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. $blog_id=7331383304862626260; $blog_mail="bsearles@gmail.com"; $file_name=$PHP_SELF; global $blog_id, $blog_mail, $file_name; include ("blogkomm/module/blogkomm_show_link.php"); ?> |
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