screams, whispers and songs from planet earth

Month: April 2010 Page 1 of 2

Robert Francis, Lawrence Arabia, and Fanfarlo @ the Paradise ~ April 11, 2010

Robert Francis at the Paradise, Boston

Robert Francis at the Paradise, Boston

A warm, gentle breeze has been blowing in from the West, sweeping awesome L.A. artists into town like an unpredictable weather pattern blowing exotic birds in from off their usual migration path. Ok well, it’s kinda like that. It’s also the case that a growing number of the Silverlake/Echo Park area bands that I’ve regularly featured here have been (rightfully) achieving wider success and have been madly touring all over the f’ing place. Robert Francis is one of those artists; a thoughtful and personal singer-songwriter strongly steeped in folk tradition, but rocking out more since last year’s Before Nightfall. He’s been back and forth between Europe and the U.S. so much lately, it’s more likely you’ll see him in Boston – or Brussels for that matter – than in his native Los Angeles.

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Show Preview: Frightened Rabbit, Maps & Atlases, and Bad Veins @ the Paradise Rock Club ~ Thursday, April 29

Frightened Rabbit, Maps & Atlases, and Bad Veins
at the Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA
Thursday, April 29 – (doors at 8pm; 18+ show)

Frightened Rabbit

Frightened Rabbit

Yowsa, what a delightful onslaught of really great bands coming through Boston right now! Though I see their Paradise show tomorrow night is sold out, I have to give a brief mention of a band I briefly profiled late last year, Frightened Rabbit.

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Film: Searching for Elliott Smith (documentary) @ Somerville Theatre – tomorrow night!

ElliottSmith

There’s a screening tomorrow night of Searching For Elliott Smith, a documentary by Gil Reyes. I didn’t even know there was such a thing. And I’ve only found out about this just now from someone on my Indie Rock Boston meetup group… It’s part of what’s now the tail-end of Boston’s Independent Film Festival. I’m notoriously out of the loop, but thanks to this one guy, I heard about this before it was too late. Just barely.

It’s playing Mon. April 26 (that’s tomorrow) 7:30pm at the Somerville Theatre, Davis Square, Somerville. You can get tickets here. I see now that the filmmaker, Gil Reyes, will be there to answer questions after the screening. Absolutely fantastic.

Facebook (for the film) | sweet adeline (official site by fans)

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Show Preview: Marti Jones, Don Dixon featuring Kelley Ryan ~ Club Passim ~ Sunday, April 25

Marti Jones and Don Dixon featuring Kelley Ryan, at Cafe Passim, Cambridge, MA – Sunday, April 25 (8pm – buy tickets)

Marti Jones and Don Dixon (photo by Merch Mike); Kelley Ryan

Marti Jones and Don Dixon (photo by Merch Mike); Kelley Ryan

I’m rather late out of the gate with this one, but there’s a cool show coming up tomorrow night at Passim with a trio of very talented people – Marti Jones (singer-songwriter; has supported Marshall Crenshaw, T-Bone Burnett) and Don Dixon (producer REM, The Smithereens) featuring Kelley Ryan (astroPuppees). They’ll be performing both solo material and collaborations from Kelley Ryan’s debut solo album Twist (which was produced by Dixon with backing vocals from Jones).

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Expanding Awareness: Psychic Self Defense & the clearing of psychic space

On this morning’s Expanding Awareness show, Victor will be discussing psychic self defense and the clearing of psychic space. Listen on Saturday morning at 10am on WZBC 90.3 FM (in the Boston area) or check him out online. You can also listen after the fact on the WZBC archive.

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Show Preview: Gogol Bordello, DeVotchKa, Jesse Malin & The St. Marks Social ~ the House of Blues ~ Wednesday, April 28, 2010

DeVotchKa (photo by Gary Issac) and Gogol Bordello.

DeVotchKa (photo by Gary Issac) and Gogol Bordello.

Gogol Bordello, DeVotchKa, Jesse Malin & The St. Mark’s Social at the House Of Blues, Boston, MA
Wednesday, April 28 | doors at 7pm; all ages

This promises to be a magical evening of deeply satisfying Eastern European music with an Old World flavor and modern spices tossed in, plus some crazy gypsy punk revelry.

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Show Preview: The Album Leaf, Sea Wolf ~ the Paradise Rock Club ~ Friday, April 30, 2010

Alex Brown Church of Sea Wolf (photo by Mia Kirby); The Album Leaf

Alex Brown Church of Sea Wolf (photo by Mia Kirby); The Album Leaf

The Album Leaf, Sea Wolf at the Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA
Friday, April 30 | doors at 8pm, 18+ show

For those who enjoy rich musical tapestries; some folky and warm, others dreamy and synth-driven ethereal, here’s a really nice evening for you.

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On reaching that special place

I’m standing in a dark Cambridge club, watching set lists being put out; last minute arrangements before the show. The mechanics, the logistics, the arranging and planning that goes into a 90 minute performance of music.

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Boston Bands This Week: Vivian Darkbloom

Vivian Darkbloom at the Royale, Boston

Vivian Darkbloom at the Royale, Boston

TONIGHT: Vivian Darkbloom @ the Middle East Upstairs, with Seven Shades Of Grey, Hannah & The Bloodlines, and See Green

I’m going to profile one band this week, Boston’s Vivian Darkbloom. I had the pleasure of seeing them perform with The Airborne Toxic Event last week, in a special ‘invite only’ show, part of Jack Daniel’s Studio No. 7 series. I was going to do the review first, tell you how much I enjoyed these ace musicians and technology geeks from MIT and Harvard, and then give some background and highly recommend their upcoming show at the Middle East as part of my ‘Boston Bands This Week’ feature. But I had a problem. As soon as I began to wade through my 140 photos and 10 videos, I came to a realization: if you’re a Boston band and you’d like this particular reviewer to give you some blog love in a timely fashion (they’re playing the Middle East Upstairs Wednesday night) it might not be the best idea to perform on the same bill as Airborne Tox. So I’ll have this serve “double duty” – a few words about Vivian Darkbloom’s powerful set at the Royale to an appreciative audience, and a mini-profile/show preview.

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Show Preview: Kaki King, An Horse ~ the Middle East Downstairs ~ Saturday, April 17

Kaki King and An Horse at the Middle East Downstairs, Cambridge, MA
Saturday, April 17
(18+)

KakiKing-400

Recently, a really, really good guitarist named Kaki King came to my attention. Originally from Atlanta and now based in Brooklyn, NY, Kaki King first came to prominence about 10 years ago with an experimental, two-handed percussive guitar playing technique.

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