The Oedipus Project
Dropkick Murphys are the definitive Boston-Irish punk band.
The band is the working class roots of Boston and their music an integral sound of the city itself.
Like their beloved Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics, Dropkick Murphys are part of the fabric that is Boston.
Their new album Going Out in Style will be released in March in time for St. Patrick’s Day.
“Memorial Day” is the first single.
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“Memorial Day” by Dropkick Murphys
Expect a new Strokes album in late March. Their first since 2006.
Angles is the title and the first single, “Under Cover of Darkness”, is a free download.
The Strokes we know and love return to form.
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“Under Cover of Darkness” by The Strokes
Cold Cave is Wesley Eisold. His second album, Cherish the Light Years, is due in April.
The amazing new song “The Great Pan is Dead” is a free download from the album.
In Wesley’s own words: “This is the first song on the forthcoming full-length, Cherish the Light Years. It was also the first song I wrote after the group of songs that makes up Love Comes Close and it existed in some half-finished way in my head for almost two years. It had to be the first song on the album and serve as a declaration of everything I want to assert through Cold Cave.
When the album was announced a few weeks ago it was said that the record is a love letter to NYC. That’s not exactly true. It’s a love letter to the path that has led me to where I am now, to loss and love and friends and enemies and the dizzied and blurred ways of the world. This song and record is about magic, preservation, youth and movement.
I spent the months before recording visiting old homes and record stores and small towns and cities I grew up in. I went to Boston, Philly, Portland and Brunswick Maine, Virginia Beach, San Diego, Monterey, and more to soak in the nostalgia, some version of research for the record.
I miss a lot of people. I used to deal with that by assuring myself I’d see them again. I know that can’t be true. This song is dedicated to all of them.
More soon..”
WE
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“The Great Plan is Dead” by Cold Cave
What better way to return from aboard then to a gorgeous new Fleet Foxes song.
The second album from this Seattle-based band, Helplessness Blues, is due in May.
The title track is a free download from the Fleet Foxes website and is the Song of the Day.
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“Helplessness Blues” by Fleet Foxes
Friends & aficionados,
On a brief sojourn in Asia visiting family. Shall return in early February with more new music and bands of interest.
Explore the site at your leisure and see you shortly.
Into the future,
Oedipus
One of my favorite songs of last year was Lykke Li’s “Get Some”.
We featured it here in the October.
Her album Wounded Rhymes is due in late February.
The next single from this Swedish chanteuse is “I Follow Rivers” and is the Song of the Day.
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“I Follow Rivers” by Lykke Li
The Swedish trio Peter Bjorn and John, best known for the song “Young Folks”, are offering a free download of “Breaker Breaker” an angry rave-up from their forthcoming album Gimme Some.
Sign up for the download and see the video below.
The new Decemberists’ album, The King is Dead, will be released tomorrow.
The band offered a free download of the marvelous “Down By the Water” in November of last year.
Hear it here.
“This Is Why We Fight” is now the featured track from the album and is the Song of the Day.
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“This Is Why We Fight” by The Decemberists
The Cure played in Boston on April 20, 1980. This was the band’s first visit to America and only a short four-city tour. Boston was the last stop.
The show took place at the Underground, a long-defunct basement club owned by Boston University. Mission of Burma was the opening act.
Robert Smith’s birthday is on the 21st but he recalls the gig as being on his birthday. Perhaps because the show ended past midnight when he turned 21.
The show was documented by Jan Crocker, years before self-contained handheld video cameras.
“A Forest” was the last song of the set before the encore.
Insert your password and experience this amazing performance. (Join the Oedipus Project on the left and we will send it to you.)
“A Forest” is one of my favorite songs by The Cure.
Tomorrow we will post an exclusive never-seen-before video of the band performing this song in Boston in 1980 on Robert Smith’s 21st birthday.
To view it you will need a password.
Join the Oedipus Project on the left and we’ll send it to you.
This Wednesday we’ll present the world premier video of The Cure performing “A Forest” on Robert Smith’s 21st birthday!
Yes, that’s from 1980, archived by the inestimable videographer Jan Crocker.
You’ll need a password to view it.
Join the The Oedipus Project on the left for free and we will send it to you.
In December I was asked to put together a compilation of Boston artists as a soundtrack for the Boston Music Awards’ celebration.
While no means comprehensive (there are some noticeable absences), it is a cross-section of some of Boston’s finest if not quirkiest musicians over the years, and includes some of the best songs to emanate from this fair city.
As we await the release of new music in 2011, hear the diversified talent that is Boston.
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Boston Music Awards
The world of music is cyclical and goes into hiatus a few weeks before Christmas and into the new year. Slowly new music is released in January and gains momentum later in the winter flowing into the spring.
Bands that enthralled me last year included Arcade Fire, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Avi Buffalo, Badly Drawn Boy, Beach House, Belle & Sebastian, Best Coast, Blonde Redhead, Delorean, The Drums, Dum Dum Girls, Eminem, Girl Talk, Glasser, Gorillaz, Janelle Monáe, Joanna Newsom, Karen Elson, Laura Marling, Lykke Li, Matt & Kim, Mumford & Sons, The National, No Age, Perfume Genius, Phoenix, School of Seven Bells, She & Him, Shearwater, Sleigh Bells, Stars, Titus Andronicus and Warpaint.
And The xx continued to give me great pleasure.
Here you will hear the best new music as it becomes available.
Next week we will have an exclusive Cure video.
Happy New Year indeed.
