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recommended boston area events

wednesday and thursday

february 10th and 11th

the magnetic fields

laura barrett

@ the wilbur theatre

thursday, february 11th

v66 reunion

with rod & cones, big city rock,

the fools, o positive, animotion,

right turn, digney fingus, ernie boch jr.,

lizzie borden and the axes, & more

@ house of blues

thursday, february 11th

found audio

the first annual

the rockefeller fortune

boone

@ oliver's / cask 'n flagon

friday, february 12th

kings of convenience

franklin for short

@ the paradise

saturday, february 13th

one happy island

human hearts (with franklin bruno)

boy genius

free! @ toad, cambridge

saturday, february 13th

a benefit for haiti

the okay win

new son rising

the elevators

@ copperfields

saturday, february 13th

tegan & sara

holly miranda

@ the orpheum

sunday, february 14th

we were promised jetpacks

bad veins

royal bangs

@ the middle east downstairs

monday, february 15th

a benefit for haiti

with big bear, ketman,

chris brokaw, monique ortiz,

art decade, & the dirty dishes

@ the middle east downstairs

tuesday, wednesday, & thursday

february 16th, 17th, & 18th

3 nights with jonathan richman

@ the middle east upstairs

thursday, february 18th

editors

the antlers

@ house of blues

friday, february 19th

28 degrees taurus

el jezel

the broken river prophet

metal feathers

@ o'briens, allston

friday, february 19th

taken by trees

el perro del mar

@ the cambridge ymca theatre

saturday, february 20th

dawes

corey chisel & the wandering sons

jason boesel (rilo kiley)

@ great scott

monday, february 22nd

boy without god

ryan lee crosby quartet

the wailing wall

sleepy very sleepy

@ tt the bears

wednesday, february 24th

wild beasts

still life still

dj carbo

@ great scott

saturday, february 27th

hadoken (cd release)

caspian

irepress

slowest runner

@ tt the bears

monday, march 1st

rogue wave

@ the paradise

tuesday, march 9th

jet

crash kings

@ the paradise

monday, march 15th

one happy island

standard fare

summer cats

@ great scott

monday, march 15th

letting up despite great faults

the brother kite

plumerai

singing bridges

@ the middle east upstairs

wednesday, march 17th

joanna newsom

@ the sanders theatre, harvard

wednesday, march 17th

henry rollins (spoken word)

@ the somerville theatre

sunday, march 21st

the clientele

field music

@ great scott

saturday, march 20th

air

am

@ berklee performance center

thursday, march 25th

aloud

action camp

hello ninja

@ great scott

thursday, march 25th

the donnas

@ the paradise

friday, march 26th

basia bulat

marissa nadler

lady lamb the beekeeper

@ tt the bears

saturday, march 27th

your say party! we say die!

the new collisions

static of the gods (cd release)

@ tt the bears

saturday, march 27th

the big pink

a place to bury strangers

@ the paradise

saturday, march 27th

spoon

deerhunter

@ the house of blues

sunday, march 28th

beach house

bachelorette

@ the paradise

monday, march 29th

the soft pack

nodzzz

beaters

@ great scott

tuesday, march 30th

shearwater

wye oak

hospital ships

@ tt the bears

tuesday, march 30th

manchester orchestra

the features

biffy clyro

o'brother

@ the paradise

wednesday, march 31st

japandroids

love is all

girlfriends

@ the middle east downstairs

wednesday, march 31st

miike snow

delorean

@ the paradise

wednesday, march 31st

a sunny day in glasgow

pants yell!

bearstronaut

@ great scott

thursday, april 1st

girls

dum dum girls

@ the paradise

friday, april 2nd

the xx

jj (late show only)

two shows @ the paradise

friday, april 2nd

drive-by truckers

lucero

langhorne slim

@ the house of blues

saturday, april 3rd

nada surf

@ the paradise

sunday, april 4th

serena maneesh

depreciation guild

@ tt the bears

tuesday, april 6th

wilco

@ the orpheum

wednesday, april 7th

florence & the machine

@ the paradise

wednesday, april 7th

rocky votolato

brooke waggoner

@ great scott

friday, april 9th

midlake

@ the paradise

saturday, april 10th

xiu xiu

tune-yards

@ the middle east downstairs

saturday, april 10th

ted leo & the pharmacists

obits

@ the paradise

saturday, april 10th

pissed jeans

confines

sqrm

@ great scott

monday, april 12th

the wedding present

play their 1989 lp 'bizarro'

with openers girl in a coma

@ the middle east downstairs

thursday, april 15th

red sparowes

doomriders

@ the middle east downstairs

saturday, april 17th

kaki king

an horse

@ the middle east downstairs

saturday, april 17th

the morning benders

miniature tigers

@ tt the bears

sunday, april 18th

the thermals

past lives

@ the middle east downstairs

monday, april 19th

trans am

@ the middle east downstairs

tuesday, april 20th

owen pallett (aka final fantasy)

@ the ica boston

tuesday, april 20th

elvis costello & the sugarcanes

@ the orpheum

tuesday, april 20th

the low anthem

@ the paradise

tuesday, april 20th

quasi

let's wrestle

@ the middle east downstairs

saturday, april 24th

los campesinos!

here we go magic

@ the paradise

wednesday, april 28th

gogol bordello

devotchka

jesse malin

st. mark's social

@ the house of blues

thursday, april 29th

frightened rabbit

@ the paradise

friday, april 30th

corinne bailey ray

@ the house of blues

friday, april 30th

the album leaf

sea wolf

@ the paradise

wednesday, april 28th

little boots

dragonette

fan death

@ the middle east downstairs

monday, may 3rd

yeasayer

sleigh bells

@ the paradise

thursday, may 6th

shout out louds

@ the paradise

tuesday & wednesday

may 11th & 12th

dr. dog

deer tick

@ the paradise

thursday, may 13th

small brown bike

bridge and tunnel

your skull my closet

wallcreeper

@ great scott

tuesday, may 25th

smittens

allo darlin'

one happy island

horrowitz

@ toad

wednesday, may 26th

reverend horton heat

cracker

miss derringer

@ the house of blues

wednesday, june 2nd

the national

@ the house of blues

friday, june 4th

brian jonestown massacre

@ the paradise

saturday, june 19th

james taylor

carole king

@ the garden

visit tourfilter for more shows

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Thursday Music Miscellany

Life is blurring by lately... if you've glanced at my Flickr pics you may have noticed I've recently seen the Thalia Zedek Band, Glorytellers, Drew O'Doherty, Ida, Michael Hurley, and a lecture with writer Neil Gaiman honoring Julie Schwartz at MIT, traveled up to Vermont for some family time where I caught James Kochalka Superstar, Missy Bly, and some Koolaoke, and headed out to Newburyport for some Memorial Day in-town exploration and Plum Island beach time. Good memories all, and more ahead: This evening is the Breeders at the 'Dise (congrats to reader Courtney, who won those tickets to tonight's sold out show), next week brings the Tullycraft show with my VT-pop pals the Smittens and Pants Yell!, along with that REM / Modest Mouse / The National team-up at Great Woods, I mean The Tweeter Center, no wait it's the Comcast Center now (a show I'm still surprised to be checking out, but looking forward to). As Lili Von Shtupp sang: I'm tie-uhd. So vewwy tie-uhd.


Gonna start this short random post off with some songs I've really been digging lately...
  • My long drive back from Vermont on Sunday afternoon meant I barely had time to make that Ida / Michael Hurley show in Somerville, and also left me too wiped out to catch Atlanta's All The Saints at TTs afterwards. Damn shame, too, because the title track from their just-released debut album is truly great stuff. Hopefully they'll be back this way soon...


  • Soon after this Great Bloomers song started up, my first thought was 'what a really nice piece of melancholic piano-based pop'... until that extended intro ended, and the drums and irresistible guitar hook kicked in. 'Really nice' instantly elevated to 'great', and even higher as a layer of guitar squelch wandered in and out of focus underneath the ultra-catchy top layer (think certain Yo La Tengo songs, or early Idaho). And as someone who's not a huge harmonica fan (beyond, say, Neil Young), the GBs use it perfectly. This one's been on repeat...


  • I'm a sucker for well-used violin in my pop songs (hellooooo Dambuilders), and Baskervilles' "A Little More Time" does it just right. Add some piano and guy/girl trade-off vocals to a short-but-sweet story of waitstaff flirtation, and I'm so in. Two minutes of bouncy bliss, available as part of the just-out "Twilight", a 14-song collection (produced in part by Mitch Easter) of songs they released monthly via their website.


    • Another show I hope to catch this weekend is Somerville's own Travels, who make just their second local appearance ever on Saturday night at PA's Lounge (tough choices that night, though, what with Pela at the Middle East and Jennifer O'Connor at TTs). If you're a 'Nac regular, you know well of my Travels love, so I was glad to discover this fine footage from their trip to Vienna, where they performed a couple acoustic songs: Debut album track "There Is Movement" on an abandoned outdoor stage, and new one called "The Forgotten" on a street median. Go watch, and check out their MySpace page for new demos, including one for "The Forgotten".


    Keeping it local, there's a new Dylan In The Movies song up on MySpace featuring some backup vocals from the wonderful Watson Twins. Check out the rough mix of "Truro" here, and read about its creation here. While that one's a stream, a rough mix of "Josephine If You Only Knew" can be downloaded as an mp3. Such a good song, with some gorgeous guitar work, and hey, hand claps! Fine ingredients all. Read the background on that one here, along with a mention of DitM working with Tanya Donelly on a cover of "Love Cats" for an American Laundromat tribute to the Cure that will also feature The Wedding Present, Dean & Britta, The Raveonettes, The Rosebuds, and many others.


    Still talkin' local: Another show I had to miss due to an out of town trip: Big Dipper's reunited return to an area stage back in late April. Truly painful. But I experienced the build up thanks to "Big Dipper Week" at Things I'd Rather Be Doing, and basked in the afterglow thanks to an excellent recording of the band's Southpaw show over at NYCTaper. I shouldn't have to even say this, but: Download and listen.


    And lastly, congrats to my longtime friend (and occasional bandmate) Mike Barrett, as he and his wife Anna welcomed new son Jasper to the world a couple weeks ago. He joins his sister Leila in completing the eventual rhythm section that will back Mike on guitar and Anna on keyboards. Just give 'em a couple years...

    Mike recently shared up a live set from his band The Sixth Great Lake (featuring friends from Guppyboy and The Essex Green) over at the Tup Keewah Recordings blog, recorded back in 2001 at Amsterdam's Crossing Border Festival. Not sure when we'll see new offerings on the blog, or the in-progress next Sixth Great Lake album, but hopefully Mike will find some time in between his newly-increased dadly duties. Maybe we'll even get a second appearance from Stratford Projects? Anything's possible...


    See? I told you this one would be short. Sometimes I'm actually capable of self-control.


    posted by brad at 4:19 PM | direct link | rss (1:2) |










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    on tuesday, october 20th, 2009

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