Some randomness to close out the week...


I'm generally not a big fan of the little 'culture of exclusivity' that various music blogs have fostered and fed over the past couple years, at least when they flash neon signs saying 'look at me! look at me!', but I can't resist shining a light on this brand new song from Somerville's own Travels, who released their gorgeously haunting self-titled debut disc last week. "Animal" is new enough to be a non-album track, and it's a stunner...

Mp3: Travels - "Animal"

Travels, for those not yet aware, is Mona Elliott and Anar Badalov, formerly of Victory at Sea and Metal Hearts, respectively, making beautiful music in their Union Square apartment. Aurally, Travels leans a little more towards Anar's previous project than Mona's, with mostly shared and semi-restrained lead vocals, although Mona takes over on this new one, and sings her heart right out. Mesmerizing stuff. Many thanks to the duo for allowing me to host this one.


Yes, everyone's already shared this song, but that doesn't prevent me from doing the same. It is new Cat Power, after all...

Mp3: Cat Power - "Song To Bobby"

(update: the mp3 was mistakenly shared by the label, who is now asking blogs to remove it. as the 'nac only shares officially sanctioned pre-release mp3s, i happily complied.)

Her upcoming (mostly covers) album is "Jukebox", and is out on Matador on January 22nd. Check here for the full track listing, as well as what covers will be on a limited 5-song bonus disk that will come with some copies.


The Futureheads have finished up recording their as-yet-untitled third album, and they've just let the first taste of it out into the world. Surprise, it's a rocker, with no dramatic shifts in style, and still ace. It's got the stop/starts, the harmonies, the punch. Here 'tis...

Mp3: The Futureheads - "Broke Up The Time"

It's a measly 128kbps, and while the download from their site is terribly tagged, I've fixed that here. I do encourage you to head over there and sign up for their mailing list, though.


Depending on which side of Massachusetts you reside (the woody west or the concrete east), there are a couple things you must be made aware of happening tomorrow night, Saturday the 10th...

MySpace is putting on 31 same-day worldwide "Rock For Darfur" benefit concerts, and one of them is out in North Adams at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, featuring none other than Yo La Tengo performing acoustically. Tickets are still available here.

And as I mentioned previously, Cambridge rock club The Middle East is marking their 20th anniversary of show-hosting with a party tomorrow night (it's also serving as a birthday celebration for scene-staple Billy Ruane and MidEast booker Kevin Hoskins), and proceeds go to a far more personal cause: Proceeds will go to help out Stephen Fredette, former lead guitarist for Scruffy the Cat and currently of Pony, who was recently diagnosed with lymphoma. The lineup is super-solid: Hallelujah The Hills, The Thalia Zedek Band with her former Come-bandmate Chris Brokaw, M.G. Lederman (ex-Victory at Sea), Empty House Cooperative, Reid Paley Trio, Helms, IV Diffusion, and Drug Rug. Tickets are, remarkably, still available here, but since this show is in the upstairs room, they'll no doubt be gone soon.

Another special benefit show happening at the MidEast is the Friends of John Concert on Saturday, December 15th. Tokyo Police Club, Vampire Weekend, and Ra Ra Riot will be performing in honor of RRR's drummer (and Mass. resident), the much-missed John Ryan Pike, who sadly passed away near Fairhaven, MA in early June.


All funds raised from the show will be donated to the JPR Memorial Foundation, and will be used to establish a lending library of musical instruments for underprivileged kids who would not otherwise be able to afford them. Another of the foundation's goals is to work with other teaching organizations to match up students and music teachers. I can't imagine a much more inspiring mission to maintain his memory. Tickets for the benefit can be purchased here or at the Middle East's box office. A definite sell-out, so do not delay.


Something slightly screwy happened with ticket sales for the two Magnetic Fields shows that are scheduled at the Somerville Theatre in mid-February. Earlier this week, General Admission tickets for the two shows were available via pre-sale, and quickly disappeared. Then, suddenly, some pre-sale tickets became available again this morning, but were changed to be Assigned Seating only. As of my writing this, you can still buy reserved mezzanine tickets for the Valentine's Day show, but pre-sale tickets for the one on February 15th are gone.

According to someone at the theatre, the tickets were never supposed to be sold as General Admission, so the pre-sales people responsible for the mistake are going to be contacting everyone who bought one (including me) and assigning them seats. Hopefully they'll do the right thing and make the newly assigned spots nice ones, or they'll end up with a bunch of angry Magnetic Fields fans (scary!) whose early-action ends up costing them a good view of Mr. Merritt & co.

So when general public tickets for both shows go on sale tomorrow morning (Saturday, 11/10) at 10am via Ticketmaster, they're going to all be assigned seating. Will they be better or worse than the ones that were/are available via pre-sale? Color me clueless.


I'll wrap this up with a couple of distinctly non-musical (and entirely geeky) bits of event info...


Boston-area fans of fine comic book creation rejoice: Mr. Mike Mignola is coming to town. Yes, on Thursday evening, April 3rd, the Hellboy creator/writer/artist will be making a special appearance at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston to chat about on his past, present, and future works, focusing on what it's taken to take Hellboy to Hollywood (and hopefully the Writer's Guild strike will be over by then, otherwise I'm sure he'll be talking a lot about that). Tickets are available here for ICA members, and will go on sale to the rest of us on November 21st.


Soooo... all I have to do is mention "Battlestar Galactica", and it's highly possible that any of you who've never seen the reimagined version on the Sci-Fi Channel are going to chuckle and browse away from the 'Nac. But for those who have seen it, and who get it, didja hear about the free in-theater screenings of the new Battlestar movie, "Razor", that are happening on Monday (the 12th) around the country? Well, two of them are here in Boston, and the registration filled up super-fast. But I'll be there for a hearty helping of some big-screen Battlestar action. For those who won't, "Razor" debuts on the Sci-Fi Channel on Saturday, November 24th.