♥♥♥ Hearthrob 2nd Anniversary Is Tonight ♥♥♥
2 years of Hearthrob.
By popular request, we celebrate our anniversary alone. NO GUEST. JUST RED FOXX, MORGAN LOUIS, AND BALTIMORODER DROPPING THAT RAGE.
$5 cover because we made special birthday plans… trust us it’s lulzy.
Hosted by CEO USA the Sensitive Hand, Bloodsugar on the VJ box.
♥♥♥♥♥
Hearthrob is at the Middlesex Lounge tonight. Cover is $5. (map)
Boston.com’s ‘Reader Submitted Music Videos’ Is Brilliant
Has anyone noticed the superb little collection of music videos submitted by Globe readers?
I’m not sure how the feature came to pass, or who honestly thought it was going to be a good idea (it is), but by greenlighting the feature they’ve uncovered a treasure trove of mostly incomprehensible clips. The videos do well to undermine any quality music or music videos that are currently being created in Boston.
I’m not complaining though because each one of the videos is like watching the culmination of an MTV Made episode, but without the scripting. It’s wonderful.
The actual criteria needed to be met in order to submit a video is pretty minimal. The only real restrictions are file size (100mb) and no naughty stuff (the only bolded instruction):
Keep it clean – We have a diverse readership so please - no profanities, strong sexual content, violence, drinking, drugs, etc., etc., etc.
Here’s The Realness brought to you by Gee Rock and Tha Cnd Coalition.
In other music news the Globe finds noteworthy, Neil Diamond is old, and playing Fenway, and George Thorogood is old and just played the Bank of America Pavilion.
Muxtape Is Down
Muxtape has been temporarily shut down by the RIAA. Little is currently known about the current or future status of the website, but CNET has was able to offer a good piece of insight via the EFF’s Fred von Lohmann. Lohmann commented awhile back that,
a site like Muxtape was only able to scrape by if it did not reach a critical mass, and if it had good legal ground both in principle and on paper. We may be only beginning to see if the latter holds true.
However, it seems odd that the RIAA is just noticing a service which according to its founder Justin Oullette, has more muxtapes than Germany does people. Also, what seems odd is the fact that labels seemed to be on board with the model as a new way to advertise and distribute music. In the same interview by Wired in which Oullette commented on the site’s user base, he mentioned the labels eagerness to cooperate with muxtape.
Labels big and small have told me that they’re excited about Muxtape as a model for discovery and ultimately selling music
Perhaps the RIAA just needed to get all of its legal documentation in order before demanding radio licensing fees from muxtape. The site currently generates funds by referring users to Amazon to purchase the songs they’ve been listening to. I was unable to find any information regarding the value of the company or if they’re currently solvent or depending on venture capital.
Let’s all hope everything is quickly resolved (say by Friday) and the RIAA does not debilitate the service with fees or strict usage guidelines.
Tuesday Night in Boston, And, It Takes a Nation Of Millions…(Part 1 of 3)
Sarah Siskind @ Lizard Lounge
Jana Hunter, Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez, Michael Murray And The Ever Loving Mothers @ TT the Bear’s
BLUE KING BROWN, RUBBLEBUCKET ORCHESTRA @ Harper’s Ferry
The Honorary Title, The New Frontiers, Paper Rival, Mansions @ Middle East upstairs
The Life Adventure, Ribbon Pigeon @ Great Scott
Paper Thin Stages, Pfefftiffuff, The Modern Voice @ O’Brien’s
Hearthrob @ Middlesex
I, DESTROYER, HAYAINO DAISUKI, ASRA, GRIDLINK, twodeadsluts onegoodfuck @ Church
easts of England, Anthems, Greg of Pending Disappointment, Polarbaron, EmeenZ @ PA’s Lounge
Susanna Bolle, Brendan Murray, Angela Sawyer, Jessica Rylan, Ernst Karel, Jed Speare -PANEL @ Axiom
It Takes a Nation Of Millions…(Part 1 of 3)
Pitchfork took advantage of PE playing their festival and had the group sit down and discuss their origins and It Takes a Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back.
It’s great to hear the band reflect although one could probably put together a feature length documentary on the subject so a three part series seems like it will be all too brief. It’s entertaining none the less. Here’s part one:
Via Pitchfork.tv
The Death Set - Intermission
This one’s pretty self explanatory - if you see ninjas, run.
Worldwide is out now via Counter Records. The Death Set will be at MassArt in Boston on October 3rd as part of Dan Deacon’s Round Robin Tour (feet night).
Via Pitchfork.tv
Youth Novels
In some ways Youth Novels is difficult to approach. Many of its themes are inherently feminine. Lykke Li has commented that the songs are all built from her own life experiences and that the album should be thought of a storybook of her young life. (She’s 22/23 now.) As such the album delivers thoughts on love and relationships from a female perspective, but coated in infectious and dance-inducing pop. She is at times an amazingly sure young woman and at other times lonely and broken, but no matter the emotion Lykke Li creates extra strength in her music by owning her emotions.
In fact, I’m probably unqualified to speak about the emotions dealt with throughout the album. Songs such as Little Bit speak of love, but in a manner that in some ways are uniquely feminine. She writes of dropping her barrier emotionally,”eye to eye/thigh to thigh/I let go” and then physically, “for you I keep my legs apart and forget about my tainted heart.” Her lyrics touch on an openness, or acceptance that is often not required by women’s male partner. But the idea that unrequited love is not required to move forward physically is a sentiment that can be understood by both sexes.
The foils Complaint Department and Time Flies seem to perfectly capture the way women can be simultaneously independent and strong without losing their delicate nature. And the album goes on to further explore all these themes through its twelve tracks.
Of course all of the themes are neatly packaged in wonderful sounds, many of which easily allow the listener to pass over the content of the lyrics and opt to use the words as purely sounds. Outside of Time Flies any insecurities are expressed primarily through the lyrics rather than the overall sound of the song. Let It Fall is an ode to crying and tears, but you wouldn’t know it by the steady rhythm and playful punching of wooden percussion in the background. Spanish guitars, horns, timpani (used perfectly on Complaint Department) all speckle the album and help to create a varied yet focused sound that doesn’t quite escape the influence of Bjorn Yttling - not a bad thing.
Listen to the music, but be careful not to only focus on it because to do so would miss the point and would miss large truths in the record.
Lykke Li - Dance Dance Dance
Lykke Li - Little Bit (Loving Hand Remix)
Lykke Li will be playing the Paradise on October 23rd. Keep an eye out for a ticket give-a-way a bit closer to the show. Her live act is not to be missed. Youth Novels is out tomorrow, August 19th.
Monday Night in Boston
Parachutes, Those Wolves Actually Happened, The Informati @ TT the Bear’s
KARMIC MUSIC, COLDREAD, ANGELS RACE @ Harper’s Ferry
Forest Henderson, Palacios, ITtheverb, The Spotlight Crisis @ Middle East upstairs
Jett And The Writers, Zebras & Bulls Fight Tonight! @ Great Scott
Apteka @ O’Brien’s
BITCHES BREW with TERKEL NOERGAARD @ Church
Boat, The Woodrow Wilsons, Creeping Weeds, Old Abram Brown @ PA’s Lounge
Sunday Night in Boston
THE CUTE LEPERS, THE POWER CHORDS, AVENUE ROSE, THE THROWAWAYS @ Harper’s Ferry
Bread And Roses, Vessel, Bryan McPherson, Tomorrow The Gallows @ Abbey Lounge
Oranjuly, Jennifer Greer, Jordan Carp @ TT the Bear’s
Richard Julian, Sarah Siskind @ Club Passim
The Gaslight Anthem*,Polar Bear Club, Movers and Shakers, We’re All Broken @ Middle East downstairs
Eat Cloud, Zerfallt, William David Mayo @ O’Brien’s
THE BRONZE EPISODE, PENDING DISAPPOINTMENT, JESUS & THE ARGONAUTS, THE GLOBS @ Church
Monique Ortiz @ Alchemist
