Giveaway: Portastatic disc + tix
Posted on October 5, 2006 at 10:04 am | No Comments
Mac McCaughan’s Portastatic comes to town next week for an October 12th show at Allston’s Great Scott, just a couple days after their excellent new disc, “Be Still Please“, arrives in record stores and online outlets. Mac’s Superchunk bandmate Jim Wilber Aaron Oliva will be along for the ride on bass, joining guitarist Jeff Clarke on 2nd guitar, multi-instrumentalist Margaret White, and Mac’s brother Matt McCaughan on drums.
Merge Records was kind enough to get me an early copy of “Be Still Please”, which I’m more than happy to pass along to an Almanac reader (I pre-ordered up my own to get the limited disc of demos, which should also be available at live shows). And thanks to the Boston-based Fenway Recordings (who are behind some of the finest shows at Great Scott), I’ve also got admission for two to the Portastatic show next Thursday.
So here’s the deal: In the comments for this post, write the title of what you believe to be the most underrated album Merge has ever released. Y’know, a record or disc you adore that you feel deserves far more attention than it got or is currently getting. Your personal “must own”. Make sure you also write the name of the town you’re writing from, and use your correct email address so I can contact you. I’ll pick one Boston-area reader for the guest-list spots, and one out-of-towner will get the Portastatic disc sent right to them (U.S. & Canada only). And while I, of course, think there’s just one best answer, I’ll still make my choices relatively random. Comments must be entered by 9am on Monday, October 9th, and the winners will be contacted shortly after.
Stream: The entirety of “Be Still Please” from the Merge homepage
Mp3: Lead-off track “Sour Shores” via Toolshed Media.
This Boston date is the second stop on a nine-show tour with opener Jennifer O’Connor and her band that takes them down the East Coast, winding up in Georgia on October 21st. A just-announced November jaunt takes them a little further inland, so check those dates as well. Oh, and arrive early for the Boston show to catch confidence man Jake Brennan, who kicks off the evening.
Mp3s: Eric Bachmann in Cambridge, MA
Posted on October 2, 2006 at 1:18 pm | No Comments
Mr. Eric Bachmann returned to town for the first time since a triumphant full-band April, 2005 set with his Crooked Fingers at Central Square’s Middle East. Both the setting and the setup were drastically different this time around, with Eric touring on his fine “To The Races” solo album, bringing along two sidewomen to assist rather than the full-Fingers. The trio squeezed onto the tiny stage of the generally folk-centric Club Passim, just one stop down the Red Line from Central in Harvard Square. An entirely dissimilar atmosphere, but no less magical.
It was our first time at Passim, and we were surprised to discover that our reserved ‘dinner seats’ put us right up against the stage, nearly in opener Richard Buckner’s lap. Blame my ticket-purchasing punctuality for the prime spot, I suppose, but as someone who likes to snap a few photos, it was almost uncomfortably close… at times I felt like I was intruding. We were also only slightly bothered that the reservation had us eating with a couple of (fortunately friendly) strangers at the table. Not sure if this is standard for the club (every other table in the sold-out space had team-ups), or if the demand for tickets necessitated it (the small room required the scheduling of a second Bachmann/Buckner show later that night). Coupled with the crammed-in crowd, some early-fall humidity made the place super-stuffy, but Bachmann’s set was beautiful enough to make me oblivious as he played. Here’s his performance, featuring Kate O’Brien on cello & violin, and Miranda Brown on keyboards, guitar, and a bit of percussion. Both also contribute some gorgeous backing vocals throughout…
Live at Club Passim
Cambridge, MA
Tuesday, September 19th, 2006
01. Islero
02. Genie Genie
03. Man O’ War
04. Lonesome Warrior
05. To the Races
06. Sleep All Summer
07. Don’t Say A Word
08. Andalucia
09. Carrboro Woman
10. You Can Never Leave
11. Little Bird
12. Genevieve
13. Black Black Ocean
14. New Drink For The Old Drunk
15. So Long Savannah
16. You Must Build A Fire
For those keeping score, that’s eight songs from “To The Races”, four from the latest Crooked Fingers disc, 2005’s “Dignity and Shame”, two from the previous one, 2003’s “Red Devil Dawn”, and a couple from the 2000 self-titled CF debut.
Some Bachmann-related links…
Purchase his solo album “To The Races” at Saddle Creek Records, or from his offical store. I believe he had the vinyl version with him on the road, so hopefully it’ll show up there. His MySpace page, and his official site. If you’re not already familiar, study up on your requisite Bachmann history at the Archers of Loaf wikipedia page. Chromewaves wrote up the Bachmann/Buckner one-two punch after he caught them up in Toronto a couple weeks back. An excellent post (and a few accompanying mp3 links) from Frank as usual. Is it just me, or is there a melody in “Sleep All Summer” that is straight outta Gordon Lightfoot’s “If You Could Read My Mind“? Can’t believe I never noticed that before. Oboy, do I ever digress. This probably deserves a post all its own, but as long as I mentioned Crooked Fingers, it’s worth noting that longtime CF guitarist Barton Carroll will release his second solo album, “Love & War“, on October 17th, courtesy of Skybucket Records. Visit Barton’s MySpace page, look here later on to order the album, and in the meantime, check out some mp3s… Mp3: Barton Carroll – “Scorched Earth“
Mp3: Barton Carroll – “Cat On A Beach“
Mp3: Barton Carroll – “Her Bright Smile Haunts Me Still“Bachmann’s tourmate, Richard Buckner, is keeping an interesting tour diary on the Merge Blog. Naturally, he got lost driving in and out of Boston, and according to that entry, he believes our fair city “overturns cars whether or not their team wins or loses”. Actually, no… I think it’s only when they win. And it ain’t just overturned cars… young lives are lost. And as for his “scraps of LL Bean khakis and blue button-ups” comment… it was Harvard Square. What did you expect?
On a side note, hard to believe that 2005 Crooked Fingers show was the very first one I captured with my minidisc recorder after I ditched my old Archos… seems like far longer than 18 months ago. Glad I quickly got the hang of the thing after that initial semi-successful attempt…
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.