Andrew Combs

Last weekend I went to see Shovels & Rope at the Sinclair in Cambridge. A few things to quickly note. 1. I can’t really describe Shovels & Rope well, but if you haven’t heard of them, check them out. A recent NYT article actually gets it pretty close: “They like to say they are “making as much noise as they can” with two old guitars, a kick drum, snare, harmonica, tambourine and occasional keyboard. I dare to match them with the couple that set the standard for country duets, Johnny Cash and June Carter. Both couples share Southern roots and that music-from-the-back porch country sound.” They were great live too, although they didn’t quite meet my (very high) expectations. 2.

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Glenn Yoder & The Western States

I had a great time last night at the CD release party for Glenn Yoder & The Western States at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge. They put on a great all-around performance, and Jeff Katz, the guitar player and a friend of mine from BU, tore it up on his tele. Here’s a clip I shot: Check out their CD, Javelina, here:

Top Songs From 2012

Inspired by a friend’s post of his favorite 2012 songs, I thought I’d put my own list together. My favorites from this past year definitely span a wide range of genres – I can’t quite pin down whether my tastes moved in any particular direction. I wouldn’t say it was even close to the best year for music in recent memory, but there were definitely plenty of releases worth a listen. Here’s a link to listen to a playlist with my top songs in Spotify. And here’s my list with Spotify links, in no particular order: 1. Zeus – Are You Gonna Waste My Time 2. Andrew Bird – Orpheo Looks Back 3. Alabama Shakes – Be Mine 4. Hot

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Bend When The Sun Moves – Out Today!

I’m excited to announce that an EP I worked on earlier this year with a group of great musicians is being released today. It’s called ‘Bend When The Sun Moves’ and our band is Vanessa Kafka & the Sunday Spins. The EP is available on iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify — and you can search for it on Pandora as well. There are also previews of the songs on Amazon. Here’s the album cover, designed by Neil Walton in the UK: I got involved with the project after becoming good friends with Vanessa while studying at Sloan. She was a classmate of mine, and we first played music together as part of the Rolling Sloans, a Sloan cover band that’s been in

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LCD Soundsystem – Sounds from Buttons & Knobs

I apologize for the lack of blogging over the past month. After a two year break from reality, I’ve reentered the workforce and haven’t had time to put together many posts. Over time I’ll hopefully find a happy medium, and get into a routine with at least a few posts a week. For any LCD Soundsystem fans reading this, here are two rather interesting clips of James Murphy using a sequencer to make sounds in the studio. For any non LCD Soundsystem fans, here are two really strange videos: On related note, I saw James Murphy’s movie, ‘Shut Up and Play the Hits’ a couple weeks ago and have to say that I was a bit let down. It was fun

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