Mp3s: Snowden live in Boston
Posted on September 18, 2006 at 7:41 am | No Comments
Atlanta four-piece Snowden came to town a few weeks back for a single-band show at Allston’s Great Scott, and had me by the throat from the very first note. Already a fan of their Jade Tree debut, “Anti-Anti“, they did what any live band only hopes to do: take some great songs and improve on them, serve ’em up with seemingly effortless stage presence and all-out urgency. No warm-up act, no encore, just 34 too-short minutes of wow-inducing intensity.
While singer/guitarist Jordan Jeffares’ vocals can feel emotionally distant, the propulsive, menacing, music underneath is far from it. David Payne’s tasteful guitar atmospherics sit atop a rock-solid bed of bass and drums, a rhythm section that is one of the best I’ve seen in months. Drummer Chandler Rentz’s razor-sharp style is never flashy, and bassist Corinne Lee’s own playing and presence made it hard to pay attention to anything else. A true talent, she’s got instant rockstar written all over her, and I mean that in the best sense of the word.
If you’re at all into their songs (links below), just go see them. Trust me on this. For now, here’s their 8-song Allston set… (live mp3s removed at the request of the band’s management.))
update 9/19/06: In lieu of live recordings, I’ve been given links to a couple of Snowden videos (including one new exclusive clip). Check out the details in the links section below.
“music is not a fasion statement”
Live at Great Scott
Allston, MA
Friday, August 25th, 2006
01. intro
02. Like Bullets
03. Anti-Anti
04. Counterfeit Rules
05. Filler Is Wasted
06. Stop Your Bleeding
07. Between The Rent And Me
08. Kill The Power
09. Black Eyes
Now get out your calendar and mark down the closest one of these Snowden dates…
Sep 18, 2006 – O’Leavers Pub, Omaha, NE
Sep 19, 2006 – Subterranean, Chicago, IL
Sep 20, 2006 – Alchemize Bar, Cincinnati, OH
Sep 21, 2006 – Z:Lounge, Pittsburgh, PA
Sep 22, 2006 – The Mercury Lounge, New York, NY
Sep 23, 2006 – Union Hall, Brooklyn, NY
Sep 25, 2006 – The Middle East, Cambridge, MA
Sep 27, 2006 – The Talking Head, Baltimore, MD
Sep 29, 2006 – The Nick, Birmingham, AL
Oct 06, 2006 – Pure Nightclub, Philadelphia, PA
Oct 12, 2006 – WRAS studio session, Atlanta, GA
Oct 12, 2006 – Caledonia Lounge Athens, GA
Oct 18, 2006 – The Drunken Unicorn, Atlanta, GA
Nov 01, 2006 – Gothamist acoustic set, New York, NY
Bostonians, you’ll notice they return to our area next Monday night, September 25th when they play the Middle East Upstairs with Stab the Matador, Karate High School, and Sweet Irony. On November 10th they kick off a UK tour, and later that month they return for some U.S. dates with iForward, Russia!.
Some Snowden links…
A couple of Snowden QT video clips: Frontman Jordan Jeffares and engineer Erik Wofford get jiggy during the recording of “Stop Your Bleeding” (exclusive – 11.31 MB), and a 5 minute clip from Snowden’s last tour (49.78 MB), put together by guitarist David Payne. Their MySpace page (four streaming songs, one mp3). Download the title track from ‘Anti-Anti‘ courtesy of Jade Tree. More Snowden mp3s can be found on the band’s own media page, including songs from their 2004 self-titled EP. No longer linked, but still available, is a cover of the Zombie’s “Time of the Season“, as well as two songs from their “Licorice” EP: “Happy Christmas” and “China Light“. After their Great Scott show, Snowden headed down to Brooklyn to play Southpaw the next night. Stereogum was there. BohemianPlayboy offers up the ‘Le Castle Vania Disco Remix’ of the song “Black Eyes“. Another mix via ezarchive thanks to Bricolage Fantasy: “Anti-Anti (Jordan’s Stutter Remix)“
the fine print… If anyone has an issue with this live set being made available, just say the word (email link at bottom 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.
Mp3s: The New Year live in Cambridge, MA
Posted on September 13, 2006 at 9:25 am | No Comments
I have returned. Back to reality and my desk in Boston after a truly dream-like trip out to Chicago. The Touch & Go 25th Anniversary rock-fest was hands-down the greatest music-filled weekend of my life, and I’ve still got a little left over euphoria in my system. I was there from start to finish, from the first notes of The Shipping News to the last note of Calexico’s encore, and all 30 bands in between. Many of them played sets worthy of travelling for on their own, and the fact that they were all in the same place just seems unreal. I lived it, I loved it, and I’ll never forget it.
I’ve got a massive write-up somewhere in me, but for now, have a look at all my photos.
Fittingly enough, this week I share a Cambridge, MA set from last month by one of my favorite bands, one that appeared at the T&G fest on Saturday: The New Year. While they’re still very much active, their live appearances are lately a scarce and precious occurrence, so the fact that I got to see them twice within a month is a special thing indeed.
So here’s their August 11th, 2006 set from upstairs at the Middle East. Matt & Bubba Kadane, Mike Donofrio, Peter Schmidt, Chris Brokaw, and Josh McKay, aka The New Year…
Live at The Middle East Upstairs
Cambridge, MA
Friday, August 11th, 2006
01. Age of Conceit
02. Half A Day
03. Chinese Handcuffs
04. Reconstruction
05. Plan B
06. Disease
07. The Block That Doesn’t Exists / Carne Levare
08. 18
09. MMV (new)
10. Newness Ends
11. Stranger to Kindness
encore…
12. Great Expectations
13. Gasoline
‘MMV‘ is a new song, and the rest can be found on their two amazing discs, 2001’s ‘Newness Ends‘ or 2004’s ‘The End Is Near‘. Buy ’em.
Some New Year links…
Their MySpace page. Brian from the VT-based False 45th came down for the show, and he wrote it up here. Check out the video for the New Year’s ‘Disease‘ (quicktime). Download some New Year mp3s.
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.