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Friday, September 18, 2009  Many of us are feeling (or, rather, listening to, or playing) the after-effects of the recently-ended 'Beatles Week', but for me it was immediately preceded by what was most definitely 'Bazan Week'. It started on Friday, August 28th in the afternoon when Seattle-based David Bazan arrived in Massachusetts and gifted his Twitter followers with an impromptu dry-run online-webcast (sadly, since deleted) that had him and his longtime pal/collaborator TW Walsh (behind the drum kit) running through a couple of old Pedro the Lion tunes ("When They Really Get To Know You They Will Run" and "Penetration") in TW's basement. It was a nice teaser for the reason he'd hit our state: An intimate, acoustic house show in Beverly, MA to showcase songs from his almost-out solo record, "Curse Your Branches". I'm going to resist getting all hyperbolic here, and let the recorded songs that follow sing for themselves. These digital files won't fully capture the vibe, but in short: It was the kind of night that'll spoil regular club shows for while. Very little else compares. Picture the set below being performed about 4 feet in front of your seated spot on a candle-lit livingroom floor. Yeah.That special evening was made slightly more special in an additional way: It was the first time fans could hold the new DB disc in their hands, to have a look at the spiffy packaging, to take one home and dive on in. For me, well, I'd pre-ordered it, so I'd have to wait... but not for long. Just 8 hours after driving back to Boston my mailman handed me a package from Undertow: A copy of "CYB" and the limited edition bonus 7" that has David sharing his versions of two covers he'd been performing for awhile: Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and Dylan's "The Man In Me". Now that's what I call a good start to a Saturday. An aside on that little seven-inch - Yes, "Hallelujah" has been covered way, way too much. Hell, that's been the case for quite awhile, and with Cohen having taken his own version on the road this year, any new interpretation is long-since redundant. But having seen Dave play it live, well before LC's road reemergence, I'd been hoping we'd hear DB's own run-through somehow. So it arrives, and yes, it's beautiful. According to the man himself, he'd put down this recording before L.C. asked people to stop covering it, so rather than burying it forever, he figured a very limited pre-order vinyl gift was in order. To get it out there, but kind of not. A good call. By the way, if you happened to miss out on that limited wax, you can get "The Man In Me" digitally via iTunes. No "Hallelujah", though. As solid as the "Curse Your Branches" online pre-order/preview stream sounded, headphoning the real-deal disc made for a wonderfully soundtracked weekend (next up: the vinyl). The aforementioned Mr. Walsh outdid himself in the mixing/mastering of this sucker... you can hear the attention to detail on all 10 tracks. To put a fine point on that weekend, and to mark the official release of "CYB" on Tuesday, Sept. 1st, David hit Brooklyn for another house show on Monday night, and for the first time, the entire intimate event was live-video-streamed online (and archived!). Next best thing to being there. And the very next day, he debuted his new full band with an invite-only show at Piano's in NYC, a couple of clips from which can be found at ABCNews, who also interviewed DB for their online Amplified program. That's a genuine media-blitz, ladies and gents. "Curse Your Branches" is charting on Billboard, fer chrissakes. How 'bout that? David will be bringing that full band out on the road for a 5-week tour starting on October 1st (speaking of which, help him buy a van to make that happen, get a cool t-shirt), and any Boston-based readers would do well to get advance tix for the October 20th show at TTs (openers are Say Hi and TW Walsh's The Soft Drugs, even more reason to get tix early). If you missed out one of the many house shows David's done this year, have no fear, he's going to keep doing 'em. And if you're lucky, one will be close to you (and you'd better be paying attention... they sell out fast). Until he comes your way, enjoy this...  David Bazan An intimate house performance in Beverly, MA on Friday, August 28th, 2009 01. Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box (Radiohead) 02. Hard To Be 03. Priests and Paramedics 04. Q&A 1 05. Harmless Sparks 06. Transcontinental 07. Q&A 2 08. Curse Your Branches 09. Please, Baby, Please 10. Q&A 3 11. Hot Girls 12. Lost My Shape 13. Options 14. Q&A 4 15. When We Fell 16. a Q from DB 17. Bless This Mess 18. Cold Beer and Cigarettes 19. Q: "Can we have a sing-a-long?" Answer: 20. Big Trucks (sing-a-long) 21. banter - "a show in denton" 22. In Stitches  Some Bazan-flavored links...
 the fine print... If anyone has an issue with these Mp3s being made available (since I got permission, that'd be weird), just let me know (my contact info in the 'nac faq link on the left). Live sets recorded with a Sony ECM-719 mic and a Sony MZ-RH10 minidisc, converted to .wav and then edited to 192kbps Mp3s. Files are made available for a limited time, and are not reposted once removed, even if you beg. Sorry 'bout that. Labels: livemp3s  |
 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
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