Music
by Sarah Gibbons | Jun 26, 2008 | Music
You might hear the name Granola Funk Express and dash the band off as just another bunch of funk-inspired hippies. Although GFE is commonly thought to stand for Granola Funk Express, the band's website offers other options to fill out the acronym: galactic...
by James Heflin | Jul 31, 2008 | Music
Taj Mahal is surely one of Springfield's finest and best-known exports. His version of blues, with its farflung mix of influences and sounds, is like little else. So is his swampy thunder of baritone. And though she is not as well known here, Taj's sister,...
by Sarah Gibbons | Jul 3, 2008 | Music
When Ethan Holtzman was backpacking through Southeast Asia, he came across cassettes of Cambodian pop music from the '60s and '70s—a strange hybrid of traditional Cambodian singing in the Khmer language and '60s surf rock. American and British pop,...
by Advocate staff | Jul 31, 2008 | Music
Sammy WalkerMisfit Scarecrow(Ramseur Records)The name Sammy Walker might ring a few faint bells. Phil Ochs convinced Folkways to record him back in 1974. Two quick albums followed, then a 28-year silence. Walker's new CD is so heavy on topical songs that it feels...
by Kendra Thurlow | Jul 3, 2008 | Music
Twenty-nine-year-old Phil daRosa is concerned about what his health means for him as a musician. "I thought all good men died young," said daRosa over a cup of coffee at the Haymarket in downtown Northampton last month. "And I'm like, 'What?...
by Gary Carra | Jul 31, 2008 | Music
As a producer and engineer for PDP Productions, Brian Westbrook is well schooled in the science of sound. In fact, he's finishing up his bachelor's in sound recording technology at UMass this year. And as PDP's founder and owner, Brian's father, David...
by Matthew Dube | Jul 3, 2008 | Music
Rock audiences are lame. Particularly in indie rock, where anyone who emotes more than a toe-tap, a quasi-rhythmic head-bob, or a slight sway (usually more popular with couples) is treated to a bevy of sideways glances and made to feel self-conscious by the hipster...
by Advocate staff | Aug 7, 2008 | Music
Sa DingdingAlive(Wrase Records)Alive may not be the best pop album of the year, but it's got to be the coolest. Twenty-five-year-old Sa Dingding of China brings Sanskrit, Mandarin, Mongolian and Tibetan song into the age of electronica and sweaty dance floors....
by Gary Carra | Jul 3, 2008 | Music
Considering that they've been known to dress up as Star Wars characters from time to time and often employ others to don "grandmother" outfits and throw cookies to their fans, Chicopee rockers Pallet are no strangers to going over the top. So when the...
by Sarah Gibbons | Aug 7, 2008 | Music
One of Northampton's hidden gems is about to move into the spotlight of Main Street with a relocation of around a tenth of a mile. Dynamite Records boasts humble beginnings. It started some 20 years ago, located in the trunk of a station wagon parked in downtown...
by Advocate staff | Jul 3, 2008 | Music
Colin MeloyColin Meloy Sings Live!(Kill Rock Stars)Recorded during a two-week solo tour in 2006, Colin Meloy Sings Live! is a stripped-down acoustic guitar-and-voice document of the Portland, Oregon-based Decemberists front man at the height of his musical powers....
by Matthew Dube | Aug 7, 2008 | Music
If he had to do it all over again, Carl Newman would have left his band's name—The New Pornographers—off his credit card. The moniker often elicits snide remarks and sidelong glances. They don't tour often these days, so they are looking forward to...
by James Heflin | Jul 10, 2008 | Music
The human mania for categorizing sometimes meets its match in music. Pierre Bensusan is a perfect case in point. The French-Algerian guitarist's music has gathered quite a number of strange descriptions, but is perhaps best captured by the term "chamber...
by Gary Carra | Aug 7, 2008 | Music
Pupils the Pioneer Valley over may be lapping up these dog days of summer, however fleeting they may be. But as their Hannah Montana lunchboxes gather dust, local singer/songwriter Henning Ohlenbusch is hereby declaring that his School For The Dead is officially in...
by Tom Sturm | Jul 10, 2008 | Music
In 1966, the Beach Boys released Pet Sounds, which included the hit tracks "God Only Knows," "Wouldn't It Be Nice?" and the re-arranged traditional "Sloop John B." It marked a creative crescendo in the career of primary songwriter,...
by Gary Carra | Aug 7, 2008 | Music
Skyrocketing oil costs may have the country in a virtual stranglehold. But according to Ed DuFresne, an organizer of the annual Northeast Kingdom (NEK) Music Festival, the prohibitive cost of today's petroleum may have yielded an unexpected economic benefit for...
by Rob Weir | Jul 10, 2008 | Music
Bruce "Utah" Phillips shuffled off this mortal coil on May 23, eight days after his 73rd birthday. What do you call a musician who spent his youth as a bum, couldn't sing or play guitar very well, told outrageous stories, and spent much of his life...
by Gary Carra | Aug 14, 2008 | Music
One band's postponed reunion is shaping up to be another's farewell of sorts. On the heels of the local pop icons The Maggies announcing their third, changed date for their first performance in seven years, Hatfield/Noho garage faves Curious Buddies slid into...
by James Heflin | Jul 10, 2008 | Music
When Stephen Katz breaks out his cello to illustrate a musical point, he often wears an expression somewhere between concentration and delight. If he hits a wrong note or two, he smiles, maybe laughs, and doesn't stop. He's having a very good time. That's...
by Kendra Thurlow | Aug 14, 2008 | Music
"I'm not the best electro DJ in the Valley," said DJ Redshift (a.k.a. Clinton Racine, known to most as Clinto) as we sat sipping cocktails at the newly-renovated Paradise City Tavern. "My forte is definitely drum and bass."However, that's...
by Kendra Thurlow | Jul 10, 2008 | Music
My big question, "How has becoming a mother affected your career?", was answered long before I got Ani DiFranco on the phone. Two days, two phone calls and three conversations with her rep later, I realized that motherhood had indeed affected DiFranco's...
by James Heflin | Aug 14, 2008 | Music
Steve Earle is an intriguing guy—he's a Southerner who lives in New York, a rocking folksinger, and even a former prison inmate. His music is raw and passionate, and covers everything from old-school country to contemporary anti-Bush anthems.He may be rough...
by Ella Longpre | Aug 14, 2008 | Music
Used to playing demanding compositions by Steve Reich and John Cage, Brooklyn-based drumming quartet So Percussion is ready to perform a work they've been brewing all summer in a barn in southern Vermont. A far cry from the likes of Reich's simple...
by Levon Kinney | Aug 14, 2008 | Music
Fortunately for the headbangers of Holyoke, the Waterfront Tavern plays host to great local metal, hardcore and rock all-ages shows (Scott Lee brings bands to the back room) and even acoustic and Celtic bands (in the bar proper).The Waterfront is situated just off...
by Ella Longpre | Aug 21, 2008 | Music
Even by daylight, the Montague Bookmill, an out-of-the-way bookstore hidden by a thick veil of flora and overlooking the Sawmill River, enjoys curiously enviable retail obscurity. A store whose unlikely sales pitch is "books you don't need in a place you...
by Gary Carra | Aug 21, 2008 | Music
Normally, this is the spot where your friendly neighborhood Nightcrawler looks for something—a unique angle, a flashy quote—to pique readers' interest in the event that follows.In the case of journeyman musician Roger Salloom and his impending...
by Advocate staff | Aug 21, 2008 | Music
SteinskiWhat Does It All Mean? 1983-2006 Retrospective(Illegal Art)More than just the godfather of mash-ups and a mixologist supreme, Steinski altered hip-hop's DNA. Early classics seamlessly collaged breakbeats, left-field musical cues, and snatches of movie...
by Matthew Dube | Aug 27, 2008 | Music
When Patrick Borezo started the Autonomous Battleship Collective in 2003, he could not believe how (relatively) easy it was. The loosely-organized production company—which Borezo runs with his wife, Amy—found willing ears, open minds and immediate support...
by Kendra Thurlow | Aug 27, 2008 | Music
There are plenty of worthy destinations in the Berkshires that are household names in the Valley—Shakespeare & Co., Jacob’s Pillow, MASS MoCA and Club Helsinki, to name a few. One of the best attractions, however, may be one of the least well known....
by Gary Carra | Aug 27, 2008 | Music
Self-styled “bloodgrass” practitioners Angry Johnny & The Killbillies had endured, by drummer Sal Vega’s estimates, more than 900 shows and outlasted three vans before proclaiming an indefinite hiatus last December. But now, in the midst of...
by Advocate Staff | Aug 28, 2008 | Music
Walter StraussPulling Shadows(Redstone)Walter Strauss covers a lot of ground. He's based in California, but has co-written with the Valley's Jonathan Stevens, and arranges much of his muscular guitar work to blend with Malian kora master Mamadou Diabate....
by Tom Sturm | Aug 28, 2008 | Music
Perhaps one of the greatest powerpop/rock bands that, by all rights, should have gone global, The Figgs have written dozens of pop gems and even a legendary tale of music industry struggles. Navigating two decades of lineup changes, multiple record labels and several...
by Sarah Gibbons | Aug 28, 2008 | Music
In 10 hours you can get a lot of things done: write the first draft of a short story, drive to Atlanta or fly over an ocean. It’s a chunk of time that makes up most people’s work days and the majority of time they are awake. Dedicating 10 hours to a...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 4, 2008 | Music
The Cool Kids The Bake Sale(Chocolate Industries)Announcing themselves as "the new black version of Beastie Boys," The Cool Kids beat critics to the comparison game. Their debut offers a satisfying revamping of old school tropes, rearranging squishy beats,...
by Matthew Dube | Sep 4, 2008 | Music
Nashville singer/songwriter/poet David Berman has been to hell and back and lived to sing the tale. The former University of Massachusetts student and mastermind behind the Silver Jews has come out the other side of a series of health issues and personal...
by Kendra Thurlow | Sep 4, 2008 | Music
F ull of synthesized loops and ass references, Lovewhip's music sounds like the B-52s covering Missy Elliot tunes. In the band's fast-paced songs, '80s-style instrumentation meets 21st-century lyrics. Lovewhip is the electronica duo of lead...
by Gary Carra | Sep 4, 2008 | Music
While the country still seems to be basking in the glow of Michael Phelps and his historic medal count (or Youtubing that Cuban tae kwon do guy kicking the referee in the face), the Valley's own Jose Ayerve has quietly mined an oft-overlooked musical...
by Tom Sturm | Sep 4, 2008 | Music
Springfield and its satellite towns experienced a renaissance of hard rock and metal in the wake of the major label signing of Staind, and bands like The Acacia Strain, Killswitch Engage and Splitshift have since toured the world, widening the Valley's reputation...
by Sarah Feldberg | Sep 11, 2008 | Music
With the exception of an intense, short-lived fascination with rock journalism (circa seventh grade), I've been a fairly capricious, fickle music fan, in search of the compellingly listenable pop gem. I download singles. I have infatuations with new artists, but...
by Levon Kinney | Sep 11, 2008 | Music
There will be no fake blues in Northampton on Sunday night as The Reel Blues Fest takes over the Academy of Music with monumental musicians like James Cotton and Jay Geils performing on stage. The show features the Kramer/Montgomery Band (pictured) with Joey Kramer of...
by Ella Longpre | Sep 11, 2008 | Music
It was show time at Mystery Train Records in Amherst, and someone had just ordered a pizza. The first act was supposed to start crooning blues over a 12-string guitar, but there was no sign of a stage. A shopper sat on a green couch, evaluating the LPs in his lap;...
by Advocate staff | Sep 11, 2008 | Music
The Verve Forth(Megaforce/Sony)The Verve are tenacious. After having the royalties from their biggest hit siphoned off by the Rolling Stones' lawyers, the band nearly imploded, but they're back and as willful as ever, welding unsettling textures on songs that...
by Ella Longpre | Sep 11, 2008 | Music
As of this writing, the Black Moon is just an open room with the makings of a bar in one corner and a bare stage in another. There are no guitarists tuning up or customers shouting orders over a din—only the whirring of power tools. But by October, the space...
by Gary Carra | Sep 17, 2008 | Music
Certainly a novel move, as electronic press kits go. But really, to include choice excerpts from a scathing review and even include a link to the entire article in such a prominent position on a band's website–could this Low Anthem be high?"We just...
by Kendra Thurlow | Sep 17, 2008 | Music
These days, he’s busy saving historic houses. But before he was engaged with preservation, Jordi Herold was all things music. He opened the Iron Horse in 1979, and remained its booking agent until 2004—even after he sold the establishment in 1994. For the...
by James Heflin | Sep 18, 2008 | Music
When it comes to ’80s rock, it’s hard to find redeeming value in anything very popular beyond aberrations like U2. But among the bands delivering distinctive, innovative sounds, few guitarists offered such a virtuosic touch as Curt Kirkwood of the Meat...
by James Heflin | Sep 25, 2008 | Music
When I first came to the Valley as a UMass English MFA student in the mid-'90s, I was fresh off a four-year stint in a Pogues-like Irish band in Texas. I wasn't a virtuosic player, but I was an enthusiastic flailer who got by on having good rhythm. My old band...
by Kendra Thurlow | Sep 25, 2008 | Music
Over the past decade-plus that I've lived in the Pioneer Valley, I've seen many different incarnations of the DJ scene. I began my education during my college days when I got a job at a caf? next door to Amherst's The Growroom, an underground music store...
by Tom Sturm | Sep 25, 2008 | Music
So spoke J.D. Keating, in prescient foretelling of my likely return to said valley, as he carried off my stereo receiver from my Kingsley Ave. apartment in January of 1997. I was selling off all my possessions (including a healthy collection of board games that Mike...
by Natalia Munoz | Sep 25, 2008 | Music
The chances of hearing strains of Latino music throughout the Pioneer Valley are no longer confined to chance encounters at red lights, the big public parties at the Springfield and Holyoke annual Puerto Rican parades or even flag raisings honoring a growing number of...
by Matthew Dube | Sep 25, 2008 | Music
During this Grand Band Slam season—a time for celebrating the depth and diversity of the local music scene—we thought it would be a nice idea to shine a light on a new band that slipped through the sieve this go-round. To that end, the Advocate talked to...
by Gary Carra | Sep 25, 2008 | Music
Almost anyone can put their finger on the pulse of the local music scene if they really want to get out there and put the time in. The following people have their digits firmly planted on the radio knobs, computer keyboards and dayrunners that get bands around these...
by Advocate staff | Sep 25, 2008 | Music
This year's Grand Band Slam nominations and voting yielded a large and diverse cross-section of Valley bands. In addition to reconfiguring our categories to better match the music, we've added something entirely new: editor's picks. We cherish the views of...
by Advocate staff | Sep 25, 2008 | Music
Fear Nuttin Band Of the many fine bands to come from Springfield, none seems more powerful to my ears than Fear Nuttin. The raucous energy of hardcore and the tumbling rhythms of Jamaican dancehall combine in their hands to become something with profound groove and...
by Advocate Staff | Sep 25, 2008 | Music
Springfield's Symphony Hall is a standing reminder of the enduring ideals of American culture. Erected in 1912, a little after the height of the Greek Revival style, the building's facade includes Corinthian pillars, a customary triangular pediment, and ornate...
by J.M Dobies | Sep 25, 2008 | Music
I started "The Bay State Cabaret" with a grant from the Northampton Arts Council to produce an eclectic blend of music, comedy and spoken word. But when the comedy bombed and the spoken word sucked, it quickly became all music. After several shows had done...
by James Heflin | Sep 25, 2008 | Music
The Advocate has long been an observer of Valley music, and, though we'd never give up our critical notions, it's also part of our mission to be a catalyst and an advocate with a small "a." It is with that in mind that we brought some innovations to...
by Tom Sturm | Sep 25, 2008 | Music
It's not often that one gets to learn from an instructor as skilled (and busy) as guitarist Brooks Williams (pictured). This Saturday, Greenfield's Artspace offers an opportunity to do just that at their Artspace Guitar Day. In collaboration with fellow...
by David Sokol | Sep 25, 2008 | Music
It wasn't the pay that lured me in as Advocate music editor, a post I took in early 1977 and held for 16 years. Twenty-five bucks a week was nice, but. Back then, there was a thriving local and regional music scene, with scores of clubs and concert halls...
by Matthew Dube | Sep 25, 2008 | Music
If you were entertaining thoughts of purchasing a fine handmade guitar from Ivon Schmukler, you had better start searching and be ready to open up your wallet. Schmukler—local guitar repairman, guitar maker and instructor—got a recent visit from a former...
