Tuesday in Somerville: a New Pornographers “Get Together” listening party
Posted on April 19, 2010 at 7:30 am | No Comments
As a longtime fan of Canadian super- uber-group The New Pornographers, the weeks leading up to a new album release are like a prolonged Christmas Eve. All anxiousness and anticipation and ‘Hurry up!’. In the run up to the May 4th holiday shelf date for “Together”, we’ve been teased with two very-promising peeks at our long-awaited present in the form of preview MP3 “Your Hands (Together)“ and first (iTunes) single “The Crash Years” (and teased by Mr. Ted Leo about yet another track… scroll to the end). But for me, well, Christmas came early, and tomorrow I get to share my premature good fortune with the Boston-area.
I’ve just had my first (and second, and third, etc.) full listen to the whole shebang, and it’s quite simply a stunner. Even five songs in I knew it beat 2007’s “Challengers” by a Canadian country mile. But why the advance aural action? Get this: Tomorrow night at 9pm, I’ve helped organize what’s being called a New Pornographers’ “Get Together” at The Independent in Somerville’s Union Square. Yes, it’s a listening party, but this time there’s a bit more to it. Let’s run down the details, shall we?…
Hosted by myself and DJ Rav from WZBC‘s very fine Flyweight radio programme. Between 9pm and 1am, we’ll play the New Pornographers new one a couple times, two weeks before you can buy it. When we’re not playing the album, we’ll be playing our favorite Matador Records-released songs, along with something special: A just-for-the-occasion mix disc put together by head-Pornographer Carl Newman himself. Starting at 9pm, the first 20 people through the door get a limited edition, hand-numbered CD burn of that mix disc. It’s ridiculously, and wonderfully, eclectic, and there were just 150 made (the rest went to the other countrywide Get Togethers, of course). We’ll be giving out a pair of tickets to the New Pornographers’ show at Boston’s House of Blues on Friday night, June 18th. We also have posters (two of which are autographed by Mr. Newman) and a couple copies of the Dan-Bejar-penned “Myriad Harbor” vinyl seven-inch single (which includes a non-Challengers b-side) to give away as well. The evening is not just presented by Matador Records, WZBC, and yes, Bradley’s Almanac – it’s also sponsored by PBR, who have set up special deal on a certain amount of tallboys (not quite free, but close enough).
So there ya go. Free stuff, discounted drinkage, at a great bar, and all soundtracked to one of the best albums of the year. If you’re thinking of coming, fire off an RSVP email to gettogetherboston [at] gmail [dot] com, mark yourself down on the Facebook event page, and make sure you get there early to grab a compilation and super-cheap suds.
TONIGHT!: BLACK TAMBOURINE listening party at RIVER GODS in Cambridge, MA
Posted on April 8, 2010 at 10:08 am | No Comments
Live near Boston? Got plans tonight? No? Well, lemme take care of that for you…
Understatement alert: I love Slumberland Records. Like, really, really love them. So much so that I flew out to California a couple weeks ago to attend one of the label’s 20th Anniversary shows at the Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco. And while I had to endure the incessant death-breath of a fellow JetBlue passenger for 6 excruciating hours, in the end, it was worth it. So totally worth it.
And tonight, I get to bring a little bit of that Slumberland magic back to the Boston area. Y’see, the label has just released a new compilation of tracks from legendary and highly influential (in some circles, namely ones I live in) quartet Black Tambourine. The self-titled CD/vinyl release pulls together all their studio material, including early demos along with two newly recorded (!) covers and, yes, two brand new tracks (!!). This, for many early indie-pop fans like me, is a quote-unquote “Big Deal”. Capital ‘B’, capital ‘D’.
When Slumberland main man (and Black Tambourine member) Mike Schulman announced that several cities would be hosting listening/release parties for the BT comp, I was bothered enough by the Boston-area’s absence in that list that I just went ahead and volunteered to make it happen. So, this very night in Cambridge, we’ll be commemorating this blessed event by hosting a special evening of music at River Gods on River St. near Central Square. Here’s what’s on the agenda…
Starting at 9pm sharp, I’ll be playing songs from my own Slumberland 7″ and CD collection (and also, um, a few Twin Peaks soundtrack songs, because the show premiered exactly 20 years ago tonight, and I’m an unabashed TP fanboy). At around 10pm I’ll start playing the new Black Tambourine compilation in its entirety, and will give away a stack of it on sweet, sweet vinyl (oh, and CDs, buttons, and posters, too).
Acting as the the label’s New England ambassador, singer/guitarist Andrew Churchman from the Boston-based Slumberland-signed band Pants Yell! will be playing any songs he damn-well pleases (all on vinyl, ‘natch) after I finish up, and then guest DJ Rav from WZBC‘s esteemed Flyweight radio show will spin his own stack of Slumberlandy songs to close out the night. He’ll probably play the BT compilation again for those who missed it, and will be giving away more free stuff until it’s gone.
Get it? Got it? Good.
The night is absolutely free, it’s 21+ (sorry ’bout that, young snappers of whippers), and hey, it’s at River Gods. Which is a safe bet for a good time regardless of what music happens to be playing. So I’ll see ya there, fellow noise-pop fans…