[walshed out] March Madness: SXSW + WMC blowback burns Boston
Because
a new month is upon us (and because I'm leaving for SXSW in five days,
and I can't do much other than pace and ponder where it was that I
packed up my shorts last October), I'm going to piggyback a bit off my first post from two weeks ago.
A rundown of shit-hot shows worth your precious time and effort during
what is shaping up to be a piss-cold month. Don't think of it as me
slacking, as much as doing you a great service while maintaining my
sanity in the process.
As
you may be aware of by now, March is rather stacked for live music.
This can largely be attributed to bands heading to SXSW and thinking
they might as well stop through Boston while they're at it, or something
like that. Well, as it turns out, this trend isn't merely applicable to
acts with guitars. There's also acts with turntables! And laptops!
In
addition to that runoff, there's also the added influx afforded by the
Winter Music Conference, a week-long bout of hedonism that goes down in
Miami the week after South By. Seems like my kind of festival -- in the sense that I would go to it, not in the sense that I could ever afford it.
So,
for those of you lost in Boston for the foreseeable future, I present
five shows that you should give some serious thought to. If you don't
see your party included here, it's not because I hate you. It's merely
that you didn't e-mail me at mwalsh[a]phx.com to let me know that shit was going down. Get on that.
03.09 -- Scuba + Boddika @ Good Life
I had the good fortune of catching SCUBA at last year's Movement Festival.
He was able to provide a proper dose of dub amongst an otherwise
techno-centric weekend. But all of this was pre-"Adrenaline," his
trance-baiting single that did me oh-so-right in 2011. That effort begot Personality, his most recent LP that is very much in that same big-room mold. (My review is forthcoming in next Thursday's paper.) A couple of recently released mixes
indicate that maybe his DJ style has taken a bit of a turn in
accordance to his production shift, with each of those linked above
starting out in a plodding, dubby territory before ratcheting up the
jack. If Friday night is anything comparable, Good Life basement might
reach record levels of weird. Also, be sure to get there early, like
9ish. There'll be a line, and if you miss BODDIKA, you should probably
just call it quits. Dude has released more bangers in the past year than
most release in a lifetime, and he has a track on the way called "Steam," featured in Scuba's Essential Mix, that upon release, may very well alter the course of mankind as we know it.
03.09 -- Black Light Dinner Party @ Great Scott
Same
night, different vibes. This has nothing to do with SXSW or WMC, and
happens to be going down at the pill, a weekly dance night hosted by our
very own Michael Marotta. But none of that really matters. BLACK LIGHT
DINNER PARTY have only played something like two shows, ever. Their
sound is like nothing that's emerged from our very rock-centric city in
some time. And we named them amongst our 12 best new Boston acts of 2012,
in which we predicted that their debut album will set them off to
worldwide status. But before all that comes to fruition, they're going
to be kicking down in the living-room sized Allston cornerstone. Has all
the makings of a special outing.
03.14 -- Maceo Plex + Tanner Ross @ Phoenix Landing
As noted in my last blog post,
we're currently under attack by a crop of sexual house DJs, seemingly
bent on resuscitating us from the doldrums, one pulsating anthem at a
time. Last month we had Richy Ahmed and Damian Lazaraus thanks to the
efforts of WeNo Music.
And this month, it's MACEO PLEX, arriving mid-month, mid-week in
celebration of Re:Set Wednesday's one year of existence. To say Plex had
a monster 2011, would be an understatement. The man took to the isle of
Ibiza with a purpose, honing in on the ever-so-sultry sound that ruled
the year, propelling himself past a handful of living legends, all the
way up to number five on Resident Advisor's year end list of the world's best DJs. This gig will be big (understatement, understatement, understatement).
03.20 -- xxxy @ Wonder Bar
And
now we arrive at the Allston portion of our proceedings. XXXY is
amongst the burgeoning crop of young UK-based producers toying around
with touching up the sounds of traditional dubstep and garage with a bit
of forward-driving house. (Think James Blake, Jamie xx with their more
dance-floor friendly efforts.) A little something for everyone, I
suppose. He's playing roughly 5,593 shows in Austin during SXSW, so
expect some coverage from my end as to whether this outing will be worth
your efforts (I'm predicting a resounding ‘fuck yes' on that one).
03.21 -- NguzuNguzu + Salva @ Wonder Bar
I
have no idea how to pronounce NGUZUNGUZU. I also have no idea how to
describe what they sound like. But that's only because they eschew
definition in many regards. Their productions possess a very drippy bass
sound, but what really sold me on this LA-based duo is their XLR8R podcast from last year.
A blistering 41-minutes of slo-mo R&B, ballistic drum grooves, and
even a touch of grime, indicative of a sweaty night ahead at Wonder Bar.
Also, SALVA is opening, even though the SF-bred producer possesses
sickly dub chops worthy of a headliner slot. Murderous XLR8R podcast as well.
I'll be back a bit later in the week with a little something something in anticipation of SXSW.