For the curious who were there, and those who missed out, here's a list of the songs that comprised my DJ set at River Gods in Cambridge, MA last night. I'm there every other month as part of the monthly Tourfilter-sponsored evenings, where we only play music by local and touring bands playing in the Boston area soon (bands you can track via Tourfilter's easy interface). I thought I'd have a tough time coming up with a solid set this time around, as far fewer bands usually play out during the holiday-centric month of December, but boy was I wrong. Whole lotta good shows coming up...

01. Sleepyhead - "CB"
       playing on Saturday, Jan. 5th @ PA's Lounge
02. Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - "Bridges, Squares"
       playing tomorrow, Saturday, December 1st @ the Roxy
03. Hallelujah the Hills - "Cataloging Candy's Demise"
       playing on Friday, Jan. 4th @ the Middle East Up
04. The Brother Kite - "Get On, Me"
       playing tomorrow night, Saturday, Dec. 1st @ TT the Bears
05. Orbit - "Electric"
       reuniting on Fri. & Sat., Dec. 28th & 29th @ the Paradise
06. The Gravel Pit - "Favorite"
       reuniting on Friday, Dec. 28th @ TT the Bears (a benefit for Jeanne)
07. Tokyo Police Club - "Citizens of Tomorrow"
       playing on Sat., Dec. 15th @ the MidEast (in memory of John Pike)
08. The Main Drag - "A Jagged Gorgeous Winter"
       playing on Saturday, December 15th @ Great Scott
09. The Postelles - "Best Boyfriend"
       playing on Sunday, December 16th @ the Middle East Up
10. Vampire Weekend - "Boston"
       playing on Sat., Dec. 15th @ the Middle East Down (for John Pike)
11. The December Sound - "Summer's Gone"
       their cd release show is tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 1st @ TTs
12. The New Pornographers - "The Laws Have Changed"
       playing on Wednesday, Dec. 12th @ the Berklee Performance Center
13. Turpentine Brothers - "Somethin's Not Right"
       playing on Saturday, December 15th @ the Middle East Up
14. The Men - "Stranger"
       playing on Wednesday, December 19th @ Great Scott
15. The Broken River Prophet - "Conductor"
       playing tonight, Friday, November 30th @ TT the Bears
16. Ra Ra Riot - "Dying Is Fine"
       playing on Sat., Dec. 15th @ the MidEast (in memory of John Pike)
17. The Sheila Divine - "Amendment"
       reuniting on Dec. 28th & 29th with Orbit @ the Paradise
18. Chris Brokaw - "My Idea"
       playing on Saturday, Dec. 15th @ the Middle East Up
19. Buffalo Tom - "You'll Never Catch Him"
       playing on Saturday, Dec. 29th at TTs (a benefit for Jeanne)
20. Neil Young - "Shining Light"
       playing on December 2nd, 3rd, & 6th @ the Orpheum
21. Deer Tick - "Diamond Rings"
       playing on Wednesday, December 5th @ The Middle East Up
22. Richard Buckner - "Town"
       playing on Wednesday, December 12th @ Johnny D's
23. The Magnetic Fields - "Yeah! Oh Yeah!"
       playing on February 14th & 15th @ the Somerville Theatre
24. Hopewell - "Afterglow"
       playing tomorrow, Saturday, December 1st @ TT the Bears
25. Margot & the Nuclear So and So's - "Skeleton Key"
       playing on Wed., Dec. 12th @ the Middle East Up
26. Celebration - "Pressure"
       played last night, Thursday, Nov. 29th @ the Middle East Up
27. Mobius Band - "Control"
       playing on Sunday, December 2nd @ the Middle East Down
28. Holy Fuck - "The Pulse"
       played last night, Thursday Nov. 29th @ the Middle East Up
29. The Most Serene Republic - "Content Was Always My Favourite Color"
       playing Sunday, Dec. 16th @ the Middle East Up
30. On Fire - "Night Skies"
       playing on Sunday, December 16th @ the Middle East Up
31. Caspian - "Sea Lawn"
       playing on Sunday, December 30th @ the Middle East Up

posted by brad at 9:52 AM | direct link | rss (1:2) |

Greetings. Here's a quick info-fix on what has always been my least favorite day of the week. The Boomtown Rats were one day off...

Artists mentioned below include Maritime, The One AM Radio, the Soft Drugs, Eldridge Rodriguez of the Beatings, Tom Thumb, Annie Lynch & the Beekeepers, Yo La Tengo, Come (Chris Brokaw and Thalia Zedek), Seana Carmody, Dylan in the Movies, Tara Jane O'Neil, American Music Club, Big Dipper, The Settings Suns (Swervedriver meets Interpol), Air Miami, The House of Love, The James Rocket, Kristin Hersh, and her brand new CASHMusic program.

I also bring up Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, the new Houston Redux live music sharing blog, and this Thursday's Tourfilter DJ Night. Off we go...


First, a few musical goings-on in the Boston area this week deserve your attention...

Maritime and The One AM Radio, who have both released excellent albums this year, bring their short team-up tour to the Middle East Upstairs in Cambridge tomorrow night. And lucky us, we get the Soft Drugs to start off the night, so arrive early as not to miss 'em. Can only hope that the crowds in Meadville, Pennsylvania (on Friday) and Pontiac, Michigan (on Saturday) get an opener half as good. Details on those two remaining Maritime/One AM Radio shows here.

On Thursday night, Nov. 29th, I'll be returning to River Gods in Central Square for another set as part of the monthly Tourfilter DJ Night, which have us playing nothing but songs from bands coming to town in the coming month or so. I'm up first, at 9pm, followed by Chris from TF at 11-ish (yes, as a sleep-deprived new dad, I pull the earlier shift). Last month's was canceled due to the Sox and their World Series run (not a bad excuse, really), so I'm a little extra-psyched to get my DJ fix this time around.

And tonight, fellow Boston-area music blogger Ryan's Smashing Life presents an all acoustic evening at the ultra-cozy Lily Pad in Cambridge's Inman Square. Three performers on tap: Eldridge Rodriguez of the Beatings, Tom Thumb, and Annie Lynch & the Beekeepers. It's all ages, and the doors open at 7 o'clock.

I mentioned a few weeks back that Hellboy creator/writer/artist Mike Mignola will be coming to Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art on April 3rd, 2008 to chat about his past, present, and future work. Well, tickets have now gone on sale to the general public, so if you're a fan, grab yours before they're gone.


Y'know those Yo La Tengo live Mp3s from the MFA I shared last week? Well, thanks to the Phoenix's On The Download, there are now a few video counterparts. Shared two-camera footage includes their Dylan cover, "4th Time Around", "Mr. Tough", and a personal fave, "Stockholm Syndrome". OTD also shared up a video of the on-stage reunion of Come members Chris Brokaw and Thalia Zedek performing their "Hurricane" at the Middle East's 20th Anniversary show a couple weeks back. Great stuff, and here's hoping we get to see the video for the other Come song they played, "Submerge", as well.


Some new songs up on MySpace from some Boston-area faves: Seana Carmody (ex-Syrup USA / Swirlies) has posted "Oh Tokyo" and "Plenty of Stars", and Dylan in the Movies has shared a new one called "Massachusetts Avenue".


Tara Jane O'Neil has just released "Wings. Strings. Meridians." through Yeti Publishing. The book/cd combo collects a bunch of TJO's wonderful paintings and drawings, along with a full-length disc of home recordings, live tracks, and film score work. You can also order up a limited edition signed & numbered version that comes with three silkscreened prints. A perfect gift for fellow TJO completests.


Wolfgang's Vault, which typically streams live shows recorded long ago, surprisingly has the recent Dylan tribute "I'm Not There" up for free listening pleasure. J. Mascis, Calexico (who back a bunch of the performers), Jon Doe, Yo La Tengo, Lee Ranaldo & the Million Dollar Bashers (who back many others), and lots more took part. Stream it here.


The new (and long-awaited) American Music Club full-lengther, "The Golden Age", will be out in February, thanks to Merge, and they've let fly a preview Mp3...


Here's the full tracklist: "All My Love", "The Victory Choir", "The Decibels and The Little Pills", "The Sleeping Beauty", "The Stars", "All The Lost Souls Welcome You To San Francisco", "Who You Are", "The Windows On The World", "One Step Ahead", "The Dance", "I Know That's Not Really You", "On My Way", and "The Grand Duchess Of San Francisco".


Merge will also be putting out "Supercluster: The Big Dipper Anthology" in March, a 3 disc set that brings together 48 re-mastered tracks from the late-80s/early 90s Boston-based band, along with a video and lengthy liner notes (by WFMU DJ Tom Scharpling and the band themselves). The original line-up of the band will reunite on East Coast stages in April to mark the occasion, with a possibility of West Coast dates later on. Here's a sonic taste, originally from the 1987 "Heavens" LP, and now from the box set...


The full tracklisting for Big Dipper's "Supercluster" collection can be found here.


And as long as we're talkin' about Merge, I should mention that they've just started their annual Merge Records Charity Auction, from which all proceeds will be donated to Oxfam America and the Food Bank of Central & Eastern NC. Bookmark their their ebay page to bid on silk-screened posters autographed by Robert Pollard, M. Ward, the Arcade Fire, Oakley Hall, Spoon, the Rosebuds, David Kilgour & the Heavy 8's, Superchunk, Portastatic, Destroyer, and more. They'll be auctioned off two-at-a-time, and they've started off with the Arcade Fire and Kilgour prints.


Now that all those reissues are out of the way, Mr. Billy Bragg gets back to releasing new music with his first album in six years, "Mr. Love & Justice", on March 3rd. Tracklist: "I Keep Faith", "I Almost Killed You", "M For Me", "The Beach is Free", "Sing Their Souls Back Home", "You Make Me Brave", "Something Happened", "Mr Love & Justice", "If You Ever Leave", "O Freedom", "The Johnny Carcinogenic Show", and "Farm Boy" (via NME).


Swervedriver's Adam Franklin & Interpol drummer Sam Fogarino have digitally released the first fruits of their collaboration, The Settings Suns. Their debut EP is now up on iTunes, with a physical release to follow "hot on its heels", and a full-length planned for sometime in 2008. Busy year ahead for Franklin, what with Swervedriver reuniting to tour and all.


Teenbeat Records continues their "Teenbeat Archival CD" series with new pressings of Air Miami's never-officially-issued original 1994 cassettes on disc. The first remastered and repacked disc, "Fourteen Songs", is Teenbeat mainman Mark Robinson (Unrest/Flin Flon/etc) and Bridget Cross (Unrest) with a drum machine, while the second, "Sixteen Songs", brings in a few different drummers (Eggs' John Rickman and Ben Currier, the Ropers' Alex Hacker).

The tracklist for "Fourteen Songs": "Sweet As a Candy Bar", "Airplane Rider", "Bubble Shield", "Stop Sign", "Special Angel", "The Event Horizon", "Agent Molder is Here", "Adidas My Ass"", "Niagara Falls is Frozen", "Neely", "Nicola Six", "Fight Song", "Fox Sighting", and "Definitely Beachy". "Sixteen Songs" contains: "Neely", "Special Angel", "World Cup Fever", "Stop Sign", "Definitely Beachy", "Airplane Rider", "Bubble Shield", "I Hate Milk", "The Event Horizon", "Pucker", "Adidas My Ass", "Dean", "Fight Song", "Afternoon Train", "Dade County Cops Don't Quit", "Special (Reprise)" and the hidden track "Niagara Falls Is Frozen".


As planned, the still-reunited House of Love performed the entirety of their seminal self-titled disc (the one that leads off with "Christine") at London's Koko in late September as part of the "Don't Look Back" series, and threw in some extra gifts at the end. Full setlist here. They also played Dublin a couple days later, and lead singer Guy Chadwick was interviewed before both shows. Lucky us, I just discovered that someone has shared a recording of the "Don't Look Back" set on DimeADozen. Hell yes. Time to start up Azureus.


I've been remiss in not mentioning that John Van, a fellow Seam devotee whom I met while out in Chicago for the Touch & Go anniversary fest last year, is now graciously sharing lots of his personal live recording collection at his new blog, Houston Redux (so named because most of the shows were recorded in his home of Houston). Recent highlights include a 2003 Sigur Ros set and a Blonde Redhead set from 2000. Keep a close and frequent eye on the site, as the files are shared for a short time, and you may have already missed out on some killer stuff.


James Roy (who used to play bass in the band Saint Bastard, among others), has been recording and sharing songs under the name The James Rocket for awhile now, and his latest offering has really grabbed me. Here 'tis...




Lastly, but very importantly, Kristin Hersh has officially kick-started a new model for releasing her work called "CASHMusic", which stands for "Coalition of Artists & Stake Holders". She's the pilot artist for what will hopefully be a growing group of music-makers offering their output directly to fans under a Creative Commons license in a variety of digital formats. The inaugural song, "Slippershell", was posted just yesterday, and is not just available as an Mp3 and in lossless flac format, but as a ProTools stem that allows fans to remix the track as they wish (links to mixes are already popping up on the Throwing Music forum). Available with each shared song will also be downloadable cover artwork, lyrics, and later on, demo versions.

Like the oft-discussed Radiohead model, you can pay what you want for the songs, which will arrive monthly, either through a one-time donation or a subscription model (which will get you extra goodies). The entire arrangement is based on a closer, more trusting relationship between artists and fans, and it's pretty damn exciting. Head over there, do some reading, some downloading, and if you're a music fan who truly believes in supporting its creators, a little donating. If KH ain't your cuppa tea, maybe someone who is will join the coalition in the future.

By the way, Kristin has also just released the wonderful Toby Snax, a children's book that arrived just in time for gift-giving season. As both a new dad and a new uncle, I'm all over that action.


See you on Thursday night at River Gods...

posted by brad at 12:32 PM | direct link | rss (1:2) |

Back in late August, Broken Social Scene's Kevin Drew brought a couple of his BSS bandmates and a few new recruits (including American Analog Set's Andrew Kenny) to the small stage of TT the Bears in Cambridge for a special MySpace-sponsored show. It marked the live debut of this new BSS incarnation, specially designed to deliver songs from Drew's as-of-then-not-yet-released "Spirit If..." solo disc. I wrote about the show here, and didn't offer up my recording in deference to Kevin's wishes, but now that the album's been out a couple months, sketchy YouTube live clips abound, and the band's extensive touring is nearly over (see the last string of dates below), I've decided to share these well-worth-hearing Mp3s. Scroll down even further for some more BSS/KD aural goodness...


Some additional links & songs...

Additional Audio: The entirety of "Spirit If..." can be streamed at Kevin's Arts & Crafts page (just click on the "discography" link there), and at his MySpace page you can stream "Lucky Ones, Frightening Lives, Big Love," and "Bodhi Sappy Weekend".

NPR Music streamed last Sunday's BSS presents Kevin Drew set in Washington, DC, which marked their final U.S. date of the year. Here's what they played, along with times you can find each song in the stream...

BSS presents Kevin Drew's "Spirit If...", live at the 9:30 club in Washington, DC, November 18th, 2007: Lucky Ones, Cause = Time (7:48), F--cked Up Kids (17:06), Safety Bricks (23:02), tbtf (28:00), Stars and Sons (33:40), Frightening Lives (38:20), Backed Out On The... (46:00), Superconnected (50:45), band intros (59:20), Hard to Find (1:01:11), Farewell to the Pressure Kids (1:05:30), Major Label Debut (1:14:25), Kennel District (Pavement) (1:19:33), Feel the Pain (Dino Jr.) (1:22:19), Lover's Spit (1:28:46), It's All Gonna Break (1:38:45), When It Begins (1:53:36)

As you can see, the band threw in a couple seminal covers (Pavement, and a loose Dino Jr. one), and thankfully played the one American Analog Set song they took to including in their sets, "Hard To Find". I've pulled out the Pavement cover, the AmAnSet song, and my favorite track off "Spirit If..." here...

Mp3: Kevin Drew & BSS - "Safety Bricks"
(live in Washington, DC)

Mp3: BSS & AmAnSet's Andrew Kenny - "Hard to Find"
(an American Analog set song, live in DC)

Mp3: Kevin Drew & BSS - "Kennel District"
(Pavement cover - live in DC)

Stream the rest of the show here, thanks to NPR Music.

Video: The dinosaur-party clip for "Backed Out On The..." showed up back in July. Lots of fan-shot live vids from the tour can be found via a Kevin Drew YouTube search.

Tour dates: The band plays their final dates of 2007 in Canada...

Wednesday, Dec. 5th in Kingston, Ontario @ Stages
Thursday, Dec. 6th, Montreal, Quebec @ Le National
Friday, Dec. 7th, Ottawa, Ontario @ Capital Music Hall
Saturday, Dec. 8th, Toronto, Ontario @ Kool Haus
Friday, Dec. 14th, Calgary, Alberta @ MacEwan Ballroom
Saturday, Dec. 15th, Edmonton, AB @ Edmonton Events Centre

Purchase: Support the artists that help make your life better: buy your Kevin Drew and Broken Social Scene releases here.

Stream all 'Nac-hosted Mp3s at the Hype Machine.

the fine print... 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

posted by brad at 12:02 AM | direct link | rss (1:2) |

Even if I hadn't spent a solid chunk of the last 12 hours editing its audio, the sounds of last night's Spiritualized set at the Museum of Fine Arts here in Boston would still be echoing inside my head. Easily the most beautiful show I've seen this year, maybe in several years, and I'm feeling forced to hit up a thesaurus to try and describe it. Instead, I'll let others do it for me...

Rick and Jerad shared their thoughts on last night's show.

Frank at Chromewaves wrote up Saturday's Toronto stop.

Many, many write-ups for the band's performance at the Apollo in NYC last Friday night: Brooklynvegan, Vulture, ProductShopNYC, VV's Sound of the City, Billboard, and the NME.

So how did Jason 'Spaceman' Pierce celebrate his 42nd birthday in Boston? By giving us a present in the form of the final U.S. stop on a tour he has dubbed "Acoustic Mainlines": J. on acoustic guitar, Doggen on electric piano and harmonica, a four piece string section, and a quartet of fantastic backup singers. On paper such a setup might appear pretentious, but in practice it was near-perfection. This gospel gift becomes even more remarkable once you know this bit of info, shared by Case on the Spiritualized message board:

"For those going to the US shows, you'll be surprised to learn that they threw the whole thing together after only three days of being in the US - that includes hiring the gospel singers and string players because they couldn't afford to fly them over from the UK. In addition, they had to hire a different set of string players for the east coast dates because they didn't have the resources to fly the west coast performers over."

I'll not weigh this post down with more words, as all that really matters are the files that follow...


Some Spiritualized links...

Their official site, MySpace page, and Wikipedia entry.

Additional Audio: A torrent of the recent San Francisco show is up on Dime.

Video: A Spiritualized YouTube search will offer up some live "Acoustic Mainlines" footage.

Photos: My Flickr-hosted shots from last night are here, and Drive Blind has a few here. Chromewaves has some great shots from Toronto, and P4K shared some from the NYC show. Also hit up a full Flickr tag search.

Upcoming dates: Spiritualized plays two more sold-out shows before the year is out, on December 8th and 9th at London's Union Chapel.

Purchase: Support the artists that help make your life better. Buy Spiritualized merch here.

Listen to any and all 'Nac-hosted Mp3s at the Hype Machine.

And with that, I'm officially taking a long Thanksgiving break from the 'ol blog, and will return on Monday (what, was three shows shared in three days not enough for ya?). Best wishes to everyone out there, regardless of what your upcoming weekend entails. I've certainly got many, many things to be thankful for, this year especially. Hope you can say the same.


the fine print... If anyone has an issue with these Mp3s being made available, just let me know (my contact info in the 'nac faq). I'm just a fan sharing songs. Live sets are 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

posted by brad at 1:47 PM | direct link | rss (1:2) |

Let us be very thankful for Yo La Tengo. It would be easy to take them for granted: A 22-year career of releasing consistently solid albums and playing wide-ranging venues, relatively drama-free, hype-free, and falter-free. And for the past 16 years, the same three talented people writing songs that are often shifting in style, shining a light on usually-obscure cover songs, all the while making everything they perform just so perfectly, well, "Yo La Tengo"-sounding.

If a visiting time-traveler had shown me each incredibly-varied setlist from the band's just finished "The Freewheeling Yo La Tengo" tour, and allowed me to pick just one show to attend, it would have been exactly the one I ended up at: The early installment of their two-show visit to the Museum of Fine Arts here in Boston this past Thursday. So many personal YLT faves were performed, it was as if it was tailor-made for my ears, but really, I owe that mostly to fellow fans and their requests during the free-form Q&A sessions that happened between many of the songs. "Stockholm Syndrome", "Decora", "Big Day Coming", "One PM Again", "Today Is The Day", "Pablo and Andrea", "Deeper Into Movies", "Detouring American With Horns": all songs that would end up on my own "best of Yo La Tengo" mix. Throw in both a Bob Dylan and a Neil Young cover, and I honestly couldn't imagine a better YLT show.

I'm also pretty thankful that I was even able to be there in the first place, after missing out on tickets when I wasn't sure I'd be free that evening. Unsurprisingly, both shows sold out quickly, and there were more beggars than offerers on craigslist that day. I thought I'd struck a deal for a ticket that afternoon, but the impatient seller sold it out from under me after saying it was available and all mine. So in the end, I owe my attendance to a kind soul with an extra guestlist spot. Had I not made it in after coming so close, and then saw this setlist, well, I'll just say I'm thankful it worked out...


Some Yo La linkage...

Their official site, MySpace page, Wikipedia entry, and Matador Records page.

Additional Audio: NYCtaper recorded the next (and final) night of the Freewheeling YLT tour, and has offered lossless files over here.

Some Mp3s from the Yo La Tengo site...

Mp3: Yo La Tengo - "The Summer"
(live on KEXP 10/15/07)

Mp3: Yo La Tengo - "I Feel Like Going Home"
(live on KCMP 10/07/07)

Mp3: Yo La Tengo - "Pass the Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind"
Mp3: Yo La Tengo - "Beanbag Chair"
(both from their latest album, "IANAOYAIWBYA")

There are more Mp3s to be had at the band's own audio page.

Hip 2 Be Square was at the show as well, and you can read Kip's write-up here.

Video: Official clips for "Tom Courtenay" and "Sugarcube". Many, many live videos can also be found using a YouTube Yo La Tengo search.

Photos: My Flickr-hosted shots are here. Check out the full Yo La Tengo Flickr tag search. And as the band mentions above (thanks to an informed audience member), they played on (an unbroadcasted) Saturday Night Live over the weekend, performing "Mr. Tough" and another song. There's visual confirmation of this happening right here, in the form of a New York Times photo.

Upcoming live dates:

Yo La Tengo is once again performing their series of Hanukkah shows this year at Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ, starting on December 4th and ending on the 11th. All eight shows feature special surprise openers, and all are already sold out.

Listen to all 'Nac-hosted Mp3s at the Hype Machine.

the fine print... 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, edited for leveling, then converted to 192kbps Mp3s w/Lame. Files are made available for a limited time, and are not reposted once removed.

Labels: livemp3s

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

Of all the shows I've captured and shared, I don't think I've ever been fortunate enough to record a band's official live debut. Not that you'd know by this recording that the four men who make up the Soft Drugs had never set foot on a stage together before the small one at TT the Bears in Cambridge last month... they were super-tight and totally smooth, which isn't so surprising given the collective experience of the players involved.

A bit of background: TW Walsh and his family left Seattle and moved to the Boston area earlier this year, and it didn't take him long to pull together some top-notch players to fill out a new version of his solo vehicle. Joining TW, who sings his songs from behind his drum kit, is Michael Murray on guitar, John Beck III on Wurlitzer, guitar, & percussion, and Ken Maiuri on bass (all three provide backing vocals as well). Drew O'Doherty, who played a solo set of his own to open the evening, also sat in on guitar for a couple of songs in the middle of the 8-song TT's set. It was a friend-filled night, as headlining was David Bazan, TW's former bandmate under the now-abandoned Pedro the Lion moniker (interesting that as DB decided to stop using PTL in favor of his own name early last year, TW decided to start delivering his own solo stuff under a band name... and so the universe remains in balance).

The Soft Drugs publicly came into being in the summer of '06, with the arrival of the five-song "In Moderation" EP, which soon became a free download under a Creative Commons license. A Seattle-based version of the band played a few shows before the Walsh clan relocated, but soon after TW settled back in Boston, like-minded Boston-area musicians and friends were brought in to help bring the Soft Drugs to life on East Coast stages. And so it was that on Saturday, October 27th, the quartet did just that in front of an appreciative crowd...


As you'll notice, the song "Badge" remains unshared (at TW's request), but you'll likely be able to hear that one on the eventual release of the Soft Drugs' planned full-band debut full-lengther. Demos are in the works, and we'll hopefully stay updated via his blog or the SD MySpace page as recording sessions take place.

Some links, Soft Drugs style......

The official Soft Drugs site, MySpace page, Wikipedia entry, TW Walsh's blog, his own Wikipedia page, his Tower of Song records page, and his Bounce To Disk home recording blog. Speaking of his recording blog, TW has also started up his own mastering business, so check the details here.

Additional Audio: Pick up the "In Moderation" EP on iTunes, or download it under the CC license at the Soft Drugs site. Also available there is a non-EP track, on which TW plays all the instruments, and I'll link that here...

Mp3: The Soft Drugs - "Family of Four"

For the unaware, before becoming part of Pedro the Lion, TW put out a few releases under his own name between 1999 and 2002, including the fantastic "Blue Laws" album. They're worth hunting down if you can find 'em.

Photos: My Flickr-hosted shots are here.

Upcoming live dates:

Tuesday, Nov. 27th - TW Walsh solo
@ UMass Lowell in Lowell, Massachusetts

Wednesday, Nov 28th - The Soft Drugs
@ The Middle East in Cambridge, Massachusetts
with Maritime & The One AM Radio

Listen to any and all 'Nac-hosted Mp3s at le Hype Machine 2.0.

the fine print... 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

posted by brad at 6:22 PM | direct link | rss (1:2) |

Some variousness on this gray, rainy Thursday. First, some timely tidbits...


Yes, both Yo La Tengo shows here in Boston tonight at the MFA are sold out, but if you've got tickets, make sure you show up early enough to catch opener Chris Brokaw... his solo stuff should sound fantastic in that room. His sets tonight come just a few days after he shared the stage with his old Come bandmate Thalia Zedek and members of her band, bass player Winston Bramen and drummer Daniel Coughlin, at the Middle East's 20th Anniversary show last Saturday. Attendees were treated to live performances of a couple Come songs to mark the occasion: "Hurricane" off their next-to-last album, 1996's "Near Life Experience", and "Submerge" from their amazing full-length debut, "11:11". The set was filmed, and word is we'll be seeing that reunion on YouTube eventually.


If you're on the internet today at 5pm EST (that's 2pm Cali-time): Comedian, animated rat, comic book booster, and music fan of discriminating taste Mr. Patton Oswalt will take over Steve Jones' DJ slot, Jonesy's Jukebox, at indie 103.1 on Thursday at 2pm PST. Stream it there. Patton's fill-in comes in the wake of a Hobbit and Dwight Schrute, who played songs of their choosing earlier this week. Monaghan played old-school Manchester stuff (nice!), but hopefully no Driveshaft.


Film School's homecoming show in Los Angeles tonight is being filmed to be incorporated into Eric Green's in-progress shoegaze documentary, "Beautiful Noise" (fyi, I'll be sharing up a live set from FS at some point soon... their recent show here in Boston floored me). Think Eric could have guessed that My Bloody Valentine would be reuniting as he was working on his film? Talk about timely...


And on the subject of "Beautiful Noise", Medicine's Brad Laner has fittingly been tagged to provide the score, as his band is the only American one to be featured in the "first wave" section of the film. Laner has just released a solo album titled "Neighbor Singing" under his own name, on the Hometapes label. Here's a song from it...


There's another Mp3 linked over here titled "June Gloom".


As I mentioned briefly yesterday, Caleb, the gent behind the Hard To Find A Friend music blog, has pulled together one hell of a benefit compilation, and it was made available earlier this week. "Peace On Earth" is a holiday-themed collection of songs from the likes of the Long Winters, Chris Walla of DCFC, TW Walsh of the Soft Drugs, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Rosie Thomas, American Music Club, Via Audio, Great Lake Swimmers, and a bunch more. The eighteen-song digital download is just 7 bucks, and all proceeds are being donated to the wonderful Toys for Tots organization, which provides presents for underprivileged kids at Christmas. While not every single song is holiday-themed, every one is exclusive to the compilation, and having bought one myself, I can attest to it being worth the cash, independent of the worthy cause. Buy it here, only at HtFaF. Here's the official "try before you buy" track...


Outta nowhere, Versus reunited for a little birthday party show last weekend in NYC, playing a full set for the lucky 50 or so who where there, and especially for birthday boy Matt Datesman (ace drummer for True Love Always and Flin Flon). Ah, to be one of the fortunate few. We can virtually share the experience with YouTube footage of a bunch of the songs: "Lose That Dress", "Shangri-La", "You'll Be Sorry", "We Got The Missiles", "Morning Glory", "Forest Fire", "Jealous", and "Dumb Fun". F'in "Forest Fire"! I'm truly hoping this get-together is a sign of things to come, as the band is also opening for Yo La Tengo in NYC on December 4th. It'd be nice to see them back for awhile.


Ida fans, and others: Make sure you pick up the new Fall 2007 issue of Esopus magazine (#9), which includes a compact disc entitled "Dreams". The disc features 11 artists (including Ida, White Whale, and Dirty Projectors) performing songs inspired by dreams submitted by Esopus readers. Pick up the magazine at finer bookstores listed here, or stream segments of all the tracks here. For those in the Boston area, Trident Booksellers on Newbury had a few copies left when I grabbed mine yesterday. FYI, Ida's contribution is titled "Moon Flower", and will not be appearing on their upcoming full length, "Lovers Prayers".


On a completely non-music related note, it sure was a good week for new comics, was it not? A new Ex Machina trade paperback, the last (and long awaited) Queen & Country collection for awhile, and the gorgeously designed new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen hardcover, "The Black Dossier". It's going to take me awhile to get through that one... so much text! But that's far from a complaint... I'll take all the text I can get from Alan Moore.


Long as I'm talking comics: I've never been to the Toronto-based comics shop The Beguiling, but that didn't stop me from buying this James Jean (of Fables cover fame) poster commemorating their 20th anniversary. Just beautiful.


Ending on a musical note: Plan ahead for Thursday night, November 29th, as I'll be returning to the DJ booth at River Gods in Cambridge for another Tourfilter DJ Night. But more on that as it gets closer...

posted by brad at 11:20 AM | direct link | rss (1:2) |

The fifth stop on David Bazan's 3-week tour with All Smiles, which officially wrapped up last night, brought him to TT the Bears in Cambridge, MA as the third game of the Sox-dominated World Series unfolded on TV at the other side of the bar. He shared the bill not only with All Smiles (aka Jim Fairchild of Grandaddy), but with his friend, former bandmate, and returned Boston-area resident TW Walsh (but more on him and the live debut of his Soft Drugs in my next post), as well as opener and birthday-boy Drew O'Doherty.

It's been well over a year since the initial release of DB's last EP, "Fewer Moving Parts", so he's got a whole bunch of new songs ready to share (which should appear on his first Barsuk full-length, titled "David Bazan's Black Cloud", out sometime next year). And share he did, with no less than seven new ones and a knockout cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" (which will also likely make its way onto the next disc). The first of the new ones he played was co-written with Starflyer 59's Jason Martin, and as of this performance didn't have an official title. We also got a couple of the EP tracks, a Headphones number, some older Pedro the Lion songs, and David's usually-interesting in-set question & answer sessions.

As you may know, David's a Radiohead fan (Mp3: "Let Down" (live)), and here's what he had to say during one of the Q&A's about the release of "In Rainbows"...

Audience: "What do you think of the new Radiohead?"

DB: "Oh, I like the new Radiohead record pretty well. I like some of their other songs better than the songs on this record, but it's a pretty compelling record, I think. I don't love the drummer. He seems like a great dude, and I thought he had worked all this stuff out on the last record, but apparently not."

Aud: "How much did you pay for it?"

DB: "I paid 80 dollars." (he bought the discbox)

Aud: "That's too much!" (crowd laughs)

DB: "It depends on the value that you place on music. Having heard the White Album the way that I have, and knowing how much it means to me, if someone told me that the only way I could listen to that record ever again is to save up and pay $1000 for it... do you think I would? Fuck yeah, I would. I'd sell amplifiers, and guitars... it's an important thing for me to be able to listen to that record...

...thankfully I can just download it for free."

He also talks about Pitchfork's reaction to his song "Selling Advertising" ("They were very mad. They were frustrated, they had a lot of issues with the song, not the least of which is that Ryan Schreiber is not Jewish. I was like 'no fucking doy.'... not as smart as I thought they were."). He speaks of leaving Jade Tree for Barsuk, a bit about politics, mentions that he's not releasing a Christmas 7" this year, says there will be a second Headphones record in a couple years, and addresses when "Black Cloud" will come out ("May, I think, maybe June... or July... or August").

Whenever it does arrive, it can't come soon enough, as this new stuff ranks up with some of his best work under the PTL banner. Plans are that the album will be a fully fleshed-out affair, with David playing all the instruments, and that he'll put together a touring band to deliver the songs to audiences once it's out. For now, the songs only exist in demo form, and further recording may even start between now and when Bazan hits the road again for a two-week West Coast-ish tour with J. Tillman on December 2nd. Full dates after these Mp3s of his full Cambridge set...


Some David Bazan linkage...

His official site, MySpace page, Wikipedia entry, Barsuk label page, the Undertow Store page (go buy stuff), and fansites PtL dot com & PtL dot org.

Additional Audio: Caleb shared another recent live set over at his Hard To Find A Friend" music blog (you can now buy the new "Peace On Earth" benefit compilation he curated, by the way). Four Bazan songs to stream on MySpace, and a few from the EP at Barsuk; an Mp3 of "Cold Beer & Cigarettes" from "Fewer Moving Pieces"; older PtL songs "The Longest Winter" & "When They Really Get to Know You They Will Run" thanks to Jade Tree; More Mp3s thanks to PedroTheLion.org and Pedro-the-Lion.com, as well as the PtL Purevolume page.

Video: Nothing official, really, but there's always the trusty David Bazan YouTube search. And allow me to direct you to this clip of another brand spankin' new song recorded just a couple days ago in Nashville. It's killer.

Photos: My Flickr-hosted shots are here. Check out the full David Bazan Flickr tag search.

Upcoming tourdates (with J. Tillman):

Sunday, 12/02 in Spokane, WA @ Empyrean
Monday, 12/03 in Boise, ID @ Neurolux
Tuesday, 12/04 in Salt Lake City, UT @ In The Venue
Wednesday, 12/05 in Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive
Thursday, 12/06 in Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad
Friday, 12/07 in Tuscon, AZ @ Solar Culture
Saturday, 12/08 in San Diego, CA @ Casbah
Monday, 12/10 in Pomona, CA @ Glass House
Tuesday, 12/11 in Los Angeles, CA @ Spaceland
Wednesday, 12/12 in San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
Thursday, 12/13 in Eugene, OR @ Indigo District
Friday, 12/14 in Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
Saturday, 12/15 in Seattle, WA @ Crocodile Cafe

Listen to any and all 'Nac-hosted Mp3s at le Hype Machine 2.0.

the fine print... 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

posted by brad at 6:06 AM | direct link | rss (1:2) |

When I read that the National would be playing at a downtown Boston bar called Paddy O's (legal capacity: about 230), my first thought was that someone had either A) gotten their info way wrong, or B) thought it was the first of April. After all, the band had just sold out the 1400-capacity Roxy a few weeks earlier, as well as two nights at the 575-capacity Middle East downstairs back in June. But when I realized the news was shared by Sean, who books Paddy O's sister bar, Hennessy's (a place that has started hosting some pretty great shows this year), I quickly realized it was no joke.

I'm one of those who only really "got" the National after seeing them live back in June 2005. "Alligator" didn't grab me immediately, but after watching the band rip through 15 songs at a half-full TT the Bears, I was all in. And unlike its predecessor, this year's "Boxer" hit me instantly, securing itself a seat high in my '07 top ten list. But when I learned the band would play two likely-jam-packed shows at the MidEast Down, I balked at seeing the new stuff in that venue... "Boxer" is a more intimate record, and I felt better leaving its songs in my headphones rather than braving the potentially poor sight-lines and sardined conditions of the MED. When the band returned to play the Roxy in early October, better plans, a general distaste for the venue, and another sell-out kept me away from that one, too. Call me crazy, but in my dreams the band would've played the Somerville Theatre or the MFA... that's how I saw the "Boxer" songs brought to life, at someplace involving seats. But I'd completely forgotten how much rock the National brings to even their slower songs, and it wasn't long into their Paddy O's set that I was reminded of that. Powerfully.

So, about this Paddy O's gig: Ostensibly, it was to mark the 100th installment of WFNX's morning show, "The Sandbox", but in reality, it was to try and sell a whole lot of Miller beer products. As soon as I walked in, I was surrounded by Miller banners, Miller hawkers, people drinkin' Miller, and embarrassingly, a botched sign promoting the evening's appearance by "The Nationals". Yes, it crossed my mind then that maybe this was all a ruse, and that Cristian Guzman or Nook Logan would be there to tell everyone what time it was (answer: Miller Time!). When I went up to the bar and asked what they had on tap, the bartender semi-laughed at me before responding: "Miller". And that was it. Fortunately, the "Champagne of Beers" is one of my low-budget drinks of choice, so with High Life in hand I eased up near the front to make sure there were instruments up there. Whew, there were, and the drum kit definitely belonged to Bryan Devendorf. Then it hit me: I'm actually going to get to see the f'in National in this place.

After a too-long delay during which 'FNX personalities reminded us a few times to drink up the Miller, we were treated to an on-stage appearance by four, and I kid you not, "Miller Girls". Shirts tied in belly-exposing knots, smiles firmly in place, and not a word spoken by them (just the DJs leading them), it had to have been one of the most surreal introductions the National had ever received. Off to the side of the slightly raised performance area, the guys grinned sheepishly, probably not believing what they were seeing, same as many of us. So, so odd.

And then, finally, the six guys hit the stage: Singer Matt Berninger, Scott & Bryan Devendorf (bass & drums, respectively), Aaron & Bryce Dessner (guitars), and thankfully this time, Padma Newsome on keys and violin...


The band was on fire, the songs intense, the crowd noisily appreciative. Normally I'd be annoyed by such an overly raucous audience (that's the taper in me typing), but it fit just right at this small rock show, and swept me up. I walked outta there thinking it could have been the show of the year, and with distance, a few weeks later it's easily in my top five.

Some National links...

Their official site, MySpace page, Wikipedia entry, and their Beggars label page.

Additional Audio: Four songs to stream on MySpace, as usual, and three older songs shared as Mp3s on their own site: "Slipping Husband" and "Murder Me Rachael" from "Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers", and "Cold Girl Fever" off their self-titled debut. NPR also transmitted a live National performance from DC's 9:30 club in June, which you can listen to via the All Songs Considered podcast. I've excerpted two songs here for your listening pleasure...

Mp3: The National - "Mr. November"
(live on NPR from DC, 6/20/07)

Mp3: The National - "Mistaken For Strangers"
(live on NPR from DC, 6/20/07)

Also, the Boston Phoenix's On The Download music blog puts my recording to shame by sharing soundboard audio from the Paddy O's show, along with some sweet two-camera video action.

Video: The aforementioned OTD live videos for "Brainy", "Secret Meeting", and "Mistaken For Strangers". A whole bunch of preview clips for the upcoming National film, "A Skin, A Night" by Vincent Moon. A new Black Cab Session for "You've Done It Again, Virginia" that Berninger & a Dessner performed acoustically in the back of a London taxi just yesterday. The band also did one of the Blogoteque Take Away Shows, performing both "Start A War" and "Ada". And, of course, there's the handy National YouTube search.

Photos: My point-and-shoot shots of the National at Paddy O's are here. The Line of Best Fit has some excellent pics of the band's performance last night in London. For many more photos, here's a National Flickr tag search. Good thing Flickr doesn't ignore the "the" in their searches, or you'd be looking at lots of pictures of parks.

Tourdates: The National continues their worldwide trek in support of "Boxer" through the end of the year and beyond. Tonight they're in Belgium, then they hit up most of Europe before closing out their 2007 road trip in Russia. January brings them south of the equator, with a stop in New Zealand and many more in Australia.

Listen to any and all 'Nac-hosted Mp3s at le Hype Machine.

the fine print... 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

posted by brad at 3:33 PM | direct link | rss (1:2) |

Some randomness to close out the week...


I'm generally not a big fan of the little 'culture of exclusivity' that various music blogs have fostered and fed over the past couple years, at least when they flash neon signs saying 'look at me! look at me!', but I can't resist shining a light on this brand new song from Somerville's own Travels, who released their gorgeously haunting self-titled debut disc last week. "Animal" is new enough to be a non-album track, and it's a stunner...

Mp3: Travels - "Animal"

Travels, for those not yet aware, is Mona Elliott and Anar Badalov, formerly of Victory at Sea and Metal Hearts, respectively, making beautiful music in their Union Square apartment. Aurally, Travels leans a little more towards Anar's previous project than Mona's, with mostly shared and semi-restrained lead vocals, although Mona takes over on this new one, and sings her heart right out. Mesmerizing stuff. Many thanks to the duo for allowing me to host this one.


Yes, everyone's already shared this song, but that doesn't prevent me from doing the same. It is new Cat Power, after all...

Mp3: Cat Power - "Song To Bobby"

(update: the mp3 was mistakenly shared by the label, who is now asking blogs to remove it. as the 'nac only shares officially sanctioned pre-release mp3s, i happily complied.)

Her upcoming (mostly covers) album is "Jukebox", and is out on Matador on January 22nd. Check here for the full track listing, as well as what covers will be on a limited 5-song bonus disk that will come with some copies.


The Futureheads have finished up recording their as-yet-untitled third album, and they've just let the first taste of it out into the world. Surprise, it's a rocker, with no dramatic shifts in style, and still ace. It's got the stop/starts, the harmonies, the punch. Here 'tis...

Mp3: The Futureheads - "Broke Up The Time"

It's a measly 128kbps, and while the download from their site is terribly tagged, I've fixed that here. I do encourage you to head over there and sign up for their mailing list, though.


Depending on which side of Massachusetts you reside (the woody west or the concrete east), there are a couple things you must be made aware of happening tomorrow night, Saturday the 10th...

MySpace is putting on 31 same-day worldwide "Rock For Darfur" benefit concerts, and one of them is out in North Adams at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, featuring none other than Yo La Tengo performing acoustically. Tickets are still available here.

And as I mentioned previously, Cambridge rock club The Middle East is marking their 20th anniversary of show-hosting with a party tomorrow night (it's also serving as a birthday celebration for scene-staple Billy Ruane and MidEast booker Kevin Hoskins), and proceeds go to a far more personal cause: Proceeds will go to help out Stephen Fredette, former lead guitarist for Scruffy the Cat and currently of Pony, who was recently diagnosed with lymphoma. The lineup is super-solid: Hallelujah The Hills, The Thalia Zedek Band with her former Come-bandmate Chris Brokaw, M.G. Lederman (ex-Victory at Sea), Empty House Cooperative, Reid Paley Trio, Helms, IV Diffusion, and Drug Rug. Tickets are, remarkably, still available here, but since this show is in the upstairs room, they'll no doubt be gone soon.

Another special benefit show happening at the MidEast is the Friends of John Concert on Saturday, December 15th. Tokyo Police Club, Vampire Weekend, and Ra Ra Riot will be performing in honor of RRR's drummer (and Mass. resident), the much-missed John Ryan Pike, who sadly passed away near Fairhaven, MA in early June.


All funds raised from the show will be donated to the JPR Memorial Foundation, and will be used to establish a lending library of musical instruments for underprivileged kids who would not otherwise be able to afford them. Another of the foundation's goals is to work with other teaching organizations to match up students and music teachers. I can't imagine a much more inspiring mission to maintain his memory. Tickets for the benefit can be purchased here or at the Middle East's box office. A definite sell-out, so do not delay.


Something slightly screwy happened with ticket sales for the two Magnetic Fields shows that are scheduled at the Somerville Theatre in mid-February. Earlier this week, General Admission tickets for the two shows were available via pre-sale, and quickly disappeared. Then, suddenly, some pre-sale tickets became available again this morning, but were changed to be Assigned Seating only. As of my writing this, you can still buy reserved mezzanine tickets for the Valentine's Day show, but pre-sale tickets for the one on February 15th are gone.

According to someone at the theatre, the tickets were never supposed to be sold as General Admission, so the pre-sales people responsible for the mistake are going to be contacting everyone who bought one (including me) and assigning them seats. Hopefully they'll do the right thing and make the newly assigned spots nice ones, or they'll end up with a bunch of angry Magnetic Fields fans (scary!) whose early-action ends up costing them a good view of Mr. Merritt & co.

So when general public tickets for both shows go on sale tomorrow morning (Saturday, 11/10) at 10am via Ticketmaster, they're going to all be assigned seating. Will they be better or worse than the ones that were/are available via pre-sale? Color me clueless.


I'll wrap this up with a couple of distinctly non-musical (and entirely geeky) bits of event info...


Boston-area fans of fine comic book creation rejoice: Mr. Mike Mignola is coming to town. Yes, on Thursday evening, April 3rd, the Hellboy creator/writer/artist will be making a special appearance at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston to chat about on his past, present, and future works, focusing on what it's taken to take Hellboy to Hollywood (and hopefully the Writer's Guild strike will be over by then, otherwise I'm sure he'll be talking a lot about that). Tickets are available here for ICA members, and will go on sale to the rest of us on November 21st.


Soooo... all I have to do is mention "Battlestar Galactica", and it's highly possible that any of you who've never seen the reimagined version on the Sci-Fi Channel are going to chuckle and browse away from the 'Nac. But for those who have seen it, and who get it, didja hear about the free in-theater screenings of the new Battlestar movie, "Razor", that are happening on Monday (the 12th) around the country? Well, two of them are here in Boston, and the registration filled up super-fast. But I'll be there for a hearty helping of some big-screen Battlestar action. For those who won't, "Razor" debuts on the Sci-Fi Channel on Saturday, November 24th.

posted by brad at 1:53 PM | direct link | rss (1:2) |

A little Monday morning miscellaneousness...


Ida's long-awaited follow-up to 2005's "Heart Like A River" has a release date and a title: "Lovers Prayers" will be out on Polyvinyl on January 29th, 2008. Cannot wait.

Update: Ladies and gents, we have a track list...

Ida's "Lovers Prayers" will give us...

1. Lovers Prayers
2. The Weight Of The Straw
3. The Love Below
4. Willow Tree
5. Worried Mind Blues
6. Gravity
7. For Shame Of Doing Wrong
8. First Light
9. Kora
10. Surely Gone
11. The Killers 1964
12. See The Stars
13. First Take
14. Blue Clouds

The vinyl version will also include a bonus track titled "Lolo Sang".

Sid over at Too Much Rock caught Ida (performing as a trio with Dan, Liz, and violinist Jean Cook) when they played Schuba's in Chicago back in late August, and you can check out some photos here, as well as a live clip of the band covering a Neil Young song...

Mp4 Video: Ida - "Albuquerque" (Neil Young)

The venerable Middle East is celebrating 20 years in the live-music business by hosting one hell of a show this coming Saturday night. Check out the bands playing: Hallelujah The Hills, The Thalia Zedek Band with Chris Brokaw (yes, this is as close as we've gotten to a Come reunion), M.G. Lederman (ex-Victory at Sea), Empty House Cooperative, Reid Paley Trio, Helms, IV Diffusion, and Drug Rug. Now that is a party, and also a benefit for Stephen Fredette (heplayed lead guitar for Scruffy the Cat, is currently in Pony, and was recently diagnosed with lymphoma), as well as a means to mark the 50th birthday of the one and only Mr. Billy Ruane. Word is he's responsible for that lineup, and if so, well done, sir. Tickets here.


Speaking of Chris Brokaw, did you catch him on Jimmy Kimmel's talk show the other night, playing guitar alongside Thurston Moore in his backing band? Very cool to see him get a little bit of teevee-time.


National Public Radio has kicked off a brand new series of video podcasts called "Project Song", in which they document an artist composing and recording a new song from start to finish within 48 hours, with someone fairly f'in fantastic: The Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt. It's a true treat to see Merritt sit down at a piano and start to pull together a new song called "The Man of a Million Faces". Here's a direct link to the 10-minute video, the first half of which shows how the song came together, with the second half being the entire song set to footage of Stephin recording it. I thought about extracting the song's audio as an Mp3 (and I have no doubt that more traffic-hungry music blogs will take care of that), but it's more rewarding to watch it come together on its own. Brilliant stuff, and I can only hope NPR is able to keeps the caliber of future "Project Song" contributors as high.

The Magnetic Fields next album, "Distortion", arrives on January 15, 2008 thanks to Nonesuch Records. Merritt & Co. have also scheduled their first batch of shows in support of the disc, pre-sale tickets have already gone on-sale, and quickly disappeared for the two general admission Somerville Theatre shows. I was able to snag one for the February 15th date (missed out on the Valentine's Day one), but Boston-area fans still have a chance: the rest of the tickets should be on sale through Ticket$%#^er within the week. Just keep an eye out here.


NPR also keeps the fine concert simulcasts coming with recent (and now archived) broadcasts of live sets from Stars (download full concert Mp3) and the New Pornographers (download full concert Mp3). Both shows are from late October at DC's 9:30 Club.


If you haven't picked up Bottomless Pit's new debut, "Hammer Of The Gods", what exactly are you waiting for? Order the cd from the newly-christened Comedy Minus One record label here, or the gorgeously thick vinyl (which includes a cd with all the songs) right here. The Village Voice's Sound of the City music blog has a great Bottomless Pit write up if you need more convincin'.


This first official pre-release Mp3 from Nada Surf's upcoming "Lucky" album (due out in early February on Barsuk) reveals that it may be their slickest sounding recording to date. It's pretty, polished, and another damn good slow-pop song...

Mp3: Nada Surf - "See These Bones"

Allston's own Broken River Prophet played a 35-minute live set on WMBR's Pipeline program the day before Halloween, and you can download the entire thing as a 32MB Mp3 right here. Something to tide you over until they get an album out.


Speaking of tiding us over, Seattle's The Sea Navy has let a couple lo-fi demos out of the vaults to bide time until their next album, which will be out in 2008. Those demos are...

Mp3: The Sea Navy - "Is That It"
Mp3: The Sea Navy - "Branches, Leaves, Fruit, Seeds"

Over on the Twilight Singers MySpace page, there's a new recording of Greg Dulli performing a live cover of Jose Gonzalez' "Down The Line" at a Seattle benefit show early last month.


Going to see Bob Mould acoustic at the Paradise Lounge here in Boston tonight? See ya there. I've actually got a spare ticket if anyone out there's up for a Monday night out...

posted by brad at 7:07 AM | direct link | rss (1:2) |

I've got a bit of a backlog of live recordings to share, so I'm going forego my "once a week" tradition and just let them loose as they're ready...


I'll admit up front that I lost complete track of Mike Scott and his Waterboys for oh, about fifteen years or so. I initially discovered them as many on U.S. shores likely did, back when U2 invited them along to open some dates in the mid-80's, and kept playing their songs as tour intro music for months afterwards. I think the first time I heard "The Whole Of The Moon" (which I still count among my favorite songs) was waiting for U2 to take the stage in Montreal in 1987, and picked up the Waterboys' third album (and last featuring future World Party frontman Karl Wallinger), the sweeping "This Is The Sea", shortly after that gig. My love for that record (yes, when it was actually a record) prompted me to grab their self-titled 1981 debut and the sophomore "A Pagan Place", though I was not nearly as struck by those two, nor by 1988's "Fisherman's Blues". I liked them well enough, but found myself going back to "This Is The Sea" far more frequently.

By the time 1990's "Room To Roam" came out, my musical tastes had drastically transformed, and the Waterboys fell off my radar until a two-disc remastered version of "This Is The Sea" was issued in 2004, inspiring me to finally replace my well-worn vinyl copy. In the intervening years, I discovered the band had released a few more albums, a couple of greatest hits collections, as well as a live disc.

Which brings us to the Waterboys, present-day. Mike Scott and his mates are still making music, and in August released a new disc called "Book of Lightning" on Decca Records (it came out in the UK in April). The five-piece (a lineup that has changed a bit over the years) just kicked off a short North American tour for the album last night here in Boston, with a stop tonight at Webster Hall in NYC, and winding up in San Francisco on the 13th. While I didn't see them play here last night, the band is back on my mind after a free, WBOS-sponsored acoustic show they put on at the First Act Guitar Studio back in late August. Mike was joined by longtime collaborators Steve Wickham on fiddle and Richard Naiff on keys, and the trio ran through a full set of songs, most from the new album, with a few old ones and an excellent Willie Nelson cover as well (alas, no "Whole of the Moon", but I won't fault them for skipping the obvious). No doubt about it, Mike Scott still has that voice, and as when Dinosaur Jr. played an in-store earlier this year, I've got much respect for a band who will give it their all for even a small (and non-paying) crowd. No three-or-four-song token performance was this.

During an in-set anecdote, Mike off-handedly said "... just as people might bootleg this concert", and he was right on. Here's the full Waterboys set. Tour dates are below, and I'll share a couple of Mike's anecdotes down there as well...


A couple of anecdotes...

You'll notice that the last song, "Bring 'Em All In", is stopped and started again, and this was a deliberate choice by Scott, who was suddenly inspired to slow it down. Before the restart, he told us of his late-seventies obsession with Patti Smith bootlegs (he was "mad about them", but not mad angry... mad crazy). He'd collect recordings from the same tour and be fascinated how the band would slow certain songs down (specifically, Smith's "Kimberly") from rockers to heavy, powerful dirges. So in the middle of "Bring 'Em All In", that's exactly what he decided to do... slow it down and give it the "Kimberly-treatment".

While the song "The Crash of Angel Wings" is a new one, its title has been around since 1982. Back then (and this was news to me), Mike was in a short-lived band called The Red & The Black with bass player Matthew Seligman (who would go on to be one of the Soft Boys with Robyn Hitchock), eventual Waterboys Anthony Thistlethwaite on sax, and Kevin Wilkinson (who would later play in Squeeze, and sadly commited suicide in 1999) on drums. All four bandmates would actually end up contributing to "This Is The Sea". The reason for the history lesson? It was Soft Boy Seligman who came up with the song title "The Crash of Angel Wings", and it took Mike Scott a mere 25 years to use it. And as of this late August performance, he still hadn't told him.

Some Waterboys links...

Their official site, MySpace page, and Wikipedia entry.

Additional Audio: No officially-sanctioned Mp3s to speak of, unfortunately, but you can stream a few songs on their MySpace page.

Video: MySpace hosts many Waterboys clips. And, of course, there's always a Waterboys YouTube search.

Photos: My shots of the acoustic Waterboys appearance are here. For many more photos, here's a Waterboys Flickr tag search.

The Waterboys' Fall 2007 Tour Dates:

Friday, Nov. 2nd, 2007
Webster Hall, NYC

Saturday, Nov. 3rd, 2007
Keswick Theatre, Glenside, Pennsylvania

Monday, Nov. 5th, 2007
The Music Hall, Toronto, Ontario

Tuesday, Nov. 6th, 2007
Park West, Chicago, Illinois

Friday, Nov. 9th, 2007
Moore Theatre, Seattle, Washington

Saturday, Nov. 10th, 2007
Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver

Sunday, Nov. 11th, 2007
Aladdin Theatre, Portland, Oregon

Tuesday, Nov. 13th, 2007
The Fillmore, San Francisco, California

Stream all 'Nac-shared Mp3s on the Hype Machine.

the fine print... 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

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