Fighting for Western Mass. Libraries

Fighting for Western Mass. Libraries

by | Jun 4, 2010 | News

The fiscal 2011 budget passed by the state Senate last week included a provision that will help protect library services in Western Mass.—although not as completely as some had hoped. Adopted as part of the $28 billion budget was an amendment, sponsored by Sen....
Madame Bigfoot Grooves

Madame Bigfoot Grooves

by | Jun 4, 2010 | Music

Lady Sasquatch sounds like a band that likes to goof around in the studio. Unconstrained by any one musical genre, the Feeding Hills quartet—Brandon Godbout, Mike “Figgy” Ferrigno, Dave Reynolds and Jordan Welner—layers samples atop organic...
CD Shorts

CD Shorts

by | Jun 4, 2010 | Music

Dead RiderThe Raw Dents(Tizona) It’s rare to get a recording that’s as interesting, experimental and well-produced, all at the same time, as The Raw Dents. The album is simultaneously strange and seductive, addicting in a deeply voyeuristic sense. The...
Metallic Clouds and Pink Robots

Metallic Clouds and Pink Robots

by | Jun 4, 2010 | Music

Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne (pictured in his “man-sized plastic bubble”) may be one of the oddest creative personalities going. Having idolized all manner of story-driven musical narratives, from The Who’s Tommy to Miles Davis’ A Tribute...
Take a Breezer

Take a Breezer

by | Jun 4, 2010 | Leisure

Ever wonder why so many roads in the Pioneer Valley are so wide? Drive on Route 5 between Northampton and Holyoke or Route 10 between Easthampton and Northampton, and running alongside two lanes of traffic is an equally large breakdown lane. Less than a century ago,...