Giving Thanks for Boston Music
Posted on November 26, 2006 at 11:20 pm | No Comments
As this long Thanksgiving weekend winds down, I wanted to take a moment to show a little gratitude for some of our area music-makers and supporters, the ones that help make Boston the great-sounding city it can be for me. I often feel like I don’t give the local scene enough written love here on the ‘Nac, spending what little blogging time I have focusing mostly on visiting out-of-town faves. This too-small post isn’t meant to make up for that, but hopefully it’ll help motivate me to pay more attention in ’07…
First off, a big thanks to a certain handful of area independent promoters who consistently do their DIY thing and do it so well. Without them, I wouldn’t see half the shows I do; so many local acts would be without solid lineups to jump on; and a whole bunch of touring bands would be struggling for the nights they need. So cheers to Stacie Slotnick at CPR; Carl Lavin & Ben Sisto for all the shows at Great Scott, O’Brien’s, and elsewhere; Aliza Shapiro at Truth Serum; Dan Shea at BoWAaC, and Dan Hirsch for the amazing evenings he helps put together at the MFA Boston.
Speaking of which, here’s to the alternative venues that have popped up during the past few years, and have continued to give me an oft-needed break from the ol’ big two in Central Square. I’ve seen countless memorable shows at Great Scott, PA’s Lounge, the MFA’s Remis Auditorium, and the Lily Pad. Viva variety.
Thanks to one of my favorite local labels (hell, one of my faves period), Kimchee Records. Co-run by Andy Hong and Bob Dubrow, the imprint is celebrating it’s 10-year anniversary with two upcoming shows, the first on Friday, December 29th at the Middle East in Cambridge, the second on Friday, January 5th at TT the Bears next door. Just check out the bands playing these shows: Seekonk, Hilken Mancini (ex-Fuzzy) & Chris Colbourn (Buffalo Tom), Tiger Saw, Geoff Farina (ex-Karate), 27, a reunited Cordelia’s Dad, Thalia Zedek, the Paula Kelley Orchestra, Heidi Saperstein, Willard Grant Conspiracy, and Chris Brokaw. Check the list on the left for the exact where and when.
And as Kimchee hits their decade mark, here’s to the upstart Post Meridian Records, who now have a year under their belts and are throwing a holiday party at the Abbey Lounge on Thursday, December 21st. The label was recently profiled in a nice Boston Globe article, and next year looks to be an important one for them as their initial signees release more music. Keep an ear out for those future full-lengths from The Westward Trail (myspace) and Logan 5 & The Runners (myspace).
Thanks for the Band In Boston podcast, which is coming up on six months of not only playing songs from area artists and in-town visitors, but hosting their own ‘Flophouse Sessions‘, where locals get to play live. Here’s hoping that Andy & Jen keep it going long enough to celebrate a bunch of anniversaries of their own.
Thanks to those locals who put out albums that have made (and are still making) my 2006 go down smoother, including Drew O’Doherty, Victory At Sea, Age Rings (who I recently plugged over at ILB), Dear Leader, Tanya Donelly, and for an album I just got in the mail, the Specific Heats.
(speaking of the Age Rings, check out their recent live Flophouse session on the Band In Boston podcast)
Thanks for area college radio, especially WMBR’s long-running “Pipeline” and the more recent “Phoning It In” programs, along with WZBC‘s “Mesmerization Eclipse” and “Flyweight” shows.
Thanks to some of my longtime faves who continue to make their home here, writing songs and playing out often. It’d be easy to take them for granted if their output didn’t continue to be so damn good. I’m talkin’ about some names I’ve mentioned above and a few I haven’t in awhile: Chris Brokaw, Seana Carmody, Aaron Perrino, Thalia Zedek, Bill Janovitz, Tanya Donelly, Chris Pearson, and a bunch more I’m probably spacing on.
Linkworthy bits from those above…
Chris Brokaw will be releasing a 7″ (long live wax) with three outtakes from the score he did for the film “Road” (trailer/myspace/site) and another new song. It’s a co-release between NY’s I And Ear Records and A Whale Of A Label, look for it in January. Kimchee directs us to a video of Brokaw appearing with Steve Wynn and one of my favorite authors, George Pelecanos. Very cool. Speaking of team-ups, word is that Chris and Geoff Farina are working together on an album that will be “comprised entirely (or almost) of pre-World War II blues songs.” A new full-length from Seana Carmody (ex-Swirlies/Syrup USA) is in the works, hopefully we’ll see it early next year. It will be her second solo disc, the first being 2002’s “Struts & Shocks“. She’ll no doubt be playing songs from both at her next show on January 6th at PA’s Lounge with Vox Humana (aka Vic from Knife Crazy). Listen to some Seana songs at MySpace. Idolator recently showed Seana some love via a spotlight on Syrup USA. Aaron Perrino’s post-Sheila Divine project, Dear Leader, has just released their new full-length, “The Alarmist” (and seeing as it’s the band’s third disc, we should be able to stop making Sheila Divine references, right?). Listen for yourself: stream the entire album, head to MySpace for some songs, download live sets at archive.org, or this mp3: Dear Leader – “Radar“. Buy “The Alarmist” via Newbury Comics. Ex-Green Magnet School frontguy Chris Pearson has thankfully been upping his musical output over the past year or so, playing out solo as “Pearson”, and sharing songs via his own MySpace site. Head over for rotating originals (new: “Suite: Thebaine“) and older covers (sadly, his ace version of Can’s “Mother Sky” is no longer up there), or hit up the new/archival Green Magnet School MySpace page. What a great band they were. The Butcher Brothers, creators of the suburban-horror film “The Hamiltons“, also know what a great band GMS was, as they’ve used their excellent “Barmicide Room” in the trailer. Watch the clip here. So freakin’ cool to hear that in there.
And I’ll bring this post to a thematic close with a link to “Thanksgiving“, a short film that writer/director Alex Johnson has finally made available for viewing in its entirety over at his Lachima Films site. What does this have to do with Boston music? Well, the film was scored by none other than Drew O’Doherty with Klaus Hubben (Certainly, Sir) and Scott Craggs (Roh Delikat). A great collaboration all around, musically and visually.
And so the long weekend is over, and I’ve only scratched the surface of the Boston-born music-makers and boosters that help make my listening life what it is. There’s so much more, and it’ll be an easy resolution to give my adopted hometown more musical due in the new year…
Mp3s: An Unfortunate Gothic Archies Event
Posted on November 21, 2006 at 1:09 pm | No Comments
It is plainly obvious that Mr. Lemony Snicket simply does not like children. The proof is not only in the terrible trials he puts the Baudelaire children through in his now-finished, 13-part “A Series of Unfortunate Events” books, but in the fact that he left hundreds of them in the lurch last month at the high school in Natick, Massachusetts. Mr. Snicket was scheduled to appear on-stage alongside Mr. Daniel Handler and Mr. Stephin Merritt (aka The Gothic Archies) to not only read selections from his writings, but to make the musical duo a trio by adding much-needed percussion to songs inspired by those same unfortunate events (which appear on the recently released “Tragic Treasury“). But the scribe never arrived.
Fortunately for the 800 or so in the crowd (which appeared to be comprised almost entirely of kids, their parents, and, uh, me), after phoning Mr. Snicket to discover his whereabouts, misters Handler and Merritt carried on without him, apologetically entertaining us with a few of the afforementioned songs and words. A potential disaster was averted thanks to these two supremely talented gents, with no thanks to the absent author.
Here, then, is the aural evidence of that evening, along with a few photos and some links below. Notice the conspicuously empty chair between our hosts…
Daniel Handler & Stephin Merritt
aka
The Gothic Archies
Live at Natick High School
in Natick, Massachusetts
October 16th, 2006
01. Allison Morris – “An Introduction” (spoken)
02. Daniel Handler – “I Wouldn’t Applaud If I Were You” (spoken)
03. The Gothic Archies – “Smile, No One Cares How You Feel“ (song)
04. Daniel Handler – “The Ridiculous Lie” (spoken)
05. The Gothic Archies – “This Abyss“ (song)
06. Daniel Handler – “Something Of A Disaster” (spoken)
07. The Gothic Archies – “Shipwrecked“ (song)
08. Daniel Handler – “Two Volunteers” (a reading)
09. Daniel Handler – “Scream And Run Away“ (song)
10. Daniel Handler – “Warm Feelings” (a spoken farewell)
Some related Handler & Merrit links…
The main Lemony Snicket site, his Wikepedia entry, and the official site for The Gothic Archies – “The Tragic Treasury: Songs from a Series of Unfortunate Events“, where you can stream tracks from the album. Hit up the Gothic Archies MySpace page to stream some songs as well, and use the links on this page to purchase the album from a variety of retailers. The unfortunate event above was sponsored by The Wellesley Booksmith, and the introduction was from their children’s book buyer, Allison Morris. For all things Stephin Merritt, the only place you need visit is The House of Tomorrow. Sub-sites can be found there for his Magnetic Fields, The Future Bible Heroes, The 6ths, and of course, The Gothic Archies. I may very well have missed this fine performance were it not for this timely post at the Phoenix’s music blog, On The Download. Their books blog, Word Up, wrote up their own review of the evening right here. Talk about worlds colliding: Stephin appeared on Fox’s “Good Day Atlanta” as part of the promo tour for “The Tragic Treasury”. He chats a bit and performs “Smile, No One Cares How You Feel“. Many more performances of songs from “The Tragic Treasury” can be found over on (where else) YouTube.
again with the fine print… If anyone has an issue with this live set being made available, just say the word (contact info in the ‘nac faq). Recorded with a Sony ECM-719 mic and a Sony MZ-RH10 minidisc, converted to .wav and then edited to 192kbps mp3s. Mp3s are made available for a limited time, and are not reposted once removed.