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Monday, August 24, 2009
I regularly visit my home-state of Vermont to spend time with family and friends, but I require a damn good reason to make that drive in the dead of winter. It's cold and blustery enough here in Boston in mid-February that purposefully heading to an even colder clime has little-to-no-appeal. Sorry, parents and pals... you can wait a couple more months, right? But schedule a Pains of Being Pure at Heart show in a small VT bar on Valentine's Day, which happened to be on a Saturday night this year? Ok, well, ya got me. And so it was that we traveled a few hours north and caught the beautifully noisy quartet at the tiny Monkey House in good ol' Winooski (just a few doors down from a now-closed bar where my first band often played many years back... lots of memories on that block), with their tourmates The Depreciation Guild (who pulled off a great set despite their ill and absent drummer) and the wonderful Let's Whisper, a duo playing a few songs as a quartet for the special occasion. The place was filled with old friends, and more importantly, my better half was able to be there thanks to my folks and their built-in-babysitter status. All the ingredients for an extra-happy V-Day were in place, and the bands provided the perfect soundtrack. With just one fine full-lengther under their belt, PoBP@H's performance was naturally heavy on that, though they kicked off their too-short set with a track from their '07 debut EP, and threw in two brand new ones ("Falling Over" and "103"), both of which will be appear on the imminent "Higher Than The Stars" EP (out 9/22 on Slumberland). While their songs are of course the main reason I love the band, it was their signing to Slumberland that first got me to listen, and their subsequent design aesthetic hits a long-standing sweet spot with me. The fact that this aesthetic comes by way of frequent vinyl singles with those non-album b-sides, well, let's just say it appears someone has custom-created a band based on a peek inside my brain. I mean, Field Mice references and chord progressions borrowed from East River Pipe? Resistance = futile. While VT-based fans of the Pains will have to wait who-knows-how-long for them to return (especially now that ace promoters Tick Tick have packed it in), Boston-area fans will have a chance to see the band again very soon - They'll be downstairs at the Middle East in Cambridge on Labor Day weekend with Cymbals Eat Guitars and, once again, The Depreciation Guild (no small surprise, as Pains' drummer Kurt is also the D.G.'s singer/guitarist). Can't wait to hear the band perform the "Higher Than The Stars" title track live, and to catch the D.G. with a drummer this time around. Tickets of your own can be had right here, or at the MidEast box office to avoid those pesky fees. Here's the Pains of Being Pure at Heart's full Vermont Valentine's Day set...  The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart Live at the Monkey House in Winooski, VT on Valentine's Day 2009 01. Doing All The Things That Wouldn't Make Your Parents Proud 02. This Love Is Fucking Right! 03. Young Adult Friction 04. Come Saturday 05. The Tenure Itch 06. Everything With You 07. Falling Over 08. 103 09. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart  Some PoPB@H links...
 the obligatory 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  Friday, August 21, 2009  Short on sleep and short on time, but I wanted to share last night's playlist from my latest visit to the River Gods DJ booth for Tourfilter night. For those not in the know, there's one rule: I only play songs by bands that are coming to the Boston area in the next month or two. I'm especially proud of this one, as I think it contains the highest percentage of locally-made music I've played yet... which is a combination of two things: My increased efforts to track down the good stuff, and the amount of really great songs being released around here lately. But more on that in an imminent post.So here's the 32-song list, along with the show details for each of these bands' upcoming appearances (some as soon as tonight). You'll see a bunch of pre-release songs (thanks, promo people!) alongside old faves. Spent a lot of time on the sequencing of this one... and I'm particularly pleased with the "The Light"/The Lights Out/"Light Into Dark" triptych. What can I say, it's the little things... Bradley's Almanac Tourfilter DJ Night playlist Thursday, August 20th, 2009 @ River Gods, Cambridge, MA 01. Lou Barlow - "The One I Call" playing Fri. & Sat., Oct. 2nd & 3rd @ the Middle East Downstairs 02. School of Seven Bells - "Connjur" (acoustic) playing Saturday, Oct. 17th @ the Paradise 03. David Bazan - "Hard To Be" playing a full band show on Tuesday, Oct. 20th @ TTs 04. The Soft Drugs - "Don't Sweat It" playing Tuesday, Oct. 20th @ TT the Bears with David Bazan 05. Grand Archives - "Silver Among The Gold" playing Saturday, Oct. 10th @ Great Scott 06. Mike Gent (of the Figgs) - "Buried Me Alive" playing Sunday, September 13th @ TT the Bears 07. Choo Choo La Rouge - "Mostly Air" playing their CD release show tonight, Friday, August 21st @ PA's Lounge 08. Built to Spill - "Car" playing Oct. 9th - 11th @ the Middle East down 09. Loney Dear - "Airport Surroundings" playing Wednesday, Oct. 14th @ Great Scott 10. Dear Leader - "The Blueprint" playing Friday, Oct. 2nd @ the Paradise 11. Hallelujah the Hills - "Blank Passports" playing their album release show on Sat., Sept. 26th @ Great Scott 12. Pinback - "Non Photo-Blue" playing on Halloween @ the Paradise 13. Lucero - "Tears Don't Matter Much" playing Greenfest @ City Hall Plaza tomorrow 14. Dinosaur Jr. - "See You" playing Friday & Saturday, Oct. 2nd & 3rd @ the Middle East Down 15. The Beatings - "Nothing Ventured Nothing Gained" playing their CD release show on Sat., Sept. 12th @ Great Scott 16. Sunny Day Real Estate - "In Circles" playing Monday, Sept. 28th @ the House of Blues 17. The Motion Sick - "The Owls Are Not What They Seem" playing the Boston Ahts Festival on Sat., Sept. 12th 18. Autolux - "Turnstile Blues" playing (finally!) on Thursday, Sept. 10th @ the Paradise 19. The Hush Now - "Hoping and Waiting" playing on Saturday, Sept. 12th @ Great Scott 20. "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" cast - "Dayman" performing "The Nightman Cometh" on Tues., Sept. 15th @ HoBlues 21. Sleepyhead - "CB" playing Sunday, August 23rd @ TT the Bears 22. Yo La Tengo - "Nothing To Hide" playing Wednesday, Sept. 16th @ the Wilbur Theatre 23. The Operators - "The Light" reuniting tonight @ PA's Lounge 24. The Lights Out - "Never Going Back" playing tomorrow @ Greenfest & a CD release show on Sept. 25th @ TTs 25. Mean Creek - "Light Into Dark" playing Thursday, Sept. 17th @ TT the Bears 26. Pretty & Nice - "Tora Tora Tora" playing Friday, Sept. 11th @ Boston University 27. You Can Be A Wesley - "Make Up Your God" playing Friday, Sept. 11th @ Boston University 28. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "Higher Than The Stars" playing Saturday, Sept. 5th @ the Middle East Downstairs 29. Asobi Seksu - "Let Them Wait" playing Wednesday, Oct. 14th @ Great Scott 30. The Flaming Lips - "Do You Realize?" playing Sunday, August 30th @ the BoA Pavilion 31. Caspian - "Of Foam and Wave" playing their album release show on Saturday, August 29th @ TTs 32. Explosions in the Sky - "Your Hand In Mine" playing Sunday, August 30th @ the BoA Pavilion Tuesday, August 11, 2009
I've had the good fortune of seeing Telekinesis play live a couple times in the six months since the release of their gloriously catchy self-titled debut disc - once here in Boston on the eve of the album's arrival back in late March, and again just two weeks ago down at XX Merge in North Carolina. While the album showcases the songs and multi-instrumental talents of Seattlite Michael Lerner, he's taken a far different approach than most singer/songwriters (who might hit the road with a guitar and a microphone) and brings along a couple guitarists and a bass player to surround him as he handles vocals and drums with ease. And despite being anchored to a drum throne, he provides an energetic focal point for the four-piece, propelling his already-infectious songs along with rock-steady floor tom beats and perfectly-placed cymbals strikes. It really is a joy to watch. The band's March set at Cambridge's Middle East was a too-short, first-of-four opening slot (with Blind Pilot, the Broken West, and Say Hi), and I've been hoping for a proper (i.e. headlining) return to town ever since. Well, the wait might be awhile longer, as a broken hip has sidelined one of Michael's bandmates, and a personal loss kept the other two from joining him at XX Merge. If you're a SCORE! subscriber, you've seen the gorgeous new mini-book that reprints the artwork of every single Merge release from their first 20 years, and you'll find the Telekinesis cover on the very last page. I couldn't imagine there was any way Merge's most-recent signing and anniversary book-end was going to miss the party down in Carrboro. I'd heard whispers of some unfortunate circumstances causing the pre-fest band-scramble, and wondered if we'd actually get a rare Telekinesis solo set this time, until I saw a drum kit and a couple of amps being lined up on stage. So while it appeared we get some kind of last-minute line-up, I certainly didn't expect who walked out on stage - Nada Surf's frontman Matthew Caws on guitar and backing vocals with Ivan Howard of the Rosebuds on bass. And after just one practice, well, the trio simply nailed it. While we patiently wait for audio and visual evidence of that special set to see the light of day, and while the Boston area awaits the live return of Telekinesis, here's my recording of their Spring set (minus the missing opening song), shared with M.L.'s permission. Note that it includes the non-album "One Step Forward", as well as a version of "Calling All Doctors" that differs pretty dramatically from the album recording...  Telekinesis Live at the Middle East Downstairs in Cambridge, MA on Monday, March 30th, 2009 01. All Of A Sudden 02. Imaginary Friend 03. Tokyo 04. Great Lakes 05. Calling All Doctors 06. One Step Forward 07. Coast Of Carolina  Some Telekinesis links...
the finest of prints... 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 Sunday, August 02, 2009
As promised a month ago, here's a continuation of the list of upcoming Boston-area shows that have me very, very psyched for the second half of summer. Wait, summer's almost half over? Well, rats. I'm thinking of making this run-down a monthly deal. But then again, I think about doing lots of things... If you went to Wheat's CD release show at Great Scott last night, I hope you saved some of your weekend energy for tonight, 'cuz former Bostonian (and ex-Helium frontwoman) Mary Timony returns to town for the first show with her new band Soft Power at TT the Bears. If that's not reason enough to be there (and it should be), they're joined on the bill by Gramercy Arms, the NY-based collective who happen include Mary's early-90s Boston indie rock compatriots, Dave Derby of the wonderful Dambuilders, and Boston's own Hilken Mancini, formerly of Fuzzy. And with that band, you never know who else might show up on stage (check the 'about' section of their website for the amazing list of contributors to their album). Added bonus? Locals Shepherdess open up, which shouldn't be too much of a surprise, given Hilken's presence in that band as well. Can never get too much Hilken, really. What is a surprise, at least to me, is that former Fudge drummer Mike Savage (who rules) and Operators guitarist Emily Arkin (who also happens to rule) are also in Shepherdess... how did I not know this until this week?! Throw in bass player Winston Bramen (also formerly Fuzzy, and in Thalia Zedek's band) and that's a recipe for greatness. I mean, how can anyone not go to this show. While the likelihood of my presence at any Sunday night show can be low, this one gives me no real choice. I apologize in advance to my bosses for my lackluster Monday performance. A few days later, on Wednesday, August 5th, former Bostonian (and now Torontian... Toronto-ite? Torontist? Help me out, Frank) Joe Pernice comes home for not one, but two shows at the Brattle Theatre. And they ain't just your average shows, no sir. Along with the singin', there'll be some book-readin', too, maybe some autographin', thanks to the release of Joe's debut novel, "It Feels So Good When I Stop", this Tuesday. Naturally, the novel includes references to lots of music, including cover songs and fictional tunes, so Joe has thrown together a soundtrack that he'll be drawing from for these live performances. Day-jobbers can grab tickets to an early 7pm show and late-nighters can pick up ones to the 9:30pm show. Opening up will be former Charlestown (and now L.A.) comedy duo The Walsh Brothers, and remember... the Brattle now serves beer. On Thursday, August 13th, Baltimore-based duo Wye Oak returns to the Middle East Upstairs for a show with the Starlight Mints. Both bands are here on the heels of just-released new albums, and I'm especially excited to see Wye Oak play songs from "The Knot" in a more intimate setting than the gi-normous Memorial Hall they played to close out XX Merge last week in North Carolina. It was a wonderful performance, but I'm ready to get a whole lot closer to Andy & Jenn's amps n' drums. Tickets here, and arrive early for the indescribable antics of JP Inc, who used to be known as Pleaseeasaur. The transition from that into Wye Oak will be... interesting. In case you haven't been paying attention, charming Scottish quartet the Trashcan Sinatras are gratefully still around, still making music, and in fact, have just released their fifth album, the gorgeous "In The Music". Their debut, 1990's "Cake", is one of my all-time faves, rivaling some of the Smiths' best work, as far as jangly UK pop with brilliantly twisted wordplay goes. And while each subsequent album didn't hit me quite as hard as that one did (certain subsequent songs, yes, but whole albums, no), I'm always on board for whatever they're up to. And what they're up to is a rare U.S. tour in support of the new album, which kicked off a couple weeks ago and finishes up at TT the Bears in Cambridge two weeks from tonight, on Sunday, August 16th. I've only seen them once, and it was ages ago, so a TTs show will be a true treat. Opening is Brookville and Paul Sentz (of This Car Up & Putnam Murdock). If there's any justice, this sucker will sell out, so grab a ticket here. By the way, if you're smartly thinking of picking up a copy of the new album, you can grab a special (deep breath) limited edition, individually-numbered, clothbound, screen printed, digipak version (whew) at their website which includes an instant download of high-quality DRM free MP3s (320kbs) while you wait for it to arrive, and they've thrown in two bonus tracks for good measure. And excitedly, word is that all four previous Trashcan albums should be re-released with b-sides at some point. Fingers are crossed. The following night brings the Deal sisters back to town for another Breeders show at the Paradise. That's Monday, August 17th, with openers The Whispertown 2000. Tickets here. The band self-released the "Fate To Fatal" EP on Record Store Day, and you can download the title track here. August will end, for me, on Boston's waterfront as I take in Explosions In The Sky with The Flaming Lips at the BoA Pavilion. The opportunity to see Austin's EitS in such a potentially beautiful outdoor setting is nothing less than a gift... anyone who's familiar with their powerful soundscapes can imagine what we're in for. And while I haven't been as much of a Lips fan as I was when "The Soft Bulletin" and "Yoshimi..." came out, it's high time I experienced them live, and the possibility of Wayne's big ball. Who knows, maybe he'll end up in Boston Harbor, floating out to sea as "Do You Realize?" plays on. Openers are Stardeath and Whitedwarfs, who I know next to nothing about, although I heard (and liked) one of their songs just yesterday, and you can buy tickets here. I'll be the guy smiling, probably with his eyes closed, third row center, during the entirety of EitS's set. Oh, and if you use that link to buy tickets, you'll get to download 3 songs from the upcoming Flaming Lips album "Embryonic": "Convinced of the Hex," "The Impulse," and "Silver Trembling Hands." Then, sometime before the show, you'll supposedly be able to download 3 rare Lips b-sides, picked by the band. And finally, 3-5 days after the show, you'll get a link to download an official live recording of the set you just saw. Because getting that link before the show would require time travel technology. And if the sound quality of that recording even half-decent (and given that it's official, it should be), I'm hoping to hell they record EitS's set, too. And that we get to listen to it. Someday. There are so many more August shows I could write about (see my big ol' list on the left), but if I don't stop here I'll never get this done. Keep an eye out for posts on other shows when the urge and the free time strikes me... |
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