Showing posts with label PHX. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PHX. Show all posts
Monday, August 2, 2010
Tonight: Chameleons at Hennessy's
In this week's Phoenix we talked to Mark Burgess about last year's legendary show at Hennessy's with the Curtain Society, and tonight Boston attempts to catch lightning in a bottle once again as the former Chameleons frontman returns to Faneuil Hall. Vanya MMC's Endless Wave was added as a last-minute opening act. This is going to rule.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Twitter : Michael Marotta and Michael V
Over the weekend I launched about 35 Twets from down in Newport, from Twitpics to other fun stuff, so if you'd like to follow all my music-loving shenanigans, both on assignment at the Boston Phoenix and independent solo musings and ragtime, click the links below (Note: Yes, I go by my birth name at the PHX):
PHX: Interview with AA Bondy @ NFF
Also yesterday at Newport I thad the fortune of a few minutes with AA Bondy, who I first heard a decade ago when he led Verbena through a post-grunge haze. Once again, pulled from the Boston Phoenix's On The Download NFF coverage. It might be time for bed.
Newport Folk Festival 2010 AA Bondy Interview with Michael Marotta from Boston Phoenix on Vimeo.
PHX: Interview with Dawes @ NFF
Yesterday I talked with the dapper California indie-folk dudes of Dawes at Newport Folk Fest, pulled from the Boston Phoenix's On The Download NFF coverage.
Michael Marotta interviews Dawes at the 2010 Newport Folk Festival from Boston Phoenix on Vimeo.
In My Head: "Home" by Edward Sharpe & Magnetic Zeros
Oh hai Vanyaland, sorry I've been so neglectful. Well, just got back from 33 hours of Newport Folk Festival, all after another rager at the pill Friday night, Hercules & Love Affair on Thursday and Drug Rug @ the MFA on Wednesday. Non-stop action through it all, but somewhere along the way, I fell in love.
Yes, madly in love.
With Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, who I caught just a few hours ago at NFF but had on in the van with the Boston Phoenix production crew pretty much the whole weekend. How I slept on this song "Home" for the past year, man, I duno. I'm supposed to be onto of these things.
Here's the clip. which even with the bland album art as a YouTube stand-in still sounds phenomenal. What an absolutely perfect love song. "In the streets we run free, like it's only you and me... ... .... Home is where ever I'm with you" Good lord the Newport Folk Fest made me all hippie.
Yes, madly in love.
With Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, who I caught just a few hours ago at NFF but had on in the van with the Boston Phoenix production crew pretty much the whole weekend. How I slept on this song "Home" for the past year, man, I duno. I'm supposed to be onto of these things.
Here's the clip. which even with the bland album art as a YouTube stand-in still sounds phenomenal. What an absolutely perfect love song. "In the streets we run free, like it's only you and me... ... .... Home is where ever I'm with you" Good lord the Newport Folk Fest made me all hippie.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Phoenix mp3 of the week: Night Fruit
Peep it, on newsstands now and at thephoenix.com: MP3 of the Week: NIGHT FRUIT, ‘SEA BLOOD’
NIGHT FRUIT may be relatively new to the scene, but the noise-smart Cambridge trio aren’t lacking in local-rock pedigree. Guitarists Amanda Dellevigne and Jonathan Gill built buzz in the gone-too-soon ’90s-flavored trio Hot Box while drummer Luke Sullivan was cavorting around town with alt-rock-minded Left Hand Does. Now, they’re taking their former bands’ multilayered melodies and post-rock riffage and throwing them through the experimental grinder. The almost-menacing “Sea Blood” is a magnetic slow burn of neo-shoegaze, a calm-before-the-storm dreampop firefly that’s chilling in its deceptive reach. Night Fruit’s debut EP is expected around early fall, and the band are performing this Friday (July 23) at the House of Blues’ underappreciated free front-room local-music series with Streight Angular. In the meantime, grab the “Sea Blood” MP3 at thePhoenix.com/onthedownload.
_Michael Marotta
NIGHT FRUIT may be relatively new to the scene, but the noise-smart Cambridge trio aren’t lacking in local-rock pedigree. Guitarists Amanda Dellevigne and Jonathan Gill built buzz in the gone-too-soon ’90s-flavored trio Hot Box while drummer Luke Sullivan was cavorting around town with alt-rock-minded Left Hand Does. Now, they’re taking their former bands’ multilayered melodies and post-rock riffage and throwing them through the experimental grinder. The almost-menacing “Sea Blood” is a magnetic slow burn of neo-shoegaze, a calm-before-the-storm dreampop firefly that’s chilling in its deceptive reach. Night Fruit’s debut EP is expected around early fall, and the band are performing this Friday (July 23) at the House of Blues’ underappreciated free front-room local-music series with Streight Angular. In the meantime, grab the “Sea Blood” MP3 at thePhoenix.com/onthedownload.
_Michael Marotta
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Where they're going? Cut Copy goes Britpop
Cut Copy - "Where I'm Going" by Some Kind of Awesome
Boston Phoenix OTD repost: On Friday, Australian dance-pop trio Cut Copy unveiled their new single “Where I’m Going” for free download through their website, and beyond an hour-long avalanche of re-tweets and Facebook posts, buzz kinda died out rather quickly. Maybe everyone was too busy TGIFing it up.
But it was mildly surprising, as the stand-out tracks and their eventual remixes from 2008’s sterling In Ghost Colours album — “Lights & Music,” “Hearts On Fire” — can still be heard most indie and electro clubs from here to Melbourne. I mean shit, this is the new Cut Copy jam we just got, and the weekend’s almost here!
But something odd happened on the way to the dance floor. While everyone was ready to get sweaty under strobe lights, the dudes in Cut Copy changed course and hit the bar instead.
“Where I’m Going” — intended as a teaser track from January’s as-yet-untitled new album — is probably the best Britpop song in at least a decade. It’s far more sing along in the pub than make out on the dance floor, and its tumbling rhythm, sunshine-pop melody and fist-pumping “yeahs” and “woos” recall that sorely missed era mid-'90s UK guitar rock. Shit, if Select Magazine or Melody Maker were still around they’d be posting blog-gasms felt all the way from Haywards Heath, carefully positioning the Cut Copy boys to be the next great faces of a new era of Lad Mags.
Fitting for a jam that recalls Britpop, the track is insanely catchy, rife with traces of Cast, Shed Seven, and even a mascara-mod touch of the late, great Menswe@r. Sure, it’s all quite a departure from the band's previous synthed-out electronically-hinged sound, but it’s also the sign of a band ready to evolve and re-define themselves. You certainly can't be the Presets forever, you know, and the Britpop sound is ripe for a comeback. Even if it comes from the land Down Under.
Download it via the above link, or listen to it on Soundcloud.
Boston Phoenix OTD repost: On Friday, Australian dance-pop trio Cut Copy unveiled their new single “Where I’m Going” for free download through their website, and beyond an hour-long avalanche of re-tweets and Facebook posts, buzz kinda died out rather quickly. Maybe everyone was too busy TGIFing it up.
But it was mildly surprising, as the stand-out tracks and their eventual remixes from 2008’s sterling In Ghost Colours album — “Lights & Music,” “Hearts On Fire” — can still be heard most indie and electro clubs from here to Melbourne. I mean shit, this is the new Cut Copy jam we just got, and the weekend’s almost here!
But something odd happened on the way to the dance floor. While everyone was ready to get sweaty under strobe lights, the dudes in Cut Copy changed course and hit the bar instead.
“Where I’m Going” — intended as a teaser track from January’s as-yet-untitled new album — is probably the best Britpop song in at least a decade. It’s far more sing along in the pub than make out on the dance floor, and its tumbling rhythm, sunshine-pop melody and fist-pumping “yeahs” and “woos” recall that sorely missed era mid-'90s UK guitar rock. Shit, if Select Magazine or Melody Maker were still around they’d be posting blog-gasms felt all the way from Haywards Heath, carefully positioning the Cut Copy boys to be the next great faces of a new era of Lad Mags.
Fitting for a jam that recalls Britpop, the track is insanely catchy, rife with traces of Cast, Shed Seven, and even a mascara-mod touch of the late, great Menswe@r. Sure, it’s all quite a departure from the band's previous synthed-out electronically-hinged sound, but it’s also the sign of a band ready to evolve and re-define themselves. You certainly can't be the Presets forever, you know, and the Britpop sound is ripe for a comeback. Even if it comes from the land Down Under.
Download it via the above link, or listen to it on Soundcloud.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Saturday: 'Antics' with DJs Passion Pit, HPD
A Boston Phoenix re-post: For years, “Antics” was nothing more than a kinda crappy Interpol album and the stuff your ladyfriend got into while you were working the night shift. Coming this Saturday, Antics is so much more -- namely, a sick free party with free booze at the Artists For Humanity space featuring a live performance by Bad Rabbits and electro-licious DJ sets by Passion Pit, Hot Pink Delorean and Red Foxx.
But be warned: Toyota’s the designated driver of this party bus, kids, and who knows where they want to take you. On the flip side, the bash is free free free, and you only need to be born after today's date in 1989 and RSVP here to get in.
Official deets in flyer form:
But be warned: Toyota’s the designated driver of this party bus, kids, and who knows where they want to take you. On the flip side, the bash is free free free, and you only need to be born after today's date in 1989 and RSVP here to get in.
Official deets in flyer form:
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
PHX: Elefant's Diego Garcia gets romo
Boston Phoenix On The Download: Elefant's Diego Garcia gets romantic
Depending on your opinion of New York's post-punk revival of the early 2000s, Elefant's 2003 debut album Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid is either a second-wave Bowie-drunk Strokes rip-off or one of the more solid rock releases in a time of not very many solid rock releases. Though the band's sparkle would quickly fade -- 2006 follow-up The Black Magic Show was a total dud -- there is enough charm the first album ("Misfit," "Bokkie") to look back relatively fondly on Elefant with a bit of revisionist critique.
But all that seems a distant memory now as heartthrob front man Diego Garcia is back in action, trading in the now-tired angular guitar-rock sound for the bedroom-eyed romantic crooner that he clearly suppressed in his Elefant days. New release "You Were Never There" is way more Julio Iglesias than Julian Casablancas, and the paced string arrangement and world music texture seems to suit not only his vocal delivery but his whole lover-on-the-side persona. The fact that it sounds frighteningly like a Brett Anderson solo composition, however, is a conversation for another day (as is the weathered face).
In the meantime, ladies, Diego Garcia can be your hero, baby. Have a listen:
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
PHX: Bear In Heaven @ TT The Bear's
From the Boston Phoenix On The Download blog, penned by yours truly: With Brooklyn synth-gazers Bear in Heaven rolling into T.T. The Bear's Place tonight, we figured it was appropriate to fondly recall those pre-Gulf Coast oil spill halcyon days, when our lone ecological threat was an angry volcano in Iceland.
Trapped in a Madrid airport back in April as a result of Eyjafjallajökull's ashy vomit, Bear in Heaven cured never-ending boredom by sending their trusted video camera out on a journey aided by the baggage claim conveyor belt - a true metaphor for life in these trying times. They then used the footage to create a trippy little low-budget music video dubbed "A Nice Moment During The Dust Cloud," and the combination of confused looks on the faces of stranded travelers works well with Bear In Heaven's ambient rolling drone.
We may even see some of those perplexed looks tonight if Bear in Heaven are still sporting those pimp mustaches they flashed a few months back at the Middle East. Shaved or shaggy, the Bear is worth checking out, and Boston Phoenix faves Twin Sister and Mountain Man, our Vermont selection in this week's 50 Bands 50 States feature, round out a very solid Tuesday night bill in Cambridge Synth City. Doors at 9 p.m., $10 to enter.
Trapped in a Madrid airport back in April as a result of Eyjafjallajökull's ashy vomit, Bear in Heaven cured never-ending boredom by sending their trusted video camera out on a journey aided by the baggage claim conveyor belt - a true metaphor for life in these trying times. They then used the footage to create a trippy little low-budget music video dubbed "A Nice Moment During The Dust Cloud," and the combination of confused looks on the faces of stranded travelers works well with Bear In Heaven's ambient rolling drone.
We may even see some of those perplexed looks tonight if Bear in Heaven are still sporting those pimp mustaches they flashed a few months back at the Middle East. Shaved or shaggy, the Bear is worth checking out, and Boston Phoenix faves Twin Sister and Mountain Man, our Vermont selection in this week's 50 Bands 50 States feature, round out a very solid Tuesday night bill in Cambridge Synth City. Doors at 9 p.m., $10 to enter.
A nice moment during the dust cloud from Bear In Heaven on Vimeo.
Monday, July 12, 2010
On the Download: Interpol's 'Barricade'
Re-post from my Boston Phoenix On The Download blog strike:
Interpol's been in the game for more than a decade now, so it's only fitting that a musical "return to form" was in order. Back in April, several months after drummer Sam Fogarino told Paste Magazine that the repressed-but-remarkably-dressed New Yorkers' new album would have a sound reflecting to their early days, Interpol released "Lights," the brooding first single off their upcoming self-titled album (which drops Sept. 7 off Matador).
Today Interpol followed that up fairly quietly, releasing a another new track off the creatively-titled Interpol dubbed "Barricade," which can now be streamed off 130BPM.com or purchased via iTunes. The track has a bit more post-punk spunk than the balladry emitted on "Lights," and sounds essentially like a bridge between a leftover track off 2001 debut Turn On The Bright Lights and follow-up sophomore album Antics. Despite that, it's really not a bad tune.
But there seems to be something missing in "Barricade," and we're not talking about bassist Carlos D, who left the band in May (replaced by David Pajo of Slint) but still performs on most of the new disc. Nah, what's missing is ease. Early Interpol tracks like "NYC" and "PDA" seemed effortless; they possessed a icy glide that made the four stand out from their more punk-leaning New York brethren. The songs had a confidence all their own, and held up in any sort of context, the heralded new Dirty Apple scene of the time be damned.
"Barricade," on the other hand, seems a bit forced, from Daniel Kessler's almost awkward guitar line to vocalist Paul Banks' overextended yelp. It certainly trumps most of everything found on 2007's major label debut Our Love To Admire, but it's a step back from the early-vein promise suggested by "Lights." There's almost a bit of desperation found in "Barricade," which is new ground for Interpol, and we'll need the rest of the album to properly judge its magnitude.
Luckily, Boston will get a closer listen at the new material before the album drops or leaks in September. Interpol rolls into the House of Blues on Aug. 5, but be sure to get there early, as also on the bill are two fantastic indie rock upstarts: New York's dance-minded Postelles and Georgia's sonically-enhanced Twin Tigers.
Interpol's been in the game for more than a decade now, so it's only fitting that a musical "return to form" was in order. Back in April, several months after drummer Sam Fogarino told Paste Magazine that the repressed-but-remarkably-dressed New Yorkers' new album would have a sound reflecting to their early days, Interpol released "Lights," the brooding first single off their upcoming self-titled album (which drops Sept. 7 off Matador).
Today Interpol followed that up fairly quietly, releasing a another new track off the creatively-titled Interpol dubbed "Barricade," which can now be streamed off 130BPM.com or purchased via iTunes. The track has a bit more post-punk spunk than the balladry emitted on "Lights," and sounds essentially like a bridge between a leftover track off 2001 debut Turn On The Bright Lights and follow-up sophomore album Antics. Despite that, it's really not a bad tune.
But there seems to be something missing in "Barricade," and we're not talking about bassist Carlos D, who left the band in May (replaced by David Pajo of Slint) but still performs on most of the new disc. Nah, what's missing is ease. Early Interpol tracks like "NYC" and "PDA" seemed effortless; they possessed a icy glide that made the four stand out from their more punk-leaning New York brethren. The songs had a confidence all their own, and held up in any sort of context, the heralded new Dirty Apple scene of the time be damned.
"Barricade," on the other hand, seems a bit forced, from Daniel Kessler's almost awkward guitar line to vocalist Paul Banks' overextended yelp. It certainly trumps most of everything found on 2007's major label debut Our Love To Admire, but it's a step back from the early-vein promise suggested by "Lights." There's almost a bit of desperation found in "Barricade," which is new ground for Interpol, and we'll need the rest of the album to properly judge its magnitude.
Luckily, Boston will get a closer listen at the new material before the album drops or leaks in September. Interpol rolls into the House of Blues on Aug. 5, but be sure to get there early, as also on the bill are two fantastic indie rock upstarts: New York's dance-minded Postelles and Georgia's sonically-enhanced Twin Tigers.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
On The Download on Twitter
BLOG TALK: At the Boston Herald, I had the Hotline. Now at the Boston Phoenix, I have On The Download. It's a bit less reckless than the previous endeavor, but still all in the name of Boston music. Hence, it's name -- follow it:
Phoenix: Girlfriends hit their tour running
This ran in today's Boston Phoenix -- an OUT column on Girlfriends' 7-inch release party and tour kickoff last week at Great Scott in Allston.
Road warriors
Girlfriends hit their tour running
By MICHAEL MAROTTA | July 6, 2010
PHOTOS: Girlfriends at Great Scott, by Scott M. Lacey
An hour before Girlfriends hit the stage last Thursday at Great Scott, singer/guitarist Ben Potrykus was afforded the luxury of not having to make change.
"Keep it," a girl standing at the merch table said after handing Potrykus more than enough cash for Girlfriends' new seven-inch, "Gov't Seizure"/"Creep Stuff." "You're going on tour, that's awesome!"
Girlfriends are hitting the road indeed. After last week's kickoff in Allston, the jangly lo-fi garage-punk trio set off for 44 shows in 44 days before wrapping up in Providence on August 14. (They return to Great Scott for a gig with Reports and Eux Autres four days later.)
"Sometimes stuff falls through," said Potrykus, an apparent master at tour routing. "We figured we'd book all the dates, and when stuff falls through, that's our day off."
If any city can't get its shit together — from San Francisco to Ypsilanti — it'll be the city's loss. In less than a year of playing together, Girlfriends — rounded out by Jennifer Dowty (bass) and Andrew Sadoway (drums) — have the buzz that suggests great things are to come.
A homonymous cassette-only release and the "Good To Be True" digital single off Floating Garbage Continent Records got the blogs buzzing, and last month Girlfriends snagged the "Best Garage/Psych Band" award in the Phoenix 2010 Best Music Poll. Now the "Gov't Seizure" seven-inch — recorded at and released off Weymouth's Aurora Seven Records — could position them to be our country's answer to UK garage freakbeat kids Thee Vicars. It's a raucous sonic explosion wherein under the grainy echoing distortion lies six minutes of spirited dirty-pop bliss. Girlfriends' sound has a true home on vinyl, and it's probably just as rad on cassette in your parents' 1988 Cutlass Ciera. Which means it might never find its way onto an officially released compact disc.
"I hope not," Potrykus said. "I think CDs are kinda boring."
Just like days off.
Road warriors
Girlfriends hit their tour running
By MICHAEL MAROTTA | July 6, 2010
PHOTOS: Girlfriends at Great Scott, by Scott M. Lacey
An hour before Girlfriends hit the stage last Thursday at Great Scott, singer/guitarist Ben Potrykus was afforded the luxury of not having to make change.
"Keep it," a girl standing at the merch table said after handing Potrykus more than enough cash for Girlfriends' new seven-inch, "Gov't Seizure"/"Creep Stuff." "You're going on tour, that's awesome!"
Girlfriends are hitting the road indeed. After last week's kickoff in Allston, the jangly lo-fi garage-punk trio set off for 44 shows in 44 days before wrapping up in Providence on August 14. (They return to Great Scott for a gig with Reports and Eux Autres four days later.)
"Sometimes stuff falls through," said Potrykus, an apparent master at tour routing. "We figured we'd book all the dates, and when stuff falls through, that's our day off."
If any city can't get its shit together — from San Francisco to Ypsilanti — it'll be the city's loss. In less than a year of playing together, Girlfriends — rounded out by Jennifer Dowty (bass) and Andrew Sadoway (drums) — have the buzz that suggests great things are to come.
A homonymous cassette-only release and the "Good To Be True" digital single off Floating Garbage Continent Records got the blogs buzzing, and last month Girlfriends snagged the "Best Garage/Psych Band" award in the Phoenix 2010 Best Music Poll. Now the "Gov't Seizure" seven-inch — recorded at and released off Weymouth's Aurora Seven Records — could position them to be our country's answer to UK garage freakbeat kids Thee Vicars. It's a raucous sonic explosion wherein under the grainy echoing distortion lies six minutes of spirited dirty-pop bliss. Girlfriends' sound has a true home on vinyl, and it's probably just as rad on cassette in your parents' 1988 Cutlass Ciera. Which means it might never find its way onto an officially released compact disc.
"I hope not," Potrykus said. "I think CDs are kinda boring."
Just like days off.
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