[Somerville Tonight!] NEW MUSIC NIGHT at the ONCE Lounge (& last NMN’s playlist)
Posted on May 16, 2016 at 4:16 pm | 1 Comment
This evening brings this month’s installment of New Music Night back to the Once Lounge in Somerville, MA, kicking off promptly at 7:30pm. For the uninitiated: A couple hours of nuthin’ but carefully sequenced new songs spun for your listening pleasure as you inhale tasty tacos and/or get your drink on. Getting to hang there and provide your Monday evening soundtrack is one of the highlights of my month, so come take advantage of my music-nerd obsessiveness and the Once crew’s first-rate cooking skills.
Plus: Ticket giveways! I’ll be drawing winners for pairs of tix to see upcoming shows including Nothing at the Sinclair, A Giant Dog at O’Brien’s, & Black Helicopter’s EP release show next month at Great Scott.
The latest iteration of the NMN poster from Daykamp, in princely purple…
And belatedly, here’s the playlist from last month’s edition. It went a little somethin’ like this…
NEW MUSIC NIGHT
Monday, April 11th, 2016
@ The ONCE Lounge
in Somerville, MA
01. PJ Harvey – “The Orange Monkey”
02. Britta Phillips – “One Fine Summer Morning”
03. Andy Sadoway – “IOU”
04. Tangible Excitement – “Northland Food Court”
05. Lush – “Lost Boy”
06. Chris Cohen – “Torrey Pine”
07. Nada Surf – “Rushing”
08. David Bazan – “Trouble With Boys”
09. Systems Officer – “Xon”
10. Rob Crow’s Gloomy Place – “Quit Being Dicks”
11. Sunflower Bean – “Easier Said”
12. Guillermo Sexo – “Eclipse”
13. Wussy – “Ceremony” (New Order cover)
14. Wire – “Nocturnal Koreans”
15. Young Elk – “Debts”
16. Undersea – “Winter Lungs”
17. Bleached – “Sour Candy”
18. Bent Shapes – “86’d In ’03”
19. Matt Tong – “Christopher”
20. The James Rocket – “We Are Here For You”
21. Beverly – “Contact”
22. Ship Thieves – “Born Into This”
23. Christopher Leaf – “I’ll Try For You”
24. Bob Mould – “The End of Things”
25. Robert Pollard – “I Can Illustrate”
26. Hallelujah The Hills – “The Girl With Electronics Inside”
27. So So Glos – “Missionary”
28. Savak – “Reaction”
29. A Giant Dog – “Sleep When Dead”
30. Pinkshinyultrablastv – “Molkky”
31. The Gotobeds – “New Dress (Debutante)”
32. Summer Cannibals – “Go Home”
33. Metz and John Reis – “Caught Up”
34. Into It Over It – “Vis Major”
35. White Lung – “Hungry”
36. Witching Waves – “Twister”
37. Eagulls – “Skipping”
38. Eric Bachmann – “Belong to You”
39. Mogwai – “Bitterness Centrifuge”
Many of the songs can be streamed through my monthly ‘Nac Tracks playlists on Soundcloud. Keep an eye/ear on the in-progress May edition, and if you can’t join us this evening, pencil the next NMN for Monday, June 13th.
[It’s IFFBoston Time!] The Music Docs Of The 2016 Independent Film Festival Boston
Posted on April 27, 2016 at 9:57 am | No Comments
It’s April in Boston, which means the tulips have taken root in the Public Garden, the Sox have finally taken the field at Fenway, and now the renowned Independent Film Festival Boston takes to our best area theaters for a solid week of carefully-curated cinematic offerings. Now in its 14th year, the all-volunteer IFFBoston kicks off tonight at the Somerville Theatre with an opening selection of “The Hollars”, directed by and starring Newton-native (and former-Jim Halpert) John Krasinski along with Anna Kendrick and (the always-excellent) Margo Martindale. It’ll wrap up a week from today at the Coolidge in Brookline with a screening of “The Intervention”, directed by (and also starring) Clea Duvall with a solid cast that includes Melanie Lynskey (most recently in HBO’s criminally-cancelled “Togetherness”), Natasha Lyonne, Cobie Smulders, Alia Shawkat, and Ben Schwartz.
Those two features bookend a jam-packed, diverse lineup that, as usual, includes a healthy dose of music-related films. I’ve made a habit of spotlighting those particular selections each year, so here’s a quick rundown for the 2016 edition. It should be noted: This time, it’s personal. Because Pants.
directed by Nate Gowtham & Aaron Faulls
co-director Gowtham will be at the screening
A documentary on singer-songwriter Colin Hay, the former front-man of Australia’s Men at Work.
Screening at the Somerville Theatre
on Monday, May 2nd at 9:45 PM
Tickets & more info
From the website: “Heavy-metal drummer & longtime Oakland resident Clint Baechle makes art and music while living comfortably outside of society.”
Playing as part of “Shorts B = Bravo: Documentary”
Screening at the Somerville Theatre
on Friday, Apr 29th at 7:15 PM
and Sunday, May 1st at 5:30 PM
Tickets & more info
directed by Bill Simmon
director Simmon will be at the screening
Well, here’s where I throw any and all objectivity out the window. I’ve seen this one, I’m in this one, hell, I lived this one. This is the story of a 90s-era Burlington, Vermont quartet called the Pants and the scene that birthed them. It’s both a universal musical story of a band trying to quote-unquote ‘make it’, and part celebration of a particular time & place (including a bonus Bernie Sanders tie-in). What helps it stand out is the personalities and talent of the gents involved, and the obvious passion of director Simmon, who spent 10 years working on this sucker. He’ll be at the screening for a post-film Q & A on Friday night.
Showing at the Somerville Theatre
this Friday, Apr 29th at 10:00 PM
Tickets & more info
From the website: “Princess Shaw struggles to be heard by posting her songs on YouTube. Then, someone living 7000 miles away discovers her.”
Screening at the Somerville Theatre
on Friday, April 29th at 9:30 PM
Tickets & more info
From the website: “Explores the Latino punk rock scene of South Central and East Los Angeles.”
Playing at the Somerville Theatre
on Saturday, April 30th at 10:00pm
Tickets & more info
directed by Gorman Bechard
director Bechard & subject Loveless will be at the screening
This one is a highlight, a deep dive into the in-progress career of rocker Lydia Loveless from director Gorman Bechard, who was responsible for past IFFBoston docs on Grant Hart & the Replacements. I was fortunate to get an early look at this one to write the synopsis for this year’s festival program guide, so I’ll save myself some typing by having you go read that. Then grab your tickets and leave time for a sure-to-be-lively post-film Q&A with Gorman & Lydia herself. Don’t think she’s bringing a guitar with her, but one can hope.
Showing at the Brattle Theatre
this Friday, April 29th at 7:00pm
Tickets & more info
Keep an eye on the IFFBoston Twitter feed and Facebook page for up-to-date fest info, hit their comprehensive website for info on planned parties & panels, and check out write-ups on some of the other IFFB selections from The Artery, the Boston Globe, Cambridge Day, and Boston Common.