Music
by Valley Advocate Editorial | Oct 11, 2007 | Music
CaribouAndorra(Merge)Bliss is one of the hardest emotions to conjure in music, but Andorra has it in spades. The brilliant opening track "Melody Day" sets the tone, mixing 1960s sunshine pop with loops, beats, and a dense wall of sound production. Caribou...
by Gary Carra | Oct 11, 2007 | Music
They started as strictly a tribute band. A couple of years in, they found themselves paying tribute to one of their own, drummer Michelle Smith, whose premature death spurred the penning of the 2005 EP Never Broken in her honor.Now, with John Myslinksi of AC/DC apers...
by James Heflin | Oct 18, 2007 | Music
Say "big band," and most people, fairly or not, think of the oatmeal sounds of Glenn Miller wafting out over the nursing home cafeteria P.A. But David Sanford's Pittsburgh Collective proves that the big band need not be relegated to the pre-rock past nor...
by James Heflin | Oct 18, 2007 | Music
Valley guitarist Charlie Apicella (pictured above, far left) is a busy guy. You can catch him most Sunday mornings at the Cushman Village store in North Amherst, where, with bassist and violinist, he plays Latin music and tangos on acoustic guitar as Cidade (which is,...
by Valley Advocate Editorial | Oct 18, 2007 | Music
Art BrutIt's A Bit Complicated(Downtown)That second album—it's indeed a complicated affair. Especially when your debut was such a pitch-perfect confection of cheeky wit and barbed riffs. What's left to say? Art Brut have found some new wrinkles to...
by Gary Carra | Oct 18, 2007 | Music
It's been some 22 years since Van Halen's founding members first bid each other "Happy Trails." It's been more than a decade since its frenetic frontman, "Diamond" David Lee Roth, proudly proclaimed, "This is the first time...
by Gary Carra | Oct 18, 2007 | Music
The first one may not be free. But whether it's studio time or rental of a P.A. and a lightshow, Dave Westbrook and his PDP Productions strive to deliver major-artist levels of service at bargain basement prices.The business plan, particularly when coupled with an...
by Kendra Thurlow | Oct 24, 2007 | Music
Downtown Northampton was a little noisier than normal this summer. While it's not uncommon to see lone musicians playing on the city streets during the warmer months, it is a strange occurrence to see a full band setting up shop and playing tunes for passersby....
by Valley Advocate Editorial | Oct 24, 2007 | Music
Kate RusbyAwkward Annie(Pure Records)You pretty much know what to expect from a Kate Rusby album: traditional folk songs, a few originals, the occasional cover. Awkward Annie is her latest. It sports five originals, including the whimsical title track, but they are so...
by James Heflin | Oct 24, 2007 | Music
It’s a terrible addendum to a concert for a good cause: last month, Viva Quetzal member Jon Weeks lost his son, Ari D. Brown-Weeks, a paratrooper, to the war in Iraq. Viva Quetzal (pictured) will play with the world music ensemble Mawwal this week to do their...
by Gary Carra | Oct 25, 2007 | Music
Ah, autumn in New England, the Nightcrawler’s favorite era of the annum, awash in spooks and kooks masquerading as things they are not in the never-ending quest for bags of loot.And that’s just the election process.Prior to the big Nov. 6 poll dance, of...
by Kendra Thurlow | Oct 31, 2007 | Music
A pumpkin takes three to four days to carve, according to Flo and Rich Newman, and remains intact for a week at the most before it begins to rot. While it's unfortunate that their pumpkin artworks have such a short shelf life, occasionally the inevitable rotting...
by Valley Advocate Editorial | Oct 31, 2007 | Music
As Cities BurnCome Now Sleep(Solid State/Tooth and Nail)Listening to this, I was initially apprehensive, then cautiously optimistic. Then I was impressed. These guys took the best aspects from three problematic genres—hardcore, emo, post-rock—and made an...
by Kendra Thurlow | Nov 1, 2007 | Music
The Rendezvous opened the year after Prohibition was repealed, in 1934. A smallish bar located in Turners Falls, The Rendezvous kept its doors open and the suds flowing for almost 70 more years. Shortly after the turn of the century, The Rendezvous changed hands and...
by Tom Sturm | Nov 1, 2007 | Music
Brian Marchese has a long and illustrious history as a rock/pop drummer in the Valley, with a resumé that includes time playing with The Figments, The Aloha Steamtrain, The Fawns, Lo Fine and School for the Dead. His curly mop of hair, usually placed atop a...
by Advocate Staff | Nov 8, 2007 | Music
A. J. RoachRevelation(Waterbug)"Whiskey's my shepherd/ oh, I shall not want/ it maketh me lay down." Welcome to the world of Appalachian troubadour A. J. Roach. On "Clinch River Blues," he keens like a banshee amidst driving guitar, slap-dash...
by Gary Carra | Nov 8, 2007 | Music
There may be a distinct shortage of teams that can sufficiently challenge any of Beantown's sports organizations of late.As evidenced by the recently released nominations for the Boston Music Awards (BMAs), however, such complete dominance in athletics does not...
by Gary Carra | Nov 8, 2007 | Music
They certainly meander into rock-y terrain at times. They even bound into ethereal soundscapes best described as indie. As evidenced by their inclusion in two high-profile festivals over the course of this weekend and the next, however, it is the pop community in...
by Kendra Thurlow | Nov 14, 2007 | Music
Though Austrian composer Franz Schubert didn't receive many accolades for his work while he was alive—his work didn't become popular until after his untimely death at age 31—he certainly had a reputation for enjoying himself. A true Bohemian,...
by James Heflin | Nov 15, 2007 | Music
Robert Holmes' musical voyage is unusual. You've heard his guitar playing if you've heard "Voices Carry," a big hit in the '80s for 'Til Tuesday. That band was the launching point for Aimee Mann's solo work, and Holmes went from...
by Advocate Staff | Nov 15, 2007 | Music
Patrick StreetOn the Fly(Loftus)With a lineup sporting Kevin Burke, Jackie Daly, Ged Foley and Andy Irvine, Patrick Street meets all the criteria for the label “Celtic supergroup.” None of them needs to prove his chops, which is perhaps why some of their...
by Gary Carra | Nov 20, 2007 | Music
As Wesley Blixt recalls, his tenure at UMass-Amherst had been neither long nor strange when two colleagues came into his office to pitch a series of Grateful Dead-inspired concepts for the university to consider.In fact, his department—Outreach and Marketing...
by James Heflin | Nov 20, 2007 | Music
Whatever your musical vision, it was welcome at the old Flywheel, and no cigar-smoking club owner was waiting around to give you a hard time for only getting your three closest friends to show up. Flywheel, which was on Route 141 in Easthampton, was always a relaxed...
by Zach Bartlett | Nov 22, 2007 | Music
In Irishfolklore, Finn MacCool was a legendary warrior said to have created a group of islands to use as stepping stones to get to Scotland. But the legends never seem to mention that after retiring, he moved to Westfield to open a bar and grill.Finn MacCool's is...
by Gary Carra | Nov 22, 2007 | Music
In an industry rife with musical resumés that lunge from "local store clerk" to "television contest winner" and performers who rely more on their locks than their chops, ZO2 is a clearly a breath of fresh, rarefied rock air. A hard-working...
by Advocate Staff | Nov 22, 2007 | Music
Michael JerlingCrooked Path(Fool’s Hill)Michael Jerling is one of those road-traveled musicians who’s been around so long we sometimes forget how good he is. Crooked Path is how Jerling thinks most of us experience life and he has little time for...
by Matthew Dube | Nov 28, 2007 | Music
Easthampton resident and improvisational guitarist Bill Nace has been in more projects than even he can remember: Vampire Belt, Buddies, Ceylon Mange, x.0.4 and Northampton Wools, to rattle off a few. For over a decade his brand of noisy string-bending and squalling...
by Valley Advocate Editorial | Nov 28, 2007 | Music
The HivesThe Black and White Album(A&M/Octone)The Hives are the first name in Swedish postmodern two-guitar rock bands for good reason. Their guitar lines are often deceptively intricate, and the keyboards and new ambition on The Black and White Album add a level...
by Tom Sturm | Nov 29, 2007 | Music
At least twice in Northampton history, the iconic painting of the Handsome Waiter has been kidnapped and returned from the former Baystate Hotel, once by my own whack-job housemates when I lived on Kingsley Ave. in 1996, and again by some anonymous abductor when the...
by Gary Carra | Nov 29, 2007 | Music
For those who choose to take their level of musicianship past that of the occasional noodler, the path is often much akin to that of any other lifelong addiction.The first instrument’s usually free—a Christmas present from grandma or a birthday gift from...
by Kendra Thurlow | Dec 5, 2007 | Music
On a chilly night in New York in 1835, a fire ignited in a five-story Manhattan warehouse, resulting in the destruction of over 17 blocks. Three days later, Nathaniel Currier presented the New York Sun with a lithograph of the devastating blaze.Pictures in newspapers...
by Valley Advocate Editorial | Dec 5, 2007 | Music
Musician John Cruz, a UMass grad who played in the Valley in various bands, moved back to Hawaii some dozen years ago. A few years back, Cruz was nominated for a Grammy for his Hawaiian slack-key guitar album. He has a new album coming out, getting good reviews and...
by Kendra Thurlow | Dec 5, 2007 | Music
Bands playing the Brass Cat set their amps at a lower volume than they would at, say, Pearl Street Nightclub in Northampton. That’s mostly because the Brass Cat is not a rock club. Sure, bands play there. Many, in fact. But the vibe is chill (though some bands...
by Valley Advocate Editorial | Dec 5, 2007 | Music
DungenTio Bitar(Kemado)This Swedish combo’s surprise breakthrough Ta Det Lugnt fused pastoral psych-folk with hard-riffing classic rock, all sung in their native tongue. The album so perfectly captured the analog vibe of the 1970s that it was tempting to write...
by James Heflin and Gary Carra | Dec 5, 2007 | Music
In a Valley full of bands, it takes an awful lot to rise to real prominence. But all it takes is a visit to a Fear Nuttin Band show to see that these guys have tapped into a bigger sound than the Valley can contain, that they aren’t just peddling a few...
by Matthew Dube | Dec 6, 2007 | Music
Recording engineers constitute a strange breed—a small coterie of gearheads who wilfully spend most of their waking hours in windowless rooms repeatedly listening to and documenting other people’s music. For over 15 years Slaughterhouse Studio owner and...
by Gary Carra | Dec 12, 2007 | Music
Your friendly neighborhood Nightcrawler can't remember the year. But he recalls getting a chuckle out of the fact that he had barely finished his first barley when the topic at the bar swiftly turned—as it always seemed to then—to the area's newest...
by Valley Advocate Editorial | Dec 12, 2007 | Music
The Library Is On FireCassette(independent)Though I remain uncertain what exactly an “art punk” band might be three decades after the punk movement, Cassette is an interesting romp from Brooklyn (by way of Kent, Ohio) band The Library Is On Fire. At first,...
by Kendra Thurlow | Dec 13, 2007 | Music
After a few years, he began to hit a learning wall and the DIY DJ role wasn't cutting the mustard for Mike Webb anymore. Webb's career had begun in the '90s. After observing DJs at house parties and raves in Amherst, Webb, who was born in Chile and raised...
by Levon Kinney | Dec 13, 2007 | Music
On any given night, three floors above Northampton’s Strong Avenue, chances are a band is playing at Bishop’s Lounge. Making the ascent past trendy restaurants where couples gather for candlelit romance and jazz can be something of a pilgrimage, and the...
by Valley Advocate Editorial | Dec 20, 2007 | Music
Magik MarkersBoss(Ecstatic Peace)Magik Markers are Hartford's claim to indie-rock fame. This noise-rock outfit began as a three-piece, but after their bassist departed, that left guitarist/vocalist Elisa Ambrogio and drummer Pete Nolan to continue as a duo....
by Tom Sturm | Dec 20, 2007 | Music
His plea sounded desperate: "What do I have to do to get my band in the paper?"Perhaps I should have just smiled professionally and handed Steve Shwills, singer/guitarist, frontman and songwriting force behind Curious Buddies, a business card, but having had...
by Gary Carra | Dec 20, 2007 | Music
According to legend—or at least whoever wrote the latest Wikepedia entry about it—Finn MacCool was a mythological hunter/warrior who had prophetic powers derived from his thumb.By all accounts, local promoter Scott "Ogre" Lee is a peaceable man...
by Gary Carra | Dec 26, 2007 | Music
The Michael Vick Award for Excellence in Canine Combat: Relax, PETA-philes, this has nothing to do with actual animal cruelty and everything to do with Western Mass.' supremacy in the Bodog Battle Of The Bands contest. Of course, as illustrated by the Dec.6...
by James Heflin | Dec 26, 2007 | Music
Southern Vermont resident Derrik Jordan is, in the best sense, a restless musician. Not only does he successfully smuggle his violin (or guitar, or most any other instrument) into well-charted and uncharted musical territories; he spends time in the farflung places...
by Valley Advocate Editorial | Dec 26, 2007 | Music
TunngGood Arrows(Thrill Jockey)These Brits appear to be onto something (not to mention that they also appear to be on something). With lots of twitchy little samples, found sounds, fuzzy radio noise, finger snaps, chiming bells in reverse and gently plucked guitar,...
by Kendra Thurlow | Dec 27, 2007 | Music
In order to maximize its capacity, Maximum Capacity moved this fall from its old location in Chicopee to 116 School St., doubling in size in the process. The club now boasts an upstairs and a downstairs. Upstairs is a multi-faceted room with an open floor plan. On one...
by Valley Advocate Editorial | Dec 28, 2007 | Music
RajerySofera(Harmonia Mundi)History is replete with examples of musicians who overcame physical obstacles: Jerry Garcia's missing fingertip, Ray Charles' blindness, Dylan's broken neck, etc. Inspiring stories, to be sure, but playing a four-foot...
by James Heflin | Dec 28, 2007 | Music
When Ray Guillemette, Jr. takes the stage, he strides forward with confidence. Perhaps it is a confidence bestowed upon him by his lengthy sideburns, perhaps by his blue velvet coat. But it's clear that sideburns notwithstanding, he is a performer who's got...
by Gary Carra | Dec 28, 2007 | Music
Gruesome imagery, a penchant for disembowelment and an otherwise unhealthy obsession with the occult has made shlock rocker-cum-slasher movie director Rob Zombie a proverbial poster boy for All Hallow's Eve. For the second time in six years, however, the...
by Kendra Thurlow | Dec 28, 2007 | Music
Away from the hustle and bustle, Diva's Nightclub sits on the outskirts of downtown Northampton, a perfect spot for this very "out" club. On its website, Diva's says it's welcoming of all lifestyles, though this nightclub particularly caters to...
by Gary Carra | Dec 28, 2007 | Music
As one might imagine with any venture that includes nearly 60 live acts performing at some 17 venues over a 12-hour period, First Night Northampton is far from a one-man show.At the end of the day—and calendar, in this instance—this year-end bash buck does...
by Kendra Thurlow | Jan 10, 2008 | Music
Gary Culver basically locked himself in his house for six months when he got his first bass guitar in high school. When his parents started yelling at him to get out of the house and go do something else, Culver knew he had a passion for music, specifically jazz....
by Kendra Thurlow | Jan 10, 2008 | Music
What's the best way to get recalcitrant band members to show up for practice? According to Keith LaFlamme of Beastie Boys tribute band Check Your Head, holding band practice in a strip club works like a charm. Tony Santaniello, son of Mardi Gras Nightclub owner...
by Gary Carra | Jan 10, 2008 | Music
True to its moniker, Westfield's Noledge proved that its members were already well schooled in the art of unleashing an airtight audio assault when the band burst onto the local scene with 2002's Changing Tides. After releasing another EP in 2004 and...
by Valley Advocate Editorial | Jan 10, 2008 | Music
Throbbing GristleThe Endless Not(Mute)The most perverse product yet of post-punk nostalgia, Throbbing Gristle's unlikely reunion album has been met by severe skepticism and outright silence. But far from being some bizarre attempt to cash in on the band's...
by James Heflin | Jan 16, 2008 | Music
If you prefer your pints locally brewed and out of the tap, the People's Pint is a lovely place to have food and drink while imbibing the efforts of the local fauna of the musical world.The Pint is, in some ways, an unlikely spot for music—it's full of...
by Valley Advocate Editorial | Jan 17, 2008 | Music
Cat PowerJukebox(Matador)This is the second batch of (often) well-known songs Cat Power has reconfigured, re-envisioned, denatured, up-ended and honored in her slow and soul-soaked way. This time Power is joined with a band that retains some of the grit and swagger of...
by James Heflin | Jan 17, 2008 | Music
There's something in the way guitar wood smells, something in how old amps diffuse the scent of burning dust and mellowing speaker cones that draws in guitar players. Sure, it's all about chords and arpeggios and scales and the like, but there's also an...
by Art Tipaldi | Jan 17, 2008 | Music
Bettye LaVetteJan. 23 at the Iron HorseThis year the Grammy Awards are turning up the heat with blast-furnace-voiced Bettye LaVette. At 62, LaVette performs with the energy today’s 20-something wishes for. Her nightly theatrics erupt into a high energy 90-minute...
