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recommended boston area events

sunday, march 14th

a special screening of the

white stripes tour documentary

"under the great white northern lights"

free admission / prize pack drawing

10pm @ the otherside cafe


sunday, march 14th

carbon leaf

@ 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


tuesday, march 16th

bacchus king

croquet

cathy cathodic

the ugly fucklings

@ the middle east upstairs


wednesday, march 17th

joanna newsom

@ the sanders theatre, harvard


wednesday, march 17th

henry rollins (spoken word)

@ the somerville theatre


thursday, march 18th

apollo sunshine

drug rug

@ the paradise


friday, march 19th

i, pistol

mascara

planetoid

forgetful jones

@ tt the bears


saturday, march 20th

the whitehaus family blastfest

needy visions, manners,

morgan shaker, avi jacob,

and many more

@ cambridge ymca theatre


saturday, march 20th

air

am

@ berklee performance center


sunday, march 21st

the clientele

field music

@ great scott


wednesday, march 24th

extraneous noise presents...

golden spurs

spirit kid

some say fire

the novel ideas

@ the middle east upstairs


thursday, march 25th

"thursday night alright!" with

the beatings

aloud

action camp

hello ninja

@ great scott


thursday, march 25th

the donnas

@ the paradise


friday, march 26th

eldridge rodriguez (the beatings)

ryan lee crosby

ted billings (age rings/hot protestants)

@ the somerville armory


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

magic magic

@ 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

cassavettes

the grownup noise

kingsley flood (cd release)

spouse

@ the middle east upstairs


saturday, april 3rd

black rebel motorcycle club

alberta cross

@ the house of blues


saturday, april 3rd

nada surf

dawn landes & the hounds

@ the paradise


sunday, april 4th

serena maneesh

depreciation guild

black fortress of opium

@ tt the bears


tuesday, april 6th

wilco

@ the orpheum


tuesday, april 6th

ben fold & a piano

kate miller-heidke

@ the house of blues


wednesday, april 7th

florence & the machine

@ the paradise


wednesday, april 7th

rocky votolato

brooke waggoner

@ great scott


thursday, april 8th

faces on film

hands & knees

st. claire (cd release!)

mr. sister

@ tt the bears


thursday, april 8th

thom yorke + atoms for peace

flying lotus

@ the citi/wang theatre


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

screaming females

@ the paradise


saturday, april 10th

pissed jeans

confines

sqrm

@ great scott


sunday, april 11th

fanfarlo

lawrence arabia

robert francis

@ the paradise


monday, april 12th

the wedding present

play their 1989 lp 'bizarro'

with openers girl in a coma

@ the middle east downstairs


monday, april 12th

titus andronicus

the babies

@ great scott


thursday, april 15th

jakob dylan with guests

neko case + kelly hogan

@ the wilbur theatre


thursday, april 15th

red sparowes

doomriders

@ the middle east downstairs


friday, april 16th

guillermo sexo

freddie t and the people

(ex-june of 44 / hoover)

travels

ghost box orchestra

@ pa's lounge


friday, april 16th

have nots (vinyl release!)

the appreciation post

razors in the night

wicked whiskey

the swaggerin growlers

@ tt the bears


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

heavy trash (w/jon spencer)

the konks

the cobra-matics

@ 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

timber timbre

@ the paradise


tuesday, april 20th

quasi

let's wrestle

@ the middle east downstairs


wednesday, april 21st

the church

special 30th anniversary

acoustic career retrospective

@ the somerville armory


wednesday, april 21st through

wednesday, april 28th

the 8th annual independent

film festival of boston

@ various boston area theatres

including the somerville + brattle


thursday, april 22nd

the mary onettes

@ great scott


saturday, april 24th

graham parker with

the figgs

@ johnny d's, somerville


saturday, april 24th

los campesinos!

here we go magic

@ the paradise


sunday, april 25th

harlem

@ the great scott


monday, april 26th

echo + the bunneymen

hatcham social

@ 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

the everyday visuals

the lights out

the flying machines

aloud

@ tt the bears


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


saturday, may 1st

white rabbits

here we go magic

@ the paradise


monday, may 3rd

yeasayer

sleigh bells

@ the paradise


tuesday, may 4th

gregory & the hawk

lady lamb the beekeeper

@ tt the bears


tuesday & wednesday

may 4th & 5th

public image ltd.

@ the royale (formerly the roxy)


wednesday & thursday

may 5th & 6th

jonsi (from sigur ros)

@ the house of blues


thursday, may 6th

shout out louds

@ the paradise


friday, may 7th

ok go

earl greyhound

robert francis

@ the paradise


saturday, may 8th

local natives

@ great scott


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


saturday, may 22nd

killing joke

@ the paradise


tuesday, may 18th

spectrum (featuring sonic boom

from spacemen 3 + e.a.r.)

with the broken river prophet

@ the middle east upstairs


tuesday, may 25th

the smittens

allo darlin'

one happy island

hearts!attack

a smile and a ribbon

horowitz

@ the lizard lounge


wednesday, may 26th

reverend horton heat

cracker

miss derringer

@ the house of blues


friday, may 28th

mono

the twilight sad

@ the middle east downstairs


wednesday, june 2nd

kings of convenience

franklin for short

@ the paradise


wednesday, june 2nd

ryan bingham & the dead horses

@ tt the bears


wednesday & thursday

june 2nd & 3rd

the national

@ the house of blues


friday, june 4th

brian jonestown massacre

@ the paradise


friday, june 18th

reigning sound

movers & shakers

triplethick

@ tt the bears


saturday, june 19th

james taylor

carole king

@ the garden


sunday + monday

june 20th + 21st

isis

melvins

totimoshi

@ the paradise


thursday + saturday

august 19th + 21st

tom petty + the heartbreakers

my morning jacket

@ the comcast center


visit tourfilter for more shows



Thursday, December 31, 2009

Year-End Giveaway: Mucho Merge Records Merch!

Let's send off the year with an Almanac giveaway, shall we?

As 2009 fades into the sunset, so does the year-long celebration that marked the Merge Records' 20th Anniversary. The beloved North Carolina-based label, which has helped soundtrack nearly the entire second half of my life, commemorated in a variety of ways: with some special releases, a 5-day live music blowout in July, and the massive, subscription-only SCORE! CD service. That insane undertaking finished up last week with the shipment of the final volumes (#13 and #14, for those keeping, um, score), along with a sturdy box to gather them all together. The collected discs are a thing of beauty, indeed...


If you look closely, you'll see 17 CDs and a book: 14 lovingly-curated Merge mix discs, 3 special compilations (Merge remixes, Merge cover songs, and a Scharpling & Wurster comedy album), and the Merge Records Companion book, which pulls together the cover art for every release they've had so far. Impressive is an understatement, especially when you look at the list of those who were invited to create those mix discs: Peter Buck, Phil Morrison, David Chang, Georgia Hubley, Jonathan Lethem, Alex Ross, Zach Galifianakis, Marcel Dzama, David Byrne, Miranda July, Kara Walker, Amy Poehler, Mindy Kaling, and Andrea Zitel. Something new showed up in my mailbox every month this year, like clockwork, and gave subscribers a close look at the Merge-related musical tastes of that varied list of celebrity fans. How the label is going to top this for their 25th anniversary is a true mystery. Sure do hope they try, though.


While I won't be sad to see 2009 in my review mirror (in summary - it sucked), there was one standout highlight: That five-day fest, aka XXMerge, down in Carrboro, NC, where I traveled all the way from my Boston home. Not just the musical high-watermark of my '09, but maybe my life, no foolin'. I spent too much time enjoying myself to properly document it here on the Almanac, but I did twitter a fair amount, and took a whole mess of photos. Can't look at them without wishing I was back inside the Cat's Cradle, hanging out at the OCSC, or on the kickball field. So much freakin' fun.

Alright, enough with making you envious... on to the point of this here post, which was not just to mark the end of SCORE! and Merge's wonderful 20th year, but to pass on a little anniversary present to an Almanac reader: A whole pile of Merge-related merch that I've gathered together with help from the label, and from Algonquin Books. Have a look...


Yes, one lucky sucker will be gifted with the following...
  • The book: A copy of "Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records, the Indie Label That Got Big and Stayed Small", from Algonquin Books. It's a fantastic read, written by John Cook and label heads/Superchunk bandmates Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance, with a load of great photos from throughout their 20 year history. I've read a lot of music-related books, and this measures up to the best of 'em, as far as insight into how a label can be run the right way (as well as how so many majors do it wrong).
  • The music: Two short-players that Merge released this year: Superchunk's "Leaves In The Gutter" EP and Spoon's "Got Nuffin" single.
  • The art: Five posters, including one from Merge's 10th Anniversary, its 15th Anniversary, and a couple from July's XXMerge (the official XXMerge poster had a limited, numbered print run of 500, one of which will be yours).
  • The schwag: A handful of buttons from the label and their artists (including a couple of XXMerge ones) along with some Merge stickers, and an "Our Noise" bookmark.
  • The newspaper: The special Merge-centric edition of the Independent Weekly, the North Carolina-based paper who blew me away with their extensive coverage of the anniversary and the XXMerge bash.
  • So there you go, probably the best giveaway I've ever thrown down. I'll say this in my best Rod Roddy voice: All this can be yours for the low, low price of sending me an email titled "Merge Merch!" to giveaways [at] bradleysalmanac [dot] com before 12 Noon on Monday, January 11th. Two conditions: Tell me what your absolute favorite Merge-released album is, (note - this condition was added on the morning of January 1st, for my own amusement, no worries if you've already entered without naming one), and also be sure you live in the continental US or Canada, as the postage is already going to set me back a bit (remember, the Almanac runs on love, not pesky ads). I'll pick one random winner that very afternoon.

    Ok then, off to your email program with ya. Oh, and Happy New Year and all that best wishes stuff. Oh, and one more thing - Thank you, Merge. For helping me make it through this year, and so many that preceded it. Keep the good stuff coming.

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