's hoping that Andy & Jen keep it going long enough to celebrate a bunch of anniversaries of their own.

Thanks to those locals who put out albums that have made (and are still making) my 2006 go down smoother, including Drew O'Doherty, Victory At Sea, Age Rings (who I recently plugged over at ILB), Dear Leader, Tanya Donelly, and for an album I just got in the mail, the Specific Heats.

(speaking of the Age Rings, check out their recent live Flophouse session on the Band In Boston podcast)

Thanks for area college radio, especially WMBR's long-running "Pipeline" and the more recent "Phoning It In" programs, along with WZBC's "Mesmerization Eclipse" and "Flyweight" shows.

Thanks to some of my longtime faves who continue to make their home here, writing songs and playing out often. It'd be easy to take them for granted if their output didn't continue to be so damn good. I'm talkin' about some names I've mentioned above and a few I haven't in awhile: Chris Brokaw, Seana Carmody, Aaron Perrino, Thalia Zedek, Bill Janovitz, Tanya Donelly, Chris Pearson, and a bunch more I'm probably spacing on.

Linkworthy bits from those above...

Chris Brokaw will be releasing a 7" (long live wax) with three outtakes from the score he did for the film "Road" (trailer/myspace/site) and another new song. It's a co-release between NY's I And Ear Records and A Whale Of A Label, look for it in January.

Kimchee directs us to a video of Brokaw appearing with Steve Wynn and one of my favorite authors, George Pelecanos. Very cool.

Speaking of team-ups, word is that Chris and Geoff Farina are working together on an album that will be "comprised entirely (or almost) of pre-World War II blues songs."

A new full-length from Seana Carmody (ex-Swirlies/Syrup USA) is in the works, hopefully we'll see it early next year. It will be her second solo disc, the first being 2002's "Struts & Shocks". She'll no doubt be playing songs from both at her next show on January 6th at PA's Lounge with Vox Humana (aka Vic from Knife Crazy). Listen to some Seana songs at MySpace. Idolator recently showed Seana some love via a spotlight on Syrup USA.

Aaron Perrino's post-Sheila Divine project, Dear Leader, has just released their new full-length, "The Alarmist" (and seeing as it's the band's third disc, we should be able to stop making Sheila Divine references, right?). Listen for yourself: stream the entire album, head to MySpace for some songs, download live sets at archive.org, or this mp3: Dear Leader - "Radar". Buy "The Alarmist" via Newbury Comics.

Ex-Green Magnet School frontguy Chris Pearson has thankfully been upping his musical output over the past year or so, playing out solo as "Pearson", and sharing songs via his own MySpace site. Head over for rotating originals (new: "Suite: Thebaine") and older covers (sadly, his ace version of Can's "Mother Sky" is no longer up there), or hit up the new/archival Green Magnet School MySpace page. What a great band they were.

The Butcher Brothers, creators of the suburban-horror film "The Hamiltons", also know what a great band GMS was, as they've used their excellent "Barmicide Room" in the trailer. Watch the clip here. So freakin' cool to hear that in there.

And I'll bring this post to a thematic close with a link to "Thanksgiving", a short film that writer/director Alex Johnson has finally made available for viewing in its entirety over at his Lachima Films site. What does this have to do with Boston music? Well, the film was scored by none other than Drew O'Doherty with Klaus Hubben (Certainly, Sir) and Scott Craggs (Roh Delikat). A great collaboration all around, musically and visually.

And so the long weekend is over, and I've only scratched the surface of the Boston-born music-makers and boosters that help make my listening life what it is. There's so much more, and it'll be an easy resolution to give my adopted hometown more musical due in the new year...

posted by brad at 11:20 PM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

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