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

tuesday, september 23rd

cut copy

the presets

@ the paradise

wednesday, september 24th

low

tulsa

@ 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

sunday, october 12th

jamie lidell

@ the paradise

tuesday, october 14th

cold war kids

@ the paradise

thursday, october 16th

ben kweller

whitley

@ 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

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Mp3s: The Essex Green in Boston

My apologies for the delay in this week's live music post... between the much-improved weather, lots of movies at the just-finished 2007 Independent Film Festival of Boston, and general work business, well, ain't got time to blog. So this could be both late and brief, but no less worthwhile...

Of the many, many times I've seen The Essex Green on stage, I can say with all honesty that their January set opening for Camera Obscura at the Paradise was the finest one yet. The song selection, the individual performances, the sound mix, and the band's overall tightness really came together that night... it was a total thrill to see my friends firing on all pop cylinders up there. Must be all those hours on the road in support of last year's excellent "Cannibal Sea"; it's brought out the best of everything they've always been.

While the 13-song setlist of course leaned heavily on that latest EG album, the remaining 5 tracks were nice surprises: Two from 2003's "The Long Goodbye" ("The Late Great Cassiopia" & "Chartiers"), along with a couple that EG's Sasha Bell wrote and sang on the self-titled 2003 Ladybug Transistor album (as you may know, the Ladybugs share a couple members with the Green), and an impressive cover of The Flying Burrito Brothers' "Older Guys".

Here's the set for you...

The Essex Green

Live at The Paradise
in Boston, Mass.
on Saturday, January 27th, 2007

01. This Isn't Farmlife
02. Don't Know Why (You Stay)
03. Chartiers
04. Snakes in the Grass
05. The Late Great Cassiopia
06. The Places You'll Call Home (LT)
07. The Pride
08. Hangin' on the Line (LT)
09. Rue de Lis
10. Sin City
11. Elsinor
12. Older Guys (Flying Burrito Brothers)
13. Cardinal Points

Some Essex Green links...

Their official site, MySpace page, Wikipedia entry, and their Merge Records page.

Available Essex Green Mp3s:

""Don't Know Why (You Stay)" & "Rue De Lis"
(from "Cannibal Sea")

"The Late Great Cassiopia",
"Old Dominion", & "Our Lady In Havana"
(from "The Long Goodbye")

"Mendocino"
(from the Merge "Old Enough To Know Better" compilation)

"Everything Is Green""
(from "Everything Is Green")

"Chester"
(from their self-titled 1999 debut EP")

Related Band Mp3s: I could spend half a day writing about all of the Essex Green-related projects, but instead I'll just link some Mp3s and allow you to dig deeper through some links below: The Sixth Great Lake - "Everybody Loves To Be Loved" & "Duck Pond", The Finishing School - "Destination Girl", & Guppyboy - "Affection". Download many other Guppyboy Mp3s here.

Video: It surprises me to realize that in their eight-year history, there's never been an official Essex Green video (do correct me if I'm wrong). Maybe with the next album? For now, there's quite a few EG live clips on YouTube.

Speaking of all those related bands, Vermont blog Latitude 44.2 North wrote up a couple of lengthy posts about the EG/6GL/Guppyboy family tree (part 1 / part 2). Now that L44.2N has merged with fellow VT blog False 45th, maybe we'll see part 3 appear there? Nudge, nudge. Perhaps the eventual appearance of new Sixth Great Lake recordings (word is that some are in the works) will prompt the next chapter.

As I mentioned above, another band closely tied with the Essex Green is the Ladybug Transistor, who will be releasing their new album, "Can't Wait Another Day", on Merge in a month. The Ladybugs currently share both Jeff Baron on guitar & Julia Rydholm on bass, and also counted Sasha Bell in common before she recently left the band. The first song from "Can't Wait Another Day" has officially hit the 'net, and here it is...

The Ladybug Transistor - "Always On The Telephone"

The Plan & Fenway Recordings are bringing The Ladybug Transistor to Allston's Great Scott on Saturday, May 26th with labelmates the Rosebuds. Hopefully they'll be bringing some pre-release copies of the album with 'em.

If you're a fan or friend of the Ladybugs or the Green, you've by now likely heard the truly sad news that the world lost Ladybug drummer San Fadyl last week. It's hard to even wrap your head around the sudden absence of someone who was so obviously loved by those who knew him, someone who leaves behind his wife and 2-month old baby, who made music such an integral part of his life. He wasn't just a huge fan of music, but someone whose spirit and creativity both with and without a drum kit garnered him many fans of his own.

Many of those fans and friends are paying tribute to San in the comments of this memorial page that the band set up, former Ladybug Jennifer Baron has been sharing pictures, and Merge's Mac McCaughan shared his thoughts as well.

the postscript... If anyone has an issue with this live set being made available, just say the word (contact info in the 'nac faq). Recorded with a Sony ECM-719 mic and a Sony MZ-RH10 minidisc, converted to .wav and then edited to 192kbps mp3s. Tracks are made available for a limited time, and are not reposted once removed.

Labels: livemp3s