bradley's almanac - a boston music blog

boston area shows of note:

friday, may 9th

shearwater

clinic

wild light

@ the paradise

friday, may 9th

band in boston presents...

an organ donation awareness show

with drug rug, carter tanton (of tulsa),

the tony the bookie orchestra,

marc pinansky (of township),

george lewis jr.,

chris warren (of viva viva),

and robert rivera

@ pa's lounge

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

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

visit tourfilter for more shows

Monday, December 31, 2007

2007: My Favorite Music

Year-end lists used to be an annual tradition here on the 'Nac, up until 2005, when the overabundance (and gun-jumping) of online list-makers prompted me to keep quiet. For the first time, I just didn't feel like adding my signal to the overwhelming amount of noise, and the same held true at the end of '06, as the listers grew exponentially, and the earlier-than-thou mentality got out of hand.

But a two-year break is just long enough (and a bunch of this year's releases were just great enough) to get me to chime in again. One thing, though: I've decided I hate ranking my faves. Assigning a numerical order to the things I love is such an arbitrary exercise - things mean more to me depending on the day, week, or season - so what follows are my favorite albums and live shows of 2007, but with no numbers attached. Yeah, there are some of the usual suspects that you've seen on every other indie-slanted music blog, but hopefully a few surprises as well (though not too surprising if you visit here regularly). I've left off a few local Boston-area faves that filled my ears this year, as I'll be spotlighting them in another post soon.

First, I'll name the 20 albums released during the year that I listened to the most, with my favorite songs from each, and if there was one, an accompanying artist-approved or label-sanctioned Mp3 that was made available online. The label each album was released on also links to where you can purchase a copy of your own...

Arcade Fire - "Neon Bible"
(on Merge Records)
faves: "No Cars Go", "Keep The Car Running"
Mp3: "Keep The Car Running"

Band of Horses - "Cease To Begin"
(on Sub Pop Records)
faves: "Ode to LRC", "No One's Gonna Love You"
Mp3: "Is There A Ghost"

Blonde Redhead - "23"
(on 4AD Records)
faves: "Dr. Strangeluv", "23"
Mp3: "23"

Bottomless Pit - "Hammer of the Gods"
(on Comedy Minus One Records)
faves: "Human Out Of Me", "Dead Man's Blues"
Mp3: "The Cardinal Movements"

Buffalo Tom - "Three Easy Pieces"
(on New West Records)
faves: - "You'll Never Catch Him", "Hearts of Palm"
Mp3: "Three Easy Pieces"

Dinosaur Jr. - "Beyond"
(on Fat Possum Records)
faves: "Back To Your Heart", "Pick Me Up"
Mp3: "Almost Ready"

Fields - "Everything Last Winter"
(on Atlantic Records)
faves: "Song for The Fields", "You Don't Need This Song"
Mp3: "Song For The Fields"

Film School - "Hideout"
(on Beggars Banquet)
faves: "Two Kinds", "Compare"
Mp3: "Lectric"

Interpol - "Our Love To Admire"
(on Capitol Records)
faves: "Who Do You Think", "Rest My Chemistry"
Mp3: "The Heinrich Maneuver"

Kevin Drew - "Spirit If..."
(on Arts & Crafts Records)
faves: - "Safety Bricks", "Bodhi Sappy Weekend"
Mp3: "Tbtf"

Kristin Hersh - "Learn To Sing Like A Star"
(on Yep Roc Records)
faves: "Winter", "Under The Gun"
Mp3: "In Shock"

The National - "Boxer"
(on Beggars Banquet)
faves: "Mistaken For Strangers", "Brainy"
Mp3: "Fake Empire"

New Pornographers - "Challengers"
(on Matador Records)
faves: "Unguided", "Myriad Harbour"
Mp3: "Myriad Harbour"

Ola Podrida - "Ola Podrida"
(on Plug Research)
faves: "Cindy", "Pour Me Another"
Mp3: "Cindy"

Pinback - "Autumn of the Seraphs"
(on Touch & Go Records)
faves: "Good To Sea", "From Nothing To Nowhere"
Mp3: "From Nothing To Nowhere"

PJ Harvey - "White Chalk"
(on Island Records)
faves: "Grow Grow Grow", "The Piano"
Stream songs @ MySpace

Radiohead - "In Rainbows"
(self-released)
faves: "Videotape", "All I Need"
Stream songs @ MySpace

Shellac - "Excellent Italian Greyhound"
(on Touch & Go Records)
faves: "The End of Radio", "Kittypants"
no online audio available

Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - "Living With The Living"
(on Touch & Go Records)
faves: "La Costa Brava", "The Lost Brigade"
Mp3: "Sons Of Cain"

Wheat - "Everyday I Said A Prayer For Kathy
And Made A One Inch Square"
(on Empyrean Records)
faves: "Little White Dove", "I Had Angels Watching Over Me"
Mp3: "Move=Move"

I could've easily added another 10 or more on there, but that would've been a bit too self-indulgent. I should also mention that I shared some thoughts on a couple of the albums above on the year-end edition of Blog Fresh Radio, so if you feel like hearing me ramble, along with aural contributions from a bunch of ace fellow music bloggers, go here.

And here are the 20 Boston-area live shows I enjoyed the most this past year, in chronological order, with a link to my own write-up of each (many of which still have the live recordings available for download). There are a few that I'll hopefully be sharing up in the coming weeks...

Caspian
@ Great Scott in Allston, MA
On Tuesday, January 9th, 2007
write-up

Sparklehorse
@ the Paradise in Boston, MA
On Thursday, February 27th, 2007
write-up

Asobi Seksu
@ the Middle East Downstairs in Cambridge, MA
On Wednesday, February 28th, 2007
live set forthcoming

Rob Crow (of Pinback)
@ TT the Bears in Cambridge, MA
On Wednesday, February 28th, 2007
write-up

Sebadoh
@ the Paradise in Boston, MA
On Friday, March 30th, 2007
live set

Low
@ the Somerville Theater in Somerville, MA
On Saturday, April 7th, 2007
live set

John Vanderslice & friends
@ the Middle East Upstairs in Cambridge, MA
On Friday, April 20th, 2007
live set

Dinosaur Jr.
@ Urban Outfitters in Cambridge, MA
On Thursday, May 10th, 2007
live set

The Arcade Fire
@ the Orpheum in Boston, MA
On Thursday, May 10th, 2007
live set

Kristin Hersh & the McCarricks
@ Hi-N-Dry in Cambridge, MA
On Sunday, May 27th, 2007

The Cal Robbins Benefit Shows
@ PA's Lounge in Somerville, MA
with Ida, Secret Stars, Mark Robinson, Drew O'Doherty,
Geoff Farina, Chris Brokaw, Neptune, Helms, @ the Thalia Zedek Band
On Friday & Saturday, July 13th & 14th, 2007
live songs forthcoming

Darren Hanlon
@ the Lily Pad in Cambridge, MA
On Friday, August 17th, 2007
live set

Kevin Drew & Broken Social Scene
with Ryan Walsh (of Hallelujah the Hills)
@ TT the Bears in Cambridge, MA
On Tuesday, August 28th, 2007
Kevin's live set / Ryan's live set

The Lucksmiths
@ TT the Bears in Cambridge, MA
On Thursday, September 27th, 2007
live set

Kristin Hersh & Tanya Donelly
@ the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, MA
On Saturday, October 6th, 2007
live sets shared soon

Film School
@ TT the Bears in Cambridge, MA
On Wednesday, October 24th, 2007
live set

The National
@ Paddy O's in Boston, MA
on Friday, October 26th, 2007
live set

Drew O'Doherty, The Soft Drugs,
All Smiles, & David Bazan
@ TT the Bears in Cambridge, MA
On Saturday, October 27th, 2007
David's live set / The Soft Drugs' live set

Yo La Tengo
@ the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA
on Thursday, November 15th, 2007
live set

Spiritualized
@ the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA
On Monday, November 19th, 2007
live set

and not exactly musical (unless you count a song from "Annie"), but definitely rating a mention...

Zach Galifianakis
@ the Berklee Performance Ctr. in Boston, MA
on Saturday, July 7th, 2007

As usual, a ton of great live music filled my year, which is no minor feat considering my new dadness, and the diminished amount of show-going free time (that's hardly a complaint, of course). It's been a real challenge balancing the fatherhood, the day job, and the blog, and more than a few times I've considered putting the Almanac on the back burner for awhile. But the compulsion remains, and I find myself heading into 2008 with a full head of steam.

So until that momentum fades, I'll keep on sharing live recordings, scattershot music-related info, and the occasional bit of tv/movie/books/comics randomness. I've got some cool posts planned, including a look at what a few Boston-area faves have in store for 2008, some amazing live stuff, and a pretty special giveaway. The comments and grateful emails you guys send really do keep me going, so thanks for those, and best wishes to all of you in the new year.

posted by brad at 12:01 AM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

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