boston area events of note: thursday, january 8th forest henderson the new collisions the lights out sir q @ great scott saturday, january 10th head automatica radio 4 @ great scott sunday, january 11th whistlejacket voxhaul broadcast local natives the union line @ tt the bears monday, january 12th varsity drag the rationales nate rogers (ex-scamper) @ tt the bears thursday, january 15th illinois @ great scott thursday, january 15th the raveonettes @ the paradise friday, january 16th dear leader hallelujah the hills faces on film @ the paradise saturday, january 17th the rosebuds the love language the fatal flaw @ the middle east downstairs sunday, january 18th frightened rabbit @ great scott sunday, january 18th department of eagles @ the brattle theatre saturday, january 24th longwave wheat bon savants @ great scott saturday, january 24th arts at the armory benefit mission of burma the neighborhoods @ the somerville theatre saturday, january 24th vic chesnutt elf power @ the middle east tuesday, january 27th annuals jessica lee mayfield what laura says @ the paradise friday, january 30th andrew bird loney dear @ the orpheum wednesday, february 4th the pretenders @ the orpheum thursday, february 5th illinois mean creek you can be a wesley (cd release) @ great scott wednesday, february 11th the godfathers @ the middle east down friday, february 13th los campesinos! @ the paradise saturday, february 14th animal hospital travels (cd release!) arms & sleepers mary page @ pa's lounge sunday, february 15th the pains of being pure at heart pants yell! the depreciation guild @ the middle east upstairs sunday, february 15th fujiya & miyagi @ the paradise wednesday, february 18th m. ward @ the somerville theatre saturday, february 21st norm macdonald @ the wilbur theatre tuesday, february 24th ben kweller the watson twins @ the somerville theatre tuesday, february 24th tapes 'n tapes wild light @ the paradise wednesday, february 25th comedian eugene mirman 'the will to whatevs' book tour @ the brookline booksmith thursday, february 26th jimmy eat world 'clarity 10th anniversary tour' @ the new house of blues thursday, february 26th blizten trapper alela diane @ the paradise saturday, february 28th swirlies! gregory & the hawk @ the middle east up saturday, february 28th fountains of wayne (acoustic) everyday visuals (acoustic) @ the paradise saturday, march 7th airborne toxic event alberta cross henry clay people @ the paradise wednesday, march 11th fleetwood mac @ the garden saturday, march 14th throwing muses screaming females 50 foot wave @ the middle east downstairs saturday, march 14th a.c. newman (new pornographers) with dent may & his magnificent ukulele @ the paradise sunday, march 29th morrissey @ the house of blues visit tourfilter for more shows |
Friday, May 30, 2008 Mp3s: The Ladybug Transistor in Cambridge, MA There's nothing like the pure-pop one-two punch of a shared Ladybug Transistor / Lucksmiths performance. Well, 'punch' could be an unsuitable word... 'one-two hug', maybe? This September 2007 show was at least the second time the two bands had teamed up for a Boston area gig, and like the first, warm vibes and big smiles abounded. Boston's own One Happy Island eased us nicely into the evening, and while I wasn't familiar with San Fran's Still Flyin' before their set, they were a well-chosen second dose of danceable fun, and even lent a member or two to the Ladybugs, adding even more layers to their carefully-constructed pop songs. I shared the wonderful Lucksmiths' performance awhile back, so at last here's the Ladybug Transistor set for your welcoming ears... ![]() The Ladybug Transistor Live at TT the Bears in Cambridge, MA on Thursday, September 27th, 2007 01. Lord, Don't Pass Me By 02. banter 03. Song For The Ending Day 04. I'm Not Mad Enough 05. Nico Norte 06. The Swimmer 07. Terry 08. In-Between 09. Three Days From Now 10. Always On The Telephone 11. Here Comes The Rain ![]() Some Ladybug Transistor links...
![]() 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 $blog_id=6963961379139645556; $blog_mail="bsearles@gmail.com"; $file_name=$PHP_SELF; global $blog_id, $blog_mail, $file_name; include ("blogkomm/module/blogkomm_show_link.php"); ?> Monday, May 26, 2008 Ticket Giveaway: Jeremy Enigk + Damien Jurado @ Great Scott This Saturday, May 31st, the team-up tour of former Sunny Day Real Estate / Fire Theft frontman Jeremy Enigk and his pal Damien Jurado will hit Allston's Great Scott as part of another fine evening brought to you by Fenway Recordings. Sydney Wayser opens up the show, and Fenway's own DJ Crispus Attucks will rock his personal playlist throughout.If you can make it to the show, and would like a couple spots on the guest list, drop a quick email to me here: giveaways [at] bradleysalmanac [dot] com. Put 'Enigk' in the subject line, get it to me before 9am this Friday, May 30th, and I'll pick one random name to throw on the guest list with a +1 for a friend. The winner will be notified Friday morning, just in time for the weekend. Enigk's latest solo record is 2007's "The Missing Link", and Jurado will be releasing "Caught In The Trees" on Secretly Canadian later this year. David also has a new blog, where he'll be writing about the full Enigk/Jurado tour (all dates and destinations listed here). Tickets of your own for the Boston show at Great Scott can be obtained here. Labels: giveaways $blog_id=799734281500574142; $blog_mail="bsearles@gmail.com"; $file_name=$PHP_SELF; global $blog_id, $blog_mail, $file_name; include ("blogkomm/module/blogkomm_show_link.php"); ?> Wednesday, May 21, 2008 Mid-Week Music Miscellany Been a little while since I've done one of these info-blasts, and as usual I've got lots to share... ![]() Touch & Go has shared the track listing for The New Year's upcoming self-titled 3rd album, due out on September 9th. The ten track disc will include: "Folios", "The Company I Can Get", "X Off Days", "The Door Opens", "MMV", "Seven Days and Seven Nights", "Wages of Sleep", "Body and Soul", "My Neighborhood", and "The Idea of You". If the title "MMV" sounds familiar, that's because it's a song the band unveiled at the 2006 Middle East Upstairs show that I shared on the 'Nac awhile back. Read what the band has to say about the album here, and check out an all-too-brief hi-hat laden teaser video right here. The mailing list message that shared the video was titled "The Door Opens", so I'm guessing that hi-hat is from that song... but who knows? The band has also shared a video for "The End's Not Near" (quicktime), which was started years ago, but only recently completed. Details here. While the full band won't be touring until the record is out in the fall, the core duo of the Kadane Brothers will be playing a bunch of shows with Bottomless Pit (ex-Silkworm/Seam members) in late June and July, including a stop at the Middle East on Saturday, July 12th. New Year drummer Chris Brokaw will be pulling double duty, performing an opening set of his own solo material, and since Matt 'Biznono' Kadane was also a Silkworm member in their later days, perhaps he'll be joining the Pit on stage for a keyboard assist or two? Regardless, it'll be a can't-miss, friend-filled night, and on a Saturday, no less. No excuses on this one. ![]() Speaking of Bottomless Pit, they already have an EP in the pipeline that follows last fall's release of their debut long-player, "Hammer of the Gods". The four-song "Congress" EP will be available digitally at the Comedy Minus One label page on June 1st, and in July the band will release a vinyl version (cd included) on their own, which we'll hopefully be able to grab at those shows with the Kadane Brothers. You can download one song from the EP ("Fish Eyes") courtesy of the label, or stream two others ("Red Pen" and "Angry Swan") at the Bottomless Pit MySpace page. I'll share "Fish Eyes" here as well, to save C-1 a little bandwidth and get it into the Hype Machine... Mp3: Bottomless Pit - "Fish Eyes" ![]() The Comedy Minus One label has also done the Silkworm legacy proud with the digital releases of a whole bunch of out-of-print SKWM and SKWM-related music earlier this month. Not only did the label make available Silkworm's 1994 masterpiece "Libertine", and their swan song "Chokes" EP, but they've also digitally released a 2002 Tim Midgett solo EP along with the 1997 Ein Heit album (the original Silkworm briefly reactivating their first band name) and a 1997 Crust Brothers live recording (Stephen Malkmus and the Silkworm trio). This is all until-now rare gold, and well worth downloading from either iTunes or emusic. Head to Comedy Minus One for the purchase links and an mp3 from each of those releases. (thanks to Jay @ Clicky Clicky for the tip on that one) ![]() Also issuing an EP this summer is Ida, who will release "My Fair, My Dark" on August 5th via Polyvinyl. The 7-track disc (and 8-track vinyl) will feature two brand new Ida songs, "Don't Wreck It" and "Still Life", along with a live version of "Late Blues" that features none other than the legendary Levon Helm of the Band. The other four tracks are covers of songs by Anne Briggs, Dolly Parton ("The Pain of Loving You", also featuring Levon Helm on Mandolin), David Schickele, His Name Is Alive (the bonus vinyl track), and this version of John & Beverley Martyn's "Road To Ruin"... Mp3: Ida - "Road To Ruin" (J. & B. Martyn)P4K premiered the gorgeous Dolly Parton cover a few days back... Mp3: Ida - "The Pain of Loving You" (Dolly Parton)Ida has a few East Coast shows coming up, including five with Michael Hurley (one of which is a June 1st stop at Somerville's Nave Gallery), and another with Alan Sparhawk's Retribution Gospel Choir on June 17th at Brooklyn's Union Hall. Detail on all dates here. And in case you haven't noticed yet, Ida's revamped website has an audio archive where you can download a bunch of free live tracks. I wholeheartedly endorse that product and/or service. ![]() Huge Boston-area show news: The Notwist are coming to town. I was assured by their manager that 2008 would be the year of the Notwist, and he was not kidding. First their new album arrives on our shores June 17th (it's already out overseas, and it's ace), and in the fall we'll get a full North American tour, including a Sunday, October 12th stop at the Roxy in Boston. Now, that's not exactly the venue I'd have preferred, but nothing's going to keep me away. Tickets are already available here, and in fact, they're the only tickets listed at Ticketb@st@rd for the tour so far. So go get 'em, and keep an eye out there if you're in a different city. ![]() Here's something that surprised the hell out of me: A new album from German/Danish trio 18th Dye. I had no idea the band was back together after 10 years apart, but I was a huge fan of 1995's Matador-released, Albini-recorded "Tribute To A Bus", as well as that year's "Crayon" EP and their 1994 debut disc, "Done". They've been so long off the radar that I was very surprised to see a May 6th release date for a new album titled "Amorine Queen". Now, I've searched in vain for it in shops around Boston, and emails to their Danish label Crunchy Frog have gone unanswered, so I resorted to a third party Amazon reseller. Hope it shows up soon, and more importantly, I hope it's even half as good as the old stuff. ![]() Another (semi) reunion that has me extremely excited is the return of Six Finger Satellite. While only two of the longtime members remain (singer J. Ryan and drummer Rick Pelletier, who will supposedly play guitar live), I'm still game for whatever those guys do, including the upcoming 8-song Load Records disc. Not sure of an exact release date for that sucker, but maybe they'll have it for sale when they hit Allston's Great Scott on August 10th as part of a killer line-up that includes Ho-Ag, The In Out, and Certainly, Sir. Um, there's a sell-out for ya. Tickets here. Catch up with Six Finger Satellite by reading this recent J. Ryan interview at the Providence Daily Dose. ![]() Full streams of a few new albums you should be made aware of...
![]() I'm loving that Wedding Present album so far (no surprise there), as well as Death Cab For Cutie's new one, which I also picked up this week. Better than "Plans", for my money. Naturally the boys from DCFC have been everywhere over the past couple weeks, working the album like champs (resulting in their first-ever freakin' #1 debut), but I haven't yet seen this video interview posted elsewhere. It's a feature called "iNterview", hosted at relatively new multi-media site Sly-Fi, a part of Hobnox.com. The both goofy and informative piece, which features Ben Gibbard and Nick Harmer, was put together by sending the guys some prerecorded questions on a MacBook, which they'd use to record their answers before shipping it back. The Sly-Fi content can be embedded, so let me give that a shot right here... ![]() Hrishikesh Hirway, aka The One AM Radio, is writing songs for a follow-up to last year's excellent "This Too Will Pass", but in the meantime he has offered up a little something to help ease the waiting: A cover of country song "The Wayward Wind" (which has seen many versions, including ones from Patsy Cline and Neil Young). You can download the track here... Mp3: The One AM Radio - "The Wayward Wind" ![]() Allston's own Thalia Zedek just gifted us with a new full-length, "Liars and Prayers", via Thrill Jockey on April 22nd, and it's easily the best of her solo albms so far. This is the first of the former Come/Live Skull frontwoman's releases put out under the "Thalia Zedek Band" name instead of just her own, and the expansion of that band to a five-piece has added major depth to the instrumentation. In addition to the viola work of David Michael Curry and the drumming of Daniel Coughlin, Thalia has filled out the low end with Fuzzy/Consonant (and one-time Come) bass player Winston Braman and former Victory at Sea-man Mel Lederman on piano. Beautifully powerful stuff, and you can stream a couple of the new songs at MySpace, or grab a track here... Mp3: Thalia Zedek Band - "Lower Allston"The Phoenix has a great write-up on Thalia and the album, and the band also performed live on WMBR's esteemed Pipeline! program on April 22nd, which you can stream here or download via the Pipeline! Podcast. The Thalia Zedek Band plays this Friday night, May 23rd, upstairs at the Middle East in Cambridge with Fugazi's Joe Lally and his trio, as well as openers Drew O'Doherty and Geoff Farina's Glorytellers. Nice lineup, indeed. ![]() Author Neil Gaiman will be speaking at MIT's Kresge Auditorium this Friday evening, but hopefully you already know that, as it's already very sold out. The event is the first-ever "Julius Schwartz Lecture", which will be an annual event held to "honor an individual who has made significant contributions to the culture, creativity and community of comics and popular entertainment". It was founded and named in honor of longtime DC Comics editor Julius "Julie" Schwartz, who passed away in February, 2004. Read Harlan Ellison's and Alan Moore's posthumous words on the man to get an idea of what a giant he was in the industry. If you can't be there, know that it's being recorded for a DVD release (which means I won't be sharing a recording here on the 'Nac), so keep an eye on this page for release details. ![]() It's ridiculous how many more things I have to share, but I'll save the rest for the next miscellaneous post. Before I go, here are a couple of self-promo bits... I'm ending this post on a very sad note, as this has been much in my thoughts this week... ![]() Rory Root, beloved proprietor of Comic Relief (which many call the best comic bookstore in the country), passed away earlier this week, and while I'd never met the man in person, I feel like I've known him for many years. We frequented some of the same internet forums, chatting about comics, tv, and books (in other words, life), and while it's generally hard to get a sense of tone from digital text, you could always feel the kindness behind Rory's messages. He was a goldmine of recommendations, feedback, and enthusiasm for good literature, and it's insane that he's gone at the far-too-young age of 50. I always figured I'd end up at his shop in Berkeley someday so I could shake his hand (and spend too much money on his recommendations), but now my trip will be to check out the retail monument he built to the medium (and to probably spend lots of money anyway). Tributes to Rory's influence and impact, both personally and professionally, are spreading all over the internet, and links to most of them are being gathered here. If you've never heard of the man, read up, and pick up a comic in his honor someday soon. The man will be missed by so many. Rest in peace, Rory. $blog_id=6831919693901744233; $blog_mail="bsearles@gmail.com"; $file_name=$PHP_SELF; global $blog_id, $blog_mail, $file_name; include ("blogkomm/module/blogkomm_show_link.php"); ?> Monday, May 19, 2008 Mp3s: The Cure in Boston (4 new songs) As promised, here's the full set from last week's Cure show here in Boston. Rather than a long-winded write-up, I'll just run through some personal highlights from the night... Here's the 36-song, nearly 3-hour set... ![]() The Cure Live at BU's Agganis Arena in Boston, MA on Monday, May 12th, 2008 01. Plainsong 02. Prayers For Rain 03. alt.end 04. A Night Like This 05. The End of the World 06. Lovesong 07. Sleep When I'm Dead (new) 08. Pictures of You 09. Lullaby 10. The Perfect Boy (new) 11. From The Edge of the Deep Green Sea 12. Hot Hot Hot!!! 13. The Only One (new) 14. The Blood 15. Wrong Number 16. The Walk 17. Signal To Noise 18. Push 19. In Between Days 20. Just Like Heaven 21. Primary 22. Us or Them 23. Never Enough 24. 100 Years 25. Disintegration ---encore 1--- 26. The Lovecats 27. Freakshow (new) 28. Close To Me 29. Why Can't I Be You? ---encore 2--- 30. Play For Today 31. A Forest ---encore 3--- 32. Boys Don't Cry 33. Jumping Someone Else's Train 34. Grinding Halt 35. 10:15 Saturday Night 36. Killing An Arab ![]() Rather than my standard list of links, I'll just refer you to the best Cure resource out there: Chain of Flowers. Up-to-date info on the current tour and the band's upcoming release plans. ![]() 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 $blog_id=3802749891034487841; $blog_mail="bsearles@gmail.com"; $file_name=$PHP_SELF; global $blog_id, $blog_mail, $file_name; include ("blogkomm/module/blogkomm_show_link.php"); ?> Friday, May 16, 2008 Last Night's Playlist Another 3rd Thursday of the month, another Tourfilter DJ Night at good ol' River Gods in Cambridge, during which Chris from TF and I play songs from bands who are playing in the Boston area within the next month or two.Here's what I played, along with show details for each artist... 01. Styrofoam - "Front to Back" playing Friday, June 6th @ The Middle East 02. M83 - "Graveyard Girl" playing Monday, June 2nd @ The Middle East 03. The Mary Onettes - "Explosions" playing Saturday, May 24th @ The Middle East 04. Sea Wolf - "Winter Windows" playing Friday, May 30th @ The Paradise 05. The Breeders - "When I Was A Painter" playing Thursday, June 5th @ The Paradise 06. Scuba - "You Break My Heart In 1000 Different Ways" playing tonight @ TTs, presented by Ryan's Smashing Life 07. Aloud - "Sometimes I Feel Like A Vampire" playing tonight@ TTs, presented by Ryan's Smashing Life 08. The Rationales - "Guardrail" playing Friday, May 30th @ TTs (their cd release show) 09. Tullycraft - "The Punks Are Writing Love Songs" playing Thursday, June 12th @ PA's Lounge 10. The Gentlemen - "Three Minute Marriage Proposal" playing Friday, May 30th @ TT The Bears 11. Sloan - "I'm Not A Kid Anymore" playing Wednesday, June 18th @ TT The Bears 12. Colour Revolt - "Naked" playing this Sunday, May 18th @ Great Scott 13. Mission of Burma - "Max Ernst" playing June 12th & 13th @ The Paradise 14 . Snowden - "Like Bullets" playing this Sunday, May 18th @ Great Scott 15. Swervedriver - "Never Lose That Feeling" playing Tuesday, June 10th @ The Paradise 16. Pela - "Episodes" playing Saturday, June 7th @ The Middle East 17. R.E.M. - "Wolves, Lower" playing Friday, June 13th @ The Tweeter Center 18. The National - "Mistaken For Strangers" playing Friday, June 13th @ The Tweeter Center 19. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - "Bridges, Square" playing June 28th & 30th with Pearl Jam @ The Tweeter Center 20. Jeremy Enigk - "On The Wayside" playing Saturday, May 31st @ Great Scott 21. Damien Jurado - "Denton, TX" playing Saturday, May 31st @ Great Scott 22. Grand Archives - "Miniature Birds" playing Wednesday, June 11th @ Great Scott 23. Red House Painters (Mark Kozelek) - "Wop-A-Din-Din" (full band version) playing June 11th @ The Museum of Fine Arts 24. Retribution Gospel Choir (members of Low) - "Take Your Time" playing Thursday, June 19th @ The Middle East 25. Age Rings - "Everything'll Fall Apart" playing this Sunday, May 18th @ Great Scott 26. Ida - "Best of the Belated" playing Sunday, June 1st @ The Nave Gallery, Somerville 27. Glorytellers - "Awake At The Wheel" playing Friday, May 23rd @ The Middle East 28. Thalia Zedek Band - "Lower Allston" playing Friday, May 23rd @ The Middle East 29. Dirtmusic (featuring Chris Brokaw) - "Panther Hunting" Chris is playing Saturday, July 12th @ The Middle East 30. Bedhead (Kadane Bros./The New Year) - "What's Missing" The Kadane Bros. are playing on July 12th @ The Middle East 31. Bottomless Pit (ex-Silkworm) - "Red Pen" playing Saturday, July 12th @ The Middle East Mark your calendars: My next appointment with the River Gods DJ booth will be in the heart of summer, on Thursday, July 17th, although I encourage you to hit up the 'Nac-free June installment on the 19th, of course. And congrats are due to Matt from Boston, whose name I picked in the just-ended Snowden giveaway. He's got himself two tickets to see them this Sunday night at Great Scott with Colour Revolt, The Epochs, and Age Rings. $blog_id=4292477246498108214; $blog_mail="bsearles@gmail.com"; $file_name=$PHP_SELF; global $blog_id, $blog_mail, $file_name; include ("blogkomm/module/blogkomm_show_link.php"); ?> Tuesday, May 13, 2008 The Cure played Boston (setlist, new songs) I've got many thoughts rolling around in my brain about last night's Cure show here in Boston at BU's Agganis Arena, nearly all good ones, but I'll let them settle in before I write up a proper post to go with the full live recording. Regular 'Nac visitors know that it can take me awhile to edit down and share up sets, and given that the now-four-piece band played for nearly 3 hours, this one's surely going to take some time. But seeing as I'm still on a bit of a high (my first Cure show in 15 years, making it an even 10 times I think, and this was easily the most varied and surprise-filled setlist), that the band premiered a brand new song, and that today marks the official release of the first of four singles from their out-in-September next album, I thought I'd post up the setlist, a couple photos, and two live tracks to tease ya. The first, titled "Sleep When I'm Dead", made it's live debut early in the set, and the other is "The Only One", the new single that's streaming at P4K, and now available to buy via iTunes (and sometime soon on both cd and 7", with "NY Trip" as the non-album extra track). Enjoy... ![]() The Cure Live at BU's Agganis Arena in Boston, MA on Monday, May 12th, 2008 01. Plainsong 02. Prayers For Rain 03. alt.end 04. A Night Like This 05. The End of the World 06. Lovesong 07. Sleep When I'm Dead (new) 08. Pictures of You 09. Lullaby 10. The Perfect Boy (new) 11. From The Edge of the Deep Green Sea 12. Hot Hot Hot!!! 13. The Only One (new) 14. The Blood 15. Wrong Number 16. The Walk 17. Signal To Noise 18. Push 19. In Between Days 20. Just Like Heaven 21. Primary 22. Us or Them 23. Never Enough 24. 100 Years 25. Disintegration ---encore 1--- 26. Lovecats 27. Freakshow (new) 28. Close To Me 29. Why Can't I Be You? ---encore 2--- 30. Play For Today 31. A Forest ---encore 3--- 32. Boys Don't Cry 33. Jumping Someone Else's Train 34. Grinding Halt 35. 10:15 Saturday Night 36. Killing An Arab For the most up-to-date Cure info, be sure to check out the Chain of Flowers Cure news blog, and for the thoughts of fellow fans on last night's Boston show, visit this thread at CureFans.com. $blog_id=1330665239557977614; $blog_mail="bsearles@gmail.com"; $file_name=$PHP_SELF; global $blog_id, $blog_mail, $file_name; include ("blogkomm/module/blogkomm_show_link.php"); ?> Monday, May 12, 2008 Ticket Giveaway: Snowden @ Great Scott It's been awhile since Atlanta's Snowden hit town, and they return to the Great Scott stage this Sunday, where played an entrancing set a couple years back for their Boston debut. I was blown away then by the tight-as-hell quartet; their remarkable collective stage presence, a totally locked-in rhythm section, artfully angular songs that are as involving as the vocal delivery is detached. Needless to say I'm looking forward to seeing them again, and I've got a couple guest list spots to give away to a reader courtesy of the kind crew at the club.If you're up for attending, you know the drill: Send an email titled "Snowden" to giveaways [at] bradleysalmanac [dot] com and include your name and the town you live in. Just send it along before this Thursday at midnight, and if I pick your name, I'll drop you a note on Friday to let you know you and a friend are on the door list for the Sunday night, May 18th show. The band says they'll be playing lots of new songs, as they've been working on a follow-up to 2006's excellent "Anti Anti" for quite awhile. Age Rings, The Epochs, and tourmates Colour Revolt round out the bill. Stream some Snowden at their MySpace page, where you can also download this Zombies cover... Mp3: Snowden - "Time Of The Season" (Zombies)Courtesy of the Jade Tree record label, here's the title track off their debut disc... Mp3: Snowden - "Anti-Anti"And a live solo version that frontman Jordan Jeffares did for Spinner's Interface... Mp3: Snowden - "Anti-Anti" (live solo)You can also stream the album in its entirety here. Snowden's May tour with Colour Revolt hits Chapel Hill, NC tonight, and finishes up in New Orleans in a few weeks. So get those contest entry emails off to me by Thursday night if you want to attend Sunday's show, or grab your own tickets here. Labels: giveaways $blog_id=5541178951140158495; $blog_mail="bsearles@gmail.com"; $file_name=$PHP_SELF; global $blog_id, $blog_mail, $file_name; include ("blogkomm/module/blogkomm_show_link.php"); ?> Thursday, May 08, 2008 Mp3s: Bloc Party live in Boston Well, this week brings a recording that has sat unedited and unshared for far too long, but with the recent announcement of a bunch of new U.S. summer headlining dates for Bloc Party, I figured now was as good a time as any to post this live set from last year here in Boston. There are a couple reasons the urge to share this up evaded me for so very long: 1) The sound mix at the Orpheum during their set varied wildly, so my audience recording suffers for it, and 2) After initially finding things to like about Bloc Party's "A Weekend In The City" (their sophomore follow-up to the absolutely ace debut of "Silent Alarm"), it simply did not settle in very well at all. I can't remember the last time I listened to it (I still always go to "Silent Alarm" for a BP fix), and hearing them play those brilliant 2005 songs alongside the 2007 tracks really brought the missteps home for me (a caveat: "I Still Remember" still gets me). But I'm ready and willing for their next album to win me back, so let's hope some new songs get unveiled on those few summer dates, which are listed below. Here's their Orpheum set in its entirety... ![]() Bloc Party Live at the Orpheum in Boston, MA on Wednesday, March 28th, 2007 01. intro 02. Song For Clay 03. Positive Tension 04. Blue Light 05. Hunting For Witches 06. Waiting for the 7:18 07. Banquet 08. I Still Remember 09. This Modern Love 10. The Prayer 11. Uniform 12. So Here We Are 13. Like Eating Glass 14. encore applause 15. Sunday 16. She's Hearing Voices 17. Pioneers 18. Helicopter ![]() ![]() Some Bloc Party links...
![]() 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 $blog_id=8183566268708372872; $blog_mail="bsearles@gmail.com"; $file_name=$PHP_SELF; global $blog_id, $blog_mail, $file_name; include ("blogkomm/module/blogkomm_show_link.php"); ?> Monday, May 05, 2008 Ticket Giveaway: Shearwater @ the Paradise with Clinic While Shearwater doesn't release "Rook" (their Matador-released follow-up to 2006's brilliant "Palo Santo") until June 3rd, they'll undoubtedly be playing songs from it at the Paradise in Boston this Friday night, May the 9th. The band (who are fronted by the golden-throated Jonathan Meiberg, himself on leave from keyboard duties in Okkervil River) is opening for Liverpool's Clinic, who themselves are out promoting their latest disc "Do It!". I'm fortunate to have a pair of guest list spots to dole out to an Almanac reader, so if you'd like them, simply email your full name and the town you live in to giveaways [at] bradleysalmanac [dot] com, and put Shearwater in the subject line. Make sure you do so before Thursday morning at 9AM, and as usual, I'll then pick a random name out of my virtual hat. And on Thursday afternoon you'll find out via email if you'll on the guest list with a +1 at the Paradise on Friday. $blog_id=7944612257821812490; $blog_mail="bsearles@gmail.com"; $file_name=$PHP_SELF; global $blog_id, $blog_mail, $file_name; include ("blogkomm/module/blogkomm_show_link.php"); ?> Saturday, May 03, 2008 Saturday Morning Miscellany Happy Free Comic Book Day, everyone. Even if you're not a regular patron of fine graphical storytelling (well, especially if you're not), try to take some time out today and swing by your local comic shop for a stack of freebies. For Bostonians, I recommend stopping into New England Comics on Harvard Ave if you're in Allston, Comicopia in Kenmore if you're going to see the Sox game, or check out the new kid on the block, Hub Comics, in Somerville's Union Square. ![]() Ok, so April was an action-packed blur. In my near-decade of living here in Boston, I honestly don't believe I've had a month so completely crammed with things to do and places to be. Obviously that's the opposite of a complaint, but I really need a 3-day nap. Maybe sometime before May is over... ![]() My manic month was capped off by the Film School/Douglas Fir/Broken River Prophet show at TTs last Monday, and it was an all-out success. Sure, the crowd could have been bigger (and would have been had it not rained cats and/or dogs), but the bands were psyched, they all played really well, and from what I could tell the crowd was very into it. Got a lot of nice (and unexpected) feedback on the songs I had spun between sets, and gave away a whole bunch o' merch. Many thanks to the bands for playing (and for those, uh, bonus drink tickets), and to TTs of course. Good times. I recorded all three sets with each band's permission, and will be sharing 'em up at some point if they like 'em enough. For now, have a look at Film School's brand new video for "Compare". ![]() Congrats to reader Mark in Cambridge, whose name I picked for the two guest list spots for tomorrow night's Wye Oak show at Great Scott. A show well worth checking out, and arrive early for the openers, who include Drew O'Doherty and Hands & Knees. ![]() How odd is it that in 2008 I can write this?: I've got my My Bloody Valentine tickets. Yeah, I snagged a couple passes to the September Catskills, NY installment of All Tomorrow's Parties, with MBV curating one incredible lineup. Aside from the headliners, the stuff I'm most psyched for are Built to Spill performing the entirety of "Perfect From Now On" ("There's Nothing Wrong With Love" would've made me marginally happier, but I'm still excited), Mogwai, Low, Polvo, Shellac, Tortoise playing their best album, and Autolux. Just a four-hour drive from Boston, and I've already put in for the time off. Joyous. ![]() Speaking of Autolux, their long-awaited next release is on the horizon, and the first single is now up on their MySpace page, both for streaming and for purchase (it'll be on iTunes soon). "Audience No. 2" is our first taste of the full-length "Transit Transit", which will be out sometime later this year. ![]() In advance of their upcoming album, "El Rey", The Wedding Present has shared a couple new songs on their MySpace page: Lead off track "Santa Ana Winds" and an alternate mix of first single "The Thing I Like Best About Him Is His Girlfriend". "El Rey" is out on Manifesto in North America on May 20th. ![]() Hey, Bostoners: How about some free live music to go with your free comics ![]() The lineup for the 2008 edition of the Boston-(well, technically Arlington)-based Brainwaves Festival has been announced, and it's a doozy. Brainwashed proprietor Jon Whitney has pulled together a slew of notable artists for the late-November fest, including Meat Beat Manifesto, Matmos, Stars of the Lid, A Place to Bury Strangers, Marissa Nadler, His Name Is Alive, and many, many more. Weekend passes are available now right here. ![]() I've got a massive list of links and info to share, as usual, but I'll fire this one off in the interest of timeliness. So, remember, your weekend todo list: Get some free comics, buy your Brainwaves passes, go see HtH outside $blog_id=5416831262833327374; $blog_mail="bsearles@gmail.com"; $file_name=$PHP_SELF; global $blog_id, $blog_mail, $file_name; include ("blogkomm/module/blogkomm_show_link.php"); ?> Thursday, May 01, 2008 Mp3s: Mates of State (on This American Life) in Boston The televisual version of seminal NPR radio show This American Life returns this Sunday, May 4th, for a second season on Showtime. Live audiences got a taste of how the first season would translate when Ira Glass and his TAL crew took the show on the road for a tour entitled "What I Learned from Television". Regular contributors Sarah Vowell, David Rakoff, and Dan Savage told stories, and attendees (including our crowd at the Opera House in Boston) were shown part of a season one episode. A highlight of this touring TAL ensemble was the presence of Connecticut-based duo Mates of State, who release their fifth album, "Re-arrange Us", on May 20th through Barsuk. On tour, the band provided musical interludes between spoken word performances, were interviewed by Glass, and closed the show with a thematically appropriate cover of OC theme song "California". Here are the songs that Mates of State performed at the Boston show, including that Phantom Planet cover, and the song "Now", which will appear on "Re-arrange Us"... ![]() Mates of State Live at the Opera House in Boston, MA on Tuesday February 27th, 2007 01. Now 02. Like U Crazy 03. These Days 04. Interview with Ira 05. Goods (instrumental) 06. California (Phantom Planet cover) Also this weekend, This American Life will broadcast the radio version of that very same tour, but you can already stream the entirety of the show on their website, or download it via itunes for a well-spent 95 cents. Included are the spoken word performances of those mentioned above, along with edited (but sonically-improved) recordings of those Mates of States songs. For a full list of airdates for the second TV season of This American Life on Showtime, go here. To pre-order Mates of States' "Re-arrange Us" from Barsuk, keep an eye on this page. And for a complete list of Mates of States tourdates, visit here. As ever, stream any and 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 $blog_id=4611736190785438925; $blog_mail="bsearles@gmail.com"; $file_name=$PHP_SELF; global $blog_id, $blog_mail, $file_name; include ("blogkomm/module/blogkomm_show_link.php"); ?> |