bradley's almanac - a boston music blog

boston area shows of note:

sunday, may 11th

hallelujah the hills

girls, guns, & glory

and many more

free @ mayfair in harvard square

sunday, may 11th

the lymbyc systym

@ the middle east

monday, may 12th

the cure

@ agganis arena

tuesday, may 13th

british sea power

the rosebuds

jeffrey lewis

@ the paradise

thursday, may 15th

tourfilter dj night

songs by bands coming to town

(with djs yours truly & chris tourfilter)

9pm @ river gods near central square

thursday, may 15th

bishop allen

the teeth

the self righteous brothers

@ the middle east downstairs

friday, may 16th

ryan's smashing life presents...

aloud, murder mystery,

miss fairchild, & scuba

@ tt the bears

friday, may 16th

bell x1

@ the paradise

friday, may 16th

bruce cockburn

catherine maclellan

@ the somerville theatre

saturday, may 17th

thee silver mt. zion memorial

orchestra & tra-la-la band

(members of godspeed you black emperor)

@ the middle east downstairs

sunday, may 18th

snowden

colour revolt

the epochs

age rings

@ great scott

monday, may 19th

daily show writer

rob kutner

signing 'apocalypse how'

@ pandemonium in cambridge

tuesday, may 20th

x (john doe, exene, bonebrake, & billy)

the detroit cobras

@ the paradise

friday, may 23rd

joe lally (of fugazi)

glorytellers

thalia zedek

@ the middle east

friday, may 23rd

writer neil gaiman

@ mit's kresge auditorium

friday, may 23rd

laura veirs

liam finn

@ the middle east

saturday, may 24th

cake, cracker,

the english beat, bodeans

@ the dcr hatch shell

saturday, may 24th

son volt

@ the museum of fine arts boston

saturday, may 24th

the mary onettes

@ the middle east

wednesday, may 28th

duran duran

@ agganis arena

friday, may 30th

the gentlemen

eric salt & the electric city

the rationales (cd release)

@ tt the bears

friday, may 30th

sea wolf

the jealous girlfriends

@ the paradise

saturday, may 31st

jeremy enigk

damien jurado

@ great scott

sunday, june 1st

ida

michael hurley

@ the nave gallery, somerville

monday, june 2nd

M83

@ the middle east downstairs

wednesday, june 4thnd

hayden

@ great scott

thursday, june 5th

the breeders

the montana boys

@ the paradise

friday, june 6th

orbit

taxpayer

the fatal flaw

boone

@ tt the bears

friday, june 6th

styrofoam

broken spindles

@ the middle east

friday, june 6th

mudhoney

the cynics

@ the middle east

saturday, june 7th

langhorne slim

baker

@ tt the bears

saturday, june 7th

pela

static of the gods

the motion sick

shawn fogel

@ the middle east

sunday, june 8th

donita sparks (ex-L7)

& the stellar moments

@ tt the bears

monday, june 9th

the kooks

@ the paradise

tuesday, june 10th

swervedriver

@ the paradise

wednesday, june 11th

the cannanes

the in out

painful dentistry

@ the midway cafe

wednesday, june 11th

grand archives

@ great scott

wednesday, june 11th

mark kozelek

(sun kil moon / red house painters)

marissa nadler

@ the museum of fine arts boston

thursday, june 12th

tullycraft

pants yell!

the smittens

@ pa's lounge

thursday, june 12th

damon & naomi

helena espvall & masaki batoh

@ tt the bears

thursday, june 12th

mission of burma

performing the album

'signals, calls and marches'

@ the paradise

friday, june 13th

mission of burma

performing the album 'vs'

@ the paradise

saturday, june 14th

centro-matic

@ the middle east upstairs

friday, june 13th

r.e.m.

modest mouse

the national

@ the tweeter center

wednesday, june 18th

sloan

the golden dogs

@ tt the bears

thursday, june 19th

retribution gospel choir

(with low's alan sparhawk)

@ the middle east upstairs

thursday, june 19th

the ting tings

@ great scott

friday, june 20th

polvo

birds of avalon

@ the middle east downstairs

friday, june 20th

my brightest diamond

clare & the reasons

@ the berklee performance center

saturday, june 21st

eksi ekso (cd release)

caspian

hooray for earth

dj die young

@ the paradise

friday, june 27th

devo

tom tom club

@ bank of american pavillion

saturday, june 28th

peter murphy

@ the roxy

saturday, june 28th

& monday, june 30th

pearl jam

ted leo & the pharmacists

@ the tweeter center

saturday, july 5th

cassavettes

girls, guns, and glory

teenage prayers

@ the paradise

tuesday, july 8th

feist

@ the bank of america pavilion

saturday, july 12th

bottomless pit

the kadane bros.

(of the new year / bedhead)

chris brokaw

@ the middle east upstairs

thursday, july 31st

the police

elvis costello & the impersonators

@ the tweeter center

saturday, august 2nd

wolf parade

@ the paradise

wednesday, august 6th

neil halstead (slowdive/mojave 3)

rogue wave

jack johnson

@ the tweeter center

wednesday, august 13th

radiohead

@ the tweeter center

wednesday, august 20th

human league, belinda carlisle, abc,

flock of seagulls, naked eyes

@ the bank of america pavilion

sunday, september 7th

ryan adams & the cardinals

@ the bank of america pavilion

tuesday, september 23rd

writer dennis lehane

(release day for 'the given day')

@ the coolidge corner theatre

monday, october 6th

stereolab

monade

@ the paradise

monday, november 3rd

coldplay

@ the td banknorth garden

visit tourfilter for more shows

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Mp3s: James Kochalka Superstar live

I believe it's safe to say that there's no creative career out there quite like the one that James Kochalka has fashioned for himself. I can't think of another artist/writer who jumps back and forth so easily between vulgarity and innocence, between the mundane and magical. For isntance, his 2007 brought us not only the charming children's story "Squirrelly Gray" from Random House, but the 4th issue of the curse-laden, oversexed Top Shelf comic "Super F*ckers". Even within his daily drawn diary, online at American Elf, (which also gets collected every couple years by Top Shelf), he jumps between strips that make you go "hmmm" to ones that make you go "wow". And the occasional one that makes you go "ouch." But for James, it's just his life, all part of what makes up his Burlington, Vermont-based world.

And even if you did find another creator who expresses both the grand and the gross so easily, you'd have to ask yourself: "Do they rock?" Because, every once in awhile, James Kochalka does. When not in front of his drawing board, or being a husband and dad, you'll find him fronting his band James Kochalka Superstar, which he's been doing for well over a decade. And for years before that, he lead the University of VT-spawned casio/sax combo Jazzin' Hell. The guy was probably doing leg-kicks before Robert Pollard was, and at any James show, there's always a chance you'll get some full frontal. Like it or not. While he's singing about rainbows, out-of-control ballerinas, or pee.

So in honor of the fresh redesign of his American Elf diary site, which now freely offers every single daily strip he's done since 2002, I've decided to finally share up a rockin' set that he played with his band here in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2006. This particular version of James Kochalka Superstar was a little different, as regular members Jason Cooley and Creston Lea were joined by the ace fill-in rhythm section of drummer Neil Cleary (of, um, Neil Cleary) and bassist Herb van der Poll (from the Jazz Guys), and for a couple songs, totally unprepared guests. So feel free to blame any looseness on them.

Here's the set, with some info on James' future musical and artistic plans below...

James Kochalka Superstar

Live at the Middle East Upstairs
in Cambridge, MA
on Saturday, October 28th, 2006

01. Smell Ya Later / Magic Finger
02. Cocaine
03. Fascist Bikes
04. God / Wash Your Ass
05. Why Is The Sky Blue?
06. Rainbow Love
07. Britney's Silver Can
08. Breaking Stuff
09. Open Mic Night Improv
10. Hockey Monkey
11. Albert's My Friend
12. Ben the Stupid Brontosaurus
13. Twinkle Twinkle Ringo Starr
14. Monkey Vs. Robot

(yes, this guest drummer may look familiar. there goes my objectivity.)

Record label Rykodisc wasn't up to the challenge of making money off of James' music, despite "Hockey Monkey" becoming the theme of Fox TV show "The Loop", and the song "Britney's Silver Can" being one of Rolling Stone's 100 Best Songs of 2006, so they ended up dropping JKS after releasing the "Our Most Beloved" compilation in '05 and the "Spread Your Evil Wings and Fly" full-lengther in '06.

Ryko's marketing of JKS was likely made more difficult given the fact the band isn't able to tour all that much, but James will still be making much more music in 2008. He says...

"I'm hoping to record two new albums. One rock, and the other gameboy style. It's just a dream at this point though, and they will probably be self-released."

Until that dream becomes reality, subscribers to the American Elf site can listen to in-progress and unreleased songs that James shares up, and those subscribers also get bonus strips and other random goodness. Well worth a measly couple bucks a month.

Speaking measly dollars, Top Shelf is having a ridiculous sale on some of James' finest work: Those big collected editions of American Elf strips. The price of Book 1 (which gathers 5 full years of strips) has been cut in half, and so has Book 2 (2 more years worth). Me, I sprung for the deluxe hardcover of Book 1 awhile back (and there are still some of that swanky limited edition available), and used this sale to put Book 2 alongside it on my shelves. Book 3 will appear on shelves this year, and can be pre-ordered here.

Also ahead for James in 2008 is the release of the first two books of his new Johnny Boo series of all ages graphic novels, which can both be pre-ordered as well. Volume 1 ships in June from Top Shelf, with Volume 2 later in the year. Head here for a preview.

Some Kochalka-quality links...

American Elf, his Wikipedia entry, his Top Shelf Comix page, the American Elf forum, the JKS band page, Rykodisc page, and the Kochalkaholic fan site.

Additional Audio: Apart from subscribing to American Elf and getting some Mp3s, you can still order JKS discs from Ryko here. Stream "Hockey Monkey" here, where you can also find iTunes links, or at a fan-created MySpace page.

And here's a little somethin' extra that would've been more timely if I'd actually gotten this post finished in December like I planned, but what the hell, you can save it for next Christmas. It's a holiday classic from James' old band, Jazzin' Hell...
Mp3: Jazzin' Hell - "Sleigh Ride To Heck"
I'd offer you even more pointers to some Jazzin' Hell songs, but someone needs to fix a few broken links (considering this a little poke).

Video: A Kochlka YouTube search turns up plenty of James videos, live footage, and interviews. I shared up a very old clip of the JKS experience performing live in 1994 during my short time behind the kit, and hopefully will share more songs from that tape eventually.

Photos: Check out the full Kochalka Flickr tag search, which will turn up lots of James' artwork along with some live shots.

In honor of the American Elf strip archives being made freely available for all last month as part of the site redesign, Wizard Magazine interviewed James about it, and they also talked about his unreleased "Dragon Puncher" book, which lacks a publisher. I need to see that sucker just based on the title alone.

Listen to any and all 'Nac-hosted Mp3s at the Hype Machine.

the fine print... If anyone has an issue with these Mp3s being made available, just let me know (my contact info in the 'nac faq). Live sets recorded with a Sony ECM-719 mic and a Sony MZ-RH10 minidisc, converted to .wav and then edited to 192kbps Mp3s. Files are made available for a limited time, and are not reposted once removed.

Labels: livemp3s