Ticket + Vinyl Giveaway: Serena Maneesh
Posted on April 1, 2010 at 3:30 pm | No Comments
Well, hello there. Miss me? Wait, don’t answer that.
If you’ve been following the ol’ ‘Nac Twitter feed, you are well aware of the fact that I’ve been sojourning in sunny San Francisco for the past week or so. The highlight and primary reason for my trip? Slumberland’s 20th Anniversary bash at the Rickshaw Stop. One word summary? “Wow“. More later.
Boston was rainy when I left, and rainier when I returned. Thanks, home state! You sure know how to welcome a boy back. Ugh.
I’ll ease back into the blogging by giving you free stuff. Admittedly, I should have posted this sooner, but I blame jetlag. Gotta blame something. Anyway, here, have some tickets and vinyl…
Oslo combo Serena Maneesh hooked me from the get go — with one listen through their self-titled 2006 album, I was all in. When I heard that collection of post-shoegaze goodness, it was as an import, available the previous year overseas but not-yet-out in the states when they played TT the Bears in March ’06. Any doubts I had that they’d be able to recreate the sonic impact of that debut in a live setting were squashed shortly after they took the stage. They brought it, they cut it into pieces, and hand delivered it to everyone there. So, so powerfully good.
Four years later, we finally get a follow-up record, this time courtesy of the esteemed 4AD label. The awkwardly titled, yet no less mind-blowing “SM 2: Abyss in B Minor”, which arrived on store shelves last week, owes just as much to their shoegaze fore-bearers as their debut did, but throws in some more exciting rhythmic power (check the Moonshake-style awesomeness of “Reprobate!“) and a bit more variety. It’s a scorcher, start to finish, and I’m just as excited to see these songs alongside the older stuff when the band returns to TT the Bears this Sunday. Yes, this weekend. In other words, you don’t have a lot of time to enter this contest, so get crackin’…
Thanks to the fine folks at the Beggars Group, I have not only a pair of TTs tickets to give away to an Almanac visitor, but a copy of an exclusive, numbered 12-inch vinyl single for the lead track, “Ayisha Abyss.” Rather than give them out to one fortunate soul, I’ll offer up the tickets to a random Boston-area resident, and the 12″ to someone who lives too far away to make it (continental U.S. only, though). If you’re feeling lucky, send an email to giveaways [at] bradleysalmanac [dot] com before 2pm on Friday. Yes, that is less than 24 hours from now. Write “SM!” in the subject field, and let me know if you’d prefer the vinyl or the tickets. Tomorrow afternoon I’ll pick two random names and let them know. Ticket winner will get their name on Sunday’s show guest list, and the vinyl winner will be sent the wax from Beggars. Easy enough.
For tickets of your own to the show, go here or visit TTs to save on service charges (also, make sure you get to TTs early enough to catch excellent openers The Depreciation Guild). Stream some Serena Maneesh at MySpace, or better yet, grab a couple of label-approved MP3s right here, check out a live video for “Reprobate!“, or stream the album in its entirety…
[MP3] Serena Maneesh – “I Just Want To See Your Face”
[VIDEO] Serena Maneesh – “Reprobate!“
The band’s ongoing North American Tour continues tonight in Wisconson and heads to Canada before they arrive here on Sunday. The remaining April dates…
01: Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre
02: Toronto, ON @ Opera House
03: Montreal, QC @ Il Motore
04: Cambridge, MA @ TT The Bears
05: Milford, CT @ Daniel Street
06: Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
07: Washington, DC @ DC9
08: New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge
Alright then, get emailin’, and keep an eye on your inbox tomorrow afternoon…
Last Night’s Playlist (Tourfilter DJ Night @ River Gods)
Posted on March 19, 2010 at 3:01 pm | No Comments
So yesterday was the third Thursday of the month, and that meant a spot for me up in the River Gods DJ booth as part of Tourfilter DJ Night with TF main-man Chris Marstall (by the way, go check out Tourfilter’s swanky new redesign).
While the guidelines Chris sets down for his hosted evenings are pretty straightforward (spin songs by bands coming to the Boston area soon), I was compelled to pay some small tribute to Alex Chilton last night – so before my set started at 9pm, I played Big Star‘s “September Gurls“, a live version of “The Ballad Of El Goodo“, along with Elliott Smith’s cover of “Thirteen“, and, of course, the Replacements “Alex Chilton“. When the first Big Star song started, I looked down at the crowd and spotted a few faces who looked up towards the booth or the speakers and understood. A small slice of solace in our commiseration.
The next couple hours went a little something like this…
Bradley’s Almanac
Tourfilter DJ Night setlist
Thursday, March 18th, 2010
@ River Gods, Cambridge, MA
01. The National – “Terrible Love” (live on Fallon)
playing on June 2nd & 3rd @ the House of Blues
02. Ted Leo & the Pharmacists – “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” (TFF cover)
playing Saturday, April 10th @ the Paradise
03. Echo + the Bunnymen – “The Killing Moon“
playing Monday, April 26th @ the Paradise
04. Field Music – “Effortlessly“
playing Sunday, March 21st @ Great Scott
05. The Church – “North, South, East, and West“
playing a special acoustic show on April 21st @ the Somerville Armory
06. Public Image Ltd. – “Public Image“
playing on May 4th & 5th @ the new Royale
07. The Wedding Present – “No“
playing their 1989 lp ‘Bizarro’ on Monday, April 12th @ the Middle East Downstairs
08. Spoon – “Got Nuffin“
playing Saturday, March 27th @ the House of Blues
09. The Figgs – “Casino Hayes“
playing with Graham Parker on Saturday, April 24th @ Johnny D’s
10. Obits – “Widow Of My Dreams“
playing Saturday, April 10th @ the Paradise
11. The Beatings – “Can Not Complete“
playing March 25th @ Great Scott + their Eldridge Rodriguez plays the Armory the next day
12. Frightened Rabbit – “Nothing Like You“
playing Thursday, April 29th @ the Paradise
13. Girlfriends – “Good To Be True“
playing Wednesday, March 31st @ the Middle East Downstairs
14. Hot Protestants – “Sad About An Ice Age“
frontman Ted Billings is playing Friday, March 26th @ the Somerville Armory
15. Spirit Kid – “You Lit Up For Me“
playing Wednesday, March 24th @ the Middle East Upstairs
16. Screaming Females – “Lights Out“
playing Saturday, April 10th @ the Paradise
17. Let’s Wrestle – “Tanks“
playing Tuesday, April 20th @ the Middle East Downstairs
18. The Depreciation Guild – “Darklooming“
playing Sunday, April 4th @ TT the Bears
19. Serena Maneesh – “Reprobate!“
playing Sunday, April 4th @ TT the Bears
20. Nada Surf – “Hi-Speed Soul“
playing Saturday, April 3rd @ the Paradise
21. Ted Leo & the Pharmacists – “Bottled In Cork“
playing Saturday, April 10th @ the Paradise
22. Quasi – “Everything + Nothing At All“
playing Tuesday, April 20th @ the Middle East Downstairs
23. Deerhunter – “Rainwater Cassette Exchange“
playing Saturday, March 27th @ the House of Blues
24. Sea Wolf – “Stanislaus“
playing Friday, April 30th @ the Paradise
25. Midlake – “Head Home“
playing Friday, April 9th @ the Paradise
26. Shearwater – “Runners Of The Sun“
playing Tuesday, March 30th @ TT the Bears
27. Ryan Lee Crosby – “Baby Brother“
playing Friday, March 26th @ the Somerville Armory
28. The Clientele – “Tonight“
playing Sunday, March 21st @ Great Scott
29. Travels – “Smile“
playing Friday, April 16th @ PA’s Lounge
30. Wye Oak – “My Neighbor“
playing Tuesday, March 30th @ TT the Bears
31. Fanfarlo – “I’m A Pilot” (Radio Session)
playing Sunday, April 11th @ the Paradise
32. The Novel Ideas – “Shoot Straight“
playing Wednesday, March 24th @ the Middle East Upstairs
33. Pants Yell! – “Not Wrong“
playing Wednesday, March 31st @ Great Scott
34. Red Sparowes – “Giving Birth To The Imagined Saviors“
playing Thursday, April 15th @ the Middle East Downstairs
35. The Album Leaf – “Falling From The Sun“
playing Friday, April 30th @ the Paradise