Friday, April 23, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Cymbals Eat Guitars, Bear in Heaven, Feelance Whales Live at the Middle East Downstairs 4/8/10
Coming off their recent debut Why There Are Mountains, the Middle East Downstairs was host to the carnage of a swarm of floating cymbals taking down some guitars like savannah gazelles in a school cafeteria and having a food fight with them.
Each band seemed to draw their own crowds. An electric guitar balances against a banjo resting on an acoustic guitar like a house of cards in sound, but never even quivers like its going to fall. This image essentially summed up the swooning pop of Freelance Whales. Seeing unconventional instruments like a tin watering can and an antique harmonium in a rock band just added to the giddy that covered the crowd like the soft baby blue fabric of the organ's bellows. The singer of Bear in Heaven proudly remarked that they played for one single person at T.T. the Bear's Place the last time they were in Boston. The band's drone gloom washed with blood red light had you wondering if the guitarist was playing anything at all until you realized how good they were at transforming guitar strings into synth keys.
Friday, April 09, 2010
Thursday, June 18, 2009
John Vanderslice and The Tallest Man on Earth, June 14, 2009
John Vanderslice In Studio Session at WERS
1. John Vanderslice - Romanian Names
2. John Vanderslice - Forest Knolls
3. John Vanderslice - Sunken Union Boat
John Vanderslice - Fetal Horses (Live at The Empty Bottle in Chicago on 6/6/09)(right click save link as)
The Tallest Man on Earth - King of Spain (Live at Union Music in New York on 6/14/09) (right click save link as)
(courtesy of hooves on the turf)
John Vanderslice took a seat next to me on a sill beneath the large, glossy windows facing the bustle of Tremont Street as his band finished packing up their gear in the studio. His brown hair was disheveled from the headphones and his pale blue eyes gazed intently as if I were an old friend. He had about ten minutes before they were officially late to sound check for their show that night at the Middle East Downstairs. Their tour with The Tallest Man on Earth was in support of the newly released Romanian Names. Vanderslice told me his plans for after the gig, “Tonight we’re driving to Cape Cod and staying at Matthias’ parent’s house.” He said, “We’re sleeping on the beach, having dinner at three in the morning and then driving to D. C. It’s thrilling.” His love for performing makes a hectic touring schedule suit him well. The WERS studio session and the concert gave two unique perspectives to the pithy pop enchantments of John Vanderslice.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Fleet Foxes Live at Middle East Upstairs, Boston, MA, July 14th, 2008
Fleet Foxes has quickly garnered much attention since their first release earlier this year. Their show last night at the Middle East Upstairs had been sold out for weeks, so it was no surprise to overhear “shouldn’t they be playing the Downstairs?” which is the bigger venue. However, an intimate setting proved perfect for the foxes as their old folk sound, earthen lyrics and a heard of vocal harmonies turned the night club into an overgrown mountain pass.
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