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

Veronica Falls on They Shoot Music…

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Image via http://www.flickr.com/photos/theyshootmusic/

Continuing their tradition of featuring awesome bands in unusual settings, They Shoot Music has a recent session with London-based Veronica Falls.  Here’s a bit from their description of the session:

Walking over cobblestone under the eyes of stone statues, Veronica Falls find themselves in the spring idyll of Porto’s Cemitério de Agramonte. Once the London-based band comes across the first snoozing cat, they are taken by these serene graveyard creatures. The bassist Marion Herbain is especially fond of them and goes stalking for more moggies. Roxanne Clifford, the band’s singer and guitarist, swarms out to take some more analog photos. In this picture-perfect setting of infectious tranquillity Veronica Falls perform their brand new single “Teenage”.

Check it out:

The Head and The Heart Visit Daytrotter

Daytrotter continues the neverending onslaught of awesome with today’s The Head and The Heart session.  It’s a dynamic, energetic set from the Seattle band, and well worth checking out.  As Daytrotter puts it: “Seattle band The Head and the Heart lives for the lovely confusion of continuous misinterpretation of what it means when we feel certain things in the various spots where we feel them. They don’t let dreariness creep into the conversation, but rather they find that the shafts of golden light that stream into their eyes when they’re needing it most are signs that comprehension is overrated. There are places that are so familiar that they’re healing, in some way.”  Hear a bit, below, and find some links to other excellent performances.

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Other Stuff You Might Like: Live and Breathing

Continuing our series of excellent websites that serve up live, impromptu music sessions, I bring you Live and Breathing.  The site’s Co-founder, Justin Glanville, describes the site’s mission: “We formed this company because our own lives are inspired so deeply by music, and because we want to create a platform for these hard-working artists to get their music out into the world (and maybe to help fill their gas tanks along the way).”  It’s a noble mission, and a site well worth visiting.  Let’s take a look…

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The Low Anthem Visit They Shoot Music…

Recently, The Low Anthem stopped by the awesome, Austrian site They Shoot Music Don’t They… to perform a version of “Ghost Woman Blues.”  The whole thing takes place outside by the Donaukanal, and it’s easy to see how the setting revisits the Providence, RI mill where they recorded Smart Flesh.  It’s a great, live performance, and you can check it out after the cut.  After that, why not visit They Shoot Music Don’t They… to check out more awesome sessions?  Today’s is Times New Viking, and we did a review of the site here.  Enjoy!