Before we bid a final adieu to 2016, and go headstrong and hopeful into 2017, it’s my turn to look back and acknowledge some of the positives to come of the year – like so much great live music! Rather than deep-diving on my impression of the year’s best new music, I’d like to take you on a cliff notes journey of some of the most memorable live events I experienced last year. Here we go, in chronological order: Jason Isbell / Shovels & Rope February 27, 2016 – House of Blues, Boston, MA Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent nailed…
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This was originally supposed to be a #50WordReview, but there’s no way in hell that’s happening. The Thoughts: Even trying to sum up thoughts about this album took way more than 50 words. So here we are. Buckle in for a short—and likely incomplete—review of the debut (mostly instrumental) album from Thank God for Science. What do you get when you combine seven of the Northeast’s top musicians and set them loose to do whatever the hell they want? Well… you get an album who’s songs are as varied as the artists in the room, with the only constants being…
Leave a CommentThis is simple; this is stripped-down; this is a genre of country music I would call “regret adventures.” This is Joe Fletcher’s latest album, You’ve Got the Wrong Man. One thing should be instantly clear: invoking the ghost of Hank Williams can only ever be a good sign. Fletcher does so in the very second song off the album, “Haint Blue Cadillac,” and the song doesn’t take Hank’s name in vain. As a country singer, if your goal is to write songs Hank Williams would approve of, you can’t really go wrong. “Miss Red” shows us exactly how to do…
6 CommentsPhotos by Matt LeBel and me. Any halfway adequate-looking ones of Long Time are his. Tuesday night, Allston’s sweatered and plaid faithful flocked to Great Scott – no shade, I have lived in Allston, and in the wintertime I am reliably either sweatered or plaid – to see jazzy Boston folkster Thomas John Cadrin take a big huge leap. This was his first show with a full band, and as such, a new name. The band is named Long Time, and if you don’t instantly see the potential there to yell out “We love you, Long Time!”, please report to me immediately…
14 CommentsAll right, okay, it isn’t Halloween anymore, and I’m not trying to spook you anymore. So instead of horror and dread, how about a loud, heavy response to grim life? Good! Then Queen Chief is right up your alley. The band is based in Portland, OR, but singer and guitarist Justin Lien infuses every song with the sound of growing up between places: the reservations and dead-end suburbs that are the flipside of the shiny hipster Northwest. Faced with bleak surroundings, he opted not to be sucked into despair, but instead to rage back at it. This album is that…
13 CommentsPhotos by Colin McLaughlin [B]y now it’s no secret: Portland is a place unlike any other. From a certain over-saturated television show to the New York Times’ ongoing love affair, there’s no denying we live in a quirky little paradise. Sometimes, though, a reminder is necessary to regain perspective – to make lifelong residents and recent transplants appreciate the city’s charm. The Portland Cello Project’s Extreme Cello Dance Party is that reminder. Tales of this not-to-be-missed event’s gleeful atmosphere have spread across the city, and the fifth annual Extreme Dance Party has been sold out for weeks. The Portland Cello…
6 CommentsPhotos by Carrie Johnston In his fourteen-year career as a rapper, Sage Francis has garnered fans through clever navigation of language around topics ranging from personal anguish and societal distrust, to being awkward around girls. His DIY approach has kept those fans loyal since making his first recordings out of his apartment in Providence, Rhode Island in 1999. After working with the big labels for the middle section of his career, he has gone back to his homemade label, Strange Famous. Thankfully, Sage’s success has not catapulted him through the roof of fame and fortune. He is still essentially on…
8 CommentsPhoto by Carrie Johnston [W]ell-behaved punk-rockers are a sort of oxymoron, but maybe a punk fan over the age of thirty would appreciate the balance. Mrs. Magician’s thoroughly catchy debut album, “Strange Heaven,” leaves the impression of some misbehaved punk kids stretching out the legacy of their pop-punk predecessors. So much for first impressions. They now lie in that well-behaved camp attended by the other sage, post-punk, post-hardcore grown-ups like Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes, and Rocket From The Crypt. In fact, John Reis (who held a prominent hand in all aforementioned bands) produced and recorded “Strange Heaven.” and if you’re familiar…
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