Parts & Labor, Wallcreeper, Kid Romance at Oxfam Cafe

Parts & Labor

Parts & Labor

Parts & Labor

Parts & Labor

Wallcreeper

Kid Romance

More photos on my Flickr.


Oxfam Cafe: cozy little place that's impossible to find with no stage and ample lighting for taking pictures. They don't list anywhere on the internet that other bands are playing. Oh yeah, good coffee, too.

Kid Romance: Really great stripped down garage punk rock with guy/girl vocals that maybe needs some more time in the oven.

Wallcreeper: Talented musicians making music you couldn't pay me to care about.

Parts & Labor: Fucking euphoric epic power noise pop that warms the cockles of your heart and puts a smile on your face. They played "Wedding In A Wasteland" (my favorite off Receivers) which I hadn't heard live yet. They also played a new song that they're calling "Hurricane" which was awesome as shit. Easily my favorite band to see live (sorry Big Bear) and I now have the requisite day-after-bangover.

Show Worthy 4/6-4/12

I had an idea to do some sort of regular concert e-mail or post or something like that. Basically, anything to draw attention to shows that are worthy of your eyes and ears in the Boston area in addition to that concert listing column over on the right. So I'm going to attempt to do a weekly Sunday post where I'll highlight some shows coming up within the next week. This is not meant to be inclusive by any means. I'll probably stick to the experimental side of things, but there are always exceptions. Like Mates of State are playing this week. Everyone loves Mates Of State. If you don't, fuck you. You should.

I don't think I'll normally have this many shows listed but this week seems to be chock full of great shows that I can't go to. Especially Friday.



Mates of State at Mercury Lounge, NYC 5-21-08 via Bao Nguyen
Tuesday, April 7
Mates Of State, Black Kids at House Of Blues ($20, 8:00, all ages)
I'm trying not to endorse this show for two reasons. I'm not a fan of Black Kids, nor am I a fan of House Of Blues. But Mates Of State are so cute and awesome. They put on such a great live show that it's probably even worth it to spend $20 and see them in a club as big as HoB. If you haven't seen them yet, you should. Trust me.




Tuesday, April 7
Peace, Loving; Hunted Creatures; Nature; Ophibre at Church (free, 8:30, 21+)
This is gonna be my pick for the week. It's presented by The Whitehaus Family Record and it's frreeeee. You seriously can't pass this up. You know how awesome Ophibre is and he put out that split with Hunted Creatures not too long ago that was fantastic. You pretty much don't have a good reason to miss this show, unless you're going to see Mates Of State.




Wednesday, April 8
Prince Rama Of Ayodhya, Many Mansions, Jealousy, Concord Ballet Orchestra Players at O'Brien's ($7, 9:00, 21+)
Another Whitehaus related show. Both Prince Rama and Many Mansions put on wonderful live shows. I've heard great things about CBOP and have been meaning to see them for a while but just never got around to it. If I were you and free Wednesday night, I'd check this show out.



Parts & Labor at Middle East Upstairs 12-12-08
Friday, April 10
Parts & Labor at Oxfam Cafe (free?, 8:00, all ages?)
I will be at this show. I don't know who else is playing, if anyone. Both the band's and venue's Myspace only list P&L as playing. Even if they are the only band, it still makes it 100% amazing. Aaaaand it's probably free.



Eliza Blaze at Spring Iron Pour 2008 via Eliza Blaze
Friday, April 10
Spring Iron Pour with Justin Crosby, Fractillian, Peace & Quiet, The Silver City at MassArt Courtyard (free?, 7:00, all ages)
Dude. It's a bunch of great bands that play live while iron is being poured. And I'm pretty sure it's free. That's all you need to know.



The Books via interrobang
Friday, April 10
The Books at The Boston ICA ($25, 7:00 & 9:30, all ages)
You know The Books. You love The Books. Electro-acoustic field recording shit for $25 in a nice auditorium.



Brendan Murray at Hell Hoarse Kavekavity Sessions via ex-atari-kid
Sunday, April 12
Brendan Murray, Oneohtrix Point Never, DJ Howard Stelzer at Great Scott ($7, 9:00, 18+)
Intransitive Recordings is putting on another one of their (his) soon to be famous fucking amazing ass shows. Brendan Murray is releasing a new CD and Oneohtrix Point Never is the guy from Astronaut and Infinity Window. Howard Stelzer (the man behind Intransitive) will be DJing. According to some other sites, Red Horse and Eat Cloud are also supposed to be playing and DJ Won't should be spinning as well. If that's true, then this show is going to be fucking epic. But Great Scott's website doesn't mention them so neither will I. Either way, you should go.

Celebrity Bros

This has been bugging me. Like, forever. I knew Dan Friel, aka Mr. Parts & Labor man, author of the Ghost Town, electronic mayhem wizard, looked familiar. Lo and behold, a late night viewing of the comedy classic about highway shenanigans Super Troopers brought to my attention just who Friel reminded me of. Paul Soter. The one who gets with the hot cop. So here's my theory. These guys are real life bros. I'm not talking identical twins or nothing (that's gay), I'm just saying Soter's mom and dad were also Friel's mom and dad. Come on guys, back me up on this one.

Soter photo via The Sampler, Friel photo via Pooneh

Neptune, Parts & Labor, Big Bear, Thief Thief at The Middle East Upstairs

Big Bear
Neptune
Parts & Labor
Thief Thief

I've seen Neptune, Parts & Labor, and Big Bear play shows with each other in various combinations but this is the first time all 3 of them have played at once. Is it even possible that this show could have been any better? No. Well, yes, but I'm pretty sure that would just make me greedy.

First surprise of the night: My two friends who I thought weren't going to be there showed up. And that was cool. If there's anything we've learned from Into The Wild, it's that it's better to share experiences.

Thief Thief opened up with their fucking tight as shit math rock. Totally awesome. Thief Thief were one of the only ways the night could have been ruined. If they sucked, it could have put me in a bad mood. Fortunately, they were entirely worthy of playing a show with 3 of the best bands ever.

Big Bear came on with their still-new-to-me lineup with a different drummer and a keyboardist who replaced their second guitarist. Jordyn had her necessary thigh pad for intense tambourine smashing and after the obligatory excessive tuning, they tore the place up. All technically "new" songs but only because they haven't put out a record in over 3 years. One song actually was new, though. #23. Hadn't heard that one before but it's fucking badass and I hope it makes it onto the new album. Sadly, the banter was slightly sub par supposedly due to Jordyn's lack of caffeine. Hey, whatever. As long as you make my ears bleed, I'm a happy customer.

I think I was most looking forward to Parts & Labor as I've only seen them 4 times (as opposed to the dozens of times I've seen Big Bear and Neptune) and the fact that they were the only band playing that night that had put out a new record since I'd last seen them. Their newest album Receivers made my year end top 10 list and I was stoked to hear some of it live. Also, they morphed from a trio to a quartet and I was curious to see if that changed anything in their live show. Hardly. They were as awesome as ever and certainly didn't disappoint. Lots of new material was played, as well as some good ol' classics. They also played "an old song," something that had the word "Devil" in the name, I think. Couldn't find any info about it online but I assure you it was a fantastic song.

Here's where I thought the show could be just a bit better. In between sets, they were playing Big Business and I thought, "Hey, they should've played this show too." Only then could it have been better. But like I said, that's just asking a little bit too much.

Neptune played last, played a set consisting almost entirely of material from Gong Lake, and everyone loved them. I'm definitely looking forward to hearing some new stuff from them. The past 3 or 4 times I've seen them they've played the same songs. Fucking amazing songs, but always the same fucking amazing songs. So, yeah. They rock, I love them, I just want more.

Obligatory Top 10 List

I'm going to act like I have to make a Top 10 list at the end of the year because this is a music blog and that's what music blogs do. I'll say that I'm doing this begrudgingly only because people love to read lists and it'll get lots of hits. You see, I don't really have an option at this point. It's fucking mandatory. But in reality, I love making lists and telling people what my favorite things are. So here they are. My top picks from 2008. (Disclaimer: Marijn came out in '07 but I bought it in '08 so screw you.)



10. Usputuspud - Disco (original review)
Usputuspud - Cherished Wig

A wonderfully dancey droney tape, easily the best tape in my collection.




9. Parts & Labor - Receivers (original review)
Parts & Labor - Wedding In A Wasteland

When one of my favoritest bands comes out with a new album, you can bet your ass it'll be on my Top 10 list.



8. The Mausoleums - Blackened Fawns Cleanse The Earth With Fire (original review)
The Mausoleums - The One Who Sees

Super blown out pop metal makes me weak in the knees.



7. Torche - Meanderthal (never reviewed it for some reason, but I did talk about their live show)
Torche - Grenades

I was a little late to the Torche parade. I didn't like 'em the first few times I heard them. I don't know what happened but something clicked and I fell in love with Meanderthal.



6. Prurient - And Still, Wanting (original review)
Prurient - Memory Repeating

At the moment, this is hands down my favorite noise/power electronics record. It's so fucking intense I can barely stand it.



5. Fricara Pacchu - Midnight Pyre (original review)
Fricara Pacchu - Possessed By Possibilities

Easily the weirdest record on this list and possibly the weirdest thing I've heard all year. Those crazy Finlanders sure know how to make good music.



4. Belong - Same Places (Slow Version) (original review)
Belong - Same Places (Slow Version)

Seriously, whenever Belong puts a record out, I will be right at the front of the line worshiping it.



3. Machinefabriek - Marijn (original review)
Machinefabriek - Somerset

This is the first record I've heard from the uber-prolific Machinefabriek and I have a hard time believing he'll ever put out anything better than this. It's a goddamn masterpiece.



2. A Faulty Chromosome - As An Ex-Anorexic's Six Sicks Exit,... (original review)
A Faulty Chromosome - Jackie O

This was sooooo close to being number one record of the year for me. It's one of the oldest records on the list and it still gets played more than any of the others. I am completely in love with A Faulty Chromosome.



1. Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing (original review)
Fuck Buttons - Colours Move

I called it. All the way back in March I knew this would be my favorite record of 2008. I said "This is so so so easily the best record of the year. I can't imagine anything else coming out that can top this. And my imagination is pretty good." Surprisingly, I was right.

Close calls:
Yoshi Wada - Lament For The Rise And Fall Of The Elephantine Crocodile
Mates Of State - Re-Arrange Us (this, along with M83's Saturdays=Youth were my top 2 most played albums)
Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
Dan Friel - Ghost Town
Njiqahdda - Nji. Njiin. Njiiin.
Lawrence English - Kiri No Oto
Dev/Null - Necrobestial Sadobreaks

Now, just because you hate my list doesn't mean you should hate me too. Lets try not to start any fights just because there's no Animal Collective on here.

Parts & Labor - Receivers

Parts & Labor - Wedding In A Wasteland


Receivers is fucking awesome. I love Parts & Labor. They can do no wrong. Yeah, their sound changed a bit. But what did you want? Some stagnant dudes playing the same shit over and over again? Everyone loves the whole harmonious-wall-of-sound-pop thing and Parts & Labor have fully embraced that on their newest. Seriously though, if you like Parts & Labor, you'll like Receivers. And if you've never listened to them before, what the fuck are you waiting for?

New Parts & Labor Song

Parts & Labor - Nowheres Nigh


The new Parts & Labor song, "Nowheres Nigh" premiered over at Pitchfork today. The track will be found on their forthcoming record, Receivers, due out on October 21 from Jagjaguwar. The song has P&L going in a different direction. Not surprising as they changed drummers (from Christopher Weingarten to Joe Wong) and added full time guitarist Sarah Lipstate. Fear not, however, because it's still undeniably Parts & Labor. In fact, I'm not worried at all because this song kicks ass. And I highly doubt that these guys (and girl!) can make a bad record. I just don't think it's possible.

Update: Here's the cover art for Receivers. All big and stuff.

Dan Friel - Ghost Town

Dan Friel - Desert Song


My love for Parts & Labor knows no bounds. Seriously. I can't get enough of them. And it seems like the two mainstays in P&L, Dan Friel and BJ Warshaw, like to do their own thing as well, as BJ has recorded under the Shooting Spires alias and Friel releases stuff under his own name. And, thankfully, when on their own, they still end up sounding a bit like P&L. What that means for me (and you too, I guess) is more of the noisy pop of P&L without having to wait a few years in between each official record.

Friel's recent solo outing is Ghost Town. It sounds like a more electronic Parts & Labor sans vocals. From what I hear and read, it seems like I'm the only person in existence who actually likes the singing in P&L, so if you're anyone other than me, this will probably be a relief to you.

There are parts on Ghost Town that sound like they're actually from P&L songs, the melodies specifically. The melody in "One Legged Cowboy" sounds an awful lot like the opening to "Ghosts Will Burn." I'm not complaining, though. This is definitely a different enough record to please me and not make me think I'm listening to Stay Afraid or anything like that.

I assume this is redundant, but I just want to say it again. I love everything Parts & Labor. I love Shooting Spires, I love Dan Friel, and if (original drummer) Chris Weingarten ever released a solo record, I would undoubtedly love that, too. Ghost Town is a kick ass addition to the (hopefully) neverending catalogue of Parts & Labor records and spinoff records.

Parts & Labor

I'm a little late in posting this stuff. I didn't realize until just now (when I'm extremely bored) that these things might even be remotely relevant to my blog.

First of all, Brooklyn based Parts & Labor, one of my favorite in the loud + pop sound, have recruited their fans (and anyone else who wants to join in too, for that matter) to submit any sound clip of their own creation, as long as it's 10 seconds or less. they plan on using some of the submissions for their next album. And if it's anything like their last two, Mapmaker and Stay Afraid, it's gonna be fuckin' awesome. Anyway, if you're interested in submitting some field recordings, click here for more info.

And even though their last full length was released almost a year ago, this video for The Gold We're Digging is still great. It's full of color and stop-motion goodness and it's probably the last video to be made while Christopher Weingarten was still the drummer. I'm posting it now because Pitchfork.TV just added it to their ever increasing collection of stuff. So now it's nice and high-res for you folks.


And while we're on the topic, you should check out their new EP, Escapers Two, because I haven't. It came out last month and I have yet to pick it up. So if any of you already have, let me know how cool it is. And if you haven't, well then you can pick it up right here.