bradley's almanac - a boston-based music blog

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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

No live set for sharing this week (spending extra time working on something special for later), but there are a few things I want to mention, and so I will. Subjects mentioned below include Silkworm, Eric Bachmann, Buffalo Tom, T.W. Walsh, 77Boadrum, Caspian, WMBR's Pipeline, Tiger Saw, Green Magnet School, Sarah Shannon, Mary Lou Lord, David Bazan, American Analog Set, Kevin Drew, Editors, the Cure, Interpol, Adam Franklin, the Poster Children, the "Beautiful Noise" documentary, the Wedding Present, Kristin Hersh, and The Wire.

This past Saturday marked two years to the day since the world lost Michael Dahlquist, since his bandmates in Silkworm lost their friend and drummer, when he was killed so senselessly on July 14th, 2005, along with Douglas Meis and John Glick. Without Michael there's no Silkworm, so when he was taken away so suddenly, there was obviously no public way to say goodbye to a band that had meant so much to many.

But that musical farewell did come, on September 9th last year, when Silkworm's Andy Cohen and Tim Midgett (along with frequent keyboardist Biznono, aka Matt Kadane of the New Year & Bedhead) took the stage for a single song, at the 3-day Touch & Go 25th Anniversary fest in Chicago. For Michael. Their somber, cathartic performance of "LR72" was, for me, an intensely moving moment, a necessary and fitting way to put a final period on the rocking, run-on sentence that was Silkworm.

As Touch & Go has been posting new videos from each anniversary performer every Monday this year, I wondered if Tim & Andy's sonic tribute would eventually be made public; it was such a personal moment shared among thousands, I wondered if it would at all translate, or if it would include an interview as the other videos had... something that would likely be tough for the two that had been three. But leave it to T&G to do it right, to post the tastefully-constructed "LR72" clip to mark two years since, and to capture an emotional sliver of what it felt like to be there.

Speaking of Misters Midgett & Cohen, the recorded full-length debut of their new quartet, Bottomless Pit, will see release later this year. I'll leave the album's details to a post all its own, because it deserves it.

A can't miss show coming up this Sunday, July 22nd: Eric Bachmann (Archers of Loaf / Crooked Fingers) returns to the area for a solo set at our invaluable Brattle Theater (tickets). Last time he was here was in October for a brilliant appearance at Club Passim, which sat high in my top-live-shows list last year.

This show comes on the heels of a Brattle-stage solo set from Okkervil River's Will Sheff last Friday night, and preceeds a Brattle appearance next Wednesday night from The Swell Season, which features Glen Hansard (of the Frames) and Marketa Irglova, who co-star in the well-reviewed new film Once. While musical performances at the Brattle have happened randomly over the past few years (Kristin Hersh, Dresden Dolls, Evan Dando), it's rare that we get such high-caliber performances so close to each other, and I'm hoping it signals even more regular live music on their calendar.

Buffalo Tom, who just released their excellent and long-awaited new album "Three Easy Pieces", have announced this morning that they'll be appearing on David Letterman next Friday night, July 27th. Set those Tivos now, and if you haven't bought it yet, prepare yourself by streaming "Three Easy Pieces" over here.

Boston's own (nice to be able to say that) T.W. Walsh has released a new song out into the world, or at least out into the internet, called "Borrow My Vibe", and you can download it for free at his site. It's technically the first solo song he's put out since 2002, as he spent some intervening years in Pedro the Lion, and released the "In Moderation" EP as The Soft Drugs last summer. Since T.W.'s return to the Boston area, he's been putting together a band to bring the Soft Drugs to the stage, and until that happens, I'm glad we'll be getting the sporadic solo track.

So as someone who occasionally calls himself a drummer, I naturally took great interest in the 77BOADRUM sonic experiment that took place down in Brooklyn earlier this month. For the unaware, it was an outdoor gathering of 77 different drummers playing together on 7/7/07, pulled together and directed by Japanese noisemakers the Boredoms. While I entertained the idea of trying to submit my name for about 2 seconds (before I realized they were probably looking for really good drummers), I was very glad to see one of my favorite players, Unwound's Sara Lund, ended up on the list. What I was completely unaware of until last weekend, however, was that Boston was well-represented by another of my other faves, Chris Brokaw (who drums for The New Year and used to play for Codeine, in addition to his solo songwriting and guitar skills). Not only that, but also on the list of participating percussionists was former Ida drummer Miggy Littleton, another of my all-time faves. Wish I coulda been there to witness it.

In case you missed it, Beverly, Massachusetts's instrumental pride and joy, Caspian, was featured as the band of the day on Spin.com a few weeks back. They deserved more than just a day, I say. Head over there to download a track from their killer full-length, "The Four Trees".

Venerable WMBR live performance radio program Pipeline has been sharing video footage from their in-studio performances, in addition to their always-available live audio recordings. The ~~first~~ latest of the videos (which are being recorded by the guys at echoplanar) was posted yesterday: Tiger Saw performing "Won't You Let Me".

While Boston band Green Magnet School has been officially disbanded for about a decade, their MySpace page continues to occasionally let loose little aural gems: Case in point, a previously unreleased track called "Waterman" can now be streamed over there. It was recorded in 1990, and additional info can be found here.

Sid over at Too Much Rock has some nice images and video from a couple recent Chicago shows up on his site: former Velocity Girl singer Sarah Shannon and Boston's own Mary Lou Lord. Check the 'more photos' and 'video' links in the lower right corner on those two pages.

New Bazan! David Bazan recently did a Daytrotter session, and performed a short new song called "Harmless Sparks" (will a full version end up on his "David Bazan's Black Cloud" album, due on Barsuk next year?), so go give a listen. The new track segues into his modified "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", and also performed are "Bands With Managers", "Cold Beer and Cigarettes", and "Shit Talker" (which is a song David released on the Headphones album, despite Daytrotter listing it as 'new').

Good news for fans of American Analog Set who have been missing seeing singer/guitarist Andrew Kenny on stage: According to this Billboard article, AK will be part of ('Broken Social Scene presents') Kevin Drew's band (along with BSS-mate Brendan Canning) for a couple of upcoming shows, one in London and another in Brooklyn. And if we're lucky, a bunch more when Drew's "Spirit If..." album arrives from Arts & Crafts in September. I patiently await news of Andrew's next recorded output. updated to add: Chris reminds me that Andrew has also been doing bass duty in the excellent Ola Podrida.

Grab a slew of free Mp3s from the new Insound "Let's Get Digital 2" compilation, including tracks from Minus the Bear, Editors (liking their new album so far), and Okkervil River.

Speaking of Editors, they return to Boston to play the Paradise on Thursday, September 6th. While pre-sale tickets are long gone, no worries, as they're all general admission, and you can still buy those here.

So I buckled in the face of extreme nostalgia and apparently undying loyalty, and bought tickets to my first Cure show in fifteen years. Yes, I'm going to see Robert, Simon, Porl, and that other guy on Tuesday, September 25th at the Agganis Arena here in Boston, and thanks to the fan pre-sale, I'll be up in the first section. Prices are freakin' steep ($75 each after 'convenience' charges), and though my total obsession ended around the time that Boris left the band (oh, how I miss him), I couldn't resist with the closeness to my house and my closeness to the stage. While tickets for the general public go on sale tomorrow morning at 10am, you can still take advantage of the fan pre-sale by registering for a code over at TheCure.com.

Also playing at Agganis in September: Interpol on the 12th. Tix went on sale last Friday, and while most of the good seats are gone, you can still get 'em. That'll change when students return, so if you're feeling like you might wanna go, don't wait too long.

A show more up my alley, at least venue-wise: Former Swervedriver / Toshack Highway frontman Adam Franklin has just released a solo record titled "Bolts of Melody" (stream it here), and he'll be appearing at Allston's Great Scott to serve up some songs on Tuesday, August 21st.

Here are a couple cuts from the album to get you going: the lead-off track, along with the song Adam wrote a year ago just after the death of Syd Barrett (and released on a limited 7" single as well)...

Mp3: Adam Franklin - "Seize The Day"
Mp3: Adam Franklin - "Syd's Eyes"

Connecting the blog-post dots: Adam Franklin has a project he's working on with Interpol drummer Sam Fogarino called The Setting Sons. Listen to a couple songs at their MySpace page.

Glad to read that the Poster Children are making a return to the stage, even if it is many miles away at a festival in their homestate of Illinois. Be nice to see them head eastwards again.

Hey, look, someone made a documentary just for me: "Beautiful Noise" is the name director Eric Green has chosen for his look at the shoegaze scene of the early nineties, back when I was perhaps more in love with music than I'll ever quite be again. Read all about it over at P4K.

An update from the Wedding Present camp: Their October "George Best"-revisited UK tour (which re-maps their very first tour route and has them playing their debut record in order) is selling so well that they might "expand" it. Let's hope that expansion gets them all the way across the Atlantic ocean to the East coast. The update also mentions that the band is working on new material at a Hollywood rehearsal studio, so hopefully we'll hear word of a new record, which will likely include these You-Tubed new songs: "The Thing I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend" and "I Lost The Monkey".

Now that I'm an actual dad, this news becomes even cooler: Kristin Hersh is almost done writing and illustrating a children's book called "Toby Snax". According to BillyO, it's about "talking kids into being open to adventure and new experiences." Aces. I do so love her writing.

Alright, I've got more I could write about, but I'll stop here with one last tiny little rant that has nothing whatsoever to do with music...

So, the Emmy nominations were announced this morning, and there was not a single nod for what was arguably the best season of what is inarguably the best show on television, the Wire. Nothing for drama series, acting, or its brilliant writing, all categories in which it deserves at least a nomination. Not that I put much stock in awards shows of any kind (comparing and awarding art is inherently silly), but every year that Emmy voters ignore the show pushes that system even further into irrelevance. Confounding.

posted by brad at 3:55 PM | direct link |