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)

1/31/2008 12:31:41 PM by On the Download | Comments [0] |  

If you simply can't bear waiting till next week to buy the new Hot Chip album, but you're also feeling conflicted about Googling for a sendspace link and enjoying a free leaked copy, there's good news: Clash, the London-based magazine "dedicated to fashion and music" - not a whole lotta those these days - has posted the entire darn thing on Clash Music, their (you guessed it) music news website. Listen to it here. There's also a music video for their new single, "Ready for the Floor," complete with some behind the scenes footage. The British dance poppers will be at the Paradise on April 14.

Listen: Hot Chip, "Made in the Dark" (full album)

1/29/2008 4:41:16 PM by Caitlin | Comments [0] |  

 
Mission of Burma, 1001 Pleasant Dreams (Live at Great Scott, 2008)

Mission of Burma, 2wice (Live at Great Scott, 2008)

Mission of Burma, Academy Fight Song (Live at Great Scott, 2008)

As Justin Timberlake says, what goes around comes around: as the story goes, Mission of Burma took their name off a consulate building they happened to pass in New York. Twenty years or so later, the actual country of Burma is in turmoil. (If you haven't heard about it, that's because it's a particularly crappy time to be a non-oil-producing country in turmoil.) And so, with Roger Miller railing against facism and speakers from the US Campaign for Burma on hand to fill in the blanks, MOB embarked on an actual Mission. Involving Burma. Perfect.

Even perfecter, this one took the form of a fiery, sold-the-hell-out show at Great Scott, the most intimate venue they've played in Boston since reforming (unless you count the unofficial warm-up gig they played in Somerville the night before their proper reunion gig). And to top it off, they debuted at least four new, as-yet-unrecorded songs -- one of which we'll be posting soon. (Asked if there were plans for a new album, Miller said there were not, but didn't rule it out, adding that they hadn't really properly planned anything, ever.) For now, check out these fantastic performances of some recent and classic chunes. And stop by the US Campaign for Burma's website to get the lowdown on Burma. We've sent off our tapes to the Campaign folks, who are planning on clandestinely beaming the full show into Burma sometime soon.

1/28/2008 1:23:11 PM by On the Download | Comments [1] |  

Maybe. Maybe not.

1/28/2008 11:57:19 AM by Will | Comments [0] |  

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.

1/24/2008 7:46:35 PM by On the Download | Comments [0] |  

The Fed this, the Fed that. Metal Americans know the real reason the Dow Jones took a jump yesterday: it was the dude ringing the fucking bell, yo. See?

We love Dee Snider. Here he is describing his qualifications for appearing on the new CMT reality series Gone Country:

And here he is putting his money where his mouth is: hosting this ridonculous benefit down in Providence for the families affected by the Station hair-metal fire, on a once-in-a-lifetime bill featuring half of Big & Rich, Gretchen Wilson, Twisted Sister, Stryper, Kellie Pickler, Tesla, Twisted Sister, and the dude from Stain'd. Get your tickets now.

1/23/2008 12:08:08 AM by On the Download | Comments [0] |  

Noel Heroux of Hooray for Earth (one of the worst-named bands of '07, according to the Onion):

"My Top 5 Songs Released in 2007"
1_Elliott Smith, "New Disaster"
2_Björk, "Wanderlust"
3_Malcolm Middleton, "We're All Going To Die"
4_Arcade Fire, "Neon Bible"
5_Zambri, "God"

Hooray for Earth celebrate the release of their new Cellphone EP (Dopamine) with a listening party at Middlesex Lounge February 6 and a show downstairs at the Middle East February 29.

Previously: Noel Heroux, "I Don't Want To Get Over You (Magnetic Fields cover)"

1/22/2008 8:11:09 PM by Will | 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] |  

Coolest-reading-of-next-week award: Brookline native John Hodgman (click link to read Mike Miliard's hysterical interview) -- whose jobs include "resident expert" on The Daily Show and, of course, the PC in the Mac-vs-PC commercials -- shows up to read from his The Areas of My Expertise, alongside Kansas poet Ed Skoog, Small Beer Press's Kelly Link and McSweeny's/Nerve short-storyist Rachel Sherman.

Playing DJ for the evening: Thurston Moore. We don't know what he'll be spinning, except that he's not the kind of dude to play his own tunes. Our source inside the Thurston Moore Band tells us this (and this, and this, and this) is what gets played in the touring van. (That Decibel review pretty much nails it: "what anyone this side of Jandek fandom would consider piss-poor fidelity" -- of course, Thurston's firmly esconced on the other side of that particular line in the sand.)

Opening act: these kids, who used to be these kids.

IF YOU GO:

Books Out Loud Dance Party
Saturday, January 26, 6:30 pm
American Legion Hall, Rte. 9, Hadley, MA (one mile east of Northampton)
Admission $10.
TIX AND INFO HERE.

1/22/2008 12:41:04 PM by On the Download | Comments [0] |  

It was a ridiculously dark and crowded Blonde Redhead show at the Paradise on Sunday night - we made more than a few enemies trying to get a decent shot, so apologies to anyone whose view we may have unintentionally obstructed. Will Spitz's review will come soon - for now, here are the best flicks. Accompany them with 23 if ya got it.

Twins!








Kazu Makino's somewhat cryptic-looking sheet music.

All photos by Caitlin Curran.

1/22/2008 11:57:44 AM by Caitlin | Comments [0] |  

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."  

1/17/2008 2:05:21 PM by On the Download | Comments [1] |  

Caitlin's post about Ryan Adams's latest metal band got us back into a doomy frame of mind, and then in came a press release from Relapse announcing the kickoff of the inaugural tour by KINGDOM OF SORROW, the supergroup uniting Hatebreed-ing Headbangers' Ball homey JAMEY JASTA with half of Crowbar and the drummer from Killswitch Engage. Don't worry, it doesn't sound anything like DOWN. Nor do they have a video that looks like a Victoria's Secret commercial. Nope, it's just good old-fashioned metal. Yee haw. The album comes out February 19 on Relapse, and the group will make its first-time-ever live debut upstairs at the Palladium in Worcester on February 27.

1/16/2008 2:36:18 PM by On the Download | Comments [0] |  

It seems useless to pine for the days when Ryan Adams was just a Gram Parsons worshipping, "Too Drunk to Dream," alt-country fool in a lil band called Whiskeytown because, nine albums (some Heartbreakingly beautiful, some not so Easy to take in, tiger) and a shitload of drugs later, he still sort of is that guy. But older, wiser, soberer - with an addiction to Diet Coke, not the other kind of coke - and definitely weirder. We thought the obnoxious number of rap songs on his website a year or so ago were odd but amusing, for about 2 minutes or so, and when we saw him play in NYC around the same time, clad in knee-high black pleather boots and jamming with Norah Jones, his between-song dialogue was rambling and incoherent, but no one really seemed to mind. And maybe that’s because part of being a successful artist - and part of the reason his many die-hard fans adore him - is having an extreme, eccentric personality. He’s like this century’s Jackson Pollock or Andy Warhol, minus their tragic fates, thanks to his newly abstinent persona (we’re avoiding all comparisons to Elliott Smith that are coming to mind right now). The latest in Ryan Adams’ weird, wacky world is a series of videos he’s posted on his YouTube page (where he writes: “I make movies because i am lonely a lot, a busy body, and i love to learn”) which include bad poetry streaming downwards, Star Wars-style, followed by an acoustic “Saturday Night Bedroom Show” performance of “Everybody Knows,” (preempted by the message “a sober little bear, just tryin to share.” Awwwww). But he’s not all lovable alcohol-free cuteness! No! Adams can be DARK. And GLOOMY! IN ALL CAPS! There’s proof in SATANIC, Adams’ new, fake, hilariously awful death metal band. SATANIC’s video, forbodingly titled “Witches Arise,” stars Adams in what looks like a Morticia Adams wig, dancing fireside in a living room like a giddy, middle school-aged metalhead, and dragging a coffin around (we were half expecting Adams’ mom to wander in any minute, turn off the music, and tell the boys to come to the dinner table). It pairs well with “SATANIC, ‘Black Horses of Death’”, the apocalyptic (how can death metal not be?), lighting and fire-filled video starring Adams dressed as a wolf. Check out the recently-posted videos here:

"Black Horses of Death"


"Witches Arise"

1/16/2008 1:32:17 PM by Caitlin | Comments [1] |  

Marissa Nadler: "My favorite records of the year"

1_Phosphorescent, Pride [Dead Oceans]
2_James Blackshaw, The Cloud of Unknowing [Tompkins Square]
3_Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter, Like, Love, Lust & the Open Halls of the Soul [Barsuk]
4_Psychic TV, Hell Is Invisible . . . Heaven Is Her/e [Sweet Nothing]
5_Midlake, The Trials of Van Occupanther [Bella Union]

Marissa Nadler plays the Paradise Lounge with Elizabeth & the Catapult and Old Springs Pike January 24.

1/16/2008 1:09:57 PM by Will | Comments [0] |  

Just when you thought Bono's ego couldn't get any bigger, we bring you: U23D. Opens January 23 at the IMAX theater at New England Aquarium. But we bet you a black iPod that Hannah Montana in 3D trounces those dudes at the box office.

1/16/2008 12:44:12 AM by On the Download | Comments [0] |  

1. Vampire Weekend is officially going for adds, and coming to the MFA on February 9. We hope to bring you some video of the latter. In the meantime, here's the video for "A Punk," which we'll begin unsuccessfully lobbying our local alternative radio station to play:

2. On lesser note, REM has begun the countdown to their next studio album, Accelerate, which will show up on . . . April Fool's Day. And no, they're not giving it away for free, so go fuck yourself. In time-honored indie-hero fashion, they'll be releasing it on CD through a major label, and you will buy it over the internet or else steal the links from some dude on a message board. However, if you're really, really curious -- and we mean really curious -- you can check out some ridiculously short video clips that they're posting at ridiculously high bitrates. They're also inviting you to remix or otherwise alter said clips however you choose. After viewing some clips, we have no fucking clue what you'd do with these things, but if anyone gets a bright idea, send youtube links, plz. In the meantime we'll be watching Lance Stephenson videos over at bornready.tv.

3. Update on last week's post: Turns out the latest Carla Bruni record was released only through iTunes and Barnes and Noble. With Bruni apparently about to become the first lady of France, No Promises is getting a wide release in February through Downtown Recordings, the label that brought you Gnarls Barkley, Spank Rock, Justice, and Eagles of Death Metal.

1/15/2008 12:15:38 AM by On the Download | Comments [0] |  

DOWNLOAD: The Big Big Bucks, "Arsenal Complements Wardrobe" (mp3)

Fresh-faced Allston foursome THE BIG BIG BUCKS blend the anvil-heavy blues rock of early Zeppelin with the melodicism of classic pop in a sod-off punk-rock sorta way that would make Kurt Cobain proud. They’ve been passing around CD-R copies of their debut EP, Rabbit Rabbit (which they recorded with Jack Younger at his Allston analog wonderland Basement 247 Studios, where they’re holed up now working on their first full-length), since last summer, but we’re told an official release is on its way. Rabbit’s manic centerpiece, “Arsenal Complements Wardrobe,” starts out as a double-time rave-up before devolving into a feedback-and-organ sludge-blues orgy. Snag a disc from the band when they play Great Scott January 17.

1/9/2008 5:29:46 PM by Will | Comments [1] |  

By now you've likely heard that the old-media version of In Rainbows limped into the top spot on the Billboard album charts, with a paltry 122,000 copies sold -- less than half of what Hail to the Thief did in its opening week (in 2003, back when 300,000 pieces wouldn't even get you the #2 slot), and an even smaller fraction of the number of copies that were estimated to have been downloaded when the band unleashed its online pay-what-thou-wilt model.

Now for the good news: Radiohead's publicists have released the band's North American tour markets -- no dates or venues yet -- and Boston made the cut. In case you need your memory refreshed, here's the review and setlist from their last Boston appearance, at the Pavilion in June of 2006. Back then, Bradley's Almanac posted the mp3s but has since taken 'em down; Ryan's Smashing Life still has Bodysnatchers up, though.

From the inbox:

The tour will take place in two segments, one prior to and one following the recently announced summer tour of the UK and Europe. [Ed. translation: before June 6 and after July 8]

 The cities IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER are:

 Atlanta
 Boston
 Charlotte
 Chicago
 Cleveland
 Dallas
 Houston
 Indianapolis
 Los Angeles
 Miami
 Montreal
 New York
 Philadelphia
 San Diego
 San Francisco
 Santa Barbara
 Seattle
 St Louis
 Tampa
 Toronto
 Vancouver
 Washington DC

1/9/2008 12:51:24 PM by On the Download | Comments [0] |  

DOWNLOAD: Carla Bruni, "At Last The Secret Is Out" (mp3)

Several years back, Carla Bruni, a beautiful and talented Italian model turned French chanteuse, enjoyed her Keren Ann moment: that kind of modest moment in the sun that beautiful, quite-talented French singers have become accostomed to. Her album Quelqu'un m'a dit found its way -- via the import bin, Amazon.co.uk,
a shitload of blogs, and the usual file-sharing joints -- into the hands of American reviewers, who said enough nice things about it that her record company decided to give it a US release. It sold modestly, but she became well-known enough to guarantee that her next album would get a wider hearing. Unfortunately, by then the buzz had worn off: though her next album was sung in English, it was also a musical setting of obscure poetry (selected in consultation with her friend Marianne Faithful), which endeared her to classicists and NPR nerds but not many others, and that, in terms of an American bang, was that.

Recent events, however, have guaranteed that Bruni will get another look. The French papers reported over the weekend that Bruni is soon to wed Nicolas Sarkozy, the recently-divorced president of France. Bruni, with virtually no competition, would seem to be about to become the world's best-singing first lady, ever. (Sorry, Hilary.) A much smaller feat: she would also be the first First Lady ever to have sung a duet with Lou Reed. In France, that may actually still mean something.

Here's a question, though: provided Sarkozy proposes, would Bruni accept?

Back to Bruni's last album: the title was, "No Promises." (We reviewed it back in February.) The title comes from "Promises Like Piecrust," a Christina Rossetti poem that Bruni adapted for the album. Its opening verse:

"Promise me no promises,

  So will I not promise you;

Keep we both our liberties,

  Never false and never true;

Let us hold the die uncast,

  Free to come as free to go;

For I cannot know your past,

  And of mine what can you know?"

It is an odd song to consider Bruni singing now, since no one could imagine anyone other than Sarkozy on the other end of it. It's the kind of song you might sing to someone whose marriage proposal you are about to decline: "If you promised, you might grieve/For lost liberty again ... Let us be the friends we were/Nothing more but nothing less."

Cheap speculation, to be sure. Sarkozy's enemies have done much more with far less: When Sarkozy promised the French a break with France's recent past, he probably did not predict that the brave new world the country was entering would include song parodies based on his new girlfriend's music. If we spoke French, we might be able to tell you what these people are saying.

Rumor of an impending marriage rendered even Bruni's official web page unavailable for comment: traffic left it crashed all day. Her MySpace page yeilded few clues: Bruni has only four top friends, none of them named Nicolas.

1/8/2008 3:58:32 PM by On the Download | Comments [0] |  

Kid Sister, "Pro Nails (Live in Boston, 12/20/07)

Belated big-ups to the Karmaloop dudes for doing a holiday party the way holiday parties need to get done: grab the biggest club-rap phenomenon of the year, bring her to town for her Boston debut, and allow her to play her Kanyeezy-approved underground hit not once but twice. (Well, more like once and a half, but you get the picture.) From the balcony, in sub-YouTube quality, here's KID SISTER performing her Fools' Gold smash "Pro Nails" at the Estate. We saw Karmaloop's cams there, so we expect there'll be some better documentation of this on their site soon. In the meantime, we recommend their man-on-the-street interviews about how dope The Wire is. Almost as good as the show itself.

CONSUME: Kid Sister remix single on iTunes. (Bag Raiders remix = essential)

1/7/2008 6:19:51 PM by On the Download | Comments [0] |  

If you were a punk (before we were a punk) then you might have been at this 1982 punk rock fashion show -- held at Axis, then known as Spit -- which was captured on camera by the folks at KinoDV. Yes, we know the song is not contemporary to the video: but trust us, this is the real deal.

VIDEO: Punk Rock Fashion at Spit, 1982

Chances are you were not at any of these shows, but a couple of our tape-collecting peoples might recognize the bills. Rap-flyer freaks, feast on a trove of Bambattaa et al, from '79-'83 . . .

WEBTERNET: Early Rap Flyers, on some dude's LiveJournal

1/7/2008 5:57:29 PM by On the Download | Comments [0] |  

. . . finally. For fuck's sake. Plus more alerts from the newly-announced Paradise schedule. . .

Justice with Busy P & Fancy
March 15 at Paradise Rock Club
On sale Jan 12 at noon

Jose Gonzalez
March 13 at Paradise Rock Club
On sale Jan 15 at noon

Dropkick Murphys
March 16-17 at Paradise Rock Club
On sale Jan 12 at noon

Ingrid Michaelson
March 25 at Paradise Rock Club
On sale Jan 18 at noon

Hot Chip
April 14 at Paradise Rock Club
On sale Jan 12 at noon

1/7/2008 4:10:42 PM by On the Download | Comments [0] |  

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.

1/4/2008 5:34:00 PM by On the Download | Comments [0] |  

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.

1/4/2008 5:12:58 PM by On the Download | Comments [0] |