Mp3s: Tokyo Police Club in Boston
Posted on October 9, 2006 at 9:53 am | No Comments
In anticipation of Tokyo Police Club‘s return to the Boston area next Monday, Oct. 16th at the Middle East in Cambridge (with Art Brut & The Spinto Band), I offer you aural evidence of their previous visit from just a couple months back. It’s a great set, and you can listen guilt-free thanks to the band’s complete coolness with sharing it up…
Live at Great Scott in Allston, MA
Thursday, August 23rd, 2006
01. Cheer It On
02. Box
03. It Works
04. New Song
05. Cut Cut Paste
06. Citizens of Tomorrow
07. Shoulders and Arms
08. Nature of the Experiment
09. Be Good
Some TPC links…
While their debut 7-song EP, “A Lesson in Crime“, has been available in Canada for a few months, it finally saw a U.S. release last week. Pick it up via iTunes, Insound, or finer retail establishments. Their MySpace page has a couple of live video clips available, as well as the requisite couple track streams from the EP, and a demo of the song “Citizens of Tomorrow“. Thanks to the collective bloggeist, I knew a bit about TPC before I saw them play, and I’ve been paying special attention to Chromewaves since Frank shares their hometown. He’s caught them a few times since their EP arrived in Canada, first sharing shots and words from a show back in May, and he’s been witness to their apparent growth as a live act over the past six months. Check out his brief review of their set at the Pop Montreal fest just a few days ago. For tickets to Monday’s show at the Middle East, head over to their box office between 1 and 7pm daily, or hit up Ticketmaster if you want to blow some money on ‘convenience’ charges. The Cambridge stop is the first date in a six-week tour that takes them all over North America, so check out their shows page to see if they’ll be near you.
the fine print… If anyone has an issue with this live set being made available, just say the word (email link on left). 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.
Friday Boy
Posted on October 6, 2006 at 2:14 pm | No Comments
Going to try and get one out the door before the weekend starts. Info on Ted Leo, Tanya Donelly, David Bazan, and, um, Borat lies below. But first…
Billy Bragg appeared on the Late Late Show last night, performing an always-updated version of his 1988 song “Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards“. Sideman Ian McLagan helps out with keys and backing vocals, and host Craig Ferguson gushes appropriately during Billy’s introduction.
The bard of Barking is out spreading the word about his new book, “Billy Bragg: The Progressive Patriot – A Search For Belonging“, as well as his upcoming Volume II Box Set, which will be out on Yep Roc on October 17th.
Here’s the YouTube video, along with a link to listen to the original version…
Stream:
Billy Bragg – “Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards”
(original from “Workers Playtime“)
The timely lyrics to the live version…
Billy Bragg
“Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards“
live on October 5th, 2006It may have been Camelot for Jack & Jacqueline
But on the Hugo Chavez highway, filling up with gasoline,
Little Donald Rumsfeld spies a rich lady who’s crying
Over luxury’s disappointments, so he goes over and he’s trying
To sympathize with her, but he thinks that he should warn her
To prepare to be bombed back into the Stone AgeIn the former Soviet Union, the citizens demand
To know why they’re still the target of Strategic Air Command
And they shake their fists in anger and respectfully suggest
We take the money from our missiles and spend it on our hospitals insteadThe Cold War now is over, but the stakes are getting higher
I’m frightened of collateral damage, and of friendly fire
and I don’t believe we can defeat no axis of evil
but putting smart bombs in the hands of dumb peopleMixing pop and politics, they ask me what the use is
I offer ’em my acupuncturist and my masseuses
While looking down the corridor out to where my ego is waiting
I’m looking for the New World OrderJumble sales are organized, all my mates got fat
Even after all this time, y’know you can still send me a fax
You can be active with the activists, or sleeping with the media
While you’re waiting for the Great Leap ForwardsOne leap forwards, two leaps back,
Will YouTube give MTV the sack?
Waiting for the Great Leap ForwardsWell here comes the future, and you can’t run from it
If you’ve got a website, I wanna be on it
Waiting for the Great Leap ForwardsIn a perfect world, we’d all sing in tune,
But this is reality, not American Idol
Waiting for the Great Leap ForwardsSo join the struggle while you may
The revolution’s just an ethical haircut away
When you’re waiting for the Great Leap Forwards
This past Monday, KEXP radio also aired a live Bragg appearance at the Triple Door in Seattle. To listen to the performance, head over to the KEXP Stream Archive, and in the ‘listen by time’ section, choose Monday, October 2nd and 3pm. For now, here’s a sample of the goodness you’re in for…
Mp3: Billy Bragg – “Saturday Boy” (KEXP / live at the Triple Door)
Speaking of mixing pop & politics, it’s exciting to hear that Ted Leo is finally in the studio, laying down all those great songs we’ve been hearing him play for the past few months with his Pharmacists. The trio is holed up somewhere in a Massachusetts barn, and rumor has it that the one and only Brendan Canty is at the helm. According to Ted’s manager, Molly Nueman, “…it is sounding so incredible and uplifting and danceable and smart and important.” Of that, I have no doubt (molly link via bvegan)
Former Belly leading lady and Throwing Muse Tanya Donelly has a disc on deck, also due out on October 17th. It’s an album of new material called “This Hungry Life” that was actually recorded at a live performance up at The Windham (rip) in Bellows Falls, Vermont. She’s joined by an amazing cast of players for the recording, too, including ex-Dambuilder Joan Wasser on vocals & violin, Buffalo Tom/Crown Victoria frontman Bill Janovitz on vocals, Tanya’s hubby Dean Fisher on guitar, journeymen Boston-area players Rich Gilbert (pedal steel) & Joe McMahon (upright bass), and ex-Come drummer Arthur Johnson. That’s one hell of a band, and I can’t wait to hear the disc. Check out some song excerts and pre-order it here, or at the Eleven Thirty Records site.
update 10/9 – an exclusive track from Tanya’s “This Hungry Life”, and it’s a great one…
Tanya will be making a rare live appearance at the Government Center location of Newbury Comics in downtown Boston on the release day, Tuesday, October 17th at 12:30pm. Looks like a long lunch break for me that afternoon…
While it’s waaaaaaay too early to put up any Christmas decorations, it’s not too early to pre-order David Bazan‘s fourth Christmas single from Suicide Squeeze. This time around, Bazan (aka Pedro the Lion & Headphones) brings us his takes on classic carols “Away In A Manger” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem“. It’s limited to 1,000 marble-vinyl copies, with just 200 set aside for online orders, so click over here to spend your six bucks. Orders will ship on October 25th, but if you miss the online action, it should be available in finer record stores on November 7th.
And lastly, because I can’t resist gloating a bit: I was lucky enough to get into a preview screening of Sacha Baron Cohen’s “BORAT: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan“, and my stomach still hurts from laughing so damn hard. I’ve been waiting for this movie for what feels like forever, and it ends up being the funniest film I’ve seen in years. Amie and I can’t stop recalling bits of it for each other, and we laugh again every single time. There are moments that you can’t believe you didn’t hear about in the news, scenes that will leave you wondering how Sacha escaped some jail-time. Cohen & co. deserve to make a hundred bajillion Tenge off this thing, and I know I’ll be contributing when I see it again on opening weekend, November 3rd. I think I missed some good stuff while the audience was dying around me.
I’m slightly hesitant to spread this link around, but what the hell, here you go: If you’re in the Boston, Providence, or Hartford areas and want to see a free Borat screening, go here. To prepare yourself, check out this collection of “The 10 Best Borat Skits of All Time“, compliments of Cracked. And because I’m always thinking of you, here’s my favorite Bruno bit. Pure joy.
Alright, I’m outta here. A glorious New England autumn weekend awaits me. If you haven’t yet, take some time and enter the Portastatic contest below before Monday morning. Until then…