Our office is directly across from the Pine Street Inn so we have our fair share of homeless wanderers in the neighborhood. Occasionally they come into our building and hang out on the stairs or even, like just the other day, come into our office and move into our bathroom. It's worst when it's really cold and I always feel torn about booting these folks. Life must be hard enough. But at the some time...get the hell out of my office!
What would you do?
Please note: This is written by our beloved Art Director, who will be blogging from Sundance this week. (I'm just the copy and pasting monkey.) -CB
I never expected to end up volunteerig at the Sundance film festival. I
wanted to do it, but life always seems to come up. Well, here I am, six
days into the fest, finally reporting to the beloved Dig readers.
Seen 6 films, 1 set of short films, 3 parties attended, 1 denied,
and 4 celeb sightings. It has also snowed 5 out of 6 days and I am 100
hours behind on sleep.
It’s tough to keep track of everything that’s going on, there are so
many films to watch, places to check out, different events to make it
to, all while fitting in a six hour volunteer shift at one of the
theaters where I work as an usher, loading the theater before each
screening. “We have 10 seats open.” “Copy that.” “The entourage has
arrived and I’m walking them in.”
There’s a fun crowd at the fest. Half of the people I’ve met so far
have lived in Boston at some point in time. There are a handful of
Aussies, and a ton of people from Utah of course. And that doesn’t even
start to cover it. But the awesome thing is that everyone is here for
basically the same reasons… to see films, appreciate creativity, meet
people and party like we’ll all die in a blizzard tomorrow. It’s such a
change from ordinary life.
Boston's golden boys performed to a sold out crowd at the House of Blues on January 6th. Opening were The Dirty Dishes, who are Boston natives. The four-piece were a little of out of place, with their dreary sound permeating the crowd who were aching to dance. They have a bit of experimental sound, and vocalist Jenny Tuite's crooning was a bit refreshing, especially on tracks like "Back and Forth" and "Thin Air."
Their short set was followed by Magic Magic (who was busy partying it up with You Can Be A Wesley and Mean Creek in December at the Great Scott) and was pretty impressive. With a more mellow indie sound, and a drummer sporting a sweet bear hat complete with little furry ears, whisked the crowd away in their harmonious rhythms and obnoxiously lush vocals, with songs like "Over The Head" and "Sleepy Lion" providing further evidence of this.
Passion Pit was up next, and while they held up their end of the bargain pretty well, performing to a sold out crowd at the rather large venue made it a little hard for fans to truly enjoy their set.
While acknowledging their modest beginnings (vocalist Michael Angelakos recalled barely booking the Great Scott at the beginning of their career) after belting out opening track "I've Got Your Number," the band went on to perform some of Manners' most coveted songs like "The Reeling," "Little Secrets," "Eyes As Candles" and of course, "Sleepyhead" as the last song of the evening.
The decorations for the set consisted of giant panoramic screens constantly flashing different colored lights, proving that simplicity is key. My only complaint about their performance is that the HOB made it painfully impossible to a) dance and to b) feel any real intimacy for Boston's most explosive band.
It was an interesting night of music for onlookers attending the Clutch/Doomriders/Lionize/Never Got Caught show that took place this past December at HOB. Openers Never Got Caught and Lionize were only memorable for their mediocrity. While Never Got Caught tried to capitalize on their adult alternative appeal, they at least got us to bop our heads---a little. Lionize's signature sound combined rock with reggae, and not in a good way. Their brief sets (30-40 min max) made it managable to wait until Doomriders took the stage.
Doomriders completely owned the night. As soon as Nate Newton's wails resonated on the microphone, the crowd immediately came alive (get it?) to form a fun (from a distance) pit. Fresh off the heels of their latest release 'Darkness Come Alive,' Doomriders pulled the crowd into their world, although we were already all ears for new favorites like 'Heavy Lies The Crown' and 'Lions.' Pulling out oldies but goodies (like 'The Chase') also got us psyched long enough to realize that their set (also about 40 minutes) was coming to a close. Next up, Clutch.
Sadly, I am not a big fan of Clutch. Actually, I'm not a fan of them at all. However, the following they have received over the years intrigued me and was made evident by all of their avid listeners surrounding me, sporting their band tees unabashedly as most concert-goers were uber psyched for them to go on. While I remained unimpressed with their sound, the crowd could barely contain themselves due to excitement (and blatent drunkenness) as the boys pulled out classics like 'Let A Man Be Poor' and the fabulously titled 'I Have The Body of John Wilkes Booth.' For those who managed to still be standing for the encore (the amount of beer consumed by others at that show was phenomonal), their reward was indulging in favorites like Motherless Child and Gravel Road.' Even though I walked into Clutch as a cynic, I am glad I got to witness an act full of heart and dedication. I'm still a cynic, though.
You can always count on hip-hop for some free (mostly legal) music and this Christmas was no exception. If you were too busysay, enjoying the holiday, its not too late to add a few mixtapes under your tree. The Christmas drop is about as original as the gimmicky “30 songs in 30 days” bit and few didn’t indulge in the ceremonial marketing this year. Here are some of the better releases from some under the radar artists to add toyour ipod:
The Cool Kids x Don Cannon – Merry Christmas | Download
The Cool Kids talk about absolutely nothing,and they’re damn good at it. The Chicago boom bap rap duo met each other onMyspace in 2005 and has been steadily gaining popularity on and off the internet. The Merry Christmas EP is their second project with Don Cannon and a follow up to their successful mixtape Gone Fishing (C.A.K.E Recordings/Cannon Music) thispast Spring. The four-track project features production from Cool Kid, Chuck English, Don Cannon and First Team All State and two Boldy James features.
Must Listen: Tires Ft.Boldy James (produced by Chuck English)
J*Davey – Boudoir Synema: The Great Mistapes | Download
J*Davey are unabashed genre benders.Depending on the track, they can be described as anything from neo-soul and electro to fusion, new wave and hip-hop. Add them to your list of urban leftists (think M.I.A., Janelle Monae, Santogold) to make an appearance over the decade. The duo consists of male producer Brook D’Leau and female singer/songwriter Briana “JackDavey “ Cartwright. Boudoir Synema is the Los Angeles twosome’s first project since their 2007 release of Land of the Lost and is the first installment of a three-part EP series, The Great Mistapes. We’re excited to hear the next two mixtapes because Boudoir Synema could have easily been the start to a great album.
Must Listen: Get Together – J*Davey
Mick Boogie, DJ Benzi, D-Star - Motivation 3 | Download
Motivation 3 is a mixtape that will definitively tour the New Year’s Eve party circuit. Famed DJ/Producer/Mixtape Composers (it’s the new singer/songwriter!) Benzi, Mick Boogie and D Star teamed up with host Mike Posner (Duke University R&B electro pop sweetheart) to produce a 53-track club mix of R&B, hip-hop and pop radio and blog hits.
Must Listen: Money To Blow (Classy Hand Favours Remix) – Drake
Thurzday of U-N-I x Dibia$e – Not Quite A Christmas Story | Download
Thurzday of Los Angeles rap duo U-N-I (#verydope) chronicles the tale of Brian at an office holiday party who chases after his boss’s daughter a la classic Slick Rick and Eminem’s “Guilty Conscience.” While it won’t make heavy rotation, “Not Quite A Christmas Story” is definitely one of the better holiday cautionary tales.
30 remixes released throughout 2009, a prequel to the D.C. by way of Boston band’s upcoming EP, Deuce Day World. (Sounds like: N.E.R.D., The Roots, and The Wailers’s illegitimate love child.)
Virginia rapper and self-proclaimed ghostwriter (think Diddy, Foxy Brown, Will Smith), Skillz has released his annual “Rap Up” for 2009, chronicling the highs andlows of hip-hop and pop culture. The track is available for free download and names everything from the H1N1 outbreak and Health Care bill to Michael Jackson’s death and Kanye West’s MTV MusicAwards outburst. Check out some of the track’s standout fails and disappointments of the year:
John & Kate Plus 8: And I don’t care about the fate of John and Kate / If you feel sorry for anybody it should be the plus eight / Having seven siblings can’t be calm, butI’ll take 20 of them before I take one Octomom.
Chris Brown and Rihanna: Chris Brown, now that’s my guy, but how he do an interview and all y'all notice is the bow tie? / The media went hard/ Chris you want us to forget? Just saywhat really happened in the car / Rihanna she kept quiet, until she had an album to sell but we still ain’t buy it.
Tiger Woods' scandal: Health care got passed and that’s what’s good, but the idiot of the year is Tiger Woods / Can you say fail? / Who else is named Tiger, why would you leaveyour name on the voicemail? / He changed the game, I suppose, who’d a though the was putting 18 holes.
Rap Deaths: And we mourned this year, I got to say—every other day somebody passed away / Mr.Magic, Roc Raida, my man Baatin, Darian, and my friend AM / It was a very sad year to say the least, so to everybody we lost/rest in peace.
Missing from the nearly 50 references in “Rap Up 2009” was any mention of this past year’s BET Awards fail, which occurred only days after Michael Jackson’s death.Tweeters and bloggers alike described this year’s program as a coonfest of sorts filled with ridiculous outfits, shout-outs and a subpar MJ tribute (if you could call it that). The evening’s peak was the Young Money performance of “Every Girl”where Lil Wayne’s prepubescent daughter and her friends joined the rap clique on stage, dancing around a crippled Drake as YM rapped the famed chorus “I wishI could f*ck every girl in the world.” Parenting at its best.
While we’ve heard better from Skillz (he’s been producing rap ups since 2002), the 2009 edition was pretty much on target. What do you think?
For those of us that commute to the office in the morning, we can't help but listen to the radio for news and traffic tidbits, and, I'll admit, I enjoy The Sandbox on WFNX. It's not perfect by any means (they play Muse way too much), but it's usually a fun, fluffy alternative to the curmudgeonly republicans at WAAF's Hill-Man Morning Show, and they're yet to be corrupted by Ernie Boch Jr's evil influence (at least on-air... can't say the same for the Phoenix paper.)
And like every other media outlet, they've got a couple of year-end countdowns: The 2009 Asshat of the Year as well as the Absolut 101 Top Alternative Albums of the Decade. For those of you who missed the Asshat awards, they went to:
#1) The MBTA
#2) Boston Voters
#3) Carrie Prejan
#4) Glenn Beck
#5) FNX DJ Big Jim
After this list, I just have to say, really? That's the best you could come up with? After 2009, you didn't think Howie Carr (or better yet, The Herald altogether) was worth a mention? He's come up with plenty to be notedfor. Of course, one could also argue Phoenix founder Steve Mindich this year for a numberofreasons.But that would be biting the hands that feed you, and just plain silly for them.
And if he wasn't a potential source of precious vanity ad revenue, they could have easily given one of the top spots to our beloved media sponsor, EBJ. I mean, we all love his vanity ads, whenter they're in print or airing during the Phantom Gourmet, but we're still looking at his billboards reminding us that the Ernie & the Automatics album, "Low Expectations" is available now at Best Buy. Personally, I have to drive past two of them on my commute to Hingham.
*sigh*
As for the other countdown, I have a minor bone to pick with it. It was touted as the top 101 "alternative" albums of the decade. Listeners could go to wfnx.com and vote for their favorite albums using a random head-to-head generator and the votes were tallied from that. Now, like any poll where people can vote as often as they want, results are going to be skewed. I understand that. What I don't understand though, is how they could let users vote for albums by Creed and the incomparable Limp Bizkit, yet not include any albums released by other groups that could just as easily fit under the "alternative" umbrella, notably, punk and ska acts, which most of us would consider "alternative."
Sure, our BossTones and Dropkicks were included in the cyber-ballots, but while whittling away some time voting last week, I didn't see any albums by NOFX, Bad Religion, Less Than Jake, Streetlight Manifesto, local skank-bringers Big D & the Kids Table, or hell, even My Chemical Romance (who they used to play pretty frequently in The Black Parade's heyday), all of whom had some great albums released this past decade. What would 2003/04 have been without The War On Errorism or The Empire Strikes First? I could go on all day about these groups, but I'll spare you the rest of the diatribe.
For what it was (entertaining fluff), it still made for decent listening on my drives about this past weekend. I just wished they would've had a slightly broader voting spectrum. At least Creed didn't make the countdown, eh?
... because the city council voted against term limits.
As reported, Councilors Yoon, Flaherty, Connolly and Tobin were for a two-term limit on Boston mayors.
Councilors Yancey, Linehan, Ciommo, Feeney, Murphy and Consalvo were against 'em.
Councilors Ross and LaMattina were the hold outs, and Ross voted yes, LaMattina voted no. The seven councilor majority narrowly defeated term limits, as Menino, our longest-sitting mayor, enjoys his fifth term.
Last year, Nylon's fall tour featured artists like Be Your Own Pet and She Wants Revenge. And it was a pretty good time. Some of the show highlights featured Justin (from SWR) exchanging verbal blows with a drunken (or inherently brazen, whichever) audience member, as well as some idiot jumping on stage. If you've been to the Paradise, you know this isn't a venue worth such antics, and said antics won't be tolerated because shortly after that young gentleman made it to the stage, he was practically bodyslammed by a security guard. For some reason, I thought this year would contain the same craziness, but alas, it was a different experience altogether.
This year, the opener for one of my favorite UK babies, Friendly Fires, was The XX. Unfortunately, it was boring, slow-moving, dreadful. The band was way too into themselves for their set to be enjoyable. I'm all for art rock. I like experimenting just as much as the next music lover But for some reason, The XX didn't fit. The dark lights, the black outfits, the overplayed tortured artist demeanor. The musical ingenuity that takes place on their first self-titled debut album just doesn't translate live. At all. Luckily, their set was about 8 songs long, which was probably the most I could handle before leaving to do something a little more entertaining until FF went on, like making a phone call in front of the Dise.
As I thought, Friendly Fires overshadowed their previous painful calamity with a set that was stellar. Like their self-titled debut album, their set was alot of fun. Every member on stage was having a ball, and this was only emphasized by the questionable dance moves of lead singer Ed MacFarlane. What he lacked in rhythm was made up with energy. They seamlessly glided through songs like 'Jump In The Pool,' 'Lovesick,' and the infectious 'Skeleton Boy.' Like most of the shows at the Paradise I've been to, there was one side of the audience that was drinking, dancing, and being merry and the other side that just stood there, watching skeptically while occasionally bopping their heads if a chord hit them the right way. You can't please everyone all the time, I suppose. All in all, Friendly Fires are bringing back the kind of music whose sole purpose is serving as an escape. And there's absolutely no harm in that.
Our office is directly across from the Pine Street Inn so we have our fair share of homeless wanderers in the neighborhood. Occasionally they come into our building and hang out on the stairs or even, like just the other day, come into our office and move into our bathroom. It's worst when it's really cold and I always feel torn about booting these folks. Life must be hard enough. But at the some time...get the hell out of my office!
What would you do?
Please note: This is written by our beloved Art Director, who will be blogging from Sundance this week. (I'm just the copy and pasting monkey.) -CB
I never expected to end up volunteerig at the Sundance film festival. I
wanted to do it, but life always seems to come up. Well, here I am, six
days into the fest, finally reporting to the beloved Dig readers.
