New Year’s Giveaway: David Bazan on DVD
Posted on January 2, 2009 at 9:18 am | No Comments
First official ‘Nac post of the new year, and it’s a gift for one of you.
There are many scheduled releases I look forward to in ’09 (and I’ll write about them in another post soon), but one I anticipate the most is David Bazan‘s Black Cloud, which should be arriving on Barsuk sometime this Spring. The former Pedro the Lion frontman has been sharing several new songs on stage for awhile now, and simply stripped down you can tell they’re some of his best.
To help ease the long wait for “Black Cloud” (technically his first official solo full-lengther), David and the crew at Undertow released the “Bazan: Alone At The Microphone” DVD in October. Documented last summer, the intimate, hour-long offering sprinkles revealing interview segments among 10 bare-bones performances. These run-throughs cover of a wide variety of David’s work, including PtL songs, some Headphones tracks (remarkable in these very different guitar-based versions), and the disc closes with the new “Please Baby Please“, a live favorite for awhile now.
So, thanks to the generosity of Undertow, I’ve got a copy of the David Bazan DVD to give away to a random Almanac reader. With the holiday season wrapping up, and surfing having slowed waaaaay down, the odds of your snagging this sucker is that much greater. So if you want to take a shot, drop a quick email to me at giveaways [at] bradleysalmanac [dot] com before 9am next Friday, January 9th, and I’ll let you know if it’s yours that afternoon. Throw “Bazan DVD” in the subject line, and include the city you live in (North Americans only, unfortunately).
If the chips don’t fall your way, you can pick up your own copy of the DVD via Undertow, Barsuk, or at Insound. Check out a couple interview segments from the DVD right here, some bonus material over at Elbows, and these clips via YouTube…
Also well worth noting is that David recently released a couple new tracks via iTunes, the politically-charged “American Flags” and his version of “Please Baby Please” from the DVD. For those who hanker for something to hold in your hands (as I do), both tracks will also be found on a 7″ version that arrives later this month from Barsuk.
Alright, get those emails coming and keep those fingers crossed.
Mp3s: (Farewell) Dirty on Purpose in Cambridge, MA
Posted on December 31, 2008 at 9:42 pm | No Comments
As I sit here typing this, with 2008 shedding its final hours, Brooklyn foursome Dirty on Purpose are playing their last-ever show a couple hundred miles south at NYC’s Mercury Lounge. As we say goodbye to a year, they say goodbye to their band, moving on to other projects, but leaving behind an album and a few EPs full of many good songs, and several truly great ones.
I caught what would be the band’s last Boston-area show a couple months back when they opened for The New Year upstairs at the Middle East in Cambridge, and thought I’d share up my recording of that performance as a farewell of sorts. The set includes a couple of my DoP faves, and what I think is a new, unrecorded number called “These Days” (correct me if I’m wrong in the comments).
So long, DoP, and thanks for all the songs…
Live at the Middle East Upstairs
in Cambridge, MA
on Saturday, October 11th, 2008
01. Audience
02. These Days (unreleased?)
03. Light Pollution
04. The Thing About Getaways
05. Fake Lakes
06. Ways To Drown
07. Canned Fumes
08. Mind Blindness
Some Dirty links…
The band’s official site, MySpace page, and Wikipedia entry. Additional Audio: They made their “Dead Volcanoes” EP available in its entirety through RCRDLBL, along with a couple tracks from their “Like Bees” EP. Video: Official vids exist for “Mind Blindness”, “No Radio”, and “Car No Driver”. A full DoP YouTube search will turn up many live clips. Photos: My Flickr-hosted shots are here. Check out a full Dirty on Purpose Flickr tag search for more. Stream any and all ‘Nac-hosted Mp3s at the Hype Machine.
the fine print… If anyone has an issue with these Mp3s being made available, just let me know (my contact info in the ‘nac faq). 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.