[Live MP3s] Stinson, Death Cab, & Roderick cover Big Star, VU, & NMH
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 10:25 am | 3 Comments
In the half-assed juggling act that is my life, the blogging-ball continues to hit the floor. Here’s where I pick it up for a second, sharing a trio of cover songs from shows I’ve seen over the past couple months.
Back on April 21st (aka Record Store Day, for us who mark it), ex-Replacements and current (Axl-free) Gn’R bassist Tommy Stinson rode in a family-filled van from his upstate NY home to the Norwood, MA location of Newbury Comics for an acoustic in-store. He treated an appreciative crowd to a short set, accompanied by his wife Emily Roberts on harmonies & tambourine and his uncle-in-law Sippy on slide, which included this Big Star cover…
My RSD haul was relatively small this year – the Richard Thompson 7-inch (I can’t resist a live version of “1952 Vincent Black Lightning“, one of the best songs ever written), the Now Now / The Lonely Forest split 7-inch, and the new (although non-RSD) double-album from The Figgs. Quality, not quantity, people. You can find more photos of Tommy’s appearance over here.
That same night, Death Cab For Cutie played Boston’s Wang/Citi Center, backed by the simply stunning sounds of San Francisco’s Magik*Magik Orchestra. I’ve always been a sucker for strings, and hearing some of DCFC’s best work (“Cath“, “What Sarah Said“, “Title & Registration“, “A Movie Script Ending“) with those gorgeous arrangements was at times transcendent. For a few songs after the main set, it was just the foursome, on acoustics and stripped-down drums, and they gave us a nice surprise – their take on a classic Velvet Underground & Nico number (which is, incidentally, the very first cover my very first band ever learned)…
The rest of my photos from the show, such as they are, right here.
Far more recently, I caught John Roderick‘s (inevitably) too-short opening set for Jonathan Coulton at the Paradise a couple weeks ago. It’s been 5 years since J Ro’s last visit (and, um, 6 years since the last Long Winters album… but let’s not get into that), but I’ll take what I can get. Even a small fix is a welcome fix. A handful of Long Winters‘ classics, a “new” song (which means it was written in the past, yeah, 6 YEARS), and this reverent Neutral Milk Hotel cover. If you’d asked me before if I ever needed to hear someone cover this song again, I’d have said no. Then I heard Sir Roderick do this…
More shots from his set can be found right over here.
(And I apologize retroactively for referring to him “J. Ro”. It’s totally KB’s fault.)
[Last Night’s Playlist] New Music Night VI at River Gods
Posted on May 25, 2012 at 5:45 am | No Comments
The sixth edition of NEW MUSIC NIGHT ended late last night (ok, technically early this morning), with myself and Jay Clicky Clicky alternating DJ hours at venerable Cambridge hang-spot River Gods in Central Square. What follows is a rundown of the songs I spun, along with where to find ’em and listening links if available. For Jay’s playlists, hit up his place.
at River Gods, Cambridge, MA
May 24th, 2012
Set One
(9-10pm / Bradley’s Almanac)
** = Boston-area band
01. Sun Kil Moon – “Sunshine In Chicago“
[ from the “Among The Leaves” LP / stream at Caldo Verde ]
02. Tara Jane O’Neil – “Sirena“
[ from her new K records 7-inch ]
03. Beachwood Sparks – “Forget The Song“
[ from the upcoming “The Tarnished Gold” LP / MP3 ]
04. Kaia – “The Night Was On To Me“
[ from her “Two Adult Women In Love” LP / demo MP3 ]
05. Real Estate – “Exactly Nothing“
[ b-side to the “Easy” 7-inch / stream at Soundcloud ]
06. Pools – “Bad Enough“
[ from the “Cabin” EP / stream at Bandcamp / MP3 ]
07. Rebecca Gates & the Consortium – “&&&“
[ from the upcoming “The Float” LP / stream at Parcematone ]
08. Beach House – “Myth“
[ from the “Bloom” LP / video / download via Topspin ]
09. 2:54 – “You’re Early“
[ from their debut album / stream on Soundcloud ]
10. Best Coast – “The Only Place“
[ title track from the new LP / download via Topspin ]
11. Eux Autres – “Home Tonight“
[ from the “Sun Is Sunk” EP / MP3 ]
12. Allo Darlin’ – “Northern Lights“
[ from the “Europe” LP ]
13. Detective Agency – “Daggers“
[ from the “Daggers” EP / stream on Bandcamp ]
14. ** Gulls – “Hair“
[ from the “Down The Hatch” LP / stream & free download at Bandcamp / MP3 ]
15. Beach Fossils – “Shallow“
[ from the 7-inch / download at Spin ]
16. Craft Spells – “Still Left With Me“
[ from the “Gallery” EP / stream at Soundcloud ]
17. DIIV – “Doused“
[ from the upcoming “Oshin” LP / stream at Soundcloud ]
18. Violens – “Der Microarc“
[ from the “True” LP / video / stream at Soundcloud / MP3 ]
19. ** Cuffs – “Private View“
[ from the upcoming 7-inch on Ride The Snake Records ]
20. Redd Kross – “Researching The Blues“
[ title track from the forthcoming Merge Records LP / MP3 ]
Set Two
(11pm-12am / Bradley’s Almanac)
** = Boston-area band
21. Admiral Fallow – “The Paper Trench“
[ from the “Tree Burst In Snow” LP / video / stream at Soundcloud ]
22. ** The Dirty Dishes – “Blur“
[ from “The Most Tarnished Birds” EP / stream & download on Soundcloud ]
23. Now Now – “Thread“
[ from the “Threads” LP / video ]
24. The Karl Hendricks Trio – “The Men’s Room At The Airport“
[ from the upcoming “Adult Section” LP / MP3 ]
25. Averkiou – “Fuzzy Photograph“
[ from “The New Imperative” EP / stream at Soundcloud ]
26. ** Hallelujah the Hills – “Get Me In A Room“
[ from their “No One Knows What Happens Next” LP / MP3 ]
27. Guided By Voices – “Class Clown Spots A UFO“
[ title track from the next LP / stream at RS ]
28. Standard Fare – “Girlfriend“
[ from a new 3-song 7-inch / stream at Soundcloud ]
29. ** The Figgs – “Chased“
[ from their “The Day Gravity Stopped” double LP / stream at Peterwalkee Records ]
30. Black Tambourine – “Want You Around” (Ramones cover)
[ from the “OneTwoThreeFour” double 7-inch on Slumberland ]
31. My Bloody Valentine – “Good For You“
[ previously unreleased track from the new remasters / stream at PMA ]
32. The Wedding Present – “End Credits“
[ from their “Valentina” LP ]
33. Obits – “Let Me Dream If I Want To” (Mink DeVille cover)
[ from their new Sub Pop 7-inch ]
34. ** Mission of Burma – “Dust Devil“
[ from the upcoming “Unsound” LP / MP3 ]
35. ** The Okay Win – “Cliff“
[ from their almost-out “Leveled” EP / stream at Bandcamp ]
36. ** Slowdim – “Money“
[ new single / stream at Bandcamp / MP3 ]
37. ** Age Rings – “Bounty Hunter“
[ from the brand new “AM/PM” EP ]
38. Elliott Smith – “Needle In The Hay” (with Eric Matthews)
[ unreleased version (with EM on trumpet) from the CASH Music Kickstarter compilation ]