CONCERT LISTINGS The Best Concerts of September 2008
Ease the pain of back-to-school bitch work with music and punting, the tried-and-true best medicine for p-setting agony. Check out our picks for September’s best concerts; special interest shows denoted with stars.
Best Movies of Summer 2008
Now that the start of classes draws ever nearer, it sure does feel like summer’s out and school’s back in session. Ah, yes … nothing like the feel of a marble notebook and the sharp taste of Red Bull to make you long for the scent of the ocean, the taste of barbecued patties, and the cool air of a movie theater. Here, we’ll bring you right back to the fresh days of early June with reviews and recaps of this summer’s releases.
ALBUM REVIEW Modern Guilt Far From Mellow
Between his unpredictable album content and hush-hush ties to Scientology, it’s hard not to speculate about just what’s going on in Beck Hansen’s brain. His most recent opaque interviews leave out most details of his personal life, and so the truest glimpse we get of his personality comes direct from the records. Alternating between funky nonsense (Mellow Gold, Odelay, Midnite Vultures) and sonically rich emotion (particularly the Nigel Godrich-produced albums Mutations, Sea Change, and The Information), Beck proves adept at showing off his polar-opposite profiles, but never facing the world with his full-on façade.
BOOK REVIEW Re: Scamming the Scammers
I have to admit, I’m somewhat partial to spam e-mail. Everyone says it’s a pain in the ass and they all spend money on programs to prevent it from entering their precious inboxes. But I say bring the spam on! It’s usually funny, sometimes poetic, and apparently, you can have a pretty good time responding to it. As far as responding to these e-mails goes, I’ve thought about it before and decided I probably have better things to do with my time. Luckily, author Neil Forsyth doesn’t, and he’s written an entire book about scamming the scammers.
CONCERT LISTINGS The Best Concerts of April 2008
It seems former frontmen and recently-gone-solo band members are presently dominating this month’s Boston music scene. Rather than worry that the duplicate prevalence of lead singers might bar new acts from booking shows at local venues, I recommend you revel in the prolific songwriting of these musicians and try to catch them outside of their comfort zones. Special recommendations are denoted with stars.
CD REVIEW SM & Jicks Make Art Out of ‘Trash’
I’m a fanatical appreciator of absolutely everything Stephen Malkmus has ever created, but such laudatory devotion should not be taken as accepting passivity on my behalf. I like his past efforts in very different ways. Pavement, the band with which Malkmus attained the status of “Clown Prince of Indie Rock,” seems (analogously, of course) like a silly but sexy teenage girl next door. Malkmus’ literary and sardonic ramblings, inextricably combined with the expert sloppiness of the rest of the group, shouted, “We don’t give a fuck, and we’re damn good anyway.”
MAIL REVIEW The Best of the Bin
You have no idea how much mail we get daily at <i>The Tech. </i>Seriously. If you try to guess, you’ll come up short.
CONCERT REVIEW Are You That Girl?
Dear girl from Boston College who stood in front of me at the Third Eye Blind show,
The Best Concerts of May 2008
April showers bring May flowers, and in this case, the downpour of ex-lead-singer shows last month has led to a hefty crop of diverse acts (okay, Jeremy Enigk snuck in there, somehow). There are so many notable groups playing locally this month that I didn’t even get to list (The Teenagers, Los Campesinos!, The New Deal, Firewater, Eyedea & Abilities and Kevin Devine, to name a few), so I highly recommend scouring venue Web sites to see if I skipped over one of your favorites. But this is my column, after all, and so my picks get top billing. With that I present to you May’s best shows; especially notable ones are marked with stars.
CONCERT REVIEW Three Nights of Da Dirty Jicks
Disregarding the aching belly of my slim wallet, I shelled out to see Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks three times on their North American tour (well, okay, one night was compensated, but still). Had all three New York dates not sold out almost instantly, I’d probably have bought tickets for them, too. Did I do it out of fanaticism? For the sake of x-treme journalism? Or did I just have nothing better to do with my time? Regardless of motives, I got to catch three great concerts, each one markedly different from the last despite the unavoidable similarities.
CONCERT REVIEW Three Nights of Da Dirty Jicks
Disregarding the aching belly of my slim wallet, I shelled out to see Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks three times on their North American tour (well, okay, one night was compensated, but still). Had all three New York dates not sold out almost instantly, I’d probably have bought tickets for them, too. Did I do it out of fanaticism? For the sake of x-treme journalism? Or did I just have nothing better to do with my time? Regardless of motives, I got to catch three great concerts, each one markedly different from the last despite the unavoidable similarities.
The Best Concerts of March 2008
March can be a pretty bleak time for music in a college town like Boston. This is true for a number of reasons. It’s halfway through the semester, so students are stressing out and staying in. It’s right around vacation, so they’ve got less to spend on extravagant tickets. Most importantly, every week, there’s at least some school on Spring Break, which means a large population of the city up and vanishes.
CONCERT REVIEW The Chan Marshall Musical Revue
Earlier tonight, seated at The Orpheum, I couldn’t help but think of an old Toothpaste for Dinner comic. This particular installment of the Web series featured the author sitting at a desk writing a letter, which read: “Dear Chan Marshall of Cat Power, SHUT UP. Love, Drew.”
The Ten Best Albums of 2007
How does one define 2007 in terms of the music it produced? Surely the selections should reflect the events of the year: in this case, record low temperatures, iPhones for everyone, and an over-abundance of celebrity crotch-baring. At the same time, records making the annual list should be timeless; they should be representative not only of yearly trends, but also be able to withstand a 10-year flashback without much embarrassment on the reviewer’s behalf.
CONCERT LISTINGS Twenty-Nine Days Means Fewer Days for Concerts
This February will be a slow month in Boston, that’s for sure. Many of you are returning to school after fabulous vacations, and even if I’ve picked a poor adjective, just about anything beats the constant churn of formulas and papers this new semester signifies. While you acclimate to the returning workload, here are the few selections that caught my eye for the month of February. They may be slim, but they’re mighty, so load up!
CONCERT LISTINGS The Best Shows of December 2007
The end of the semester is only a few weeks away, and if your workload looks anything like mine, I bet everything will pile up right about … now. This won’t stop me from going out to shows, of course, and I should hope you’ll be out doing the same. Lots of not-so-well known but totally fantastic bands are headed to Boston this month, so if you’re thirsting for something new, now’s the time to see what’s on the scene. You know, before Built to Spill starts touring for the fiftieth time this year.
CONCERT REVIEW No Complaints at Menomena, IllinoisA Critic’s Worst Nightmare
It is so so so hard for me to write a live review of a band I really love. Generally I won’t request press passes for my absolute favorites so I can actually enjoy the music without scrutinizing its presentational flaws or departures from album orchestrations. Well, friends, I guess I botched this one, because last weekend, on a PR company’s dime, I saw two fantastic bands play in Boston. And because they were so fantastic, I followed them to New York the following night.
Interview MF Grimm Takes to the Ink
You may know him as MF Grimm, the limit-pushing MC who raps about gingerbread men and movie monsters, recorded a critically acclaimed album in 24 hours, released the first-ever triple-disc hip hop album, <i>American Hunger</i>, and feuds with former ally MF Doom. You may also know him as Percy Carey, a former Sesame Street star who later turned to drug dealing and was shot 10 times over the course of two murder attempts, overcame serious sensory damage but remains confined to a wheelchair, studied law to get himself out of a life imprisonment, and now works as the successful CEO behind his own company, Day By Day Entertainment.
The Best Shows of October 2007
You’ve made it through your first exams, enjoyed the year’s first Suicide Prevention Day, and tooled to your heart’s content — or at least tooled to your professor’s heart’s content. But something’s missing. You crave a break from the weird and angular buildings that grace Massachusetts Ave. and its surrounding areas. You seek reprieve from the barely audible but somehow grating hum of your forever-in-use laptop. You desire dark venues with flashing lights and attractive strangers who share your tastes in music. Well, kiddo, I’ve got your prescription — get out of your dormitory and see some live music this October! Your brain will thank you for the break.
Let’s Get It On
I started dating my long-distance boyfriend of a year partially because of his sense of humor, partially because of our similar tastes, partially because I thought he was cute, but really because he mailed me a completely excellent mix CD. Thirteen tracks counting in at around forty-four minutes wooed me so thoroughly I’ve spent hundreds of dollars over the past twelve months taking the Fung Wah back-and-forth from New York to visit him.
INTERVIEW White Rabbits Need No Lucky Foot
L<i>ast March, I proclaimed White Rabbit’s debut LP Fort Nightly album of 2007, wildly ignoring the laws of conservative announcements and completely forgetting that there were still nine months left in the year. The claim sticks, and I’m not the only one who thinks so; since then, their calypso-infused and darkly danceable debut has garnered serious attention from music press bigwigs. The band was playlisted by Pitchfork Media, made Band of the Day by Spin, earned NPR’s Song of the Day with single “The Plot,” and named one of the top four bands to watch in 2007 by The Onion A.V. Club.</i>
CONCERT LISTINGS The Best Shows of November 2007
Well, surely you’re all quaking in your Keds now that music file-sharing site OiNK is shut down, and maybe you’re wondering how you’ll possibly acquire and share albums with the same level of ease. Stream from MySpace? Perish the thought! Post on your public? Time-costly! Newbury comics? A fun voyage, for sure, but you might as well blow a kiss goodbye to any petty cash in your wallet as soon as you step in the door. Next best solution? Cheap concerts coming to you in the Boston area this November. They may not be as permanent as, say, torrent-quality mp3s, but at least you can always take flash photos of you and your friends in front of the stage to put on Facebook.
CD REVIEW ‘What the Hell Do I Know?’
Though Illinois frontman Chris Archibald is primarily a banjoist, his small-town Pennsylvanian quartet shares little musically with the typical genres associated with said instrument. They’ve got less in common with Sufjan Stevens and much more to do with amply rocking contemporaries Menomena. This is surely a positive likening, since Illinois is touring with Menomena through mid November.
CD REVIEW ‘In Rainbows’ a Lofty, Beautiful Success
After four years of mystery, the longest gap between Radiohead albums has finally come to a decisive close, following Wednesday’s release of new record <i>In Rainbows</i>.
The Best Shows of September 2007
As freshmen will soon discover, life at MIT can sometimes take over life away from MIT. Between classes, recitations, problem sets, research papers, clubs, sports, Greek life, and “The Office” (you know you love it), it can be hard to get off campus for much of anything. Many times, it’s unnecessary to leave to all — the dining options here are fantastic, and there are so many events going on that you’ll never be bored. But a life lived solely on Mass. Ave. could never sate the active music lover, which is why <i>The Tech</i> brings you upcoming concert listings for those nights when you need a fix of live music or a reason to punt your problem set.
Interview A Chat With The Craters
They’re called The Craters, and heaven help you if you don’t find their songs undeniably rocking. A year after their EP <i>Thriller</i>’s online-only mp3 release, these not-quite-legal Newton musicians have written a few more songs, played a lot more shows, and hooked up with a full band. I caught their last show of the summer at PA’s Lounge and was so impressed by their tight but relaxed live set I felt compelled to demand an interview. Lucky for me (and you) they complied, and I was able to chat with three band members the next day. Here’s my conversation with Jared Arnold, Wes Kaplan, and Josh Hirshfeld, who make up three quarters of The Craters.
CD Snaps★ots Animals in Autumn: Five CDs You Need This Fall
With sprightly new indie bands coming out as fast as you can type “myspace,” it can be tiring and time consuming to navigate the Web in hot pursuit of new music. But never fear — these five discs, many of which come out next month, are tried-and-tested and sure to grace back-to-school playlists across the country as soon as they hit the CD store shelves.
CONCERT REVIEW How to Beat the Heat at Bonnaroo
The Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival is an annual event in Manchester, Tenn. The music in Bonnaroo is divided between six confusingly titled spaces — "What Stage," "Which Stage," "This Tent," "That Tent," "The Other Tent," and "Somethin' Else." What follows are the highlights of the musical experience that is Bonnaroo and some tips in case you might want to attend someday.
CD REVIEW Too Close For Comfort
Love — true love, head-over-heels, seeing stars love, til-death-do-us-part love — only lasts a year. Don't believe me? Researchers showed that some chemical or protein (excuse this MIT student's highly technical explanation) is found in the brain at high levels for the first year of romance. We read an article about this phenomenon during my writing course last semester, and the facts all seemed in place. After reading, my outraged classmates presented numerous arguments against this stoic and un-storybook-like viewpoint. After a group discussion, we concluded that perhaps the intensity and excitement of first love fades with time, but it is then replaced with the satisfying feeling of familiarity. I think I can live with that definition.
CD REVIEW White Rabbits Unveil Spectacular Debut
Have you ever had the experience of seeing a photo of something and knowing immediately that it was for you? Maybe you noticed a picture of a restaurant and declared it would become your new favorite, though you'd never tasted the dish depicted. Or how about seeing the cover of a book and knowing you want to read it, even though you've never even heard of the author (forgetting what they say about not judging a book by its cover)? Dear Reader, I want you to know you're far from alone. Humans rely on vision more than any sense (unless, of course, you're a human without sight, in which case this review will be relevant in just a moment, so bear with me) and so it's perfectly plausible that sight serves as a "gateway sense" for other perceptive experiences.
THEATRE REVIEW Anything But Imperceptible
With a nonlinear, unconventional attitude towards storytelling that approaches genius, Suzan Lori-Parks is becoming one of America's foremost contemporary playwrights. After the recent successful premiere of her "365 Plays/365 Days" project in over 600 theatres across the country, Parks now begins her spring 2007 appointment as MIT's artist-in-residence. It is therefore fitting that MIT Dramashop has selected one of Park's earliest plays, Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom, as the first production of 2007.
CONCERT REVIEW It’s Worth Coming Out of Hibernation For
I’m not one for revelations, especially those of the self-referential kind, but I’ll let you in on a little trade secret: writing reviews about concerts is essentially formulaic. I wonder whether rock critics sit down at their desks with a grocery list-like set of criteria for an article. Have I located and named the band’s current stomping grounds? Did I scour my music library for several reminiscent artists, and did I mention these artists nonchalantly? Have I eloquently and convincingly described the band’s redeeming abilities despite its clear weak point? Have I picked a member who is most vital to the band’s survival? Can I see where this band is going and set a projected timeline for its success? If you answered yes to all these questions, you may have written a rock review!