well i coulda been a saint and not a rank backslider standing on the tracks with a bottle of wine trying to find something that’ll never be mine The first time I heard those lyrics, it was BJ from American Aquarium singing them; BJ takes credit for a lot of things, but he’ll never take…
song share: radiation city – fly me to the moon (astrud gilberto cover)
Radiation City’s dreamy retro girl group fuzz garage pop debut, The Hands That Take You, really flew under the radar when it came out in 2011, and that’s a shame, because it’s a fantastic soundscape of harmony and guitar feedback and thick Phil Spektor shivers. Everybody’s getting ready for SXSW (no, I’m not going; I’m…
drive-by truckers @ haw river ballroom
I hadn’t seen the Truckers in almost 18 months — Hopscotch 2011 — and when Patterson launched into “The Living Bubba” last night, even as I was deeply exhausted and irritated at the crowd, it felt like a physical relief to see the band. They have meant so much to me for many years, and while…
show preview: dragonette @ cat’s cradle
Things I love: bands from Canada, electro-pop, ladies making kickass music. Here are some things that Dragonette is: a kick-ass female-fronted electro-pop band from Canada. They’re currently touring with Major Lazer, a sold-out show at the Cradle on Thursday, and I’m going to implore you to get there early enough to see Dragonette, because I…
album review: josh ritter – the beast in its tracks
Josh Ritter — The Beast In Its Tracks. Out tomorrow, but streaming on NPR today. I am in awe of Josh Ritter; I have been for many years, because he’s the most literate songwriter working today, and he’s funny and awkward and genius, and he’s probably sincerely a complete charming weirdo, and he smiles on stage like…
bombadil & the tender fruit @ cat’s cradle
Another magical Bombadil show at the Cradle; a full, sweet, lengthy set, and the new songs sound so fantastic. I can’t wait for their new record in July, and it is always a pleasure and never a chore to shoot their shows. They’re always warm, lovely affairs, full of good people and friends. Had a…
worth getting up for in february
Worth getting up for in February: Fall Out Boy getting back together; Fall Out Boy tickets; Tame Impala and the Last Bison live; an advance copy of Josh Ritter’s The Beast In Its Tracks; big ideas and good collaboration; my dad emailing me so I’ll email the son of his coworker about places for the coworker’s…
the last bison @ motorco music hall
The Last Bison are about to blow up; mark it down. Their sophomore LP, Inheritance, is out Tuesday, and it’s going to be a doozy. They absolutely filled the space at Motorco last night in a gorgeous way. An excellent show, and glad I got to see and shoot them before they’re too important for me….
what i did on my summer vacation: the ‘every everything’ trailer
What I did on my summer vacation: the first trailer for Every Everything, the Grant Hart documentary that I shot with last August. My first two thoughts were how cool is this and I miss those guys so much. Among the best five days of my life, that work.
two sentence reviews of albums i listened to in february
Two from my buddies at This Is American Music this month, with one (Great Peacock) not quite out yet; I didn’t listen to nearly as much as I wanted to this month, and wrote about even less of what I did hear. I promise March will be improved! I have a lot to catch up…
brand new kind of photography 