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, April 08, 2007

Mp3s: Caspian in Allston, MA

It's a big week for the boys in the Beverly-based band Caspian, as their long-awaited first full-length, "The Four Trees", officially arrives this Tuesday. To mark the release, the guys will be on WFNX tonight, appearing on the weekly New England Product program at 10pm, and will be hanging out at River Gods in Cambridge tomorrow night for an album listening party (and playing some of their owns faves). The week peaks with a bound-to-be-great Friday night headlining show at the Paradise in Allston, which launches the band into a month-long national tour, delivering the sounds of "The Four Trees" to our west and south.

Having spent a solid week with my pre-order copy of the disc, I'm so glad to discover that it delivers on the promise of their lauded 2005 "You Are The Conductor" EP, and much more. They've expanded on the balanced sides of their sound, adding depth in both directions, from pure power to remarkable fragility. There are moments of massive near-metal (the good kind), and others that are too beautiful for words (so to speak). The effects-laden dual-guitar interplay is more intricate, aided even by the occasional acoustic lull, and the rhythm section is even more dynamic, two facts that set them above and apart from other like-minded instrumental artists.

Y'know, it almost seems a slight disservice to categorize Caspian as an "instrumental" band, although there's no denying that's what they are. Unfortunately some more passive music fans stick modern instrumental acts in a box, labeling them "post-rock", and moving on to others with lyrics and singers that serve 'em up (the same types might skip an amazing foreign film just because of subtitles). But the fact that Caspian offers no words, and therefore no easily-uncovered meanings behind their music, for me only adds to the emotional impact of what they create: it is what you make it, it brings to you what you bring to it. Critics will use easy words like "cinematic" to describe their sound, and the songs may find their way onto soundtracks (which has brought cash and exposure to some of their categorical peers), but it can't be dismissed as "background music". It demands your attention, and in fact, it's driving me to distraction as I'm trying to write this. I'm taking long breaks just listening, getting even more psyched for the Paradise show on Friday.

With the band's permission, here's a set they played back in January, just down the street at Great Scott. The night was a benefit for those impacted by the fire at the Pan9 art collective space in Allston (and despite the passage of time, I'm sure they could still use your help if you've got a little cash to spare). While the sound quality of this set is pretty good, it still doesn't do the band's live shows justice, doesn't recreate what it's like to stand in front of them with eyes closed and ears open...

Caspian

Live at Great Scott
in Allston, Massachusetts
on Tuesday, January 9th, 2007

01. Some Are White Light
02. Crawlspace
03. Quovis
04. Further Up / Further In
05. Last Rites
06. Moksha
07. Brombie

Buy Caspian's "The Four Trees" from Dopamine Records, for a mere $8 at Newbury Comics, or digitally via eMusic. You can also pick it up at Friday's show at the 'Dise, so grab tickets to that over here, or cheaper at their box office. Joining Caspian will be the excellent On Fire and Constants.

Some Caspian links...

Their own website, the band's MySpace page, and the Dopamine Records site.

Mp3s: "ASA" from "The Four Trees"; "Further In" from "You Are The Conductor; "Loft" from their May 2004 demo; Download a complete live Caspian set from Seattle in 2005 at the Live Music Archive; A live version of "Last Rites" recorded in December 2004 at Gordon College; other recordings can be found on Caspian's music page.

Video: Check out a short video of Caspian working on the new song "Some Are White Light" in their practice space, and a couple live clips as well.

As I mentioned, Caspian's month-long U.S. tour in support of new album kicks off on April 19th in NYC. For a full list of all the dates, check here.

As ever, you can listen to all 'Nac-hosted tracks on the Hype Machine.

the very 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.

Labels: livemp3s