Sunday, February 28, 2010

Sunday Love Project - Kate Bush




Every Sunday we want to bring you something touching and beautiful. Something you can share with your friends and family. Something that will make your life a little better and maybe keep you from being depressed and negative. Maybe make you see that there is a reason to live. A reason to go out in to the world and make a difference. Let us know if something good has happened to you recently. Something you are thankful for. Sometimes, it's just good to think about what you got instead of what you don't got. You know?


Kate Bush is one the best examples of love of music and creativity. Everything she does seems to always turn out beautiful. The song "Don't give up", a collaboration with Peter Gabriel, is one of the most uplifting songs to come out in recent history. Maybe, if you listen to it, it will make you feel something. It may even inspire you to move on or follow your dreams.

Also, listen to Wuthering Heights a song based on the novel by Emily Jane Brontë of the same name. It's pretty awesome and haunting. Have a great Sunday!





Saturday, February 27, 2010

Turning 27


Sure it's the magical number. It's the age that many greats have taken the trip to the other side of life. The other side that no one can explain or describe with sure utter certainty. Who knows, some say they did it on purpose. Maybe they were tired with this life and they wanted to see what was on the other side of death. How cool would it be to die and then comeback to life? You would finally be able to tell people what death was like, but would anyone believe you. Maybe, it would be better just to stay there. Forget coming back. It maybe so cool, you wouldn't even remember where you came from. Well, there are millions of musicians who probably have died at the ripe age of 27 and no ones barely heard of them. There are probably millions being born at 27, so it just all works itself out. Life begets life.

There is a club for those musicians so lucky to die at 27. It's called The 27 Club (Musicians Who Died At The Age of 27 and have reached legendary status) The question remains: "Is there a force that is controlling when these great men and women are taken away from this earthly realm or do these men and women just choose to go, cus they say to themselves, "it's time for me to leave."


There really is only one thing to say.




With the lights out, it's less dangerous
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now, entertain us




Happy Birthday Tom! It maybe your last, but every day maybe, so fuckin' live. They'll take care of you after you're gone, you take care of you while you're still around.




Friday, February 26, 2010

WEEK END PARTIES!!!


What's going on this weekend? Well, for starters there is a huge festival of music going on Friday thru Sunday called Xfest 2010 going on up in Lowell at our favourite art gallery that goes by the name of the 119 Gallery. The 119 Gallery has been bringing new and exciting art to Massachusetts for a long time now and is always looking for you support so if you can lend a hand or a donation, I'm sure they would appreciate it greatly! The always put on really cool rock shows too so if you have a band and need a place to play, give them a holler and maybe you guys can work something out! Lowell is the new scene of Rock and Roll in Massachusetts, If you don't believe us ask the papers.



What else is going on the is weekend? Well tomorrow, Saturday Night there will be a huge celebration of Tom "Dr. Q" Mattos's Day of Birth at the Squealing Pig. Come on down and dance and show Tom some of your best drinking games! There will be some guest DJ's here is the info:


Tom says "Come and hang out with me at my birthday party!"

Featuring:
DJ Acid Wash (Paul Benson)
DJ Albert Polk
DJ Pandemic (I DJ there every Saturday)

The Squealing Pig is a great bar just off of Huntington Avenue, near the corner of Huntington and Tremont in Mission Hill.

ON Sunday, stop byJohnny D's in Davis Sq. for an Open Blues Jam. They sure know how to get down and bluesy and we think their appetizers are pretty good too.

Don'T forget that on Monday, March 1st there will be a sick show at the Middle East Upstairs with Math the Band, Peelander-Z, Ananamguchi, and Polk Records very own StreightAngular! Read more about it here in the Phoenix!

WELL, I think that's it for this weekend! Start the weekend off right by dancing to some cool dance MUSIC!


Just try and not dance to this song by KE$HA - "TiK ToK"

beautiful night.

what beautiful weather we had tonight, huh? My umbrella went inside out. BUT the show at The Tavern at the End of the World was incredible! This Buildings on Fire... was heartbreaking and St. Claire did wonderfully. She has such a beautiful voice.

If you weren't there, check this video out...
This Buildings on Fire...

Unfortunately I didn't manage to get a video of St. Claire but there's always next time. ;)

I hope you guys found something awesome to do on such a stormy night.. Check for more updates soon!

see ya lataaaaa

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Peter Gabriel - Covers Others on New Album - "Scratch My Back"


So, this seems like a pretty cool idea. Peter Gabriel has a new album called "Scratch My Back" in which he covers some well known artists such as Radiohead, Bon Iver, Paul Simon, David Bowie and the Talking Heads and in return they will cover his songs on an album called "I'll Scratch Yours".

I wonder why no other marketing mogul ever thought of this idea. It's genius, but we would expect nothing less from Mr. Gabriel.

Oh and the album doesn't have one drum sound, it's all orchestra. Read more about it here.

Listen to the entire album here at his Myspace.

Show tonight, get up get up get up

hellllllo.

What are you doing tonight? Well! You should totally be in Charlestown at The Tavern at the End of the World! Why? To see St. Claire and This Buildings on Fire... (who is often considered our very own Elliott Smith) of course! 10PM, all ages, BE THERE! It'll be worth it! I promise.

see you there~

YOU Hear IT First! Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros



IF you haven't heard of these guys yet, you soon will. Actually you are hearing about them now! It's like the coming of the age of Aquarius. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros embody all that music should be: a release of the mind, body and spirit. It's just incredible how something so good and underground, may have the chance of actually becoming popular and mainstream. I guess when you make good music and work really hard, nothing can stop you. If you don't believe me, take their word for it. With songs like "Home" they are bound to get the indie crowd wet, but we dig the song ""40 Day Dream". That's where it's at! Watch these videos. I'm telling you, they've been out for a while, but they just played Letterman and who knows where they'll go next. Maybe the Tonight show with Jay Leno!







Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Friends of Friends of Friends who have a Podcast. YOU must Listen!!!!



Our dearest friends Ted, Colin and Meg from Boston, MA have a wonderful podcast called Bridges and Squares.


This podcast is very entertaining and always has a performance of a local Boston band/artist on their show. The commentary is highly insightful as well as educational and enlightening. There knowledge of the subject matter is thorough and their presentation is low key and make the listener feel as though he/she is sitting around the table with a bunch of friends who like to talk about music. It is very amusing hearing the different characters try to get their strong opinions across to each other and to the listener.
Ted is the eager radical die hard music lover who stands in front of speakers at shows so he can really "feel the music", Meg is the "Debbie Downer" life in your middle years, "I got to go, cuz I got to work in the morning, cuz somebody's got to pay the bills around here" glory days music enthusiast, and Colin is the lovable always ready to give some remarkably insightful comment darling who's cuteness and heartwarming love of life and music come through in his choices of vocabulary.
Bands that have played on the Bridges and Squares shows are StreightAngular, The Freeways and Abram Taber. One listen and you'll be hooked. We haven't heard anything this good since we overheard the theme song for The A-Team randomly playing in our living room.

Listen all the time! here: Bridges and Squares.

BLUE GOLD - WATER WARS



THERE IS A DOCUMENTARY THAT DESCRIBES HOW THE most IMPORTANT NATURAL RESOURCE THAT
ALL HUMANS SHOULD BE WORRIED ABOUT MAINTAINING AND KEEPING IN THE HANDS OF THE PUBLIC IS - WATER! WATER! IT IS a mind opening heart wrenching look at what can happen when the worlds largest corporations take over control of water sources and keep it away from humans. The abuse of water and control is a real problem.






Please take the time to watch this. It's almost as important as American Idol.


Fun Fact: A human can live without water for only 10 day without shade in 70 F / 21.1 C weather, it's less if it's hotter.


www.bluegold-worldwaterwars.com


Blue Gold - What's in my Water Bottle?


What are the Water Wars all about?

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Rush is the Best Band Ever (to be covered by South Park)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For all the ladies, we decided to give you some Rush to start the day off right!

Also, be on the look out for the Polk Records Documentary coming out this Fall on Focus Films!















Monday, February 22, 2010

That Nasty Feeling

We think Harold and Maude would approve.











children with cigarettes.

You should listen to 91.5 WUMLtonight for Abram Taber! And let's not forget St. Claire and This Building's On Fire... at The Tavern on Thursday. This is a good week. Both of these events are on the Polk Calendar!

I've added a few more pages. One of which is titled "MP3s." That page has some contact info to get in touch with us... Maybe you wanna throw us a song are two? Maybe it'll end up on here. Who knows! Try it out. We're interested in you! Just sayin... The photo page will be up soon and it's gonna be rad. I'm also working on compiling links to our friends for the link page. Working hard! I've also added a few more upcoming shows to the calendar up to some time in April. Check them out.. see if you're interested. It's good stuff, I promise. I feel like I have good judgment.

Speaking of my judgment... I'd like to share my favorite photograph of all time. It's not the most beautiful shot in the world, per say, but I've always felt some kind of connection to this photo...

This photo is called "Amanda And Her Cousin Amy" by Mary Ellen Mark (who is quite incredible, if I do say so myself.)
Lucky for me, I found a text describing the smoking little girl written by the photographer. I think it's pretty brilliant.

"IN 1990, Peter Howe at Life magazine sent me to North Carolina to photograph a special school for children with problems. The school was a very strange place because all of the twenty or so children were in the same classroom and their problems ranged from mild behavior instability to severe schizophrenia.
Nine-year-old Amanda was the most interesting child in the class. She was my favorite child. Amanda was very intelligent and very naughty. One day I followed her home on the school bus. When the bus stopped at her house, she dashed ahead of me and ran into a nearby wooded area. I continued to follow her into the woods and eventually found her sitting in an old stuffed chair having a cigarette. She thought that I would reprimand her since I was an adult. But I said nothing.
The following Sunday, I spent the day at home with Amanda and her mother. Amanda totally controlled her mother. She constantly gave her orders and proceeded to put on her mother's nail polish and makeup. Amanda smoked openly in front of her. Her 8-year-old cousin Amy was coming over, and she was very excited. All day long, Amanda and her cousin played like children. Every forty-five minutes or so, Amanda would take a break to have a cigarette. Her mother could say nothing; Amanda was the boss.
Just before I left, I looked for Amanda to say good-bye. I found her and Amy in the backyard. They were in a children's inflatable pool. Amanda was taking her regular cigarette break."

Rebellion is such an interesting thing.
I've done portraits at schools (or sections of schools) for "the misbehaved" in the past. These kids harass and break down every human in their path... for no apparent reason. Telling people to "fuck off" and call them horrible names for standing the wrong way. I really wanted to sit down and figure them out.
I've actually had a young lady who tried to bite my arm before. That's among all the times I've been scratched and hit and pretty much everything else you can imagine. Photographers take more shit than you think. ;)

see ya lata.

(Don't forget to keep checking for updates!)

Mr. Hudson is the Future, Present Past

Today I woke up and thought, what would happen if today was the last day of my life. What would I do? What could I do? Life is short, I thought. I think maybe I'll write a song, that will live on long after I'm gone. You can quote me on that.

If you read this pass this on to your fiends, families and enemies. It's time to wake up and smell the flowers people!

Sincerely, Al Polk, StreightAngular Esq.

This video makes sense.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Remember When Lady Gaga Had Brown Hair!

So, this video shows you if you really put your mind to anything you can be successful!

Sunday Love Project

Every Sunday we want to bring you something touching and beautiful. Something you can share with your friends and family. Something that will make your life a little better and maybe keep you from being depressed and negative. Maybe make you see that there is a reason to live. A reason to go out in to the world and make a difference. Let us know if something good has happened to you recently. Something you are thankful for. Sometimes, it's just good to think about what you got instead of what you don't got. You know?

Saturday, February 20, 2010


So, it's Saturday! Clean your room, sleep in till 4 in the afternoon, eat day old pizza and watch Beverly Hills Cop. OH and Listen to Rivers Cuomo singing Weezer songs with a band (The Cathy Santonies) that he met only 20 minutes before he sang with them on the Sound Opinions show. Check it OUT HERE - Rivers Cuomo and the Cathy Santonies on Sound Opinions!


Check it OUT!!

Check out the band he played with: the Cathy Santonies
There's also other things going on. Let us know what you are doing today!



It's Good to be the Best at Something! Thanks Shaun White for being that Guy.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Another upcoming show, Calico, etc.

In case you haven't looked at the calendar, StreightAngular will be playing with Math The Band (WE LOVE THESE GUYS SO MUCH, BY THE WAY), Peelander-Z, Starscream, and Anamanaguchi. The show is on March 1st at The Middle East Upstairs. Starting at 8PM, this show is 18+. The Middle East Upstairs is on Mass Ave in Cambridge.. walk through the restaurant to the back and you'll see the door. (Try their veggie burgers if you haven't already.. so good.)

On to other business... Last week StreightAngular played a show with Math The Band in New Bedford. Show was awesome, and it was located in this incredible vintage store called Calico. If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend checking them out. Their vintage clothing was beautiful, and they also sold handmade jewelery by local artists. It was a pretty sweet place. If you're nowhere close to New Bedford, you can still check out their website HERE. They're supposedly working on an online store. Located on 173 Union Street.. Downtown New Bedford, MA.

Don't forget to stop by The Tavern at The End of The World in Charlestown, MA, to see This Buildings on Fire... play with St. Claire on Thursday Feb. 25th at 9PM. Don't miss it!



See you tonight at The Tavern to see A Bit Much at 10PM and afterward at Friendly Sq. for a dance party.

<3

The Movie that Defined Our Generation

New Polk Events Calander + UPCOMING EVENTS~

If you look to your left, you'll notice there are now TWO awesome pages contained in the Polk Records Information Blog. There's a brand new calendar page specifically for upcoming Polk Records events and happenings... basically a whole lotta stuff you should pay attention to. ;) If you noticed that, you probably noticed that the entire layout is completely different. I just spent a whopping five hours making everything perfect.

So, before I continue, there are two events coming up this week! Both of them are on the calendar, but here ya go...

On Monday, Abram Taber is going to play on the radio show Live at The Fallout Shelter for WUML. The station is 91.5 and it starts at 8PM. Be sure to check that out... or if you go to UML you should stop by the station.

On Thursday, This Buildings On Fire... will be playing live at The Tavern at The End of The World at 9PM. That's in Charlestown, MA. He's an incredible acoustic artist, and this is something you DEFINITELY do NOT want to miss! He'll melt your heart. This is a free show.

If you're involved with Polk Records, you possibly already know me, but here I am virtually introducing myself to you. My name is Jen and I'm gonna start contributing to the Polk Records Information Blog so we can be sure it's updated frequently and turns out as awesome as it could be.
I guess a little about myself? I'm a photographer. I do school portraits and prom photos... awesome, right? Some people call me christmas and if you showed up to the Polk Records Winter Ball in 2009, I was taking pictures of Santa. ya. That's all yr getting.

OKAY.. so, blog stuff. I've been working with people brainstorming ideas for the blog. We want to make this as useful, easy to navigate, cool lookin', craziest shit ever. If not that, it's at least gonna be convenient and awesome.. which is what we need.

THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO:
+"What's going on tonight?" (Basically, we tell you what awesome stuff to do.)
+Artist profiles.
+Live photos.
+Notable upcoming bands.
+Things we think are cool.
+Song and album downloads.

If you've read this far... check out this sweet video I took of Abram Taber at The Tavern at The End of The World last Thursday... The audio gets kind of muddy towards the middle... just sayin'

Monday, February 15, 2010

StreightAngular and Ladderlegs with Lovewhip and Naked on Rollerskates!

Tomorrow NIght!!! Big Show!! StreightAngular and Ladderlegs play with Lovewhip and Naked on Rollerskates!

check out the info at www.bostonbandcrush.com!


At Church of Boston
F-Nice Presents Electro-Pop night:
Ladderlegs - 8 pm
Naked on Roller Skates - 9 pm
Streight Angular - 10 pm
Lovewhip - 11 pm

Doors Open at 7:30 PM
$6 advance, $8 day of show

Also, stay tuned for more upcoming events!!!