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Monday, October 31, 2005
Chris Brokaw has one impressive musical history, one I first became aware of when I saw him drumming in the brillaint Codeine. I loved his playing in that band, and was pretty impressed to find he was also a great songwriter and guitar player when I discovered Come at the 1992 Sub Pop Vermonstress festival in Burlington, Vermont. Flash forward a bunch of years, after a few great Come albums and some random collaborations, I again found Chris behind the drum kit in The New Year, playing with the Kadane brothers. The crushing news of Bedhead's breakup was made much easier when I heard that the brothers would be playing not only with Chris, but with Saturnine's Mike Donofrio on bass. My high expectations were easily met by the two New Year albums that have been released so far, and I eagerly await news of a third... But this post isn't about The New Year, it's about their drummer. Not content to let his guitar and his own songs sit idle, Chris released his first solo EP in 2001, followed up quickly by the full-lengther 'Red Cities' the next year. I liked that record a lot, but it's been trumped by his new sophomore disc on the 12XU label, ''Incredible Love'. I picked it up when it was released last week, and it hasn't had much rest since. Buying it wasn't much of a risk, as I'd just seen Chris play a bunch of the new songs when he opened up for The Dirty Three at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. And here's the whole set...  Chris Brokaw live at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston Sunday, October 16th, 2005 (files removed on 1/20/2006) 1. 100 Faces 2. Whose Blood Is Singing? 3. Bricks 4. interlude 5. I Remember (Suicide cover) 6. Dresden Promenade 7. Recidivist 8. Xs For Eyes 9. Through The Roof 10. My Idea 11. La Playa While half of those songs can be found on 'Incredible Love' (including the cover of Suicide's 'I Remember', from which the album takes its title), a couple are from 'Red Cities', as well as his debut EP. The song 'Through The Roof', as far as I know, is a new one that hasn't yet been given the studio treatment. You'll notice that the performance of 'X's For Eyes' has some beautiful strings, and they come courtesy of guests David Curry and Jonah Sacks (or, as Chris dubbed them, 'The Lower Allston String Ensemble'). Curry and Sacks not only appear on Chris' record (along with Karate's Jeff Goddard, New Year bandmate Matt Kadane, and Noah Chasin), but all three gents are also part of the Empty House Cooperative, who will be performing a week from tomorrow, Tuesday November 8th, at PA's Lounge in Somerville. They're up first at 9pm, I believe, so don't worry about being fashionably late for that one. Head over to the 12XU site for an mp3 from 'Incredible Love' called 'Move', or visit Brokaw's MySpace site to stream it along with three other tracks. For the full-on live experience, catch the aptly named Chris Brokaw Rock Band on the road over the next month or so. Bass duties will be handled by the aforementioned Mr. Jeff Goddard (ex-Karate), and the drums will be manned by Mr. Kevin Coultas (ex-Rodan). The veritable all-star trio kicks the tour off in Cambridge at the Lizard Lounge on Thursday, November 10th with Helms and Hilken Mancini. Again, show up early, because the Lizard will fill up mighty fast, especially with a solid lineup like that one. Labels: livemp3s  |
 neil halstead live in cambridge, ma on november 14th, 2008 previously: joy formidable - boston 2011 recent posts on the 'nac...
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