Nina
EMMA
Filed under: Emma, Nina | Tags: boston counter cultural compass, brighton music hall, das racist, dom, great scott, lady lamb the beekeeper, middle east, o'death, Sharon Van Etten, starfucker, the kills, tt the bear's, upcoming concerts in boston, Wye Oak, yuck
An accurate depiction of Allston in Spring, I hope the mysterious JHamel doesn't mind it's use here.
So we’re a bit late on this due to procrastination and frolicking in the nice weekend weather, but here is the official, seemingly never ending, list of shows we’d like to go to this month if time were no factor. Unfortunately, as April showers turn to May flowers and our rate of panic attacks to… non-panic attacks turns against us, we can’t see them all. Instead, if you need us, we can be found hyperventilating about the future somewhere in a curled up ball in Allston. Or reading this new found blog This Horrid Life. Read: How to Overcome a Bender. But you should go to these shows! And dig these tracks listed in conjunction, because they’re all great.
As always – Boston Counter Cultural Compass has an abundance of shows not listed here. So check it out, too.
4.4 Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys at TT the Bear’s for Rock ‘n’ Roll Rumble
4.5 Starfucker at Brighton Music Hall
Bury Us Alive from Reptilians - Buy on Amazon.
Das Racist performs at Stereogum's Last Night party at the Pure Volume House in Austin.
Gobble Gobble at Boston Family Dinner during SxSW
Wye Oak at SxSW 2011
4.13 Handsome Furs at Great Scott
4.13 Chris North Residency at The Haven, with Mount Peru
4.14 Girlfriends at Middle East Upstairs
Lady Lamb the Beekeeper at Cafe 939
Kingsley Flood at SxSW 2011
4.30 Yacht at the Paradise
Filed under: Emma, Uncategorized | Tags: allston, boston music scene, bowery boston, central square, great scott, harper's ferry, hornets! hornets!, independent venues, large music corporations, new york times, the hold steady, the middle east, the royale, tt the bear's
Image taken from Boston.com
As briefly mentioned in our Rocktober calendar, Harper’s Ferry in Allston Rock City is closing (after 40 years! THAT’S A LONG TIME) at the end of this month. Now, Harper’s was never my favorite Boston venue, and I know their closing was actually a long time coming. It has to do with the enormity of their space, the high rent on Brighton Ave (especially so close to Harvard Ave), some booking technicalities and of course… dun dun dun… THE ECONOMY. Still, the announcement that this checkerboard-floored dive bar with all those pool tables and pin ball machines in the back is closing its doors was met with a twang of sadness.
During these past three years of college fun and games, I’ve become particularly fond of the small(ish) venues in Boston. The Middle East, TT the Bear’s and Great Scott, to name some favorites, are impressively independent and have a flavor all their own. Admittedly, House of Blues and the Paradise often bring some excellent bills to this city, and thus I attend, pay too much for drinks and scoff at the ridiculous “non-denominational” decorations inside (HOB, I’m looking at you). But I resent them. That’s why I was confused when while compiling the Rocktober calendar, something became clear… ALL THE GOOD SHOWS ARE AT THE ROYALE. And this year, as the mammoth success story that is the Bowery Presents has extended it’s reach from New York City to the upper Northeast, instead of gravitating towards the muraled intersection of Mass Ave and Brookline Street in Cambridge every weekend, I keep ending up in the fucking theater district.
BOWERY... PRESENTS... BOSTON
Now, to back track, I can’t hate too hard on the Bowery Presents. They started out as pretty serious underdogs, and in 2007 the New York Times wrote this article about the Bowery Presents expanding from the depths of Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn all the way up to Radio City Music Hall and the historic Beacon Theater, kicking the far worse Live Nation’s ass out of the way of their uptown arch. They waged their takeover honestly, with a love for live music, and that’s really all you can ask for in a huge expansion project.
The worst part is – the dudes at the Royale are doing a good job. As far as big-ish, commercialized venues go, the Royale ain’t too bad: the stage is wide, the lighting is good, the room is swanky and the sound is pretty fantastic. It’s easy to go to their box office, the prices aren’t too bad (usually), and the shows are starting on time and are executed quite well.
Still, I have to remain indignant. For the majority of the ’00s, ever since that damn internet phase never phased out, record labels glared at music lovers who downloaded music illegally, traded songs over the internet among friends, and even streamed music from Last.fm. They went cross eyed from looking over their spectacles trying to figure out how they could continue to make money off those damn kids, who, for the most part, just wanted to listen to and spread the word about good music because it was what they loved, not because they wanted to rip off the bands. All the lawsuits, the impositions of higher fees on iTunes, Rhapsody, etc… it was all, in a sense, a panic that continues to sweep over every industry affected by the internet. And that’s a whole lot of industries.
Alas, fear not, corporation-mongers, sleep tight, swill merchants. Bands discovered that touring became the only way to make money these days, which led to the rise of concerts at affordable prices, and music lovers happily forking over cash to see shows. Therefore, it was only a matter of time before independent venues had to start competing with the booking power and money of something like Bowery Presents. Not so suprisingly, the Middle East, TT’s, Great Scott and all the other little guys seem to be feeling the damage. It’s sad, really, because everyone I know who goes to shows in Boston would much rather spend their money at the bars in Central Square and Allston than in the club-infested downtown area. The shows at the Royale are over by 10 p.m. on weekends, and when all the concert-goers walk out, the Pauly D blowouts and skintight mini dresses/too-high heels walk in. Who wants to see that? Not me.
So what will happen? I don’t think these small venues are really in grave danger yet, but there is a striking difference between where I’m seeing shows this fall versus last. There are still full bills at the independent venues almost every night, but bands like Menomena, Suckers and Real Estate (who would have been shoo-ins to play The Middle East a year ago) are going straight to the Royale.
Unfortunately, we only have so much time and money to spend on shows, and priority usually goes to the band we want to see, regardless of where they’re playing (unless they’re playing the Orpheum, because really? Fuck that shit). But at the same time, it’s important to keep supporting these independent venues, so if there is a show I want to see in good ol’ Central Sq. I’ll be there with bells on.
Oh and I’m ending this with a video of Hornets! Hornets! by the Hold Steady, because I just saw them at the Royale and it was awesome. And the title of this post is from the song. And the rest of the multimedia in this is just photos of clubs… and because I want to.
Filed under: Albums, Emma, New Music | Tags: broken social scene, canadian indie pop, cloak and cipher, land of talk, montreal, pitchfork, tt the bear's, upcoming concerts in boston
out on Saddle Creek Records
Montreal trio Land of Talk‘s new album, Cloak and Cipher, will be released on the 24th. I’ve been waiting all summer to write about this, having only learned of the band back in June. As a friend slowly fed me their inventory through Skype messages, beginning with their ridiculously addicting EP Applause Cheer Boo Hiss, I quickly fell in love singer Elizabeth Powell’s husky vocals and the band’s riff heavy style. I was sad to find out they had JUST been in Boston a week before my ears started an intense summer love affair with them, thanks in large part to the track “Summer Special.” Alas, they will be back on November 3, and at TT the Bear’s no less: I now suspect the summer lovin’ will last way past fall.
I had the pleasure of hearing Cloak and Cipher at my internship back in July and felt it was a pretty big step forward for the band, whose first full length album Some Are Lakes lost a little steam after their EP (though there are a few excellent tracks on that release as well). Anyway, today Pitchfork published their review of Cloak and Cipher and gave it a 6.9 rating on their despised decimal system… which isn’t particularly bad, considering how harsh they can be. The review was also pretty positive, but call me crazy, I was expecting a higher grade especially as Some Are Lakes also received a 6.9. God, I hate decimals.
Land of Talk toured North America with Montreal’s super group to end all super groups, Broken Social Scene, a few years back. Their new release picks up a bit of that good ol’ Canadian indie pop sound, often reminiscent of BSS’s older stuff, but I really can’t say that’s a bad thing. In the Pitchfork review, writer Zach Kelly mentions a particular similarity between LoT’s “Swift Coin” and the epic “7/4 (Shoreline),” which I suppose I can hear now that it’s been pointed out, but in the guitars alone. Otherwise, Land of Talk have their own unique sound.
Cloak and Cipher opens with the title track, a thumping ballad that starts out with Powell’s singing sounding far away until the first chorus comes around and everything kicks in at once. The “distanced” singing comes in and out throughout the song creating a push and pull feel, which allows the percussion to really stand out. “Quarry Hymns” is beautiful and haunting, even though I can’t get the image of the song being played on what looks like a Casio keyboard under a highway overpass, thanks to the video of LaBlogoteque’s take-away performance (which you can find right here).
Other stand out tracks include “Color Me Badd,” in which Powell’s vocal range and talent are really showcased, “Playita,” and “Blangee Blee.” “The Hate I Won’t Commit” is interesting, to say the least, as it interrupts the rest of Cloak and Cipher‘s pretty consistently poppy, controlled and accessible sound with a noisy interlude that almost reminds me of Sleater-Kinney or something equally hardcore. It takes a little time to like, but eventually I decided it was pretty awesome too.
LoT got by with a little help from their Montreal friends, Stars and (all together now), Arcade Fire, and a cast list of many others, although these cameos are not really pronounced on any of the tracks. One thing that could be worked on? These songs have great lyrics, but you’d never know it without looking them up. While Powell’s voice is strong, you can really only hear her words when she is belting out choruses. Some more audible wording throughout the songs would be nice.
Huzzah! Finally raving about that album feels like the sweet relief of fall’s coming at the end of a hot summer. Check out the album, come see them live when they return to TT’s on a chilly November evening or wherever they’re playing near you… it’ll be a good time, I’m sure.
* As the album isn’t quite out yet, it’s a bit difficult to find streaming links. Will put them in once they’re up and out there on the big bad interwebs.
