screams, whispers and songs from planet earth

Category: Show Previews Page 6 of 20

Introducing Boston String Players (one string quartet x 3 = some really fine music)

Boston String Player at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Remis Auditorium, 161
Friday, October 19, 2012 – 7:30-9:30 pm
$16 MFA members, seniors & students, $20 non-members
purchase tickets online or by phone at 1-800-440-6975 or in person at the MFA ticket desk.

Think of how lovely a top-notch string quartet sounds. Now multiply that by about three, and you’ll have Boston String Players, an artistic ensemble comprising current students and recent alumni of over a dozen music schools in the Boston area. Founded in 2007 by artistic director and conductor Motoki Tanaka, their performances combine traditional classical pieces with contemporary (and decidedly non-classical) works and original compositions.

They’ll be kicking off their sixth season at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, for a multimedia program that will premiere new choreography and an arrangement of Björk’s Unravel for strings, electronics and visuals.

The full program is as follows:
1. Johann Sebastian Bach – Brandenburg Concerto No.3
2. Benjamin Britten – Simple Symphony (From the film “Moonrise Kingdom” by Wes Anderson)
Featuring the premiere of a new choreography by Andrea Higgins
3. Béla Bartók – Divertimento for Strings
4. Björk – Unravel
Arranged for strings and electronics by Chad Gray
Featuring visual art by Christopher Saunders

These “kids” are really, really good. Have a look and listen below.




If you’re so inclined, you can join the ensemble for a cocktail hour at Taste (a cafe and wine bar across from the auditorium) preceding the performance, for an informal ‘meet and greet.’ You can also check out the Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art.

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Silversun Pickups in NYC tonight & tomorrow; Orpheum Theatre on Wednesday!

Sarah Negahdari, from a Happy Hollows show at O'Brien's Pub in Allston in 2010. Brian Aubert, from Silversun Pickups' performance at the WFNX Clambake in 2010.

Sarah Negahdari, from a Happy Hollows show at O'Brien's Pub in Allston in 2010. Brian Aubert, from Silversun Pickups' performance at the WFNX Clambake in 2010.

Silversun Pickups with Cloud Nothings and Atlas Genius
at the Orpheum, Boston
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
7:30pm | All Ages | BUY TICKETS

Silversun Pickups have been busy touring to support their beautiful new album, Neck of the Woods, which I reviewed recently on Ryan’s Smashing Life. Tonight, they’re performing their first (sold out) show at Terminal 5 in New York City. Tickets are still available for tomorrow night’s show. On Wednesday, they’ll be here in Boston at the Orpheum Theatre. As bassist Nikki Monninger is currently on maternity leave (expecting twins), Sarah Negahdari of The Happy Hollows (another of my favorite bands) will be filling in. This is definitely a show not to miss.

10/15 New York City, NY – Terminal 5
10/16 Upper Darby, PA – Tower Theatre
10/17 Boston, MA – Orpheum Theatre
10/19 Hartford, CT – The Webster
10/20 Clifton Park, NY – Upstate Concert Hall
10/21 Cleveland, OH – House of Blues
10/23 Royal Oak, MI – Royal Oak Music Theatre
10/24 Indianapolis, IN – Egyptian Room
10/25 Nashville, TN – Marathon Music Works
10/27 New Orleans, LA – Voodoo Music Experience


For Australian dates and U.S. holiday shows, see their site.

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Malian Blues Comes to the Paradise Rock Club Saturday Night… Tinariwen.

Photo: Thomas Dorn

Photo: Thomas Dorn

Tinariwen with Atlas Soul
In Association with World Music/CRASHarts
Saturday, October 13, at the Paradise Rock Club
Doors at 8 PM | 18+ | Advance Box Office Price $20 (@ the Paradise) or ticketmaster

Tinariwen, comprised of Tuareg-Berber musicians who come from the Sahara Desert region of Northern Mali, are not your typical indie rock band. Though truth is, they are probably the ultimate indie rock band. With their roots in a war-ravaged part of the world, and the conditions and challenges they have had to overcome, they take the “DIY” concept to an extreme level. Their music alone, without the historical and biographical context, is an emotionally stirring blend of guitar rock, American blues and traditional South African folk music, with lyrics that speak of the struggles of their people and their fight for independence and freedom. However, their personal story is tightly woven into their music, which is what gives it such depth of spirit. Their heritage is what makes them who they are, and it is what guides their musical vision. You cannot separate one from the other. At a time when Mali is once again in the news, as al Qaeda fighters are taking over the country, killing innocent civilians, destroying sacred sites, and imposing Sharia Law, Tinariwen is on tour. Hopefully people will not only hear the wonderful music these gifted musicians create, but will also hear their message.

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Highly recommended tonight: Family of the Year at Great Scott

Family of the Year

Family of the Year

White Arrows (from CA) with Family of the Year (from CA) and New Cassettes (from the UK) at Great Scott – TONIGHT (Tuesday, October 2, 2012)
doors at 9pm | 18+ | $10

Pretty pop music alert – plus some psychedelia with an electronic beat from White Arrows, who are headlining. Especially recommended – Boston-bred, L.A.-based Family of the Year, and their new album, Loma Vista.

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Philadelphia’s Luther at Charlies Kitchen *tonight*

Weak Teeth, Natural Disasters, Luther, Choke Up, and Luau
at Charlies Kitchen, Eliot St. (Harvard Square), Cambridge
Monday, October 1, 2012 at 8pm | 21+ | $5?

Nothing like a last minute recommendation. If you’re going to be in Harvard Square tonight, run right over to Charlies Kitchen (at 10 Eliot Street) for a full night of raucous (and probably hideously loud) rock ‘n’ roll. From the line-up, it looks like hardcore punkers from Providence, Weak Teeth, are headlining, which is probably as it should be, because really, how does one follow an over-the-top, full-on pummeling screamfest?

But never mind about that; the band I want to talk about is smack dab in the middle of this 5-band extravaganza. Together just since 2010, Philly-based Luther has already toured with The Bouncing Souls, Cheap Girls, The Menzingers, Hot Water Music, The Smoking Popes, and have performed at SXSW. Rambunctious and bursting with energy with nice, noisy but tuneful guitars and pleasantly exuberant vocals, it’s a good sound. How’s that for a quick assessment? They’ll be releasing their debut full-length album, Let’s Get You Somewhere Else, on October 9 on Chunksaah Records. It was recorded and produced by Pete Steinkopf of The Bouncing Souls.

If you like what you hear, they’ll also be performing in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Philly, Asbury Park, and in parts South. See their site for details.

web | facebook | twitter

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Christopher Paul Stelling begins his East Coast/Midwest tour

C.P. Stelling and his partner-in-crime, Julia Christgau (photo by Clarence K. Photography)

C.P. Stelling and his partner-in-crime, Julia Christgau (photo by Clarence K. Photography)

You’re unlikely to find a more ‘timeless old soul’ singer-songwriter, nor a more mind-numbing acoustic guitar picker than Mr. Christopher Paul Stelling. He melted my brain back some months ago at Precinct, and he’s in town again to begin a month-long tour on the East Coast and around the Midwest. His debut album, Songs of Praise and Scorn only hints at the unbridled intensity of his live performances. Tomorrow night he’ll be at Lizard Lounge, opening up for the lovely cello/guitar duo and gentle harmonies of Tall Heights. They’re in the midst of a month-long Tuesday night residency at Lizard Lounge, with the grand finale and their EP Release Party for The Running of the Bulls on 9/25.


Upcoming Shows
9/10- Providence, RI- House show
9/11- Cambridge , MA- The Lizard Lounge w/Tall Heights
9/12- New Haven, CT- BAR
9/14- Utica, NY- Utica Music Fest
9/15- Saratoga Springs, NY- Cafe Lenna
9/17- Portsmouth, NH- The Red Door
9/22- Rochester, NY- The Bug Jar
9/23- Erie, PA- The Crooked I

Plus shows in Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Virginia, DC and Pennsylvania. See site for full details.

web | facebook | twitter

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Introducing Anna Rae – CD Release Party @ Club Passim tomorrow

Anna Rae with Samantha Farrell and Kristen Ford Band @ Club Passim
Wednesday, September 5 at 8pm
8pm | All Ages | facebook event | buy tickets

Anna Rae’s lived in a bunch of places – California raised, then North Dakota, Minnesota, Wyoming, and even Australia – but with her straight-up introspective lyricism and supple, gliding vocals, she fits right in to Boston’s indie folk scene. Having toured this summer with The Kristen Ford Band, she’s just released her debut album, Peddler’s Wares, which she’ll be introducing at her official CD release party at Club Passim tomorrow night. It’s a charming, sweet folk-Americana sound with sharp and slightly astringent lyrics.



It’ll be an evening of female musical prowess. Acclaimed singer-songwriter Samantha Farrell headlines, and multi-genre, multi-instrumentalist Kristen Ford opens.

“always feel I’m an outsider
always feel I’m an outlier, outright liar
and I always feel how I’m outside of the flow
and I always notice all the places I do not go”
– Midwest Darlin’

Anna Rae: web | facebook | purchase album from iTunes | cdbaby
Samanta Farrell | Kristen Ford Band

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Mali’s Fight for Freedom, and Amadou & Mariam in Boston *tonight*

Amadou & Mariam

Amadou & Mariam

Amadou & Mariam
Sponsored by CNV and FCM
with Debo Band
TONIGHT! Wednesday, August 1
Doors at 7 PM; 18+ | Advance Box Office Price $25 | buy tickets

I intended to write a run-of-the-mill preview of a show at Brighton Music Hall two weeks ago, featuring the Mali, West African band SMOD (and fellow West Africans Orchestra Poly-Rhthmo de Cotonou). My inability to pull this together has now dovetailed with the disturbing news of escalating violence and a massive humanitarian crisis in Mali, with the displaced Tuareg people being driven from their homes and systematically killed. A recent CNN special highlighted this part of the world and struggles that have until now escaped the notice of the West, absorbed as they are in what’s going on in Syria. But this is potentially a much larger tragedy, both in human scale and in the destruction of priceless historic artifacts and a noble culture. So now, as the world-renown Malian duo Amadou & Mariam are in town tonight at the Paradise, I find myself writing a very different sort of article.

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Introducing: England in 1819 – The New Old World

Three night Boston-area run – Sunday 7/15 at the Lily Pad in Cambridge, Mon 7/16 at the Burren, and Tues 7/17 at Sally O’Briens!

Some exquisitely lush and dramatic music came to my attention recently. Quite likely a reference to Shelley’s 19th century sonnet, England in 1819 cast a New World light on Old World sensibilities.

With their roots in the English countryside, father Liam Callaway and his two sons Andrew and Dan, upon relocating to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, found this change of environment and culture influencing both their personal and musical lives. A classic English folk sound (and not without British drama and theatricality in the vocals and lyricism) is infused with a swampier harder rock edge. It begins with delicate harmonies and pretty pastoral melodies, with the music gradually swelling and building into a giant wave of sound that washes over you.

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We Want The Airwaves: The Death and Resurrection of WFNX

We Want The Airwaves: A WFNX Tribute
featuring O Positive, Orbit, Garvy J, Parlour Bells and other special guests. WFNX DJ sets by Anngelle Wood & Angie C., Boy Troy, Duane Bruce, Bruce McDonald, Mike “X-Night” Gioscia. Also, a sneek peek of the film “We Want The Airwaves: The WFNX Story”


Proceeds to benefit The Progeria Research Foundation
Saturday, June 30
The Paradise Rock Club
7pm doors | 18+ | $20 + TM fees
facebook event | ::: buy tickets :::

This article was to be something of a eulogy, after hearing of the sale of WFNX 101.7 fm to the evil empire of Clear Channel Communications. Happily, Boston.com came to their rescue, and the station will be continuing on as an online entity at WFNX.com. But I’d still like say a few words as this radio station that has meant so much to so many begins its new phase of life. Like a phoenix risen from the ashes (pun intended).

At the Paradise tomorrow night, it’ll be a special evening of remembrances from DJs throughout WFNX’s history, with some fine Boston bands – old and new – performing, and a sneak preview of the new documentary “We Want The Airwaves: The WFNX Story.”

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