As a music blogger, my existence depends upon this kind of golden discovery. And, as a recession statistic, my current well-being is totally reliant on hearing pieces of pure music brilliance such as this... The Middle East are a 6-piece out of Townsville, Australia. They've apparently been around for a while, but having recently signed with Spunk Records, they have just released their first EP, Recordings of the Middle East . Their music is in the same kinda folksy anthem mould of Arcade Fire, but it's the slower acoustic [...]
RUMBLE'S END: To be honest with you, it's odd to think it's all over... Since April 5th , this city's music-loving children ( both the young and the old alike ) have converged at the Middle East to be entertained. Now in it's 31st year of tradition, we now find ourselves at the end of another WBCN Rock 'n' Roll Rumble and the bands have never been better. Much debate over the winners and losers has taken place in chat rooms, over water coolers and atop barstools. The [...]
There has always been a correlation between a culture's treatment of women and it's own brand of linguistics. This has prevailed on for way too far and even as the Arabic language is one of the most eloquent languages in the world there seems to be no way around using gender non-specific words. It's time we removed gender from the vocabulary. That's the only way to progress. You know, gender is an illusion.
LET SLIP THE DOGS OF WAR ! - Not sure if we can thank the Gods of Rock, the ghosts of Rumbles past , but The Luxury (who already gave the single best performance of the entire Rumble this year on Night One way back on April 5th) have been selected to represent the Finals Wild Card spot ( see here ) and will have a chance to win it all. (The Announcement was made last night by Rumble Host Anngelle [...]
RUMBLE SEMI-FINALS NIGHT TWO: In a remarkably similar outcome of Semi-Final Night One - four bands played their heart out with predictions made - and largely, those predictions were foiled by the real outcome! The Dirty Truckers , who won over a ton of new fans in their earlier Rumble appearance , stepped up and impressed the judges last night to take the win. Their blues-influenced alt-country southern style has led them to [...]
DATELINE: BOSTON - You couldn't kill this city's rich underground music scene, even if you tried... And you can't take away it's rich heritage - bands that were pivotal in the development of attitudes, outlooks and musical tastes. For a great many people, Harris is one of those bands - indie rock pacesetters and certainly a band that captured a place and a time. For Harris, whose last show takes place this Saturday at the Middle East, the live shows may almost be over - but much remains here in Boston to [...]
The Rock 'n' Roll Rumble Rolls On : On Sunday Night, WBCN DJ Anngelle Wood ( Boston Emissions ) announced the two 2009 Wild Card bands. Congratulations are in order to The Have Nots and Destruct-A-Thon who move on to the Semis with the winners of each of the 6 Round One nights. Rumble Night 3 - The Have Nots [...]
Yall. I have been reading CNN.com, and found that Obama is on a 'rebranding' campaign through the Middle East. I think he wants to 'prove that we have changed' and that we're 'not ass holes any more', and we 'need their help' so that Iran doesn't bomb the USA. I thought that once George W. Bush left office, our nation would be safe again, cuz the rest of the world would realize that we had 'some Texan racist bro' as our President. Guess it's 'not that ez.' Wish I could live knowing that America/my [...]
A comment thread on our sisterblog Etrafta , where we groupblog about culture / art / politics and related issues (mainly in Turkish), inspired by the video below, resulted in this exquisite 30 minute Persian Funk Mix by one of our reader/contributers Kabus Kerim. 11 tracks of golden funk from Iran feat. stalwarts like Googoosh, Homeyra, Ramesh etc. You won't believe your ears and you'll be craving for more. Check out the the Persian Funk revivalists Fars Funk community on Myspace. Fars’tan Funk 1 1.Havar Havar - Kourosh [...]
The last two centuries in the world has seen a rise of nationalism and conflicts, an imposed war between different cultures, different religions, the east and the west, modernity and tradition. The memories of different cultures and ethnicities living together in relative peace has faded out and it seems like a surreal fantasy in the eyes of cynics and non-believers. Thankfully it hasn't been totally destroyed and there are some Honest Jon's around to prove it with 2007's release. Chaabi — 'of the people' — has its roots in the Andalusian music of [...]
The World's Greatest Battle of the Bands Thrives in Boston ! Who knew at the time, just what was unfolding 31 years ago in Boston? The WBCN radio-sponsored Rock and Roll Rumble could be the longest running and most important battle of the bands in the country. For three decades [ link to previous winners and finalists ] the best and brightest bands from Boston and it's surrounding region have been invited to duke it out on stage for bragging rights, prizes and cash. It [...]
There has yet to be a consensus on the whole Iran issue and it seems that Obama's hand is still outstretched for some sort of compromise not only because that would be the wise thing to do after Bush's waging of two unlawful wars, but also because, frankly, the US can't afford an all out debacle with Iran right about now. The Iranian government have a choice of accepting this sort-of-truce or retreating. However, this gives Iran the upper hand. With a President that is more lenient and Iran's newfound power [...]
With this review, extrawack! welcomes new Boston correspondent Anna Kramer... Asobi Seksu at the Middle East, Cambridge, March 30, 2009 Last night’s show began with an unexpected twist: A last-minute move from the 500-person capacity Middle East Downstairs club to the much smaller Upstairs section of the venue. But whatever this shift may have meant for Asobi Seksu , they didn’t seem to [...]
Richard Hagopian - Siroon Aghchhek * Photo by backintothefuture.
Richard Hagopian - Siroon Aghchhek* Photo by backintothefuture.
Kayhan Kalhor - Sharang (Festive Occasion) * Photo by Mahsa Z.
Kayhan Kalhor - Sharang (Festive Occasion)* Photo by Mahsa Z.
Found this out thanks to our friend Gokhan. Nevruz ( Nowruz/Newruz ) iz an ancient Iranian holiday to celebrate the coming of the spring. That theoretically marks the end of winter! Good Riddance! Nevruziye is "an ode to spring" that was traditionally sung to sultans on Nevruz. Hope the weather is fine and dandy where you live.
I am pleased to announce that David Virr has been chosen as the new Associate Booking Agent at The Middle East in Boston. The Associate Booking Agent will be responsible for booking Boston bands, as well as New England and New York bands here at the club. Kevin S. Hoskins will continue to book the national / touring bands for The Middle East Upstairs and Downstairs. Longtime local music fan and supporter David Virr is probably better known as Dave Duncan - weekend on air personality at [...]
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