Fun with Archive.org: Justin Townes Earle
Thanks to a new iPhone app that the App Store Genius recommended to me (Music Archive) I’m rediscovering the wonders of Archive.org. This website, which acts as both a graveyard and a purveyor for the Internet, is well known for it’s plethora of stored live music recordings, most notably the Grateful Dead. As of this post they had 3,339 shows available to download and 3.976 Grateful Dead shows that you can stream. The entire library consists of 73,799 musical archives covering 3,988 different bands (as of 2/9/10).
I was sending out Twitter messages and posting on Facebook some of the live shows that I was discovering and realized that there’s so much music on here besides the Grateful Dead that it would be fun to share some of my favorite finds on hip2besquare. I call it my “Fun with Archive.org” posts.
First up is Justin Townes Earl at Stubb’s BBQ from 2/4/2010. Below is the stream.
Setlist:
01 Intro
02 Poor Fool
03 They Killed John Henry
04 Halfway To Jackson
05 My Mamas Eyes
06 Boy Keep Movin’
07 What I Mean To You
08 Someday I’ll Be Forgiven For This
09 Ain’t Waitin’
10 A Wanderin’
11 Do I Ever Cross Your Mind (Dawn Landes on vocals)
12 Starter Won’t Start (Lightning Hopkins)
13 What Do You Do When You’re Lonesome
14 Hard Livin’
15 Lone Pine Hill
16 Ain’t Glad I’m Leavin’
17 I Don’t Care
18 Workin’ For The MTA
19 Mama I’m Coming Home
20 Midnight At The Movies
21 Banter
22 Gold Watch And Chain (Carter Family)
23 I Can’t Wait
24 Walk Out
Learn more about Justin:
www.justintownesearle.com
Andrew Bird @ BoA Pavilion this Friday in Boston
That crazy melody making whistler is gracing us with his presence this Friday at the BoA Pavilion. I’m excited cause it’s my first show at the pavilion (also known as Harbor Lights) this summer and it never officially feels like summer until I get down there. I’m hoping our weather will feel the same way and open up its heart to summer time weather once the birdman passes through our corner of the world. Seriously, this weather is getting to be a bit depressing.
If you’re new to Andrew Bird, I highly recommend starting with the album, Mysterious Production of Eggs. This is the album that first grabbed a hold of me and it was the song, “A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left”, off of this album that first drew me to investigate the “mysterious” songstress. I even remember the blog it came from, lovely Fluxblog (Grab it from My Old Kentucky Blog).
The great thing about seeing Andrew live is the songs are often changed up from their studio arrangements. Andrew is truly a modern day prodigy and can never seem to stop thinking about different arrangements for all the melodies floating in his brain (Read his New York Times article on how he writes songs in their Measure for Measure blog).
On the albums, Andrew writes and I believe plays most if not all the instruments. However, instead of watching him create loops for half the show (it’s more like a quarter), he brings along some friends to jam out. Martin Dosh provides back up on percussion, loops and keys. Keep an eye out for “Simple X”, a Dosh song that made it on Andrew’s previous release, Armchair Apocrypha. The last show I saw they nailed it and the song highlights Dosh’s otherworldly percussion skills. Jeremy Ylvisaker supports on the guitar, bass, organ and shortwave. A recent addition is Mike Lewis, who plays with Jeremy Ylvsaker in Alpha Consumer.
Buy Noble Beast (released in January 2009)
Download & Listen: “Oh No” (from Noble Beast)
Official Andrew Bird website: www.andrewbird.net
Myspace page: www.myspace.com/andrewbird
Tour Dates:
Jun 15 – Cobb Energy PAC – Atlanta, GA
Jun 18 – Radio City Music Hall – New York, NY
Jun 19 – Bank of America Pavilion – Boston, MA
Jul 10 – Greek Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
Jul 11 – Greek Theatre – Berkeley, CA
Jul 13 – Red Butte Garden – Salt Lake City, UT
Jul 14 – Red Rocks Amphitheatre – Morrison, CO
Jul 16 – Britt Pavilion – Jacksonville, OR
Jul 17 – Marymoor Amphitheatre – Redmond, WA
Jul 18 – McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheater – Troutdale, OR
Jul 19 – McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheater – Troutdale, OR
Jul 26 – Squaw Velley Ski Resort – Olympic Valley, CA
Aug 7 – Lollapalooza – Grant Park – Chicago, IL
Aug 8 – Lollapalooza – Grant Park – Chicago, IL
Aug 9 – Lollapalooza – Grant Park - Chicago, IL
Oct 2 – Austin City Limits Festival – Austin, TX
Oct 3 – Austin City Limits Festival – Austin, TX
Oct 4 – Austin City Limits Festival – Austin, TX
Tour Annoucement: The Big Surprise Tour w/ Old Crow Medicine Show and Felice Brothers
This just in, great line up coming together in August to tour most of the northeast, down to North Carolina and then over to Tennessee. The line up includes Old Crow Medicine Show, Dave Rawlings Machine (Featuring Gilian Welch), The Felice Brothers and Justin Townes Earle.
The tour starts in New Hampshire at the Hampton Beach Casino on August 4th and the following night they hit up the House of Blues here in Boston. I’ve been meaning to get over to the newly built House of Blues, which took place of Avalon and Axis on Lansdowne Street behind the Green Monster. However, I think I may have preferred this show to be at the BoA Pavillion down in the harbor. One of the better outside venues around and nothing says summer then a big old ho-down like this one.
If you’re not sure about these artists on paper, just give then a chance in the flesh and I promise you won’t regret the decision.
Tour dates:
04 – Hampton Beach, NH @ Casino Ballroom
05 – Boston, MA @ House Of Blues
06 – New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre
07 – Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
09 – Charlottesville, VA @ Charlottesville Pavilion
10 – Cary, NC @ Koka Booth Amphitheatre
12 – Louisville, KY @ Waterfront Park
13 – Nashville, TN @ Riverfront Park
14 – Knoxville, TN @ World’s Fair Park
Myspace Pages:
Listen to a preview of what you’ll hear by streaming “Run Chicken Run” off of The Felice Brothers latest album, Yonder is the Clock.
Grizzly Bear @ Berklee College of Music – 6/3/09
The brightest and the hippest were all out in pure force last night at the Berklee Performance Art Center on Mass Ave. in Boston. I was upset I missed the opener, Here We Go Magic, but we can blame Boston’s lack of free parking spots for that one. Who wants to pay $17 to park for three hours? Not me.
I was on top of this show early so I snagged my favorite seats in the house which are located right along the first section of the balcony. Great view, great sound. Just like their new album, Veckatimest, they opened up with “Southern Point”. This version seemed longer then the album version. I know that the ‘Bear likes to explore during their shows so perhaps this is their exploratory nature coming out on stage. The sound was kicking as usual but the last show I saw here was Andrew Bird and the sound was no where near as loud.
A good reason why the sound was so loud was sitting behind the skins. Christopher Bear not only includes half of the bands name but he also makes up half of the bands sound all on his own. The fills and rolls this guy pulls off are so intense and forceful that he invokes chills up your spine on a regular basis. I almost feel sorry for his kit at times.
All the way on the opposite side of the stage stands another strong foundation to the band, Chris Taylor. Chris tends to be the quite, “no body really notices”, type of guy while on stage. However, if you were to mute everyone on stage except Chris you’d notice he makes the most noise. And not just with his bass. He’s got all sorts of toys, especially in the wind instrument family including a clarinet and what looked like a Saprono sax. He appears to attach a special microphone to the end of each wind instrument which is then attached to some crazy effects pedal that alters the sound giving it that haunting vibe Grizzly is so famously known for.
For those unfamiliar with their sound, the best way to describe Grizzly Bear is a haunting version of the Beach Boys. I don’t mean haunting to mean scary but rather beauty. If you like melody, you’ll love Grizzly Bear because each song is jam full of gorgeous, haunting melodies that you’ll go crazy for.
A review of Grizzly Bear would not be complete without discussing the performance of the two lead vocalists, Daniel Rosen and Ed Droste. For Ed, this was a home coming show. Tons of family in the crowd. If there’s a leader of the band I guess you could say Ed is it. But only cause he’s the most talkative, which isn’t saying much. But Ed and Daniel split the lead vocal duties. Ed’s voice is more traditional and sounds professionally trained (not sure if he is or not), where as Daniel has a more unique quality that includes the familiar haunting undertones found throughout the instrumental components of each song. But Ed and Daniel are not the only ones whose vocals make an appearance. All four members contribute with Chris Taylor as the main back up vocalist who is often the one you hear contributing to the “ooooo’s” and “ahhhh’s”. There aren’t too many other bands out there that rival the four part harmony of Grizzly Bear.
They rambled through a majority of their new material and included a few off their first album, Yellow House, such as the stand out “Knife” and “Colorado”. One thing is for sure, these guys really put a lot of work into each song. Everything so perfectly timed and the details, details, details! They even make use of frequency from an old radio to add sound to various songs.
To say the least, this was a show of pure talent. My only wish, as is with many indie shows, is that they played longer. I would have enjoyed a second encore. I would have enjoyed getting up out of my seat and dancing but I probably would have been booed. But I guess that’s why I also go to Phish shows.
Listen and Download tracks from Here We Go Magic’s Daytrotter sessions
Listen to Grizzly Bear music on Myspace
Watch and listen on Interface:
Fuck Buttons & Caribou @ Paradise Rock Club 3.26.08
(All pictures in this post provided by Alex Burack; Contact Alex at alexATprmphotoDOTcom. To see more of Alex’s pictures from this show, visit the Pitchfork post)
I knew going into the week that I was going to see at least two shows so when I found out that the first show of the week was going to actually start at 8:15 and not 10 pm, I was pumped. Thank you Paradise.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Fuck Buttons (sorry dad but normally my language isn’t this vulgar), they recently hit the scene with some props from the overlords in Chicago. I got my hands on their upcoming release, Street Horrsing, about a month ago and have popped it in on various occasions. Usually right after I come home from work and I need to, um, relax. I paused for a reason for if you’ve had the pleasure to hear their music, you’ll know that most human beings probably would not have the capability to relax. However, for me, this style of noise electronica can be soothing. Especially when their native chants and drum beats take over. If there is one thing the F-Buttons should be known for it should be their conscious effort to squeeze as much noise into one song as possible.
This rings true during their live show. I have some pretty nice ear plugs and they weren’t even doing the trick. For the first fifteen to twenty minutes of the show I wasn’t too impressed. The trance like feeling I got while laying in my bed, contemplating my recent work day, was not felt. Instead I found myself wondering why I’m staring at two guys pushing buttons on a computer. When the drum was hit a few times I got excited but then the drum was looped and took a backseat to more noise. I was a little bored to say the lease. But after those first twenty minutes they turned it up a notch (Not the volume. I don’t think it could go up any louder). More melody started to creep in and the beats began fluctuating. In fact, my head even started to bounce.
They ended the show after about 45 minutes of straight noise by basically unplugging their instruments during the hight of what I’m assuming was a song, creating this empty feeling in the audience. I suspect that this is something they do at all their shows; go all nuttso on you for a long period of time with loud and crazy noise, at times throwing in some melody, and then, just as you start to feel the music taking a new turn, they shut down all communication and walk off stage by essentially telling the audience, “you’ve just been ‘f-buttoned’”.
Myspace Page: http://www.myspace.com/fuckbuttons
Official Website: http://www.fuckbuttons.co.uk/
Listen: “Bright Tomorrow” (Download this MP3 and others at HYPE Machine)
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Continue on after the jump to read the Caribou review
Guest Post: Review of Bishop Allen
You should make plans to see Bishop Allen play at the Middle East. Not because Bishop Allen will be on the Best of Pitchfork, the AV Club’s top music of the year, the New York Times, the Village Voice, or any other trusted source for new and talked about independent music.
You should see Bishop Allen because you’ll enjoy the show. By enjoy, I mean, you’ll have a smile on your face and so will your friends that have never heard the band. If a typical indie rock show is to be compared to a night at the cool, 40-beers-from-all-around-the-world, up-and-coming-part-of-the-city-bar, a Bishop Allen show would more closely resemble drinking domestic beers on a summer day at the beach. It’s like returning to your friends and family after an extended bout of traveling. Good, clean, un-pretentious fun lyrics. Not quite a sing-along, thank god, but you hear enough to know that the song isn’t about killing people.
Post by Tim “Sammy Adams” Baker
Their myspace site: http://www.myspace.com/bishopallen
Official Website: www.bishopallen.com
Next Boston Show: May 15th @ Middle East Downstairs ($12)
Kips Notes on “Click Click Click Click”: The simplicity of both the song and the video create a lasting effect on the listener, quite similar to that of a good photo taken. I find the video to be ingenious. You take a simple concept like that of the animated flip book and give it a tiny twist.
MP3: “Rain”
MP3: “Click Click Click Click”
Video for “Click Click Click Click”
About Editor
Name: Luke "Kip" Owen
Location: Boston, MA
Contact: kippy[AT]hip2besquare[DOT]net
Twitter: twitter.com/kipdog
Youtube: youtube.com/kipdog
-
-
