bradley's almanac - a boston music blog

boston area shows of note:

monday, october 6th

catfish haven

dead confederate

mean creek

the motion sick

@ tt the bears

monday, october 6th

the wedding present

the jealous girlfriends

@ the middle east downstairs

monday, october 6th

fleet foxes

frank fairfield

@ the somerville theatre

monday, october 6th

stereolab

le loup

monade

@ the paradise

tuesday, october 7th

liam finn

the veils

@ the paradise

wednesday, october 8th

lucinda williams

@ the orpheum

wednesday, october 8th

the opening night of

carrie fisher's one woman show

'wishful drinking'

@ the huntington theater (bu)

wednesday, october 8th

allison moyet

@ the wilbur theatre

wednesday, october 8th

wire

@ the middle east downstairs

thursday, october 9th

chuck ragan (of hot water music)

ben nichols (of lucero)

tim barry (of avail)

with guest jesse malin

@ the middle east

friday, october 10th

kirsten a. malone

scholarship fundraiser

ho-ag

bone zone

tinsel teeth

cathy cathodic

@ the milky way

friday, october 10th

writer sarah vowell

7pm @ brookline booksmith

saturday, october 11th

the new year

dirty on purpose

tre orsi

@ the middle east upstairs

saturday, october 11th

les savy fav

passion pit

phil and the osophers

@ the middle east downstairs

saturday, october 11th

the feelies

@ the roxy

sunday, october 12th

the residents

@ showcase live, foxboro

sunday, october 12th

the notwist

@ the roxy

sunday, october 12th

jamie lidell

janelle monae

@ the paradise

sunday, october 12th

against me!

ted leo & the pharmacists

the future of the left

@ the wilbur theatre

monday, october 13th

tv on the radio

the dirtbombs

@ the wilbur theatre

tuesday, october 14th

cold war kids

@ the paradise

thursday, october 16th

TOURFILTER DJ NIGHT

with dj's chris tourfilter

and bradley almanac

featuring only songs by bands

playing soon in the boston area

9pm @ river gods, cambridge

thursday, october 16th

ben kweller

whitley

@ the paradise

thursday, october 16th

jonatha brooke

glen phillips

(from toad the wet sprocket)

@ the wilbur theatre

friday, october 17th

hallelujah the hills

wonderful spells

capstan shafts

needy visions

@ tt the bears

friday, october 17th

jonathan richman

with drummer tommy larkin

@ the somerville theatre

saturday, october 18th

asobi seksu

the broken river prophet

@ tt the bears

saturday, october 18th

ra ra riot

walter meego

the morning benders

@ the middle east

sunday, october 19th

the spinto band

frightened rabbit

@ the middle east

monday, october 20th

magnetic morning

(adam swervedriver & sam interpol)

julie ocean

springhouse (w/jack rabid)

@ great scott

tuesday, october 21st

annuals

live in-store performance

7pm @ newbury comics, newbury st.

tuesday, october 21st

minus the bear

annuals

sylvie

@ the wilbur theatre

tuesday & wednesday

october 21st & 22nd

billy bragg

@ the somerville theatre

wednesday, october 22nd

writer/expert john hodgman

6pm @ the coolidge corner theatre

wednesday, october 22nd

yeasayer

@ the paradise

wednesday, october 22nd

lyle lovett & john hiatt

(acoustic, on stage together)

@ the orpheum

thursday, october 23rd

robert fisher

(of willard grant conspiracy)

chris brokaw

drew o'doherty

@ the lily pad

thursday, october 23rd

lykke li

@ the paradise

thursday, october 23rd

deerhoof

experimental dental school

@ the middle east down

friday, october 24th

fujiya & miyagi

prototypes

@ the paradise

sunday, october 26th

scars on broadway

the duke spirit

@ the paradise

sunday, october 26th

broken social scene

land of talk

@ the wilbur theatre

monday, october 27th

matthew sweet

@ the paradise

wednesday, october 29th

legendary pink dots

@ the middle east down

thursday, october 30th

of montreal

@ the orpheum

friday, october 31st

hotel cafe tour

with rachael yamagata, meiko,

thao nguyen, samanatha crain,

and jenny owen youngs

@ the paradise

friday, october 31st

the rumble strips

birdmonster

@ tt the bears

friday, october 31st

david byrne

performing the songs of byrne & eno

@ the wang center

saturday, november 1st

henry rollins (spoken word)

@ the orpheum

monday, november 3rd

matt and kim

best fwends

@ the middle east

monday, november 3rd

coldplay

@ the td banknorth garden

wednesday, november 5th

conor oberst +

the mystic valley band

@ the roxy

thursday, november 6th

the decemberists

loche lamond

@ the orpheum

friday, november 7th

"my name is bruce"

area theatrical premiere

with director/star bruce campbell

@ the kendall square cinema

sunday, november 9th

the hold steady

drive-by truckers

@ the orpheum

tuesday, november 11th

deerhunter

times new viking

the vivian girls

@ the paradise

wednesday, november 12th

the sea and cake

@ the middle east down

wednesday, november 12th

kings of leon

we are scientists

the whigs

@ the orpheum

thursday, november 13th

nicole atkins & the sea

salt & samovar

@ tt the bears

friday & saturday

november 14th & 15th

smashing pumpkins

@ the citi wang theatre

saturday, november 15th

scarce (cd release!)

wheat

triplethick

@ tt the bears

sunday, november 16th

centro-matic

@ the middle east

monday, november 17th

margot & the nuclear so and so's

@ tt the bears

tuesday, november 18th

m83

school of seven bells

@ the middle east down

thursday, november 20th

bishop allen

@ the middle east

friday, november 21st

robyn hitchcock

performing 'i often dream of trains'

@ the somerville theatre

saturday, november 22nd

sondre lerche

@ the paradise

sunday, november 30th

18th dye

devon williams

@ tt the bears

tuesday, december 2nd

nada surf

delta spirit

jealous girlfriends

@ the paradise

friday, december 5th

mercury rev

dean & britta

@ the paradise

saturday, december 13th

neil young

wilco

everest

@ the dcu center, worcester

sunday, december 14th

bon iver

@ the wilbur theatre

monday, january 5th, 2009

glasvegas

rails to russia

@ great scott

sunday, january 18th

frightened rabbit

@ great scott

visit tourfilter for more shows

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Mp3s: John Vanderslice in Cambridge, MA

So John Vanderslice, songwriter extraordinaire and friend to the music blogger, released his latest album last week. And what a fine, fine album "Emerald City" is. I might even jump to calling it my favorite of his so far, but that just could be the rush of the new talking... need a little more time to let the sucker settle in.

When I caught J.V. here in Boston back in the Spring, he was touring as a duo, just him, his guitar, and drummer Dave Douglas. Spinanes-style, if you will. But not exactly. In each city, on certain songs, John & Dave invited local fans and musical friends on stage to fill out the band for a bit, pre-arranged team-ups that added bass, maybe some extra vocals, and who knows what else. Here in Boston we were treated to guest bass (and super-cool keys) from T.W. Walsh on a few songs, some excellent dulcimer action from Elijah Wyman on another, a fan named Carson on some vocals, and for the finale, a duet with the wonderful Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, who opened every date on the month-long trip.

I hadn't even planned on recording the show... that night I just wanted to be able to wander about, hang with an old friend; to just relax and not bother with getting good sound. But after a few songs, it was just too enjoyable not to capture, especially given the guest stars and one-time-only versions we were hearing, so I clicked on the mini-disc and let it roll. That explains the not-as-good-as-usual mix below (we were off to the side of the stage), and the fact that the first part of the set is absent, but it's all still well worth sharing (especially for T.W.'s ace keys on "Do You Remember?"). Have at it...

John Vanderslice

Live at the Middle East Upstairs
in Cambridge, Massachusetts
on April 20th, 2007

01. Time Travel Is Lonely
02. Dear Sara Shu
03. Wild Strawberries (with Elijah Wyman)
04. Letter to the East Coast (with Carson)
05. Radiant With Terror
06. "TW To The Stage" (banter)
07. Time To Go (with TW Walsh)
08. My Old Flame (with TW Walsh)
09. Do You Remember? (with TW Walsh)
10. "We Need Guest Singers" (banter)
11. Me And My 424 (with guests)
12. Nikki Oh Nikki

At the end of the set, John says "See you in the Fall...", and the man's no liar... he returns with his full four-piece in late September for two nights at the same room, upstairs at the Middle East. And kudos to John for doing two shows in a small room rather than one night in a larger one, which he could no doubt fill. Whether it was his decision or not, the continued intimacy is appreciated. Get tickets for the shows here and here, or stop by the Middle East box office to avoid the pesky extra fees.

Some J.V. links...

His official site, Wikipedia entry, MySpace page, and his Barsuk Records page.

Audio: Stream the entirety of "Emerald City" here. Mp3s: "White Dove", from "Emerald City". There are a truckload more Mp3s available over at John's own site.

For far superior sounding live recordings of "Dear Sara Shu" and "Wild Strawberries" from the same show above, check out Mobile Man Boston.

Video: There's an official video for "Time To Go", and John is also doing a very cool "online tour", where he's sharing a different in-studio performance (each recorded at his own Tiny Telephone) of each song on "Emerald City" through various music blogs, so far hooking up with Stereogum, Gorilla Vs. Bear, Brooklyn Vegan, and You Ain't No Picasso. Hit those links to see John and his band performing four songs so far, and keep an eye here for future ones blog-tour stops. And for more JV video, there's always the handy YouTube search.

Brooklyn Vegan, who helped present that Vanderslice/St. Vincent tour, posted John interviewing Annie on the road.

And here's some serious coolness, but on the wrong damn side of the country for us East Coast Vanderslice fans: Tomorrow night, Thursday, August 2nd, Aquarium Drunkard will present a "guerrilla-styled free concert" with J.V. performing in the L.A. River Basin. Full details over at the Drunkard.

More of my own photos from the show can be found here.

As always, you can easily stream all 'Nac-hosted tracks on the Hype Machine.

the post-script to the post... 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