Music
CD Shorts
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti Mature Themes (4AD) Despite the title, Ariel Pink’s new album revels in its juvenile impulses. It’s filled with choruses of “Who sank my battleship?”, references to video games, and odes to schnitzel,...
Behind the Beat: Punchy, Choppy, Groovy
There’s something very natural about bands that feature multiple members of the same family. Maybe growing up in the vicinity of a sibling who also enjoys playing music makes starting a group, if not easier, at least a logical progression. If two such musically...
Behind the Beat: Going Further
After picking up his father’s acoustic guitar at the age of 10, Northampton singer and songwriter Seth Newton knew right away that making music was for him. In fact, after making his professional live debut only two years later at age 12, Newton has never...
CD Shorts
Allah-LasAllah-Las(Innovative Leisure) The debut from Los Angeles’ Allah-Las can be safely slotted into the current retromania craze. The band expertly mixes sleek garage rock with traces of pop, surf, and gentle psychedelica. In a blindfold test, most listeners...
Behind the Beat: Astronaut Folk
Citing their home base as “Space, Mass.—hovering in orbit over Amherst and South Hadley,” the members of Valley band Mass Air Flow clearly have no qualms about portraying themselves as a little out there. However, the story of how the band got its...
Nightcrawler: To Infinity and Beyond
It may be situated in Connecticut’s so-called “quiet corner,” but since opening its doors in 2008, Norfolk’s Infinity Music Hall and Bistro (infinityhall.com) has made quite a stir in the region, delivering more than 900 shows to more than...
Nightcrawler: Strange Folks
Hard to believe it’s that time again. But here they come—an assorted mix of spooks and kooks masquerading as things they are not in the never-ending quest to procure bags of loot. But enough about Election Day. We have All Hallows Eve to contend with...
Behind the Beat: Spacey Dream
The difficult truth about band names is that sometimes, no matter how mysterious or thought-provoking a group’s moniker may appear, it’s also quite possible that the story behind the name is pretty simple. Take for example, the tale behind the name of...
Nightcrawler: 30 Years Young
Given the combined actual ages of the current 34 members on the “active roster,” the Young@Heart Chorus would need close to 3,000 candles to celebrate its collective birthday in the traditional way. But the group of seasoned citizen singers is marking its...
Built to Swill
The last time the band Swillmerchants was interviewed by the Advocate (“Selling Swill,” April 30, 2009), it was a pretty contentious affair. Then-contributor Rebecca Everett followed the rockers back to their lair from a prearranged interview at a local...
Behind the Beat: Pick Any Key
The story of the band Casual Sax begins, as many interesting stories do, with the answering of a Craigslist ad. On July 7, 2011, saxophonist Jonas Cain saw an ad on the popular classifieds website posted by The Hill, an old church/ arts venue located on Chestnut...
Nightcrawler: Rock You Like a Hurricane
Ironically, FAT frontman Peter Newland recalls coming up with the bright idea of Jam 4 Springfield while sitting in his darkened Springfield home just over a year ago. “The tornado had just hit, and it occurred to me that, as destructive as it was,...
Exploded View
The ’90s wouldn’t have been nearly as cool without the frenetic, blues-punk heart attack music of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. Already a veteran of seminal punk-rock bands Pussy Galore and Boss Hog (both with dangerously attractive wife/guitarist...
Behind the Beat: Something From Nothing
Though it’s only taken to area stages under its current name since the spring of 2012, Valley band Empty Banks has a history that extends back to 2006. That was the year when Dan Vaccari (drums), Joel Cameron (electric and upright bass) and Dan Babineau...
CD Shorts
Chris DanielsBetter Days(Moon Voyage) Does the name Chris Daniels ring any bells? How about Sam Bush? Daniels has been in bands with him. Lloyd Maines? Check. Richie Furay? Yep. Béla Fleck? Uh-huh. He hangs with half the bluegrass, folk and country pantheon,...
Nightcrawler: Trash Talk
In baseball, if you manage to maintain a .300-plus average, amass in excess of 3,000 hits and/or sock 500 round-trippers, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll be getting a call from Cooperstown some day. Local folk-rock trio Fancy Trash will be the first to...
Nightcrawler: Parlor Tricks
Jim Olsen has long since established himself as a man with an uncanny knack for finding local talent. When it comes to the latest project his Signature Sounds has lent its support to, the label pres admits it was actually a knock at the door that led to a...
Sounds of England
Spend the night traveling “across the pond” with the Windham Orchestra when director Hugh Keelan brings you the best of his homeland with British Jubilee. You can explore the nocturnal moods of the music of Benjamin Britten, bend your mind around Edward...
CD Shorts
Friends of YoursWhat You’re After(Senselessly Complicated Music)This exceptionally original Northampton duo seems to have added a bass player named Kate since its last full-length release, Contagious. Her parts blend so well into the overall sound that the...
Behind the Beat: Sympathy For the Devil
Though he’s not a Bible thumper in the traditional sense, Valley musician Daniel Richards (aka Reverend Dan) still wants to help others find the path to enlightenment. Instead of spreading his gospel from behind the pulpit in a church, Richards does his...
CD Shorts
Laetitia SadierSilencio(Drag City) Best known as the singer for ‘90s indie band Stereolab, Sadier sticks to her guns on her second solo album. Where her 2010 solo debut The Trip focused on more personal issues, most notably her sister’s suicide, which took...
Dinosaur Jr. Play Pearl Street
Local rock alt-heroes Dinosaur Jr. perform this week in support of their new album, I Bet On Sky. Nov. 28, 8 p.m., Pearl Street Night Club, 10 Pearl St., Northampton, (413) 586-8686, www.iheg.com.
Nightcrawler: Box Set
They traveled down to Memphis to participate in the International Folk Alliance, showcased at the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance and hit D.C., New York and other destinations in recent months. Now Katie Clarke says that her Boxcar Lillies are setting a course home...
CD Shorts
The WhoQuadrophenia [Deluxe Edition](Geffen) In addition to a remastered version of the 1973 album, the deluxe edition of Quadrophenia includes Pete Townsend’s original demo for his epic work. Coming after his ground-breaking rock opera Tommy and the...Rising Tide
Musical talent abounds in the Pioneer Valley, something that’s easy to forget amid the clutter of the everyday. Valley Rising is here to remind us how much good music comes out of our own back yard. A long list of bands entered to be part of the compilation;...
Behind the Beat: Road Warriors
Route 116, familiar to many a Valley resident, spans four different counties and connects Springfield, South Hadley, Amherst and other towns. Commuters and college students alike frequently use the highway, and often joining them in their travels are the members of...
Art in Paradise: Big Box of Jazz
In the liner notes to the new Legacy box set of Louis Armstrong’s Okeh recordings, Armstrong House Museum archivist Ricky Riccardi declares the discs “the most important recordings of the 20th century.” Riccardi may be a slightly biased observer, but...
Nightcrawler: Sky?s the Limit
A sonic paleontologist studying the career and habits of the Valley’s own Dinosaur Jr. should find this week a fascinating case study. This Wednesday, Nov. 28, the Amherst-spawned alt-rock icons return to their old stomping grounds—Pearl Street in...
Public Records
It’s been nearly two decades since Jim Olsen founded Signature Sounds, the Valley-based record label that’s grown from a DIY, spare-room labor of love into a successful business with two full-time and two part-time employees. Now, finally, it’s got...
Behind the Beat: Let It Ride
Featuring members Cameron Moretti (vocals), James Scuderi (guitar), Sean Harrington (guitar), Josh Matte (guitar), Andy Tamulonis (bass) and Joey Barthlette (drums), the New England band Foreign Tongues has been on a tear since it formed in the fall of 2011. The group...
Behind the Beat: Dig and Be Dug
After a cursory glance at the Facebook page for Holyoke band Hot Dirt, one is taken by the group’s lack of prejudice when it comes to musical influences and artists it likes to listen to. John Coltrane, Tool and The Wu-Tang Clan are just a few of the choices...
Here Comes The Sun
If you haven’t heard of The Sun Parade, it may be because they’ve been out of town lately on a multi-city tour of the U.S., from upstate New York to Southern California, where they opened several shows for fellow Valley recording artist Martin Sexton. The...
Nightcrawler: The Yuks Start Here
From its intimate shows at the People’s Pint to sprawling, multi-day/multi-band affairs at Energy Park, Greenfield has been making other entertainment districts green with envy when it comes to both the quantity and quality of musical shows it plays host to...
Music: Wintertime Blues
New Years’s Eve turns into a summertime party as Zach Deputy brings his self-styled “island–infused drum-and-bass gospel ninja soul” to Pearl Street to heat up the evening and ring in 2013 with some seriously good vibes. Deputy is popular on...
CD Shorts
Ari HestThe Fire Plays(Project 4) Ari Hest is the best thing to happen to baritones since the emergence of John Gorka. Maybe it’s the harbor waters—Gorka is from metro New Jersey and Hest from the Bronx. And Paul Simon, whose pen prowess Hest sometimes...
Equality Rocks
Equarox is the merging of two words into one idea: equality rocks. The organization is dedicated to “empowering communities locally and abroad,” according to its founder, John Lewis. Our Children’s World, an international concert this weekend, is the...
Nightcrawler: A Couple of Zingers
It’s not uncommon for folks to have Charles Dickens on their minds this time of year. But while most are conjuring images of the author’s famed Christmas Carol, Joe Urban checked in to share A Tale of Two Cities. Quite simply, it is literally the best and...
Behind the Beat: Beyond Compare
For many, talk of all-female rock bands begins and ends with such punk-inspired groups as the Slits and the Raincoats, ’90s Riot Grrrl acts like Bikini Kill and Bratmobile, or maybe the Valley-connected Fanny, among others. Now music fans can add to that...
CD Shorts
Laetitia SadierSilencio(Drag City) Best known as the singer for ’90s indie band Stereolab, Sadier sticks to her guns on her second solo album. Where her 2010 solo debut The Trip focused on more personal issues, most notably her sister’s suicide, which took...
Noir Folk Project
Ella Longpre’s noir folk project Dust Savior plays the Valley this week. Dec. 20. 9 p.m., Flying Object, 42 West St., Hadley, (413) 387-0333.
Harmonica Legend
Detroit harmonica legend James Montgomery blows some end-of-the-world blues in Northampton this week. Dec. 21, 7 p.m., $17.50/advance, $20/door, Iron Horse Music Hall, 20 Center St., Northampton, (413) 586-8686, www.iheg.com.
Nightcrawler: Picture This
A new image was added to The Gallery this year: the face—and axe-playing skills—of one Ben Lozano. On The Gallery’s horizon is a new audio exhibit in the form of a full-length produced by Warren Huart of Aerosmith/The Fray infamy. In between, the...
CD Shorts
Swans The Seer (Young God) Bands commonly reunite, but they rarely create new music that rivals their original output. Swans are an exception. Almost 30 years after their debut, The Seer could be their magnum opus, a two-hour culmination that also carves out new...
CD Shorts
Dylan LeBlanc Cast the Same Old Shadow (Rough Trade) Two years ago, LeBlanc asked listeners to follow him as he explored the darker side of Southern history on his debut, Paupers Field. Now, still a youthful 22, the singer and songwriter crafts a mature follow-up...
Nightcrawler: Banding Together
A little more than a month after the grisly shootings in Sandy Hook, some four dozen of the region’s top bands are descending upon the Connecticut state capital to raise capital for the victims’ families. Titled Downtown For Newton and involving nine...
CD Shorts
Six Organs of AdmittanceAscent(Drag City) Often dubbed a member of the “new folk” genre, guitarist Ben Chasny indulges a full-fledged electronic experiment on his latest release. Recorded with backing group Comets on Fire, the album is the product of a...
CD Shorts
Hat Check GirlRoad to Red Point(Waterbug) If your idea of a cool country duo is the contrived drama of Lady Antebellum, steer clear of Hat Check Girl (Annie Gallup and Peter Gallway), whose Road to Red Point is populated by drifters, desperados, and losers who wallow...
Behind the Beat: Perfect Harmony
The term “pale rider” has a long history, referring both to one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Death), and to the 1985 Clint Eastwood film of the same name, in which Eastwood plays a ghostly preacher possibly sent from heaven (or hell) to aid some...
Nightcrawler: Something To Fawn Over
He may not serve any rind before its time, but he does have an immediate occupancy opportunity for those seeking a two-bedroom rental in the West Whately area. Local concert promoter Paul Newlin checked in to solicit community input on both his 2013 Watermelon...
?She Bought Us Tacos?
Prior to seeing The Primate Fiasco perform a few years ago, I’d only once before considered the clarinet an instrument that deserved awe or packed much punch. It was years ago in middle school. A group of us sat in the hall, waiting for the first bell to ring....
Nightcrawler: Songs Remain Exactly the Same
They don’t exactly come from the land of ice and snow—rather, the home of the cheesesteak. And it actually hadn’t been as long as usual since Philly’s Get The Led Out had rock ’n’ rolled in the Pioneer Valley. Based on the success...
CD Shorts
Dawn McCarthy and Bonnie “Prince” Billy What the Brothers Sang (Drag City) A collaboration between Dawn McCarthy of Faun Fables and singer-songwriter Bonnie “Prince” Billy, What the Brothers Sang combines folk and country with some elements of...
Behind the Beat: By Popular Demand
Calling the Hampshire College campus in Amherst home, Valley act Kids Choice is more than just your average college band. In fact, the group, whose members—Angus Davidson (violin, vocals), Cooper Evans (keyboard, vocals), Mike Healey (guitar, vocals), Josh Keehn...The Fallen Starlets
The Fallen Starlets celebrate the release of their new CD with Arc City Angels and The Wheel. Jan. 19, 9 p.m., The Elevens, 140 Pleasant St., Northampton, (413) 586-9155.
CD Shorts
Lord Russ Heir of Mystery (Tchoupitoula Music) Russell Brooks, aka Lord Russ, has evolved over time into a fascinating musical creature whose DNA is rich in genetic material from David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Greg Lake, Justin Hayward, Marc Bolan, Syd Barrett and...
CD Shorts
Walter Strauss Planet Solitaire (Redstone) Walter Strauss is dedicated to stretching the acoustic guitar’s boundaries, most recently through explorations of African music. On half of Planet Solitaire’s tracks his six-string emulates the 21-stringed kora....
2012 Nightcrawler Notables
It’s shameless, really, the way members of the fourth estate utilize the holiday season to regurgitate copy published throughout the year under the guise of a Top 10 or some other thinly themed superlative just so they can hit the office party early. But far be...Elizabeth Chang, Violin
Elizabeth Chang plays violin with guest pianist Judith Gordon this week at the University of Massachusetts. Musical works include selections by J.S. Bach, Stephan Wolpe and George Enescu. Jan. 22, 8 p.m., Bezanson Recital Hall, 151 Presidents Drive, UMass-Amherst,...
Art in Paradise: The Christian Sound
In the world of American jazz guitar, one name comes up again and again: Charlie Christian. In his day, the guitar went from rhythm to lead instrument, and, not coincidentally, from electric to acoustic. Much of the transition had purely to do with volume—no...E-Edition
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