VIDEO: Beth Orton, "Someone's Daughter"

Last night marked Beth Orton's first performance on her first tour in a long, long time. And she was missed: both her early and late performances at the Museum of Fine Arts on Thursday were completely sold out, and nobody seeemd to mind that the mid-afternoon thunderstorms force the show indoors. Orton played a career-spanning set that included a Karen Dalton cover which we may try to post later. In the meantime, watch the clip above of last night's rendition of "Someone's Daughter" off her mid-90s breakthrough Trailer Park, and check out our slideshow of photos from the show by Carina Mastrocola.

7/3/2008 2:05:00 PM by On the Download | Comments [0] |  

Dirty Projectors, "Rise Above (Live at Museum of Fine Arts)"


Dirty Projectors, "Gimme Gimme Gimme (Live at the Museum of Fine Arts)"

Few things about Dirty Projectors' Dave Longstreth. One: while he looks tall and remote and Thurston-like from afar, up close, he looks impossibly young and is incredibly friendly. Two: Like the Grizzlies, he's a New Englander moonlighting as a Brooklynite. (Did we really overhear him say he briefly lived in Jamaica Plain?) Three: for a guy who prizes live-show spontaneity, he was awfully eager that we not leak any of the four new songs DPs unveiled last month at the Museum of Fine Arts, on the first night of their tour behind Rise Above. We'll chalk that up to opening-night jitters, since despite the band's protestations that the new shit wasn't ready for prime time yet, we couldn't for the life of us figure out what exactly was so bad about it. So, that said: here's the two "hits," as it were, from an album that (famously, already) doesn't sound shit like Black Flag. His Yale-ness may have been the center of attention for the indie fanboys who seemed to bring Longstreth as many albums as new-converts bought, but like most others we were kinda knocked out by the accompanists, whose eerie birdcall harmonies floated us through Dave's oceans of skronk.

4/24/2008 12:07:16 AM by On the Download | Comments [1] |  

 
Xiu Xiu, "Clown Town (Live at Museum of Fine Arts)"


Xiu Xiu, "FTW (Live at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston)"

If Jamie Stewart (who for all intents and purposes is Xiu Xiu) is playing with a full deck of cards, it’s not a deck you’d find on Planet Earth. So, not to judge or anything, but maybe before you go to a concert, you should at least listen to one song by that artist. Or learn anything about them at all. A lot of these MFA shows have a similarly accessible indie rock vibe, but come on: for at least the first half of Xiu Xiu's MFA show last week, peope were fleeing between songs like the place was on fire. This was surprising because Xiu Xiu are actually more straightforward live than on record, though that may not be saying much. Their rhythms are tighter and the instrumentation is often fuller; however, things definitely got trademark Xiu Xiu super uncomfortable when Stewart played alone on the acoustic guitar, as evidenced (above) by "F.T.W. and "Clowne Town": the songs were hanging on by a thread, and I curled up nervously in my seat hoping he wouldn’t chuck the guitar on the floor and run out of the room. Once the wusses were weeded out and the show ended, the once-sold out but now half empty Remis Auditorium gave the band a solid 10 minute standing ovation -- which continued even when the lights came on. Alas, and weirdly, we were not rewarded with another song. After such an emotionally (and vocally) draining performance, we can only imagine Stewart was either drinking heavily or passed out in the tour bus. A friend said after the show, "It was like walking in on someone who was masturbating and crying at the same time." Does that make us creepy voyeurs for enjoying ourselves?

-- Megan Bell

4/1/2008 2:33:15 PM by On the Download | Comments [0] |  

Mountain Goats, "Sign of the Crow (Live at the Museum of Fine Arts)


Mountain Goats, "Ain't Living Long Like This (Rodney Crowell cover, Live at the Museum of Fine Arts)


Mountain Goats, "Heretic Pride (Live at the Museum of Fine Arts)"

Mountain Goats w/ the Moaners
Live at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston
March 14, 2008

Moaners: two gals from Chapel Hill doing it Doo Rag style. Totally face-melting. We forgot how much we used to love bottleneck-slide-guitar-Fred McDowell-style punk rawk. For a couple years in the '90s there were like dozens of bands like this crawling around Memphis. Fuck. There is a conspicuous lack of mp3s or video of these ladies hanging around the internet. Unfortunately, we will not be adding to the record on that count. Maybe some other time.

However: we got some exclusive, new Mountain Goats stuff. At top: "Sign of the Crow," a great this-generation-is-fucked song that John Darnielle says he wrote three weeks ago in a hotel room in Alaska. Below that: "Ain't Living Long Like This" a Rodney Crowell blues that Darnielle got a hankering to play while hanging out in the dressing room, despite the fact that he'd never played it live before. At bottom: the full-band MTNGTS powers through the title track from their new "Heretic Pride."

We were thinking about the sudden appearance of that Crowell tune a few days after this show, when Darnielle announced he was cancelling an upcoming Australian tour for unspecified "personal medical reasons": "If it weren't serious, I would be leaving for Oz next week, believe me," he wrote on the Mountain Goats site. "You'll be doing me a great favor if you keep me in your thoughts and prayers, and if you know in your heart that I don't play around in doing right by the people I love: I will be back to make this up to you." Aussies, hope the above will whet your appetite for the time being.

3/22/2008 11:26:11 PM by On the Download | Comments [0] |  

Mirah & Spectraone International, "Love Song of the Fly" (Live 1/11/08 at Museum of Fine Art, Boston)
Video by OTD & R. Stewart

 
Mirah & Spectraone International, "Song of Psyche" (Live 1/11/08 at Museum of Fine Art, Boston)
Video by OTD & R. Stewart

In the animated world, creatures that would otherwise be seen as unsavory have been given a family-friendly makeover, from a disease-ridden rat that happens to be an innate culinary genius to a pesky honeybee that cracks jokes and falls in love. But singer-songwriter Mirah ditched the saccharine angle for her song-cycle concept album entirely about bugs, Share This Place (K), which she performed in its entirety . . . [CONTINUE READING: A Bug's Life:
Mirah + Spectratone International at the MFA, January 11, 2008]

1/22/2008 3:21:23 PM by On the Download | Comments [0] |  

11/30/2007 4:19:04 PM by On the Download | Comments [0] |  

Video: Yo La Tengo, "Fourth Time Around" (live at the MFA)

Yo La Tengo's collective amiability, good sense of humor, and lengthy catalog of songs made them a natural for a VH1 Storytellers-esque tour like "The Freewheeling Yo La Tengo," which the band brought to the MFA two Thursdays ago. The band played two different career-spanning sets of originals and covers, fielding questions from the audience in between songs about things ranging from celebrities who are surprising fans of the band (like Entourage's Adrian Greiner) to their oddest onstage moment (which involved a friend of theirs singing a song in the nude.) The only question they wouldn't answer was the one they claimed was the first one they had gotten asked at each previous stop on the tour - "What happened to the Mets?" This was at the early performance, anyway, we didn't stick around for part two. Above, video of their performance of their version of Agent Zimmerman's "Fourth Time Around," which appears on the soundtrack to I'm Not There. Two more videos, and discussion of their "strike-breaking" performance with the cast of Saturday Night Live after the jump:

- Ryan Stewart

11/26/2007 3:09:53 PM by On the Download | Comments [0] |  

VIDEO: Via Audio, Developing Active People (Live at MFA Boston)

We hold that attending Berklee does not make artists Bostonians for life, as it seems to in certain local-music-award circles. But we don't want the statute of limitations to be up just yet for Via Audio, the now-Brooklyn-based-but-Berklee-bred indie auteurs who’ve become blog-famous thanks to endorsements from Death Cab’s Chris Walla and Spoon’s Jim Eno. Their opening set for Mates of State at the Museum of Fine Arts last week reminded us how easily their boy-girl duets get under your skin. Check out the above reworking of "Developing Active People" from their debut Say Something Say Something Say Something; the catch an encore when they headline Great Scott on November 7.

As a bonus track, here's a song from Mates of State, from the same show:  

11/1/2007 7:21:55 AM by On the Download | Comments [0] |  

We've got three pairs of tickets to see Smog's Bill Callahan play this Saturday at the Museum of Fine Arts. Showtime is 7:30. Here's the catch: you must be able to come pick tix up in person, during business hours (8:30 am - 5:30 pm), between now and Friday. Hit us in the comments section with an email we can reach you at pronto. First-come, first-served.

9/5/2007 5:30:40 PM by On the Download | Comments [1] |  

Thurston: Academy fight song

It's not exactly news that as he's gotten older, Thurston Moore has found time in his life for more than Sonic Youth. When he's not reviewing noise records with Byron Coley, making noise records with people you've never heard of, or asking his daughter if she knows how to play that Dinosaur Jr song, he's apparently found time to record a proper follow-up to Psychic Hearts, the completely unexpected and awesome-beyond-belief (and recently remastered) solo album that all your Pitchfork-reading friends will tell you is secretly better than the last (insert any number from one to five) Sonic Youth records. Trees Beyond the Academy is like that too: very little bullshit noise, lots of songs that sound more like song-songs than anything Sonic Youth writes, plus "some weird cassette tape that Thurston found at his mom's of him at 13 years old in the early 70s making some kind of sound-theatre." Trees won't be out until September. But if the "first single" (har har) above doesn't get you fucking amped, we suggest listening to this or this or this. Plus, he's spent the past few months playing nothing but Daydream Nation. Plus, he's put together a band to support it that includes all-city guitar maestro Chris Brokaw (of Come, Codeine, the New Year, too many others to mention). The rest of the band ain't no slouches, neither: SY drummer Steve Shelley, MV & EE's Samara Lubelski (spkng of which, MV & EE are at MidEast Sept 1), and No Neck Blues Band's Matt Heyner, a frequent collaborator with frequent Thurston's free-noise collaborator Chris Corsano.

Around the time the record comes out Thuston and band will be playing a college-students-only gig at the Museum of Fine Arts -- part of an annual shindig that last year included a set by Joanna Newsom (sign the petition, fuckface). If you're keeping score, the MFA is now two for two on hitting the college-kid market between the eyes, and for the second year in a row, we anticipate the ironic role-reversal of over-21 douchebags (for example, us) hiding their drivers' licenses and whipping out 10-year-old BU id's to sneak into this beeyatch. We've heard (totally unconfirmed) rumors of a special guest opener, another guitar hero (lately playing with a band who shall remain nameless) with a solo record due soon. Ticket onsale news should be available very, very soon. To recap:

• Thurston Moore band
• September 27 at the Museum of Fine Arts
• Bring your fake college ID

While the MFA hasn't officially announced the Thurston gig (too late: Thurston did), they just announced the rest of their fall indie-rock season, for which college ID's are not, thank god, required. Most shows start at 7:30. Tickets for members, seniors, students $16; nonmembers, general admission $20.

Saturday, September 8: Bill Callahan (Smog) with Sir Richard Bishop
Friday, September 21: Joe Henry
Sunday, September 23: Gruff Rhys (Super Fury Animals) and Ulrich Schnauss
Sunday, September 30: The Sea and Cake
Saturday, October 6: The Blow
Thursday, October 25: Mates of State
Sunday, November 18: My Brightest Diamond with Tim Fite ($15)

8/16/2007 2:48:21 AM by On the Download | Comments [1] |  

Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips
March 9 at the Museum of Fine Arts
Photos: Christopher Kontoes

3/13/2007 9:34:44 AM by On the Download | Comments [0] |  

The Bad Plus, "Physical Cities"

The Bad Plus, "And here we test our powers of observation"

The Bad Plus, documentary excerpt

Thanks to everyone who sent YouTube clips -- the winning ones are above, and those dudes are all headed to the Bad Plus show on Sunday at the MFA.

2/24/2007 9:45:19 AM by On the Download | Comments [0] |  

IF YOU GO:

• The Bad Plus
  Sunday, February 25
  Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave, Boston
  7:30 pm, $25
  617.369.3300

The Bad Plus may do witty covers of "Smells like Teen Spirit," "Heart of Glass," and the theme song from Chariots of Fire, but it's all backed up by muscular playing and a terrific sense of the strange. They also have the best hoodies of any jazz band on the planet. The trio followed a killing Newport Jazz Fest set last August with a terrific set at the Regattabar in the fall, so they shouldn’t have any problems cranking it up for their debut at the Museum of Fine Arts's Remis Auditorium this Sunday.

We've got three pairs of tix to give away, here's the deal: first three people to post a Bad Plus youtube clip in the comments (SLTS doesn't count!) get a pair.

2/22/2007 11:34:41 AM by On the Download | Comments [3] |  

Under Byen, "Af Samme Stof Som Stof"

Pretty stoked for the next leg of the Museum of Fine Arts indie-rock concert series, which kicks off with Denmark's UNDER BYEN. The meticulous orch-pop group, whose name translates as "Below the City," have won a dedicated international following, inspiring the wags at Pitchfork to describe them as "like Björk and Mogwai falling down a well together." With Sweden's Frida Hyvonen and Perro Del Mar, they're bringing a Scandinavian indie-pop caravan to the MFA on March 2.

We've got four pairs of tickets to give away: first four people to holler at us in the comments get a pair, and remember to use your real email address this time so we know how to get at you.

DOWNLOAD: Under Byen, "Af samme stof som stof" (mp3)
DOWNLOAD: Under Byen, "Siamesisk" (mp3)
BUY TICKETS: Under Byen, Frida Hyvonen, Perro del Mar, March 2 at the MFA

2/19/2007 12:14:34 PM by On the Download | Comments [5] |  

Long before he was catching 8.5s on P4K, Grizzly Bear's Edward Droste was skulking around Cambridge, keeping an amazingly low profile given that his ancestors are pretty damn Harvarded-up. His Bear family broke out of Brooklyn, but he brought the clan back to Mass to record Yellow House at his mom's house (guess what color?) in Watertown, and he'll be back in Boston to play the Museum of Fine Arts's indie-rock series this Friday, February 2. The show is severely sold out, but we kept a couple pairs stashed away in the drawer, and they're yours for the taking. Full interview with Droste will show up later today at the main Phoenix site (check back, we'll post a link when it's live). If you want the tix, email us at onthedownload@phx.com UPDATE: IF YOU EMAILED, OUR INBOX EXPLODED BEFORE WE READ THEM. POST IN COMMENTS TO GET TIX. Also, don't forget we've still got tix for the screening of Matthew Barney: No Restraint on January 31 at the MFA. Same deal: post in the comments field, because our email died. Meanwhile, the Grizzly Bear dudes made a funny: check the downloadable pun below.

DOWNLOAD: Grizzly Bear, "Knife (Girl Talk Remix)" (mp3)
DOWNLOAD: Grizzly Bear v. the Knife, "Knife/Heartbeats (Parrka Remix)" (mp3)

1/29/2007 11:13:09 AM by On the Download | Comments [10] |  

Bradley's Almanac was nice enough to wait a couple months before posting it, but now you can hear for yourself exactly what happened the night Chan Marshall played her solo gig at the MFA. After the unexpected triumph of her Memphis band tour, she gave a series of interviews declaring her infamous self-destructing-on-stage years were behind her. Then she played the MFA show, which nearly ended halfway through with her walking offstage in the midst of a crazy rant about the soundsystem and the nature of her sincerity. Download the entire show over at Bradley's Place to see what we're talking about.

When Elvis was in his really bad period, the Colonel issued an LP called Having Fun With Elvis on Stage that contained no music and simply edited together about a half hour's worth of the King's increasingly strange between-songs banter. If Matador ever compiles Having No Fun with Chan on Stage this would probably be the single:

DOWNLOAD: Chan Marshall, "I'm Sorry Y'All (Live at the MFA)" (mp3, via Bradley's Almanac) 

11/3/2006 2:03:18 PM by On the Download | Comments [2] |  

Deja vu all over again: Who at Garden

Petra: keeping her mouth shut.

Not like we can afford satellite radio or anything, but thanks to Sirius's freebie campaign we heard Pete Townshend walk off the Howard Stern show this morning in a huff, after Robin made mention of those old child-porn charges (like we're supposed to forget about 'em just because he was acquitted.) Townshend enemy/"business partner" Roger Daltry stuck around and did a few verses with Fred Norris on guitar. This, folks, is what passes for all the promotional hype anyone can muster in support of Wire and Glass, which brings them back to the scene of earlier crimes on December 2. Even if you care not a whit, you ought to read James Parker's fantasmagoric review, of which we will lend you a snippet:

It’s been 24 years since the Who released a studio album. To put it another way, their last full-length, the 1982 stinker It’s Hard, is old enough to be this one’s father. And the Who are now two: with the death of bassist John Entwistle, coked to pieces in a Vegas hotel room in 2002, the strange marriage of Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend severed its last tie to history and became pure dialectic — big chest versus big nose, the pint-sized blusterer against the looming boffin who writes all the tunes. Endless Wire is their latest synthesis: 19 tracks, the last 10 of which form a full-length mini-opera — yes, that’s right — called Wire and Glass. And it is a true child of the Who-niverse, immediately recognizable and as thrillingly up-its-own-ass as anything they’ve ever done. >>MORE

And if Howard needs replacement Whos, hell, we got plenty. For starters there's Petra Haden -- daughter of Charlie, sidewoman to Foo Fighter and Decemberist alike -- who's at the MFA tonight playing one of less than a half-dozen concerts in which she attempts to pull off a live version of her insane all-acapella album Petra Haden Sings: The Who Sell Out. She's offered a tip on her next direction by also working up a version of the Beach Boys classic "God Only Knows" for the tour, which will feature her with the Sellouts, a 10-piece choir comprising members of various LA bands that she and her sister have befriended in the years since That Dog. And, just in time for Halloween, she's also posted this fucking amazing version of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" to her site (go here to hear the stream . . . web rip, anyone?)
>>PETRA HADEN SHOW DETAILS.

Really, Petra should hook up at some point with Boston's the Silver Lining, who seem to share a few -- OK, all -- of her touchstones. As heard on that song we posted a while back, the Silver Lining know their way around a Beach Boys harmony, and for Halloween they're dressing up/playing out as -- you guessed it -- the Who, at TTs on Satuday. (That's the same gig as the Rudds doing their Hall and Oates set. Monsterous.)
>>SILVER LINING SHOW DETAILS.

DOWNLOAD: Petra Haden, "God Only Knows" (mp3)
DOWNLOAD: The Silver Lining, "Cemented Steps" (mp3)

10/25/2006 2:34:44 PM by On the Download | Comments [1] |  

From "Cat Power: Chan Marshall reveals the secrets of her stability":

Phoenix: I remember your once telling me about your stage fright, and that made sense because you really were up there on your own or with very little accompaniment. Are you concerned that without the big band backing some of that stage fright will return?

Chan Marshall: No, no, no. I have less stage fright now because I don’t drink. I just feel more clear-headed. It was more difficult before because I was distancing myself from people. I was compounding my depression with alcohol and really pushing people away.

Might be time to revisit whatever cabinet those stability secrets are stored in. Mark E. Moon sent us the following dispatch from last night's 10 pm Chan Marshall solo gig at the Museum of Fine Arts:

It was pretty crazy. I just read all these interviews about how she doesn't lose it anymore on stage, she's sober, blah, blah, blah.

She looked calm and composed when she took the stage. she made a couple of jokes,chatted with someone in the audience and then started playing.

And then she freaked out.

She was immediately obssessing with the reverb (which in her defense wasn't working at first), then she couldn't take it when the sound guy was looking at her (first shielding her eyes, and then stopping halfway through a song to tell him he had to move), then she spent like 10 minutes trying to tune her guitar and it was STILL out of tune when she started up again, all the while starting songs and not getting through them (she was trying to do "House of the Rising Sun" over and over again).

She kept muttering, "I'm sorry, I'm SORRY," and "I'm not mad at anyone, I'm mad at myself", and "I'm just here to play music and sing songs, I didn't mean to make it into a big thing."

Finally after about 30 or so minutes, halfway through a song, she threw off her guitar, said "I gotta pee," and left the stage.

There was much murmuring. The woman next to us said she doubted that chan would come back. Some dude used this opportunity to put something on her chair (his demo? a love letter?). But she did come back, got it together, and did a fine set, though she couldn't remember what songs she had already done and still kept apologizing.

9/6/2006 1:12:55 PM by On the Download | Comments [1] |  

The haikus are in, and we've got our winners (original post deleted to protect the email addresses of the innocent). Here's who got the tix to see Ms. Marshall at the MFA on September 5:

Chan, you confuse me
Your voice, just so damn perfect
Your mental state, not

-- brad | 8/21/2006 9:13:14 PM

Chan comes in the house
big gray rodent in her mouth
grateful gift for me

-- jef | 8/21/2006 9:21:45 PM

Cat Power, I have
heard maybe two songs by you
do you sing well live?

-- Lynne |8/22/2006 12:08:45 AM

Thanks also to entrants four and five, who rang in just a hair too late. Sorry guys -- but thanks for the verse. . .

Chan is no rhyme man
Sounds more like "shawn", but still,
got it going on

-- mac | 8/22/2006 9:40:17 AM

Flowing Cat Power
yes like a golden shower
that girl can scat man

-- bobby without a jobby | 8/22/2006 10:54:35 AM

8/22/2006 5:26:15 PM by On the Download | Comments [0] |  

Psapp (with Jose Gonzalez, about whom more soon)
June 28 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Seeing Psapp perform live has taught me two things. One is that I should refrain, immediately, from calling them Pee-Sap (silent p, kids) to prevent one of the many future events in which I will make an ass of myself. The second, however, is more significant – that everything will be alright. By “everything,” I mean the day in and day outs that we all suffer as individuals struggling to pay rent, find love, lose weight, save money, travel. By “alright,” I mean that a little bit of optimism goes a long way. 

Though six people performed on stage, the roots of London-based Psapp are grounded in two key members: Galia Durant and Carim Clasmann. On stage, their chemistry was kinetic and bright under the lights. Though the acoustics at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts’ Remis Auditorium are probably better built for sound than, say, the Abbey Lounge's, Psapp’s quirky, cute electro-pop ricochets off of the walls in ways you wouldn't expect. The group sounded great throughout, but their latest single “Hi,” and their most famous song "“Cosy In The Rocket," which is better known as the theme to Grey’s Anatomy, filled every corner of the room. Perfect pitch aside, the band was engaging on all fronts. Their drummer banged away with a mullet wig and nipple rings exposed, and among the colorful props flooding the stage were plastic horns, miniature cats (which were named by band members and thrown into the audience as keepsakes), and a rubber snake (which was also tossed, but only at each other between songs). There’s a playfulness in Psapp’s melodies and their stage presence, even if their lyrics address familiar, everyday issues. They manage to convey that where there is sadness there are also bright ways to handle it. I'm not often one for inspirational music (if I want to stew, let me stew), but “Leaving In Coffins” got to me: it's an adorably composed song that deals with the death of a friend, and Galia sang it with an earnest face and an occulding pop sweetness, which seemed, for a moment at least, to capture an elusive truth about loss. Psapp are a reminder that the right music can restore faith, whether you're suffering a major misfortune or just having a bad day. 

– Vicki G. Siolos 

DOWNLOAD: Psapp, "Leaving In Coffins" (mp3)

6/29/2006 2:12:31 AM by On the Download | Comments [0] |  

When Dan and Liz moved from Brooklyn to Providence, RI, we thought we'd be seeing a lot more of them round these parts. We thought the same thing when Kim and Thurston movied to Northampton, but in both cases, it ain't quite worked out that way. Aside from a memorable First Night show a few years back when the Littletons showed up with their pals the Defevers, we haven't seen much of them. So we're psyched to hear that Ida is making a rare live appearance this fall at the Museum of Fine Arts -- which has become an unlikely indierock hotbed thanks to MFA music coordinator Dan Hirsch. Ida will show up October 14 opening for Mekons' Jon Langford. Dan & Liz's next children's CD You Are My Little Bird -- we're on the record as admitting we like the kids' albums better than most of their recent "adult" material -- will come out this August on Smithsonian-Folkways. No word on a label for the next Ida album, which is "in the cooker, close to finished, but not done." They write: "This spring we finished tracking an album with michael hurley, many many good times. we played a couple more midnight rambles at levon helms barn, with even THE MAN himself as our drummer one night, when ruth was too pregnant to make the trip, and peter schickele sitting in on piano and harmonium for karla, who also couldn't make the trip. it was a very memorable night!!"

In the meantime, they're also looking for someone to redesign their website -- tech-folkies, get at them.

6/26/2006 1:22:18 AM by On the Download | Comments [0] |  

The Alloy Orchestra used to have the new-scores-for-silent-films racket sewn up around here, but over the past few years what was once a novelty has become a niche market, and one of the awesomest bands to jump into the genre has been Devil Music. Aside from being one of the most underrated art-punk trios in town, they also do shit like get their friends together into 30-piece orchestras and put on sold-out neo-classical shows, and then turn around and tour the country playing live to The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Their latest film score is for Big Stakes, an obscure silent film that Devil Music's Jonah Rapino explains better than we can; they'll perform it tomorrow night at the Museum of Fine Arts. The show's also a DVD-release party, and (as promised in the fishwrap) we've got an exclusive clip.

"This is the DME's first performance Big Stakes in Boston, and possibly the first screening of the film in Boston ever," sez Jonah. "The screening of this rare Western also coincides with the release of a Big Stakes DVD with the DME’s original soundtrack. This is another first, being that this is the first modern score written for this silent western. When composing their score, the DME drew upon the traditional sounds of classic country and bluegrass, as well as folk music traditions of Mexico. And finally, this is probably the only time this film will get a screening and live musical performance in Boston, so we could call this a once in a lifetime experience?" Sure! "Big Stakes is a special film for many reasons. Made in 1922, it has a surprisingly liberal attitude towards race and gender. Also, the KKK features prominently in the picture as the bad guys. This is a stark contrast to the times, considering that only seven years earlier, legendary director D.W. Griffith released his landmark epic film Birth of a Nation (originally titled The Clansmen) which championed the origin and influence of the KKK. The cliffhanger scene at the end of Big Stakes closely mirrors the one from Birth of a Nation, with the KKK losing this time, and has been called by some critics a subtle criticism of D.W. Griffith's film and beliefs. So not only does Big Stakes have action, romance, deadly lizards, Mexican jumping beans, shoot-outs, horse chases, and every other cliché of American western; it also carries an anti-racist message. For 1922, this is amazing!"

Hear, hear. See, see:

4/14/2006 10:57:11 AM by On the Download | Comments [1] |  

You know you want to see me for free...

Quick get-yr-free-stuff programming note: this Sunday, March 12, former Belle & Sebastian sweetie, Stuart Murdoch heartbreaker, Gentle Waves gentilly, and Mark Lanegan collaborator Isobel Campbell will be at the Museum of Fine Arts; Thee-who-will-never-escape-the-ex-Galaxie-500-ID a/k/a Damon & Naomi will open. The Gods of Promotion have smiled down upon us and we have some free tickets for the show. But to be entered into the running, those same Gods insist that you have to comment on a Phoenix music story, which means don't bother submitting a fake e-mail addy like twatmonster@hotmail.com with your very insightful addendum or you won't get the hook-up. Commenting intelligence highly encouraged--but that's our personal suggestion and not an official mandate from the Gods.

One to get you started: Mikael Wood's review of Ballad of the Broken Seas.

3/7/2006 11:54:54 AM by Cami | Comments [0] |  

Trafficking in those familiar broody, moody vocals, reverb-and-delay-drenched guitar lines, and dance-dance-y drums, Birmingham’s EDITORS have drawn comparisons to the usual post-gothpunk suspects, both past (Joy Division) and present (Interpol). No surprise here: the NME faithful across the pond going bananas, and Stereogum says the NY show was ridonculous the other night. All that and their 2005 debut, The Back Room (Kitchenware), certified gold in Great Britain, won't land stateside until April. The band make the last stop of their first US tour at Fenway Recordings Sessions #11, a series that's replaced the Paradise as the joint to catch the debut of the UK's sensation-of-the-moment (see: Magic Numbers, the Subways, Hard-Fi, etc). Opening: New York’s the Twenty Twos, who also played Sessions #10, and DJ Carbo (Fenway honcho Mark Kates) spins between bands. Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston. 617.734.4502.

LISTEN: Editors, "Fingers in the Factories" (mp3, via Stereogum)
LISTEN: Editors, "Camera" (mp3, via underrated blog)

You know them as the gene splicers turned laptop genies who made a Bjork record -- and whom, in a creepy analogue to the work of her hubby Matthew Barney, make art that sits at the intersection of cold science and hot flesh. MATMOS once made an album entirely from sampling and re-editing the sounds of liposuction, and everything from human hair and skulls to latex fetish clothing and amplified crayfish nerve tissue has figured in their collaborations with the likes of the Kronos Quartet and the Melvins, installations at the Whitney Museum of American Art, and their own albums. There's a new Matmos disc scheduled for Spring -- The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast -- but their label hasn't heard it yet, and even the Matador dudes are at a loss to say what'll transpire when M.C. Schmidt and Drew Daniel pow-wow with Brooklyn's So Percussion for the kickoff of the Museum of Fine Arts' kick-assic spring indie-rock season (which is brought to you, as always, by your pals at the Boston Phoenix). Remis Auditorium, 465 Huntington Ave, Boston 7:30 pm $20 617.369.3306.

1/22/2006 10:13:12 PM by On the Download | Comments [0] |