bradley's almanac - a boston-based music blog
navigate the 'nac
almanac mp3 archives almanac shared mp3 archive
live show photo archive boston-area live shots on flickr
'my life or some dream'
original mp3 compilation

free mp3 compilation on club fub
bands i've been in bands i've played drums in
the 'nac faq & contact info
contact info and more
the 'nac on the 'net
the almanac rss feed
subscribe to my rss feed
follow me on twitter the almanac twitter account
become a fan on facebook the 'nac on facebook
the almanac tumblr page bradley's tumblanac
hype machine 'nac page the almanac hype machine page
the almanac soundcloud page the almanac shuffler page
the 'nac songkick gig page the almanac songkick gig page
almanac events on sponty the almanac sponty events page
the almanac last.fm page the almanac last.fm page
listen to 'nac mp3s on shuffler the almanac shuffler page


the almanac archives


search the 'nac

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, May 09, 2007

Mp3s: Albert Hammond Jr. in Boston



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...
  • His MySpace page, Wikipedia entry, and his Scratchie Records label page.

  • Mp3s: "101" (live on Conan O'Brien); "In Transit" (from "Yours To Keep").

  • Stream: Four songs on MySpace.

  • Video: There are two different clips for "101", with one that's mostly studio footage from the recording of the album, and another directed by Patrick Daughters that follows AHJ's sad, suited ghost. As usual, many more live clips can be found with a YouTube search.

  • Event site Hey Let's Go has re-christened itself as Going.com, and they're putting on some free concerts to mark the new branding. One of them is with Albert and his band, and takes place tomorrow, Thursday, May 10th, at the Hiro Ballroom in NYC. To RSVP for the free show, head here. You may have to sign up for the site first to view that page.

  • Albert Hammond Jr. will return to the road for a month-long headlining tour that starts May 20th in San Francisco, and winds up in NYC on June 18th. Boston's own The Dead Trees will offer their support for the entire tour, but unfortunately the closest they're coming to our area is a Northampton show on June 13th. There are some open dates near the end of the trip, so perhaps a Boston stop will show up at some point.

  • Guilty pleasure alert: Can't resist sharing my favorite Strokes song, which exists thanks to the mash-up skills of The Freelance Hellraiser. It's the collision of the Strokes' "Hard To Explain" with Christina Aguilera's "Genie In A Bottle". Mp3: Freelance Hellraiser - "A Stroke of Genie-Us".

  • Listen to all 'Nac-hosted tracks on the Hype Machine.

  • 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:





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




    recent posts on the 'nac...


    on the nightstand


    boston-area music bloggers


    boston music media


    I Buy Music




    This page is powered by Blogger Pro.