ghostlifeghostlife.

From Catherine Wheel’s first and best album, Ferment, circa 1992.

Thanks to Heather D for bringing this song to my attention, which somehow I missed all these years. Rock. Roll …

1 | TV ON THE RADIO | Dear Science | Interscope-4AD

“Dear Science is a rare thing circa 2008: a headphone record in the age of iPods and decreased engagement with music. This is a band that’s on top of its game: The members of TV on the Radio have done a middling debut and an excellent art-rock heavy follow-up, and now they’ve proved they can make an exhilarating album with great songs from front to back. Dear Science is another highlight from a band whose career has essentially been an extended one.” – Prefix Mag

“The songs are brighter, more vital, as energized and beautiful as they are portentous. It’s as if the band, poised at the precipice, on a dying planet crawling with ignorant citizens, surrounded by warfare and soulless machines and a precious bit of love, figured it may as well try to lasso the pageant of life. Violins and trumpets are everywhere, replacing distortion with graceful, majestic textures that feel no less forceful than a squalling electric guitar. And the warmth and sparkle make sense on an album so explicitly designed to connect with people.” – Boston Globe

maikaʻi aʻe mele
crying | golden age | love dog | dlz

Video for ‘Golden Age’ :

2 | EL GUINCHO | Alegranza! | Beggars-XL

“El Guincho’s debut album Alegranza is as bright as the feathers of the parrot, as sparkly as the fireworks, and as warm as the palm trees that adorn the cover. The music flows like melted butter, twists and turns like a mountain highway, and shimmers like the sun on a scorching summer day. The Spanish producer/singer throws a whole mess of ingredients into the mix, including various strains of world music (like Afro-pop, tango, Spanish folk music), indie pop, techno, and post-rock and sends it spinning into a blurred, whirling rush of sound that never falters.” – All Music Guide

“It’s fun and light, and even though for all I know he could be singing about the destruction of mankind, it is bursting with joy and happiness. And for once, you can actually dance to a dance record.” – Lost At Sea

“Born in the Canary Islands, Mr. Díaz-Reixa makes joyful music from an international assortment of loops and drumbeats — African, South Asian, Caribbean, Brazilian — and vocals, with free-associative lyrics in Spanish, that sound like a bunch of guys in a bar celebrating to endless three-chord refrains full of la-las. The repetition of the loops turns from mechanical to hypnotic to hallucinatory to ecstatic as the songs barrel along.” – New York Times

“The 24-year-old’s debut is a tropical soundclash of spiralling steel drums, looped, gnarled local songs and untrammelled joy.” – The Observer

maikaʻi aʻe mele
antillas | cuando maavilla fui | fata morgana | kalise

Video for ‘Palmitos Park’ :

3 | AMY WINEHOUSE | Back to Black | Republic Records

(This album came out in 2007, but I didnt hear it until this year, thus is makes the 2008 list.)

“Back To Black has a hook as simple as it is irresistible. Winehouse’s boozy, brawling, self-destructive ‘tude is hip-hop and contemporary, but her unashamedly retro sound hearkens giddily back to Motown and girl groups of the ’50s and ’60s. Winehouse might sing about sketchy acquaintances smoking too much of her weed, or a beau who made her miss a Slick Rick concert, but the songcraft is as lush as anything Phil Spector has cooked up.” – The Onion AV Club

“At first the songs on Amy Winehouse’s second album, “Back to Black,” could almost be unknown soul oldies from the 1950s and 1960s. The drums, strings and horns have a vintage production style, and Ms. Winehouse’s tart voice and sly, sultry phrasing sound largely unprocessed. Then the anachronisms kick in, from current slang and beats that hint at hip-hop to four-letter words and blunt references to sex and drugs. A 23-year-old English songwriter, Ms. Winehouse is decades too young for ’60s nostalgia, but she has come up with a wonderfully time-twisted batch of songs.” – New York Times

maikaʻi aʻe mele
he can only hold her | love is a losing game | tears dry on their own | back to black

Video for ‘Back to Black’ :

4 | M83 | Saturdays=Youth | Mute Records

“With guitars gliding across translucent synth lines, the songs are big statements rendered in cold neon. The dazzling thing about M83 maestro Anthony Gonzalez’s fifth effort is his uncanny success at recapturing the heart-leaping whirl of his generation’s ’80s touchstones. An admitted John Hughes tribute, “Graveyard Girl” collides Ride and the Cocteau Twins in an Encino arcade while “We Own the Sky” is heady digital shoegaze for a fog-filled ice bar.” – Paste Magazine

“The liner notes feature a sun-saturated photo shoot of a gang of sharp-dressed teens that could have been torn from a 1985 issue of Sassy. It’s hard to tell whether they’re the cool kids or the outcasts — but really, it doesn’t matter: romanticized confusion is the heart of Saturdays’ æsthetic. You can marvel at the ringer for Molly Ringwald on the cover while listening to the shoegazy “Graveyard Girl” (an homage to Pretty in Pink); you can take a lonely suburban summer drive to the electro anthem “We Own the Sky”; and “Kim & Jessie” is equally suited to moping or making out in your parents’ basement. This is an album steeped in a generation’s worth of nostalgia, but unlike most rehashed coming-of-age exercises, Saturdays = Youth manages, in its own small way, to offer something entirely new.” – Boston Phoenix

maikaʻi aʻe mele
kim & jessie | couleurs | we own the sky | graveyard girl

‘Kim & Jessie’ live on Pitchfork.tv :

5 | SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS | Alpinisms | Ghostly International

“…squarely within the domain of late ’80s/early ’90s dream-pop in terms of inspiration, (these songs) are relatively individualist, going well beyond the lucid psychedelia and discreet flickers of Afro-beat and contemporary pop.” – All Music Guide

“Spacey, ambient, and vaguely tribal, Alpinisms creates a landscape to get lost in. Alpinisms is a sensory experience, like downing a few tumblers of foreign liquor: too much will leave you lightheaded. Then again, everything is a better with a buzz.” – Lost At Sea

maikaʻi aʻe mele
half asleep | wired for light | connjur | prince of peace

Trailer for ‘Alpinisms’ :

6 | BROKER/DEALER | Soft Sell EP | Spectral

“80′s italo and disco infected uptempo house tracks from San Francisco’s Broker/Dealer with the excellent ‘Soft Sell’. The Italo/disco influences are subtle but apparent, with a long playing house track pushed by a perky bassline roll and luxuriant synthlines.” – Boomkat

“From the first crack of the kick drum until the very end, Broker/Dealer’s “Soft Sell” is the kind of soulful techno you want to gorge yourself on over and over again. The full analog bass stabs provide a perfect counterpart to the sharp arpeggios and marshmallow synth horn, which plays a sublime midnight melody.” – Urlaubshits

maikaʻi aʻe mele
soft sell | save it for later

Video for ‘Opening Night’ :

7 | THE RAVEONETTES | Lust Lust Lust | Vice Records

“Awash in heavy reverb and in-the-red treble, and drawing heavily from ’60s surf-pop, Lust Lust Lust, the duo’s fourth album, shakes and wriggles within a self-defined aesthetic that’s perfectly suited to tales of the dirtiest of the deadly sins. These songs don’t sound like love songs because they aren’t love songs. That the Raveonettes understand why that’s an important distinction makes Lust Lust Lust a sleazy pop masterpiece.” – Slant Magazine

“The Raveonettes’ fourth CD crackles like a transmission from some spectral AM radio station — one playing tunes from the supergroup that, in an alternate universe, the Ronettes, My Bloody Valentine, and the Velvet Underground formed on a lost weekend. Laced with languid two-part harmonies, fuzz-addled feedback, and bittersweet Spector melodics, Lust Lust Lust is a gauze-wrapped cocoon of an album.” – Entertainment Weekly

maikaʻi aʻe mele
aly, walk with me | hallucinations | blush | sad transmission

Video for ‘Dead Sound’ :

8 | SANTOGOLD | Santogold | Downtown Records

“You’d have to go back to Grace Jones in the early ’80s to find an African-American woman who comes on this strong with avant-garde club funk and weird rock shit. Combining new wave, ska, dub, grime, Baltimore club, and hip-hop in an ear-warping wash of 21st-century psychedelia, Santogold takes listeners on a trip to a hidden black America, where Santi White (aka Santogold) acts as tour guide through the alleyways of her mind and undoubtedly excellent iPod.” – Spin

“Severe, sumptuous beatbox dub, punky reggae and black-lit new wave. Santogold bursts with the arrogance of a world-beating hip-hop debut while thriving on vulnerability.” – Blender

maikaʻi aʻe mele
you’ll find a way | shove it | say aha | lights out | creator | starstruck

Video for ‘Lights Out’ :

9 | COLDPLAY | Viva La Vida | Capitol Records

“Gone are Chris Martin’s piano recitals and gone are the washes of meticulously majestic guitar, replaced by orchestrations of sound, sometimes literally consisting of strings but usually a tapestry of synthesizers, percussion, organs, electronics, and guitars that avoid playing riffs. Gone too are simpering schoolboy ballads like “Fix You,” and along with them the soaring melodies designed to fill arenas. In fact, there are no insistent hooks to be found anywhere on Viva la Vida, and there are no clear singles in this collection of insinuatingly ingratiating songs. This reliance on elliptical melodies isn’t off-putting — alienation is alien to Coldplay — and this is where Eno’s guidance pays off, as he helps sculpt Viva la Vida to work as a musical whole.” – All Music Guide

“‘Viva…’ truly goes stratospheric: on the magnificent orchestral pop title track, where Martin imagines himself as a deposed French king reduced to sweeping the streets; on the bruised ‘Yes’, like Dandy Warhols and Depeche Mode lost in a desert duststorm; on the Satanic blues hymnal of single ‘Violet Hill’. As the record rounds up with the thumping ceilidh of ‘Strawberry Swing’ and the disjointed Elbow-ish crescendo of ‘Death And All His Friends’ you can only applaud Coldplay’s daring within their Big Music remit. ‘Viva…’, like those revolutionary French peasants at the palace gates, is steeped in traditionalism (Irish folk, Deep South country and blues, churchy classicism) but striving for something greater, grander, better. And with mainstream success guaranteed, by over-reaching themselves Coldplay are perfectly placed to decree the shape of the new rock order with album five. King Bono is dead; long live the kings.” – NME

maikaʻi aʻe mele
life in technicolor | cemetaries of london | lost! | lovers in japan | strawberry swing

Video for ‘Lost!’ :

10 | MADONNA | Hard Candy | Warner Bros.

“Madonna hasn’t delivered this many vapid floor fillers on one disc since her debut, and maybe not even then. Aside from a little careerism on the dance floor, there are few confessions here—nothing political, nothing too spiritual, no talk of fame, war, or the media. It’s just what America ordered.” – Slant Magazine

“On Hard Candy, she’s like an aging master thief sneaking into the temple of pop goodies for one last big score. Album 11 is good-naturedly smutty, not confrontationally nasty, but it’s a veritable filth bath compared to the C-SPAN sermons and confessional strumming of 2003’s dreadful American Life or the woozily self-actualized club trance of 2005’s Confessions on a Dance Floor. But respect for her originality won out, and (the producers) invoke the bubbly electro synths of early Madonna and the squishy grooves of early -’80s Prince/Rick James funk to invent slinky, playful music with undercurrents of adorable psychosexual intrigue.” – Blender

maikaʻi aʻe mele
heartbeat | incredible | beat goes on | dance 2night | devil wouldn’t recognize you

Video for ‘Give it 2 Me’ :

11 | BARRY ADAMSON | Back to the Cat | Central Control

“Things get mighty murky on Back to the Cat, which finds Adamson lurking halfway between the gutter and the neon. It’s a shirk away from the sick caricatures in search of a soundtrack aesthetic played out on many of his past albums. If Wayne Newton is playing at the Stardust, Adamson is across town at the dive bar with all the down-and-out losers just cashing out on their way to a cheap motel after pawning away their hopes and dreams. It’s probably safe to assume that somewhere in Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez’s fictional universe of Sin City, the collected works of Barry Adamson are constantly playing. Beneath his cartoon martini lounge jazz-pop lies an openly repressed depravity. His icy exteriors are so slick and cynically confident that you can picture them inhabited by a world rendered only in black and white, eternally clouded by the smoking embers of a seemingly endless supply of discarded cigarette butts.” – Pop Matters

“If there’s a common thread to what Barry Adamson has brought to music over the last 30 years, it’s a sense of drama. Stylistically, he’s all over the place – Back to the Cat, like the last few, ranges between jazzy IDM and ornate pop productions. He can’t resist adding layers, be it a layer of sound, a shade of meaning or a musical reference. That’s the conundrum of his work – he makes background music that demands close listening. Maybe that’s why he hasn’t gotten more work doing actual Hollywood soundtracks. Naturally, David Lynch has taken advantage of his work. The two share a knack for making sunshine as unnerving as the shadows.” – Dusted Magazine

maikaʻi aʻe mele
straight ’til sunrise | spend a little time | walk on fire | psycho_sexual

Video for ‘Straight ’til Sunrise’ :

12 | NEON NEON | Stainless Style | Lex Records

“Strap yourselves in, close the gullwing doors, and prepare for the ride of a lifetime. For this is Neon Neon and their concept album telling the story of John DeLorean and his motor car – a tale of speed, drugs, sex, glamour and financial ruin. And now the narrative has music to suit it, as Welshmen Gruff Rhys and his partner in time travel Boom Bip go back to the future in their search for one of Detroit’s most flamboyant sons. Rhys may not be a petrol head but Hollon clearly is, and dresses up his music to reflect that. The music could hardly evoke the 1980s more strongly. As a document of its time, Stainless Style is remarkably successful. Taken on the base level of being an enjoyable pop album, it also triumphs handsomely. An indulgence not to be passed over or taken guiltily.” – musicOMH

“Car visionary DeLorean created the iconic DMC-12 featured in Back to the Future, and here Rhys plays the story-telling Marty to Hollon’s synth-bothering Doc, with Yo Majesty, Fatlip and Spank Rock’s Naeem Juwan jumping on board for the ride. Like its subjects’ career, the album’s highs are heady. Songs about hot girls and fast cars, assembly-line porn and Michael Douglas are wrapped in kitschy, itchy Italo disco softened by Welsh whimsy. I Told Her On Alderaan is a Thompson Twins-meets-the Cars fantasy, while the soulless electro of I Lust You perfectly mirrors the values of DeLorean’s decade. Detours into hip-hop and rap slow down the fast-paced action, but Neon Neon have poured as much love and attention to detail in this prototype as their hero put into his.” – The Guardian

maikaʻi aʻe mele
i told her on alderaan | michael douglas | dream cars | steel your girl | sweat shop | belfast | luxury pool

‘I Told Her on Alderaan’ live on BBC2′s Culture Show :

13 | AIR FRANCE | No Way Down EP | Sincerely Yours Sweden

“Gothenburg, located on the west coast of Sweden, averages highs in the upper 60s in June; in recent years, however, the city has produced some of the sunniest music in the world. Tropical rhythms and warm-weather themes color releases by Jens Lekman, the Tough Alliance, Studio, and the Embassy. Signed to Sincerely Yours, Air France invited listeners to their “Beach Party” with last year’s too-good-to-be-true On Trade Winds EP. Air France’s latest, the 23-minute No Way Down EP, is better. If No Way Down is about a place that doesn’t exist, it’s a place where fairy tales are true and where old pop culture ephemera can– in Air France’s fertile musical imagination, at least– live happily ever after.” – Pitchfork Media

“Air France are yet another product of this brilliant Scandinavian conveyor belt. Their debut EP – 2006’s On Trade Winds- was a cacophonous masterpiece brushed by Tropicalia and flighty, cloud-bursting grooves. Follow-up EP No Way Down (is) equally lush; flooded in Casiotoned symphonies and cut-paste-splatter samples that left the palate whetting, desperate for more.” – Spins and Needles

maikaʻi aʻe mele
june evenings | collapsing at your doorstep | no excuses | no way down

Video for ‘Collapsing At Your Doorstep’ :

……………..

VERY HONORABLE MENTION

Adele : 19
The Black Seeds : Into the Dojo
Bloc Party : Intimacy
Bohren & der Club of Gore : Dolores
The Breeders : Mountain Battles
Scarlett Johansson : Anywhere I Lay My Head
Minotaur Shock : Amateur Dramatics
Oasis : Dig Out Your Soul
Thievery Corporation : Radio Retaliation
Ting Tings : We Started Nothing
Tricky : Knowle West Boy
Windsurf : Coastlines

……………..

SOME GREAT TRACKS, BUT JUST A FEW

Chairlift : Does You Inspire You
Cranes : Cranes
The Dandy Warhols : Earth to the Dandy Warhols
Sigur Ros : með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
The Verve : Forth

In 2006 I posted an entry about the fantastic album from TV on the Radio called “Return to Cookie Mountain”, and now two years later they have released their follow-up entitled ‘Dear Science’, and yet again it deserves its own Ghostlife approved blog entry. If you liked their dense unique mix of jazz, rock, shoegaze, punk and doo-wop, but was hoping for something with a little more kick, something that might put a little shake in your hips, well this might do it. They’ve taken their sound and made it just a tad more radio friendly without losing that unique blend or their sense of experimentation. I highly recommend anyone pick this up or download it, its excellent. Don’t just take my word for it …

“Dear Science is the album David Bowie fantasizes about making.” Financial Times (4/4)
“This is one irresistible party… a great, great record.” Q Magazine (5/5)
“They might have just made this decade’s ultimate leftfield pop album.” Uncut
“A class act at their peak.” The Sun (5/5)
“Brooklyn art-rockers’ clearest transmission yet.” Mojo
“It’s a real thrill to find TV On The Radio pushing through the portal into the ethereal space-rock paradise that they always seemed destined to inhabit.” Observer Music Monthly
“Career defining stuff.” The Guardian (5/5)
“Stunning.” NME
“A thrilling album.” The Times
“Exhilarating pop heart beats.” Word
“The art-rock album of the year.” The Observer
“They’re still exciting, still mysterious and still incredible” The Fly
“TV on the Radio come lavishly recommended. A thrilling album.” The Times of London (4/4)
“Exhilarating.” The Independent (4/4)
“TVOTR drive their focused music vision with breathtaking results.” Metro (5/5)
“Dear Science is one of the most absorbing albums of the year.” Sunday Express (5/5)

www.4ad.com
www.tvontheradio.com

??
Carcass
Pitch Sifter
Tranquil Passing
Club Babyhead Providence

??
Shonen Knife
The Dentists
Club Babyhead Providence

29-Apr-94
The Charlatans
Queen Sarah Saturday
Axis Boston

??
Primus
Melvins
Orpehum Boston

11-Nov-93
Björk
Ultramarine
Avalon Boston

10-Feb-94
James
Avalon Boston

8-May-94
James
Tribe (last show)
The Indians
Orpheum Boston

??
Tree
Blank
Toetag
A.M.N.
South Plymouth High School Plymouth

??
Smashing Pumpkins
Red Red Meat
Wallace Civic Center Fitchburg

12-May-94
Rollins Band
Therapy?
Avalon Boston

17-Jun-94
Lush
Mistle Thrush
Local 186 Allston

16-Aug-94
Lush
Weezer
Thornberry
Avalon Boston

17-Aug-94
Lush
Weezer
Live
Rocky Point Warwick

12-Aug-94
Luna
Small Factory
Blueshift Signal
Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel Providence

17-Jul-93
Rage Against the Machine
Arrested Development
Tool
Dinosaur Jr
Alice in Chains
Front 242
Fishbone
Primus
Quonset Airport N. Kingstown

3-Aug-94
A Tribe Called Quest
The Breeders
George Clinton and the
P-Funk All-Stars
Beastie Boys
Smashing Pumpkins
Boredoms
The Flaming Lips
Quonset Airport N. Kingstown

??
Disgorge
The Approach Cape Cod

9-Sep-94
Dinosaur Jr
Chavez
One Ton Shotgun
Combustible Edison
Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel Providence

22-Sep-95
Hole
MC 900 Foot Jesus
Consolidated
Stabbing Westward
Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel Providence

26-Oct-94
Blueshift Signal
Blair’s Carriage
Club Babyhead Providence

16-Nov-94
Velocity Girl
Walt Mink
Club Babyhead Providence

4-Dec-94
Hole
Helium
Milk Money
Orpheum Boston

??
Blueshift Signal
Cedarchest
Wedgehead
Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel Providence

10-Feb-95
They Might Be Giants
Chris Stamely
Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel Providence

7-Feb-95
Cranes
Idaho
Met Café Providence

11-Feb-95
J Mascis
Zeke Fidler
Chick (from Scarce)
Met Café Providence

??
Janet LaValley
Bill Keough Experience
Blueshift Signal
Club Babyhead Providence

??
Small Factory
Blair’s Carriage
The Mitchells
Hock
Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel Providence

??
Alley Sway
T Minus 0
Club Babyhead Providence

10-Mar-95
Oasis
Velvet Crush
Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel Providence

??
Veruca Salt
Hazel
Squash Blossom
Avalon Boston

??
Blueshift Signal
The Means
Dante’s Grin
Met Café Providence

??
Blueshift Signal
Curtain Society
The Means
The Rock Newport

4-Apr-95
Letters to Cleo
Catherine
The Curtain Society
Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel Providence

??
Forbidden
Anal Cunt
Club Babyhead Providence

??
Janet LaValley
Blair’s Carriage
Met Café Providence

??
Blueshift Signal
For Squirrels
Curtain Society
Mistle Thrush
Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel Providence

27-Apr-95
Siouxsie and the Banshees
Spiritualized
Orpheum Boston

29-Apr-95
Mike Watt
(w/Eddie Vedder, Pat Smear
and David Grohl)
Foo Fighters (1st tour)
Hovercraft
Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel Providence

??
Velocity Girl
Tuscadero
Zumpano
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

??
Pyrexia
Scattered Remnants
Facial Defecation
Exhumed
Perpetual Doom
The Rock Newport

5-Nov-94
The Cranberries
Grant Lee Buffalo
The Strand Providence

22-May-95
Purple Ivy Shadows
Flora Street
Radio to Saturn
Met Café Providence

23-May-95
The Wolfgang Press
Suddenly, Tammy!
Paradise Boston

24-May-95
The Muffs
Alley Sway
Met Café Providence

26-May-95
Throwing Muses
Joey Sweeney
The Bill Keough Experience
Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel Providence

31-May-95
Blueshift Signal
Where I Wake Warm
TT the Bear’s Cambridge

4-Jun-95
These Animal Men
Delta Clutch
Met Café Providence

6-Jun-95
Ivy
Melissa Ferrick
Stellar Pop Combo
Club Babyhead Providence

20-Jun-95
Guided by Voices
Mary Lou Lord
Paradise Boston

30-Jun-95
Small Factory
Versus
The Non-Paraelians
Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel Providence

8-Jul-95
Opium Den
World Seed
Siddal
Incus
TT the Bear’s Cambridge

1-Aug-95
Morbid Angel
Grip, Inc.
Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel Providence

3-Aug-95
Peter Murphy
Jewel
Avalon Boston

4-Aug-95
Drugstore
Club Babyhead Providence

4-Aug-95
God Lives Underwater (Sextacy Ball)
The Strand Providence

12-Aug-95
Björk
The Aphex Twin
Avalon Boston

18-Aug-95
Blueshift Signal
Alley Sway
Rocky Point Warwick

31-Aug-95
Siddal
Zutrau
TT the Bear’s Cambridge

9-Sep-95
Supergrass
Quivver
Paradise Boston

14-Sep-95
Tricky
Laika
Paradise Boston

22-Sep-95
Supergrass
Shudder To Think
Eve’s Plumb
Smoking Popes
Paradise Boston

27-Sep-95
Blueshift Signal
The Means
Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel Providence

28-Sep-95
Blur
Whale
Axis Boston

8-Oct-95
Grief
Infestation
Nightstick
Abstract Psychology
Middle East Upstairs Cambridge

13-Oct-95
Oasis
Tuxedo Junction Danbury, CT

14-Oct-95
Oasis
Acetone
Orpheum Boston

19-Oct-95
Difference Engine
Dirt Merchants
Flora Street
Met Café Providence

16-Nov-95
Björk
Goldie
The Strand Providence

17-Nov-95
Combustible Edison
Met Café Providence

24-Nov-95
Electrafixion
Echobelly
Dandy Warhols
Club Babyhead Providence

25-Nov-95
Electrafixion
Echobelly
Dandy Warhols
Axis Boston

1-Dec-95
Siddal
An April March
Middle East Upstairs Cambridge

8-Dec-95
The Godrays
Edsel
Difference Engine
Met Café Providence

19-Jan-96
Helium
Railroad Jerk
Arab on Radar
Met Café Providence

20-Jan-96
Helium
Railroad Jerk
Guv’ner
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

3-Feb-96
Mistle Thrush
Mile Wide
Paradise Boston

11-Feb-96
Blur
The Elevator Drops
Avalon Boston

3-Mar-96
Mistle Thrush
Siddal
Underflowers
Met Café Providence

10-Mar-96
Oasis
Agona Hardison
The Strand Providence

17-Mar-96
The Wedding Present
Butterglory
Alley Sway
Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel Providence

11-Apr-96
Echobelly
Superdrag
Met Café Providence

13-Apr-96
Mistle Thrush
Big Monster Fish Hook
Fidel
Club Babyhead Providence

27-Apr-96
Cibo Mato
Skeleton Key
Met Café Providence

29-Apr-96
Lush
Mojave 3
Scheer
Paradise Boston

30-Apr-96
Lush
Mojave 3
Scheer
Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel Providence

12-May-96
Mistle Thrush
Big Monster Fish Hook
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

17-May-96
Stereolab
King Kong
Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel Providence

6-Jun-96
Lush
Johnny Bravo
Waterplace Park Providence

7-Jun-96
Pulp
Jonathan Fire Eater
Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel Providence

10-Jun-96
Cocteau Twins
Spain
Avalon Boston

28-Jun-96
His Name Is Alive
AMP
Hope and Anchor Islington, London

2-Jul-96
The Cure
Centrum Worcester

17-Jul-96
Imperial Drag
Super-Deluxe
Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel Providence

19-Jul-96
Dean Can Dance
Harborlights Boston

10-Aug-96
Throwing Muses
Delta Clutch
Met Café Providence

23-Aug-96
Spiritualized
Axis Boston

25-Aug-96
Blueshift Signal
Mold
Met Café Providence

29-Aug-96
Lush
Eels
Muzzle
Toad’s Place New Haven

8-Sep-96
Smashing Pumpkins
Providence Civic Center Providence

21-Sep-96
Helium
Syrup USA
Invisible Cowboys
Met Café Providence

2-Nov-96
Siddal
An April March
Viola Peacock
Middle East Upstairs Cambridge

15-Nov-96
The Ocean Blue
Paradise Boston

16-Feb-97
Throwing Muses
Joyce Raskin
Alley Sway
Met Café Providence

7-Mar-97
Blur
Papas Fritas
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

15-Mar-97
Cranes
Rasputina
Axis Boston

10-May-97
Polara
Blueshift Signal
Spindleshanks
Met Café Providence

29-May-97
Echo and the Bunnymen
Longpigs
Waterplace Park Providence

7-Jun-97
Primus
Blur
Echo and the Bunnymen
Matthew Sweet
Morphine
Folk Implosion
Great Woods Mansfield

17-Jun-97
Real World Boston Cast Wrap Party:
Unilever (w/Neil – London)
Midnight Voices (w/ Mohammed – SF)
Gigolo Aunts
Amazing Royal Crowns
Avalon Boston

15-Jul-97
Swervedriver
Cherry 2000
TT the Bear’s Cambridge

24-Jul-97
Gus Gus
Lamb
Axis Boston

28-Jul-97
Orb
Avalon Boston

9-Aug-97
Kristin Hersh
Honeybunch
The Call Providence

22-Aug-97
Spiritualized
Axis Boston

23-Aug-97
Radiohead
Teenage Fanclub
Dandy Warhols
Harborlights Boston

29-Aug-97
Dandy Warhols
Polara
TT the Bear’s Cambridge

13-Sep-97
Blur
Dandy Warhols
Orpheum Boston

26-Sep-97
Helium
David Kilgour
Bright
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

29-Sep-97
Charlatans
Dandy Warhols
Paradise Boston

25-Oct-97
Chumbawamba
Hooverphonic
Avalon Boston

18-Nov-97
Gus Gus
Cornershop
Seely
Paradise Boston

29-Nov-97
The Sundays
Garrison Starr
Avalon Boston

1-Dec-97
Spiritualized
Acetone
Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel Providence

6-Dec-97
Helium
Blonde Redhead
Bermuda
Century Lounge Providence

??
Mistle Thrush
John St. Porch Band
Another Girl
Century Lounge Providence

14-Mar-98
Portishead
EM Loews Palladium Worcester

30-Mar-98
Curve
Freaky Chakra
Axis Boston

15-Apr-98
Radiohead
Spiritualized
Centrum Worcester

5-May-98
Kristen Hersh
Brattle Theater Cambridge

16-May-98
Björk
U-Ziq
EM Loews Palladium Worcester

9-Jun-98
Pulp
Ghost of Tony Gold
Paradise Boston

17-Jun-98
Curve
Dandy Warhols
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

20-Jun-98
B-52′s
The Pretenders
Great Woods Mansfield

8-Jul-98
Spice Girls
Great Woods Mansfield

17-Jul-98
Tricky
Roxy Boston

2-Aug-98
Verve
Harborlights Boston

15-Aug-98
Overflower
Battery Park
AS220 Providence

5-Sep-98
Bauhaus
Harborlights Boston

7-Sep-98
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Come
Roxy Boston

14-Sep-98
Mark Kozelek
Weeping in Fits and Stars
Middle East Upstairs Cambridge

2-Nov-98
Lisa Germano
(opening for Eels)
Bill’s Bar Boston

7-Nov-98
His Name Is Alive
Godzuki
Middle East Upstairs Cambridge

7-Nov-98
Swervedriver
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

8-Nov-98
Swervedriver
Medicine Ball
Speaker Bite Me (from Denmark)
Met Café Providence

17-Nov-98
Tricky
(w/ Whale – whom I didn’t see)
Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel Providence

?-Mar-99
The Make-Up
Question Mark And the Mysterians
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

1-Apr-99
Residents
Copley Theater Boston

3-Apr-99
Residents
Copley Theater Boston

13-Apr-99
Mojave 3
(opening for Gomez)
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

16-Apr-99
Lisa Germano
(opening for Latin Playboys)
Paradise Boston

1-May-99
Gus Gus
Paradise Boston

3-May-99
Gus Gus
Esthero
DJ J Smooth
Irving Plaza New York City

14-Jul-99
Thievery Corporation
DJ Alan Strack
Landsdowne St Playhouse Boston

25-Aug-99
Kristin Hersh
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

13-Oct-99
Art of Noise
Paradise Boston

14-Oct-99
Tricky
Stroke
Avalon Boston

5-Nov-99
Brendan Perry
Kristin Hersh
Paradise Boston

8-Jan-00
Wharton Tiers Ensemble
Monotract
Knitting Factory New York City

6-May-00
Throwing Muses
Bob Mould
Lakuna
Kristin Hersh
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

12-May-00
Wire
Roxy Boston

15-Jun-00
Sonic Youth
Stereolab
Avalon Boston

26-Feb-01
Doves
The Strokes
Paradise Boston

18-Jun-01
Red House Painters
Drew O’Dogherty
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

28-Jun-01
Doves
The Webb Brothers
Axis Boston

21-Sep-01
Sigur Ros
Berklee Performance Center Boston

5-Oct-01
Björk
Matmos
Radio City Music Hall New York City

12-Oct-01
Björk
Matmos
Wang Center Boston

26-Oct-01
Spiritualized
Axis Boston

25-Apr-02
Cranes
Mistle Thrush
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

17-Jun-02
Doves
Elbow
Axis Boston

19-Sep-02
Doves
Avalon Boston

29-Sep-02
Gus Gus
Ballogomingo
Axis Boston

16-Mar-03
Royksopp
Paradise Boston

24-Apr-03
Throwing Muses (w/Tanya Donelly)
The Fly Seville
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

25-Apr-03
Throwing Muses (w/Tanya Donelly)
Audio Learning Center
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

26-Apr-03
Throwing Muses (w/Tanya Donelly)
Audio Learning Center
(didn’t see this time)
Irving Plaza New York City

22-Aug-03
Björk
Keyspan Park NYC (Brooklyn)

23-Aug-03
Björk
Sigur Ros
Keyspan Park NYC (Brooklyn)

31-aug-03
Björk
Yeah Yeah Yeah’s
FleetBoston Pavilion Boston

17-Oct-03
Spiritualized
Secret Machines
Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel Providence

12-Mar-04
Trans Am
302 Acid
The Black Cat Washington, DC

3-Apr-04
Squarepusher
Cassetteboy
Paradise Boston

??
Broker/Dealer (DJ set)
KeepSmarty
Phoenix Landing Cambridge

7-Oct-04
The Killers
Ambulance LTD
The Roxy Boston

12-Oct-04
TV on the Radio
Beep Beep
(opening for The Faint whom didn’t
watch)
The Roxy Boston

10-Nov-04
Battles
Middle East Upstairs Cambridge

8-Dec-04
Pixies
TV on the Radio
The Bennies
D.A.R. Constitution Hall Washington, DC

9-Dec-04
Pixies
David Lovering (magic act)
Avalon Ballroom Boston

18-Dec-04
Pixies
Mike Watt
(early show 530 doors)
Hammerstein Ballroom New York City

18-Dec-04
Pixies
50 Foot Wave
(late show 1030 doors)
Hammerstein Ballroom New York City

20-May-05
Doves
Mercury Rev (missed them unfortunately)
Avalon Ballroom Boston

24-Jun-05
Oasis
Jet
Tweeter Center Mansfield MA

15-Jul-05
Dinosaur Jr.
Magik Markers
Feathers
Avalon Ballroom Boston

18-Aug-05
Spoon
Longwave
Hatch Shell Boston

12-Sep-05
Doves
Longwave
Avalon Ballroom Boston

16-Sep-05
The Dandy Warhols
As Fast As
Red Hook Brewery Tent Portsmouth NH

05-Oct-05
Dead Can Dance
Orpheum Theater Boston MA

27-Nov-05
The Dandy Warhols
The Out Crowd
9:30 Club Washington DC

29-Nov-05
The Dandy Warhols
The Out Crowd
Webster Hall Manhattan NYC

30-Nov-05
The Dandy Warhols
The Out Crowd
Paradise Boston

10-Aug-06
TV on the Radio
(opening for Yeah Yeah Yeahs, whom i did not stay for)
City Hall Plaza – Boston

11-Aug-06
Throwing Muses
Bullseye!
50FOOTWAVE
Middle East Downstairs – Cambridge

01-Oct-06
Massive Attack
DJ Tim Collins
Orpheum Theater – Boston

14-Oct-06
TV on the Radio
Grizzly Bear
Paradise Rock Club – Boston

17-Nov-06
The Sugarcubes
múm
Raas
Laugardalshöll – Reykjavik, Iceland

21-Apr-07
Kristin Hersh
Delorean
Regent Theater – Arlington, MA

26-Apr-07
Coachella Music Festival
Björk
Interpol
Jarvis Cocker
The Jesus & Mary Chain (w/ Scarlett Johansson)
Arctic Monkeys
Empire Polo Field – Indio, CA

05-May-07
Björk
Konono N°1
United Palace Theater – New York City, NY

08-May-07
Björk
Spank Rock
Apollo Theater – New York City, NY

24-Sep-07
Björk
Klaxons
Santogold
Madison Square Garden – New York City, NY

06-Oct-07
Kristin Hersh & Tanya Donelly
Tanya Donelly
Kristin Hersh
Brattle Theater – Cambridge, MA

15-Dec-07
Björk
Ratatat
Pearl Concert Theatre @ Palms Resort & Casino – Las Vegas, NV

18-Jan-08
Big Day Out Festival
Björk
Shihad
Arcade Fire
UNKLE
Billy Bragg
Grinspoon
Mt Smart Stadium – Auckland, New Zealand

19-Sep-08
Sigur Ros
Harborlights Bank of American Pavilion – Boston, MA

22-Sep-08
My Bloody Valentine
Roseland Ballroom – New York City, NY

01-Jun-09
Santigold
Amanda Blank
Trouble Andrew
House of Blues – Boston MA

07-Jun-09
Doves
(Wild Light)
House of Blues – Boston MA

01-Dec-09
The Big Pink
Crystal Antlers
Paradise – Boston MA

04-May-10
Public Image Ltd.
Royale – Boston MA

23-Jun-10
Hole
(Foxy Shazam)
House of Blues – Boston MA

08-Jul-10
Unrest
Bossa Nova
TT the Bears – Cambridge MA

23-Sep-10
!!!
Fol Chen
Royale – Boston MA

19-Oct-10
Massive Attack
Thievery Corporation
Orpheum Theater – Boston MA