Band In Boston

Talk about sudden overmotivation. We figured putting out a session every day this month wasn’t enough of a challenge, so here’s a new episode of original recipe Band in Boston. Enjoy! Featuring The Maquis, Wye Oak, St. Claire, Viva Viva, Meadowlarks, The Boyfriends, Private Dancer, Margin Walker, Pile, Bunny’s a Swine, Nightmare Air, The Broken River Prophet, Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs, The Wrong Reasons, The Tired Times, The highway, Glorytellers, and The Swimmers.

I don’t know where to start describing Quixote. They are the kind of band that made me fall in love with music so many years ago. Clever and witty (both musically and lyrically), dynamic, poppy. We love them. They also managed to piece their set together almost seamlessly, like an on-the-fly concept album.

Quixote on the web

Download individual tracks here or listen to the whole thing:

St. Claire was originally named Forsythe, after the last name of brother/sister team Emily and Glenn. As the band expanded, they changed their name. They stripped it back down to the duo for us (and you!).

Go and see them on Sunday December 6 at Great Scott!

St. Claire on Myspace

Download individual tracks here, or listen to the whole thing:

Columbus, Ohio’s Flotation Walls list everyone from Leonard Cohen to Aphex Twin as influences, and it’s not just to be cute. Their anthemic songs come across as the soundtrack to a postmodern Wagnerian opera.

flotationwalls.com

Download individual tracks here, or listen to the whole thing:

On to day 2 of Session-A-Day December!

When a band is named after a Fermilab experiment to observe neutrinos, you never know what to expect. In the case of MiniBoone, you get a twisted mix that reminds us of a cross between The Press, The Talking Heads, Modest Mouse, and maybe a pinch of They Might Be Giants.

MiniBoone on Myspace

Download individual tracks here, or listen to the whole shebang:

Just now, as I pasted this photo of A Brief Smile (from NYC) into today’s post, I was surprised all over again at how young these guys are. Barely into their twenties, they already have an album and 4 EPs (3 of which you can – and should – download for free from their website), and they create some of the most room-filling shoegazey (but catchy!) rock that we’ve heard in quite some time.

A Brief Smile on the interwebs.

Download individual tracks here, or listen to the whole session:

From the Florida Everglades by way of Athens – their current home – Tim and Jenny are collectively Captain #1. They sing songs, about, as they say, “murders, about love, about angels and hydrogen balloons.” We couldn’t put it better ourselves.

captainnumber1.com

Download individual tracks here. Or listen to the whole thing, complete with banter, below:

If you’re a fan of The New Black Magic Rainbow Quartet, you’re going to love Bell and the Bees. Featuring two of the same members, this time led by Sue Bell on guitar and vocals, they may have the distinction of being the quietest band we’ve ever recorded. The result is an incredibly intimate set of songs that would make a perfect relaxing soundtrack to, for example, a day of insane Christmas shopping.

Bell and the Bees on MySpace

Download the individual tracks here. Or listen to the whole thing in one go:

I’m not even going to try to describe Dead Heart Bloom (from NYC), but I’m sure you’ll be downloading the tracks. Because, damn, this is one of our favorite sessions ever.

Dead Heart Bloom’s home on the web (where you can download their EPs for free!)

Oftentimes, we’ll have bands come in with brand new songs that haven’t even been titled yet. That is when we get to randomly choose a phrase that one of us overhears someone using during the session. Such is the case with “Peanut Butter Finish”, a song that was so new that the vocals weren’t even done yet. We’ll be amazed if anyone in The Royalty remembers the meaning of that phrase. We won’t, however, be amazed if you remember to go and see them at PA’s on Saturday. Because if you’re a fan of Pavement-esque fuzz pop, boy is it your lucky day.

The Royalty on MySpace

Download individual songs here.

Or listen to the whole thing, “studio” banter and all: