Uncategorized
by Amanda Drane | Nov 5, 2015 | Get Out With Staff Picks, News, Uncategorized
Mass Appeal 2 • Saturday At this 413 Battle League event, it’s every Massachusetts man for himself — the event’s headline rap battles, Massachusetts vs. Everyone, pit Mass MCs against out-of-state rivals. As if watching these lyrical engineers fight to outwit and...
by Kristin Palpini | Nov 3, 2015 | Arts, News, Uncategorized
Military veterans aren’t always open to sharing their war stories with a public that can’t possibly comprehend what it’s like to be in a foreign land, with a gun, an enemy, and a mission. So when people who have given a portion of their lives to protecting the nation...
by Hunter Styles | Nov 3, 2015 | MGM Springfield Casino coverage, News, Uncategorized
Hooh, boy. It’s been a roller coaster ride for MGM Springfield over the past few weeks, replete with rejiggered construction timelines, changed plans, and urgent backroom meetings with the mayor’s office. Here are our greatest hits on the casino playlist this week:...
by Hunter Styles | Nov 3, 2015 | Articles, Featured, Uncategorized
The Valley is full of good Asian noodle soups, so we tried three. I’m a child of chilly New England, where steaming cups of soup are most often consumed under blankets while the snow flurries outside. But last year, in Thailand, I tried a piping hot bowl of rice soup...
by Kristin Palpini | Nov 3, 2015 | Uncategorized
Oxen The Vanishing, LP Oxen is a heavy rock band that forgoes a front man and introduce multi-member vocals that run the gamut from soaring melodies to gruff intensity, over heavy riff driven music. Tom Newton No Bones About It, LP Newton is a multi-instrumentalist...
by Advocate Staff | Oct 26, 2015 | Arts, News, Uncategorized
Through November 28th, the Forest Park Gallery is showing an exhibit by Dr. Gloria Caballer-Arce, a local artist and retired educator. The exhibit, Astonishing Inspirations, features work defined by geometric shapes, lines, and intense colors. The opening reception,...
by Jennifer Levesque | Oct 26, 2015 | Arts, News, Uncategorized
This Halloween, get your costumes ready and head over to the Iron Horse for the Annual Halloween Bones Shakedown with DJs LeFox (Sugar Biscuit) & Hip Sockit (Pollinate). It’s a dance party with prizes, so to win, you gotta DANCE! A night of costumed attendees and...
by Kristin Palpini | Oct 26, 2015 | Arts, News, Uncategorized
On Thursday, the anonymous feminist activist group Guerrilla Girls will be holding a public talk at Smith College, including a live performance conveying the story of the group’s activism and creative work, in order to discuss sexism and racism in the arts. The talk...
by Advocate Staff | Oct 26, 2015 | Arts, Music, News, Uncategorized
On Friday, UMass Amherst Fine Arts Center welcomes five-time Grammy winner Dianne Reeves. The jazz singer, accompanied by an award-winning quintet, is on tour performing work from her first new album in five years, “Life is Beautiful,” including covers of Bob Marley,...
by Advocate Staff | Oct 26, 2015 | Arts, Film, News, Uncategorized
Friday, the Bing Arts Center will host a costume party to accompany a screening of the vampire mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows (rated R). The film, which stars Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, and Jonathan Brugh, follows the adventures of four vampires who live...
by Hunter Styles | Oct 26, 2015 | Uncategorized
Where on the spectrum does Colorway play? I might say these musicians are best at capturing the light, bright tones of late morning or mid-afternoon, given their talent for writing sunny and engaging pop songs. But band leader F. Alex Johnson, one of the founders of...
by Amanda Drane | Oct 26, 2015 | Arts, News, Uncategorized
On Halloween, Carl and Martin Bridge — the brothers behind Janus Arts — will transform Gateway City Arts into a kaleidoscopic wonderland for the third year running. Swirling specters and luminous skeletons will abound as a host of musicians and DJs drop bone-rattling...
by Amanda Drane | Oct 19, 2015 | Articles, Arts, Featured, Scene Here, Uncategorized
AMANDA DRANE PHOTO The Mary Jane Jones kicks off the night of comedy and lingerie at One Bar and Grill in Northampton with several soulful love songs. Eyes closed, lead singer Mandy Pachios growls a velvet reverie. A shot girl in a form-fitting, black nightgown with a...
by Kristin Palpini | Oct 19, 2015 | Between the Lines, Uncategorized
For as long as they’ve been around, charter schools have been a controversial topic in education. But the federal government has the power to settle this beef once and for all: Stop pitting schools against each other for funding and provide all schools with adequate...
by Kristin Palpini | Oct 19, 2015 | Arts, News, Uncategorized
In Western Mass, we like our Irish music year-round and the Big Bad Bollocks brings it. Screenwriter William Monahan describes the group succinctly as the “Pogues fused with the Sex Pistols.” Big Bad Bollocks: Friday, 7 p.m. to midnight, VFW Florence, 18 Meadow St.,...
by Hunter Styles | Oct 7, 2015 | Articles, Blogs, Featured, The Uncanny Valley, Uncategorized
by Hunter Styles Staff writer Amanda Drane has worked in the local food industry for 10 years, and she’s shared with us some truly great stories of her time in the kitchen, including a couple about the haunted room at Spoleto, an Italian restaurant in Northampton. One...
by Hunter Styles | Oct 2, 2015 | MGM Springfield Casino coverage, News, On Springfield, Uncategorized
If there is a silver lining to MGM Springfield’s construction delays, it may be that casino execs have had some extra time to check the books on this $800+ million project. And it’s a good thing they did. Due to budgetary concerns, the company has just announced that...
by Amanda Drane | Sep 22, 2015 | News, Uncategorized
About a quarter of Springfield’s population has asthma — 21 percent of children and 18 percent of adults — and that’s nearly double the statewide average. As if that weren’t bad enough, those with asthma stand to suffer the most as climate change worsens, according to...
by Amanda Drane | Jul 8, 2015 | Arts, Music, Uncategorized
Mikey Sweet The North King (Independent) Mikey Sweet may have grown up in the Valley, but his debut album, The North King, tells us he’s been places. Songs like “Driftwood” illicit images of a boy and his guitar and the road, and song titles like “Oklahoma Wind” show...
by Sarah Werthan Buttenwieser | Jul 7, 2015 | Uncategorized
It is, I realize, July and it is already summer. I tend to post my Annual Summer Wish List a good bit earlier, sometime in June. Better late than never, people! In general, I end up with a dizzying list that includes many things I may or may not ever do (that...
by James Heflin | Jun 30, 2015 | Uncategorized
Northampton’s Hosmer Gallery (inside the Forbes Library) offers an intriguing abundance of art this month. For the series “Curatorial 365,” Easthampton’s Leslie Tane (whose work is pictured) created a 4×6-inch postcard every day during 2014. Each was crafted...
by Hunter Styles | May 12, 2015 | Arts, Music, Uncategorized
My Morning Jacket The Waterfall (ATO Records) The sunny and spirited seventh record from My Morning Jacket is the closest thing the band has ever recorded to a summer road album. The Waterfall is a bright distillation of some of the group’s signature trappings, and it...
by Sarah Werthan Buttenwieser | Mar 20, 2015 | Blogs, Sitting On The Baby, Uncategorized
One thing that I found especially shocking when I became a first-time mama to a boy was the assumption that boys are genetically programmed to like trucks and balls and big creatures like dinosaurs. Some boys adore all of the above. Some don’t. The fact that my...
by Kristin Palpini | Mar 10, 2015 | News, Uncategorized
Kevin Gutting Photo Some shiver; some don’t. Some stamp their feet to keep warm, while others sit on benches and hug themselves. When the wind dies down, the March sun almost feels warm. Spring is coming, supposedly, but on this Tuesday the temperature at this...
by James Heflin | Mar 10, 2015 | Uncategorized
Some people blame John F. Kennedy’s wind-blown locks. Others blame the narrow space between the tops of post-World War II cars and their occupants’ heads. Whatever the reason, it’s clear that the old-school men’s hat has gone the way of sock suspenders and spats, a...
by Chuck Shepherd | Mar 10, 2015 | Uncategorized
Shooting “upskirt” photos of a 13-year-old girl is not illegal in Oregon, declared Judge Eric Butterfield in February, thus acquitting Patrick Buono, 61, of the crimes of invasion of privacy and “encouraging child sexual abuse.” Buono’s behavior was “appalling,” Judge...
by Amanda Drane | Mar 10, 2015 | News, Uncategorized
If there was a mascot for Blarney Blowout, it’d be a green can of beer wearing a baseball cap. They’d call him Blarney, of course, and his nemesis would be Blowout because blowing out the contents of your stomach seems to be a big part of the day for a lot of people....
by Hunter Styles | Mar 10, 2015 | Between the Lines, News, Uncategorized
In early 2014, former Gov. Deval Patrick proposed the creation of an office of the state climatologist, to be housed at the Northeast Climate Science Center at UMass Amherst. By July, when Patrick signed the fiscal 2015 budget, the funding for that office stood at...
by Amanda Drane | Mar 10, 2015 | Arts, News, Uncategorized
In the thousands of years before European settlers arrived in the Valley, David Brule says, the Connecticut River basin was a place Native American tribes gathered peacefully to fish and farm. Since then, humanity’s relationship with the river has grown much more...
by Chuck Shepherd | Mar 3, 2015 | Articles, Featured, News, News of the Weird, Uncategorized
The Utah Court of Appeals ruled in February that Barbara Bagley has a legal right to sue herself for her own negligent driving that caused the death of her husband. Typically, in U.S. courts, a party cannot profit from its own negligence, but Bagley is the official...
by Oh My | Jul 29, 2009 | Uncategorized
Hot steamy night…good night to give a heads up to Le Penis. One might think that hot and steamy etc. go well with the penis..but if it is not paired with the right wine there is nothing there from a gourmet perspective except a hot dog maybe a brat. On its own...
by Oh My | Jul 29, 2009 | Uncategorized
pleasure a: sensual gratification b: frivoulous amusement and a source of delight or joy.Oh My a Sensuality Shop has been hidden away in this happy little valley for about 6 years. It has been our pleasure to offer our friends neighbors acquaintances and total...
by Local Spins | Nov 16, 2007 | Uncategorized
We’d love to hear your thoughts on this album, so please have a listen (go here for samples at Amazon, or go to the band’s site) and add your comments below.Back when The Mobius Band was in the Valley (the trio has since moved to Brooklyn), they were one...
by Local Spins | Nov 21, 2007 | Uncategorized
I went with a friend to see Martin Sexton at the Calvin a couple weeks back for his tour-ending show, and it was tough going.Though his most recent album didn’t make me "happy," I’d enjoyed some of his other releases, and so many friends had told...
by Local Spins | Dec 4, 2007 | Uncategorized
You can check out samples of this album here or here.I’ve been a major Sonic Youth fan since somewhere around 1985, so I suppose I’m predisposed to like this one. It’s clear very quickly that a lot of Sonic Youth’s talky delivery has, not...
by Local Spins | Dec 21, 2007 | Uncategorized
I was hoping one of my local music reviewer compadres was going to write this review so that I could bury my snotty reaction down in the comments. No such luck.There’s no question in my mind that Erin Mckeown’s one of the most talented, fun and interesting...
by Local Spins | Dec 27, 2007 | Uncategorized
Though I hope to soon fill this space with a fuller review, let’s just start things off by saying this is, as you might expect from an album of outtakes, uneven. I think these guys are extremely talented, and I don’t want or mean to hold an outtake album...
by Local Spins | Jan 4, 2008 | Uncategorized
Even though the Dan San Band has aptly titled its album Cockypop, and has clearly spent some amount of hours figuring out Green Day and Blink 182 songs, the effort as a whole is about as inspiring as a plain bagel, or any food item billed as "original...
by Local Spins | Jan 14, 2008 | Uncategorized
When this one starts up, acoustic strumming is undercut in a subtle fashion with some nice backwards guitar (or is it pedal steel? Hard to say). The texture then thickens with a little bit of tasty Telecaster. From then on, things get pretty darned normal, settling...
by Local Spins | Jan 16, 2008 | Uncategorized
Okay, we’ve had a lot going on over here, juggling holidays, people’s vacation time and an upcoming office move to Northampton that’s probably going to be more painful than we think. BUT…don’t think we’ve forgotten about your puny...
by Local Spins | Feb 1, 2008 | Uncategorized
Some disjointed notes while listening:This one starts not with humming but with aah-ing. Heh.What we’ve got here is what I would call, (and not in a disparaging fashion), pleasant pop. Most of the album is propelled by medium-tempo acoustic strumming, backed up...
by Local Spins | Feb 21, 2008 | Uncategorized
For all of you impatient little twits out there, please be aware that we just moved our offices to Northampton last weekend and are still ironing out some technological kinks. That being said, it is notable that we have already given quite a bit of coverage already to...
by Local Spins | Apr 8, 2008 | Uncategorized
Closing my eyes while listening to singer/songwriter Erica Wheeler’s newest offering, Good Summer Rain, I was instantly transported to various outposts in the backcountry of America. “Endless Pines” evokes images of the cold, unforgiving north;...
by Local Spins | Jul 2, 2008 | Uncategorized
It’s hard not to agree with the positions espoused in the lyrics of HIGHER ground by Charlie King and Karen Brandow with Tex LaMountain. This is a crew full of snarky commentary about the political and cultural morass of America under King George W. It’s...
by Local Spins | Jul 11, 2008 | Uncategorized
When Heflin handed me this CD, he said "It might be a little folky." I’m assuming his impression was taken from the CD’s handmade-looking packaging, some hearty rag paper adorned with an application of actual, multicolored bits of thread–it...
by Local Spins | Aug 8, 2008 | Uncategorized
Judging by the computer savvy of the composers, I’m guessing that QQROFL is some sort of IM code that I’m too old or analog to grok, though I am curious as to its origins. The album itself is extremely well put-together, drawing much production/thematic...
by Local Spins | Aug 22, 2008 | Uncategorized
Though this record is composed of some great instrumentation, great lyrics and very fine production, at least half of it seems to suffer from the somehow inorganic "arranged marriage" syndrome. This is likely because lyricist Wyn Cooper, a poet of some...
by Local Spins | Oct 10, 2008 | Uncategorized
In my natural curiosity, I searched out the meaning of the word/phrase "Tal Vez," discovering that it is a Spanish adverb, in English: "maybe" or "perhaps." It is also the name of a popular Ricky Martin song. The local version of this...
by Local Spins | Nov 26, 2008 | Uncategorized
No matter you you lick em or stick em, Drew Hickum and the Colonels have a good time. And I’d like to apologize for that statement, but I’m giddy with lack of sleep, and rhymes like that simply cannot be passed up. This crew makes quite fine...
by Local Spins | Dec 5, 2008 | Uncategorized
Last night I was subjected to part of Dancing With the Stars. I can now confidently report what I'm sure many people already knew–wow, does Miley Cyrus blow. She's got the vocal prowess of a consumptive Mae West, the dance moves of a 4th-grade ballerina,...
by Local Spins | Dec 15, 2008 | Uncategorized
A local musician, after not releasing CDs, has released a CD. The new effort contains several “songs.”The CD was recorded by a renowned local recording engineer, and is expected to be encased in plastic wrapping. Other local musicians, when asked about the...
by Local Spins | Dec 30, 2008 | Uncategorized
"It was fundamentally compromised from the get-go," the local musician said. "The track order was all wrong, and the cover art–a picture of me sitting in an outhouse with Abraham Lincoln–just didn't convey my vision. I'm having them...
by Local Spins | Jan 15, 2009 | Uncategorized
Local songstress Ella Longpre (full disclosure: she is a former editorial intern here at the Advo) has self-released a CD, Dust Be Your Savior. The CD pleased me before I even stuck it in my CD drive on my Dell: The disc is white with the outline of a horse...
by Local Spins | Feb 5, 2009 | Uncategorized
Woody Pistrich has been a rabid, supportive fan of Valley music since the late ’80s, and his face has been visible at hundreds of shows since then. His house is a veritable museum of flyers that bring back so many awesome memories of local rock shows, and the...
by Local Spins | Feb 13, 2009 | Uncategorized
And so does this CD–popping it in right here and now. Although by the time you read this, it will have been popped in there and then. But anyway.First impressions: burpy bass, slow old-school fingerpicked guitar, earnest lyrics, female folk-style singing....
by Local Spins | Feb 25, 2009 | Uncategorized
By Ryan Duffy Currently based out of Greenfield, singer/songwriter Laura Siersema offers her third album. According to her biography, she loved music as a child, attempted nursing school and dropped out, and fell back into music—not exactly the worst move, in...
by Local Spins | Mar 18, 2009 | Uncategorized
The Prozacs' Playing the Chords We Love is in for a spin. Straight-up punk, at least in terms of sound–whiney SoCal vocals on top of buzzy Les Paul (and I'm guessing a Marshall?). Have to respect the choice to just embrace the old school, unencumbered by...
by Local Spins | Apr 1, 2009 | Uncategorized
Here's a roundup of recent picks as written by Ryan Duffy and Lee Taylor.-JH Ten Dollar OutfitThe Show Low Sessions Phoenix-based Ten Dollar Outfit features western MA’s own Brian Chartrand on vocals and guitar. Their recent E.P., The Show Low Sessions, has...
by Local Spins | May 7, 2009 | Uncategorized
Here are two new reviews by Lee Taylor. -JHNai Keté Sweet Music You can sense Nai Keté'scomfort in front of a microphone–she’s been singing since the age of one. Keté’s barefoot brand of R&B is elusive, weaving through...
by Local Spins | Jun 1, 2009 | Uncategorized
This week, we’ve got some short takes on Swing Caravan’s CD Get It Fresh. The band’s rhythm guitarist, Jack Brown, is the author of the Advocate’s Cinema Dope film column. –James HeflinGet It Fresh Swing Caravan's dynamic sounds leap...
