Mp3s: Loney Dear in Somerville, MA
Posted on November 20, 2008 at 11:52 am | No Comments
In honor of the news that Sweden’s Loney Dear have signed to Polyvinyl Records, that they’ll release their next record in late January, and will kick off a stateside tour with Andrew Bird here in Boston soon after, I figure it’s about time I shared up this aural document of the night I fell for the band, back in the spring of last year.
They were opening for Low at the Somerville Theatre, and while I’d read I was in for some “Swedish Pop” (a category they fit in, yet at times stretch the boundaries of), I went in without additional expectations. So I was fairly blown away by the delicacy and depth that frontman/songwriter Emil Svanangen and his band brought to the stage, sprinkling quiet, moving moments among the snappy folk-pop overtones. I quickly devoured the Sub Pop-released “Loney, Noir” full-length, dug into the hard-to-acquire back-catalog, and have been eagerly awaiting a follow-up. Very glad to know that Polyvinyl will be making that particular delivery.
Pre-orders for Loney Dear’s “Dear John” album can now be placed at the Polyvinyl site, and they’ll ship on January 16th, nicely before the in-store date of January 27th (and for vinyl aficionados: Ordering the wax will also get you a digital download code). That particular week will be Loney-filled for Boston-area fans, as the band hits town with Andrew Bird that Friday, January 30th at the Orpheum (tickets on sale tomorrow morning at 10am over here). So order up, and have a listen to this wonderful live set as you ease into the depths of winter…
Loney Dear
live at the Somerville Theater
in Somerville, Massachusetts
on Saturday, April 7th, 2007
01. Saturday Waits
02. Citadel Band
03. Life Has Been This Low
04. The City, the Airport
05. In With the Arms
06. I Am John
07. Le Fever
08. The Battle of Trinidad and Tabago
09. Carrying a Stone
10. Sinister In the State of Hope
Some Loney links…
Their official site, MySpace page, Wikipedia entry, Polyvinyl page, and Sub Pop page. Additional Audio: The label-provided opening track from the upcoming “Dear John”…
Stream more at MySpace, of course.
Video: There are some video clips to be viewed on their own site, and many more via a Loney Dear YouTube search. Photos: My Flickr-hosted shots are here. Check out the full Loney Dear Flickr tag search. Upcoming tourdates: Loney Dear has a few shows overseas before the end of the year, Emil has a couple NYC solo shows in December, and then there’s a headlining show on January 28th at the Iron Horse in Northampton, MA. All dates here. After that, they hit the road for the Andrew Bird tour…
Jan. 30th, 2009 – Boston, MA – Orpheum
Feb. 3rd Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
Feb. 4th – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
Feb. 6th – Orlando, FL @ The Plaza Theatre
Feb. 7th – New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
Feb. 12th – Austin, TX @ Paramount Theater
Feb. 13th – Albuquerque, NM @ El Rey
Feb. 14th – Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theater
Feb. 18th – Los Angeles, CA @ Orpheum Theatre
Feb. 19th – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
Feb. 20th – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
Feb. 21st – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
Feb. 23rd – Seattle, WA @ The Moore Theater
Feb. 24th – Boise, ID @ The Knitting Factory
Feb. 25th – Murray, UT @ The Murray Theater
Feb. 26th – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theater
Feb. 27th – Omaha, NE @ SlowdownStream 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.
The Friday Fiver
Posted on November 14, 2008 at 12:19 pm | No Comments
Five (ok, maybe six) notable items for a gray, misty Friday…
When I mentioned Slowdive/Mojave 3 frontman Neil Halstead earlier this week, I was somehow completely clueless about his appearance tonight at the tiny Lizard Lounge here in Cambridge. How this flew under my radar shall remain a mystery, but I’m damn well indebted to the Jimbamma, the commenter who filled me in. Advance tickets for LL shows are a rarity, but they smartly set some up for this one, and mine has been acquired. It’s an early 7pm show with no mention of an opener, so I’ll be hanging solo upstairs in the Cambridge Common, precious on-tap Brooklyn Lager in hand, if you want to say hey before doors open.
FYI, you can download a free live Neil Halstead EP courtesy of the MySpace Transmissions site. And while I’m at it, here’s an August interview with Neil over at Tiny Mix Tapes.
I’m a big fan of Danny Provencher, aka Under Electric Light, as well as Arne Van Petegem, aka Styrofoam, so I’m glad to see the two have teamed for a little remixing, with U.E.L. tackling Styrofoam’s “Other Side of Town“. It can be downloaded for free at Buffet Libre as part of the Proyect Obatidora Remix Project. You can also request the tracks for songs by Cut Copy, Holy Fuck, The Bravery and more, then submit your own mix if you dare.
Boston’s pride Hallelujah the Hills recently shared some news on the followup to their excellent full-length debut, “Collective Psychosis Begone”: Their sophomore disc will weight in at 13 songs, and is damn well close to being finished (just Ryan Walsh’s vox and some sampling flourishes remain). Already on tape are sure-to-be-great vocal contributions from Cassie Berman of Silver Jews and Patrick Stickles of Titus Andronicus. We should get to hear the finished product next spring thanks to Misra Records, and I’m more psyched than ever… their opening performance for the Silver Jews in September was the best I’d seen yet. Next chance to catch them live is on Sunday, December 21st at Allston’s Great Scott.
Mark your calendars – The second annual RECORD STORE DAY is scheduled to fall on Saturday, April 18th, 2009. Our own Newbury Comics was a major part of last year’s inaugural edition, and they did a ton of cool stuff for the occasion. Sadly, I was traveling that weekend, and I’m hoping I’m around for the next one. I try and celebrate my own personal record store day once a week, but I don’t get as much free stuff or live performances as we’ll get next April.
Speaking of Newbury Comics, that reminds me — I meant to point out a very cool edition of the Well-Rounded Radio podcast that featured a discussion with Newbury Comics founder Mike Dreese, in honor of the chain’s 30th Anniversary. The nearest N.C. is where I do most of my music-buying (and, I’ll admit, occasional action figure-purchasing), so I was glad to hear a chat between Mike and WRR main-man Charles McEnerney. Subscribe to WRR while you’re at it — personal fave programs have included interviews with Dan & Liz from Ida and Jenny Toomey of the Future of Music Coalition.
NTDWM (Nothing To Do With Music): Fascinating stuff if you’re a fan of Ren & Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi, or the animation process in general — He just shared a very detailed account of his work in Taipei during the mid-80s, training some new animators to work on The Jetsons.
Also NTDWM: As a rabid fan of George RR Martin‘s “A Song of Ice and Fire” not-exactly-fantasy series, I am both excited and nervous about the news that HBO has officially green-lit the pilot episode for a tv series based on the epic tale, starting with the first book, “A Game Of Thrones”. I’ve known for awhile that it was optioned, but was doubtful it would ever get the go ahead (file under: to good to be true). If the pilot passes muster, we’ll supposedly see one full book (there are four of seven out so far, and the fifth is taking forever to arrive) covered over each season. If anyone can do it right, I’m confident HBO can. I’m got a bit more faith in that than I do in the upcoming Watchmen movie, actually… the more I see of that film, the more skeptical I become. [geekspeak] It’s not Rorschach’s voice that bothers me (that’s how I figured they’d translate his rough-edged speech bubbles from the comics), but the fact that he actually refers to the team as “The Watchmen”. Something that was purposefully absent from the book, a touch I always liked. Ah well, I must repress my nrrd-nitpickery and continue my slightly-more-cautious optimism. Translation: I’ll still be there opening night.
Almost weekend time. Neil Halstead this evening, and tomorrow I’d planned on that Scarce/Wheat show at TT the Bears. Sadly, I’ve been summoned to New York City for family matters, so I’ll regretfully be absent. Back in time for the Centro-matic/South San Gabriel show on Sunday, I hope (my allegiance lies with Will Johnson, otherwise I’d be at the Calexico / The Acorn show at the Somerville Theatre that night). I’m tired already.
By the way, if you didn’t see the comment below, there’s a great new Wheat interview over at Mel.ohpo.be that has me even more bummed about missing out. Ah well, next time. Go for me, will ya?
Hey, anything of note going on in NYC Saturday night? If so, let me know in the comments…