Mp3s: Serena Maneesh in Cambridge, MA
Posted on March 20, 2006 at 7:41 am | No Comments
Norway’s Serena Maneesh is in the last stretch of their first full North American tour, a cross-country trek that brought them to SXSW over the weekend, and here in Boston a couple weeks back. Like the Editors, they’re a band without an album… or at least one they can actually sell at shows. It’s been available overseas since last year, but won’t officially arrive on our shores until May, courtesy of Playlouder/Beggars Banquet (eta: thanks to Insound, you can buy the import on the cheap. very nice.)
And an excellent album it is: a cohesive, layered, guitar-crazy epic. I don’t put much stock in Pitchfork reviews, but they got this one right. High marks and a spot in their top 50 of 2005. After the band’s soundcheck at TT the Bears in Cambridge, I mentioned to their non-singin’ guitar player how much I was liking the record, and we got talking about the frustration of everyone having heard it despite its import-only status. The delay between the acclaim and the U.S. release is a tough one, and the band knows that steady touring is the best way to get the downloaders excited again when it finally arrives over here.
Unfortunately the May release comes at a time when Serena Maneesh will be back at home, finished with this tour and getting ready to hit the European festival circuit over the summer. It’ll be months before they’re back here, but it’ll be a full-on fall tour, and they’re promising to make up for the cancelled Canadian shows. Speaking of which, turns out the reason for those cancellations was a problem with their U.S. visas, and not their Canadian paperwork. Apparantly they would have had no problem heading north of the border this time around, but it’s coming back into the States that could be dicey, and they just can’t afford to risk it. They’re rightly bummed about missing Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, and you can thank our overly-strict American government for the mess. ‘Cuz you just gotta be cautious when it comes to those crazy Norwegian musical terrorists, right?
Here’s Here was Serena Maneesh’s set from a couple weeks back…
Live at TT the Bears
Cambridge, MA
Wednesday, March 8th, 2006
(note: files removed on 6/5/2006)
1. Sapphire Eyes High
2. Simplicity / Drain Cosmetics
3. Selina’s Melodie Fountain
4. Un-Deux
5. Candlelighted
6. Chorale Lick
7. Your Blood In Mine / Beehiver II
Everything, All At Once Forever
Posted on March 17, 2006 at 10:54 am | No Comments
And awaaaaay we go…
Hell of a live music week ahead here in Boston, what with the Silver Jews / New Radiant Storm King show on Sunday, Editors and Stellastarr* on Monday, Th’ freakin’ Faith Healers on Wednesday, and a Billy Bragg solo chaser to wash it all down on Thursday. Depending on which big city you live in, the week after SXSW can end up being pretty busy, what with bands booking shows after their fest appearances. I’ve been stockpiling my extra stamina, but I’m sure glad I’ll be sitting down for Billy Bragg at the end of it all.
First up? The Silver Jews on Sunday. Now, as fortunate as I feel to see finally the Joos, I’m just as excited to catch openers New Radiant Storm King in the wake of their latest album, ‘The Steady Hand’. NRSK’s Peyton Pinkerton (he also of The Pernice Brothers) is pulling double duty that night, handling guitar in this touring version of the Silver Jews, and playing first will be Allston’s own Ketman.
The Weekly Dig’s Michael Brodeur speaks with lead Joo D.C. Berman, and writes a bit about his poetic side, in this week’s issue.
Monday night brings Editors back to town after their excellent (and very sold out) show at Great Scott a couple months back (download it here). Their night at the Roxy is the very first stop on their co-headlining tour with Stellastarr*, who are themselves traveling in support of their new single ‘Love and Longing‘ off the ‘Harmonies for the Haunted’ disc…
Also out (or out soon) is the ‘Sweet Troubled Soul‘ EP, which has three mixes of the song, including the one that ex-Pumpkin James Iha did a few months back…
Doesn’t look like the show is sold out yet, but I’d wager that when the doors open on Monday night, that’ll no longer be the case.
Haven’t got your tickets to see Th’ Faith Healers on Wednesday at the ultra-tiny PA’s Lounge in Somerville? Well, first off, you’re frakkin’ nuts. They were (and likely still are) a feral live act, something their recordings hint and old anecdotes back up. I didn’t get to catch ’em them back in the early 90s when they toured the States with Stereolab, so I’m more than a little jazzed that I get to rectify that, and at such a small space no less. It will, no doubt, be an insane evening.
Last I knew, tickets were still available at PA’s Lounge, cash-only and in-person. Just ask the bartender. PA’s isn’t set up to hold tickets, or take credit cards, or save spaces and such, so get yourself over there in the evening and grab ’em. Stacie from The Critique of Pure Reason, who set up the show, has graciously said that desperate out-of-towners who need advanced tickets can contact her at tickets–at–thecritique–dot–org, and she can do limited mailorder, but this is strictly a favor for people who are driving from far away.
The show is 18+, and it’ll cost you a mere $10 (21+) or $13 (18-20). Opening up is the long-dormant Bright, and doors are at 7PM on Wednesday, March 22nd, which is earlier than usual for PA’s. For directions to PA’s, see their website.
For a list of other upcoming Critique of Pure Reason-presented shows, check their schedule. This evening they’ve brought the one and only Nikki Sudden to PA’s along with Thalia Zedek and Kahoots.
Something else for Th’ Faith Healers fans out there: WFMU’s Brian Turner will welcome the band into the studio on Tuesday, March 28th between 3 and 6pm eastern. You can listen online, and it’ll be archived sometime thereafter right over here (where you can also find saved sets from The New Pornographers, Deerhoof, Calexico, and many more.
That brings us to Mr. Billy Bragg on Thursday night at the Somerville Theatre. He’s out solo in support of his beautiful new 9-disc (7 CD / 2 DVD) box set, ‘Volume 1’, and I’m thrilled to see just him and his electric guitar this time around. Didja catch him on Conan O’Brien a couple nights back? He performed ‘A New England‘, and it was the nice tease for next Thursday. If you missed his appearance, it’s of course on You Tube already. For a mind-bending comparison, catch him playing the same song many, many years ago on the BBC’s ‘The Tube‘.
One show I’ll be missing, but seriously wish I wasn’t, is Buffalo Tom & Crown Victoria‘s Bill Janovitz appearing tomorrow night, Saturday the 18th, as part of Session Americana at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge. Bill himself describes it as “a take off of the Irish pub sessions, a few musicians gathered intimately around a table and playing traditional covers. Except for (Session) Americana, well, they play country, soul, rock & roll, standards, etc. We might put in an old Irish tune seeing as though it is the day after St. Patty�s. For notes on the musician regulars and other details, see the website.”
Even though a batch of tickets sold out in less than an hour (the Lizard ain’t huge), there’s still a way to get in: Rougly 60 wristbands will be given out before the show, starting at 7:30pm. Your guess is as good as mine as to how early people will start lining up for those, but if you’re so inclined, don’t take chances. Just show up real early and grab dinner at the Cambridge Common upstairs.
There have been some great new shows announced in the past few weeks, so heads up Bostonians:
The New Pornographers on April 10th Pinback on May 6th at the Paradise Mogwai on May 14th at Avalon Sigur R�s also on May 14th at the Bank of America Pavilion
About that New Pornographers date: It’s some Jack Daniels sponsored thing being co-promoted by the Weekly Dig, and I’m not sure yet where it is or what you have to do to get in. Details will be here soon, supposedly.
As much as I was bitchin’ that Mogwai skipped Boston on their first go-round, now that they are finally coming in May, I actually hesitated gettin’ tickets. After service charges, they’d be more than $25 each, and that’s hard to swallow for a budget-conscious boy. But once I picked up their new one, ‘Mr. Beast’, and listened to it loudly on the way to work, while driving along a rain-splattered Charles river on a foggy early-spring morning… well, I had no choice in the matter. It’s a gorgeously powerful album, already far outshining their previous one, and it’s giving me serious goosebumps. Suffice it to say, I clicked and ordered my Mogwai tickets within 10 minutes of getting to the office that morning, dollars be damned. Can’t put a price on seeing those songs live.
And Sigur R�s? Well, they’ve officially graduated to venues that are larger than I want to visit. I’ll hold my memories of past shows very closely. Pinback at the Paradise, though? I’m very there. Just gotta stop by the box office to avoid those pesky service fees. Better not sell out by then…
Got lots more to write about, but I’m going to post this sucker before I get too carried away… work beckons, etc. Hopefully I’ll be able to fire off another missive this weekend, but if not, I’ll be back with that live Serena Maneesh set on Monday.
And lastly, a reminder: You can enter the Blondie ticket/cd giveaway thing I’m running until Monday morning, so read my previous post for details and drop me an email…