a roundup of local releases

‘The Lonely Mans Waltz’
by Tim Cahill

The opening line on multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter Tim Cahill’s first independent release sets the tone for this 12-track album, which eloquently documents the artist’s lifelong musical journey.

“I spend most of my time chasin’ dreams and drinkin’ wine / I’ve been stuck spinning tires in stormy weather,” he sings.

Cahill’s got his own brand of indie Americana that feeds off a diverse set of past and present inspirations. His voice sounds at times a bit like Tom Petty, at others like a not so hoarse version of John Mellencamp. Most of the songs are upbeat, though some dwell on life’s assorted sorrows.

“Alone, alone is not just a word / Alone is like being the last man on earth,” Cahill sings in the title track. But the song ends with a large chorus repeating that same line, implying that we are all united in our loneliness.

a roundup of recent local releases

‘Superliminal’
by The Screen

Portsmouth’s hard rockers The Screen had been fairly quiet on the Seacoast since releasing “Antitrust” in 2005. But they are quiet no more. With the recent unveiling of “Superliminal,” the local trio behind The Screen are just the way we like them: loud.

Guitarist and vocalist Robert Beal, bassist Erik Ralston and drummer Jarrett Osborn met while students at the University of New Hampshire and formed The Screen in 2001. Since then, the group has earned a reputation as one of the Seacoast’s most riveting rock bands, and perhaps nowhere has their power been better demonstrated than on “Superliminal.”

‘Awake’
by Ameranouche Trio

You don’t have to wait long to get a taste of Ameranouche Trio’s acoustic string prowess on the band’s latest CD. Opening with the peppy jazz of “Ameranouche Swing,” guitarist/composer Richard Sheppard burns up the frets on his acoustic guitar, spitting out rapid-fire notes that conjure the ghost of Django Reinhardt and echo the rich traditions of European gypsy jazz.

The acoustic jazz power trio of Sheppard on lead guitar, Ryan Flaherty on rhythm guitar and Xar Adelberg on bass then strum their way into a Flamenco-style reboot of the 1957 French classic “La Foule.” It’s the only non-original composition among the album’s 11 tracks, and it demonstrates both the band’s respect for tradition and its ear for inventiveness.

‘95 North to Maine’
by Curt Bessette

Singer-songwriter Curt Bessette has been a fixture of the Seacoast music scene for a solid quarter-century. The York Beach resident hosted an open mike night at Biddy Mulligan’s in Dover for well over a decade and has performed regularly throughout the region with a number of other familiar folk faces. With the release of his fourth album, “95 North to Maine,” Bessette pays tribute to the homeland that has fostered his music career. 

The CD includes 11 original songs and one Everly Brothers cover, all featuring Bessette’s soft vocals and smooth guitar playing, plus some occasional mandolin picking, accompanied by harmonies and instrumental bits from an array of area artists. The soft-rock folk tunes have a North Country flavor that often evokes images of Maine rivers and woods, like a local incarnation of James Taylor, John Denver and Willie Nelson.  

‘Blinding Blues, Stinging Bees’
Mercuryhat

Mercuryhat’s latest album, which the band celebrated with a release show at Biddy Mulligan’s in Dover on Nov. 21, was almost two years in the making. Formed in 2001 and based in Portsmouth, the band first headed into Thundering Sky Studios in South Berwick, Maine, in November 2006. The disc that emerged two years later is an emotionally charged collection of potent pop-rock songs.

Stylistically, the album echoes many of front man Eric Ott’s 1980s influences, including, most prevalently, R.E.M. and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Ott’s voice even sounds like a cross between Petty and Michael Stipe, and each of the album’s 10 songs demonstrate a sophisticated brand of Americana-rock. 

‘Hotter’
by The Minus Scale

The latest from Seacoast band The Minus Scale starts out hot and never cools off, maintaining its rock and pop punk intensity through all eight original songs. The opening track, “Hotter and Hotter and Hotter,” wastes no time introducing Ryan Lavasseur’s confident vocals and electric power chords, along with the sonic force of Pat Griffin on drums, AJ Tobey on bass and Christopher Delisle on guitar.

a roundup of local releases 

‘Abandoned Christmas Trees’
by Guy Capecelatro III

Guy Capecelatro III is as much a storyteller and poet as he is a singer-songwriter. From the opening narrative of “Abandoned Christmas Trees,” in which he describes a girl named Christina knitting a scarf while riding on a train, the album stews with nostalgia, longing and poetic contemplation. Capecelatro cast his net across the Seacoast to pull in a huge range of singers and instrumentalists, each of whom becomes another character in the album’s set of musical short stories.

a roundup of recent local releases

‘Let it Go’
by The Guts

The Portsmouth punk scene gained regional recognition with the emergence of The Queers in the early 1980s. Later that decade, The Bruisers formed, fronted by vocalist Al Barr, now of Dropkick Murphys fame. Both bands endured through much of the ’90s, keeping Portsmouth afloat in the collective punk consciousness.

Al Barr and Joe Queer are still touring the nation, but they have relinquished their reign over Portsmouth to younger faces in the 21st century. None of those faces are more familiar around town than guitarist Geoff Palmer, bassist Nate Doyle and drummer Rick Orcutt, who collectively make up The Guts. With their latest album due out soon, the trio has climbed another rung on the punk-rock ladder. 

a roundup of recent local releases

‘Over the Years: A Retrospective Collection’
by Bob Halperin

Local bluesman Bob Halperin’s new retrospective disc chronicles a career that has been steeped in blues tradition for decades. From the opening notes, the CD is remarkably rich and soulful, harkening back to the music’s Delta origins. Halperin begins with a cover of Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready,” complete with lush backing vocals from a female chorus. Next comes the upbeat “Drop Down Mama,” originally by Sleepy John Estes, followed by a slower instrumental guitar melody by the artist himself, titled “Maybe Next Time.” The first chapter of the album is rounded out with a traditional gospel rendition of “Jesus On the Mainline.” 

a roundup of the most recent local releases

‘Sunlight in Architecture’
by Sunlight in Architecture

The project hatched in 2005, when singer-songwriter Garrett Soucy began filtering his minimal indie folk tunes through the practiced ear of producer Andrew Luckless. For over a decade, Soucy has served as front man for Maine-based band Tree by Leaf, and he brings a similar style to Sunlight in Architecture’s self-titled debut. Luckless, himself a singer-songwriter best known for his 1999 album, “Laundryfish,” fine-tunes the sound, and the two combine for a refreshingly original and stimulating disc.

‘Let Come What May’
by Skamasutra

The title track of Skamasutra’s new disc sounds very much like a Mighty Mighty Bosstones tune, except with more polished vocals replacing Dicky Barrett’s raucous growl. The Exeter indie band accurately replicates all the hyper reggae guitar riffs, New Orleans brass accompaniment and bouncing beats and rhythms of quintessential ska, rapidly shimmying through eight original songs and one cover.

The latest disc follows the band’s 2005 debut, “You and What Army?” The six band members have honed their skills and fine-tuned their tight sound over the last two years to produce an exceptional follow-up. Having formed the band as teenagers in the late fall of 2003, Skamasutra has matured with each performance, and its revolving door of members seems to have established a solid core, with Nick Gilbert on trombone and vocals, Steve Duhamel on alto sax and vocals, Dan Boisvert on guitar and vocals, Tristan Nowak on baritone sax, Jon Campbell on bass and Evan Lerch on drums.

The album’s opening lyrics establish Skamasutra as a band that has grown since its inception four years ago. “It just seems like yesterday when I was 17. / How could I have known then what my future would bring?” Gilbert sings, already reflecting on a still nascent musical career with plenty of promise. Gilbert’s singing truly helps to carry the music throughout the album, surfing over the tightly manipulated instruments with a clean voice that sounds somewhere between Sublime’s late singer Brad Nowell and Green Day’s front man Billie Joe Armstrong.

Ryan Montbleau Band: ‘Patience on Friday’

Now a familiar face in the Boston area music scene, Ryan Montbleau has definitively established his voice with his second official full-band release, “Patience on Friday.” The 14-track album is an explosion of musical output, spouting forth with a seemingly inexhaustible fountain of rapid, rhyming lyrics and instrumental zest.

Unlike Montbleau’s earlier solo acoustic albums, “Patience” brings in a formidable cast of hired guns to heighten the instrumental craftsmanship surrounding the songwriter’s original compositions. At the heart of it all is Montbleau’s voice, a fresh confluence of urban and rural heritage, combining Stevie Wonder’s funky and soulful range with Ray LaMontagne’s folky, earthy tone.

‘Coalesce’
by Pondering Judd

Pondering Judd finished tracking its latest release on Oct. 16 and rapidly turned around a fresh CD, “Coalesce.” The album title references the band’s growth into a tightly knit group of highly compatible musicians. The members have achieved a sense of unity and confidence that makes the recording sound as professional as anything you’ll find at Tower Records, and their devoted local following will surely rejoice in the new disc.

Audrey Ryan
‘Dishes & Pills’

Originally from Bar Harbor, Maine, indie singer/songwriter Audrey Ryan has toured the nation 15 times since 2004. Now living in the Boston area, she has also toured in Europe and is signed to UK label Folkwit Records. With her second full-length album, “Dishes & Pills,” she brings energy, creativity and enhanced life experience to the table.

TrapJaw Affiliates: ‘TrapJaw Affiliates, Vol. 1’

Jay Broyer, “The Sound of U”    

Roundhouse 

Scalawag
Wheel on Steel
self-released
Manchester can seem a bit like a musical black hole unless you’re a big fan of metal and hardcore (in which case it’s the place for you!). Scalawag is a bit of an alien in that aggressive scene, favoring a more laid back, song-oriented rootsy/jam sound that appeals to folks who like good songwriting, yet prefer electric guitars to a coffeehouse acoustic style.

Avant garde double bass playing singer-songwriter Nat Baldwin is currently on a 30-plus date national tour which will land the singer on both coasts before it’s over. Baldwin is on the road in support of his latest release for the local indie label Broken Sparrow, “Enter the Winter.” Along for the ride are the like-minded Dirty Projectors, who employ Baldwin on bass as well. “Enter the Winter,” recorded under the watchful eye of Djim Reynolds’ “Estate” recording facility, keeps Baldwin’s bowed double bass and haunting vocal work in the forefront on Baldwin’s left-of-center indie folk. While his previous work was more sparsely adorned, this CD takes on some drums and horns, as well as a percussion driven foray or two into out-there jazz.

Full-time enrollment as drummer in his brother’s contemporary folk outfit (the up-and-coming Mammals, currently on tour with Arlo Guthrie), has not kept Chris Merenda  from recording and releasing a follow-up to his 2003 solo debut, “The Regimen.” While Merenda’s first effort was a genre-jumping affair, with a rather motley grouping of songs held together by power of his brash J. Mascis-inspired yowl, “Hello Freedom” proves the songwriter is beginning to land. 

New EPs from The Press, Funkfoot and New Shoes deliver clever rhymes, swanky rhythms and artful songwriting. 

When the band Mating Dance started playing at last week’s open-air Tong, many in the crowd lining Pleasant Street were confused. The band’s faces were obscured by paint and masks. The drum set was cobbled together with a bucket and silver buffet pan and the saxophone seemed strangely out of tune. Their set started abruptly, with a metal pail being dragged across the ground. They looked and sounded like a hastily assembled garage band in a Bill Burroughs novel. Between songs, there was some hesitant clapping. Was the song over? When did it even start?

As you might have guessed, guitarist and singer Lex Romaine and saxophonist Joe Riillo’s latest release, Live at the Chicory House, documents the veteran swing and blues duo’s grade-A live show. The album, recorded earlier this year at a nightclub in Lex’s hometown of Wilkes-Barre, Penn., does well capturing the pair’s affable and easy repartee, which they’ve honed during their 27-year musical affiliation (they go, officially, by the friendly shorthand Lex & Joe).