Other Stuff You Might Like: Sleepover Shows

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Sleepover Shows is the brainchild of husband and wife duo Kelly and Rob Ribera (with emeritus member Aviv Rubenstein).  The site is dedicated to filming musicians as they pass through Boston in my home state of Massachusetts.  The results are impressive, covering a wide range of styles and settings in much the same vein as They Shoot Music or La Blogothèque.  Here’s how Sleepover Shows describes its mission:

Sleepover Shows are three song sets of acoustic or stripped down versions performed by bands that we love as they make their way through Boston. Though it started as something we did when bands needed a place to crash on the night of their shows, we now mostly film the sessions before or after a show and let the bands find their own ways home (though the offer still stands).

Basically, we try to use our spaces as creatively as we can.  We’ve filmed in the back seats of cars, on top of playground equipment, in doorways and alleys, in bathtubs and stairwells.  We try our best to get the bands to take their music outside of the confines of the studio and have some fun.

And that’s the point: to capture some great music that maybe isn’t always as polished, but shows these artists having a good time doing what they love. We’re doing what we love too, and hope you enjoy the videos!

Gathered here are some of my favorite sessions from the site, but I strongly encourage you to head over and browse for yourself!

Marissa Nadler:

Damien Jurado

Horse Feathers

Boston String Players

Happy New Year! – Albums I Loved in 2011

Hi, Everyone!  Well, it’s that time of year again!  The time when I get to pontificate about the top releases of the year.  However, as usual, I have a really difficult time ranking things.  This is something that carries over from my work as a professor.  After all, what is the difference between a 93 and a 94?  I know it when I see it, but just how to explain?  So, I’m just going to wimp out present some of the albums I loved in no particular order.  For those of you looking for a more ordered (and possibly comprehensive) list, I would recommend checking in with Pitchfork, Slowcoustic, or NPR Music.  All right, let’s get on with the show!

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First Listen: Bon Iver, Marissa Nadler

Thanks to NPR, we’ve got two great albums this week!  First up is one of the most highly-anticipated releases of the year: Bon Iver’s Bon Iver.  It’s certainly a change in tone from 2008’s For Emma, Forever Ago, featuring a more complicated, textured set of musical arrangements.  I’ve been looking forward to this all year, and I encourage you to join me in visiting NPR to hear Bon Iver.

Also, this week, we get to hear another eponymous album: Marissa Nadler’s kickstarter-funder Marissa Nadler.  Marissa is definitely one of the most exciting artists to come out of Boston in a while – drawing comparisons to Pink Floyd, Leonard Cohen, and Kate Bush (how’s that for a mix?) – I encourage you to have a listen here.

Other Stuff You Might Like: La Blogotheque

Many of the sites I’ve featured in the “Other Stuff You Might Like” series have a common thread: excellent, impromptu concerts by established and upcoming musicians.  We’ve looked at Luxury Wafers, Black Cab Sessions, They Shoot Music – Don’t They, and NPR Music.  (And I’m sure to get around to Daytrotter before too long…)  Now, from France, we’ve got the excellent blog La Blogotheque, and its excellent Take-Away Shows (or, if you prefer, Les Concerts à Emporter).  The site’s catalog of artists is truly amazing, as are the performances, and so I invite you to come have a look…

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