Thursday, May 31, 2007
VIDEO: Hooray for Earth cover Justin Timberlake's "My Love"
Mp3 of the week will not be seen today, so that we can bring you something that's more fun than compressed audio. Namely: compressed video!
There's no shortage of Justin Timberlake covers in the world, but we're partial to this reimagining of "My Love" by Boston's HOORAY FOR EARTH, who filmed this live version during a sweat-soaked late-night barbecue at Austin's South by Southwest. Frontman Noel Heroux gets extra credit for programming those trance synth patches instead of sampling them, and the group's trademark baritone guitar crunch elevates this to Local-H-covering-"Toxic"-grade goodness.
ADDENDUM: We forgot to mention that the dude howling the breakdown is Ted from Age Rings. And also, HFE chimes in with this to their email list: "Please do not take this video seriously!" No problem.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Truth be told, out of all this we're most psyched about Merle Haggard coming to town in September. But feel free to register opposing views, or Ryan Adams setlists, in the comments.
Ryan Adams
At the Somerville Theatre
Friday, June 29, 2007 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $36.00
On-sale Friday, June 1, 2007 at 10:00 am
Travis
At the Bank of America Pavilion
Thursday, July 12, 2007 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $25.00 and $30.00*
*plus $5.00 venue charge and applicable fees
On-sale Monday, June 4, 2007 at NOON
Chris Cornell
At the Bank of America Pavilion
Tuesday, July 24, 2007 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $25.00 and $35.00*
*plus $5.00 venue charge and applicable fees
On-sale Monday, June 4, 2007 at 10:00 am
Lucinda Williams
At the Bank of America Pavilion
Thursday, July 26, 2007 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $25.00, $30.00 and $35.00*
*plus $5.00 venue charge and applicable fees
On-sale Monday, June 4, 2007 at 10:00 am
Marilyn Manson and Slayer
At the DCU Center
Saturday, August 4, 2007 at 7:00 pm
Tickets are $29.75, $39.75 and $50.00
On-sale Saturday, June 2, 2007 at 10:00 am
Nickel Creek with Fiona Apple
At the Bank of America Pavilion
Friday, August 17, 2007 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $20.00 and $30.00*
*plus $5.00 venue charge and applicable fees
On-sale Monday, June 4, 2007 at 10:00 am
Last of the Breed Tour: Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Ray Price
At the Bank of America Pavilion
Tuesday, September 4, 2007 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $35.00, $50.00 and $60.00*
*plus $5.00 venue charge and applicable fees
Tickets go on-sale Monday, June 4, 2007 at 10:00 am
The Police with Fiction Plane
At the TD Banknorth Garden
Sunday, November 11, 2007 at 8:30 pm
Tickets are $227.50, $97.50 and $57.50
On-sale Monday, June 4, 2007 at 10:00 am
GOING:
"Throwed"
Tuesday May 29 at the Middle East, Cambridge
9 pm
Just a friendly reminder that the monthly THROWED thingamajawn is tonight, with lots of our favorite peoples: recent Boston transplant Chris Devlin (of Spank Rock fame), resident DJ E-Marce, and Cave In guitarist Adam McGrath's gargantuan metal band CLOUDS. Runaway sons of the nuclear a-bomb, all. As if you needed more carrots, E-Marce sent along his recently-Palms-Out-Sounds'ed rework of that awesome Pase Rock/Amanda Blank tune that you've been jerking off in the shower to for the past couple months. We haven't been on the blogs for a while, so we have no idea when Amanda's solo record is coming out or if there even is one (she's still signed to Warners or something, right?), but for fuck's sake, more more more please.
DOWNLOAD: Pase Rock feat. Amanda Blank, "Sexy MF (E-Marce's Fuckin' in the Shower Edit)" (mp3)
DOWNLOAD: Clouds, "New Amnesia" (mp3)
Thursday, May 24, 2007
When he's not destroying parties as half of the Certified Bananas crew, DJ P. Nice mans the decks for the Providence party-funk trio Miss Fairchild, alongside this little dude who sings like Prince and this big dude who plays the flute. Trust us, it's genius. Combining both talents, P. Nice has just dropped the preview Miss Fairchild mixtape, which spins four new tracks into the hot old-school shit by Tony Toni Tone and Morris Day. Grab it now, then get over to Harpers Ferry tonight to catch them with OTD faves UV Protection.
DOWNLOAD: Miss Fairchild mixtape (registration required)
If you're like us, you probably assumed that DJ AM's frequent appearance in the tabloids, on the arms of various Hollywood starlets, meant that he must be some kind of LA hack, or maybe a mashupping cheezeball or something. So consider our brains thoroughly mangled by this absurdly focused set, which bops from bloghouse to b-more to party rap and back. Seriously, this is life-changing, bar-raising type shit. Step your game up:
DOWNLOAD: DJ AM, Live at Banansplit (mp3)
More fire:
 
DOWNLOAD: DJ Benzi & Lil Wayne, "None Higher" Mixtape (mp3)
DOWNLOAD: DJ Smallz & B.O.B., "Cloud 9 Mixtape" (mp3)
DOWNLOAD: Caps N Jones N Professor Murder, "Mixed Tape" (mp3)
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Following track comes from the Arctic Monkeys' acoustic session for WFNX, recorded right before their Avalon show over at New Alliance studios in Central Square -- huuuuuuuge ginormous thanks to Alvan, Ethan, Nick Z, and the rest of the New Alliance dudes for hooking this shit up and doing a fucking awesome job. Pretty certain this is the first time we've had a session to put up that's been properly mastered, and you can tell. Even better, the Monkeys dragged out a song that hasn't been released yet: "Bakery," due as a b-side to the "Fluorescent Adolescent" single coming out in a few weeks.
DOWNLOAD: Arctic Monkeys, "Bakery (Live on WFNX)" (mp3)
>> More arctic monkeys live on fnx here
>> Matt Ashare hangs out with the monkeys
Monday, May 21, 2007
One of America's unsexiest men, and one of the world's unlikeliest rap sensations, together at last. You've gotta register for some website to get in, but it's free, and it's Wednesday. Holler.
Friday, May 18, 2007
DOWNLOAD: Shepherdess, "Not Gonna Be There Now" (mp3)
For reasons that aren't entirely musical, Hilken Mancini was our favorite member of Fuzzy. Chris Toppin was technically the better singer, but Hilken was the one with the squeaky voice, the messy guitar, and the skintight jumpsuits. The one, obviously, who stood out. Since Fuzzy, she's often ended up undeservedly playing second fiddle (garage-punk with the Count Me Outs, indie-folk with Buffalo Tom's Chris Colburn, DIY jane fonda in Punk Rock Aerobics). But in Shepherdess she's front-and-center, fusing her underappreciated knack for heart-destroying melodies with moody, soul-jarring bursts of magical noise. (Think Mary Timony, minus the unicorns.) This band, with the Count Me Outs rhythm section and the Operators' Emily Arkin on strings and samples, might be her best yet. And the songs, especially this one and the meaner "Green Seat," (<-- right-click, save-as) will rip your guts out.
Don't miss: the CD-release party tonight at the Plough with Cave-In's Steve Brodsky, Phoenix contributor and Pipeline host and now musical recording artist Jeff Breeze, Mission of Burma's Clint Conley, and frequent Burma lyricist Holly Anderson's duo New Randy.
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL:
DOWNLOAD: Shepherdess, "Faith" (mp3)
DOWNLOAD: Hilken Mancini and Chris Colburn, "Party Town" (m4v video)
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
UNDER BYEN
July 15 downstairs at the Middle East, Cambridge
$10; on sale Friday at 10 am
617.931.2000
BLANKS 77
July 29 upstairs at the Middle East, Cambridge
$9; on sale Friday at 10 am
617.931.2000
AQUABATS
August 25 at Avalon, Boston
$15.25; on sale Friday at 10 am
617.931.2000
STEVE VAI
October 4 at the Berklee Performance Center, Boston
$25 + $35; on sale Friday at 10 am
617.931.2000
POLYPHONIC SPREE
July 2 at Avalon, Boston
$18; on sale Saturday at 10 am
617.931.2000
311 + MATISYAHU + ENGLISH BEAT
July 29 at the Tweeter Center, Mansfield
$32 + $42; on sale Saturday at 10 am
617.931.2000
CROWDED HOUSE
August 5 at Bank of America Pavilion, Boston
$30-$50; on sale Saturday at 10 am
617.931.2000
"PROJEKT REVOLUTION" with LINKIN PARK + MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE + TAKING BACK SUNDAY + HIM
August 24 at the Tweeter Center, Mansfield
$31.50-$77; on sale Saturday at 10 am
617.931.2000
PAT GREEN
August 29 at Avalon, Boston
$17.50; on sale Saturday at 10 am
617.931.2000
PATTON OSWALT + JANEANE GAROFALO
June 23 at the Berklee Performance Center, Boston
$29.50 + $35; 617.931.2000
BESNARD LAKES
July 12 at T.T. the Bear’s Place, Cambridge
$10; www.ticketweb.com
JESSE MALIN
July 18 at T.T. the Bear’s Place, Cambridge
$10; www.ticketweb.com
DETROIT COBRAS + DAN SARTAIN + WILLOWZ
July 20 at T.T. the Bear’s Place, Cambridge
$14; www.ticketweb.com
(Tia made the pilgrimage to the OTD compound in Pittsburgh for Mom's Day and returned with the following dispatch)
Girl Talk at Mr. Smalls: holy balls was that the single most amazing event I've ever seen in Pittsburgh. My memories of show-goers in Pittsburgh were permanently scarred back when I saw Radiohead on the OK Computer tour in '97 with Teenage Fanclub at Metropol, this place in the strip district. I even lurked around afterward and chatted up Ed O'Brien, and shook hands with Mr. Yorke himself. I was 16 and almost shit myself with excitement, but it never made up for the actual show experience: the crowd was so aggressively obnoxious that Thom Yorke not only stopped mid-song more than once to yell at everyone, but stormed offstage with the band in tow after, like, a 40 minute set when they were playing upwards of 90 minute sets elsewhere.
The Girl Talk shit officially has redeemed the 'Burgh for me. This place Mr. Smalls is a short drive out of the city, is about the size of the Middle East Downstairs (650 capacity), it's got bar area sectioned off in the back for 21+, the rest of the floor space taken over by cigarette-smoking underagers. And it's a converted theater so its got like 40 foot ceilings and a massive stage. Apparently its part of this whole complex within this huge church where they have recording studios, a skatepark, a "Rock hostel for Artist housing" and "In-House Talent Buying and Production Departments" ... whatever that is. I've got major venue envy love for this place.
Once it was clear Girl Talk was about to take the stage, kids started disrobing, and actually warming up with some practice dance moves. A brief "Let's Go Steelers" chant dissipated as Girl Talk came on stage, and immediately as he took to his laptop, kids started streaming onto the stage, about 30 of 'em, and stayed up there for the next hour, and along with the rest of the sold out all-ages crowd, freakout dance attacked each other Pittsburgh pride style. (Suggested drinking game: pound an IC Light every time you see a Terrible Towel in these photos -- OTD.) The crowd was so bumpingly sweatfilled that they had the venue's security dudes spraying everyone down with perforated water bottles. Never felt so proud to have lived in the 'Burgh for sure. And as epic as ever, GT ends his set with his trademarked Scentless Apprentice cover, jumping down into the crowd only to end the song, raised up by his fans into a crowd surf, in nothing but skivvies, screaming into the microphone. Fuuuuuuck.
Not quite the same, but here's some footage ...
Friday, May 11, 2007
           Arcade Fire May 10 at Avalon Photos: Carina Mastrocola Despite what Kelefa says, Arcade Fire have set out to be rock-and-roll saviors -- and no, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Compared to Modest Mouse's insipid fart of a set at the Orpheum a couple weeks ago, AF's show in the same room last night was a revelation. [Check back Monday for a full review.] Setlist: Black Mirror No Cars Go Haiti Neighborhood #2 (Laika) In the Backseat My Body Is a Cage Windowsill The Well and the Lighthouse Ocean of Noise Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) Antichrist Television Blues Keep the Car Running Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) Rebellion (lies) ----- Encore 1: Intervention ----- Encore 2: Neon Bible
5/11/2007 5:37:26 PM by Will | |
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Pretty stoked about the Arctic Monkeys show this weekend, would be even more stoked if it wasn't happening on Mothers' Day -- or if we didn't have baby-mamas who don't really want to hear us whine please please please let us go hang with the Guns N Roses of Britpunk. Be that as it may, stay tuned next week for the full-court press: interviews, live mpfrees, photos, and more. Until then, we've got three copies of the "Brianstorm" 12-inch to give away. Everybody already knows the title track, an odd choice for summer single what with the Megadethy guitars and the Halloweeny chorus, but you know we rock that kind of shit all year in these parts. We're only giving this to people who can actually play the vinyl, so the first three people to post the make and model number of their turntable in the comments section will get a copy. Remember to use your real email so we can get at you.
TRACKLIST:
1. If you found this it's probably too late
2. Brianstorm
3. Temptation greets you like your naughty friend
4. What if you were right the first time?
DOWNLOAD: Crystal Understanding, "Power Feelings" (mp3)
We have a general rule: hippies and sequencers don't mix. But, as blog nerds have discovered via the already-web-famous track "World with No Windows," Crystal Understanding’s Aaron and Sonya have become a weird, sweet exception. The duo is aligned with the local shit-pop cabal Compound 440r, and like most C440r groups it forsakes (sez their bio) "the usual trappings of rockitude, replacing guitars and basses with handmade claves, computerized beats, and power feelings." Power feelings! For what it’s worth, CU rhymes with VU, and depending on how much hash you smoke, you might come to theorize that their DIY electro steez shares more conceptual turf with no-wave and new age (no-age?) than with your average retard-disco knockoff. Paper Rad's Jacob Ciocci designed the cover of CU's new Hold the Gem, and CU's music offers kind of sonic rhyme to Paper Rad's design philosophy: to wit, a proto-psychedelic digitalia that finds in raw primitivism the pulsating elements of supernatural euphoria. Thanks to Campaign for Real Time/We Are Cassette synth wizard MicL Ptvn, "Power Feelings" has just enough polish to keep from spoiling the cumulative hypnotic effect of Casio presets, boy-girl vox, and shamanistic intentions.
CD Release party not to be missed: Saturday night at the Ark, accompanied by Zombies with Attitude and DJ Mark E. Moon. Info here.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
The White Stripes at the Agganis Arena at Boston University
Monday, July 23, 2007 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $46.00
On -sale Friday, May 11, 2007 at 10:00 am
Kelly Clarkson at the TD Banknorth Garden
Saturday, August 4, 2007 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $39.50, $59.50 and $79.50
On-sale Saturday, May 12, 2007 at 10:00 am
Nickelback, Staind, and Daughtry
At the Tweeter Center
Friday, July 13, 2007 at 7:00 pm
Tickets are $28.00, $39.50, $49.50 and $58.00
plus $7.00 venue charge and applicable convenience fees
On-sale Friday, May 11, 2007 at 4:00 pm
The Psychedelic Furs, The Fixx, and the Alarm at Avalon
Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at 8:00 pm
Tickets are $29.00
On-sale Friday, May 11, 2007 at 10:00 am
Patton Oswalt and Janeane Garofalo at the Somerville Theatre
Saturday, June 23, 2007 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $35.00
On-sale Saturday, May 12, 2007 at 12:00 NOON
Bill Maher at the Berklee Performance Center
Friday, July 20, 2007 and Saturday, July 21, 2007 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $49.50, $55.00.
On-sale Friday, May 11, 2007 at 10:00 am
Amy Winehouse
at Avalon
May 7, 2007
Photos: Kelly Davidson
Screamin' Jay Hawkins always maintained that "I Put a Spell on You" was the product of a plastered night in the studio, but if so he was one motherfucking miracle of a drunk. He was a frustrated opera singer, and even on "Spell" he had the elocution of a baptist -- that is, when he wasn't howling like a jive voodoo priest. We've always wondered if he made up the drunk story to protect the part of his dignity that prized technique. Besides, even Screamin' Jay probably knew that the star of "I Put a Spell on You" was that infernal, inebriated baritone sax lick -- the song's actual drunken protagonist, belching and stuttering like a fat man stumbling cockeyed down the street.
Coming out of Avalon last night, Amy Winehouse's supporters weren't quite sure: was she really, really drunk or does she just always sing like that? Whatever the answer, what a weird gig. Outside, you've got competing radio-station SUVs: WFNX and Mix 98, which gives you a sense of what an odd bank-shot Winehouse's career requires. Anyone so inclined is welcome to argue the hype, since her live vocals bore so little resemblance to what she put on wax -- between her slurring and her cockney, that freakishly soulful rasp of hers barely got a note in edgewise. No matter what's in her cup, she's no Screamin' Jay. But for fuck's sake, the concept. We'd long ago given up on the idea that we'd ever see real-deal soul in the top 40, let alone a fully-staffed showband in the club. Credit Cee-Lo for bringing the scent of green back to R&B and for reminding people that 13 pieces will fit on a stage. And then join us in bowing before Mark Ronson for making the exact perfect connection between singer, backing band, and material. The sound of Back to Black -- those firecracker snares; that flatulent, busted-carburetor sax -- is just unfuckwithable, and it could only have been put together by someone who'd grasped the tenuous link between the DJ-friendly rare-groove marketplace and Daptone's modern soul revival. (If you had returned from the future and told us back then that Daptone would be on the goddamn radio, we'd have bet the mortgage you were lying.) There are probably not three people on earth who could've pulled it off as a pop record. As we yawned our way through Amy's set -- imagine, like, if they had a Diamanda Galas night on American Idol -- we wondered how long it will be before her label pulls her tour support and the band goes back to playing for connoisseurs. Even if Winehouse blows it, we hope Ronson has made his point about the stability and marketability of the music: Christina Aguilera's handlers would have to be deaf, dumb, and blind not to have her do this kind of material on her next record.
Also, someone let us know if we just imagined this: was that Amanda Palmer screaming "Show us your nuts!" at Patrick Wolf?
Monday, May 07, 2007
Jake Brennan: Pop-ed Idol
If we had Boston.com-type money to throw around, this is the kind of ponzi scheme we'd be proud to concoct: pay your local hardcore-folkie to compose, record, and film a video for an original song based on the news of the day -- every day. JAKE BRENNAN (ex-Cast Iron Hike, ex-Confidence Men) has a little time on his hands between record deals, so he cooked up the aforementioned concept, which he calls "Pop Ed" (it's a pun, see?), along with Handcranked Productions, as a way to pay the bills until someone picks up his solo album. (Until that happens, we'll be referring to Jake by a new nickname: what's up, CRONKITE?) In the meantime, the Boston.com folks have given Brennan a homepage, a blog, a shitload of bandwidth, one of those pricey Brightcove flash players (yes, we're jealous), and some nifty interactive tools that allow readers to help him write lyrics. And even if, as we suspect, he's being used as a lab-rat for the Globe's user-contributed video strategy -- take that, BostonNOW! -- it's still about five times smarter than anything else the Boston.commies sling at soccer moms on the rest of the site. Lightweight corporate synergists like OTD can only marvel at the marketing prowess of the Globe, which had the foresight to turn Jake's song-of-the-day into both an interactive empire and also an old-media promo horse, by running the song nightly on WBOS. Now -- if only our newspaper had a close working relationship with a radio station . . .
Up first, and embedded up above: Cronkite's take on a recent baseball headline.
VISIT: Jake Brennan's Pop Ed
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Au Revoir Simone
Fujiya and Miyagi
PB&J
Peter Bjorn and John
with Fujiya and Miyagi, and Au Revoir Simone
May 4 at the Paradise, Boston
Photos: Carina Mastrocola
[Check back next week for exclusive Peter Bjorn and John live mp3s]
Friday, May 04, 2007
Pimping her ride: Amanda prepares to part ways with a longtime friend
So we get this crazy email from a rap group that shall remain nameless, begging us not to blog about Amanda Palmer selling the Dresden Dolls' station wagon on ebay, because they were really hoping to land that ride. Pause, full stop. We motor over to eBay and check out the description of said car, a 1992 Volvo, 4-cylinder with automatic transmission and 168,000 miles on the bitch. "I bought this car in 1999," Amanda writes in the auction description. "I love this car. But its time to go car-free. I am a globe-trotting, plane-taking, train-taking motherf**ker. Plus my parents are getting irritated that the thing is sitting in their driveway. The poor car, all Sad and Alone. Ok, it wont start (which is why I ditched it there before the last tour) but I am guessing, in my most honest of estimates, that it doesn't need more than $500 of work to get it running and then it will be good for another life. volvos are SWEDISH and they are built to LAST. I know fellow-volvo owners who have driven theirs up to 250k. the deal is: you buy it, you tow it away (and probably see my parents, who will probably be nice to you and offer you a cup of coffee, and maybe see me and get a grateful hug as i bid a sad last farewell to my beloved car)."
While this particular heap was, in fact, briefly featured in the video of the Dolls killing tourmates Panic at the Disco, and is even immortalized in the lyrics to the Dolls' "Jeep Song," and contains (as Brian Viglione attests) "the very seat where Coin Operated Boy was conceived" (EWWWWW!), and has new rear brake pads and a new radiator, the vehicle has several potential problems with it, even if you get past the part about it not actually running:
"the back passenger door has a broken handle.
the cruise control does not work.
the radio is broken.
the glove compartment won't latch.
there are some cosmetic parts missing (like the hubcaps and the speaker covers)
but....it's WONDERFUL!!!!!! MAGNIFICENT!!!!"
To get back on topic: the rap group that shall remain nameless was asking us not to blog about this car because they wanted to buy it and take it on tour.
We told them that if we couldn't blog about it, they had better at least win the damn thing.
This morning, they emailed us back: IT WAS OUT OF THEIR PRICE RANGE. Current asking price for the won't-work Dresden Dolls Volvo: $2,130. Only partial consolation: Amanda's donating half the proceeds of the auction to MoveOn.org. Which didn't stop the rap group that shall remain nameless from turning up their noses. "I'm glad we lost out," said one of them. "I could not tour in a car haunted by ghosts of drama nurds."
Mark Twain: shook one?
DOWNLOAD: D-Tension, "Oprah and Russell Simmons Say I Can't Call You a Hoe so Please Fellate Me, You Lady Of The Evening" (mp3)
The irony has been widely noted: talk-show liberal bites the dust for making racist-jerk comments, but somehow the white conservative media finds a way to spin the blowback into an attack on rap lyrics. Inevitably, black moderates are forced to take sides. And while personally we might equivocate a little more and make some allowances for political pragmatism, Lowell's D-TENSION is just plain salty about this particular episode of intellectual black-on-black crime. He's also high-larious. It's a rare MC who can make good points as well as he plants laugh lines, but on this one D spins sense from nonsense, namechecking everyone from Mark Twain to Martin Scorcese as he delivers a joker's screed on "lyrical gentrification," political correctness, double standards, slippery slopes, free speech, and how "Oprah wants us all to sound like white guys." (And as certified white guys, we can't tell you how much this scares us.) As he puts it in the final verse, "there's always some asshole blaming it on the music." Amen.
D-Tension, of course, is a producer, FNX onair guy, veteran Boston indie-rap promoter, and one-half of the satirical hip-hop duo Los Wunder Twins Del Rap. "I'm a lousy freestyle battle rapper so I have to be careful who I make diss tracks about," he emailed us, with the above track attached. "In this case I am confident that I could roast Russell, Orpah and Al Sharpton in an MC battle so I ain't worried!"
 Don't be scared off by the absurd hype surrounding Peter Bjorn and John. (Yeah, that was a PB&J T-shirt Drew Barrymore was sporting during her last Saturday Night Live hosting gig, and the requisite remixes, by the likes of Diplo, Girl Talk, and Cousin Cole, have been blowing up the Internet for a few minutes now.) The Swedish trio's newest, Writer's Block (Almost Gold), is the real deal -- thoughtful, well-written, catchy-as-shit pop that's dangerously addictive. Both opening bands, Fujiya & Miyagi (a trio of krautrocking Brits, depsite the name) and Au Revoir Simone (Brooklyn's best all-female electro-pop trio named after a line in Pee-wee's Big Adventure), have quite the buzz behind them as well. It's a music-blog-nerd's wet dream at the Paradise tonight.
5/4/2007 1:15:57 PM by Will | |
Thursday, May 03, 2007
DOWNLOAD: Medicated Kisses, "A Wolf Among Lilacs" (mp3)
Now that Fall Out Boy gets played on Kiss 108, can we dispense with the church/state-like separation of Top 40 and rock and roll, and maybe just admit that the kids are ready to have their cake and eat it too? And why would we bring that shit up now? The debut EP by Boston's MEDICATED KISSES combines staggering pop hooks with the most full-bodied, soulful female voice to hit "punk" rock since Beth Ditto. Scenesters will cry mallpunk, but fuck 'em: if you're the type of person with room in your life for a band that combines the best aspects of, say, Panic at the Disco and TLC, well, meet your your new favorite band. Singer Alanna V.'s fanclub already includes the Dresden Dolls' Amanda Palmer, who calls the band "ass-kicking" and "the real deal." We second those emotions, and bring to the floor a motion to declare the Kisses Boston's next big thing. This week they're recording in Woodstock with the production team that got the best albums out of Coheed and Cambria and Straylight Run; on May 8 they'll be back for a gig in Allston at Harpers Ferry. For a dose of what you're in store for, check out rough YouTubage of a live performance of "Little Miss Nashua," which may explain why we've been likening Alanna to a female Glenn Danzig:
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Newburyport indie-folk vet (and ex-Phoenix tourblogger) Dylan Metrano has cobbled together yet another fantastic cast for the latest Tiger Saw disc, Tigers on Fire. Check the liner notes to figure out which parts Casey Dienel, Jason Anderson, and the Ponies in the Surf folks played. As Metrano tells Jeff Breeze in this week's fishwrap, their last album was about getting kids to sing along, and this one's about making people dance: "our basement soul record," as he puts it. You can click here to read the article, or if you're feeling all hi-tech and whatnot, you can download the mp3 below, drop it on your video iPod, and hit the center click wheel three times -- at which point you'll be able to read the entire article as you listen to the title track. Why? Because we were bored yesterday and weren't cool enough to film ourselves singing grunge hits of the '90s.
DOWNLOAD: Tiger Saw, "Tigers on Fire" (super-fancy mp3-plus-bonus-text thingamajawn)
The Cribs: "Men's Needs"
It's possible a few of you haven't seen the latest video from UK indie sensations the Cribs, in which the band performs its new single "Men's Needs" while trying to ignore the naked girl stumbling around the set, knocking over their gear and hacking off bandmates' limbs with an axe. Well, no more excuses. (Also, if you find yourself wondering exactly what's behind that little black rectangle, the lads over at NME have the uncensored dirty version for your streaming pleasure.)
As opening shots go, it's a pretty good idea of what to expect from the band's hotly-tipped album Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever, due out next month in the UK (preorder here) and a little further on here in the states. We can't leak it (erm, yet?) but we've got the next best thing: tickets to the Cribs' show at the Middle East tomorrow (Friday, May 4). To win a pair, be one of the first four people begging in the comments section -- and remember, use your real email this time.
Dance-party holocaust, complete with drops from Spank Rock and Amanda Blank, better than Coachella. Plays like a DJ set instead of some dude's clever mixtape: in case you're wondering, that's a good, good thing. They explain better than we can. From MySpace:
On March 5th, 2007, The Smalltown DJs and Certified Bananas met in an orange colored studio on the other side of the Calgary train tracks to make a mixtape. After exchanging pleasantries, Sammy Bananas set up the computers while Mike Grimes broke out the fresh squeezed orange juice which is always stocked in his fridge. Certified Max unwrapped the takeout delights from that Indian spot around the corner from the Hi-Fi, and Pete Emes spilled some raita on his wool hunter's cap. After the meal, the music began and a story unfolded; these North American Scum had hours to work, but a mere 30 minutes for the tale. What transpired was a legend for the ages. It is the story of 4 djs, in a big concrete room, eating indian food, watching a big flat screen tv on mute and playing records. The sun had long since set over the Canadian Rockies when they packed up the tools of their trade and parted ways. A few days later, the Bananas were shredding the gnar in the pacific northwest while the Smalltowns were back to the grind of Cowtown domination. But the music lives on, the music lives on forever. Jizz Cannons 4 Life.
DOWNLOAD: Certified Bananas and Smalltown DJs, "North American Wildlife Mix" (mp3)
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Skinny Puppy at Avalon
Thursday, June 7, 2007 at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $22.50
On-sale Friday, May 4, 2007 at 10:00 am
Meatloaf at the Bank of America Pavilion
Monday, August 20, 2007 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $38.50, $55.00 and $65.00
plus $5.00 venue charge and applicable convenience fees per ticket
On-sale Monday, May 7, 2007 at 10:00 am
Tool at the Tweeter Center
Thursday, July 12, 2007 at 7:30 pm
Tickets $30.00 and $50.00
plus $7.00 venue charge and applicable convenience fees per ticket
On-sale Saturday, May 5, 2007 at 10:00 am
Poison and Ratt at the Tweeter Center
Saturday, June 30, 2007 at 7:00 pm
Tickets are $25.00 and $45.00
plus $7.00 venue charge and applicable convenience fees per ticket
On-sale Friday, May 4, 2007 at 10:00 am
Dresden Dolls: wish they could be California Girls?
A few weeks ago, after Amanda Palmer's secret solo gig at Zuzu -- which was awesomeness, by the way; even though her voice was shot, included a Polynesian ukulele version of Radiohead's "Creep" and an Elliott Smith song dedicated to a certain Phoenix writer who shall remain nameless -- a little birdie happened to mention that the Dresden Dolls were about to shoot a video in homage to David Lee Roth's "California Girls." According to this casting call, the shoot is May 3 out on the West Coast.
What you won't find in the casting call: the aforementioned little birdie also told us that David Lee Roth has signed on to appear in the video. That's right. Dresden Dolls parody of DLR's "California Girls," starring DLR, shot on the same location as the original: Venice Beach. Even weirder: according to some post on a message board, Brian Viglione won't be in it.
UPDATED MAY 1: Alas, DLR has dropped out; sources site "weird publicity shit with Van Halen." Gee, you think? However, the guest list for the video now includes MARGARET CHO and DAVID J from Bauhaus, which is even funnier. Totally. Better. Concept. Brian still not in it. Still an homage to "California Girls." Still shooting on location.
More on Amanda's Ben Folds-produced solo disc here.
Airhorns to Stereogum for leaking the new Buffalo Tom single -- album and tour coming in July, tickets go on sale Thursday for the Boston show -- thereby completing our Tuesday 90s Boston Alt-rock trifecta: the Dinosaur Jr album is officially out today, and we just got Joan "Dambuilders" Wasser's solo record in the mail. Even bigger shouts to the 'Gum for digging up the My So Called Life clip where Claire Daines and pre-30secs2mars Jared Leto hold hands to BuffTom's "Late at Night."
As it happens, "Three Easy Pieces" is a Chirs Colburn song, not a Janovitz song, which means you can bug Chris to sing a few bars of it when he plays at the Middle East tonight at the Middle East. Good bill, too, put together by Pipeline host (and Phoenix freelancer) Jeff Breeze: featuring Montreal's Sister Suvi, Portland's Phantom Buffalo, and Boston's own Shrinking Islands.
DOWNLOAD: Buffalo Tom, "Three Easy Pieces" (mp3, via Stereogum)
>> FRIEND THEM: at MySpace
>> TICKETS: to Buffalo Tom at the Paradise go on sale May 3
Mistaker brings the Rub up to the Middlesex Lounge tonight -- always a good time. And if you happen to notice a bunch of sweaty bloggers with ping-pong paddles, just don't even bother asking.
Speaking of the Rub, those dudes are making history -- more to the point, they're 11 (eleven!) volumes into their "The Rub History of Hip-Hop" mp3-mix series, which is so good we can't believe they're giving it away for free. Consider it remedial homework for anyone who wasn't alive -- or who was otherwise engaged with Duran Duran -- during rap's first decade. Essential from front to back, but we have a special place in our heart for 1984-1986, for our money the best three years of rap music, or any music, between 1967 and 1991.
DOWNLOAD: The Rub Hip Hop History 1986 (mp3)
DOWNLOAD: The Rub Hip Hop History 1985 (mp3)
DOWNLOAD: The Rub Hip Hop History 1984 (mp3)
Get the whole series and tracklists here.
Up front, we've never been big huge Brand New fans or anything, but were pretty overwhelmingly won over by Jesse Lacey's solo set last Tuesday, which kids were trying to bribe us to get into and whatnot. Their last album established them as the Long Island emo band it was okay to like, sort of. And since Sharon's a huge fan, and so is Rick, so we went along for the ride. It's always a good omen to stumble on a soundcheck where someone's playing one of the good Iron and Wine songs, and over the course of an hour or so of talking and playing, we decided Jesse was good people. Like the story about how his dad got him into Jesus and Mary Chain, or how "Web in Front" by Archers of Loaf changed his life, or how he stole a line on the new Brand New album from a 13th Floor Elevators song, or his digressions about the Jesus Lizard ("they're hard to really get, but they'll bash your brains out") and Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea ("the greatest record ever written").
And then, to top it all off, he whipped out our favorite NMH song of them all, "Oh Comely." Also probably the hardest to sing, let alone make sense of. It was good enough to make us drag the CD out and listen to it again on the way into work the next day, reminiscing about seeing NMH at the first Terrastock down in Providence, months before Aeroplane was released: Jeff Mangum wandered out onstage alone with a guitar and played that as the first song, leaving an abandoned warehouse full of indie geeks with their jaws and brains permanently dislocated. Jeff Mangum, dude. Whatever happened to that guy? In any case, we'd like to begin lobbying for this Jesse to put out a solo record, even though he's sort of against solo records. (Which is kind of an adorable thing to be against, isn't it?)
DOWNLOAD: Brand New's Jesse Lacey, "Oh Comely (Neutral Milk Hotel cover)" (mp3)
Brand New/Jesse Lacey
April 24, 2007
First Act Guitar Studio, Boston.
Thanks to the letters WFNX and VW.
The compelte setlist (download the full set here)
Upward Over the Mountain (Iron and Wine, incomplete)
The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot
Degausser
Limousine
Coca-Cola
Oh Comely (Neutral Milk Hotel cover)
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