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Wednesday, May 09, 2007
I hope it's not too much of a back-handed compliment to say that Albert Hammond Jr. surprised the hell out of me. I've been a pretty passive Strokes fan, having listened to their albums but never liking quite enough songs to add them to my collection, and never having gone out of my way to see them live. And while I wasn't overly anxious to hear what their guitarist would sound like on his own, I was at least curious to check out his first solo album, "Yours To Keep", when it came out in the UK last year. I didn't get a taste until I came across the first singles ("101 and "Everyone Gets A Star") on satellite radio, and was struck enough by them to look forward to his opening set for Bloc Party when they came through town in late March. And I really, really liked it. It's fairly unavoidable to make comparisons to his other band, but I found the songs more instantly catchy, more dynamic, and was struck by how solid a singer Hammond Jr. is, especially considering his guitar-only role in the Strokes. He's also put together one seriously talented backing band, who added an energy to the material that already sounds pretty rockin' on the disc (which I picked up after it's domestic release in March). Bonus points for the Frank Black and Guided By Voices covers, as well as sharing a new song called "In My Room". Here are the Mp3s of the set, during which you might here a commotion as some fool tries to storm the stage... and gets his ass handed to him by the 'event staff' before he even comes close. Ejection accomplished. Considering the ticket price for a Bloc Party show nowadays, I can't imagine that was money well-spent...  Albert Hammond Jr. Live at the Orpheum in Boston, Massachusetts on Wednesday, March 28th, 2007 01. Everyone Gets A Star 02. In Transit 03. Old Black Dawning (Frank Black cover) 04. Bright Young Thing 05. In My Room (new) 06. 101 07. Holiday 08. Scared 09. Postal Blowfish (GBV cover) 10. Hard to Live (In the City)  Some added A.H.Jr. linkage...
 the post-script... If anyone has an issue with these Mp3s being made available, just say let me know (contact info in the 'nac faq). 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. 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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