[Boston Music Miscellany] Night Fruit, Kingsley Flood, The Figgs, Eldridge Rodriguez, The Hush Now
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 10:17 am | 1 Comment
A quick one, Boston-style, before I head up north for the weekend…
I became a bonafide Night Fruit fan about 1 minute into a crowded Allston basement show back in January (RIP live music @ Wadzilla), which is how long it took to decide I’d be sticking around for the trio’s entire set. And within a few minutes of getting home that night, despite severe sleepiness, I was online searching for recordings, discovering their 2010 “Triangles” EP (name-your-price download here). It captured the dreamy reverb-soaked pop I’d just witnessed, and while I made sure I saw them play live a couple more times this year, I’ve had a hankering for news of fresh studio action for awhile now.
Well, the new goods have arrived in the form of the “Dark Horse” 7-inch, which sees an official release tonight at esteemed Great Scott dance night The Pill. Just a few blocks from the very place I first saw ’em play. Here’s track two of three, “Paper Thin“…
Buy the “Dark Horse” 7-inch at Bandcamp, or pick one up at the show tonight.
If you put waited on picking up tickets to one of the two remaining Kingsley Flood “Colder Still” EP release shows already-in-progress at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, well, you’re not completely out of luck, but you’re close. Yes, all advance tickets to their intimate 3-night-stand sold out, but the Lizard always keeps a small stash for procrastinators at the door – you just have to show up pretty early tonight or tomorrow, wait outside in line, and keep your freezing fingers crossed as the temps nosedive. This is where I use a bit of wordplay to tie the title of the EP to the winter weather, but my coffee hasn’t quite kicked in.
Head to The Phoenix’s On The Download to grab the KF track “Black Boots“, or to AOL’s Spinner to stream “Mannequin Man“, both from the new EP. Here’s the song that kicks the collection off…
If you miss out on these shows, fear not, you can always spend your New Year’s Eve with Kingsley Flood, Mean Creek, and Freezepop at Brighton Music Hall. Tickets here, or in person (and fee free) at the Paradise box office.
Heads up, Figgs fans: Peterwalkee Records is releasing a brand new, super-limited-edition live Figgs vinyl LP titled “The Figgs – 3.28.01 Kansas City, MO” today at Noon EST. Yeah, that’s less than 2 hours from the moment I posted this news, so get your browsers ready. 100 copies on white vinyl, hand screened/hand numbered LP jackets, with a poster and a T-shirt thrown in for $35 bucks. It’s a no-brainer for loyal Figgs followers, especially if you’ve ever seen the band live. Stream a sample track right here if you’re not convinced.
And in case you missed it, the trio also released a new 7-inch back in September on Q Division Records as part of their “Q-Dee Rock and Soul Series”. The limited-to-500, white vinyl single has two tracks, “All The World Will Fail” and “The Central Stumble“, which you can download immediately when you order up. And fyi, they’re referring to “Central Avenue”, not “Central Square”, otherwise that track would cut very close to home for some of us fellow stumblers. Go on and stream it…
Also big news in Figgs-land? Bass player Pete Donnelly has a brand solo record titled “When You Come Home”, which you can grab at his website (Paypal link in lower right). It includes the four songs previously available on his Soundcloud page, although the new album version of the track “Careful” features none other than Britta Phillips ( of Dean & Britta / Luna). Here’s that non-Britta version for ya, a sweet little slice of soulful pop…
Pete has a couple of album launch shows and a January/February weekly residency planned, but they’re all down in Jersey and Philly (closer to his homebase). Check out his Facebook page for the deets. Here’s hoping he plans a little release party up here in the Boston area.
The Beatings frontman Eldridge Rodriguez stands ready on the frontlines of the War On Christmas with a brand new EP, “Christmas on the Allston-Brighton Line”. No generic “Holidays on…” to be found here… this year, he’s on defense for December 25th. The 3-song digital-only offering will arrive officially this Monday the 12th, and is the first in a series of “seasonal singles” he’ll be releasing over the next few years. So maybe he’ll get to the other holidays down the road? Only ER can say for sure.
Actually, you can ask him next Friday, December 16th, when he plays Porter Belly‘s in Brighton as part of the Cradles to Crayons benefit show. It’s a pretty fantastic charity, providing children in need with clothes, school supplies, and toys for free, and according to ER, he’ll be doing “a special acoustic performance which will include, and probably be the only performance of, tracks from the new holiday Ep.” So go and get your giving spirit on.
Also in a festive mood: The Hush Now. The quintet has gifted us with another free holiday track, this time a melancholy New Year’s Eve number titled “Happy New Year, Dear”. It follows on the heels of their Halloween track, and keeps the December streak going after starting the tradition with 2009’s “Wishing You A Happy Christmas“. Here’s a stream of the new one. Head to Bandcamp to download direct…
… and to the old man with the snow-white, Santa-sized beard who nearly ran me down yesterday at the intersection of Cambridge & North Harvard in his Jeep, well, I’ve got a big ol’ lump of coal with your name on it. A near-death experience was definitely not on my wish list.
Thanksgiving [Boston Music Miscellany] Buffalo Tom, Cuffs, One Happy Island, Mission of Burma, Travels, Wheat
Posted on November 24, 2011 at 8:40 am | No Comments
Thanksgiving. Great holiday or The Greatest Holiday? No gift-giving or gift-taking required, just a day to surround yourself with family, eat to your belly’s content, and enjoy some calm before the impending onslaught of rampant consumerism. This long holiday weekend always helps me put things in perspective, gives me a break from sweating all that small stuff, and lets me appreciate all that I have. Which includes two fully functioning ears, lots of Boston-made music to put in them, and a place to write about it…
If you’re reading this, and you’re anywhere near Boston over this coming weekend, I’m assuming you’ll be at one (or all) of the three Buffalo Tom 25th Anniversary shows going down at the Brighton Music Hall in Allston. Three nights – Friday, Saturday, and Sunday – and a load of super-talented BT friends sharing the stage. I mean, take a gander at this list: J Mascis, Ted Leo, and Eugene Mirman (on Friday); Mean Creek, Bob Weston, and Hilken Mancini (on Saturday); Tanya Donelly and Thalia Zedek (on Sunday).
I’ll be there on Sunday for sure, and would make every night were it not for our annual Thanksgiving drive down to New York. That’s some unfortunate timing, but don’t feel too sad for me – I’ll be bowing down to The Cure at the Beacon Theatre on Friday night. Playing their first three albums, back to back, and with help from Lol and Roger. Yeah, I’m giddy (my last.fm library explains why). And despite the incongruity, I’ll probably keep smiling all the way through “Faith”.
The Friday and Saturday night Buffalo Tom shows are sold out, but last I checked there were still tickets for Sunday, so get on that before you’re stuck outside.
So, speaking of Buffalo Tom, guitarist/vocalist Bill Janovitz will be playing a short set to kickoff the ReadBoston Hometown Authors Reception at the Hotel Commonwealth on Monday, December 5th at 6pm. The shindig features 20 Boston area writers, including personal faves Jef Czekaj, Chuck Hogan, and Dennis Lehane. It’ll set you back $35, but that includes beer, wine, and light food, and besides, all proceeds benefit ReadBoston. Buy tickets right here.
While we await the release of their second 7-inch, Cuffs will appease us with another live appearance, this time at TT the Bears on Thursday, December 1st, opening for Advance Base. Haven’t heard of Advance Base yet? No worries, it’s just the name that Casiotone For The Painfully Alone‘s Owen Ashworth has chosen for his current musical output. In other words, go.
Boston indie-pop trio One Happy Island have a new EP out, but you can’t have it… yet. The so-far-UK-only availability of the 4-song “Unsummer” CD (and songbook!) will be remedied shortly with a release party at Toad in Cambridge, MA on Friday night, December 16th. And in the spirit of full disclosure: Burlington, Vermont’s Let’s Whisper will be traveling down to open the show. (Hey, I’d be mentioning it even if I wasn’t playing drums with LW. Pinky swear.)
Looking a bit further ahead into 2012 (does that not sound futuristic?), Mission of Burma will, at long last, play a couple of Boston shows on Friday & Saturday, January 20th & 21st, at Brighton Music Hall. The last time they played their hometown? January 2010. Two years between gigs is way too long. Tickets are still available, but I’d imagine once the holidays are over that’ll change quickly.
If you were paying attention when I posted the most recent New Music Night playlist, you may have noticed new short-playing releases by a couple of local faves: Travels and Wheat…
Travels‘ new 2-song 7-inch record is actually a gateway to a 5-song digital EP. Order up the vinyl, and you’ll get a download code for those two tracks (new song “Stencils” and a cover of Daniel Johnston’s “The Sun Shines Down On Me“) along with three other new ones (“Lucky“, “Veil of Stars“, and “The Runner“). Grab it on Bandcamp, where you’ll get the downloads instantly, with the wax due to ship in early December. Here’s the D.J. cover…
Wheat are doing something pretty special with their new songs as well – a series of three limited-edition two-song singles, the first of which is already out. Here, I’ll use their words to explain…
“Each single will feature 2 new tracks, exclusive artwork hand-screened by the band, full liner notes and free downloads. Subsequent months will have a new single, each with two additional tracks. This project will culminate in a yet-untitled, limited edition CD along with other exclusive downloads. The single can be purchased now through the band’s website.
All this serves to tide us over nicely as Wheat finishes up their next full length record, to be titled “Can’t Stop The Addiction”.
So I stayed up later last night than I should have, and the results can be found on Flickr: A slew of photos from recent (and one not so recent) Boston-area events. John Hodgman & Ted Leo at the Coolidge, Kristin Hersh at the MFA, The Wire panel at the Boston Book Fest, The Thoughts at All Asia, The National with Yo La Tengo and Wye Oak at the BoA Pavilion. And if you missed them earlier, Tanya Donelly & Friends at the Brattle. Whew.
Alright, time to pack the car and hit the road for New York. Reflections, here I come. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.