Amanda Palmer and the Boston Pops, Sloan Live

A quick update: the last two nights I was out hearing some live music.

Last night, Scott, Jamie, and I attended Amanda Palmer playing with The Boston Pops at Symphony Hall. Wow. Unbelievably, jaw-droppingly good. A definite top-10 all-time and maybe top-5 live show of all time (and I do not say that lightly). What a spectacle!

Normally, I'd provide more details, but there are actually tickets available for tonight, so instead I want to encourage you to go and not spoil the surprise. Unless you are HIGH (and maybe especially if you are), you need to see this. I'm committed to going out with a former co-worker tonight or I'd be back myself. It is THAT GOOD.

Let's allay some fears and overcome some objections:

• "I've never heard of Amanda Palmer or The Dresden Dolls. I'm not sure I'd like it."
  Answer: Good news... it doesn't matter. You will still love it.
  
  
• "I've heard The Dresden Dolls. I don't like their albums."
  Answer: Good news... it doesn't matter. You will still love it.
  
  
• "I love The Dresden Dolls! They are my favorite band, and I actually dress up like Amanda/Brian in public. I own everything they've done -- even that album they released on their own! Go Dolls!"
  Answer: Bad news... you're an idiot. Why didn't you go in the first place? What kind of objection is that?

In all seriousness, if Amanda doesn't do this ever again, you are missing out on something that will be remembered in Boston Pops lore forever.

Once word of mouth gets around about this, it's going to be a must-see. You will not find a ticket a day after the box office opens if they do this next year or in the future.

So buy tickets here, or if that doesn't work, then here, and have a Friday night experience you will not soon forget. 8PM sharp at Symphony Hall.

And of course, my wonderfully talented friend Margo Saulnier helped pull it all together. You should really thank her for all of her hard work, even though you don't even know her.

On Wednesday night, Denis and I hit Sloan. Their previous album and show were both top shelf... and thus what occurred Wednesday at TT's was a real disappointment. It really comes down to two things: 1) they had a better setlist last year, and 2) the new songs from that tour's new album (Never Hear the End of It, reviewed here) played better live than this week's release of Parallel Play. It was not a performance issue; it might have been a venue issue; it definitely was a song-choice issue. Just too bad. I'll still go see them next time they are in town, but please, choose some better songs, and keep the drummer behind the kit for more of the show.

-Snilch

Quick Hits - The Losers List

There's nothing like 25+ hours in a car over a long weekend to help separate the wheat from the chaff in your CD collection. While there were a bunch of nice surprises to pass the time, the following made the trip seem even longer -- avoid them. In alphabetical order:

• Bad Religion - New Maps of Hell (2007). It's not bad, it's just not good either. It's exactly like all of their other albums since The Grey Race. They are still angry, which helps, but they're also old.
  Verdict: Pile of death.
  
• The Dresden Dolls - Yes, Virginia... (2006). Their 2nd album falls into the category of "you have a lifetime to write your first album, and one year to write your second." The vocals sound great. The drums sound great. The piano sounds great. They just don't seem like they belong in the same song most of the time. The lyrics feel like they're an attempt to top the quirkiness of the first album. I still love these guys despite this.
  Verdict: Pile of death.

• Enuff Z'Nuff - Live (1998). You may be surprised that I own 3 albums by this group, and that I believe they are quite good as a band. Not so much in this live recording, however.
  Verdict: Pile of death.

• The Happy Accidents Soundtrack (2001). I had thought this was a "Dusty Trails exclusive" soundtrack, but they actually only are responsible for 3 of the 14 tracks. There are only 3 tracks worth keeping (wanna guess which ones?). Dusty Trails is/was Josephine Wiggs (bassist for The Breeders) and Vivian Trimble (keyboardist for Luscious Jackson). They only released 1 full album, which they called a "soundtrack album without a film." These are the last 3 songs released commercially from a very promising band that just faded away.
  Verdict: Sell-back pile 1.

• Grant-Lee Phillips - nineteeneighties (2006). I love the era. I love cover albums. And Phillips is enigmatic but occasionally brilliant, which seems like the recipe for at least limited success. Surprisingly, he takes 11 songs and covers every one the exact same way. It's terrible. I figured there'd be at least 1 song worth keeping, but that must have been my unbridled optimism.
  Verdict: Pile of death.

• The Rogers Sisters - The Invisible Deck (2006). I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it was certainly something better than this. Once I heard "The Clock," I was filled with a homicidal rage, which I was forced to quell with the soothing sounds of Motorhead. Seriously, one of the worst songs I've ever heard. That was it for this album, although there were a couple of songs worth keeping.
  Verdict: Sell-back pile 1.

• Van Gogh's Daughter - Shove (1995). It's always a bad sign when the one song you know from the album turns out to be a mix of a bad album track. The album is generic and pretty bland. The video was cool back in the day...
  Verdict: Pile of death.

We'll have news from some of the better albums in the coming days.

- Snilch