The Birthday Suicide
Boston, Massachusetts, United States | INDIE
Music
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For most of the year, Indie-Music.com is a great place to work. Then suddenly it's December, and the review staff has to somehow choose a Top 25 list of CDs from the year's submissions. Only 25. We argue. We agonize. During particularly heated moments, someone has to call the cops. Finally we emerge, bruised and exhausted, with our favorite picks, still muttering under our collective breath about the ones we couldn't include. So to the artists who made our Top 25 CDs of 2008, you are true champions. Our review writers went to the mat for you. You're that good. Here they are, in no particular order. These are the Best Indie Releases of 2008.
The Birthday Suicide: One Year Wasted
A dark collection of introspection. It's what I would consider a concept album, best listened to start to finish ... I can't help but wonder about the inspiration for this sorrowful body of work. My hope is that, as it is now a snapshot of time, there is a sense of relief and pride in the culmination of this accomplishment. Not all-great art is happy and shiny, it's not all for the masses, but it moved the soul and touches the heart. I think this has been achieved and even a little surprised myself at how much I enjoyed it.
Reviewed by Rachel Sedacca.
- Indie-Music.com
07/09/08
The Birthday Suicide (Massachusetts, USA) - myspace
file under: acoustic, pop-rock, folk-pop.
rsvp: The New Amsterdams, Kevin Devine, Cassino.
Dietro allo pseudonimo (un po' inquietante) di The Birthday Suicide agisce il bostoniano Gregg Padula, giovane cantautore che usa le armi del pop-rock acustico più emozionale e del moderno folk-pop alla Matt Pryor per creare canzoni in grado di - comunicazione di servizio per i registi - diventare colonne sonore di film indipendenti. Originalità (come prevedibile) pochina, ma le melodie centrano il bersaglio, e tutto sommato l'importante è questo
Link:http://www.dedication.it/index2.htm - Dedication Music Magazine
By Rachel Sedacca
One Year Wasted by The Birthday Suicide is a dark collection of introspection. It’s what I would consider a concept album, best listened to start to finish. This project is the creation of songwriter Gregg Padula, who has me impressed by his use of musical simplicity and clever turn of phrase with a clear influence by the master wordsmith Bob Dylan. Padula’s smart use of ambiguity let’s this story fit into many of our life’s soundtracks.
It’s a journey of sorts, starting out with "Amy’s Getting Clean," with the author grabbing at the threads of a relationship already badly frayed. Listening to it, I couldn’t help but picture a lovesick soul singing his heart out to the light in a second story window, begging for "one good reason to stay, gimme one good day."
"Two Others" was one of my favorite tracks and I think a good chance to let his piano and harmonica skills shine. An unrequited love song about the detour from life’s plan for two lovers "hidden behind two others." An interesting look at winding up in the wrong house in the wrong life with the wrong love.
Wrapping it up with the final and title track, the eerie recorded voice track included of a desperate soul calling out to a suicide help line was enough to make the hair on my neck stand at attention. He reaches out for one last reprieve as he’s about to walk out into traffic but reaches the voicemail system. This moved me almost to tears and I listened to this track several times while thinking about what to say about it.
I can’t help but wonder about the inspiration for this sorrowful body of work. My hope is that, as it is now a snapshot of time, there is a sense of relief and pride in the culmination of this accomplishment. Not all-great art is happy and shiny, it’s not all for the masses, but it moved the soul and touches the heart. I think this has been achieved and even a little surprised myself at how much I enjoyed it. Good job Gregg, I’m looking forward to seeing what you’ll do next. Wow.
Direct link to review: http://www.indie-music.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7596 - Indie-Music.com
Boom stands for BATV's Own Open Mic. A show dedicated to introducing noteworthy musical performers. Our first show features Gregg Padula from The Birthday Suicide.
Link- http://batv.org/streaming-video/ondemand/boom-padula
- BATV-Brookline
Best of Myspace
So it’s a wet night here in the UK, and what better time than to trawl through the lesser-known artists on my radar right now.
First up we travel to Boston USA, to check out The Birthday Suicide. It’s surprisingly not a retro-goth act but the work of singer-songwriter Gregg Padula. His debut album “One Year Wasted” is a collection of introspective, Dylan-esque heartfelt songs available from CD Baby. All you guys know I’m a sucker for one man and his guitar on a bare stage, and I imagine live you would hear a pin drop!!! A great songsmith! I’m impressed.
MP3: Birthday Suicide - She Says
http://www.myspace.com/birthdaysuicide
www.rocksellout.com - Rock Sellout
Discography
One Year Wasted LP-2008
Palm Trees and Dead Leaves-2011
The Art of Saying Goodbye-Summer 2012
Photos
Bio
The Birthday Suicide is the nom de plume of Gregg Padula, a Boston-based singer/songwriter greatly influenced by musicians such as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Bright Eyes, Wilco, The Beatles, Townes Van Zandt, Band of Horses, Deer Tick, Sage Francis, John Prine, Elliott Smith and endless others. Also influenced by writers such as Kerouac and Hemingway, Padula's compositions display a heavy emphasis on the lyrical/literary side of songwriting. Recently, Danny Brady brought his virtuoso guitar work to The Birthday Suicide’s songs. Brady is a multi-instrumentalist who has worked with some of the most successful and prolific acts to come out of Boston, and truly brings any song to a different level.
Referred to as “a great songsmith” by Rock Sellout.com, The Birthday Suicide’s 2008 self-recorded/released “One Year Wasted” was well-received by fans and reviewers, obtaining numerous awards and praise both nationally and internationally—most notably, being named “Top 25 CDs of 2008 by Indie-Music.com. While consistently writing and performing live, the lyrical/musical evolution of The Birthday Suicide since "One Year Wasted" has been profound.
The Birthday Suicide’s 2011 record, “Palm Trees and Dead Leaves” is a major step forward in The Birthday Suicide’s evolution, and promises to move those who listen to it. Written over several months between Boston, Central America, and everywhere in-between, the record is a completely cohesive story that spans the globe.
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