Contact
Advertise
About Us
 
Home
News
Features
Music
Film
Art
Literary
Food
Stage
Outside
All Stories
Curiosities
Gallery
Calendar
  Home arrow Music arrow Spin Down

 
Spin Down
Aaron Lee Marshall; Larry Etscovitz; Guy Capecelatro III; Regina
Thursday, 24 December 2009

A round-up of recent releases from the Seacoast music scene 

Read more...
 
Tim Cahill; The Cold Goodnight; Luscious Digs; The Project Seven
Thursday, 30 July 2009

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.

Also a member of indie rock band The Babymakers, Cahill has been on the local music scene for many years. The CD features an extensive collection of area musicians, including all three members of The Screen, plus backup vocals from The Yard Sailors Chorus Ensemble.
Read more...
 
The Screen, Charlie Slater and Moes Haven
Thursday, 25 June 2009

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.”

Recorded at Beal’s studio BB3 Audio, the album kicks off with “001,” which churns and boils until it reaches a scorching guitar solo. Beal is a downright nasty guitarist, and his talents are on full display here. The intensity remains high with the heavy chords of “Stand Up Guy,” and later instrumental experiments give the disc a cerebral appeal.
Read more...
 
Ameranouche Trio; Funky Divas of Gospel; Sons of Kalal; Mike Stockbridge
Wednesday, 06 May 2009

‘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.

Formed in 2004, Ameranouche received considerable acclaim for its debut album, “Homage A Manouche,” and enjoyed a highlight last year when the band opened for Sonny Rollins and Herbie Hancock at the 2008 JVC Newport Jazz Festival. The trio has tour dates in support of the new CD booked through the summer in New Hampshire and across the East Coast.
Read more...
 
Curt Bessette; Ted Sink; The Makem and Spain Brothers
Thursday, 26 February 2009

‘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.  

The album’s subject matter ranges from World War II to the story of Ray Chapman, the only Major League baseball player ever to be killed by a pitched ball in 1920. But Bessette also injects his trademark humor, spoofing Maine’s busy tourist season in the song “My Summer Vacation in the Great State of Maine.” “Those locals are backwards…They’re not quite right / They’re not like us dear…They’re not half as uptight!” he sings.
Read more...
 
Mercuryhat; The Divorced; Tom Yoder; Walter Sickert and The Army of Broken Toys
Thursday, 04 December 2008

‘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. 

Lyrically, the album traces many of the misfortunes Ott has swallowed in recent years, including the untimely loss of his brother and a painful divorce from his wife of 15 years. The emotional pain comes across on many tracks, although the musical tone remains lively and far from depressing.
Read more...
 
The Minus Scale; Superfrog; Larry Shrek; Rinalducci & The J Notes
Thursday, 06 November 2008

‘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.

The pace is more or less the same on the next two tracks, “Oh Disaster” and “Trust.” But the fourth song, the laboriously titled “No Matter What I Say You’re Going to Do It,” starts out a bit softer, waiting for a clamorous chorus to twist the volume knob. The high-energy music reflects some of the contemporary alternative rock acts with whom the foursome has shared the stage, such as Catch 22 and Gin Blossoms.
Read more...
 
Guy Capecelatro III; Lonesome State; Mike Novak; Skee
Thursday, 11 September 2008

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.

Many of the songs are endowed with the type of sulking melancholy that characterizes much of the Seacoast’s modern folk scene. But Capecelatro inserts enough musical variety to keep the disc thoroughly engaging throughout all 16 of its tracks, balancing slower tunes with upbeat numbers and indie rock sounds.
The lyrical content also varies widely, with peaceful sentiments counterbalanced by morose and sometimes violent imagery. “You didn’t seem to bother / when I hit your father / I think you’d have to admit / that he deserved it,” Capecelatro sings in “So Fine.”
Read more...
 
The Guts; Avant Coast; Moses Irons
Thursday, 07 August 2008

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. 

The Guts recorded much of “Let it Go” last fall at Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin. The studio is owned by Garbage drummer Butch Vig, and it has been the birthplace of albums by Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins and Sonic Youth. The Guts also signed on with indie punk label Rally Records.
Read more...
 
Bob Halperin; Jospeh K Murphy; Cantonese Traffic
Friday, 23 May 2008

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.” 

The album is divided into sections based on four different recordings. The first four songs come from “1983,” which was recorded at Baker St. Studios in Watertown, Mass. The next three come from “I Got the Will,” recorded at TKO Studio in Hampton. The next two songs come from Halperin’s former band, Homeless Bob & The Livingroom Gypsies, recorded by Jon Nolan in Newmarket. The final five tracks are from “I Just Can’t Stop,” recorded at Electric Wilburland in Newfield, N.Y.
Read more...
 
Sunlight in Architecture; Meantone; Doug Wynne; Gregg Porter
Friday, 11 April 2008

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.

Released earlier this year under Tree by Leaf’s host label, Long Ago Light, “Sunlight in Architecture” is an album worthy of repeated listens. Soucy’s songwriting blends equal shares of thoughtful lyrics and creative instrumentation that make each track equally delightful. No two songs sound exactly alike, and yet there is a cohesive feeling that runs through all 10 chapters of the album. Although the words are not always bright and cheery, a line from the second track, “Overstate the Obvious,” essentially sums up the overarching mood: “I’m not stoned, I swear to God, I’m just high on life,” Soucy moans in a voice vaguely reminiscent of Bright Eyes’ front man Conor Oberst.
Read more...
 
Skamasutra; Jenn Adams; John Balger
Thursday, 03 January 2008

‘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.

Read more...
 
Ryan Montbleau Band; Brian Parnham; Paul Dykstra; D. Gross
Thursday, 13 December 2007

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.

The band includes Montbleau on guitar and vocals, James Cohen on drums, Jason Cohen on keys, Matt Giannaros on bass and Laurence Scudder on viola. The disc also features an eclectic entourage of guest musicians on a variety of instruments, including pedal steel guitar, saxophone, accordion, trumpet, violin, cello, trombone, synth and backup vocals. Particularly striking are two guitar solos from Stephane Wrembel, who invokes the old-timey jazz picking of Django Reinhardt on “Eggs” and “Grain of Sand.”
Read more...
 
Pondering Judd; Dan Walker; Randy Browning
Wednesday, 31 October 2007

‘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.

Together since 1993, PJudd has certainly had time to evolve. On its Web site, www.ponderingjudd.com, the band describes its musical mission. “PJudd’s approach is simple: songs before individual performances; the whole before thyself,” the site states. Singer-songwriter Martin England, guitarist Mark Edgerly, bassist Brian Gosselin and drummer Steve Jacques have been playing together for close to a decade and a half, and the band has really begun to pick up steam over the last couple of years, completing its first U.S. tour with Ireland’s Sawdoctors in spring 2006. The group has released six discs in the last seven years.
Read more...
 
Audrey Ryan; Dan Blakeslee; Hotrod Fury and East Coast Tremors; Jason Spooner
Wednesday, 12 September 2007

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.

Ryan’s inventive songwriting, which adds surreal sounds and multifarious instrumentation to a solid folk-rock core, keeps all 14 tracks sounding mostly fresh and original. In addition to singing, Ryan plays guitar, keyboard, accordion, bass, lap steel, piano, violin, ukulele, glockenspiel and a number of other unusual instruments (she lists “kid megaphone” and “weird harp thing” among her musical tools). The disc also features James Borchers on drums and percussion, Stephen Brodsky on drums and bass, Alec Spiegelman on clarinet and John Moriconi on trumpet.
Read more...
 
TrapJaw Affiliates; Shagbark; Palefighter
Friday, 17 August 2007

TrapJaw Affiliates: ‘TrapJaw Affiliates, Vol. 1’

Any rap group that dares to start an album with a track titled “A Few Words From Skeletor” is sure to be outside the ordinary realm of rhythm and rhyme, and the TrapJaw Affiliates’ first compilation does not disappoint. After a strange, remixed clip from the cartoon He-Man, in which Skeletor addresses his evil minion Trapjaw, the album launches right into a bouncy, brass-laden beat that provides the foundation for “Show Me the Way.” The song is essentially an ode to the Affiliates, as members introduce themselves on their debut album. It’s chock full of priceless rap lines, like “We ain’t the worst or the best, but we better than you.”
Read more...
 
Jay Broyer; Wicked Automatic; Null Hype
Friday, 15 June 2007

Jay Broyer, “The Sound of U”    

The first punchy trumpet notes on Jay Broyer’s debut album, “The Sound of U,” make you expect something along the lines of an old Chicago jazz tune. But once the brass intro finishes and the acoustic guitar and drums join in, it’s clear you’re listening to a modern pop/rock album. The first track, “Midnight,” is anything but complex lyrically, but the competent arrangement makes it sound full and melodic throughout, with guitars and bass backed by crisp snares and intermittent brass chords.
Read more...
 
Roundhouse; Swaggerin’ Growlers; Adria; The Glam Rags
Wednesday, 09 May 2007

Roundhouse 

The second release from Roundhouse kicks off with an upbeat tune that blends elements of swing, blues, zydeco and rockabilly. The jazzy drums and bass lines are fit for a 1940s swing dance, while the bluesy guitar, harp and vocals make the music equally appropriate for a honky tonk saloon.
Read more...
 
manchester music
Wednesday, 08 November 2006
Manchester’s Moe’s Haven heeded the call to musical arms for last February’s RPM Challenge, and basically they’ve never looked back. They have since vowed to record 365 albums before the end of 2006.
Read more...
 
notes on new releases
Wednesday, 11 October 2006
Though you shouldn’t judge a book, or a CD, by its cover, the packaging on the eponymous release from the Allston, Mass., based Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys gives fair warning to those who would enter their musical world.
Read more...
 
Guy Capecelatro III, Corin Ashley, Chris Greiner
Wednesday, 30 August 2006
Guy Capecelatro III’s new CD, “February,” has a whopping 28 songs on it—one for each day of the album’s namesake month. Capecelatro plucks or strums his acoustic guitar throughout most of the record as he weaves his way through a maze of stories full of eclectic characters
Read more...
 
Scalawag, Rock My Soul & Ed Gerhard
Wednesday, 02 August 2006

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.

Read more...
 
New releases from Nat Baldwin, John Troy, The Franklin Kite and more
Wednesday, 05 April 2006

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.

Read more...
 
new releases from Chris Merenda and Mainesqueeze
Wednesday, 02 November 2005

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. 

Read more...
 
New releases from The Press, Funkfoot and New Shoes
Wednesday, 28 September 2005

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

Read more...
 
space dance
Tuesday, 16 August 2005

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?

Read more...
 
spin down: Lex & Joe, Chaz Proulx, The Long Forgotten
Tuesday, 02 August 2005

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).

Read more...
 
Compaq Big Band and The Sanguine
Wednesday, 08 June 2005
The Compaq Big Band's 14-song CD Bandwidth marks the first commercial release in the 30-year-old jazz ensemble's history.
Read more...
 
Subject Bias
Thursday, 07 April 2005
Picking up where their first album left off, Subject Bias' sophomore effort, It Takes One to Know One, represents a steady step forward for the Portland-based indie rock outfit.
Read more...
 
the Human Flight Committee
Wednesday, 09 February 2005
Considering their introduction-a jagged, shifting eulogy entitled, "The Five Second Saga," which would fit neatly on any At The Drive-In record-the Human Flight Committee don't appear to be ashamed to borrow from their influences.
Read more...
 
Music
Film
Boing Boing

Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou

Malcolm X assassin to be released on parole

Amazon's worst garden sculptures

   
 
© 2010 The Wire
Joomla! is Free Software released under the GNU/GPL License.
Buyer's Brokers
RiverRun 125 x 60