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recommended boston area events

tuesday, december 4th

kelly hogan

@ johnny d's


thursday, december 6th

conor oberst

@ converse hall, tremont st.


thursday, december 6th

jason isbell &

the 400 unit

@ the sinclair


friday, december 7th

the weisstronauts 14th

annual holiday jubilee

with guests tsunami of sound

preacher jack, & the derangers

@ the midway cafe, jp


friday, december 7th

caspian

moving mountains

o'brother

@ the sinclair


saturday, december 8th

patrick watson

@ the sinclair


saturday, december 8th

the faint perform

"danse macabre"

trust

icky blossoms

@ the paradise


sunday, december 9th

band of horses

@ house of blues


sunday, december 9th

japandroids

diiv

@ the paradise


wednesday, december 12th

concrete blonde

jim bianco

@ the sinclair


thursday, december 13th

annual boston christmas cavalcade

benefit for the homeless

featuring tons of artists

(see fb event for details)

@ johnny d's


thursday, december 13th

nada surf

eternal summers

@ the paradise


thursday, december 13th

mates of state

in the valley below

@ brighton music hall


friday, december 14th

forgetters (blake from

jawbreaker's band)

& more tba

@ democracy center, harvard square


sunday, december 30th

sufjan stevens

sheila saputo

@ the royale


monday, december 31st

my morning jacket

@ agganis arena


monday, december 31st

deer tick

two gallants

@ the sinclair


monday, january 7th

quicksand

@ the paradise


tuesday, january 8th

hospitality

@ great scott


saturday, january 19th

mission of burma

@ the sinclair


sunday, january 20th

camper van beethoven

cracker

@ the middle east down


sunday, january 20th

soundgarden

@ the orpheum


sunday, january 20th

ra ra riot

@ the paradise


sunday, january 27th

widowspeak

@ great scott


tuesday, january 29th

kathleen edwards

sera cahoone

@ brighton music hall


wednesday, february 13th

yo la tengo

@ the paradise


saturday, march 2nd

unknown mortal orchestra

@ brighton music hall


tuesday, march 12th

tame impala

@ house of blues


thursday, march 14th

jukebox the ghost

matt pond pa

lighthouse and the whaler

@ brighton music hall


tuesday, march 26th

yo la tengo

@ the paradise


wednesday & thursday

april 3rd & 4th

they might be giants

@ the paradise


visit tourfilter for more shows






Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Mp3s: James Kochalka in Cambridge, MA



September's been a banner month for the two sides of James Kochalka, both the cartoonist and the musical Superstar: His band's long-delayed Rykodisc album, "Spread Your Evil Wings and Fly", was finally released on September 12th, just a few days after he was honored with his first-ever comics industry Harvey Award. During the September 9th ceremony at the Baltimore Comic-Con, James was granted the 2006 "Best Online Comics Work" title for his daily diary strip, American Elf.

But as good as AE and his printed comics work is, this here post is about his music, which I've been all-too familiar with since his days in the casio/saxophone/JK combo Jazzin' Hell back in his (and my former) hometown of Burlington, Vermont. (trivia: Jazzin' Hell included Philistines Jr./Zambonis member and ace Interpol/The National recording engineer Peter Katis, as well as Thicker Magazine main-man Eric Bradford). After a few years fronting Jazzin' Hell, James eventually started releasing songs under the prescient name of James Kochalka Superstar, an umbrella under which James has invited a long list of friends to record and perform. (more trivia/disclaimer: I was fortunate enough to have been one of these random members, in a short-lived live lineup that included Colin Clary, Gogol Bordello's Eugene Hutz, and Pistol Stamen of the Pants. We were not, some would say, 'the tightest' incarnation of JKS, but we sure put on a show).

JKS' songs actually have a fair amount in common with his comics work: deceptively simple and insidiously catchy, childlike wonder combined with the subtle (and not-at-all subtle) hints of naughtiness. It's kids music for grown-up kids: kinda goofy at times, insightful at others, and occasionally all at once. There's no middle ground with James' stuff... you either dig it or you don't, much like other bands that get name dropped in his reviews (TMBG, King Missle, Ween, etc.).

After several albums on a variety of small labels (including the 1995 Dot Dot Dash debut, "The True Story of James Kochalka Superstar", 2000's "Carrot Boy the Beautiful" on Sudden Shame, and the self-released "Don't Trust Whitey" in 2001), James inked a deal with Rykodisc that started with the release of a best-of compilation, last year's "Our Most Beloved". While Ryko initially seemed reluctant to nail down a release date for a follow-up of all new material, that changed quickly once his song "Hockey Monkey" (co-written with the Zambonis) was chosen as the theme song for the Fox sitcom "The Loop". The amped up exposure not only put "Spread Your Evil Wings and Fly" on their fall release schedule, but resulted in the four-song iTunes-only "Hockey Monkey" EP.

To mark the unveiling of "Spread Your Evil Wings and Fly", James played a few stripped-down shows with his bandmate (and frequent American Elf cameo canine, and Icebox Records co-guy) Jason 'x-12' Cooley on guitar. They ended in New York after stopping in Philly, but the first show was here in Cambridge, MA on Friday night, August 25th with comedians Neil Hamburger & Morgan Murphy, and the World's Greatest Sinners. Despite the fact that JKS was on first, the placed was packed from the get-go. Here's their entire set...


Some Kochalka-quality links...
  • Buy "Spread Your Evil Wings and Fly" at Amazon or on iTunes, and make sure you visit his American Elf at least once a day.

  • He's got a Wikipedia entry, and a MySpace page, although it's not run by James himself.

  • He also has some very fine fan sites, including ADD's Kochalkaholic and a Sweden-based Supersite.

  • A couple videos for songs on "SYEWAF": A clip for "Wash Your Ass" (quicktime / youtube), and the lo-fi vid for the title track (youtube), which was shot by James on his Nintendo Game Boy Camera. There's an older one for "Hockey Monkey" as well (quicktime / asf).

  • James appears in the second episode of the hilarious Monsterface TeeVee. Glad I discovered MFTV through JKS, 'cuz now I'm officially a Monsterface fanboy. Go have a look.

  • Stereogum recently gave the JKS song "Britney's Silver Can" some love, and Whitney gave it a spin on her Pop Candy blog's podcast.

  • Facebooker Aleks Prince saw James and Jason's last stop on the mini-tour, a show at the Cake Shop in Manhattan. There is spiffy photographic evidence.

  • Head over to Dangerfive to download an entire JKS online-only EP of demos called "Hot Chocolate Superstar".

  • Grab a full-band live version of "Britney's Silver Can" courtesy of Web Comics Nation.

  • Download a bunch of mp3s from James' old band, Jazzin' Hell. According to their site, an enhanced cd will eventually be released containing "all tracks from our studio sessions with Peter Katis, radio sessions at WRUV, insane live tracks, and those little videos you can play on your computer." Cool deal.

  • the fine print... If anyone has an issue with this live set being made available, just say the word (email link on left). Recorded with a Sony ECM-719 mic and a Sony MZ-RH10 minidisc, converted to .wav and then edited to 192kbps mp3s. Mp3s are made available for a limited time, and are not reposted once removed.

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    featured mp3 download
    neil halstead
    live in cambridge, ma
    on november 14th, 2008
    previously: joy formidable - boston 2011




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