[Live MP3s] New Radiant Storm King (RIP) in Cambridge, MA
Posted on May 29, 2011 at 7:16 am | 4 Comments
I have a very warm place in my music-lovin’ heart for Western Massachusetts rock combo New Radiant Storm King, so the news that they packed it in awhile back was sad news indeed. The generally under-appreciated band, which started at Amherst’s Hampshire College back in 1990 and released some killer mid-90s material, had a remarkably creative resurgence in the 2000s, putting out the personal-year-end-faves-list-making albums “The Steady Hand” in 2006 and “Drinking in the Moonlight” three years ago. An email to core guitarists/co-singers Matt Hunter and Peyton Pinkerton last Fall, sent to check on the possibility of a new album or potential shows, brought the bad news from Peyton: They’d quietly called it quits in September of 2009. Their ace website (which had a really cool band member timeline on it) is no more (oh, the loneliness of a 404 error), their discography may never again change, and their Wikipedia entry needs one last update. I don’t have it in my heart to make that edit, though. The only public clue they’d broken up is hidden in their Facebook ‘info’ section, where it says “New Radiant Storm King was an indie rock band…“. Yeah, they sure as hell were.
It was “Phonecall” that hooked me. Not sure how I heard it back in ’93 (probably on WRUV), but the fifth track off their sophomore set, “Rival Time”, had the perfect balance of energy, earnest emotion, and melodic two-guitar interplay to nail my burgeoning US-indie-rock sensibilities. I drank the album deeply, so much so that when time came for Colin and I to put together the first-ever Burlingtonitus festival up in Vermont, I reached out to NRSK and invited them along to headline a night. They played such a great set, and I’m forever grateful that they made the drive up. I’m sharing up “Phonecall” here, something I normally wouldn’t do as it’s not a label-approved promo track, but the album is long out-of-print and there’s no online sign of Positive Records. So here ya go…
To be honest, I lost track of the band after my late-90s relocation to Boston, rediscovering them with “The Steady Hand”, then digging into the intermittent releases I’d missed. They’ve been on almost as many labels as they’ve had albums, which shows not only their persistence, but their ability to find new homes to get behind them. They had a damn good run, and ended on a couple of very high notes thanks to Darla Records. Grab their final two albums from the links above while you can, and enjoy this live recording of the very last time I saw them, opening for Polvo at the Middle East in Cambridge, MA a few years back. Look below for more songs and videos as well…
Live at the Middle East Downstairs
in Cambridge, MA
on June 20th, 2008
(opening for Polvo)
[Download all 9 tracks in one 53 MB .zip file]
01. The Winding Staircase
02. Little Ice Age
03. Islander
04. Montague Terrace
05. Soporific Slump
06. Senseless
07. Eraser
08. Clouds Cover Everything
09. Hands and Eyes
(from “My Little Bastard Soul”)
[MP3] New Radiant Storm King – “XANAX (4-track version)“
(from “The Castle”)
And from their final (*sniff*) album, here’s a clip for “Clouds Cover Everything“…
FYI, both of these videos were directed by Jay Hollinsworth, whose work recently won him an opportunity to direct a video for a song off the new Foo Fighters record. Go check out his brand new clip for “These Days“.
Thanks for all the songs, NRSK. How long do you think we have to wait for the little reunion tour that’ll find you returning more popular than you ever were? Or at least as popular as you damn well deserved to be. In the meantime, here’s hoping we get word of some new musical output from misters Pinkerton and Hunter sometime soon.
[the fine print] If anyone has an issue with these MP3s being made available, just let me know (my contact info in the ‘nac faq). This live set recorded with a Sony minidisc and stereo mic, converted to .wav and edited to 192kbps mp3s.
[Live MP3s] Pavement in Boston 2010
Posted on May 16, 2011 at 3:40 pm | 1 Comment
I was able to catch Pavement a couple of times during last year’s traveling nostalgia-fest, and they were wildly different experiences. The first, here in Boston at the cavernous Agganis Arena, was sonically weak but emotionally strong. The quintet was in great spirits – I could see every band members’ grin from my fortunate spot in the front row – but the mix was muddy, bouncing off the walls of the college hockey arena like an errant puck. It’s just a dreadful place for a rock show, especially a long-awaited reunion. I’ve seen three bands in that space, and I really hope I’m never compelled to make it four.
The second time was a couple thousand miles away in Las Vegas when they closed out the middle night of the Matador Records 21st anniversary weekend, and while the sound in the Palms ballroom was far better across the (sound)board, the on-stage mood was most certainly not. Strain between Stephen Malkmus and Scott “Spiral Stairs” Kannberg was plainly obvious – or at least it was from Spiral – from Malkmus there was apparent apathy and disinterest, playing with his back to the band or even on the floor for some of the set. The quintet still performed well, Bob Nostanovich was his usual wild, stage-roaming, lyric-shouting self, but the tension between the two frontmen subtracted from the vibe, for sure. Kannberg’s pure joy back in Boston was infectious – especially when a Preston School of Industry bandmate joined him on vocals for a songs – but his Vegas frustration even moreso. In my head I’ve already tried to meld the two sets – sound from Vegas and mood from Boston – into one perfect show (and they didn’t play “Debris Slide” at either one of ’em, dammit).
The final show of Pavement’s 2010 reunion tour was in Buenos Aires on November 22nd, 2010, and while a January interview with Nostanovich says we may see them again “in the next few years”, he pretty much rules out new songs. Still, I doubted we’d ever see Pavement reunite in the first place, so nothing would surprise me at this point. (actually, that’s not true… new MBV material would surprise me.)
Here’s their Boston set, with some further links to follow below. Keep in mind, as I said, the sound in the Agganis is, um, far from ideal, and my spot in the front row certainly didn’t help. I spent a whole lot of time tweaking it, though, improving it as much as I could…
Live at Agganis Arena
in Boston, MA
on Saturday, September 18th, 2010
[Download the entire set as a 145 MB .zip file]
01. Silence Kid
02. Starlings of the Slipstream
03. Two States
04. Trigger Cut
05. Heckler Spray
06. In The Mouth A Desert
07. Stereo
08. Date w/Ikea
09. Stop Breathing
10. Gold Soundz
11. Conduit For Sale
12. Loretta’s Scars
13. Grounded
14. Summer Babe
15. Frontwards
16. Unfair
17. Fight This Generation
18. Perfume-V (for Hypnotic Clambake?)
19. We Dance
20. Brinx Job
21. Fin
22. Cut Your Hair
first encore…
23. Rattled By The Rush
24. Kennel District
25. Range Life
second encore…
26. Spit On A Stranger
27. Shoot The Singer
28. Here
[the fine print] If anyone has an issue with these MP3s being made available, just let me know (my contact info in the ‘nac faq). Live sets recorded with a Sony minidisc and stereo mic, converted to .wav and edited to 256kbps mp3s.