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Thursday, April 24, 2008
Who're you callin' al dente?
DOWNLOAD: Kid:Nap:Kin, "Heroin Grillz" (mp3)
Like risotto, young rock bands require a lot of time and stirring before their many disparate elements meld into a satisfying and delicious glop. Unlike risotto. . . . well, there are lots of ways that young rock bands aren't like risotto. The point being that Boston's KID:NAP:KIN may need a few more minutes on the heat before their particular mix of post-punk, jazz, and experimental tendencies resolves into a gourmet treat. (Ditto for their website -- Ed.) But "Heroin Grillz," from their debut full-length, Hush, Now (Sidehatch Entertainment), is like a satisfying bite snuck from the stove. Mixing the abrasive charm of '90s guy-girl masters like Jawbox with the thoroughly modern, falsetto-fueled erratic melodicism of the Dirty Projectors is no small feat, and "Grillz" can be taken as a good sign that Boston's most promising trio may soon be Boston's best. Careful, don’t burn yourself. Grab the mpfree above, then get a seat at the table when Kid:Nap:Kin drop Hush, Now tonight at T.T. the Bear's Place.
-- M. Brodeur
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Mylene: Queen of Pop
This week in the fishwrap, Charles Taylor makes the case for French pop, through the lens of the latest Mrs. Johnny Depp album. Below, longtime Phoenix critic Michael Freedberg, whom we consider our resident expert on the topic, provides his own master-class in variete francaise -- one that is necessarily weighted towards Mylene Farmer, who is the Reed to his Bangs, the Kixx to his Eddy. In his commentary on these 17 "best-of-the-best" tracks, Freedberg elaborates on the spirit of liberte that infuses the best of Mylene; teases out the existential bark in Pascal Obispo's bite; and introduces us to a breadth of French pop that swings from the volcanic rock-n-roll swagger of Noir Desir to the tipsy modernist electro of Melissa Mars. It's the depth of feeling that Freedberg responds to in these tracks; at times, when we were recording this session about a week ago, the critic sobbed openly in the studio while the tracks played back.
DOWNLOAD: The Sphere Vol 12: Variete Francaise Part 1 [mp3]
DOWNLOAD: The Sphere Vol 13: Variete Francaise Part 2 [mp3]
Vol 12 Tracklist:
1. Madmoiselle Chang: France Gall
2. Fuck Them All: Mylene
3. Alice et June: Indochine
4. C'est une belle journee: Mylene Farmer
5. Lone Machine: Melissa Mars
6. L'au-de la: Jean Louis Murat
7. Mylene Is Coming: Mylene Farmer
8. Point de mire: Ariane Moffet
Voll 13 Tracklist:
1. Le Pretension de rien: Pascal Obispo
2. Chanson pour hier et demain: Marie Mai
3. L'enfant roi: Noir Desir
4. Raton Laveur: Jean Leloup
5. We'll Never Die: Mylene Farmer
6. Tu me corresponds: Francois Cabrel
7. Lonely: Mitsou
8. le grand incende: Noir Desir
9. Mylenium: Mylene Farmer
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Caleb: not fucking afraid of those other heatseakers.
DOWNLOAD: Heatseeker, "Heavy With Shadows" (mp3)
If you ever wondered why Cave-In never sounded the same way twice, take a listen to what its members have released since the breakup: it's a minor miracle these guys ever agreed on anything. Steve Brodsky has pursued his fascinations with classic rock, art-pop, and pyschedelia through three band names (and has another solo joint, The Black Album Award, due this summer). Guitarist Adam McGrath is preparing to release We Are Above You, the second disc by his stoner-metal assault vehicle Clouds. Now bassist Caleb Scofield is unveiling the face-melting, self-titled debut by Heatseeker, the most knee-buckling-heavy record to come out of the Cave-In camp yet. No surprise there: Scofield was Cave-In's designated screamer -- the Newsted to Brodsky's Hetfield -- and Heatseeker is an hour's worth of maximum doomriding, even scarier than Scofield's previous outings with Zozobra and Old Man Gloom. If you were That Guy at Cave In shows yelling for "Crossbearer," here's the proverbial metal shiv up your butt. Translation for the unconverted: this record fucking rules.
Indie-metal geeks will want to note that the album was recorded by Isis's Aaron Harris, who also played drums on it. If we told you the size of the room this behemoth of an album was recorded in, you wouldn't believe us.
Coincidentally, Caleb just moved back to Boston last week with his wife and child -- which means that, for the first time in, like, a long fucking time, all of Cave-In's members are back living in the same city. We have it on good authority that Brodsky just delivered a whopping four discs worth of Cave In rarities to Hydrahead -- supposedly to be whittled down for a future release -- so allow us to be the first to start the reunion rumors: Cave-In's getting back together! Cave-In's getting back together! Well, not really. But maybe. Who knows? In the meantime, keep an eye out for the Heatseeker record in July.
[Um, this is awkward silence where the band links would usually be. Except that we're leaking this so early, Heatseeker doesn't even have a MySpace page yet. And, um, Hydrahead doesn't have a page for them yet either. But maybe they will soon.]
Ian MacKaye: from "Waiting Room" to the classroom
Having Ian MacKaye show up as the surprise guest for your intro-to-punk-rock class is, as Will Spitz writes in this week's fishwrap, "sorta like Darwin showing up for your Biology 101 lecture." Except that Darwin would probably end up talking Biology. Not that Ian didn't talk punk when he showed up in Medford last week, a couple days before his bigger, public lecture at Brandeis. But the Conscience Of Punk Incarnate also threw down on all sorts of stuff: including how Ted Nugent is actually kind of an animal-rights activist, if you really, really, really think about it. Yes, it's true what they say: Ian always shows up to be interviewed in a hoodie and a black beanie. But we bet you never thought you'd hear the Elder Statesman of Hardcore earnestly, unironically, and unintentionally hilariously credit a fatally drunkaholic hippie woman with inspiring the singing style of America's foremost straightedge punkman. And that's not even the most interesting part of this lecture/Q&A. We tried to have a couple of interns transcribe this, but their fingers turned to bloody stubs. Maybe you can keep up with the mp3:
DOWNLOAD: Ian MacKaye Schools Tufts Students In Punk Rock (mp3) <-- Removed at the request of the legendary Mr. MacKaye. Ian Sez No Taping. Maybe go watch this instead.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
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.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
DOWNLOAD: Aloud, "Fan the Fury" (mp3)It might not seem that much has changed between Aloud’s debut full-length, Leave Your Light On, and their sophomore album, Fan the Fury. The band still traffic in bluesy power pop, which still centers on the guy-girl lead vocals of childhood chums/collaborators Henry Beguiristain and Jen de la Osa. But now the hooks are bigger, the lyrics smarter, and the arrangements tighter. The title track starts with de la Osa bellowing over a dirty toms-and-tambo groove before it folds in on itself, giving way to an airy, ride-cymbal-driven bridge and de la Osa’s vocals turning uncharacteristically gentle. Then, just as things start getting comfy, the band slide back into the hot grease of the song’s first half. They celebrate the album's release at Great Scott March 20.
3/12/2008 6:33:36 PM by Will | |
Thursday, February 28, 2008
DOWNLOAD: Hooray for Earth, "Warm Out" (mp3)
Hooray for Earth: odd band. Get 'em drunk, and they're liable to belt out a Justin Timberlake hit, or maybe one of Jacko's. Left on his own, their singer has been known to crank out Magnetic Fields covers. In their own right, HFE have carved out a unique niche that's equal parts indie breadth and metal brawn, like a second coming of Queens of the Stone Age. "Warm Out," taken from their new Cellphone EP, staggers forward on a clawing, atavistic, baritone-guitar riff, the rhythm section lurching like mechanized infantry. But the bridge that follows is a thing of beauty: the guitars turn taut, lithe, and synchronous. Clusters of ascending notes flank and overwhelm the main theme; and the lyrics, a short paen to renewal that evokes the majestic/melancholic Mag Fields of "Love Comes Home To Paris in the Spring," turn sad and then frantic, just before the whole thing starts all over again. Grab the mpfree above, check out the video below, then see if you can help yrself from stampeding their EP-release gig on Leap Night -- that's tomorrow -- at the Middle East.
HFE: Warm Out (video)
Thursday, February 21, 2008
DOWNLOAD: Hallelujah the Hills, "Don't Take the Law Into Your Own Hands But Take Mine In Yours" (mp3)
On the eve of their biggest national tour to date (stops include SXSW and a Daytrotter session), Boston indie heroes Hallelujah the Hills forsook the bedroom and entered an actual studio for the first time ("My 8-track will never forgive me," laments frontman Ryan Walsh), emerging with two brand-new songs to hold us over until they record album no. 2 this spring. "Don't Take The Law" is short but feels longer, or at least bigger, managing to swell from sotto-voce, bee-swarm jangle to an anthemic, junkshop-orchestra sing-along in under two minutes. Walsh calls it "my joking attempt at starting a whole new subgenre of pop music entitled 'Police Officer/Vigilante Love Ballads.' Just like the Wichita Lineman failed at jumpstarting the 'Telephone Line Repairman Love Ballad' genre, we hope to fail in a similar, spectacular manner." Consider it done. Grab the mp3 above, then bid HTH a fond farewell when they play a free show February 24 at the Milky Way with Amoroso and Jersey's Titus Andronicus.
HTH TOUR DATES:
Feb 29 2008 8:00P@ Union Hall, Brooklyn, NY w/ Evangelicals, Headlights
Mar 1 2008 8:00P@ Soundfix, Brooklyn, NY
Mar 2 2008 8:00P@ Garfield Artworks, Pittsburgh , PA
Mar 3 2008 8:00P@ Beachland Tavern (w/ Headlights/Evangelicals) - Cleveland , Ohio
Mar 4 2008 8:00P@ The Elbow Room- Ypsilanti , Michigan
Mar 5 2008 3:00pm Hear Ya Session, Chicago , IL
Mar 5 2008 8:00P@ Abbey Pub - Chicago , Illinois
Mar 6 2008 12:00P@ Daytrotter.com, Rock Island , Illinois
Mar 6 2008 8:00P@ The Annex - Madison, Wisconsin
Mar 7 2008 8:00P@ Nomad World Pub (w/ Ela and Curse Words) - Minneapolis , Minnesota
Mar 8 2008 8:00P@ The Maintenance Shop (w/ Poison Control Center) - Ames , Iowa
Mar 9 2008 5:00P@ Vaudeville Mews **early show** - Des Moines , Iowa
Mar 11 2008 8:00P@ New Deli - Fayetteville , Arkansas
Mar 12 2008 8:00P@ Friends Bar (SXSW Misra Showcase) Austin , Texas
Mar 13 2008 SXSW TBA Austin , Texas
Mar 14 2008 SXSW Friends Bar Berklee SXSW Party (day show) Austin , Texas
Mar 15 2008 8:00P@ Jackrabbit Lounge - Shreveport , Louisiana
Mar 17 2008 Afternoon @ Grimey's Record Shop, Nashville, TN
Mar 17 2008 8:00P @ Springwater, Nashville, TN
Mar 19 2008 8:00P@ The Rudyard Kipling - Louisville , Kentucky
Mar 20 2008 8:00P@ The Venue - Lafayette , Indiana
Mar 21 2008 8:00P@ Café Bourbon Street , Columbus , OH
Mar 22 2008 8:00P@ TBA, New York
Thursday, February 14, 2008
DOWNLOAD: Medicated Kisses, "Kill the Queen" (mp3)
When we told you last year to keep an eye on Medicated Kisses, we were thinking that frontwoman Alanna V's soul-fired belt might carry them to the top of the emo-pops: their "A Wolf Among Lilacs" sounded like Paramore with more metal and an even better singer. But on "Kill the Queen," a teaser for their debut album, they're aiming higher: they ditch their young-punk stylistic affectations and let Alanna carry them to the mountaintop. A pulverizing power-blues frames a tour-de-force, old-testament vocal performance: "Don't you know I made you, now baby I will break you," she sings, wrathful and gospelized, like Christina Aguilera fronting Rage Against the Machine. Grab the track above, then catch them February 19 at T.T. the Bear's Place.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Thursday, January 31, 2008
DOWNLOAD: White Hinterland, "Dreaming of the Plum Trees" (mp3)
Back when she was studying at New England Conservatory, Casey Dienel put out a demo called "Grandmother Rock," a quick suite of songs suggesting rocking chairs more than rock-n-roll, a genre you'd coin if you were precocious, shy, and out of love with your generation. Dienel's debut, The Wind-Up Canary, was all of these things; her new album, and new incarnation, even more so. On Phylactery Factory, the debut from White Hinterland (a band, evidently, although she's still solo in her press photos), Dienel's songs find their gravity in wistfully-scrawled characters and jazzy, autumnal piano chords (Vince Guaraldi has been mentioned). Her voice is drowsy, her meter brisk; settled back in JP after a Brooklyn soujourn, she seems to be drinking from a deeper brew, her tiptoeing phrases easily startled into hiccups of surprise. And her melodies, always evasive, are rubbed round and smooth, as if she'd been singing them for decades. White Hinterland make their local debut this Saturday, February 2, at PA's Lounge.
PREVIOUSLY:
>>Mp3 of the Week: Casey Dienel, "Frankie and Annette" (mp3)
>>Casey Dienel: Grand Canary (interview)
Thursday, January 24, 2008
P&N: Putting the amp back in ampersand
DOWNLOAD: Pretty and Nice, "Grab Your Nets" (mp3)
Pretty and Nice? No and no, actually -- ugly and raucous is more like it -- but they've got "Your New Favourite Band" written all over 'em. This Boston-via-Vermont foursome (or maybe threesome? MySpace is inconclusive) infuses thrill-crazed power-pop with the mad-noisy, chimp-like energy of juvie-hardened teenage degenerates. Their sound is all action -- trebly downstrokes, wobbly sci-fi synths, a clobbering rhythm section that sounds about to run off the rails but never does -- and their songs are as subtle as a felony. "Holden," the singer, sports a fake-Brit accent and frequently veers into a yawlpy falsetto which can make him seem (like that other Holden?) a Moddish cynic one second, the next a wild-eyed, basement-punk naif. If these YouTube clips are to be believed, maybe they're about to transform into a cross between Daughters and Brainiac? In any case, probably the best band in town you haven't heard of yet. Peruse the right-clickage above, then catch the band January 26 at O'Brien's.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
The first time you hear the OUTBURST's "New York Surprise," you'll wonder if this is it, the one: the absolute worst song you've ever heard. By the 20th time, you'll be singing the out-of-tune chorus -- "You fucking did it/I know you did it!" -- to everyone you meet. In just over a month, the Outburst, a trio of teenage Dropkick Murphys fans from Quincy, have gone from anonymous MySpace geeks to 2008's first big worldwide web meme. Someone posted "New York Surprise" on the Tony and Pals forum; a week and several message board threads later, the song was getting a thousand plays per day on MySpace, had been covered a dozen times (in styles ranging from polished pop-punk to screaming noise, trip-hop to hip-hop, blues to folk), and inspired its own fan-made YouTube video (see above). Is it Boston's answer to "Chocolate Rain"? Maybe, but it's also a 21st-century heir to the ourve of the Germs, the Shaggs, and Crypt Records obscurities the Rats: these kids can't play to save their lives, but their sloppy, vindictive, unvarnished abandon is one of the most unbelivable music for your ears beautiful noises you'll hear all year.
LISTEN: The Outburst, "New York Surprise" (MySpace)
DOWNLOAD: Ryan McGinty "New York Surprise" (mp3) [Pop-punk]
DOWNLOAD: Countess of Persia, "New York Surprise" (mp3) [Nick Drake-y folk]
DOWNLOAD: Dropkick Skully Rich, "New York Surprise" (mp3) [Oi!]
DOWNLOAD: Unfuckwithable, "New York Surprise (80s Rap Version)" (mp3)
DOWNLOAD: Lusty Ghost, "New York Surprise" (mp3) [talkboxy videogame dub]
DOWNLOAD: Daniel Wholey, "New York Surprise (Downtempo Disco Dub)" (mp3)
DOWNLOAD: Evan Parker & the Sex Hallways, "New York Surprise" (mp3) [Indie-folk]
DOWNLOAD: Lucas Lewis, "New York Surprise" (mp3) [trip-hop]
DOWNLOAD: Jon Howard, "New York Surprise" (mp3) [screamo]
DOWNLOAD: The Rog, "New York Surprise (Acoustic)" (mp3) [Folk]
DOWNLOAD: N.U.N.N., "New York Surprise" (mp3) [Piano glee-clubbery]
If you know a better one, plz post in comments. Also: Someone plz make a better t-shirt than this one.
UPDATE: In the Bridge9 board thread devoted to "New York Surprise," it appears someone has finally solved the "sex hallway"/"six hallway" riddle. A member of the Outburst is quoted thusly: "Sixth hallway. its a hallway at north quincy high school that was closed off because there was no real need for it but kids go down it and smoke and have sex and shit during school."
Friday, January 04, 2008
DOWNLOAD: The Patrons, "Don't Need Your Lovin' Anymore" (mp3)
Since releasing their 2006 debut All That Is Tied (Raggmopp), local alt-country dudes THE PATRONS have gotten . . . drunker. At least that's the first impression after a quick spin through their new Smoke After Smoke (Confab). The Patrons have an ecumenical approach to country-rock: from Gram Parsons (natch) to Doug Sahm, the Band, the Stones (cf. "Dead Flowers"), and Solomon Burke. Mostly they like clean, pretty shuffles, but on "Don't Need Your Lovin’' Anymore," they stumble — with precise idiomatic Telecaster detail and a determined, lurching beat as singer Ryan Barrett ("doing his best Slim Harpo," according to Patron Jonah Kraut) sings the all-too-familiar tragi-comic tale, showing up at the dance a little worse for wear, running into an old flame, insisting he's over her, but wanting to take that one last dance.
DOWNLOAD: Andre Obin, "Premonition" (mp3)
First things first: there's still an ampersand connecting Matters & Dunaway. Last year the storied Boston micro-electro duo unveiled a macro-sized album on which they sounded like space-rock visionaries. But M&D's ANDRE OBIN has spent the past few months working his way back to techno on a batch of solo tracks that will be released next year on Ghostly International's new Moodgadget imprint. On "Premonition," Obin’s yearning vocals echo out over canyons of flangy filter sweep, with tightly arpeggiated synth lines streaking off to the horizon: a perfect sound for old years bleeding into new ones. There may be live performances soon, but at press time Obin’s only confirmed solo gig was in Germany. In the meantime, friend him at MySpace.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Reeeeee-wind: this is where we scour our back catalogue and rate our favorite-of-favorites from the tracks we debuted this year. We've mixed in mp3-of-the-weeks with a bunch of the live sessions we recorded, and thrown a few videos into the mix . . . including at least a few that we forgot to mention. (Also check out the best of thephoenix.tv over at the Phlog.)
1. Drug Rug, "Tiny People" (mp3). In our neck of the office, these guys were the breakout Boston band of the year. Our new year's resolution is to get their unbelievable live show on tape before March.
2. Queens of the Stone Age, "In the Fade (Live)" (mp3 and video). Josh Homme, unplugged? You've got to see it to believe it.
3. Medicated Kisses, "Wolf Among Lilacs" (mp3). Our pick for the breakout Boston band of 2008: imagine Beth Ditto belting Paramore-sized emo-pop hooks and you've got an idea of what this grrrl-fronted R&B/punk group is capable of.
4. Tegan and Sara, "Back in Your Head (Live)" (mp3 and video). The sisters' acoustic session at First Act ruined The Con for us, since now we can't help but thinking of these arrangements as the "real" versions of the songs. Way better than the new-wave studio versions.
5. Peter Bjorn and John, "Young Folks (Live)" (mp3). Exclusive unplugged edition: awesome, but they need to get that whistle part on DAT or something.
6. Brand New, "Oh Comely (Live, Neutral Milk Hotel Cover)" (mp3). Definitely one of the highlights of the First Act sessions this year: Jesse Lacey stopped by and played for about 45 minutes, whipping out old shit, new shit, long stories, an Iron and Wine cover, and then this: a spot-on, note-for-note version of our all-time-favorite NMH song.
7. My Brightest Diamond, "It's Over (Roy Orbison Cover, Live at the Museum of Fine Arts)" (video). We just dragged this out of the vaults last week: from November, MBD's stunning MFA show. The power-trio format felt like early-80s post-punk -- jagged, scraping guitars; sick drummer; dub bassist. Way louder, and far more visceral, than you'd expect from her records -- and yes, she's still singing like some Martian opera queen.
8. Sprained Ankles, "Randy the Rock and Roll Pizza Wolf" (mp3). Fast food, B-movie monsters, and rock and roll: It's been too long since we had a band like this in town. All hail junk-food garage punk.
9. Rilo Kiley, "Close Call (Live)" (video). See Tegan & Sara: another case where the stripped-down versions came off way prettier than the studio recordings. We recorded these versions live at First Act on Boylston Street back in September.
10. Organ Beats, "Dan Gilbert" (mp3). Damone's Noelle LeBlanc finally got around to putting out her solo album -- and, not surprising to anyone who knows her but perhaps a bit of a shock to Damone fans, it's low-fi, psych-folkish, experimental, and morbidly beautiful in places. This was merely our favorite melody, but if you can dig up the CD-R, there's a lot more to it than pretty songs.
11. Spoon, "Black Like Me (Live)" (video). Britt and his dudes played a short, sweet three-song set for us live at First Act -- unplugged, but only barely.
12. Say Anything, "People Like You Are the Reason People Like Me Exist (Live)" (video). From last summer's Best Music Poll concert, when Mr. Bemis and co were already previewing tunes from their double-disc opus. Bonus track: from earlier this year, "Alive With the Glory Of Love (Unplugged at First Act)" (mp3)
13. Shepherdess, "Not Gonna Be There Now" (mp3). Former Fuzzy/Count Me Outs singer/guitarist Hilken Mancini stepping out as frontwoman: about time.
14. Come, "Hurricane (Live at the Middle East)" (video). Reunion of the year? We love Dinosaur, Sebadoh, Burma, and the Lemonheads as much as the next dude who graduated from college in the '90s, but this one-night-only surprise was kick-in-the-balls nasty. The pre-eminent shoulda-been-huge end-of-the-century indie-rock band, right here: if they'd re-released this song in 2007, Brokaw and Zedek would be king and queen of the Bitchfork prom.
15. Arctic Monkeys, "Bakery" (mp3). When the Monkeys stopped by Cambridge's New Alliance studios to play this exclusive acoustic set for us, this track hadn't even come out as a b-side yet. Before you consign them to the dustbin-of-NME-hype, check out what they sound like when they're not trying to out-clever themselves.
16. Tulsa, "Fill Her In" (mp3). Carter Tanton's ever-morphing solo project keeps transmogrifying into better and better incarnations, picking up blazing national acclaim with each iteration.
17. Deadly Sins, "Unpaid Bills" (mp3). Dropkick Murphys lass meets Black Flag-loving gutterpunx; candy-cane-sweet pop punk (in the manner of Crimpshrine and early Jawbreaker) ensues.
18. Noel Heroux, "I Don't Want To Get Over You (Magnetic Fields cover)" (mp3). By now you're surely on your eleventh or so listen to Mag Fields' leaked Distortion and fingering your tix to their Valentine's Day show at the Somerville Theater. Here, Hooray for Earth's frontman angled for pole position on the opening slot with a maximum-distortion run-through of one of our favorite Merritt classics.
19. Dead Trees, "Shelter" (mp3). That'd be shelter of the "gimme" variety, as former Pavement-worshipping Cape kids transmogrified into shambolic, Stones-signifying rockists . . . who then left town at the peak of their prowess. Damn, dudes.
20. Clouds, "New Amnesia" (mp3). The last time we saw these guys, they got so worked up that one of 'em puked onstage. We always had Adam McGrath pegged as the quiet one in Cave-In -- a position for which he had stiff competition -- but that got throroughly blown out the door when he came blitzkrieging out of the stocks with the balls-deepest, boogie-metalest album of any Cave In alumnus. Rock and roll, no control.
21. Matters & Dunaway, "Control the Night" (mp3). Micro-techno goes macro, and the drum machines take back seats to human rhythm sections -- the last people on earth we expected to join the stories ranks of Boston space-rockers would've been this niche-market duo, who were far better known in, say, Belgium than they were in the Back Bay. But this track had us reaching back for our old Lockgroove tapes in a search for the last time local dudes got this far gone.
22. Wheat, "Move=Move" (mp3). Severely slept on since they've gone innocuous, but we predict that eventually they'll have cult followings and message-board threads as long as Squeeze's. The only question is whether that'll be 20 years from now or in time for their next album.
23. Magic People, "Laundry Night" (mp3). That girl: the one in the basement you run into every week when you're Cloroxing the skid marks out of your boyshorts. She's almost as big a headcase as you, Magic Person.
24. UV Protection, "Space Elevator" (mp3). We were pretty sure that UV Pro couldn't get any more perfect than their last album, until we saw Karen getting apeshit at the DJ Assault show. C440r dudes: UV Pro Ghettotech remix, soon, plz. Thx. Until then: this.
25. Pet Genius, "Mother Fucker" (mp3). Steve Brodsky in grunge-outlaw mode, making some of his most weirdly accessible music since Cave In.
26. Brain Failure & Dicky Barrett, Coming Down To Beijing" (mp3). Answer song to Dropkick Murphys' "Coming Down To Boston" gets outsourced to mainland China, with once-and-future Bosstone playing figurative second fiddle.
27. Bloc Party, "I Still Remember (Live)" (mp3). The intimate-club version, as Mr. Collipark would call it.
28. Silversun Pickups, "Lazy Eye (Live)" (mp3). Similarity #1,094,236 between Silversun Pickups and Smashing Pumpkins: the acoustic versions are as good as the electric versions. And in this case, closer to the original version, since their hit started out as a much slower, longer affair.
29. Oxbow, "Down a Stair, Backward" (mp3). We just saw that Eugene is coming back to town to read from his fantastic Fight: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Ass-Kicking but Were Afraid You'd Get Your Ass Kicked For Asking. In case you didn't read it, James Parker elaborated on Eug (the Norman Mailer of Bouncer Lit) here.
30. Plain White T's, "Hey There Delilah" (mp3). Actually, we were sick of this song before we even heard it. But there are 13 year olds who need this in their life. So here it is, quiet-like, from the exclusive live session they did for us at First Act.
31. Tanya Donnelly & Girl Authority, "This is My Day" (mp3). Also for the kids: Belly/Throwing Muses mama Tanya hooks up with Rounder's answer to Kidz Bop for grrrl-powered tweenpop goodness.
32. Hats and Glasses, "Andrew" (mp3). Oddly catchy, genre-agnostic rock song matches all the requisite indie talking points. Deadpan Lou Reed-ish singer? Check. Obliquely personal lyrics? Check. Ambitiously evasive hit-and-run backing band? Yezzir. All of the preceding signifying that we know next to nothing about them but wouldn't be surprised if they showed up opening for an Arcade Fire tour or something.
33. Cold War Kids, "Hospital Beds (Live)" (mp3). The hit, as it were, from the set they played for us at First Act.
33 1/3: Aberdeen City, "Moving In Stereo (Cars Cover)" (mp3). From a charity CD, a rare stream-only treat that we never got around to posting as a download.
Monday, December 17, 2007
DOWNLOAD: Ron Gill, "All Is Fair In Love/Seems So Long" [mp3]
Jazz singer Ron Gill brought uncommon interpretive insight to an under-recognized genius on The Songs of Billy Strayhorn a few seasons back. Now he's turned his attention to a less obviously jazzy songwriter, Stevie Wonder. Gill's "Wonders of Wonder" program at the Regattabar in October 2006 knocked out his old friend Jon Marable, who offered to write new arrangements. A demo that Gill has been handing out offers a taste of the results. Marable's medley of "All Is Fair in Love" and "Seems So Long" shows Gill bringing his typical intelligence, warmth, and humor to this ballad/swing pairing, making classic contemporary pop sound like jazz standards. Look for Gill to be doing a "Black Composers" program February 26 on WGBH's Eric in the Evening and at a club to be announced.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Eli Reed: Soul Brother Number One
DOWNLOAD: Eli "Paperboy" Reed, "The Satisfier" [mp3]
Even after tough woodshedding at Delta Blues Ground Zero -- Clarksdale, Mississippi, playing juke joints and the like -- and then further work in Chicago, running a weekly radio show and playing in a Southside holiness church, Eli "Paperboy" Reed suffered his detractors (including some at this very newspaper). But the truth is in the grooves. The kid from Brookline, now 24, is getting ready to release his second album, Roll with You, due March 8 from Q Division. On "The Satisfier," you can hear the sound that's bulldozed skeptics: the grit-and-groove from Eli's backing band the True Loves — dirty guitar, in-the-pocket rhythm section, goosy organ, rocking call-and-response horns, and female backing vocals that out-Ronson Mark Ronson — plus Eli's own testifying vocals, which smash-and-grab some of the hallmarks of house-wrecking '50s soul, including James Brown's almighty, mic-destorying "Please Please Please" scream. If half the insane rumors we hear about Eli's music future are true, then we think we know who the next Amy Winehouse is gonna be. Download the mp3, then catch the band along with Grace Potter and the Nocturnals tonight (Thursday the 6th) at the Paradise.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Paramore, "Crushcrushcrush" (Live in Boston, 11/24/2007) Paramore, "Pressure" (Live in Boston, 11/24/2007) Paramore, "Misery Business" (Live in Boston, 11/24/2007)
We were way late to the Paramore bandwagon, and only picked up on them a few weeks before Riot! hit stores this year, but for shit's sake, you knew we were gonna love this band: shamelessly pop, adorable teenage girl singer, and a hit song that bounds onto Top 40 radio despite being a) complicated, b) sung by a girl in a rock band who's not Avril Lavigne, and c) a song that casually smashes to smithereens a host of stereotypes about what nice girls are supposed to sing about. Emo's currency is misery, sure, but in "Misery Business" Hayley's selling pleasure: the guilty pleasure of stealing some douchebag's boyfriend, for one, but mainly it's about the sheer pleasure of singing for/about pleasure -- that "feeels soooooo gooooooooood" in the bridge might be 2007's most joyful moment on record.
We'd been lobbying our sister station WFNX to add "Misery Business" for months, never dreaming that they actually would -- in what we can only assume was a desperate bid to get OTD to quit badgering them about it already. Truth be told, we didn't care so much about hearing Paramore on the radio -- we just wanted to get them to come play one of FNX's secret shows and then film it. Which, unbelievably, is exactly what happened.
So: Everyone else in the office (except Mike Awesome, who pressed play on camera two) is embarassed by our love of this band. Fuck 'em. The kids are alright. One of the things we love about emo that everyone else seems to hate is that it keeps bringing better and better singers back to rock and roll from all the other places they can find work these days -- 20 years ago a girl with a voice like Hayley's wouldn't have been caught dead in a punk band, and 10 years ago she'd have been in, what, Dream or Sugababes or something. Don't get us wrong: this is a girl who can hold her own. She led singalongs like the all-ages-circuit pro she already is, took questions from the audience on the big topics (bananas or cheese? Michael Jackson or Mr. Rogers?), and from a few behind the scenes glimpses we're convinced that this girl is running her own shop: she's the one managing tempo problems and shushing the drummer, at least. Which is usually the boss's work, if we remember correctly.
WATCH: Paramore, Interview [video on YouTube or imeem]
DOWNLOAD: Paramore, CrushCrushCrush (Live in Boston 11/24/2007) [mp3]
DOWNLOAD: Paramore, Pressure (Live in Boston 11/24/2007) [mp3]
DOWNLOAD: Paramore, Misery Business (Live in Boston 11/24/2007) [mp3]
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Foreground: Yoni. Background: the national phallus.
DOWNLOAD: Yoni Gordon and the Goods, "Buried in the Basement" [mp3]
Remember when Brett Rosenberg's first record came out and you thought he might be the next Ted Leo? Remember how wrong you were? Are you ready to play this game again? Because here comes Yoni Gordon, another cocky little prick with an album's worth of songs that're twice as smart as they need to be and catchier than the clap. "Buried in the Basement" sounds like someone welded the gilded cynicism/postgrad pop smarts of Elvis Costello to Jeff Mangum's bleeding heart, with a bonus crazed-dub outro. Download above, then catch the band November 19 at O'Brien's in Allston.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
 Spottiswoode & His Enemies
Spouse
It’s unclear, from this vantage point at least, precisely to whom the proper noun in the band Spottiswoode & His Enemies refers.
Is it Roger Spottiswoode, the director of Turner and Hooch and Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot? Or is it 17th century Scottish Archbishop John Spottiswoode, or 19th century English mathematician/physicist William Spottiswoode, or perhaps Victoria Cross-winner William Spottiswoode Trevor, a major in the Bengal Engineers who fought valorously during the 1864-1865 Bhutan War, vanquishing 200 barricaded enemy soldiers all while greatly outmatched?
Occam’s razor would suggest it’s probably the band's leader, Jonathan Spottiswoode, an English expat poet living in New York who’s been making music of soulful, shambling grandeur for a decade.
Spottiswoode’s is a moony, crooning voice (not unlike Damon Albarn’s), dripping with wasted elegance. His lyrics are witty and well-turned, dwelling on life and love and sun and rain and occasionally — witness the captivating “Sailing To Byzantium (Passchendaele 1917, A Dying Soldier's Dream)” — on rococo pseudo-history.
He’s aided and abetted by his purported enemies, a supple and subtle ensemble band that flits easily between jazz, soul, folk, and rock. With trumpets and tricky time signatures, with accordions and Wurlitzers and glockenspiels, they recall at various times the smoke-cured continental suavity of Serge Gainsbourg, the latter-day ethno-eclecticism of the Pogues, the turbid moodiness of the Bad Seeds, and the besotted, be-suited croak of a guy like Tom Waits.
With their solid discography and a dynamic stage show, this is one band that should be listened to more than they are. You’ll get your chance on Wednesday night at TT the Bear’s Place, as they celebrate their tenth anniversary and the release of their forthcoming Salvation (New Warsaw).
Joining them will be their friends Spouse, the excellent Northampton indie band, who’ve been churning out infectious, angular guitar hooks since 1995 (when this writer got to know them up at Bowdoin College). Frontman and chief songwriter José Ayerve — who some might recognize from occasional guest stints with the Pernice Brothers — is the linchpin of a lineup that’s been shifting every so often over the past several years, but the band’s punchy, plangent Pixies/Pavement power pop has remained nonpareil, even as they’ve been dipping lately into a more expansive sonic palate.
DOWNLOAD: Spottiswoode and His Enemies, Sailing To Byzantium (Passchendaele 1917, A Dying Soldier's Dream) [mp3]
DOWNLOAD: Spouse, It = Love [mp3]
Thursday, November 08, 2007
DOWNLOAD: A.K.A.C.O.D., "Spanish Fly" [mp3]
The comparisons of A.K.A.C.O.D with Morphine are obvious: the "low rock" groove of sax, slide bass, and drums, the presence of Morphine saxman Dana Colley as player, producer, and songwriter. But that would discount singer/bassist Monique Ortiz's own distinctive songwriting chops, macho-woman deep alto vocals, and frank sexuality. With Larry Dersch on drums, A.K.A.C.O.D. ("also known as Colley/Ortiz/Dersch") are working their new Happiness, which mixes Morphine sexbeat and Sabbathy distorted stomps. "Spanish Fly" snaps heads with its insinuating bari-bass-tubs groove and out-of-the-gate rhyme on the word "masturbate." Grab the mp3 above, then catch the band November 24 at Atwood's; or December 6 at Church.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Spoon, Don't Make Me A Target (Live in Boston)
Spoon, Underdog (Live in Boston)
Spoon, Black Like Me (Live in Boston)
Here, in its entirety, is the set Spoon played to a roomful of about 30 WFNX listeners and friends-of-OTD last week at First Act, prior to their big shew at the Roxy. By now everyone knows the single, but if you listen to only one of these we highly recommend "Black Like Me," which kills and feels like the "What Goes Around" to Underdog's "Sexy Back." Also, we guarantee you've never heard "Target" played exactly this way. Nor are you likely to again.
Random fact we learned: the Boston-based company that does Spoon's website (also Madonna's, Mike Jones's, and ASHLEY TISDALE's) employs, among others, Certainly, Sir's Nick Hubben and a couple dudes from Dear Leader. Sweet!
And as bonus tracks, here's the mp3s from the above set:
DOWNLOAD: Spoon, "Don't Call Me a Target (OTD Alive)" (mp3)
DOWNLOAD: Spoon, "Underdog (OTD Alive)" (mp3)
DOWNLOAD: Spoon, "Black Like Me (OTD Alive)" (mp3)
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