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Friday, September 18, 2009  Many of us are feeling (or, rather, listening to, or playing) the after-effects of the recently-ended 'Beatles Week', but for me it was immediately preceded by what was most definitely 'Bazan Week'. It started on Friday, August 28th in the afternoon when Seattle-based David Bazan arrived in Massachusetts and gifted his Twitter followers with an impromptu dry-run online-webcast (sadly, since deleted) that had him and his longtime pal/collaborator TW Walsh (behind the drum kit) running through a couple of old Pedro the Lion tunes ("When They Really Get To Know You They Will Run" and "Penetration") in TW's basement. It was a nice teaser for the reason he'd hit our state: An intimate, acoustic house show in Beverly, MA to showcase songs from his almost-out solo record, "Curse Your Branches". I'm going to resist getting all hyperbolic here, and let the recorded songs that follow sing for themselves. These digital files won't fully capture the vibe, but in short: It was the kind of night that'll spoil regular club shows for while. Very little else compares. Picture the set below being performed about 4 feet in front of your seated spot on a candle-lit livingroom floor. Yeah.That special evening was made slightly more special in an additional way: It was the first time fans could hold the new DB disc in their hands, to have a look at the spiffy packaging, to take one home and dive on in. For me, well, I'd pre-ordered it, so I'd have to wait... but not for long. Just 8 hours after driving back to Boston my mailman handed me a package from Undertow: A copy of "CYB" and the limited edition bonus 7" that has David sharing his versions of two covers he'd been performing for awhile: Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and Dylan's "The Man In Me". Now that's what I call a good start to a Saturday. An aside on that little seven-inch - Yes, "Hallelujah" has been covered way, way too much. Hell, that's been the case for quite awhile, and with Cohen having taken his own version on the road this year, any new interpretation is long-since redundant. But having seen Dave play it live, well before LC's road reemergence, I'd been hoping we'd hear DB's own run-through somehow. So it arrives, and yes, it's beautiful. According to the man himself, he'd put down this recording before L.C. asked people to stop covering it, so rather than burying it forever, he figured a very limited pre-order vinyl gift was in order. To get it out there, but kind of not. A good call. By the way, if you happened to miss out on that limited wax, you can get "The Man In Me" digitally via iTunes. No "Hallelujah", though. As solid as the "Curse Your Branches" online pre-order/preview stream sounded, headphoning the real-deal disc made for a wonderfully soundtracked weekend (next up: the vinyl). The aforementioned Mr. Walsh outdid himself in the mixing/mastering of this sucker... you can hear the attention to detail on all 10 tracks. To put a fine point on that weekend, and to mark the official release of "CYB" on Tuesday, Sept. 1st, David hit Brooklyn for another house show on Monday night, and for the first time, the entire intimate event was live-video-streamed online (and archived!). Next best thing to being there. And the very next day, he debuted his new full band with an invite-only show at Piano's in NYC, a couple of clips from which can be found at ABCNews, who also interviewed DB for their online Amplified program. That's a genuine media-blitz, ladies and gents. "Curse Your Branches" is charting on Billboard, fer chrissakes. How 'bout that? David will be bringing that full band out on the road for a 5-week tour starting on October 1st (speaking of which, help him buy a van to make that happen, get a cool t-shirt), and any Boston-based readers would do well to get advance tix for the October 20th show at TTs (openers are Say Hi and TW Walsh's The Soft Drugs, even more reason to get tix early). If you missed out one of the many house shows David's done this year, have no fear, he's going to keep doing 'em. And if you're lucky, one will be close to you (and you'd better be paying attention... they sell out fast). Until he comes your way, enjoy this...  David Bazan An intimate house performance in Beverly, MA on Friday, August 28th, 2009 01. Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box (Radiohead) 02. Hard To Be 03. Priests and Paramedics 04. Q&A 1 05. Harmless Sparks 06. Transcontinental 07. Q&A 2 08. Curse Your Branches 09. Please, Baby, Please 10. Q&A 3 11. Hot Girls 12. Lost My Shape 13. Options 14. Q&A 4 15. When We Fell 16. a Q from DB 17. Bless This Mess 18. Cold Beer and Cigarettes 19. Q: "Can we have a sing-a-long?" Answer: 20. Big Trucks (sing-a-long) 21. banter - "a show in denton" 22. In Stitches  Some Bazan-flavored links...
 the fine print... If anyone has an issue with these Mp3s being made available (since I got permission, that'd be weird), just let me know (my contact info in the 'nac faq link on the left). 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, even if you beg. Sorry 'bout that. Labels: livemp3s  Wednesday, September 16, 2009
The sum-total of knowledgeable Boston-based music writers increased by at least one earlier this year when Mr. Joe Fielder's new day job had him packing up his life in L.A. and relocating here to our little Hub. I'd had the music blog he wrote for, Radio Free Silver Lake, in my RSS reader long before he dropped me a note saying he was heading out this way, and having read many of his posts, we're lucky to have him. Rather than abandon his digital home, he's stayed on as RFSL's Managing Editor and occasional contributor to get that writing fix (nope, no Radio Free Belmont for us). Yet somehow, despite the demands of that day job and his other blogging outlet, Joe's pulled together his first (of what will hopefully be many more) guest post for the 'Nac. Just six months removed from his L.A. departure, he's still got a good sense of what's going on out there, and in the month or so ahead, there are quite a few West Coast bands he loves hitting the Boston area. Perfect time for a preview, right? The bands and dates he spotlights below are... The Henry Clay People + Red Cortez @ The House of Blues Ok, so here's Joe... The Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles has become a fantastic little bio reactor for smart, diverse indie acts over the last few years - and a handful of the town's best and brightest are headed to Boston in September and October. Here's a quick rundown of groups to watch out for, along with videos and MP3s. This Friday night, indie rock heartbreakers Division Day visit O'Brien's in Allston in support of their sophmore album "Visitation". (This one is on Dangerbird Records, while the last was on Eenie Meanie.) They put on a damn fine live show. [MP3] Division Day - "Little Blood" Saturday, October 3rd Princeton with Ra Ra Riot and Maps & Atlases @ The Paradise If you're a sucker for The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds", Beirut, and/or charmingly excessive use of smiles and handclaps, chances are you'd like the hell out Princeton. They're touring with Chicago's Maps & Atlases and New York's Ra Ra Riot to promote their Kanine Records' debut "Cocoon of Love". [MP3] Princeton - "Calypso Gold" Tuesday, October 13th Sea Wolf with Port O'Brien and Sara Lov @ The Paradise Singer/songwriter/guitarist Alex Church broke away from indie pop act Irving several years ago to focus on his own material... darker, dreamier, more heavily orchestrated stuff that all kind of wins. He's now on the road to push his second Sea Wolf album on Dangerbird, "White Water, White Bloom". [MP3] Sea Wolf - "Stanislaus" Tuesday, October 13th The Airborne Toxic Event with The Henry Clay People and Red Cortez @ The House of Blues Not much needs to be said about recent indie rock success story The Airborne Toxic Event. Risen quickly, they're a polarizing group: you either love love love or hate. To the latter, I humbly suggest that if you haven't seen them live, you haven't heard the band. Like LA's Silversun Pickups, they put on an excessively good performance and the production of the album fails to capture their sound. It's a great line-up, to boot. The Henry Clay People's album "For Cheap or For Free" seemingly appeared on every LA music blogger's Best of 2008 list. (It was missing on mine, but only out of incompetence.) It's jangly indie rock 'n' roll at its best... with something clearly going on upstairs, too. Formerly known as The Weather Underground, Red Cortez are an unsigned indie rock act that have been stealing shows out west for awhile now. Worth checking out. October 18th The Happy Hollows with Dark Martini & The Dirty Olives and The Wrecking Coast @ TT The Bears The ideal mix of experimental and accessible (or more simply: smart and catchy), The Happy Hollows are out east for just a few shows as they make their way to this year's CMJ. Their debut album (produced by The Mighty Lemon Drops' Dave Newton) is out in early October and is easily one of my favorite releases this year. Not to be missed live. Friday, September 11, 2009  Imagine me saying this in my most sickeningly sincere voice possible: It has been a very, very long time since I've been as excited about Boston-made music (and specifically, discovering the new) as I have been over this past couple months. I've been listening to a whole lot of area bands lately, and I feel like I've barely even scratched the sonic surface. So I'm going to take a quick run down of the locally-grown music that has been filling my ears and warming my heart as the summer fades, and point you in the direction of where you can buy their work or see 'em play next. And if any of the free n' legal mp3s that follow grab you, hopefully you'll do both.While I'm going to stick mostly to the facts here, rather than all-out flattery, if a band is listed here, they are entirely Almanac-endorsed. In this first part, I'll rattle off some albums that were released recently that you may have missed, a couple of which I've mentioned and a few I've been meaning to. In part two, which I hope to post later this coming week, I'll focus on just-released or upcoming releases that I'm excited about, along with some completely free offerings from some new bands. And off we go... In late July, Taunton's own Wheat released their latest full-length, "White Ink, Black Ink", and they've shared a couple of songs and a video from it... [Mp3]: Wheat - "H.O.T.T."Pick up your own copy of the disc here, and be sure to visit thiswheat.com, where you'll find a load of shared live sets. The band plays their next area show on a Saturday night, October 24th, downstairs at the Middle East in Central Square with Jukebox The Ghost, and tickets go on sale next Friday, September 18th. If you're lucky, they'll do their Daft Punk cover. You'd think I'd be slightly tired of You Can Be A Wesley's debut record, "Heard Like Us", by now, given how much I've listened to it (and how many times I'd heard the live versions of the songs before the album arrived), but it's still making frequent and welcome appearances in my playlists. Here's the oft-shared "Creatures", which leads off side 2 of the LP (and I love that I can say that)... [Mp3] You Can Be A Wesley - "Creatures"Listen to a couple more songs at their Muxtape page, grab the album digitally from Amazon.com, or snag a copy of the vinyl from the band at one of their shows (no cd on this one, kids!). Your next chance to do that is tonight, when the band plays their alma mater (that's B.U. to you and me) as part of a WTBU Day show, which starts at 8pm at the George Sherman Union, 775 Commonwealth Ave. Admission is free for students, and just 5 bucks otherwise, and joining them are Pretty & Nice and Magic Magic. That's a steal at less than 2 bucks a band. YCBAW will play again soon, when they Allston's Great Scott on Sept. 26th to help Hallelujah The Hills celebrate the release of their own new album. But more on that in the tomorrow's half of this post. (and on a total side note - nice to see half of YCBAW in the Autolux-appreciating crowd last night at the 'Dise.) First, I owe an apology to Mean Creek - I was somehow pre-programmed to take a first glance at your band name and incorrectly guess 'bluegrass?'. Nothing against bluegrass, but I'm really glad I dove into their wonderful new disc, "The Sky (Or The Underground)", to discover that is most definitely not the case. Listen to the title track to hear for yourself... [Mp3] Mean Creek - "The Sky (or the Underground)"The band celebrated the release of the disc last month, so you can get the tracks digitially from Amie Street or other sources listed here, or physically from Old Flame Records. Their next show is today, when they hit the Boston waterfront for The Boston Arts Festival in Christopher Columbus Park at 5:45pm, they're playing TT's on Sept. 17th, and they'll also be part of the Mark Sandman Memorial Concert on September 27th. On the same night, and on the same stage, that Mean Creek celebrated their album's release, so did their friends in Drug Rug. "Paint The Fence Invisible" is 11 tracks in just over 30 minutes, short sharp shocks of catchy songs that dig in deep and stay there. Here's one... [Mp3] Drug Rug - "Never Tell"Stream the entire album (or better yet, buy the damn thing) at LaLa. If you didn't catch them at that CD release show, then you'll be waiting until their in-progress tour with Portugal. The Man comes to Boston on October 18th. Tickets for that Paradise show can be obtained right here. There are musicians you love, and then there are musicians who are loved by the musicians you love. I happily discovered Cambridge's own Choo Choo La Rouge thanks to singer/songwriter Jennifer O'Connor, who digs them enough to put out their "Black Clouds" album out on her very own Kiam Records imprint last month. Here's a song and brand new video for your edumusication... [Mp3] Choo Choo La Rouge - "It's Gonna Happen Fast"Pick up the album digitally from Amazon (and be sure to sample to my favorite track, "Mostly Air"), or a disc direct from Jennifer at Kiam. The trio celebrated with a release show in Somerville a few weeks back, but only have a couple of out of October out-of-town shows booked at the moment. Keep an eye and ear out for their next Boston-area appearance. Oh Caspian, my Caspian. This is far from the first, nor will it be the last, time I've mentioned these Beverly-based boys on this site. The occasion? The arrival of their majestic (a word easily applied) second full-length, "Tertia". Yes, they fit in the ol' instrumental post-rock category, but they do it with such passion, such power, that seeing them live can be both a mentally and physically moving experience. A sold-out crowd experienced that a couple weeks ago at the TT's release party, where I finally got to hold the hefty, beautifully designed, double-vinyl version of the album in my happy little hands. Here's a meager digital taste of "Tertia"... [Mp3] Caspian - "Of Foam and Wave"Know what you can do right now? Go download the entire album, for free, at Gimme Sound, or better yet, order up that 180g double-vinyl (or cd) from their label, Mylene Sheath. The band, who have just weathered a line-up shift and emerged ready for the road, have been set loose upon Europe for a massive two-month tour, and they'll return to our shows for an October 29th homecoming set upstairs at the Middle East. Which spells sellout. Tickets here. Keep an eye out for part two, in which I'll spotlight some upcoming albums and associated live shows I'm anticipating, along with pointers to even more free music made in and around our little city. Labels: boston Wednesday, September 02, 2009  While The Sea Navy is very much a Seattle band, I'll never be able to separate singer/guitarist Jay Cox from Boston in my brain. Though he moved away a number of years ago, I still expect to see him at the same shows I go to, just as I used to a decade ago when I first got here. He was that increasingly-familiar face in the crowd at all the good gigs, then suddenly one night he was up on stage fronting the Ivory Coast, and would eventually become a friend whom I was sad to see head west.Fortunately for us (meaning me and anyone reading this), when he left Boston he didn't stop writing songs, turning his semi-solo project The Sea Navy into a mutating band and cranking out a couple of excellent full-lengthers. The third of those, "Memory Matches", was officially released last week, and is the first written and recorded with a stable lineup (Stuart Fletcher, formerly of The Sorts, is on bass and Jordan Cumming mans the drums). In honor of its release, Jay has pulled together a pretty damn cool collection of Sea Navy merch for me to give away to an Almanac reader. Included in the bundle is a spiffy Sea Navy T-shirt, all three Sea Navy discs (including, of course, the brand new "Memory Matches"), and the icing on this cake is a super-special Steve Keene painting of that new album's cover art.  Before I give you the deets on how to win this stuff, here's a Sea Navy a/v crash course, all from "Memory Matches". You're welcome... Assuming you're sufficiently hooked, you can win this little prize pack by dropping an email to giveaways [at] bradleysalmanac [dot] com before 9am on Thursday, September 10th. Title it "Gimme some Sea Navy!" and make sure you live in North America before you click send (apologies to international visitors). I'll pick a random winner from all entrants that afternoon, contact said lucky soul to get a mailing address, and then Jay himself will send along the goodies post haste. For more on The Sea Navy, read a recent interview with Jay and Jordan at Sound on the Sound, become a fan of the band on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, and pick up their latest album on iTunes or Amazon. Labels: giveaways |
 fugazi live in burlington, vermont in early spring 1991 previously: david bazan - solo in allston 2011 recent posts on the 'nac...
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