thursday, july 2nd
the church
adam franklin (swervedriver)
@ showcase live, foxborough
sunday, july 5th
city breathing
deep sea diver
adam rich
steve pardo & lindley cameron
@ the middle east upstairs
saturday, july 11th
the luxury
the click five
midatlantic
aloud
@ the paradise
sunday, july 12th
the dead weather
screaming females
@ the house of blues
saturday, july 18th
butterflies
travels
@ pa's lounge
sunday, july 19th
grand duchy (w/frank black)
the bunnies
van elk (w/valerie mistle thrush)
@ the middle east downstairs
sunday, july 19th
lymbyc systym
coralcola
the cush
the pandas
@ the middle east upstairs
monday, july 20th
you can be a wesley (cd release!)
casper & the cookies
everything, now!
magic magic
@ the middle east upstairs
monday, july 20th
green day
the bravery
@ the garden
tuesday, july 21st
mark eitzel & marc capelle
performing american music club songs
@ the lizard lounge
friday, july 24th
varsity drag (cd release!)
the grownup noise
winterpills
brendan boogie & the best intentions
@ the middle east upstairs
sunday, july 26th
pete yorn
@ the house of blues
tuesday, july 28th
cass mccombs
jennifer o'connor & band
mike bones
@ tt the bears
wednesday, july 29th
foreign born
the veils
faces on film
@ tt the bears
thursday, july 30th
justin ripley & his band
@ pa's lounge
friday, july 31st
destroyer (dan bejar)
iran
wooden wand
@ the paradise
friday, july 31st
depeche mode
peter bjorn & john
@ great woods
saturday, august 1st
alasdair roberts
@ lorem ipsum books, inman square
saturday, august 1st
wheat (cd release show!)
the xyz affair
@ great scott
sunday, august 2nd
soft power (featuring mary timony)
gramercy arms (featuring dave derby)
@ tt the bears
monday, august 3rd
billy bragg
@ the berklee performance center
monday, august 3rd
tinted windows
(james iha, adam schlesinger,
taylor hanson, & bun e. carlos)
@ the paradise
monday, august 3rd
coldplay
elbow
kitty daisy & lewis
@ the comcast center
wednesday, august 5th
the rural alberta advantage
joshua english (ex-six going on seven)
with lisa molinaro
baby teeth
@ the middle east upstairs
wednesday, august 5th
arctic monkeys
modey lemon
@ the paradise
wednesday, august 5th
joe pernice (solo show & book tour)
@ the brattle theatre (2 shows)
wednesday and thursday
august 5th and 6th
paul mccartney
@ fenway park
friday, august 7th
the electric prunes
love
sky saxon (of the seeds)
@ the middle east downstairs
saturday, august 8th
blondie
pat benatar
@ the b.o.a. pavilion
wednesday, august 12th
the warlocks
@ great scott
wednesday, august 12th
the pretenders
cat power
juliette lewis
@ the bank of american pavilion
thursday, august 13th
bat for lashes
@ the paradise
friday, august 14th
six finger satellite
@ tt the bears
sunday, august 16th
the decemberists
heartless bastards
@ mountain park, holyoke
sunday, august 16th
trashcan sinatras
@ tt the bears
monday, august 17th
the breeders
@ the paradise
friday, august 21st
choo choo la rouge (cd release!)
the big disappointments
impossible hair
the operators
@ pa's lounge
saturday & sunday
august 22nd & 23rd
bruce springsteen & the e street band
@ the comcast center / great woods
saturday, august 29th
caspain
actors & actresses
irepress
arms & sleepers
@ tt the bears
sunday, august 30th
the flaming lips
explosions in the sky
stardeath and white dwarfs
@ the boa pavilion
thursday, september 3rd
kay hanley (letters to cleo)
antisocialites
ingenue
@ tt the bears
saturday, september 5th
the pains of being pure at heart
cymbals eat guitars
depreciation guild
@ the middle east downstairs
saturday, september 5th
pet shop boys
@ the house of blues
thursday, september 10th
autolux
sleepy sun
@ the paradise
thursday, september 10th
dirty three
@ the i.c.a. boston
friday, september 11th
kings of leon
glasvegas
@ the comcast center / great woods
saturday, september 12th
the cult
performing 'love' in its entirety
@ the house of blues
sunday, september 13th
down
melvins
@ the house of blues
tuesday, september 15th
the horrors
@ the paradise
saturday & sunday
september 19th & 20th
boston lebowski fest
with movie screening & bowling
@ the house of blues & kings
sunday, september 20th
u2
snow patrol
@ gillette stadium
tuesday, september 22nd
son volt
@ the paradise
friday, september 25th
township
the lights out (cd release!)
reverse
gravehaven
@ tt the bears
friday, september 25th
charlatans uk
hatcham social
@ the paradise
saturday, september 26th
kmfdm
@ the house of blues
sunday, september 20th
maximo park
@ the paradise
monday, september 28th
sunny day real estate
@ the house of blues
wednesday, september 30th
mono
maserati
@ the middle east downstairs
sunday, october 4th
the "loud & rich" tour
richard thompson &
loudon wainwright iii
performing solo & together
@ the sanders theatre, harvard
wednesday, october 7th
bob mould
@ the paradise
saturday, october 10th
the psychedelic furs
happy monday
@ the house of blues
wednesday, october 14th
loney dear
asobi seksu
@ great scott
wednesday, october 21st
mum
@ the somerville theatre
saturday, october 31st
pinback
@ the paradise
friday, november 13th
janeane garofalo
rob riggle
two shows @ the wilbur theatre
visit tourfilter for more shows
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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 BandOn 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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the wooden birds
a few songs live at tt's
on saturday, april 18th, 2009

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