Album Of The Week: Operators’ Blue Wave Mostly known for his work with Montreal indie rockers Wolf Parade, Dan Boeckner is both versatile and enigmatic. With the supergroup Divine Fits, Boeckner joined forces with Spoon frontman Britt Daniel and Sam Brown, who’s the drummer for the Columbus, Ohio, garage punk act New Bomb Turks, to do a project that was heart-on-the-sleeve rock with tinges of synth. This time around Boeckner dives right into the post-punk realm with Operators, teaming up with Brown and electro madman Devojka to make music that’s meant for the dance clubs of the world. There are a lot of dimensions to the band with sonic bass lines serving as the backbone for a lot of the band’s material. Operators’ long-awaited debut full-length Blue Wave serves as a prime exhibit of turning a vintage genre on its head. The debut has infectious rhythms, and there’s no drum machine making it sound bland and cookie cutter. There’s even a killer saxophone sample throughout the album adding a bit of a jazz vibe. Operators have a wide-ranging repertoire that separates them from the countless other post-punk acts that have been popping up since the early 2000s. Nothing is redundant and each track will keep the listener engaged. With so many electronic-based bands and musicians out there today, it’s rare when a band with similar sounds puts out something refreshing. That’s exactly what Operators have with Blue Wave — something different from other bands that have a synthesizer and pedals giving everything an echo. To indulge in more of the freshness, give a look and listen to my top tracks off of the Album Of The Week: “Rome” starts the album off with dark tones coming from the bass and screaming guitar chords; when the chorus hits it will cause dancing sensations. “Cold Light” is a perfect example of how great Brown’s drumming is. Its persistent beats that never let up. It’s also a drum kit being played without a loop — there’s genuine musicianship here. The title track has that sax that brings things up a level; it’s definitely one that’ll make the ears jump for joy. Operators will be coming through The Middle East in Cambridge on April 23 for what should be a wild time, if Boeckner’s band is as good live as their new album. While you’re at the show you should grab a copy of Blue Wave. There’s a certain allure and luster to the album that shouldn’t go ignored. Stream “Blue Wave” on Youtube: youtube.com/watch?v=_u9GLyaWgXg; Operators’ Website: http://operatorsmusic.com/ The Mountain Goats at The Columbus Theatre PHOTO CREDIT: Eric Tidd Usually Sunday is a down period during the weekend. You wouldn’t normally spend the evening enjoying a sold-out show, but this past Sunday at the Columbus Theatre was an exception. Precursors to this decade’s indie folk renaissance, The Mountain Goats took hold of the main theater as part of their tour with solo artist William Tyler. It was a truly memorable night that was one of the best shows to come through the Creative Capital so far in 2016. Columbus Cooperative member, member of The Low Anthem and resident harmonica collaborator Bryan Minto got the crowd revved up and then Tyler came up on stage. At first he seemed a tad nervous performing in front of a crowd consisting of over 1,000 people. Then he showed that he’s not your typical guy who plays an acoustic guitar; each song he played was completely instrumental and accented with loops, sonic progressions and jazzy improvisations. One funny highlight of Tyler’s performance was him jokingly debating with some guy in the audience about whether drop c or a flat tuning is better on a guitar. It got a laugh from everyone and it set the mood for a relaxing and laid- back experience. Tyler had people in a trance while playing his guitar on stage, hopefully he’ll come back around these parts soon. After a brief intermission and Minto once again going up on stage to keep the crowd company, The Mountain Goats were greeted with rousing applause. Kicking off the set with “Woke Up New” off of 2006’s Get Lonely, the band started off a tad slow and low key. After performing “Stabbed To Death Outside San Juan,” the scene shifted to frontman John Darnielle taking things over solo with his six string. Following up “1 Samuel 15:23” by talking about the bible story of Jonah & The Whale and relating the story to the buttons on his jacket getting caught on the strings of his guitar, Darnielle proceeded to play “Rotten Stinking Mouthpiece” to the audience’s delight. Darnielle then went to the piano to play “Black Pear Tree” and bassist Peter Hughes, multi-instrumentalist Matt Douglas and drummer John Wurster rejoined him for “The Diaz Brothers,” the latter igniting the crowd. The Mountain Goats finished off their initial performance with “Liza Forever Minnelli” and everyone in the theater stood in applause. Proving that they weren’t done yet, Darnielle and crew came back for an encore and upped the energy with “Up The Wolves,” “This Year” and “No Children.” The crowd still wanted more and the band came out one more time to finish off the incredible night with “Spent Gladiator 2.” Rarely do you get to see a double encore at a show, but everyone who was at the Columbus Theatre on Sunday got to experience it first-hand. It was an amazing experience that no one who was in attendance that night will ever forget. Follow The Mountain Goats on the web: mountain-goats.com Making Providence “Better Off” in the Digital Age “I think that creating space to pursue art and entrepreneurship is the most important thing you can do.” Sitting across from me is Brandon Lane, owner of Better Off, a local business situated on the West Side of Providence. It’s a chilly Monday night at 168 Broadway, and as the sky dims the city comes alive outside with lights and colors. The first thing Lane did to welcome me to his urban creative space, Better Off, was invite me to put on a vinyl record — but to not just pick one out. He wanted to me experience a process. Once I chose an album, Classics by Ratatat, he showed me how to load it onto the turntable and play it. There’s a certain novelty to that experience, learning something new while feeling as if you’re taking a step back in time … and the record player isn’t the only instance of that experience. From operational typewriters to Polaroid cameras, old-school devices fill Lane’s studio. Lane, a teacher of entrepreneurship at the Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center (The Met School), is a strong advocate of turning problems into opportunities, an example of which is his own business. “We’ve integrated digital into our lives without enough dialogue or discussion around it,” he said. “It’s not to say we have too much digital, we just haven’t thought about when and how we want to be digital.” He pointed out that for many of us, our default mode is just digital and almost nothing else. “How do we carve out and create a space for slowness, for balance and for thinking about how to navigate the digital world? A lot of people, when they want to engage with a slower world and more balance they go on a nature retreat, or they go into the woods and they go camping. But 98% of our time is spent in urban environments.” It leads to the question he next asked: “How do we meet people where they’re at?” With the help of business partner and graphic designer Devan Durante, Better Off was created to start that conversation, as well as give people things to do that aren’t just creative, fun and engaging, but also help them learn to balance their digital habits. When asked about his choice in decor, Lane explained that everything at Better Off is purposeful rather than ornamental. “You can call them vintage; they are old,” Lane admits. “But more importantly than old or vintage, they’re functioning tools for creation, and they’re slow-tech tools. The stuff in here is old because it does one thing at a time. A lot of it is cool by nature because of the design of it, and because it’s nostalgic, because it brings people back… We use those not as cool objects, but as deliberate objects to get a job done.” Aside from technology that most people today would consider outdated, the space is adorned with art of various mediums, including paint, photography and paper collages, all created by the people who come to Better Off. One particular item I became interested in was a table that was, as described, “a marrying of art and function.” Created by a RISD artist, the table was built with just enough room for a standard meal to discourage people from using their phones at dinner. “There is deep value in a tangible artifact,” Lane says. To illustrate, he tells a story: When you’re at a coffee shop with a book, people are more likely to ask what you’re reading. When you’re on a digital device like a phone or tablet, nobody asks what you’re doing or who you’re talking to.