screams, whispers and songs from planet earth

Month: May 2010 Page 1 of 2

Boston Bands This Week (5/31/10)…

Hanna and The Bloodlines (photo by Brit Woollard), Jaggery (from their video for "O Scorpio", and Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys.

Hanna and The Bloodlines (photo by Brit Woollard), Jaggery (from their O Scorpio video), and Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys.

Three bands featured this week who are performing on two consecutive nights at the cozy Cafe 939. This is a really nice coffee house and performance space down the street from the Berklee School Of Music (and run by its students). First up is Hanna and the Bloodlines on Thursday night, featuring jazzy pop vocals from Hannah Sumner. The following night is going to be quite an extravaganza – it’s Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys‘ CD release party for SteamShipKillers, and they’ll be joined by their good friends, Jaggery.

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Boston Bands This Weekend…

BBTW18-400

Happy Memorial Day Weekend, everyone – and let’s see how quickly I can do this and get it up. Starting tonight, there’s a four-day extravaganza over at Passim called The Campfire Festival. It’s quite a good bargain for the price, with loads of fantastic local artists and bands (just found the schedule, so click on in for details). Also tonight, I’ll be heading over to Lizard Lounge to check out Club d’Elf along with special guests Randy Roos, and – from the wilds of Nashville – Mr. Reeves Gabrels, who will surely be engaging in some mighty fine guitar wankery sorcery.

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Show Preview: Greg Laswell with Jimmy Gnecco (from Ours), Brian Wright @ the Paradise Rock Club ~ Thursday, May 27, 2010

Greg Laswell (photo by Joseph Llanes), Jimmy Gnecco, and Brian Wright.

Greg Laswell (photo by Joseph Llanes), Jimmy Gnecco, and Brian Wright.

Greg Laswell with Jimmy Gnecco (from Ours), Brian Wright
at the Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA
Thursday, May 27, 2010 (doors at 8pm; 18+ show)

Jimmy Gnecco, the lead singer for Ours (Distorted Lullabies, 2001; Precious, 2002; and Mercy, 2008), is set to release his solo debut, The Heart, due out July 20 on Bright Antenna. Holy shit, this guy can really sing. He’s currently touring with L.A. songwriter Greg Laswell (who has a new album just out called Take A Bow), and will be at the Paradise tonight (Thursday). Also on the bill is singer-songwriter Brian Wright (Brian Wright & The Waco Tragedies), who also plays piano, mandolin, harmonica. A nice soulful, folky Americana. Three very personal and intelligent songwriters in one evening – definitely worth checking out.

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Leslie and the Badgers with Ferraby Lionheart @ T.T. The Bear’s Place ~ May 16, 2010

Leslie and a few of her Badgers.

Leslie and a few of her Badgers.

It’s fair to say that Los Angeles isn’t best known for its country music, but there is a small and growing scene, partly coming out of the alt-country history of Laurel Canyon, and supported by an excellent folk/country/roots blog, When You Awake. Leslie and the Badgers are proud purveyors of this fine country tradition, made all the more authentic by Leslie Stevens’ Missouri upbringing. But there’s also a lyrical and musical sophistication, a big city street-wise sensibility, that for me, sets them apart.

They’ve been really moving along lately, with shows supporting Roky Erickson and Okkervil River, and a recent performance on NPR’s Mountain Stage. They were joined this evening at T.T.’s by Ferraby Lionheart, a Nashville/Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter with a love of old-timey entertainment and a unique quirkiness worthy of his unusual name.

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Local Natives with Suckers @ Great Scott ~ May 8, 2010

Local Natives at Great Scott

Local Natives at Great Scott

So I’m a little late in reviewing this show (it’s been a weird few months), but I happened to turn on WFNX, just in time to hear “WFNX, where new music starts – Local Natives, ‘Airplanes.'” Wow. Yeah, ok, they’re not really new, and the monumental song in question was on a 5-track EP of early studio tracks and a Daytrotter Session that they were selling at shows back in January 2009, just after they had moved from Orange County to Silverlake in Los Angeles. But it’s great to see them getting recognition so well-deserved. They’ve toured all around Europe and the U.S. now and have a huge following, but this ‘FNX nod made me happy. Because it means a lot of new listeners ahead of their August 5 show at The Middle East. So I’ll take the opportunity to boast that I was amongst the first in Boston to know of this great band. True, I didn’t get to see them play their first shows at the Silverlake Lounge or Spaceland, but being ‘East Coast challenged,’ I do what I can.

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Sea Wolf and The Album Leaf @ the Paradise Rock Club ~ April 30, 2010

Alex Brown Church of Sea Wolf

Alex Brown Church of Sea Wolf

Some Mercury retrograde weirdness pushed the schedule back a bit, and bands were still sound checking as fans gathered in the Paradise front lounge. But it was well worth the wait when Sea Wolf took to the stage. And The Album Leaf were all-encompassing, quite amazing, and they even brought along a string quartet! Nice.

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Food Not Bombs 30th Anniversary Celebration on Boston Common – tomorrow! (Sun, May 23)

FoodNotBombs30th

Last minute notice, but the highly respected, awesome Boston organization Food Not Bombs are celebrating their 30th Anniversary (dubbed “Soupstock”) with a huge celebration on Boston Common tomorrow, May 23, from 12-5pm.

Food Not Bombs was born out of a collective in Boston/Cambridge in the early 80′s and has since spread all over the world. They’ve been providing free (delicious and vegan) food to Boston area people and helping the homeless for all these years. A very, very worthy cause, so get down to the Boston Common and show your support!

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The Neda Project: Amnesty International and The Airborne Toxic Event Commemorate Neda Agha-Soltan

Neda Agha-Soltan, who was shot by a member of the Iranian Basij militia during a peaceful demonstration, June 20, 2009. Photo taken by her fiancé Caspian Makan, May 2009.

Neda Agha-Soltan, who was shot by a member of the Iranian Basij militia during a peaceful demonstration, June 20, 2009. Photo taken by her fiance Caspian Makan, May 2009.

A mother should never have to bury her daughter. Bad enough when it’s a sudden illness, suicide, car accident, or drug overdose. Worse still when at the hands of another, for doing something that so many of us take for granted, like exercising what should be a basic human right: speaking out against an oppressive government regime, and taking part in a peaceful protest. Here in the U.S., we can’t even imagine fearing for our lives for speaking our minds, or what it’s like to live in a place where one’s freedom of speech is completely denied.

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Boston Bands This Week 05/19/10…

Mali Sastri of Jaggery

Mali Sastri of Jaggery

Welcome to the one-minute edition of Boston Bands this week. Coming up, well, right now, at the Lizard Lounge is “Boston-based siren rock/torture chamber pop ensemble” Jaggery. Tomorrow (Thursday) begins the ThirdThursdays @ The Rosebud concert series, with Jeddo Stars (with former members of The Charms) and Seven Shades of Grey. And Saturday night at the Middle East Upstairs is HUMANWINE, Mighty Tiny, Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling, and Dave Magario. It’s being billed as “an amazingly eclectic night of off-kilter rock ‘n’ roll.” Oh yes indeed.

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Gogol Bordello with DeVotchKa, Jesse Malin & The St. Marks Social @ the House of Blues ~ April 28, 2010

DeVotchKa @ the House of Blues

DeVotchKa @ the House of Blues

It’s surely a testament to fine musicians and a memorable performance when one can still recall details of a show even when it takes two weeks to review it. Such is the case of ‘punk/rap Ecuador-by-way-of-the-Ukraine exploding gypsy caravan’ Gogol Bordello and that delicious musical smorgasbord, ‘Eastern European wedding band of your wildest dreams’, DeVotchKa. Oh yeah, and The St. Marks Social was pretty good too.

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