Band In Boston

Saint Solitude is one Dup Crosson from North Carolina, a guitar, a keyboard, and some pedals. Keep in mind that none of his loops are pre-recorded. He performs, records, and loops them as the song evolves. While most musicians who use that technique have trouble keeping the result from running away from them, Dup’s layering builds cohesive and thought-out songs that never veer too far into experiment-ville. Dig it.

Song List:

* Give It A Name

* Soft Contact

* Let’s Try It

* Flocking Disaster

* The Afterlife is a Slideshow

* Domino Destroy

saintsolitude.com

Sure, there have been a few outdoor shows this year, but the real outdoor venue season starts for us this Friday when Andrew Bird plays the BOA Pavilion – our personal favorite place to see big name acts outside.

After getting noticed with the Squirrel Nut Zippers back in the mid 90s, he went on to become one of a dying breed of what I can only call a “f**king pro”. An incredible Suzuki-trained violinist as well as one of the damn finest whistlers on the planet, he keeps putting out albums that are chock full of more raw emotion and musical deftness than most artists can hope for in an entire career. His 8th album, Noble Beast, is no exception. If he has somehow stayed below your radar so far, give a listen to “Oh No”, then immediately proceed to getting the whole album, buying tickets, and we’ll see you on Friday!

Now if we can just convince him to do a Flophouse Session…

Andrew Bird on the interwebs … and the myspaces

Josh Kaufman (who is also a member of Rocketship Park) came in several months earlier with Higgins, so we knew we were going to to like his solo stuff. When he came back, he brought a few friends that he was touring with: Mike Kinsella, who goes by Owen; Caithlin De Marrais; and Lara Meyerratken, better known as El May. While during the tour they largely played seperately, they decided to learn a few of each others songs just for us. And you. Of course.

Murder Mystery is from Detroit, and they have that gnarly vibe that only Detroit bands can seem to muster. But, you know, fun.

Song List:

* Brick Patio

* Join Together

* Vacuum Cleaner Salesman

* Bears

* Lordy

* Rock n Roll

Murder MySpacetery

We’ve been sitting on this session for WAY too long. We had The Devil, My Pocket (from Providence, RI) stop by over a year ago when it consisted of just Tim and Katie. We’re pretty sure they hadn’t even played a gig yet. They have since grown to a 5-piece band and hit the road pretty heavily. So here’s your chance to step into the time machine and hear a few of their tunes while they were still in their infancy!

On the web:

http://thedevilmypocket.com/

http://www.myspace.com/thedevilmypocket

While the rest of the gang headed back to NYC, Blake and Cal from Akudama were kind enough to stop by and crank out a few cover tunes, as well as a nice mellow version of one of their own. They were in and out of the house so fast that we didn’t even get a photo. Luckily the proverbial tape was rolling. You can always look at one of their other sessions if you want to see what they look like.

Song List:

* Waiting for My Man (by The Velvet Underground)

* The Only Living Boy in New York (by Paul Simon)

* Walk on By (by Dionne Warwick)

* People

BoomSnake is officially two guys from San Diego, but for their just-completed tour, they expanded to a 5-piece. They also inadvertantly found out which of our air mattresses had holes in them.

Song List:

* Busy

* Sticks Stones & Animal Bones

* My Way

* Totem Tale Blues

* Sample Demolition

* Excuses

BoomSnake on MySpace

Wes hails from Lexington Kentucky, and stopped by with his pal Clifton Keller (who is starting to make our living room his second home after coming in with In Endeavors and Dickie Haydon, as well as his own forthcoming session). His incredible dynamic range lent itself to finally trying out the infamous (to recording nerds, at least) David Bowie Heroes mic technique – we put Wes on the couch and placed mics at 1 foot, 12 feet, and 20-odd feet away. It proved to be the perfect way to capture this incredible performance.

Song List:

* Sea Monster

* Home

* Untitled #1

*

* Conversation of Eve and Satan

Wes on MySpace

Dallas, Texas’ The O’s are sort of a two-man one-man-band. Taylor sings and plays guitar and bass drum, John sings and plays banjo, tambourine (on a drum pedal), and occasionally switches to steel guitar. Throw a harmonica into the mix, as well as the chops they gained through being in 8 other bands (most notably to us Northern folk, The Polyphonic Spree), and you’ll understand why there’s a mighty buzz brewing about these guys. Also, I think they had more fun recording their session than just about any other band we’ve had stop by.

Song List:

* You’ve Got Your Heart

* Finding It Hard

* We’ve Had Everything

* California

* Diamonds

* Together

The O’s on Myspace

No relation to the indescribable concoction available in food courts across this great nation, Oranjuly left their drummer at home and brought along their lush brand of pop to the living room. Reminds me of Matt Mahaffey (Self) at times, Jason Falkner at others. Which can only be a good thing.

Oj on the MySpace