Soundtrack: All Over the Musical Map - Finding New England; Part 2/5
Other sections of this soundtrack can be found in:
Please comment if you download...or even if you just feel like it.
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.
Ana - Pixies
from Bossanova
[Support the Artist]
Boston-based punkers Pixies are a microcosm of the incestuous Boston music scene. Band members have connections to, performed with, and were members of the following New England-based bands: Throwing Muses, The Breeders, and Frank Black and the Catholics. Following the membership of these groups is sort of a who's-who of the alt-folk and alt-rock scene in the late 90s. No. I don't have tracks from any of the bands, but I'm familiar with their music (that college radio station thing, again).
A Change in My Life - Rockapella
from Don't Tell Me You Do
[Support the Artist]
For more on Rockapella, see notes above.
To download tracks 16 to 30, go to the SaveFile Project Page All Over the Musical Map: Finding New England Part 2.
Other sections of this soundtrack can be found in:
- 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
- Part 5 TBA
Please comment if you download...or even if you just feel like it.
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.
Ana - Pixies
from Bossanova
[Support the Artist]
Boston-based punkers Pixies are a microcosm of the incestuous Boston music scene. Band members have connections to, performed with, and were members of the following New England-based bands: Throwing Muses, The Breeders, and Frank Black and the Catholics. Following the membership of these groups is sort of a who's-who of the alt-folk and alt-rock scene in the late 90s. No. I don't have tracks from any of the bands, but I'm familiar with their music (that college radio station thing, again).
A Change in My Life - Rockapella
from Don't Tell Me You Do
[Support the Artist]
For more on Rockapella, see notes above.
To download tracks 16 to 30, go to the SaveFile Project Page All Over the Musical Map: Finding New England Part 2.
Other sections of this soundtrack can be found in:
- 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
- Part 5 TBA