Seattle-based Sub Pop signees Grand Archives are in the final week of North American tour that took them across the northern U.S. and into Canada before hitting Boston a couple weeks back. The show previous saw them in my hometown of Burlington, Vermont, making the most of a very tiny audience at Higher Ground (such is the risk of weeknight shows in college towns), so I, and they, didn't know what to expect from a Wednesday night at Allston's Great Scott. Happily, a plentiful and welcoming crowd filled the place, and infectious openers You Can Be A Wesley even got some of 'em in a dancing mood. I could tell that YCBAW brought lots of friends along, and it speaks loudly of them that they not only all hung around, but appeared to love every minute of the headliners' set.

I'll admit that I hadn't spent much time with Grand Archives self-titled, February-released debut (aside from picking a couple stand-out tracks for my last River Gods DJ set), but if I had, my presence at the show wouldn't have been in question. To say I'm glad I made it out is an understatement, as their layered, laid back, harmony-fueled set of pop-rock will probably end up on my year-end best-of-shows list. And I'm not alone... I've talked to more than a couple people since who say the same, and the smiles and gratitude from the stage makes me think it might end up on the band's own list as well.

The only real bummer of the evening was the absence of tourmate (and labelmate) Sera Cahoone and her band, who had to cancel when Sera came down with a nasty case of laryngitis the day before. Fortunately for NYC, she rested up after skipping Boston and Philly and was able to play down there a few days later.

For the uninitiated, Sera and Grand Archives frontman Mat Brooke were bandmates in Carissa's Weird with Ben Bridwell, and all three went on to start Band of Horses (Sera drummed and Mat played guitar on BoH's debut disc). Sera moved on to her solo project as Mat started up Grand Archives, and the whole fam damily wound up on Sub Pop. Got it? Good.

Here's the full Grand Archives Great Scott set, shared with Mat Brooke's blessing, which includes a couple fun covers and new songs, too. Enjoy...


Some Grand Archives links...

Their official site, MySpace page, Wikipedia entry, and Sub Pop label page.

Additional Audio: Sub Pop has shared Mp3s for two songs from the GA album:

Mp3: Grand Archives - "Torn Blue Foam Couch"
Mp3: Grand Archives - "Miniature Birds"

Photos: My Flickr-hosted shots are here. Prefix has lots of photos from the June 13th Bowery Ballroom show. Check out the full Grand Archives tag search, or the band's own photo collection on MySpace.

Video: The band made a video for the track "Miniature Birds" (.mov / youtube), and performed the song live in 107.7 The End's studio. One of the new songs above is "Liberty Bell", and you can watch a live performance of that here. Their network TV debut came in April on Craig Ferguson's Late Late Show, where they performed "Torn Blue Foam Couch". For more, try a full Grand Archives YouTube search.

Sound Bites was at, and wrote about, the GA Bowery Ballroom show a couple days later.

Upcoming tourdates: Just a handful of shows left on this tour, then a couple weeks off before the band plays the big Sub Pop 20th Anniversary Festival in mid-July...

June, 24 2008 @ Santa Fe Brewing Co. in Albuquerque, NM
June, 25 2008 @ Plush in Tuscon, AZ
June, 26 2008 @ Casbah in San Diego, CA
June, 27 2008 @ The Echo in Los Angeles, CA
June, 28 2008 @ Slim's in San Francisco, CA
July, 13 2008 @ SP20 Anniversary Fest at Marymoor Park, WA

Listen to any and all 'Nac-hosted Mp3s at the Hype Machine.

the fine print... If anyone has an issue with these Mp3s being made available, just let me know (my contact info in the 'nac faq). Live sets recorded with a Sony ECM-719 mic and a Sony MZ-RH10 minidisc, converted to .wav and then edited to 192kbps Mp3s. Files are made available for a limited time, and are not reposted once removed.

Labels: livemp3s

posted by brad at 10:13 AM | direct link | rss (1:2) | |

Well, as far as corporate marketing synergy goes, socialnet site Going.com and the upstart Miller Brewing Company have got it figured out: Team up a much-heralded national band who are back in the spotlight with an almost-out new album (that'd be The Hold Steady, who release "Stay Positive" on July 15th), and a local act whose debut disc caught enough receptive ears to get people hankering for the follow-up (that's our own Aberdeen City), book a night at the Paradise, then make admission to the show completely free. Announce it just one week before it's happening (this coming Thursday, June 26th), and voila, watch the Boston-area music blogs fall in line.

Now, I'm usually resistant to such shenanigans, but if you strip it down to just the bands playing, I can't not do my part to spread the word. Not to mention the fact that, when on a budget, I do occasionally indulge in The Champagne Of Beers. There's that.

So how exactly can I do a giveaway if admission is already free with an email-harvesting RSVP? Well, the organizers have set up some special kind of VIP access, which not only assures your admission to the Paradise that night (no small favor, since the place will probably be jammed), but gets you, and I quote, "complimentary Miller product" at a private reception before the show. And I'm guessing that the "product" is drinkable.

I've got a pair of these VIP passes for one 'Nac reader, so if you consider yourself both "very important" and a "person" (one who is also 21 or older), send an email to giveaways [at] bradleysalmanac [dot] com with your full name and a subject of either "Hold Steady!" or "Aberdeen City!" (what, you think I'd go with "Great Taste!" vs. "Less Filling!"?). Get that note to me before noon this Wednesday the 25th and I'll let you know that day if you are, in fact, both lucky and important. And if you are neither, make sure you RSVP and show up extra-early.

Labels: giveaways

posted by brad at 12:40 AM | direct link | rss (1:2) | |

Well, last week's string of 4 rock shows in 4 days took a toll, and I've been pretty much out of commission since. The ol' constitution she ain't what she used to be, so lack of sleep and exposure to hundreds of fellow music fans left me with a nasty virus that I've been trying hard to kick. And I'd better kick it soon, because tonight is the big Sleepyhead / Thalia Zedek Band / Retribution Gospel Choir show. And tomorrow night: the return of a reunited Polvo. With the added bonus of some New Radiant Storm King and Birds of Avalon. Boosh.


Tickets for a couple of gonna-be-great Boston-area autumn shows go on sale tomorrow morning, so prick up your ears:

Built to Spill will be performing the entirety of their "Perfect From Now On" album at the seated Orpheum Theatre on Saturday, September 27th (a week after I see them do that in the Catskills). And for openers? Howzabout Dinosaur Jr. and the Meat Puppets? A pre-sale is happening right now (password: owl, until 10pm 6/19), and the rest will be available here at 10am tomorrow.

Billy Bragg has booked two nights at the Somerville Theatre on October 21st and 22nd, and tickets should be available here tomorrow morning as well.

And while you won't need to buy tickets for this one, you'd do well to RSVP soon-ish for the just-announced free Hold Steady at the Paradise next week. On Thursday night the 26th the band will play one of those gratis Miller Lite-sponsored Going.com promo events, and joining them will be local gents Aberdeen City. Head here to sign up and add yourself to the guest list, and I'd show up early that night to make sure you get in. The H.S. could sell out the place on their own, but with free admission and A.C. on the bill, it's gonna be super-crammed. Stop back here tomorrow when I'll be doing a giveaway for some special passes to the thing as well.

As I mentioned, I'll finally be seeing the now-active Sleepyhead tonight when they open for Alan Sparkhawk's Retribution Gospel Choir, and sandwiched between 'em will be the excellent Thalia Zedek and her band. Check out a recent interview with Thalia on on Well-Rounded Radio (Mp3). Thalia & Co. are on a tour that stops at the Mercury Lounge in NYC tonight, hits our Middle East show tomorrow, and heads to Canada for a couple dates before ending in Chicago on Sunday. Word is that West coast shows and some European dates are also in the works, so keep an eye peeled here for updates.


Bottomless Pit comes back to Boston next month (with the Kadane Bros.) for the first time since their September 2006 set at the Middle East. The band will be bringing their new "Congress" EP, four songs on vinyl (with a CD included) that make a relatively quick follow-up to their debut full-length last year. You can get the EP tracks digitally right now at the Comedy Minus One label site, or pre-order the vinyl here or straight from the band. It ships in mid-July, but for an advance taste, grab the Mp3 of the track "Fish Eyes" right here. More BP goodness: Watch this video of the band performing the excellent "Cardinal Movements" at the 2008 Villette Sonique Festival in Paris.


Congrats to reader Jeff from Cambridge, who won the 'Nac ticket giveaway for tomorrow night's Shearwater show at TT the Bears. I'll be next door at the Middle East, but I'm hoping to be able to skip over to TTs pre-Polvo. Hopefully the timing will work out. If you haven't been fortunate enough to hear the gorgeous voice of Shearwater's Jonathan Meiburg in person, this might do: NPR streamed the band's recent appearance at the Black Cat in DC, and you can listen to the whole show here.


Another broadcast you should bookmark for later listening: Elbow will be performing at the Paradiso in Amsterdam next Wednesday night, June 25th, and Fabchannel will be delivering the whole show live. The site's audio (and yes, video) quality is usually top-notch, so jot down that date.


Buffalo Tom's Bill Janovitz is in the middle of a weekly (and month-long) residency at the tiny Toad in Cambridge, MA. These free Thursday night shows are typically rollicking affairs (he calls it a "shambolic hootenanny"), with random cover songs scattered among Bill's solo, Buffalo Tom, and Crown Victoria material, with random guests possibly partaking as well. The second installment of the residency is tonight from 9pm to close, the third next Thursday, and the last one on July 3rd.

Bill has also announced that he'll be playing a set before a Regent Theatre screening of the locally produced film "On Broadway" (which I caught at the 2007 IFFB) on Friday night, June 27th. He provided the score for the film, and has shared one of the songs on his blog. If you recognize it, that's because it's a gorgeously slowed-down instrumental version of the Buffalo Tom song "You'll Never Catch Him", which was my favorite track off last year's "Three Easy Pieces" album. Stream it here.


Here's a bit of bittersweetness: While the release party for Sanguine Drone's debut album "Terrafracture" is tonight, it will also be their last show for the foreseeable future, and possibly forever. But at least they leave us with something to listen to, right? Check out some songs from the limited edition 8-track disc at their MySpace page, and if you can, pick up your own discounted copy at O'Briens in Allston tonight when they play with The Crushing Low, 28 Degrees Taurus, and Chris Pearson's Ekranoplan.


Back in February I pre-ordered my own copy of Wheat's limited edition two-disc "Move=Move" mini-album, which was to include new tracks, instrumentals, and videos, but there's been a bit of a delay that was explained by the Empyrean label thusly:

"In short, due to other opportunities for the band with the upcoming full length, "Move=Move" will never be released into stores - this was a mutual decision between Wheat and the label. The good news is that the record will be a very limited edition package and will be for fans that have already ordered it from the Empyrean site ONLY. To apologize for the delay we want to offer the record to you free of charge."

Well, I'll accept pretty much any apology that saves me twenty bucks, but I am still itching to hear some new Wheat songs. That message sounds to me like the band may have struck some kind of deal for the next album's release (title: "White Ink, Black Ink"), a deal that might include songs from the EP? If so, that's surely good news for them and for us fans, especially after the mess they went through playing with the majors for while.


Next week, Ontario band A Northern Chorus says farewell to the world with two final Canadian shows: Toronto on the 27th and Hamilton, ON on the 28th. I only wish I'd known that the most recent time I saw them would be the last, so I could thank them for making the trip down to the Boston area so many times. I was fortunate enough to catch them on least three or four occasions during their eight year existence, and even luckier to have shared the bill with them a couple of those times. I truly thought they'd hit a creative peak with their latest (and now final) album, "The Millions Too Many", so for me they're certainly going out on top. Thanks for the musical memories, ANC, especially that remarkable set you played at the Lizard Lounge while a torrential downpour soaked the streets outside. The open LL door let the cracking thunder be perfect accompaniment to your gorgeous set.


Ok, Almanac readers, face forward and pay close attention: I don't ask you for much, but when I do, know that it matters much to me...

A longtime friend from my Vermont days, musician and recording engineer Daryl Rabidoux, was in a terrible car accident in his adopted home of Providence, Rhode Island last week. Just look at this list of injuries: Two punctured lungs, a bunch of broken ribs, a torn liver, fractured sternum, and head trauma. One thing's for sure, in addition to being one of the nicest guys I know, Daryl is apparently one tough customah.


Now, if you know how these things usually are for working musicians, Daryl is without health insurance (thanks, country!), and a two-week stint in the hospital will leave him hurting financially along with physically. So I'm askin', for no other reason than he needs and deserves it, that you consider sending a couple bucks his way via the paypal button below to help cover his medical costs. Because he shouldn't have to deal with digging himself out of a monetary hole while he tries to get his health back.

And if you dug his excellent band The Cancer Conspiracy, then give a little bit extra. His friend and former Rocketsled bandmate Casey writes about Daryl, and shares information for musicians in need of insurance, here. Visit the Strangeways Recording MySpace page for updates from Daryl's studio partner Mike, and keep an eye out for benefit shows in Providence, Boston, and Burlington.

posted by brad at 2:39 PM | direct link | rss (1:2) | |

It all comes back to The Big Four: The Cure, U2, R.E.M., and The Smiths. Sure, some lesser-known (and arguably more interesting) bands rounded out my teenage top ten, but as a Vermont high schooler in the late 80s, that was the quartet that truly helped shape my musical tastes. While the break-up of The Smiths set their legacy in stone, time and the ongoing musical output of the other three would wear away at my appreciation for each: First, U2 shook me loose after "Rattle & Hum", R.E.M.'s "Monster" scared me away, and the departure of Boris and The Cure's "Wild Mood Swings" left me cold. There were too many other bands demanding my attention for me to dig very hard for diamonds in their subsequent albums, although in the years since I've found a few.

Through a strange confluence of releases and events, the first half of 2008 has me thinking about The Big Four in a big way: Earlier this year I caught, and was surprisingly impressed by, U2's 3D IMAX concert film. Still couldn't warm me to their post-1990 output, but as an overall experience, it was a technological thrill. Two months later and I'm at a mind-blowing, 3-hour Cure show, loving the band as much as I ever did. That's two down. And a few days ago I find myself standing 10 rows from R.E.M.'s Peter Buck and Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr as they run through a couple songs that played major parts in my high school soundtrack. And that's all four bands accounted for, 20-some odd years after each first won me over.

Before I get to the live Mp3s, here are some bullet-listed personal highlights and notes from Friday night's R.E.M. show, with openers The National and Modest Mouse (which explains Johnny Marr's presence) at Great Woods in Mansfield, MA. And yes, while it's technically now called the Comcast Center, and before that the Tweeter Center, it'll always be Great Woods to me. Corporate synergy be damned...

While "Accelerate" is surely R.E.M.'s most guitar-centric album in ages, it's still only a "return to form" if you think that form was solidified in 1986 with "Life's Rich Pageant" (Frank articulates that notion better here). The new songs held up very well alongside their 22-year old counterparts, as evidenced by set-starter "Living Well's The Best Revenge" heading into "Begin The Begin". That "LRP" opener still gets me going, because it usually means I have that whole album ahead to listen to. Glad we got another taste of it later in the set with "Cuyahoga".

Stipe dedicated "Cuyahoga", and specifically the first couple lines, to Barack Obama: "Let's put our heads together, and start a new country up". Erasing the parts we don't like sounds like a fine idea.

Even though I'd seen REM a bunch of times in the late-80s/early-90s, I'd never caught site of Peter Buck's traveling collection of on-stage dinosaur figures. Apparently his prehistoric mascots have been appearing atop his amps on-stage for ages, but only now was I close enough to notice. How'd you like to have "R.E.M. Dinosaur Wrangler" on your roadie resume?

The entire band, including drummer Bill Rieflin on a guitar, gathered around Peter Buck at the piano for an excellent acoustic rendition of 1996's "Let Me In". Actually made me think I might want to revisit "Monster" again.

After his years of work with Ministry, Pigface, and RevCo (all acts that were major parts of my own personal Industrial Revolution), I still find it slightly incongruous to type the phrase "R.E.M. drummer Bill Rieflin". And knowing that he and guitarist Scott McCaughey are "unofficial" members of the band (neither appear in official promo photos), it still strikes me as odd that they sell t-shirts displaying "Mike, Michael, and Peter" in huge text. Rieflin and McCaughey seem to be far more than just hired guns at this point, but hey, it's probably more as a tribute to drummer Bill Berry's absence than a slight to their contributions, right?

As Mike Mills donned his cowboy hat and took center stage to sing lead on "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville", he explained that his voice was a little ragged after spending the previous night screaming at the first of the two Mission of Burma shows at the Paradise: "They were maybe the best and the loudest band I've ever seen." Hearing him say that was a cool little moment for me, as R.E.M. was the reason I first got into Burma during the late-80s when they were covering "Academy Fight Song" on the Green tour. When I saw the R.E.M. tour schedule, and noticed they had a night off before the Mansfield show, I thought "I wonder if they know about those Burma shows, because they'd probably want to go". And whaddya know, Mills did. As Colbert says: I called it.

I wasn't even 100% sure that Johnny Marr was still on tour with Modest Mouse, until I'd read earlier that day that he'd joined R.E.M. on stage during the encore of the previous show to add his Rickenbacker to "Fall On Me". Fingers were obviously crossed that he'd do it again, and when he did, but kept his guitar on after the song was over, I knew we were in for something extra. Once Stipe said "We've got one more song", and the negative crowd response essentially forced him to up that to two more songs, we got a treat: An impromptu and Marr-enhanced "Pretty Persuasion", which he'd never rehearsed. Loved watching Buck guide him through the chord changes. Marr remained on guitar for another song he'd actually practiced, show closer "Man on the Moon".

I was never one of those fans who wondered or cared much about Stipe's sexual proclivities, but I'm pretty sure he's been out of the closet for a very long time (despite what some recent articles claimed). Still, I'll admit it's been cool to see him become more forthright about it recently. In Mansfield he introduced "Pretty Persuasion" with a simple "This is a beautiful song about growing up queer in the 1980s...". Had Stipe written a song about that same struggle today, the subject matter would surely be easier to discern... his ultra-obtuse phase has certainly long-since passed.

Sneak peeks at previous tour setlists clued me in to the fact that "Man On The Moon" would probably be the night-ender, and as I've never quite liked that song, I used the opportunity to make an early exit and avoid the post-show clusterf*ck that the Great Woods parking lot becomes. Still, I was nervous they'd kick into something special as I made my quick getaway. And I know what some of you are thinking: "You tape shows, and left early? What kind of completest are you?". Have no fear, my back was covered, and I wouldn't have left otherwise...

I owe much gratitude to longtime 'Nac reader and fellow taper Todd, who not only offered me that amazing fan-club acquired 10th-row seat, but has provided the Mp3 of "Man On The Moon" below (and if you think that one song sounds better than all the rest, hey, keep it to yourself ;)). He wrote his own extensive review of the show, including his thoughts on the National and Modest Mouse. The mix in our spots was pretty much perfect, and I'm looking forward to sharing up those other two sets as well. But considering I just saw 10 bands over a four-day stretch, they could be a little while longer in coming...

Some R.E.M. links...

Their official site, MySpace page, Wikipedia entry, and Imeem page.

For each show on the current tour, R.E.M. has a very cool page set up that gathers together custom-tagged YouTube, Flickr, and Twitter fan content. So very Web 2.0 of them. Here's the page for the Mansfield show.

Jerad from Drive Blind was at the show as well, and shares his thoughts here.

Additional Audio: Along with songs on the MySpace page linked above, you can stream all of the "Accelerate" album here. The band played SxSW earlier this year, and NPR broadcasted the show, which you can listen to here. That performance was for the Austin City Limits program, and the video should appear on the show later this year. Fansite myREM.com has a forum thread that helps fans find non-commercial audio offerings.

Video: The band has released two videos from "Accelerate": One for "Supernatural Superserious" and another for "Hollow Man". A special site has been created by director Vincent Moon for the "Supernatural Superserious" video where you can put together your own version from different clips. For way more R.E.M. videos than you have time to watch, run an R.E.M. YouTube search, or head to the R.E.M. HQTV site.

Photos: My many Flickr-hosted shots are here. Check out the full R.E.M. Flickr tag search. R.E.M. fan Tam has some excellent photos here as well. The REM Cover Studio site is a great resource for custom-designed artwork for any fan-made recordings, and it looks like they might use some of my shots for the Mansfield boot. Very, very cool. Naturally, the band supports any not-for-profit trading of their live shows.

Upcoming tourdates: Only three shows left on their North American tour...

Wednesday, June 18th @ the Mann Center in Philadelphia
Thursday, June 19th at Madison Square Garden in NYC
Saturday, June 21st at Lakewood Amphitheater in Atlanta

Dates for their upcoming European tour (also with excellent openers, including Editors and Elbow) can be found here.

Easily stream any and all 'Nac-hosted Mp3s at the Hype Machine.

the fine print... If anyone has an issue with these Mp3s being made available, just let me know (my contact info in the 'nac faq). Live sets recorded with a Sony ECM-719 mic and a Sony MZ-RH10 minidisc (except for track #31 above), converted to .wav and then edited to 192kbps Mp3s. Files are made available for a limited time, and are not reposted once removed. (#remtweet)

Labels: livemp3s

posted by brad at 6:32 AM | direct link | rss (1:2) | |

This Friday, June 20th, Shearwater brings their "Rook" tour to the Boston area for a show at TT the Bears in Cambridge's Central Square with openers Frog Eyes, Evangelicals, and a solo set from Carter Tanton of Tulsa. When Matador signed the Austin-based band and re-released their gorgeous "Palo Santo", I'm sure they expected a solid follow-up, but to my ears they went and surpassed any expectations with the release of "Rook" earlier this month. While the band played Boston earlier this spring for an opening slot at the Paradise, it will be a true treat to see these songs on the far-smaller TT's stage.

To make a reader's attendance less costly (and to allow you to spend more money on merch), I've got a couple of guest list spots for this Friday's show to give away. Just email your full name to giveaways [at] bradleysalmanac [dot] com, throw Rook! in the subject line, and send it before 9AM on Thursday. I'll select a random name out of all entrants, and let the winner know that morning that they'll be on the TTs guest list with a +1. Easy as pie.

Labels: giveaways

posted by brad at 5:45 AM | direct link | rss (1:2) | |

The reinvigorated Breeders are winding up a nearly two-month North American tour that started on the Coachella stage in April and will finish at the Loft in Atlanta this Friday. The five piece -- which puts Fear bassist Mando Lopez, drummer Jose Medeles, and the multi-instrumental (and Craigslist-recruited?) Cheryl Lindsey alongside Deal twins -- stopped by a sold out Paradise here in Boston last Thursday, and rocked through a set that included songs not just from all four Breeders albums (1990's "Pod", 1993's "The Last Splash", 2002's "Title TK", and the new "Mountain Battles") and the "Safari" EP, but also a few from the Amps' "Pacer" record and a couple of those well-worn covers (including their Beatles and GBV renditions). Fans called out requests for "Drivin' on 9" and "Oh", which were declined due to the absence of violinist Carrie Bradley, who they mentioned may join them for their sold-out NYC show tonight.

Kim Deal cracks me up, and her near-constant smile and easy going, no-bullshit stage presence makes any Breeders show a for-sure fun one. While you never know what's going to come out of her mouth between songs (calling her mom 'nuts', teasing her twin sis, or drawing attention to ex-hubby John Murphy in the VIP seats), it's usually going to be more than a "how you all doing tonight?". And thanks to bassist Mando (who is apparently from East LA), we even got a couple appreciated Celtics/Lakers Game 1 score updates.

Walking out of the Paradise to watch the last couple minutes of that Celtics victory in the 'Dise Lounge with a good friend made an ace evening even better... an evening that was nearly ruined by a ticket snafu.

Crisis averted, admission gained, 'Nac post written, recording shared...


Some Breeders links...

Their official site, MySpace page, Wikipedia entry, and 4AD label page.

Additional Audio: Stereogum has the Mp3 for "Bang On". You can stream five other "Mountain Battles" songs at MySpace. And did you ever download the fantastic "Pod" demos? Well, if you're a registered Dime user, you can.

Video: Watch the band perform "Walk It Off" (and not "Bang On", as the page says) and answer questions at the ACL studio during SxSW, check out video of the "Mountain Battles" album release party (which was pretty much just the band hangin' out while listening to the album). And, of course, a Breeders YouTube search will also reward you with many more moving pictures.

Photos: My shots from the Paradise are here, and the band has their own pics at their own site. Many photos to be found with a full Breeders Flickr tag search.

Upcoming tourdates:

Tonight, Tuesday, June 10th in NYC @ Webster Hall
Wednesday, June 11th in Washington, DC @ the 9:30 Club
Thursday, June 12th in Asheville, NC @ the Orange Peel
Friday, June 13th in Atlanta, GA @ the Loft

July brings them to Spain, England, Japan, and Australia, and August finds them still in Oz, then back up to Ireland and Scotland. Full date listing here. Frequent flyer miles galore.

Listen to any and all 'Nac-hosted Mp3s at the Hype Machine.

the fine print... If anyone has an issue with these Mp3s being made available, just let me know (my contact info in the 'nac faq). Live sets recorded with a Sony ECM-719 mic and a Sony MZ-RH10 minidisc, converted to .wav and then edited to 192kbps Mp3s. Files are made available for a limited time, and are not reposted once removed.

Labels: livemp3s

posted by brad at 2:54 PM | direct link | rss (1:2) | |

The men from Mission of Burma are halfway through a hectic couple of weeks, as they've just returned from a short European tour with Shellac to treat Boston and New York fans to some very special performances. Over two nights in each city, the seminal Boston band will perform the entirety of their 1981 debut EP, "Signals, Calls, and Marches", along with their 1982 full-lengther, "vs.". Each set will be fleshed out with some rarities, and guitarist Roger Miller provides more details on that in the interview responses below, which he and bassist Clint Conley were kind enough to provide during a long drive through Spain a few days back.

Thanks to Fenway Recordings, I've got a pair of tickets for each Boston show (Thursday and Friday at the Paradise) to give away. Details after the interview...

Q: So how did the idea of running through each album over two nights come about? Obviously the recent Matador reissues played a part, but were you all into the idea initially, or was anyone resistant?

Clint Conley: The idea first arose when we were asked to do "vs" at the Pitchfork Fest. That seemed quite an honor, and an idea totally worth stealing and repeating. Seemed to me we were of like-mind on the matter.

Roger Miller: I can't recall exactly, but I think (MoB manager and Fenway Recordings head honcho) Mark Kates suggested it. It's that "Don't Look Back" idea that the ATP festival started, where bands perform their classic albums. It just kind of made sense given the reissues. We certainly would not have done this except that the reissues are coming out. Last fall we hardly performed any of the old stuff, because we were focusing on the new ideas.

Q: If you've had time to run through the seldom-played songs already, are there any that have surprised you (either in a 'Why weren't we playing this one all along?' sort of way, or a 'Uh oh, we're in trouble with this one' kind of way, or anywhere in between)?

CC: There were several songs that required some skullwork to reconstruct, and there are still some transitions, and odd corners, that I am not totally convinced we've got "right." Overall, the recall of songs from almost 30 years ago (!) has been eerily easy. And yes, some of the songs we haven't been playing seem pretty decent, if I say so myself.

RM: Mostly they fell into place pretty quickly. Some were surprising to find how they were structured - they were pretty much all fun to revisit. The most surprising one for me was "Train of Thought", which didn't do much for me "back in the day" but I find quite bracing now. We've run through twelve "resuscitates" (songs we haven't played since 1983), and we're hoping we'll have them together by the time of the shows! We're in Spain right now, and we go over them in soundchecks and incorporate a couple in every show, so we should be OK by the Paradise shows. We just listened to these songs in the van, and found that there were quite a number of little sections we didn't realize were there.

Q: With the albums being relatively short compared to the usual length of your live sets (and one actually being an EP), how are you planning to fill out the rest of each night? And do you plan on sticking to the original "Signals..." track order, or the remastered sequence with the two additional songs? (no worries if you're hoping to keep any of that a surprise, of course).

CC: We are still working out the details of how to present the records/shows. Suffice to say we will be expanding beyond , say, the 6 song "Signals," doing other songs from that period that may or may not have shown up on other releases, such on Taang or Horrible Truth. Same with 'vs'.

RM (from notes he wrote earlier): For the 'Signals...' show, we will play some songs from early on that are not on 'Signals...', but were of that era. We will then play the 4 songs from the Acad/Max session (including the 2 that were just released), then play 'Signals...' start to finish, then play encores, and make sure everyone is happy.

For the 'vs.' Show: We will play the 4 "bonus tracks", 'vs.' start to finish, then play encores, and make sure everyone is happy.

Q: You guys have been playing some new stuff recently, so what does the future hold for MoB? Back to the studio for a follow-up to "The Obliterati"? Any other special plans ahead?

CC: We almost never know what we are going to do. If there is a plan, no one's told me.

RM: We're not so good at planning. We do have new material, and once this reissues thing has passed, I'm sure we'll work on more new songs. The only truth to be told is that so far, whenever we've had enough new songs to make an album, we've made one. That may or may not hold true in the future.

Q: I believe you're answering these questions while driving around Europe on a short tour. So what exactly is helping pass the time while on the road? (what music, books, games, etc.?)

CC: We are at this moment following the luxurious Shellac tour van across the high, dry plains of Spain, on our way north to Gijon, a beach town on the Gulf of Vizcaya (Atlantic Ocean). Spain is beautiful to the point of flabbergasm. I was reading Oliver Sacks' "Musicophilia" until it got stolen yesterday along with my laptop in Madrid.

RM: Gazing at the scenery is quite nice. I was in Barcelona with Alloy Orchestra some years ago, but otherwise, this trip is all new stuff to me. Babbling to each other, occasionally listening to music. Listening to Public Enemy (who MoB will play with at P4K in July - ed) coming into Madrid was kind of interesting. I have my laptop with me and writing the Tour Blog for the Burma MySpace site is my little "side project" on this trip. It's hard to say what we do to keep amused - it just happens.

One thing's for sure: Roger's road blogging kept me amused (especially the Burma vs. Shellac scores). Damn shame about Clint's laptop, huh? Add MoB to the long list of victimized touring bands, but hey, at least it wasn't their instruments. Much thanks to Roger and Clint for taking the time to answer those questions.

As I said, I'm glad to be able to give away a pair of tickets to each show, so if you're game, send me an email at giveaways -at- bradleysalmanac -dot- com titled "MoB Thursday" or "MoB Friday", depending on which one you want to try for (no double-dippin'). Make sure I get it before 10AM on Wednesday, and I'll randomly pick one winner for each show who will end up on the guest list with a +1 spot for a friend.

And to get yourself in the mood, I should mention that I uploaded my January recording of MoB's amazing appearance at Great Scott to the Live Music Archive. Have at it.

Labels: giveaways, interviews

posted by brad at 12:44 PM | direct link | rss (1:2) | |

Life is blurring by lately... if you've glanced at my Flickr pics you may have noticed I've recently seen the Thalia Zedek Band, Glorytellers, Drew O'Doherty, Ida, Michael Hurley, and a lecture with writer Neil Gaiman honoring Julie Schwartz at MIT, traveled up to Vermont for some family time where I caught James Kochalka Superstar, Missy Bly, and some Koolaoke, and headed out to Newburyport for some Memorial Day in-town exploration and Plum Island beach time. Good memories all, and more ahead: This evening is the Breeders at the 'Dise (congrats to reader Courtney, who won those tickets to tonight's sold out show), next week brings the Tullycraft show with my VT-pop pals the Smittens and Pants Yell!, along with that REM / Modest Mouse / The National team-up at Great Woods, I mean The Tweeter Center, no wait it's the Comcast Center now (a show I'm still surprised to be checking out, but looking forward to). As Lili Von Shtupp sang: I'm tie-uhd. So vewwy tie-uhd.


Gonna start this short random post off with some songs I've really been digging lately...

My long drive back from Vermont on Sunday afternoon meant I barely had time to make that Ida / Michael Hurley show in Somerville, and also left me too wiped out to catch Atlanta's All The Saints at TTs afterwards. Damn shame, too, because the title track from their just-released debut album is truly great stuff. Hopefully they'll be back this way soon...

Mp3: All the Saints - "Fire On Corridor X"

Soon after this Great Bloomers song started up, my first thought was 'what a really nice piece of melancholic piano-based pop'... until that extended intro ended, and the drums and irresistible guitar hook kicked in. 'Really nice' instantly elevated to 'great', and even higher as a layer of guitar squelch wandered in and out of focus underneath the ultra-catchy top layer (think certain Yo La Tengo songs, or early Idaho). And as someone who's not a huge harmonica fan (beyond, say, Neil Young), the GBs use it perfectly. This one's been on repeat...

Mp3: Great Bloomers - "Catching Up"

I'm a sucker for well-used violin in my pop songs (hellooooo Dambuilders), and Baskervilles' "A Little More Time" does it just right. Add some piano and guy/girl trade-off vocals to a short-but-sweet story of waitstaff flirtation, and I'm so in. Two minutes of bouncy bliss, available as part of the just-out "Twilight", a 14-song collection (produced in part by Mitch Easter) of songs they released monthly via their website.

Mp3: Baskervilles - "A Little More Time"

Another show I hope to catch this weekend is Somerville's own Travels, who make just their second local appearance ever on Saturday night at PA's Lounge (tough choices that night, though, what with Pela at the Middle East and Jennifer O'Connor at TTs). If you're a 'Nac regular, you know well of my Travels love, so I was glad to discover this fine footage from their trip to Vienna, where they performed a couple acoustic songs: Debut album track "There Is Movement" on an abandoned outdoor stage, and new one called "The Forgotten" on a street median. Go watch, and check out their MySpace page for new demos, including one for "The Forgotten".


Keeping it local, there's a new Dylan In The Movies song up on MySpace featuring some backup vocals from the wonderful Watson Twins. Check out the rough mix of "Truro" here, and read about its creation here. While that one's a stream, a rough mix of "Josephine If You Only Knew" can be downloaded as an mp3. Such a good song, with some gorgeous guitar work, and hey, hand claps! Fine ingredients all. Read the background on that one here, along with a mention of DitM working with Tanya Donelly on a cover of "Love Cats" for an American Laundromat tribute to the Cure that will also feature The Wedding Present, Dean & Britta, The Raveonettes, The Rosebuds, and many others.


Still talkin' local: Another show I had to miss due to an out of town trip: Big Dipper's reunited return to an area stage back in late April. Truly painful. But I experienced the build up thanks to "Big Dipper Week" at Things I'd Rather Be Doing, and basked in the afterglow thanks to an excellent recording of the band's Southpaw show over at NYCTaper. I shouldn't have to even say this, but: Download and listen.


And lastly, congrats to my longtime friend (and occasional bandmate) Mike Barrett, as he and his wife Anna welcomed new son Jasper to the world a couple weeks ago. He joins his sister Leila in completing the eventual rhythm section that will back Mike on guitar and Anna on keyboards. Just give 'em a couple years...

Mike recently shared up a live set from his band The Sixth Great Lake (featuring friends from Guppyboy and The Essex Green) over at the Tup Keewah Recordings blog, recorded back in 2001 at Amsterdam's Crossing Border Festival. Not sure when we'll see new offerings on the blog, or the in-progress next Sixth Great Lake album, but hopefully Mike will find some time in between his newly-increased dadly duties. Maybe we'll even get a second appearance from Stratford Projects? Anything's possible...


See? I told you this one would be short. Sometimes I'm actually capable of self-control.

posted by brad at 4:19 PM | direct link | rss (1:2) | |

This coming Thursday, June 5th, the Breeders return to Kim's old stomping ground of Boston for a show at the Paradise. The sisters Deal are out in support of their excellent (and more Pod-esque than Splash-y) new album, "Mountain Battles", with rhythm section and tour openers Montana Boys in tow.

By now, you may know the drill: I've got a couple guest list spots to offer up to one 'Nac reader, so if you and a pal want to join me at a packed Paradise on Thursday, just drop a quick email with your full name in it to me here: giveaways [at] bradleysalmanac [dot] com. Throw 'I Can Feeeeeel It!' in the subject line (exact number of e's not required), and send it along before 9am on Wednesday, June 4th. As usual, I'll randomly pick a name to throw on the guest list with an extra spot for a fortunate friend. Whoever wins will be informed on Wednesday morning, so keep your fingers crossed and an eye on those inboxes.

Full Breeders tour dates can be perused here, and tickets of your own for the Paradise show can, and should, be purchased here (update - sold out!), or at the Paradise box office for a hell of a lot less.

And congrats to reader Christine, who was the lucky recipient of two guest list spots for last night's Jeremy Enigk / Damien Jurado / Sydney Wayser show at Great Scott.

Labels: giveaways

posted by brad at 7:52 AM | direct link | rss (1:2) | |

There's nothing like the pure-pop one-two punch of a shared Ladybug Transistor / Lucksmiths performance. Well, 'punch' could be an unsuitable word... 'one-two hug', maybe? This September 2007 show was at least the second time the two bands had teamed up for a Boston area gig, and like the first, warm vibes and big smiles abounded. Boston's own One Happy Island eased us nicely into the evening, and while I wasn't familiar with San Fran's Still Flyin' before their set, they were a well-chosen second dose of danceable fun, and even lent a member or two to the Ladybugs, adding even more layers to their carefully-constructed pop songs.

I shared the wonderful Lucksmiths' performance awhile back, so at last here's the Ladybug Transistor set for your welcoming ears...


Some Ladybug Transistor links...

Their official site, MySpace page, Wikipedia entry, and Merge Records page.

Additional Audio: Stream the entirety of their most recent album, "Can't Wait Another Day", over at Merge. The label also has many other LT songs to stream.

Video: There's an Isobel Knowles-directed clip for "Always On The Telephone", and an LT YouTube search will turn up much live footage. The Merge Blog also shared up an excellent streetside acoustic performance of "Three Days From Now" recorded for Swedish television.

Photos: My Flickr-hosted Ladybug shots are here. Check out the full Ladybug Transistor tag search.

The Village Voice has a Q&A with LT's Gary Olsen from last October.

Upcoming tourdates: The band plays a free show tomorrow afternoon at 2pm, May 31st, at the Brooklyn Public Library's Grand Army Plaza with Antietam, and is also part of the upcoming NYC Pop Fest that's happening June 12th through the 15th. Their appearance will be on June 14th at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Check out the LT tourdate page here. And keep an eye on NYCTaper, who will be at the Popfest with their recorder at the ready.

Listen to any and all 'Nac-hosted Mp3s at the Hype Machine.

the fine print... If anyone has an issue with these Mp3s being made available, just let me know (my contact info in the 'nac faq). Live sets recorded with a Sony ECM-719 mic and a Sony MZ-RH10 minidisc, converted to .wav and then edited to 192kbps Mp3s. Files are made available for a limited time, and are not reposted once removed.

Labels: livemp3s

posted by brad at 7:40 AM | direct link | rss (1:2) | |