Last Night’s Playlist (Tourfilter DJ Night @ River Gods)
Posted on March 20, 2009 at 7:59 am | No Comments
Chalk up another great Tourfilter night at River Gods, where I played a couple hours of songs by bands that are coming to town in the next month or two. I felt like I scrambled to pull this playlist together, didn’t have as much time to work on sequencing as I’d hoped, but it ended up feeling just right. Lots of people asking “What band was that?” (or texting – you can request artist/song/show info via msgme while a song is playing), and that’s really what it’s all about.
Especially well-received were the very first song (a new Say Hi track) and the Pomegranates‘ “Corriander“, which sounded so, so good over the RG speakers. Also gave me great pleasure to play my favorite Now, Now Every Children track, “Have You Tried“, for the gathered crowd, along with Let’s Whisper‘s “Dylan’s Song“. Details on when and where all these bands are playing is right here…
Bradley’s Almanac
Tourfilter DJ Night playlist
Thursday, March 19th, 2009
@ River Gods, Cambridge, MA
01. Say Hi – “November Was White, December Was Gray“
playing Monday, March 30th @ the Middle East Up
02. Damien Jurado – “Gillian Was A Horse“
playing Thursday, April 16th @ TT the Bears
03. Crooked Fingers – “Your Control“
playing Saturday, April 11th @ Berklee Performance Center
04. John Vanderslice – “The Minaret“
playing Wednesday, March 25th @ the Somerville Theatre
05. Jennifer O’Connor – “Here With Me“
playing Monday, April 13th@ the Paradise
06. Let’s Whisper – “Dylan’s Song“
playing Friday, May 1st @ TT the Bears
(presented by Bradley’s Almanac)
07. Loney, Dear – “Airport Surroundings“
playing Wednesday, May 6th @ Great Scott
08. Margot & the Nuclear So & So’s – “As Tall As Cliffs“
playing Tuesday, April 7th @ the Paradise
09. Longwave – “Sideways Sideways Rain“
played last night, Thursday, March 19th @ the House of Blues
10. Mates of State – “Fraud In The 80s“
playing Tuesday, April 7th @ the House of Blues
11. Dean & Britta (ex-Luna) – “Words You Used To Say“
playing this Sat., March 21st @ the ICA Boston
performing Songs for Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests
12. Mountain Goats (John Darnielle) – “Autoclave“
playing Wednesday, March 25th @ the Somerville Theatre
13. Neko Case – “The Tornado Loves You“
playing Saturday, April 11th @ Berklee Performance Center
14. Now, Now Every Children – “Have You Tried“
playing Friday, May 1st @ TT the Bears
(presented by Bradley’s Almanac)
15. Pomegranates – “Corriander“
playing Thursday, May 14th @ TT the Bears
16. Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 – “I’m Falling”
playing Monday, April 13th @ the Paradise
17. Morrissey – “Interesting Drug“
playing Sunday March 29th @ the House of Blues
18. The Hush Now – “Roleplay“
playing Friday, May 1st @ TT the Bears
(presented by Bradley’s Almanac)
19. Six Finger Satellite – “Dark Companion“
playing Saturday, April 4th @ Great Scott
20. The Faint – “Some Incriminating Photographs“
playing Wednesday, April 8th @ the House of Blues
21. Superdrag – “Filthy & Afraid“
playing Saturday, April 11th @ the Paradise
22. Tanya Donelly – “Kundalini Slide“
playing Thursday, March 26th @ the Brattle Theatre
as part of Wes & Eugene’s Cabinet of Wonders
23. Telekinesis – “Coast of Carolina“
playing Monday, March 30th @ the Middle East Up
24. The Thermals – “Now We Can See“
playing Thursday, May 7th @ the Middle East Down
25. Wild Light – “California On My Mind“
playing Wednesday, April 8th @ Great Scott
26. Faces on Film – “Beginners“
playing Wednesday, April 8th @ Great Scott
27. Thalia Zedek – “Lower Allston“
playing Saturday, April 18th @ TT the Bears
28. Age Rings – “Barthink“
playing Friday, April 3rd @ Great Scott
29. The Wooden Birds – “False Alarm“
playing Saturday, April 18th @ TT the Bears
30. Wye Oak – “Family Glue“
playing Thursday, May 14th @ TT the Bears
31. You Can Be A Wesley – “Creatures“
playing Friday, May 1st @ TT the Bears
(presented by Bradley’s Almanac)
32. Asobi Seksu – “Familiar Light“
playing Monday, March 30th @ the Middle East Down
33. The Broken West – “Auctioneer“
playing Monday, March 30th @ the Middle East Up
34. Bloc Party – “So Here We Are“
played last night, Thursday, March 19th @ the House of Blues
Review: Swirlies live in Cambridge, MA
Posted on March 18, 2009 at 8:03 am | No Comments
News of the Swirlies‘ reemergence from a lengthy hibernation for three strictly East Coast (sneaky flute) shows a few weeks back was a more than welcome surprise, and was instantly one of my most anticipated musical happenings of the new year. I’d seen the Boston-based band many times back in the day (“the day” being the early-90s), but somehow not once after the release of what would become my favorite Swirlies album – 1996’s brilliant “They Spent their Wild Youthful Days in the Glittering World of the Salons”. Considering how much I worshipped their earlier work, the fact that they could unexpectedly peak so many years after my first exposure in ’92 impressed the hell outta me. Subsequent releases were sporadic and spotty… a remix album, some hard-to-find compilation appearances, a bit of slightly less-focused material under the Yes Girls banner, and eventually 2003’s “Cats of the Wild: Volume Two” album on Bubblecore. Live shows followed that release, but since then, nary a word, until… a trio of late-February dates dubbed the “Scituate or Bust” tour.
I had no expectations when I first heard about their return – I figured the lineup would include at least founders Damon Tutunjian and Andy Bernick, but beyond that who knew? They’d been through many personnel changes over the years, losing and gaining some great drummers, replacing the sadly-departed Seana Carmody (who went on to form the excellent Syrup USA, Shenzou 5, and do solo stuff) with the wonderful Christina Files (it was she who helped make “TSTWYDITGWOTS” so stellar), and shuffling through some ace second guitarists. So when I heard exactly who else the reconstituted Swirlies would include, I was pretty psyched: Longtime member (and former Wicked Farleys‘ guitarist) Rob Laasko, drummer Adam Pierce (from Mice Parade, who joined up post-“TSTWYDITGWOTS”), and the newest Swirlie, Deb Warfield (also ex-Shenzou 5 and current Broken River Prophet) on guitar/keys/and gorgeous vocals. All the pieces would be in place, great players all… but still, any Swirlies show is a gamble: You can witness either unerring precision, or a ramshackle, almost-off-the-rails affair (often both, at once). I’ll say this, though – watching them perform, I’ve never had anything other than fun.
So, despite that lack of expectations, I did hold out hope that finally, 13 years after the fact, I’d get a chance to maybe, just maaaaybe, hear some of the songs from “Wild Youthful Days…” played live on a stage in front of me. When I first mentioned the scheduled Middle East upstairs show on the ‘Nac, I even threw my humble request for the song “Sunn” out into the void, certainly not expecting it to be heard, or to my total delight, actually honored. But yes, they re-learned it, and played it, along with an abundance of other tracks off that album. Oh, the joy.
Their 16-song set including many perfect moments, a few shaky bits, some serious rocking, some goofy meanderings, some ultra-tight action, and some wild, youthful transgressions. In other words, it a full-on Swirlies show. And most importantly, it was fun. Powerful classics like “Jeremy Parker” and “Bell” (“Tall Ships” was setlisted but skipped) alongside late-era songs like “Le Bag” and “Rare Moment“. Just when you were worried the set was almost too cohesive, then came the encore – a request for a meandering “Jack Buckey’s Theme” was granted, into the brief, stripped down oldie “His Life Of Academic Freedom“, and finally an enthusiastic cover of Flipper‘s “Sex Bomb“, with Bullpen Catchers/Kudgel singer/guitarist Mark Erdody (and random fans in the front row) on guest vocals.
The full setlist…
Swirlies
Live at the Middle East Upstairs
in Cambridge, MA
on Saturday, February 28th, 2009
01. In Harmony Newfound Freedom
02. Vigilant Always
03. Le Bag
04. One Light Flashing I Love You
05. Jeremy Parker
06. Sounds of Sebring
07. Two Girls Kissing
08. You Can’t Be Told It, You Must Behold It
09. Rare Moment
10. Sunn
11. Bell
12. The Vehicle Is Invisible
13. San Cristobal De Las Casas
encore…
14. Jack Buckey’s Theme
15. His Life Of Academic Freedom
16. Sex Bomb (Flipper cover)
For those keeping score, songs 1, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, & 13 were from “Salons”; 2, 5, 11, & 15 were on 1993’s “Blonder Tongue Audio Baton”; 3 & 9 can be found on “Cats of the Wild: Volume Two”; and tracks 4 and 14 are Yes Girls numbers.
A few Swirlies links…
Their official site, MySpace page, Wikipedia entry, and old Taang! label page. Audio: One of the reasons that Damon rules – he shares a butt-load of Swirlies audio for free on his site. You can grab most of the albums I’ve mentioned in this post over there. Also of note – the band was giving out free (and mysteriously labeled) cds at the show, and it ends up that they were copies of the 2003 “Thirty Minutes On The World Map” compilation, a 38-track hodge-podge of limited-edition randomness on the RCA Archives imprint. Score. I grabbed a couple extras, so keep an eye out for the next Almanac-presented show, where I’ll be handing them out with other free stuff. Additional Audio: Along with Bullpen Catchers (and a surprise mini-set by the reunited Kudgel! Chimp Rock 4EVA!), the other opener was Gregory & the Hawk. I knew nothing of ‘them’, and ‘them’ ended up being ‘her’, namely Meredith Godreau from New York. I mentioned on Friday how much I enjoyed her short, sweet set, and managed to record her last three songs (on which she was joined by Swirlies drummer Adam Pierce on second guitar). With her kind say-so, here they are, including the brand new, and stunningly beautiful, “Red Cross With Silver Shine“… Photos: My Flickr-hosted shots are here. Check out a Swirlies Flickr tag search, which includes Landon‘s shots from the show (fyi, that’s him guesting on keys in one of my pics). Video: Check out a full Swirlies YouTube search. A total aside, and only a couple of my former bandmates might find this at all interesting (and maybe a Swirlie or two): Many, many years ago, the very first band I was in was lucky enough to open for the Swirlies and Spore at Middlebury College in Vermont. The whole show is a bit hazy — I recall that my humble, wide-eyed little VT pop band was horribly out-gunned by the aural assault of the Swirlies, and especially Spore (holy loudness!) — but I remember one thing very specifically: when we broke into a late-set cover of the Go-Go’s “Head Over Heels“, most of the Swirlies came to their feet and gave us their smiling attention. Cut to last month, 15 years later, I’m reading about the Swirlies’ early days in some pre-show press, and I learn this: They started out as a Go-Go’s cover band. Ah ha!.
I can only hope these shows are signs of more activity to come, ‘cuz I’ve got a couple more requests to make. Hey, I’m allowed to be a little greedy, aren’t I?