Bradley’s Almanac

Mid-Week Music Miscellany

Posted on May 21, 2008 at 9:10 pm | No Comments

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…

  • The Wedding Present – “El Rey”
    (@ AOL’s Spinner for a week)
    Out yesterday, May 20th
  • Spiritualized – “Songs in A & E”
    (full album stream @ MySpace)
    Out May 27th
  • The Futureheads – “This Is Not The World”
    (@ MTV UK, which requires you to enter your email addy)
    Out June 3rd
  • 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’ve started writing mini-previews of upcoming Boston-area shows for the new international live gig listing site Songkick. For each of the major cities the site covers (London, NYC, LA, Boston, many more), they pick one local music blogger to hand-pick and shine spotlights on a bunch of shows each month, and I’m their Boston boy. Head here to read a little introductory interview with yours truly, and here to read ones from my fellow contributors, including LA’s The Rawking Refuses to Stop! and NYC’s The Catbirdseat.
  • The new episode of the Blog Fresh Radio is up, and once again they invited me along to ramble on, this time about that aforementioned new Thalia Zedek Band album.
  • 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.

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  • BOSTON-AREA LIVE SHOW ACTION
    Thursday, March 21st
    Otoboke Beaver
    Drinking Boys & Girls Choir
    Editrix
    @ the Royale

    Thursday, March 21st
    Laetitia Sadier
    (of Stereolab)
    Storefront Church
    @ the Somerville Armory

    Friday, March 22nd
    Consumer
    Tysk Tysk Task
    Vivid Bloom
    Little Fuss
    @ Deep Cuts

    Friday, March 22nd
    Fog Lake
    @ the Somerville Armory

    Saturday, March 23rd
    Incinerator
    Karen Zanes
    Land of Enchantment
    Audrey & Karina
    @ the Loft, Somerville

    Saturday, March 23rd
    Stars Like Ours
    Andrea Gillis
    @ the Lizard Lounge

    Monday, March 25th
    Unwound (!)
    Cherubs
    @ the Paradise

    Monday, March 25th
    Andy Shauf (solo)
    @ First Church Cambridge

    Tuesday, March 26th
    Anders Parker
    @ an Allston Living Room

    Wednesday, March 27th
    Thalia Zedek
    @ the Square Root

    Thursday, March 28th
    Thus Love
    Native Sun
    Robber Robber
    @ O'Brien's

    Thursday, March 28th
    Arlo Parks
    Chloe George
    @ the Royale

    Friday, March 29th
    Grouplove
    Bully
    @ Roadrunner

    Friday, March 29th
    The Rolling Stones
    @ Gillette

    Saturday, March 30th
    Ex-Hyena (release show!)
    The Shallows
    CMB (Casey Desmond/Jimmy Rossi Jr.)
    @ Deep Cuts

    Saturday, March 30th
    Guster
    Fruit Bats
    @ MGM Music Hall

    Saturday, March 30th
    The Cavedogs
    @ the Burren Back Room

    Monday, April 1st
    Adam Ant
    The English Beat
    @ the Wilbur

    Friday, April 5th
    Joe Pernice (solo)
    @ a Boston living room

    Friday, April 5th
    Richard Thompson
    @ the Cut, Gloucester

    Saturday, April 6th
    Choo Choo La Rouge
    Lupo Citta
    The Bret Tobias Set
    Jay Walsh
    @ the Midway Cafe

    Saturday, April 6th
    Land Of Talk
    @ Rockwood Music Hall

    Saturday, April 6th
    Destroyer (solo)
    Lightning Dust
    @ Brighton Music Hall

    Saturday, April 6th
    Choo Choo La Rouge
    Lupo Citta
    The Bret Tobias Set
    Jay Walsh (of the Douglas Fir)
    @ the Midway Cafe

    Saturday, April 6th
    Colin Hay (Men at Work)
    @ the Wilbur

    Monday, April 8th
    Swami & the Bed of Nails
    (John Reis of Hot Snakes/RFTC/etc)
    The Freqs
    @ Crystal Ballroom

    Tuesday, April 9th
    Moron's Morons
    Andy California
    Adult Learners
    G. Gordon Gritty
    @ O'Brien's

    Thursday, April 11th
    Trash Sun
    @ O'Brien's

    Thursday, April 11th
    Hotline TNT
    Cicada
    @ the Somerville Armory

    Saturday, April 13th
    Dead Gowns
    Kathy Snax
    Hannah Mohan
    Audrey & Karina
    @ the Loft, Somerville

    Saturday, April 13th
    DARK SPRING BOSTON FEST
    with Korine, House of Harm,
    Widow Rings, Allie Frost,
    Hemlock for Socrates,
    Midnight Psychic, the
    Spearmint Sea, and more
    @ the Middle East

    Sunday, April 14th
    Woods
    Avey Tare
    @ the Sinclair

    Monday, April 15th
    Matthew Sweet
    @ the Wilbur

    Wednesday, April 17th
    Metz
    @ the Crystal Ballroom

    Wednesday, April 17th
    Real Estate
    Marina Allen
    @ the Royale

    Friday, April 19th
    Quattracenta
    Thalia Zedek Band
    Rip Room
    @ the Midway Cafe

    Friday, April 19th
    Drop Nineteens
    Greg Mendez
    @ the Paradise

    Wednesday, April 24th
    Teen Suicide
    awakebutstillinbed
    @ the Crystal Ballroom

    Friday, April 26th
    Waxahatchee
    Good Morning
    @ the Orpheum

    Friday & Saturday
    April 26th & 27th
    The Town & the City Festival
    @ various venues in Lowell, MA

    Saturday, April 27th
    Kal Marks
    Grocer
    Bedroom Eyes
    Main Era
    @ O'Brien's

    Saturday, April 27th
    Belle and Sebastian
    The Weather Station
    @ the Orpheum

    Sunday, April 28th
    Yot Club
    Boyscott
    @ Brighton Music Hall

    Tuesday, April 30th
    Adult Learners
    Perfectly Lethal
    Over Ends
    Free with food donation
    @ Notch Brewing Brighton

    Tuesday, April 30th
    Teenage Fanclub
    @ the Paradise

    Wednesday, May 1st
    Ty Segall
    @ the Royale

    Thursday, May 2nd
    Outer World
    @ Deep Cuts

    Thursday, May 2nd
    The Decemberists
    Ratboys
    @ Roadrunner

    Friday, May 3rd
    Ra Ra Riot
    @ the Royale

    Saturday, May 4th
    Slothrust
    Weakened Friends
    @ the Sinclair

    Saturday, May 4th
    The Lights Out
    Gretchen Shae & The Middle 8
    Brian K & The Parkway
    @ Faces Brewing

    Sunday, May 5th
    Sheer Mag
    Pile
    @ Crystal Ballroom

    Sunday, May 5th
    CSS
    @ the Sinclair

    Monday, May 6th
    Cloud Nothings
    @ the Crystal Ballroom

    Tuesday, May 7th
    Bad Religion
    Social Distortion
    (playing "Mommy's Little Monster")
    @ MGM Music Hall

    Wednesday, May 8th
    Todd Rundgren
    @ the Wilbur

    Wednesday, May 8th
    Chastity Belt
    @ the Sinclair

    Thursday, May 9th
    Cheekface
    Yungatita
    @ Brighton Music Hall

    Friday, May 10th
    Hot Water Music
    30 Year Anniversary Tour
    with Quicksand
    & Off With Their Heads
    @ the Royale

    Friday, May 10th
    Sarah Shook & the Disarmers
    @ the Cut, Gloucester

    Saturday, May 11th
    Bradley's Almanac (that's me) presents...
    SAVAK
    SAMUEL s.c.
    HEY I'M OUTSIDE
    PLAZA
    8pm @ O'Brien's

    Saturday, May 11th
    Ride
    @ Big Night Live

    Saturday, May 11th
    Hallelujah the Hills
    Colleen Green
    Mallcops
    @ Deep Cuts

    Sunday, May 12th
    Sunny Day Real Estate
    @ Big Night Live

    Monday & Tuesday
    May 13th & May 14th
    Mannequin Pussy
    Soul Glo
    @ the Sinclair

    Tuesday, May 14th
    Swans
    @ the Paradise

    Wednesday, May 15th
    Wussy (duo show)
    @ an Allston living room

    Thursday, May 16th
    Helmet
    Cro-Mags
    @ the Middle East Downstairs

    Friday, May 17th
    Special Sapphic Pride Show
    Ruby Grove
    Galaxy Cake
    Miss Geo
    Linnea's Garden
    @ the Loft, Somerville

    Friday, May 17th
    Neil Young & Crazy Horse
    @ the Xfinity Center

    Thursday, Friday, & Saturday
    May 16th, 17th, & 18th
    Jukebox the Ghost
    @ the Sinclair

    Friday, May 17th
    Buck Meek (of Big Thief)
    @ Crystal Ballroom

    Saturday, May 18th
    The Messthetics
    James Brandon Lewis
    @ the Crystal Ballroom

    Monday, May 20th
    Echo & the Bunnymen
    @ the House of Blues

    Tuesday, May 21st
    Another Michael
    Tenci
    @ the Rockwell

    Tuesday, May 28th
    Shannon & the Clams
    @ the Sinclair

    Tuesday, May 28th
    Brookline Booksmith presents...
    Kathleen Hanna
    "Rebel Girl" book tour
    @ the Wilbur

    Wednesday, May 29th
    The Alarm
    Jay Aston's Gene Love Jezebel
    Belouis Some
    @ Brighton Music Hall

    Wednesday, May 29th
    Madness
    @ MGM Music Hall

    Thursday, May 30th
    Camera Obscura
    @ the Paradise

    Thursday, May 30th
    Nation Of Language
    @ the Royale

    Tuesday, June 4th
    Melt-Banana
    The Flying Luttenbachers
    babyaby_explores
    @ the Sinclair

    Tuesday, June 4th
    Joe Jackson
    @ the Wilbur

    Wednesday, June 5th
    Andy Summers (The Police)
    @ Cary Hall, Lexington

    Thursday, June 6th
    Reverend Horton Heat
    @ the Crystal Ballroom

    Friday, June 7th
    Joe Pera
    @ the Wilbur

    Monday, June 10th
    Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade) @ Brighton Music Hall

    Monday, June 10th
    Bleachers
    Samia
    @ MGM Music Hall

    Thursday, June 13th
    Jon Langford & the Bright Shiners
    @ the Cut, Gloucester

    Thursday, June 13th
    Aaron West & the Roaring Twenties
    Future Teens
    Maura Weaver
    @ Brighton Music Hall

    Friday, June 14th
    Dylan Earl
    Tiger Saw
    Audrey & Karina
    & one more artist tba
    @ the Loft, Somerville

    Sunday, June 16th
    Pixies
    Modest Mouse
    Cat Power
    @ Xfinity Center

    Wednesday, June 19th
    Future Islands
    @ Roadrunner

    Friday, June 21st
    The Church
    The Afghan Whigs
    Ed Harcourt
    @ the Royale

    Friday, June 21st
    Blushing
    Airiel
    Bodywash
    @ Deep Cuts

    Saturday, June 22nd
    Ted Leo & the Pharmacists
    playing "Shake The Sheets"
    with guests
    Ekko Astral
    @ the Paradise

    Saturday, June 22nd
    Guided By Voices
    The Moles
    @ the Royale

    Tuesday, June 25th
    Jon Anderson (of Yes)
    playing “Yes Epics, Classics, and More”
    @ the Shubert Theatre

    Tuesday, June 25th
    Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit
    Courtney Marie Andrews
    @ Roadrunner

    Friday, June 28th
    Janet Jackson
    Nelly
    @ TD Garden

    Sunday, June 30th
    Les Savy Fav
    @ Somerville Armory