musings from boston

screams, whispers and songs from planet earth

Burlap to Cashmere: First Album in Over A Decade, Out July 19th

By the sound of Burlap to Cashmere‘s first single from their upcoming album, “Build A Wall”, these guys have some demons to vanquish and spirits to summon. Sabre-rattling with haunted vocals and a powerful tribal rhythm suggest a long life of hard-learned lessons. Old soul survivors. “Don’t Forget To Write” starts out dreamy and then time-travels, strongly reminiscent of the warmth and lyrical gravitas of Simon and Garfunkel, but with an interesting musical twist of Mediterranean and Greek rhythms, a touch of flamenco, and exotic melodies.

[audio:http://www.bostonsurvivalguide.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/BurlapToCashmere-Nehemiah_BuildAWall1.mp3|titles=Burlap to Cashmere – “Build A Wall”]

They started in the mid-90s with cousins John Philippidis and Steven Delopoulos on guitars and vocals, joined by drummer Theodore Pagano. In 1995, they performed regularly at New York City’s The Bitter End, and in 1998, released “Anybody Out There? on A&M Records. A road rage incident in Brooklyn in 2005 left Philippidis badly beaten, requiring an extended hospital stay and putting a reunion in doubt, though ultimately providing the inspiration for the band to reunite. This is their first album as Burlap to Cashmere since 1998, produced by Mitchell Froom (Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney and Sheryl Crow), to be released July 19th on Jive Records.

official site | facebook | twitter

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Darwin Deez Returns to Boston: Brighton Music Hall, Saturday, July 16

DarwinDeezCD
It’s the East Coast return of the extraordinarily odd, danceable and downright charming Darwin Deez. His self-titled debut had a physical release on May 23rd, and he’s been touring for the past year and a half. At first listen, his music (and perky, upbeat vocals) might seem over-the-top cheerful and cheesy, but a careful listen reveals enough melancholy and sarcasm to give the sticky sweet syrup a surprisingly pleasant sourness and bite.


“Little yellow fish are happy it’s not so tough / would everything you wish you had be good enough?” – Deep Sea Divers

Supporting him will be dreamy psych-pop Lucky Number label mates Caged Animals.

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The Plight of the Staghorn Sumac

An essay about plant intolerance on the North Shore.

StaghornSumac1-500

The state of Massachusetts has a startling variety of vegetation, with many native species that range from Staghorn Sumac and Evening Primrose to Black-eyed Susan and New England Aster. Yet on this uppity outcropping of the state, according to the latest census, over 97% of the town consists of neatly manicured lawns.

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A Very Special Evening of Music at a New Performance Space, Yes.Oui.Si ~ *tonight*

Goli busking on Newbury Street, 2008 (D. Chin), The And Company, Flightless Buttress (Conor Doherty)

Goli busking on Newbury Street, 2008 (D. Chin), The And Company, Flightless Buttress (Conor Doherty)

Flightless Buttress, Goli, The And Company @ Yes.Oui.Si, 19 Vancouver St., Boston MA (E train on Green Line to Museum of Fine Arts, look left), Saturday July 9 – tonight! at 7pm, $5 donation.

Here’s an absolutely wonderful gathering of musicians at what sounds like a fantastic new music listening space. Which of course I just found out about this morning. If you enjoy chamber music with a modern pop twist, most definitely visit this new art & performance space, Yes.Oui.Si, near the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. This evening features the quirky percussive and pretty folk-pop of The And Company, the uber-classy cello and marimba duo Goli, and the gorgeous, soaring guitar and cello melodies of John Nolan and Calin Peters a.k.a. Flightless Buttress.

The List – Goli by exploitboston

Goli: official site | facebook | twitter || Flightless Buttress: official site | facebook | bandcamp || The And Company: official site | facebook | bandcamp

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Christopher Paul Stelling at Precinct Friday July 15th

Hear Now Live Presents: Big East, Shoney Lamar & The Equal Rights, Bitch Trifecta, Christopher Paul Stelling, Jennifer Greer @ Precinct – Friday, July 15.

I first mentioned Christopher Paul Stelling last November, when I was totally knocked-out by his incredible acoustic guitar picking and soulful Southern Gothic vocals. With mournful tales and hellfire fury, he summons ghosts and saints, heaven and hell, loss and hope. Later this summer, he’ll be in Louisville at Funeral Home Studios, recording his debut album, Songs Of Praise &amp Scorn (Mecca Lecca), assisted by Kevin Ratterman (Wax Fang). But for now, he’s playing a few shows and introducing new songs.


On his decision to record in Louisville’s first working funeral home, he says “I find the recording process to be a lot like embalming, a preservation if you will…so, I figured an actual 100 year old funeral home was a perfect place to record.”

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Oh! You Pretty Things: A Burlesque/Cabaret Tribute to David Bowie @ Club Oberon *Tonight*

I only just heard about this. There was an “off-Broadway warm-up” at the Rosebud in Somerville this past weekend, and tonight is the full extravaganza at Club Oberon in Harvard Square. It’s “Oh! You Pretty Things: A Burlesque/Cabaret Tribute to David Bowie,” and it features “24 Bowie tunes, from “All the Young Dudes” to “Let’s Dance” redone in energetic lounge style with a 10-piece band and seven scantily clad dancers.”

This event is hosted by Niki Luparelli (“Neo-cabaret vamp, Vaudeville comedienne, pinup model and bleach aficionado,” in her own words). “We’re going to do this until he sues us or comes out of retirement,” Luparelli said before Saturday’s Rosebud show. Tickets are $20 in advance; $25 at the door.


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Dead Stars and the WANDAS @ Tommy Doyle’s in Harvard Square Saturday night!

DeadStars_WANDAS-500

Brooklyn-based trio Dead Stars are purveyors of some very nice fuzzed-out, noisy and melodic indie pop. Cousins Jeff and Jaye Moore (guitar and drums) and long-time friend John Watterberg (bass) first started playing together in 2008. They’ve recently released The Wasted EP, a 5-track follow-up to their 2009 debut, Break The Tide. They stop by Tommy Doyle’s in Harvard Square on Saturday, July 9th, along with Boston’s the WANDAS, who have a new album coming out next month, having raised over $11,000 on Kickstarter.

Forever and Ever (new!) by the WANDAS

Dead Stars: bandcamp | facebook | twitter
the WANDAS: official site | facebook | twitter | soundcloud

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Expanding Awareness: Alternative Healing

On tomorrow morning’s Expanding Awareness show, Victor and his guest will be discussing alternative healing. Yes, that’s rather vague, I know. Tune in and find out. It begins at 10am on 90.3FM in the Boston area, or this show can be heard on the WZBC Archive (all of ‘ZBC’s shows are online for two weeks).

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Fay Wrays ~ Strange Confessor

photo: Dani Mac Photography (http://www.danimacphotography.com/)

photo: Dani Mac Photography (http://www.danimacphotography.com/)

Following my nod to the new Rademacher music is the recently-released Strange Confessor, from Fay Wrays, who sound nothing whatsoever like Rademacher but who are also from Fresno and who happen to share a drummer, Eli Reyes. Eli and Ben McEntee (vocals, guitar, bass) started the band in 2006 after their previous band, The Soma Holidays, called it quits. Fay Wrays are rambunctious, hardcore punkish and noisy, though with some melodic guitar and spacy moments, as in “Painting Dollar Bills” and “A Harmony Whose Equal Was Never Heard In Hell”. Though perhaps they’re at their most fun during shriekfests like “When We Storm The Gates We Sing This Song” and “She Gave Me A Compass”. On Strange Confessor, they’re joined by various friends: Whitney Freeman (Achievement House), Eric Peters (Sleepover Disaster, and who recorded the album), Steve Loveless (The Rhoda Penmarks) and Luke Giffen (Quiet Americans).

facebook | bandcamp | soundcloud | recent interviews: Fresno Bee | Radio Free Silverlake

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Rademacher: Baby Hawk! New Album and Tour

photo by Stephen Gamboa

photo by Stephen Gamboa

Here’s some seriously great news which I’m finally getting around to posting. For all you Rademacher fans out there (and if not, why not?), the long-awaited follow-up to the 2007 release Stunts is just a few weeks away. Baby Hawk (Park I of III) is available for pre-order on bandcamp and will be released Tuesday, July 5th. The album will be available via itunes and emusic on July 12th. Have a listen to the complete song below, or go to their soundcloud page to listen to each instrument separately. Cool. For those uninitiated: poignant and raw, deceptively simple lyrics that cut to the bone, set against slick, interesting pop music (with more sophistication and sonic magic of late). Dive in.

THEY ARE ALWAYS INTO THAT MIX 06 by BabyHawk

“All the best songs / are love songs / I don’t think that you can argue / no, I don’t think you can argue that… convenient explanations for the way things are… who really cares? / who really knows? / who’s responsibility is this?”

They’ll also be on the road starting July 1, though for the time being, just in Cali. However… somewhat reliable sources tell me there are plans to come East in the fall. Hopefully this time they’ll make it past Chicago.

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