![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Soundtrack: All Over the Musical Map — Finding New England; Part 2/6
Other sections of this soundtrack can be found in:
Track 13, 'Skinhead on the MBTA (Live)' by the Dropkick Murphys, Track 23 'For Better or Worse' by Averi, and Track 26 'Soft Hand' by the Willard Grant Conspiracy has been uploaded to SaveFile for download, since Box.net won't let me upload these there due to size restriction. The rest of the tracks will be in the Box.net applet.
Please comment if you download...or even if you just feel like it.
- All Over the Musical Map: Finding New England, Part 1
- All Over the Musical Map: Finding New England, Part 3
- All Over the Musical Map: Finding New England, Part 4
- All Over the Musical Map: Finding New England, Part 5
- All Over the Musical Map: Finding New England, Part 6
Track 13, 'Skinhead on the MBTA (Live)' by the Dropkick Murphys, Track 23 'For Better or Worse' by Averi, and Track 26 'Soft Hand' by the Willard Grant Conspiracy has been uploaded to SaveFile for download, since Box.net won't let me upload these there due to size restriction. The rest of the tracks will be in the Box.net applet.
Please comment if you download...or even if you just feel like it.
Skinhead on the MBTA (Live) — Dropkick Murphys
from The Singles Collection
[Support the Artist]
The Dropkick Murphys are hardcore punkers from Southie (the "Irish ghetto" in South Boston). Proudly Irish, Catholic, working class liberals, their music is a pretty good encapsulation of the 'tude. They liberally mix into their punk the British Oi!, Irish folk, and hard rock genres. Although the Dropkick Murphys have plenty of original tunes to their name, where they uniquely shine is doing "sort-of remakes" of traditional songs and updating them for modern ears. This is one of their sort-of remakes, only this time, Charlie is a random skinhead who, when asked to pay an exit fee, hits the conductor, steals the train, and never returns. The band then cheekily adds that the good people of Boston shouldn't be all that scandalized, especially since Skinhead will work for an uninterrupted beer supply.
As an interesting sidenote, the source of the name "Dropkick Murphys" is shrouded in a little bit of a mystery. According to the band members, they've been told different stories at different times. The original Dropkick Murphy was one (or all) of the following: the nickname of a local boxer; a rehab center in Connecticut; an enforcer for a local drunk tank who'd go out into the streets after midnight, pick up people who were too drunk to go home, and would drag them back to "the box" until they sobered up; or a boogie man the grandparents used to scare misbehaving children into the straight and narrow. Even the band members aren't entirely sure which of these misty origin stories is true.
Amsterdam — Guster
from Keep It Together
[Support the Artist]
For notes on Guster, see above.
Closer to Me — Dar Williams
from The Beauty of the Rain
[Support the Artist]
Currently a resident of Northampton, Massachusetts, Dar Williams is a graduate of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. Prior to heading off to quieter life in Western Massachusetts, Williams was active in the Boston performing arts community and even did a turn as a performer for the Opera Company of Boston. Aside from finally achieving wide acclaim as a folk-pop singer, she continues to be a leading light in the regional folk movement.
Bye Bye Route 66 — Devonsquare
from Bye Bye Route 66
[Support the Artist]
This pop-folk trio is from Portland, Maine, and continue to perform a number of live shows around the region (yes, they are an excellent live band). Bye Bye Route 66 and the single 'If You Could See Me Now' was the high point for their national exposure. They were dropped by Atlantic Records shortly thereafter. This song contains a shout-out to musical buddies, the Boston-based folk duo Aztec Two-Step.
Once In a Life Time — Talking Heads
from Sand in the Vaseline
[Support the Artist]
Three out of four Heads met as art school students at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence. (Here's a local joke. How do you know you're in a neighborhood full of RISDy students? The graffiti tends to be three-dimensional sculptures attached to buildings and lamp posts.) It was while they were students here that they decided to move to New York City and make a go at being a band.
Different World — Patty Larkin
from Red = Luck
[Support the Artist]
Boston-based Patty Larkin is another pop-folk artist with a national profile on the folk music circuit, and a very strong at-home following.
I'm So Ordinary — Paula Cole
from Greatest Hits: Postcards from East Oceanside
[Support the Artist]
Unless you count her backing vocals on Peter Gabriel's Secret World Live CD, this is the only Paula Cole track in my collection. She is a native of the small seaside fishing town of Rockport, Massachusetts, which also hosts Cape Ann's sizeable artist colony. While a student at the Berklee College of Music, she was briefly a member of the jazz a capella group, Vox One.
What's It All About — Five O'Clock Shadow
from So There
[Support the Artist]
The Boston-based Five O'Clock shadow began life as a traditional all-a capella vocal group. Over the years, there has been a revolving membership, which meant that its musical style has evolved over time. The current membership calls themselves a rock band. An all-a capella rock band, true, but still a rock band.
I Should Be Allowed To Think — They Might Be Giants
from Dial-A-Song
[Support the Artist]
For notes on They Might Be Giants, see above.
Epiphany — Staind
from Break the Cycle
[Support the Artist]
The guys in this post-grunge band hail from Springfield, Massachusetts. An interesting piece of trivia: Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit fame was the guy who gave them their big break. That big break almost didn't happen when Durst and the guys from Springfield got into a dust-up over the cover of Staind's self-released CD. The cover basically had a picture of a knife going through a bible and associated vague images that were, shall we say, in the eyes of Durst at least, blasphemous. Durst was so annoyed that he tried to get the band kicked off the bill (Staind was Biskit's opening act). The argument devolved into Durst throwing the CD back at them and accusing Staind of being a bunch of Satan worshipers. By the end of the night, however, Durst was won over by their live performance. The rest is history. Yeah, that story has me scratching my head, too.
For Better or Worse — Averi
from Drawn to Revolving Doors
[Support the Artist]
For more on Averi, see notes above.
Here & Now — Letters to Cleo
from Aurora Gory Alice
[Support the Artist]
Alt-pop band Letters to Cleo was founded in Boston. They built their following by taking advantage of the numerous college radio stations in the region. It's not unheard of, by the way, for people who've been out of college for years to tune into the low-end of the FM dial to catch the latest wave in various music genres. In many ways, college radio in this area is the last bastion of independent radio programming in Boston. Thanks to the fact that there are so many colleges, all of which have radio stations, this group is truly a force to be reckoned with. Aurora Gory Alice was the first CD the band put out, and it was the CD that brought them to the attention of the big labels. The band broke up after 10 years of almost constant touring.
Centerfold — The J. Geils Band
from Freeze Frame
[Support the Artist]
The Boston-based J.Geils Band thoughtfully released 'Centerfold' just in time for it to serve as the unofficial theme song for the Worcester, Massachusetts city bus strike of 1981, thanks to continuous play on WAAF. Of particular note, front man (and eventual solo artist and movie score writer) Peter Wolf moonlighted as an overnight disc jockey on WBCN. His radio show was known for its eclectic mix of musical genres, not all of them in keeping with a hard-rock/punk/alt radio station.
Soft Hand — Willard Grant Conspiracy
from Regard the End
[Support the Artist]
I know I already wrote these guys up, but I have to say something about this CD. The inside cover has a picture of The House of Seven Gables. Any band that does a little something to give props to my Dead White Author Boyfriend (aka Nathaniel Hawthorne) wins them a fan for life.
Four of Two — They Might Be Giants
from No!
[Support the Artist]
No! is notable because it's the first children's album released by They Might Be Giants. Although it's a damn fine CD for adults, too.
And She Was — Talking Heads
from Little Creatures
[Support the Artist]
For more on the Talking Heads, see notes above.
Remember, you can get the rest of the soundtrack in these posts:
Please go to SaveFile to download the following tracks (Click here to reach the Project Page):
from The Singles Collection
[Support the Artist]
The Dropkick Murphys are hardcore punkers from Southie (the "Irish ghetto" in South Boston). Proudly Irish, Catholic, working class liberals, their music is a pretty good encapsulation of the 'tude. They liberally mix into their punk the British Oi!, Irish folk, and hard rock genres. Although the Dropkick Murphys have plenty of original tunes to their name, where they uniquely shine is doing "sort-of remakes" of traditional songs and updating them for modern ears. This is one of their sort-of remakes, only this time, Charlie is a random skinhead who, when asked to pay an exit fee, hits the conductor, steals the train, and never returns. The band then cheekily adds that the good people of Boston shouldn't be all that scandalized, especially since Skinhead will work for an uninterrupted beer supply.
As an interesting sidenote, the source of the name "Dropkick Murphys" is shrouded in a little bit of a mystery. According to the band members, they've been told different stories at different times. The original Dropkick Murphy was one (or all) of the following: the nickname of a local boxer; a rehab center in Connecticut; an enforcer for a local drunk tank who'd go out into the streets after midnight, pick up people who were too drunk to go home, and would drag them back to "the box" until they sobered up; or a boogie man the grandparents used to scare misbehaving children into the straight and narrow. Even the band members aren't entirely sure which of these misty origin stories is true.
Amsterdam — Guster
from Keep It Together
[Support the Artist]
For notes on Guster, see above.
Closer to Me — Dar Williams
from The Beauty of the Rain
[Support the Artist]
Currently a resident of Northampton, Massachusetts, Dar Williams is a graduate of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. Prior to heading off to quieter life in Western Massachusetts, Williams was active in the Boston performing arts community and even did a turn as a performer for the Opera Company of Boston. Aside from finally achieving wide acclaim as a folk-pop singer, she continues to be a leading light in the regional folk movement.
Bye Bye Route 66 — Devonsquare
from Bye Bye Route 66
[Support the Artist]
This pop-folk trio is from Portland, Maine, and continue to perform a number of live shows around the region (yes, they are an excellent live band). Bye Bye Route 66 and the single 'If You Could See Me Now' was the high point for their national exposure. They were dropped by Atlantic Records shortly thereafter. This song contains a shout-out to musical buddies, the Boston-based folk duo Aztec Two-Step.
Once In a Life Time — Talking Heads
from Sand in the Vaseline
[Support the Artist]
Three out of four Heads met as art school students at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence. (Here's a local joke. How do you know you're in a neighborhood full of RISDy students? The graffiti tends to be three-dimensional sculptures attached to buildings and lamp posts.) It was while they were students here that they decided to move to New York City and make a go at being a band.
Different World — Patty Larkin
from Red = Luck
[Support the Artist]
Boston-based Patty Larkin is another pop-folk artist with a national profile on the folk music circuit, and a very strong at-home following.
I'm So Ordinary — Paula Cole
from Greatest Hits: Postcards from East Oceanside
[Support the Artist]
Unless you count her backing vocals on Peter Gabriel's Secret World Live CD, this is the only Paula Cole track in my collection. She is a native of the small seaside fishing town of Rockport, Massachusetts, which also hosts Cape Ann's sizeable artist colony. While a student at the Berklee College of Music, she was briefly a member of the jazz a capella group, Vox One.
What's It All About — Five O'Clock Shadow
from So There
[Support the Artist]
The Boston-based Five O'Clock shadow began life as a traditional all-a capella vocal group. Over the years, there has been a revolving membership, which meant that its musical style has evolved over time. The current membership calls themselves a rock band. An all-a capella rock band, true, but still a rock band.
I Should Be Allowed To Think — They Might Be Giants
from Dial-A-Song
[Support the Artist]
For notes on They Might Be Giants, see above.
Epiphany — Staind
from Break the Cycle
[Support the Artist]
The guys in this post-grunge band hail from Springfield, Massachusetts. An interesting piece of trivia: Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit fame was the guy who gave them their big break. That big break almost didn't happen when Durst and the guys from Springfield got into a dust-up over the cover of Staind's self-released CD. The cover basically had a picture of a knife going through a bible and associated vague images that were, shall we say, in the eyes of Durst at least, blasphemous. Durst was so annoyed that he tried to get the band kicked off the bill (Staind was Biskit's opening act). The argument devolved into Durst throwing the CD back at them and accusing Staind of being a bunch of Satan worshipers. By the end of the night, however, Durst was won over by their live performance. The rest is history. Yeah, that story has me scratching my head, too.
For Better or Worse — Averi
from Drawn to Revolving Doors
[Support the Artist]
For more on Averi, see notes above.
Here & Now — Letters to Cleo
from Aurora Gory Alice
[Support the Artist]
Alt-pop band Letters to Cleo was founded in Boston. They built their following by taking advantage of the numerous college radio stations in the region. It's not unheard of, by the way, for people who've been out of college for years to tune into the low-end of the FM dial to catch the latest wave in various music genres. In many ways, college radio in this area is the last bastion of independent radio programming in Boston. Thanks to the fact that there are so many colleges, all of which have radio stations, this group is truly a force to be reckoned with. Aurora Gory Alice was the first CD the band put out, and it was the CD that brought them to the attention of the big labels. The band broke up after 10 years of almost constant touring.
Centerfold — The J. Geils Band
from Freeze Frame
[Support the Artist]
The Boston-based J.Geils Band thoughtfully released 'Centerfold' just in time for it to serve as the unofficial theme song for the Worcester, Massachusetts city bus strike of 1981, thanks to continuous play on WAAF. Of particular note, front man (and eventual solo artist and movie score writer) Peter Wolf moonlighted as an overnight disc jockey on WBCN. His radio show was known for its eclectic mix of musical genres, not all of them in keeping with a hard-rock/punk/alt radio station.
Soft Hand — Willard Grant Conspiracy
from Regard the End
[Support the Artist]
I know I already wrote these guys up, but I have to say something about this CD. The inside cover has a picture of The House of Seven Gables. Any band that does a little something to give props to my Dead White Author Boyfriend (aka Nathaniel Hawthorne) wins them a fan for life.
Four of Two — They Might Be Giants
from No!
[Support the Artist]
No! is notable because it's the first children's album released by They Might Be Giants. Although it's a damn fine CD for adults, too.
And She Was — Talking Heads
from Little Creatures
[Support the Artist]
For more on the Talking Heads, see notes above.
Remember, you can get the rest of the soundtrack in these posts:
- All Over the Musical Map: Finding New England, Part 1
- All Over the Musical Map: Finding New England, Part 3
- All Over the Musical Map: Finding New England, Part 4
- All Over the Musical Map: Finding New England, Part 5
- All Over the Musical Map: Finding New England, Part 6
Please go to SaveFile to download the following tracks (Click here to reach the Project Page):
- Skinhead on the MBTA (Live) — Dropkick Murphys
- For Better or Worse — Averi
- Soft Hand — The Willard Grant Conspiracy