Tuesday Morning Miscellany
Posted on March 25, 2008 at 8:55 am | No Comments
Things mentioned and linked below include Swervedriver, Retribution Gospel Choir, Film School, The Night Marchers, Sea Wolf, The Jealous Girlfriends, Slowdive/Mojave 3‘s Neil Halstead, Rogue Wave, Nada Surf, Billy Bragg, Elbow, Sigur Ros, Ida, R.E.M., New Radiant Storm King, The Mountain Goats, Sebadoh, Silkworm, “The Wire”, and Kids in the Hall.
New Boston area shows of note, from ye olde left hand column…
HELL YES. The Swervedriver reunion tour is officially hitting Boston, on June 10th to be precise, at the Paradise. Tickets go on sale this Saturday, March 29th, at 10am. Alan Sparhawk’s trio, Retribution Gospel Choir, plays the Middle East Upstairs on Thursday, June 19th. Their just-released debut full-length is a brilliant slab of crunchy Neil Young-inspired guitar goodness, letting the Low frontman get his rock on in the best way. The disc even has gritty reworkings of a couple Low songs, including “Breaker” (which sounds more like Low’s live version than Low’s own recording, and features Mimi on guest vocals) and a rhythmically transformed “Take Your Time“. Love it, and as if Sparhawk’s presence wasn’t enough to guarantee it, I’ll definitely be at the show. Tickets here. Don’t wait until it sells out. Film School returns to TT the Bears on Monday, April 28th. Saw them there last October, up against the first night of the World Series. Fortunately, the Sox won that game 13-1, so it was easy for the crowd to abandon the TT’s TV in favor of some celebratory sonic goodness from the visiting West Coasters. Hopefully the competition will be less fierce this time around, and the crowd will be even bigger. As I mentioned, The Night Marchers are making their Boston-area debut on Thursday, May 8th, also at the Middle East Upstairs, and I’m going to keep reminding you of this until it sells out. There are too many Rocket From the Crypt / Drive Like Jehu / Hot Snakes fans out there who haven’t caught on yet. When they do, so long tickets. Sea Wolf is back in Boston on Friday, May 30th for a headlining show at the Paradise with The Jealous Girlfriends. For some reason I couldn’t make it to their last show, but a Friday night appearance makes my presence far more likely this time around. While I’m glad to see that Slowdive/Mojave 3 frontman Neil Halstead is returning to the Boston area, it’s safe to say I won’t be seeing him when he does. Why not? No, I won’t be out of town. Or otherwise occupied, as far as I know. I’ll be abstaining due to the presence on the bill of headlining act Jack Johnson… not exactly a fan of his stuff, and his presence has driven the ticket prices outta my usual range. Not sure how Neil, or even Rogue Wave, teamed up with Mr. Johnson, but, um, good for them I guess? (update If you’ve got deep enough pockets, and enough Rogue Wave or Halstead love, to make the drive down to the Tweeter Center on August 8th, well, lemme know how it went. And while I’m mentioning Mr. Halstead, he shared the news last month (when he had to cancel a gig) that he and his wife were awaiting the imminent arrival of twins, so here’s hoping that all went well.
Nada Surf made an appearance on the Tonight Show last week to play “Weightless” (which, as Leno plugged, happens to appear on the “Heroes” soundtrack. Ah, sweet network synergy). The trio was augmented with an electric cello player and a keyboardist, filling out the sound nicely. Take a listen…
The band also did an acoustic performance and interview session for the newly-christened MySpace Transmissions recently as well.
Another late night appearance last week was Billy Bragg‘s on Conan O’Brien, performing “I Keep Faith“, off his upcoming “Mr. Love & Justice” disc. The performance was unlike anything you’ll hear Bragg do again, as his backing band was Conan’s own (minus regular drummer Max Weinberg), including the horn section. Here ’tis…
In the wake of Billy’s recent opinion piece in the New York Times about internet royalties for musicians, he shares further thoughts in a dialogue with commenters at The Stalwart. Well worth a read.
Also previewing tracks from an almost-out album was Elbow, who recorded a session at Maida Vale for BBC1, and stopped into Zane Lowe‘s show last week to share some of the results. Not sure how many songs they tracked in all, but two were played last Wednesday (stream here until tomorrow), and another Thursday (stream “One Day Like This” here for two more days). In addition to first single “Grounds For Divorce“, they performed this one…
Elbow’s fourth album, “The Seldom Seen Kid”, is already out in the UK, and arrives on U.S. shores on April 22nd.
Music Slut directs our attention to a YouTube video recording of a new Sigur Ros song that will likely/hopefully appear on their next album. Check out some new photos from the recording sessions of said album back in January here.
Ida has shared a video for a song from their beautiful latest album, “Lovers Prayers”. Head here for the Megan Holmes-directed clip for the song “The Weight of the Straw“.
I’m really enjoying “Accelerate”, the almost-out new R.E.M. album, now streaming at iLike. As I said awhile back, I’ve found something worthwhile in most of their late-era records, but haven’t been this instantly struck by one in many, many years, and I’m happily surprised. Whenever I hear the phrase “return to form”, I fear contrived emptiness, potential trying-too-hard insincerity, but this one really sounds like R.E.M. just being R.E.M.. The songs, the production, the brevity, it’s all working for me. And I’m very glad to be able to write that in 2008. Stream the entire thing here, and you don’t even have to register to do it.
Thanks to Jay @ Clicky Clicky for the heads up that there’s going to be another New Radiant Storm King album later this year. Their last one, “The Steady Hand”, was one of my faves of 2006, so I’m fairly eager to hear what they follow it up with. The band plays as part of a promising line-up at PA’s Lounge on April 6th, with The Spanish Armada, Dr. Powerful (Ex-Polvo members within), and Bullpen Catcher (Ex-Kudgel within). Jay’s update also allowed me to notice that the band shared an outtake from the “Winter’s Kill” album on their MySpace page. Head there to hear “Doppelganger in Tow”, along with three from “The Steady Hand” if you’ve never had the pleasure.
The Phoenix’s On The Download shares up three videos from the Mountain Goats appearance at Museum of Fine Arts Boston a couple weekends ago: The title track from “Heretic Pride“, a Rodney Crowell cover, and a brand new song called “Sign Of The Crow“. Again, I must warn you… turn your volume down before you head to that page, as all three videos auto-start at the same time with an advertisement.
Back in August, Sebadoh‘s Lou Barlow said on his messageboard that the next reissue the band would be working on would be the excellent “Bubble & Scrape”. Well, looks like the work’s done, as a release date has been announced: The remastered and expanded “Bubble & Scrape” will arrive on May 5th via Sub Pop and Domino. Jason Loewenstein shared the full tracklisting here, and Barlow adds that the “Smash Your Head On The Punk Rock” reissue is planned, but that a reissue of “Weed Forestin'” is a bit up in the air.
Fellow Silkworm fans should be keeping an eye on the production blog for the in-progress “Couldn’t You Wait” documentary, as new content is regularly added. Video clips and photos from the creator’s recent trip out to California was added last month, and earlier this month they shared interview video clips with Steve Albini, Jeff Tweedy, Stephen Malkmus, Henry Owings, and Brian Teasley. Great stuff, which you can also see here. In case you haven’t seen the 4-minute trailer yet, have a look here. Click here to help fund the thing, if you’ve got Silkworm love and some spare dollars.
Non-musical, but demanding the attendance of fans of HBO’s now-ended, brilliant series “The Wire”: A Harvard-hosted lecture and panel discussion on Friday, April 4th titled “HBO’s ‘The Wire’: Racial Inequality and Urban Reality.” Panelists will include Wire creator David Simon, Boston Police deputy superintendent and liaison to the homeless community Nora Baston, Columbia University’s Sudhir Venkatesh, and Geoffrey Canada, the president of Harlem Children’s Zone; William Julius Wilson of Harvard University will moderate the discussion, which starts at 5pm on Friday, April 4th. No registration is necessary, just arrive early enough to get in at 79 JFK Street near Harvard Square, Cambridge.
And in case you missed it, read this interesting article over at Time.com titled “The Wire’s War on the Drug War”, written by Wire series writers David Simon, Ed Burns, Dennis Lehane, George Pelecanos, and Richard Price.
And on a completely different note, the no-longer-kids Kids in the Hall are touring again, and comedy saints be praised, one of their dates is in Boston. Yes, the Canadian quintet will be performing at the Citi Center (aka the Wang) on Thursday, April 17th, 2008, and I snagged myself 8th row tickets over the weekend. Get your own here, more details here.
If your appreciation for Buffy the Vampire Slayer remains despite its absence (unless you’re reading the comics), you might want to have a listen to this recording of last week’s cast reunion at this year’s Paley Fest. You can also watch video interviews with the cast on the night of the reunion here. Links to more coverage can be found at Pop Candy, or Whedonesque, of course.
And lastly, for any Boston area readers, a reminder: If you’re not doing anything tonight (aside from sleeping), I’ll be on stage with four friends at the Abbey Lounge, playing the drums in Stratford Projects. It’s the SP’s first performance ever, and my first time behind the drums in quite awhile. Night owl’s will appreciate that we hit the stage around 11:45pm, playing after St. Helena, who have been hosting a Tuesday night residency all month long.
A little info on Stratford Projects — we’re led by current Sixth Great Lake and former Guppyboy / Essex Green member Michael Barrett on guitar and vocals, and along with my rusty drumming, Mike’s wife Anna will be playing keyboards, Neil Cleary plays guitar, and former Jumproper Adam Boc is on bass.
Needless to say, after waking at 6AM to listen to the first Japan-hosted Red Sox game of the season, I’ll be taking a nice nap before hitting the stage almost 18 hours later…
Mp3s: Mission of Burma live for Burma
Posted on March 24, 2008 at 10:37 am | No Comments
Here’s something special to mark last week’s release of the remastered and expanded definitive editions of Mission of Burma‘s influential early work…
When the big run of ‘seminal’ band reunions started up a few years back, I was mostly grateful to get a chance to see some faves I’d either been too young or too far away to catch in their prime. Naturally, my cynical side worried that I’d be seeing only pale shadows of some formerly brilliant selves… I feared hints of disappointment within the good fortune.
Well, those fears were obliterated about three songs into Mission of Burma‘s hometown reunion gig at the Paradise in mid-January of 2002. Mssrs. Miller, Conley, Prescott, & new sample/looping soundman Weston put on a show, and proved definitively that it’s possible to return just as vital, energetic, and passionate as ever. Two solid post-reunion albums and dozens of performances later, MoB hasn’t come close to milking or tarnishing their legacy, only strengthening it. Hell, just as they influenced the sound (or at least the independent aesthetic) of so many bands with their early-80s work, they may also have been a deciding factor in some of those very bands getting back together in recent years. Kind of a “if they can pull it off, maybe we can, too” sorta thing. And to be sure, there’s been widely varying degrees of success among the reunited.
I figured that first reunion show would always rank as my favorite MoB performance — could anything after measure up? I’ve seen ’em a number of times in subsequent years since, and while they’ve all been great, none had the impact of that Paradise gig — until six years later, almost to the day, when they played a simpatico “Burma for Burma” benefit show at Allston’s own Great Scott. The January 29th, 2008 show was held to raise funds and awareness for the U.S. Campaign for Burma, and if only a sliver of the crowd’s enthusiasm translated into action for the cause, they did some good.
It was an intense, career-spanning, two-set performance that touched on the best of the old and the new MoB, with second-era songs measuring up to and sitting proudly beside more-than-25-year old tracks. With Great Scott’s capacity of just under 250, it felt like the sold-out crowd was seeing something special, and the band treated the show that way. Peter Prescott’s “Incredibles” t-shirt was apropos.
Here are Mp3s of the band’s full “Burma for Burma” performance, and be sure to check the links below for some video clips as well (word from the stage was that the full concert recording was to be broadcast within Burma itself). As I share this, I’d also like to note that MoB is one of the gracious bands who allow their live sets to be openly recorded and shared, and specifically made available at the Live Music Archive (where I’ll be posting higher quality files of this show soon The show below is now available there as well).
Enjoy…
Mission of Burma
live for Burma
At Great Scott
in Boston, MA
on Sunday, January 20th, 2008
set one…
01. intro
02. 1001 Pleasant Dreams
03. Let Yourself Go
04. 2wice
05. Donna Sumeria
06. This Is Not A Photograph
07. You Don’t Know Me (Four Commandments cover)
08. Spider’s Web
09. Academy Fight Song
set two…
10. Peking Spring
11. Careening With Conviction
12. Good Cheer
13. So Fuck It
14. Wounded World
15. That’s How I Escaped My Certain Fate
16. Secrets
encore
17. The Ballad Of Johnny Burma
18. That’s When I Reach For My Revolver
Some Mission of Burma links…
Their official site, MySpace page, Wikipedia entry, and Matador Records page. Also visit the U.S. Campaign for Burma site while you’re surfing and read up. Additional Audio: As I mentioned above, MoB allows fans to share live show recordings at the Live Music Archive. Matador made Mp3s and actual .wav files of the remastered version of “Max Ernst” and the live version of “Weatherbox” available here. You can also check out the full tracklistings for all three reissues there. Video: The Boston Phoenix’s On The Download blog has some great video from the show, with full clips of opener “1001 Pleasant Dreams“, “2wice“, and “Academy Fight Song“. But be warned, going to that page will simultaneously auto-load all three clips, all of which start with a loud advertisement. So turn down your audio first unless you want to be driven slightly insane. Bill T. Miller put together a six-minute video of live footage from the Burma For Burma show as well, including parts of the cause-related speeches that were given before and during the show.
Matador Records’ Matablog has been a treasure trove of cool Burma content leading up to the new releases: For audiophiles and the otherwise-curious, you can take a look at what went into remastering the definitive edition reissues straight from the originals in two video clips (part 1, part 2). They’ve also shared an old performance of “Eyes of Men”, and a clip of “Red” from one of the bonus DVDs that is included with each reissued album. Check out this five-minute EPK (electronic press kit) about the new editions as well (quicktime file). For all of the Matablog’s Burma-related content, go here.
And don’t forget to hit up a full MoB YouTube search for tons of fan-shot clips.
Photos: All my shots from the show are here. Bill T. Miller has some shots of his own here. Check out the full Mission of Burma Flickr tag search. More: Buy the remastered Mission of Burma Definite Editions relatively cheaply from Newbury Comics. The Boston Herald wrote about the band’s legacy here. Upcoming shows: Four scheduled for the summer, all in Europe. Check the band’s tour page for details on May/June shows in Barcelona, Bordeaux, Nantes, and Paris. Listen to 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.