JimSullivanINK.com - a guide to Boston Arts & Events...with attitude http://www.JIMSULLIVANINK.COM Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:19:03 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.JIMSULLIVANINK.COM/content/view/1725/38/ Sat. March 28 If you mention Husker Du, the pioneering post-punk band of the ‘80s, most fans immediately think of Bob Mould. He was its singer-guitarist and he’s had quite a visible career since the band’s 1987 breakup. Less so, Grant Hart. He was the Minneapolis-based Husker Du’s drummer-singer and shared the songwriting with Mould. Hart has made five studio solo CDs or EPs and two CDs with the band Nova Mob. But there was a decade-long gap between releases, which ended late last year with a terrific psychedelic-garage-pop disc, “Hot Wax.” Hart comes to the Arts at the Armory Café in Somerville Saturday March 28 at 8. It’s a solo show, just voice and guitar. We spoke with Hart before his last area appearance at the Middle East Up for a Boston Herald story. Excerpts from our chat here: That was a long stretch between discs. People wondered where you were. Hart: I’ve played Cambridge at least once every 18 months. But I started sneaking things into my life that I sacrificed very early on. It was the idea of having a hobby that fed the other side of my brain. When you live off your creativity, every day you wake up with a blank canvass. To balance it out, I took on some projects where there was one specific way something had to be put together in order for it to operate. Much of my time has been spent with automotive restoration. I wanted to be able to let my hands do the work, instead of my mind and a dictating machine. Jim Sullivan http://www.JIMSULLIVANINK.COM/content/view/1724/38/ Fri. March 12 It could be argued that with the Velvet Underground (in photo) having spawned an army of VU-influenced punk and post-punk bands, the last thing we need is an official tribute to Lou Reed, John Cale and company. (That company once included the late Nico, someone I interviewed several times and got to really like. And, hey, I've been fortunate enough to spend some quality time - as a critic and interviewer - with Reed and Cale, too. No complaints.) But the VU are long gone, and the music is still high on everyone's playlist so the urge to put together a tribute show is hard to resist. Tonight, Friday March 12 Asa Brebner, Kenne Highalnd, Natalie Flanagan, Charlie Leger, Robzilla and Count Dude His High Horse are playing the Center for the Arts at the Armory in Somerville at 7:30. It's in their 52-seat Armory Cafe. There's film, too. We have no idea how this will turn out but if you've loved Pale Blues Eyes, I'll Be Your Mirror, Sweet Jane, Heroin, Beginning to See the Light, Ocean and others it's well worth the gamble. These are quality musicians on the bill and it's likely to be a sterling show. It's called An Evening of Velvet Undeground Music and Film. Tickets: $8.191 Highland Ave., Somerville, 617-718-2191 www.artsatthearmory.org Jim Sullivan http://www.JIMSULLIVANINK.COM/content/view/1723/38/ Sat. May 8 We saw English singer-songwriter-guitarist Findlay Brown along with maybe 50 other folks at T.T. the Bear’s Place earlier this year. On his just-released second album, “Love Will Find You,” Brown’s moving songs were enveloped by multiple vocal harmonies, orchestral arrangements and rock beats. On that disc, he’s the modern-day Roy Orbison, aided and abetted by ex-London Suede guitarist Bernard Butler. The 30-year-old Brown a recent transplant to Brooklyn, NY, played a 50-minute, solo-acoustic set. At T.T.’s, There, Brown came across as a modern-day Nick Drake – not a bad thing at all – while still evoking Orbison. That came through in the resplendent vocal range and in the melancholic tone of the songs. And, like the late great Roy, Brown sported a tall, black pompadour. He – like Orbison devotee Chris Isaak - is a wounded romantic. He sings songs for the lonely. He can be dejected, but not unsparingly desolate, scarred but not stranded. If he’s been battered, there’s still fight in him. “I hope you like love songs,” Brown said, almost disingenuously, beginning his set. Jim Sullivan http://www.JIMSULLIVANINK.COM/content/view/1618/38/ Thurs. April 22 Singer-songwriter Philip Ekstrom brings his quaret the Mary Onettes from Sweden to Great Scott Thursday April 22. Should you expect to party hearty? Not exactly. Songs on their new disc, Islands, like The disapperance of my youth and Cry for love were written in his girlfriend's mother's estate after her death. Says Ekstrom: The songs are almost too personal and I've had a hard time playing them for friends. It's like all I want to do is keep them for myself. But, being in a band, recording music ... well, that sort of forces the music out into the world, and, hey, you know he wants to do that, however painful the process might have been. And these songs are not mopey drones; there's a shimmering guitar pop sparkle to them, aiding the inrosuctive and retrospective lyrics. On the album, there's strings, a piano and a children's chorus. Probably none of that at T.T.'s but the melancholic charm the Mary Onettes have should waft through the small club. Of Islands, Ekstrom says, I see the tracks as small islands in different shapes and forms every song is like a record of its very own. Hear/learn more at www.myspace.com/themaryonettes (http://www.myspace.com/themaryonettes) or www.themaryonettes.net (http://www.themaryonettes.net/). Show starts at 9 with Of the Opera and Bearstronaut opening. Tix: $10. No opener announced yet. The MO should be on 10-ish.1222 Commonwealth Ave., Allston, 617-566-9014 www.greatscottboston.com (http://www.greatscottboston.com/) Jim Sullivan http://www.JIMSULLIVANINK.COM/content/view/1683/38/ Thurs. March 18 Songs You Should Know is the name of a musical program Thurs. March 18 put together by two members of the Tufts University music faculty, Rabbi Jeffrey Summitt and Paul D. Lehrman. (Paul, in photo, is a friend and a former Boston Phoenix writer. We played softball on the Boston Phoenix team I was on back in the '80s.) Now, you might have some reservations called Songs You Should Know. Should is that kind of word that makes you think, wait, I don't like to be told I should do anything. But the subtitle here is ( ... and still matter. ) It's a concert of music from the 1960s featuring songs that defined the issues and political climate of the time. The artists whose music they will play include Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Pete and Peggy Seeger, Malvina Reynolds, John Prine, Tom Paxton, Donovan, Joan Baez, and many more. They did this at Tufts earlier this year and are kicking it up again at Johnny D's.It came about when composer and music technologist/guitarist-keyboardist Lehrman sat down to jam with ethnomusicologist/guitarist Summit at a Tufts music department party not long ago. They realized they had something powerful in common: a great love for and knowledge about the “protest” songs of the 1960s. And they also found they shared a strong desire to teach their students about these songs, the era that spawned them, and why they were so important—both during the social upheavals of their day, and to the music and political struggles of today. Jim Sullivan http://www.JIMSULLIVANINK.COM/content/view/1722/46/ ongoing Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island is a well-crafted mystery – though likely not a film that will be remembered as one of his very best. Some critics seem eager to blow the whistle when a master takes a step to the left or right, incorrectly dubbing it a step backwards. This film is not a giant leap forward, but it is hardly a significant regression of any kind.One of the strengths of the movie is that Scorsese allows the developments to occur very deliberately. There are no rushed conclusions, and events unfold at a tantalizing yet satisfying rate. Too often psychological thrillers make leaps in assumptions that detract from the story by forcing the audience to simply accept what they are told, logic and reason be damned. Jim Sullivan http://www.JIMSULLIVANINK.COM/content/view/1721/38/ Sat. March 20 It's the fifth consecutive year for Brian O'Donovan's A St. Patrick’s Day Celtic Sojourn. a lively Celtic event which features traditional and contemporary Irish music, dance and storytelling to celebrate the St. Patrick’s holiday. This year’s show, Saturday March 20 at Sanders Theatre, features legendary Irish fiddler, Frankie Gavin, and his band, De Danann; world-renowned Celtic guitarist, Tony McManus; and harpist and Berklee alum, Maeve Gilchrist. The event is O’Donovan, the host of WGBH's Celtic Sojourn for over 25 years, to exlain the genesis of the event, how it's grown, what kind of mood he wants to establish and how Irish culture and music has grown in America over the years.O'Donovan e-mailed us: The St. Pats Day show was really a reaction to the myriad questions I would get each year from listeners: What do you recommend we do around St.Patrick's Day for music? I would regularly look around the calendars for answers, and while there were high quality concerts of individual performances here and there, the scene was really made up of over-the-top extravaganzas on the one hand, like Celtic Women or Celtic Thunder and Lightning, or as of now, six nights of the Dropkicks at House of Blues. On the other hand, a lot of bar music. Absolutely nothing wrong with any of the above, but I was aware that our weekly audience was more into the type of music they hear on the show. Traditional and contemporary, exploringceltic music's roots and branches. Jim Sullivan