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by Local Spins | Jul 22, 2009 | Uncategorized
Random Access Orkestra(self-titled)Independent RAO is a miasmal, cut-and-paste smorgasbord of loops, live instruments and vocals, spoken word rants and almost propagandistic, Orwellian samples from old movies, educational videos and the like. The musical bed ranges...
by Local Spins | Jul 22, 2009 | Uncategorized
If Caravan Gogh doesn't sound like a local band you've heard of, that's 'cause they're not local. The band is the current musical vehicle of Gideon Freudmann, former Valley resident and electric cellist extraordinaire. These days, he lives in...
by Gary Carra | Dec 10, 2014 | Uncategorized
Two years ago, Tony Jillson was asked to contribute music for a short film about Cynthia Elbaum — a friend of his who was killed while covering the Chechen/Russian war in 1994 as a photojournalist. “The music was well received, but it was recorded with many computer...
by Advocate Staff | Dec 10, 2014 | Uncategorized
Dancing Tables & Dancing Chairs (independent) In Ireland, one of the greatest honors a family can bestow upon a visitor is to invite that person into their kitchen. The kitchen is considered the room of greatest physical warmth and personal intimacy; it’s also the...
by Hunter Styles | Dec 10, 2014 | Uncategorized
The site of the Springfield casino won’t look like anything much until 2015, but eight neighboring communities saw a tangible advance this past Friday in the form of cold hard cash. MGM distributed nearly $2 million to nearby communities as the first installment in a...
by Advocate Staff | Dec 10, 2014 | Uncategorized
As media members from The Republican, the Daily Hampshire Gazette, ABC 40 Springfield, and CBS 3 Springfield waited under a wintry noonday sun, 200 students walked out of class to the applause of a handful of older activists and gathered at the entrance to Amherst...
by Tom Vannah | Dec 10, 2014 | Uncategorized
Mike winced when I winced. “Not good. You’re a mess,” he said, his thumb probing the collection of muscles and tendons that comprise my rotator cuff. After working over my shoulder, decorating the upper right side of my body in blue physio tape, Mike went after my...
by Advocate Staff | Dec 10, 2014 | Uncategorized
Moving to make way for MGM? Don’t forget about Holyoke Very interesting article (Raising the Stakes: Springfield’s South End businesses relocate to make way for MGM, Nov. 8, 2014), but it didn’t go far enough. MGM, the city of Springfield, and the property owners are...
by Gary Carra | Dec 3, 2014 | Uncategorized
He’s a percussive dancer from Michigan. She’s a Scottish harpist. So naturally, when the two met at the Shasta Fiddle Camp in Northern California, they decided to take their show on the road. Maeve Gilchrist and Nic Gareiss bring their unique amalgam of dance and harp...
by Advocate Staff | Dec 3, 2014 | Uncategorized
A New Nutcracker As Christmastime makes its annual approach, many an audience braces itself for a vigorous regime of Nutcracker watching. Those who’ve grown a touch tired of Tchaikovsky’s ballet have a different choice this year, courtesy of Greenfield’s Celtic Heels...
by Tom Vannah | Dec 3, 2014 | Uncategorized
During the ascent to the top of Berkshire East Mountain resort’s new rollercoaster, the Thunderbolt, a man has plenty of time to study the steep incline of the longest alpine coaster track in North America — and the jagged, vertiginous underlying terrain. Jon...
by Advocate Staff | Dec 3, 2014 | Uncategorized
H eart Light, says dancer/choreographer Billbob Brown, may be “the last piece I’ll ever be doing for University Dancers.” After more than two decades on the UMass Music and Dance faculty, he’s leaving to chair the dance program at the Hong Kong Academy of the...
by Hunter Styles | Dec 3, 2014 | Uncategorized
John Waters is a wicked Santa. Each year he pops up around America with a big familiar wink and an avuncular grin. But he wears a thin pencil mustache instead of a big white beard, and his bag of gifts is packed full of demented stories and bizarre anecdotes. The...
by Advocate Staff | Dec 3, 2014 | Uncategorized
If the parents were planets, the kids were mad moons, orbiting and careening as excitement rattled their frames. It’s a phenomenon you can often see at the toy-shop end of South Deerfield’s Yankee Candle. But on a recent Saturday, a line stretched from near the toy...
by Tom Vannah | Dec 3, 2014 | Uncategorized
So far this fall, I’ve spent approximately 75 hours in the woods of Maine trying to kill a deer. I spent at least that much time hunting during Maine’s rifle season last year and I came home empty-handed. Starting this week, I’ll spend time in my local woods with my...
by Angela Miller, Tribune News Service | Dec 3, 2014 | Uncategorized
On Sunday, Nov. 16, the U.S. confirmed that Islamic State fighters had beheaded Abdul-Rahman (or Peter, as I knew him) Kassig, my classmate from Butler University. The next day, I returned to work at the Win Without War coalition. One of my peers had been murdered,...
by Advocate Staff | Dec 3, 2014 | Uncategorized
Nar-ke (independent) A lot of the time, the term “experimental” is code for “unlistenable,” particularly when terms like “challenging” come along for the ride. Pony Bwoy, on the other hand, is decidedly experimental, and is a particularly engrossing, even relaxing...
by Warren Johnston | Dec 3, 2014 | Uncategorized
As the temperatures have receded, the red wine season is upon us, and one of my favorites is Malbec. It’s a flinty wine, high in tannins, produced from gritty deep purple grapes grown at 4,000 to 5,000 feet above sea level in sand and gravel soils that make weeds turn...
by Amanda Drane | Dec 3, 2014 | Uncategorized
In the category of: Why wasn’t this already a thing? Massachusetts recently became the first state in the nation to require health care facilities and insurance providers make cost-of-service estimates available to patients in advance of undergoing medical procedures....
by Story and photography by Amanda Drane | Dec 3, 2014 | Uncategorized
As winter’s first swells swirl in, you’re likely breaking out the humidifiers and heating pads and thinking about how best to bolster your immune system for the season. We’ve all heard about flu shots and DayQuil, but there’s a lot more you can do when it seems like...
by Angela Miller | Dec 3, 2014 | Uncategorized
On Sunday, Nov. 16, the U.S. confirmed that Islamic State fighters had beheaded Abdul-Rahman (or Peter, as I knew him) Kassig, my classmate from Butler University. The next day, I returned to work at the Win Without War coalition. One of my peers had been murdered,...
