Bridges and Squares Podcast

A Local Boston Music Podcast This show is trying to document the best music in and around Boston one band at a time. We also like to talk to different people in and around the scene focusing on our favorite topic, music! Subscribe here to download shows automatically. Be our fan on Facebook or follow us on twitter @bridgessquares Email the Boston musical Buddhas at [email protected] About Us: Ted and Colin are music nerds. We pretend to be cool but as far as I can tell, we haven't fooled anybody.

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Episode 11 - Battleships Cometh + Streight Angular

Well, we've been on an unofficial hiatus for a bit.   Unfortunately we did not let the two awesome bands we have on the show know this.  Until we get our act together, we are going to lie low.  I (Ted) am working on a new music project and I need to get that finished before I get the podcast rolling again.

Lets not focus on our total procrastination though.  Lets talk about The Battleships Cometh and Streight Angular!  Battleships rocks out a tight hard rock.  They don't get fancy or pretentious on us.  All they do is blow faces off with fun energetic songs!  Streight Angular keeps reinventing itself in new ways.  When I first hear them they were punky in a Beat Happening kind of way.  Now they play loud hard rock you can dance two.  If I never produce another show, these are two great bands to leave off on.  

Thanks to the bands again.  We recorded them forever ago.  They put up with our shit and I thank them for that.  Go see them!  They are great.  Boston bands are killing it as usual.  We win!

The Battleships Cometh! Streight Angular! The Battleships Cometh! Streight Angular! The Battleships Cometh! Streight Angular! The Battleships Cometh! Streight Angular! The Battleships Cometh! Streight Angular! The Battleships Cometh! Streight Angular!

Download this shizz here!

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Bridges And Squares 10 - Quilt

Bridges & Squares is killing it in '11.  We took our baby steps in 2010 and now we are graduating toddler school.  What a better way to start off a new run of episodes than with Quilt.  When we started the show last year, Quilt was always one of the bands we wanted to have on as guests.  Thankfully, they found the time for us in January.  We recorded them at Great Scott, for our first recording at a club.  They combine great harmonies with hypnotic minimal music.  It is the type of music you can listen to again and again and discover new sounds and nuances you did not hear previously.  Their show was great and they even rocked and off-stage sound manipulator, a la Mission of Burma.  The whole bill was great.  It was put together by the Pelly Twins, a pair of sisters with great tastes in music. Right now, Quilt are killing down in Austin, TX but make sure to check them now out next time they are in Boston.  Check out their website to see what they are up to.

Also on the show, Ted, Colin, And Meghan talk about music and why Libya would be a much more interesting conflict if we called it Labia instead.

Thanks again to Great Scott, specifically, Chris and Carl for being so accommodating.  And thanks to Quilt for being patient with us, the turn around time for producing this show was a bit slow.  Stay tuned for the next show with The Battleships Cometh and hopefully the return of Streight Angular after that.

Download Here!

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Radio Control Rocks!  A picture from our recording with them in the Friendly Square Basement.

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Double Mega!

We're back!  The show is back!  Yay!  Since we've been away for so long we're dropping not one but two episodes of Bridges And Squares on ya head.  We're calling it the Double Mega Comeback Show.  Where have we been?  We have been in a land I like to call Lazy Land.  We recently observed that people sometimes get lazy when they work full-time and try to produce a podcast in their spare time.  Alas, there is too much good music in Boston to not jump back on the podcast trail.  For our Double Mega return we have two completely different bands as guests.  On part 1 we have the well crafted alternative rock of Alchemilla.  For part 2 we have the energetic and fun punk rock of Radio Control.  These two bands show the breadth of rock we play here in Boston.  So we are gonna finish up the year strong and try our best not to procrastinate on releasing new shows.  Let us know if you want to help out the show. We always want a new voice and any aide will be greatly appreciated.  Keep emailing bands you want us to have as guests too!  Support these bands.  They rock!

Enjoy the shows punks!

Click here for part 1 with Alchemilla! or download the mp3 here.

Click here for part 2 with Radio Control! or download the mp3 here.

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Bridges And Squares 09 - Radio Control

It's Hot Audio! Radio Control reminds us why punk remains an essential part of rock.  We don't all need to be Joe Satriani and play obscure music scales.  Radio Control realize that energy and passion is what really makes music great.  In fact, I like listening to their music ten times better than listening to Mr. Satriani overplay his guitar.  Radio Control's music makes you want to start a band.  Who wouldn't want to play their brand of fun punk rock.  They keep it fast and they keep it loud.

They're trying to raise some funds to finish their debut album set to be released in early 2011.  Donate to their cause and see them play at Tavern At The End Of The World on November 19th.  We need make sure bands like Radio Control continue to put out music!  Check out the details about that show here. 

Our music topic for the show is "I don't get (this band)." During our discussion, we talk about how the reverb drenched bands popular on Pitchfork right now are a bit overrated.  Are we correct or are we assholes?

Listen here!

Check out Radio Control here:

http://radiocontrol.bandcamp.com

http://myspace.com/radiocontrolmusic

http://weareradiocontrol.tumblr.com

http://twitter.com/radiofkncontrol

http://facebook.com/radiocontrol

http://flickr.com/radiocontrol

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Bridges And Squares 08 - Alchemilla

Alchemilla is one of the hottest bands in Boston.  Since they dropped their new album, Chasing Ghosts, they can't stop getting played on the radio.  Their music combines well-crafted hard-rock with Kat Burke's soaring vocals.  Good singers are few and far between these days so it is nice to hear a truly talented singer like Kat.  Plus, their music is tight.  These guys come ready to perform and always blow people away at their shows.  On our show, the well traveled band tells us about the best and worst clubs they have played in Boston.  They also let us in on how they got their songs on the Rock Band network.  They are currently writing and recording new music in their hidden lair but they should playing shows again in the near future.  Check them out on one of a hundred Internet locations, they are always up to something cool.  Support these guys and buy their album Chasing Ghosts!

Download the show here.

Alchemilla can be found at:

http://alchemilla.us/

http://www.facebook.com/AlchemillaBand

http://twitter.com/AlchemillaBand

http://www.myspace.com/alchemilla

Full Disclosure:  We screwed up recording their bass.  We thought we recored everything fine but somehow lost their bass track.  We managed to isolate the bass from one of our overhead mics and it sounds pretty good but it would have sounded better if we didn't screw it up recording the bass in the first place.

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Here is an update on Bridges And Squares activity.  We recorded part of a podcast with Red Quiet recently.  Our podcast with them should end up being an epic examination of their song writing process.  We are also recoding with Radio Control once we get our schedules worked out.  Finally, Boston rock stalwarts Alchemilla have a hot new album out.  We should be recording them sometime late in August.

While you're contemplating all this B&S news, check out one of my favorite Bon Savants' songs, I Am The Atom Bomb.  Their music has been in my mind since BBC posted a link to their new video. 

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Boston Band Crush just posted a link to this new video from the Bon Savants.  I keep asking myself why these guys aren't huge?  Their music is great. The records are recorded beautifully.  What more do you want national music scene?

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I thought Protokoll was gonna be the next big band out of Boston a couple years ago.  They played with a ton of energy and wrote great songs.  One of my favorites is this song Moving Forward.  It never fails to pump me up. 

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My favorite Boston band ever is Morphine.  They exude levels of cool rarely reached by mere mortals.  More bands should follow in the footsteps of Morphine but I guess its hard to copy Mark Sandmans' badassness.

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Flash player for episode 07.

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Bridges And Squares 07 - Night Fruit

Wait a second, this is almost a quick turn-around from the last show.  Wow!  On episode 7 we have great band that is fairly new Night Fruit.  They emerged from another Boston band Hot Box.  To me, their sound is made up of the guitar lines from Built To Spill, Phil Collins style drumming, but with Sleater-Kinney style vocals.  If that description blows your mind, wait till ya hear the music.  Along with Night Fruit, we chat about Indian Funk music and whether it is annoying that Ted is seeking it out.  Finally, we have an in depth discussion with Night Fruit about the intricacies of the music between sets at rock shows.

This show is so good that people are clambering for Bridges And Squares to take on Tom Menino in the next mayoral election.  Each episode is like your personal erotic journey from Milan to Minsk.

Download the show here!

Go See Night Fruit at one of these shows:

July 23 2010 - House of Blues (Front Room) - Boston, MA

July 24 2010 - Don Pedros - Brooklyn, NY

July 28 2010 - Wrench In The Works - Willimantic, CT

July 31 2010 - Kennedy Plaza - Providence, RI

Augist 1 2010 - Middle East Upstairs - Cambridge, MA

August 7 2010 - Precinct - Somerville, MA

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Here is the Flash player for the current episode.

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Episode 6 - Deep Cuts Volume One!

"What?  I thought we got rid of them for good," Some Guy.

That's right folks Bridges And Squares is back again with Deep Cuts, Volume One.  We've compiled a few tracks that we recorded that didn't make it on the air for previous shows and decided to pack 'em all together!  Plus, we have a couple songs from my band, The Exchange Rate, and a song from our upcoming episode with, Night Fruit. 

The show also features our previous guests, Abram Taber, The Freeways, and A Bit Much. You have to see these bands live!  The Freeways are releasing their new album on July 7th at the Middle East.  The show features a great lineup (Streight Angular, Sinbusters, Red Quiet, Radio Control) so try to check it out!  A Bit Much is active all over New England in June and July.  Abram Has a show on Saturday (June 26th) at Friendly Square before venturing to parts unknown on a US Tour.

We should be posting shows more regularly beginning with Night Fruit, so please keep listening.  Email us at [email protected] if you want to come on the show as a guest or guest host!  Thanks!

Download the show here!

Abram Taber:

June 26 @ Friendly Square (Tour Kick-Off) - Medford, MA

June 27 @ Radio Bean - Burlington, VT

June 28 @ FYC - Worcester, MA

The Freeways:

July 7 @ The Middle East Upstairs - Cambridge, MA (CD RELEASE!)

A Bit Much:

June 29 @ Precinct - Somerville, MA

July 30 @ Feast of The Blessed Sacrament - New Bedford, MA

Night Fruit:

July 23 @ The House Of Blues (Front Room) - Boston, MA

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Episode 5 - Ladderlegs

We made it!  It's here!  You're all excited right?  Why can't I hear anyone?  For this episode, we have one of the bands I am most excited about in Boston right now, Ladderlegs! Be prepared to have your ears kicked in by their super quick set.  We suffered in a stuffy, sweaty attic to record them but they played great music that night.  We would have let them stretch it out but their neighbors would not have appreciated that so we had to cut it short.  Boo!

We also have Al from Streight Angular on the show.  They are up for Best New Act in the Boston Phoenix Best Music Pole (Vote for them here.  Vote for them in this other contest here).  Al lays out the bands candidacy on the show.  If your not convinced to vote for them after hearing his political platform, listen to their awesome new song, Modern Age Blues 4 Happy Version and thank me later. 

There are some technical problems on this one.  I'm pretending that they were done on purpose for artistic purposes.  Check out these bands! They put on great shows!

Go see Ladderlegs here:

May 6 2010 10:00P Tavern at the End of the World Charlestown, Massachusetts May 13 2010 10:00P Tavern at the End of the World Charlestown, Massachusetts May 20 2010 8:00P The Dewey House with Hermit Thrushes Bennington, Vermont May 22 2010 8:00P Wallingford Mansion with Hermit Thrushes and Acid Wound Brighton, Massachusetts May 23 2010 6:00P 119 Gallery w/ Viva Viva, Malaikat Dan Singa, Hermit Thrushes, Big Kitty and Avi Jacobs Lowell, Massachusetts

Go see Streight Angular here:

May 3 2010 8:00P Great Scott - "Nomination Party" 18+ Allston May 14 2010 8:00P House of Blues 02116, Massachusetts

Download the episode here!

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Where Have We Been?

Hey everyone. Its been a little quiet here at Bridges & Squares headquarters.  We’ve had a little life interfering with podcast action lately but don’t worry, episode number five is almost done being edited.  It features an insanely badass performance by Ladderlegs and a Streight Angular exclusive.  BTW, keep voting for them in the WFNX Best Music Pole!  Stay Tuned!

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Streight Angular is nominated in the Pheonix best music pole

Is it a coincidence that our first guest, Streight Angular, was nominated for Best New Act in the Boston Phoenix best music pole shortly after they were guests on our podcast?  Well it probably is a coincidence but who cares, we were early adopters to the Streight Angular musical movement.  Listen to our first episode with them here.  The played some great music for us and give a good interview as well. 

Get ready to vote early and often for them.  I'll send out a voting link when it comes online.

PS Check out Al from Streight Angular's Polk Records blog.  It is always a good read about music and philosophy.