Music
by Advocate staff | May 28, 2009 | Music
Warsaw Village BandInfinity(Barbes Records)The Warsaw Village Band is not your grandmother's Polish dance ensemble. You won't find a polka until track nine, and good luck recognizing it! This is traditional Polish music as filtered through industrial rock,...
by Lee Taylor | Apr 30, 2009 | Music
Three's a crowd, but two can still be plenty loud—witness the spastic guitar and blunt, poetic punk singing that is Mecca Normal.The group formed in 1984 and has released an album, it seems, on almost every large independent label in the country. Singer Jean...
by Matthew Dube | Jun 4, 2009 | Music
Jerry Brookman fell in love with music as a boy in Middletown, Conn., riding shotgun in his father's old '69 Chevy pickup on their weekly trips to the dump. "We'd drive around, listening to old AM radio stations," he recalls. "I remember he...
by Matthew Dube | May 7, 2009 | Music
Matt Krefting likes to sing in the car. A lot. His daily commuting activities, loudly accompanying his car stereo, served as inspiration for the avant-gardist's first solo album, a foray into a new realm of songs and performance. Most musicians follow the familiar...
by James Heflin | Jun 4, 2009 | Music
The Northampton Center for the Arts often hosts interesting and innovative work, and June 14 brings that venerable locale a combination of old and new that ought to prove quite enticing. On the Valley dance scene since 1998, Ines Arrubla is a flamenco dancer who's...
by Advocate staff | May 7, 2009 | Music
Lady SovereignJigsaw(Midget Records)In a few turbulent years, Lady Sovereign catapulted from underground grime MC to appearances on Total Request Live. In the spotlight, Lady Sov suffered a well-publicized breakdown, losing the plot and her deal with Def Jam. Her...
by Tom Sturm | Jun 4, 2009 | Music
A host of voices in harmony is perhaps one of the most spine-tingling musical experiences an audience can take in, especially in an acoustically superior room. Composers of sacred music (and architects of churches and cathedrals) have understood this for centuries,...
by Gary Carra | May 7, 2009 | Music
True to form, veteran Valley songwriter Jose Ayerve says that he and his Spouse-mates J.J. O'Connell and Ken Mauiri are brimming with song ideas for their scheduled recording session later this summer. But how will they decide what will make the cut for what will...
by Advocate staff | Jun 4, 2009 | Music
ISISWavering Radiant(Ipecac)Art metal has often had the misfortune of being a genre whose sound you can't quite put your finger on, but with their latest release, ISIS seem on the verge of taking their music to an even rarer realm: the mainstream. Ambient guitar...
by Becky Everett | May 7, 2009 | Music
Located under Table 9, The Basement used to be one of Northampton's best kept secrets on the nightclub scene—until Jimmy Fallon discovered it on a recent visit and gushed about it on Late Night. The comedian found the hole-in-the-wall club after his April 18...
by Gary Carra | Jun 4, 2009 | Music
As chronicled here over the past half a decade, all-female rockers Antigone Rising (antigonerising.com) have overcome many hurdles that would have rendered lesser bands down and out.True, Antigone may have antagonized some of the heartbreak themselves—choosing...
by Advocate staff | May 7, 2009 | Music
Allen ToussaintThe Bright Mississippi(Nonesuch)Allen Toussaint's Bright Mississippi is an after-the-storm celebration of the old New Orleans jazz spirit. Toussaint borrows songs from all across the timeline, celebrating the lineage and history of the bayou and...
by Tom Sturm | Jun 11, 2009 | Music
Billy Bragg has been a restless and controversial character for most of his life, swerving back and forth between a musical career and various forays into politics like a drunk driver who's still not quite sure what side of the road he's supposed to be driving...
by Fraylie Nord | May 14, 2009 | Music
Straight out of Boston in their veggie oil -powered band van, The Grownup Noise is a playfully poppy indie rock quartet with armfuls of groove. Their basic rock instrumentation—drums, guitar and bass—is laced with melodic vocals and stirring cello.May 15,...
by Jennifer Burwell | Jun 11, 2009 | Music
Tom Jones's musical career spans almost 50 years with 32 studio albums and collaborations with a diverse set of artists including Wyclef Jean, Bono and The Edge, Pavarotti, Van Morrison, and avant-garde techno group Art of Noise. He has won numerous music awards...
by Gary Carra | Jun 11, 2009 | Music
To his credit, Bob Pepek has always played it cool. At family functions, concerts, or just random encounters at a local watering hole, someone invariably comes up and asks him how his musical career is going, then ultimately concludes, "Well, you should be on a...
by Rachel Cummings | Jun 11, 2009 | Music
Local record label Signature Sounds celebrates 15 years of the Green River Festival at Greenfield Community College on July 17, 18 and 19. Live music on two stages, a dance tent, food vendors from local restaurants, activities for kids, hot air balloons—what...
by Matthew Dube | Jun 11, 2009 | Music
Northampton rock trio Bunny's A Swine has some valuable advice for other local groups: "Having a song named after a movie star is great for Google hits," says guitarist and singer Candace Clement. "That's a freebie from us to other up-and-coming...
by Tom Sturm | Jun 11, 2009 | Music
In perhaps its most apropos version to date, the Northampton Arts Council's annual Transperformance returns for its 19th annual reincarnation, this time with the theme "Woodstock." The Transperformance is a yearly event in which local performers don the...
by Rachel Cummings | Jun 11, 2009 | Music
WMUA 91.1 FM kicks off the summer with a free avant-garde rock and roll show on Monday, June 15 at Earthfoods Cafe in the UMass Campus Center. These Are Powers (pictured), a Brooklyn-based group, headlines the live show with their unique electronica and experimental...
by Advocate staff | Jun 11, 2009 | Music
Larry Jon WilsonLarry Jon Wilson(Drag City)The fifth album from Larry Jon Wilson is his first studio album since 1980, although "studio" might be an inappropriate way to describe this self-titled collection. Larry Jon Wilson was recorded in a condo; every...
by Gary Carra | Jun 11, 2009 | Music
Really, there was no excuse for it. Your friendly neighborhood Nightcrawler could say that he was watching it on a small, flip-down screen. It was a wide camera shot. And he had just helped his beach neighbors rigorously test their latest batch of homemade wine.But a...
by Tom Sturm | Jun 18, 2009 | Music
Bunnies are an odd and quite possibly unique band blending chunky, distorted guitars with analog synths, odd-timed beats and swirling, psychedelic melodies to create something that, in spite of the usually rigid laws of space-time, could perhaps co-exist in 3,000...
by Advocate staff | Jun 18, 2009 | Music
Celtic TenorsHard Times(Tayberry Records)The Celtic Tenors—Matthew Gilsenan, James Nelson and Daryl Simpson—call themselves "classical crossover artists," a vaguely insulting term that implies these frothy forays are a break from...
by Matthew Dube | Jun 18, 2009 | Music
Amherst's Hadoken—a band comprised of six full-timers—finds it impossible to cite universal influences. "Each member has drastically different musical tastes and background," says guitarist and trombonist William Theis. "We don't...
by Michael Cimaomo | Jun 18, 2009 | Music
Guitarist Pat Metheny and vibraphonist Gary Burton first played together in the '70s and recorded such albums as Dreams So Real and Passengers before parting ways. Now, having already brought their virtuosic playing to the ears and minds of music fans the world...
by Gary Carra | Jun 18, 2009 | Music
Text an e-invite. Add a Facebook event. And post a link to the Myspace on the email blast so you can whet some appetites with exclusive streaming audio. The technology is all there, so why not use it, right? In fairness, veteran Valley songsmith Ray Mason has...
by Tom Sturm | Jun 25, 2009 | Music
Thurston Moore's Easthampton-based indie record label Ecstatic Peace (once a neighbor of the Advocate in the vast Eastworks building) has cranked out underground gems for years. Releases by artists like Magik Markers, Awesome Color, Free Kitten and Black...
by Rachel Holliday Smith | Jun 25, 2009 | Music
If you're looking for smoky jazz in June, grab tickets to see Madeleine Peyroux at the Calvin. Peyroux grew up in the U.S., but got her career started in Paris, where she sang on the street as a teenager. This week Peyroux slinks into town on a tour in support of...
by Matthew Dube | Jun 25, 2009 | Music
Live music has always elicited an array of responses: clapping, moshing, a sea of cigarette lighters raised aloft. The sounds of Noise Nomads—the current vehicle for revered Western Mass noise peddler Jeff Hartford—have provoked reactions on the extreme...
by Gary Carra | Jun 25, 2009 | Music
Almost a decade in, and guitarist Jason Salois freely admits that his band, Nol*Edge, is still navigating its way along the sizeable learning curve that is the biz, so to speak. But this time—for the first time, he notes—it sure is starting to feel like...
by Tom Sturm | Jun 25, 2009 | Music
Much as the print medium has evolved in the last several years, the medium of radio has, after hauling its mass out of the swamp of iron-clad commercial airwaves, begun to grow legs and tentacles of all shapes and sizes. What people choose to listen to comes from ever...
by James Heflin | Jun 30, 2009 | Music
Ira McKinley of Social Change in Mind doesn't care for the stereotypes that come with being homeless: "Me myself being a homeless person, [I] want to show that not all of us… deserve the stigma of being lazy and a bunch of drunks and...
by Advocate Staff | Jun 30, 2009 | Music
Cheryl WheelerPointing at the Sun(Dias)More classic Cheryl Wheeler: novelty songs, wry commentary, and achingly beautiful reflections on love, longing and life. Cats are the foil for three silly songs, and the antidote for the feathers she ruffles with the title...
by Advocate staff | Jun 30, 2009 | Music
New York Dolls'Cause I Sez So(Atco)The second album by the reformed New York Dolls reunites them with original producer Todd Rundgren, but don't expect a helping of glam-punk nuggets. These Dolls may feature original members David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain,...
by Matthew Dube | Jun 30, 2009 | Music
"The Bunwinkies are characters from a Victorian children's story," says Shannon Ketch, explaining the origin of his band's moniker. "They are a family of rabbits who see the flaws in human ways and decide to keep to their own natural ways. They...
by Gary Carra | Jun 30, 2009 | Music
Truth be told, Tom Kielbania, Jr. is actually a fairly skilled, extremely versatile handyman—as adept at general construction and framing as he is at masonry work and sheetrock.And while the edition of Extreme Home Makeover that took place late in June in...
by Michael Cimaomo | Jul 16, 2009 | Music
After winning fame and a recording contract through participation in the Bodog Battle of the Bands, Springfield's Fear Nuttin' Band (pictured) has parted ways with the label and now brings its unique sound back to the Pioneer Valley. Cleverly combining metal,...
by Advocate Staff | Jul 16, 2009 | Music
VetiverThing of the Past(Gnomonsong)California-based Vetiver's album of obscure cover tunes might seem a bit quaint or precious (nostalgia for nostalgia's sake), but its intentions are pure, and the sensitive execution on the recording feels genuine and...
by Michael Cimaomo | Jul 16, 2009 | Music
For 15 years, Signature Sounds Recordings of Whately has sought out innovative ways of promoting artists and distributing music to fans around the world. Now, to celebrate its years of success, the local label is holding an anniversary celebration at this year's...
by James Heflin | Jul 16, 2009 | Music
Back in 1988, the Jungle Brothers offered up a very fine disc called Straight Out the Jungle. The music has the expected dose of old-school hip-hop, but the sounds head in an interesting direction, with sampling that borrows from jazz, prefiguring "acid...
by Tom Sturm | Jul 16, 2009 | Music
A few months ago we were visited by one Daniel Hales, a longtime Valley artist whom I had known peripherally through various musical contacts, and whose other projects, S.H.A.R.Q. and The Ambiguities, had spun on our disc players. Hales foisted upon us his latest (and...
by Jennifer Burwell | Jul 16, 2009 | Music
Pittsfield celebrates Independence Day early this year with the American Jazz Repertory Orchestra, a 16-piece big band, by playing big band-era American standards and big band interpretations of jazz classics. The event is sponsored by Berkshires Jazz and features...
by Matthew Dube | Jul 16, 2009 | Music
"They are simultaneously the best and worst band in Turners Falls," says Turners Falls music impresario and Flaming Dragons of Middle Earth documenter Neil "Neeel" Young. "I would argue that what they do is pure magic."Describing...
by Tom Sturm | Jul 16, 2009 | Music
The center of the universe is bound to attract a lot of things just by the sheer force of its gravitational pull, and its metaphysical, metaphorical namesake (according to bumper stickers), the Town of Easthampton, is no different. Aside from the usual artists,...
by Gary Carra | Jul 16, 2009 | Music
You're outnumbered, outgunned. Back against the wall. Each breath that you draw you're sure will be your last, when out in the distance, surfacing just over the hill—is it? Could it be?Yes, thank God… here comes The Brigade.Okay, so maybe it's...
by Gary Carra | Jul 16, 2009 | Music
While it may not be the most popular shade for homes or automobiles, there is certainly no color in the spectrum with the symbolic power of green.Be red with anger if you'd like. Or yellow with cowardice. But only green can elicit notions of finance to some,...
by Advocate Staff | Jul 23, 2009 | Music
MaplewoodYeti Boombox(Tapete Records)Maplewood stirs up a pot of heady harmony on Yeti Boombox, nodding toward the breezy country rock of California in the early '70s. Much of the record features swirling melodies and lazily drifting, reverbed guitar. There's...
by Matthew Dube | Jul 23, 2009 | Music
Cave Bears, an experimental noise duo from Turners Falls featuring Carrie Strimbeck and Nick Williams, prove that you don't need to play guitars, drums or keys to put on a good show."We are prone to wrecking our guitars and drums live," explains...
by Tom Sturm | Jul 23, 2009 | Music
Cold Duck Complex, a live funk/jazz/hip-hop staple of the Amherst scene for nearly a decade, was, according to Joey Freshwater (a.k.a. Joe Cardozo), running out of steam when he essentially commissioned his mates to make one more recording, calling it Cold Duck...
by Rachel Holliday Smith | Jul 23, 2009 | Music
Though Joan Baez has lived all over the world, she got her start in music by busking in Boston when she was a teenager. Soon after, she gave her first serious public performance at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island. Fifty years later, she's coming...
by Advocate staff | Jul 23, 2009 | Music
Bat for LashesTwo Suns(Astralwerks)Bat for Lashes' second album has a split personality. On the one hand, Two Suns features songs brimming with unexpected stylistic juxtapositions. The melodramatic "Glass" successfully combines operatic vocals, tribal...
by Gary Carra | Jul 30, 2009 | Music
When it came to selecting the band's name back in February, 2008, Dan Soule admits they didn't look much further than the Sunday funny pages."Andy Capp, of course," The Capps singer says of his moniker's origins. "I mean, what's not to...
by Matthew Dube | Jul 30, 2009 | Music
Spend a little time with local musician Evil Bill and you'll notice a number of things about his demeanor: thoughtful, philosophical, observant, understated. But evil? Not really."I think it started as a joke," says Evil Bill, a.k.a. Bill Stearman....
by James Heflin | Jul 30, 2009 | Music
Billy Bragg, fiery left winger and writer of gorgeous, idiosyncratic songs, began his career taking to the London streets, cleverly outfitted with an electric guitar and a backpack amplifier complete with stereo speakers stuck out on armatures on either side of his...
by James Heflin | Jul 30, 2009 | Music
If you've been in the Valley a few years, you've probably heard the name Gideon Freudmann. Freudmann is the purveyor of a peculiar and interesting brand of cello playing he calls "cellobop," in which he plays his electric cello through a slew of...
by Advocate staff | Jul 30, 2009 | Music
The CappsBroken Hands/Broken Hearts(Ghost Dog)In many respects, Westfield's The Capps play in very familiar territory. Heavy slabs of power-chord guitar drive their sound, and the lead vocals land exactly in the zone of much modern day post-punk punk a la Green...
by Gary Carra | Jul 30, 2009 | Music
Is there a tried and true recipe for success in the music biz?History would suggest not. In fact, it almost reveals the polar opposite—each established artist seems to have as different a route to the top as there are tales of the thousands who failed to follow...
by Advocate Staff | Aug 6, 2009 | Music
Six Organs of AdmittanceLuminous Night(Drag City)On their first album in two years, Six Organs of Admittance (aka Ben Chasny) conjure up an intriguing soundscape that is equal parts easy listening and soundtrack to the best movie you have never seen. The latter should...
by James Heflin | Aug 6, 2009 | Music
The evolution of Easthampton into an ever more art-friendly place has been missing one of its most important progenitors for quite a while now: the Flywheel Arts Collective, a group which began in 1998 and opened the doors to its performance space in early 1999.Its...
