I Keep Coming Back
Posted on August 31, 2006 at 12:32 pm | No Comments
I have an immense backlog of things to pass along, from new stuff to “in case you missed it” links, so I’ll skip the pre-post small talk…
I’ve been sitting on this news for a couple months, and it hasn’t been easy. Now that’s it’s public, I can finally say… the Afghan Whigs are going back into the studio. When their upcoming (and now delayed until ’07) Rhino ‘best of’ retrospective, ‘Unbreakable’, was announced, I hoped-against-hope that they’d get together and record a few new songs for it, as the Replacements did the same for their Rhino collection. Like the ‘Mats, the Whigs will be using a different drummer for their tracks, and my fingers are crossed that it’ll be ascot-master Bobby Macintyre of Dulli’s touring Twilight Singers. That guy’s amazing. Proof: Stream some Twilight Singers live sets.
I’ve got a special little spot in my musical heart for the Housemartins, a band I completely obsessed over back in the day (although my fixation didn’t follow singer Paul Heaton to his post-Housemartins band, the Beautiful South). Anyway, Hull’s fourth best band is also resurfacing, although not to the studio… they’re just returning to the new release shelves with a compilation of all their old BBC recordings, including songs from a 1987 Nottingham concert. The full tracklisting…
The Housemartins
�Live at the BBC�1. Drop Down Dead (John Peel 21/07/85)
2. Flag Day (John Peel 21/07/85)
3. Stand At Ease (John Peel 21/07/85)
4. Reverends Revenge (Janice Long 6/11/85)
5. Shelter (Saturday Live 04/01/86)
6. People Get Ready (Saturday Live 04/01/86)
7. Over There (John Peel 06/04/86)
8. Caravan Of Love (John Peel 06/04/86)
9. Happy Hour (John Peel 03/06/86)
10. Heaven Help Us All (John Peel 03/06/86)
11. Pickin’ The Blues (Peel Show Theme Tune) (John Peel 03/06/86)
12. Mercy (Janice Long 11/12/86)
13. So Glad (Janice Long 11/12/86)
14. He Brought Me Out (Janice Long 11/12/86)
15. Sunday Isn’t Sunday (John Peel 03/11/87)
16. Build (John Peel 03/11/87)
17. We’re Not Deep (Glastonbury 29/11/86)
18. Me And The Farmer (Glastonbury 29/11/86)
19. The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death (Nottingham Concert 30/09/87)
20. The Light Is Always Green (Nottingham Concert 30/09/87)
21. The World’s On Fire (Nottingham Concert 30/09/87)
22. We’re Not Going Back (Nottingham Concert 30/09/87)
23. Johannesburg (Nottingham Concert 30/09/87)
24. Five Get Over Excited (Nottingham Concert 30/09/87)
According to the press release, it’ll be out on September 18th in the UK. Not sure about a U.S. release, but it’s still worth import prices. Thanks for the heads up, for the records.
From UK radio sessions to US radio sessions: NPR has had a fairly impressive summer of in-studio artists and live broadcasts, so many that I haven’t had time to listen to ’em all. To link just a few: Sleater-Kinney, Camera Obscura, the Long Winters, Mates of State, the Stills, and the Essex Green. Whoever’s in charge of audio scheduling over there, give ’em a raise. Especially if they also picked Midlake’s ‘Roscoe‘ as a recent ‘song of the day‘.
Speaking of Sleater-Kinney, it’s worth checking out Superchunk/Portastatic/Merge main-man Mac McCaughan’s brief goodbye to them over on his blog. Grab mp3s from S-K’s very last show at RySpace while you’re at it.
Another artist featured on NPR over the summer was the where-you-been World Party. I’ve been a Karl Wallinger admirer since the first time I saw him sitting at a piano in the Waterboy’s ‘The Whole of the Moon‘ video in 1986, and was saddened to read about the aneurysm he had back in 2001. That was in the wake of being fairly screwed over by his backing band and record label (who, behind his back, recorded and released one of his songs with Robbie Williams), and even worse, his longtime manager passing away. It took him awhile to recover from the physical and mental hardship, but he reemerged earlier this year to put out the long-finished album ‘Dumbing Up‘ in the U.S. (which was out years ago in the UK), released on his own Seaview Records imprint, as well as remastered versions of the World Party back catalogue. While ‘Dumbing Up’ didn’t do much for me, now that Wallinger’s back in the game (the band played Bonnaroo this summer), I’d imagine he’ll be spending lots more time in his home studio.
Stream: �What Does it Mean Now?� (wma hi / wma med)
QT Video: �What Does it Mean Now?�
Read: 2006 BBC Interview
Stream: May 2006 live set on NPR
Another swell Essex Green studio session, this one on KEXP. Songs played: ‘This Isn’t Farm Life‘, ‘Penny & Jack‘, ‘Rue de Lis‘, ‘Cardinal Points‘, ‘Sin City‘, and ‘Don’t Know Why (You Stay)‘.
My favorite part?…
Chris: ‘It’s too early in the day for rock and roll‘.
Jeff: ‘But is it too early for “60s retro-pop”?‘.
Check out a bunch of nice photos (and autographs… rockstars!) from that previously mentioned Essex Green NPR broadcast (which was live at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, PA, over at Hugh Shows. Hugh’s also got some great shots of Cat Power & the Memphis Rhythm Band in Pittsburgh from back in July.
Here, lemme rapid-fire some new music links at you…
- New Robert Pollard MP3: ‘Supernatural Car Lover‘ (thx Donewaiting)
- New songs from The Hero Cycle at their MySpace page.
- Rolling Stone shared the Arcade Fire covering New Order’s ‘Age Of Consent‘.
- Listen to a fairly rare track from Ida on their MySpace page called ‘Jackson‘. It was previously available only on the Japanese version of their ‘Heart Like A River‘ album. By the way, if you’re wondering why that October date I have listed for a long-awaited Ida appearance at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston isn’t listed on the MFA concert site, the band says that ‘unexpected logistical hurdles arose’, so confirmation is taking a bit longer than planned. I sure as hell hope that show works out.
- Ex-Swervedriver and current Toshack Highway frontman Adam Franklin covers Wolf Parade’s ‘Shine A Light‘ on his MySpace page. There’s a Hendrix cover and a demo over there, too.
- This one you’ll have to hunt for: There’s a rare Margot & the Nuclear So & So’s track called ‘Cheap Motel Room‘ on a disc that’s included with the new issue of Alternative Press. That’s gotta be the first time I’ve ever linked, or even mentioned, the long-since relevant AP.
- There’s a nice new Earlimart mp3 called ‘Answers & Questions‘ over at So Much Silence.
- The Twilight Singers have posted something called the ‘Lo-Fi Mix’ of their song ‘I’m Ready‘ on their MySpace page. Whatever they call it, I think it might be a better mix than the album version.
- Brainwashed has a fantastic 20 minute video feature on Beirut, which is mostly live footage from their first Boston appearance, plus an interview with Zach Condon. NOTE: One of the links on that page points to the wrong Quicktime video, so here’s the correct Beirut video link.
- A spiffy new pop song from The Loud Family over on their MySpace page called ‘Mavis of Maybelline Towers‘.
- If you haven’t yet, go grab the great new Portastatic track, ‘Sour Shores‘. That’s the song that’ll lead off their next album ‘Be Still Please’, which is out in October.
- I Am Fuel, You Are Friends shared up a new Nada Surf song called ‘I Like What You Say‘. It can be found on the soundtrack that no one I know bought, for a movie that no one I know saw.
I’m planning on writing more about this, but for now: Go check out the excellent Band in Boston podcast. We’ve needed something like that around here for a long time, and I’m very glad that it not only exists, but is being done so well. Cheers to that.
I’m not even halfway through the things I want to write about, but I think it’s time to let this one fly. I’ll end with free stuff…
I’ve got an extra copy of ex-Pedro the Lion and current-Headphones/solo guy David Bazan’s super-fine 10-track EP, ‘Fewer Moving Parts‘ for giveaway, so drop me an email (link at lower left) with a subject line of ‘Gimme Bazan!’ before the end of the day Monday. Include your mailing address (U.S. or Canada only), and I’ll randomly pick a winner on Tuesday morning. Easy enough.
Not familiar with Mr. Bazan? Shame on you. Get yourself over to BrooklynVegan and read a recent interview with the man himself.
Oh, and if you discovered the Almanac thanks to that recent Boston Globe online feature on area audioblogs, I welcome you. If you’re here because of the print version of said article, well then, I’m sorry you had to see that way-too-close-up photo of me on a Saturday morning. Hey, at least it didn’t go digital.
Mp3s: Ted Leo live in Cambridge, MA
Posted on August 27, 2006 at 11:03 pm | No Comments
Ted Leo came to town earlier this month and pulled a nice little bait and switch on an unsuspecting all-ages crowd at the Middle East Upstairs in Cambridge. It’d been years since he’d played a space that small in this area, and I’d fortunately seen him put on some great shows in that very room before he graduated to the much larger downstairs stage. It was no surprise to some that the Sunday matinee show sold out weeks in advance, but I naively figured I had some extra time with students yet to flood back in town. Well, silly me… I completely underestimated Ted’s under-18 following and missed out, and was only there by the grace of Craigslist and another fan with an extra. Good thing, because I would have missed something pretty special.
Knowing that show-opener Drew O’Doherty used to be the second guitarist in Ted’s band, the Pharmacists, I figured there might be a bit of low-key collaboration between the two solo singer/guitarists. What I didn’t expect was to find a drum set and bass amp on stage when I walked into the already-crowded room. Hmmmmmmm. I glanced around for Ted’s ace rhythm section, drummer Chris Wilson and bassist Dave Lerner, but saw neither an impressive beard nor a curly mop in the room. Double hmmmmmm. When I came upon Ted & Drew back by the soundboard scribbling setlists, their jokingly evasive explanation confirmed it… this was to be no ordinary solo show.
Yes, after a short but sweet set from Drew (at the end of which Ted joined in for a Springsteen cover as musical hand-off), then a few solo songs from the man himself, the Pharmicists emerged from their ‘hiding place’ in another room of the MidEast. They walked in halfway through ‘Timorous Me‘, took their places on stage, and proceeded to help Ted blow the roof off the place. The overwhelming enthusiasm of the surprised young-ish crowd filled the room with an energy that fed the band, and they gave it right back to us. It was a rockingly beautiful thing. Even though I was one of the oldest kids in the room (along with Ted himself, and guest backing vocalist Jodi, his talented Secret Star significant other), I sure as hell didn’t feel like it.
With full-on Pharmacist action in effect, Drew jumped in on guitar for a few songs as if he’d never left the band, while the trio shared a bunch of new ones to the more-than-receptive fans. Some were familiar, with Ted having posted demo versions of ‘Army Bound‘ and ‘Some Beginner’s Mind‘ on his site earlier this year, and the band having performed ‘Sons of Cain‘ during a KEXP studio session in September ’05. I’m sharing up the live versions of those three previously-heard new songs, but in keeping with Ted’s wishes, I’ll let him unveil the other as-yet-unreleased numbers when he’s good and ready. They’re all worth the wait, especially the absolutely killer ‘The Lost Brigade‘, which made its debut and was a personal highlight.
So here’s (most of) the set, including the transitionary Springsteen song…
Live at The Middle East Upstairs
in Cambridge, MA
on Sunday afternoon, August 6th, 2006
with Drew O’Doherty…
Dancing In The Dark (Springsteen cover)
solo songs…
01. intro
02. To Whom You Were Born (Lungfish cover)
03. The Sword In The Stone
04. banter
05. Bleeding Powers
06. The High Party
07. Dirty Old Town (Ewan MacColl)
with the Pharmacists…
08. Timorous Me
09. Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone?
10. Little Dawn
11. Sons of Cain (new)
12. banter
13. Some Beginner’s Mind (new)
14. banter
15. Me & Mia
16. birthday banter
17. Hearts of Oak
18. Army Bound (new)
19. Crying Over You (new)
20. banter
21. Who Do You Love? (new)
22. Heart Problems
23. Colleen (new)
24. The One Who Got Us Out
25. Counting Down The Hours
26. The Lost Brigade (new)
27. Biomusicology
28. banter
29. Stove By A Whale
Ted Leo will be back on the road for a few dates in mid-September, including a set at the Touch & Go 25th Anniversary weekend on September 8th in Chicago (I’ll be there… will you?). Other cities include DC, Memphis, New Orleans, Austin, & Houston, and then I imagine he’ll be hunkering down to get all those new songs ready for the studio and his eagerly awaited next album. Here’s hoping…
Some Leo-centric links…
The Boston Phoenix’s On The Download was at the show as well, and wrote it up. Check out their descriptions of the new stuff, although I’m not sure which song they thought was titled ‘Catch You On the Way Down‘. Did I miss something? Grab those previously-released Ted Leo demos from the Timorous Me fan site: MP3s: ‘Army Bound‘ & ‘Some Beginner’s Mind‘. You can also grab a live recording of another as-yet-unreleased song over there: MP3: ‘La Costa Brava (live)‘. Speaking of that very fine fansite, it was sadly hacked awhile back and has been suffering from a bit of neglect since. Hopefully it’ll return to its former extensive self sometime soon. Stream the KEXP studio version of ‘Sons of Cain‘ right here, watch it performed live at a Philly gig in December ’05 on YouTube, or snag an ezarchive MP3: ‘Sons of Cain‘ (live). You Ain’t No Picasso wrote about Ted’s bloody appearance at the Pitchfork fest back in late July, and Clever Titles Are So Last Summer did the same for a show the night before at the Temple Club in Lansing, MI. I recently (and finally) ordered up the DVD of the Ted documentary ‘Dirty Old Town‘ from Plexifilm, and it’s pretty much a must-have for any TL fan. Stellar footage from the 2003 Coney Island outdoor show (back when Drew was in the band, along with keyboard player Dorien Garry, and Ida Pearle on violin), nice incidental footage of the boardwalk area, and some insightful interview clips with Mr. Leo. DVD extras include a generator-powered Pharmacists performing at the South Street Sea Port during the August 2003 NYC blackout, as well as outtake footage from a July ’03 solo appearance at Piano’s, hosted by David Cross. Check out a quicktime video clip of the band performing ‘2nd Ave., 11am‘ right here, and order the DVD over here.
postscript: If anyone has an issue with this live set being made available, just say the word (email link at lower left). Recorded with a Sony ECM-719 mic and MZ-RH10 minidisc, saved to .wav and edited to 192kbps mp3s. Mp3s are made available for a limited time, and are not reposted once removed.