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Under The Radar
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Written by Tom Kressler
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Friday, 04 April 2008 |
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‘Guitar Trio Is My Life’
by Rhys Chatham & His Guitar Trio All-Stars, Radium Records
Written amid the punk breakout of 1977, Rhys Chatham’s “Guitar
Trio” is what happened when a band geek (Chatham) somewhat reluctantly
went to a seminal but probably rather smelly club (CBGB) to see an
incredible, enormously influential band that was probably a bit beneath
him musically (The Ramones). The band geek’s mind was blown, and,
shortly thereafter, he composed “Guitar Trio,” a seven-plus minute
exploration of punk fury fused with minimal composition that could not
be more relevant 30 years later.
Proving the point is this three-CD set recently released by
Radium Records. In celebration of the song’s anniversary, a
silver-haired, axe-wielding Chatham took to the road last year,
assembling a new band of Guitar Trio all-stars at just about every
stop, and repeatedly playing the hell out of a lengthier “Guitar Trio”
manifestation. This release captures 10 live performances from that
tour, with a number of guest guitarists, including Chatham
contemporaries Alan Licht and Tony Conrad, both members of the Canadian
Silver Mt. Zion collective, as well as Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and
Lee Ranaldo. I can’t think of any band more indebted to Chatham’s punk
rock guitar experiments than Sonic Youth, and their performances with
Chatham are among the most spirited.
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Written by Tom Kressler
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Thursday, 14 February 2008 |
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‘For Emma, Forever Ago’
by Bon Iver, Jagjaguwar
Self-released last year, this terrific debut will get a wider release
come Tuesday, Feb. 19 on Jagjaguwar. Bon Iver—French for “good winter,”
though I hear it’s not spelled right—is the moniker of songwriter
Justin Vernon (www.myspace.com/boniver). Legend has it that he
retreated to a lonely cabin in northwestern Wisconsin to write and
record the songs on “For Emma, Forever Ago.” According to the
Jagjaguwar Web site, Vernon spent his downtime “wood splitting” and
doing “other chores around the land.” If those hours of man-work were
meant to increase his brawn, it didn’t work, because this is some
sensitive music for sensitive dudes (and ladies).
There’s nothing wrong with that, though. “For Emma, Forever Ago”
reminds me of Iron and Wine’s debut, “The Creek Drank the Cradle,” not
so much in style—Vernon’s music is more like minimal soul than folk,
and his mostly falsetto vocals are far more inventive—but in substance.
Neither album blazes new ground, but somehow they both sound refreshing
in their simplicity. There are literally billions of young men who play
acoustic guitar and sing (if you listen close, there’s probably one
practicing somewhere in your apartment building right now), so it’s
truly special when that old formula produces something exciting. Vernon
is playing the Middle East in Cambridge on Sunday, Feb. 24 with label
mates Black Mountain.
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Written by Keith Sabella
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Wednesday, 06 June 2007 |
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Sera Cahoone
With her self-titled debut album, Seattle
based Sera Cahoone (www.myspace.com/seracahoone) has stepped out from
behind the scenes and into the limelight. Having spent her career as a
drummer, most notably for popular Seattle bands “Carissa’s Weird” and
“Band of Horses,” Cahoone has emerged as a singer-songwriter of
considerable talent. In fact, NPR’s Stephen Thompson has her on his top
10 releases of 2006. It’s hard to argue the point once you hear this
collection of sweet country songs.
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Written by Keith Sabella
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Wednesday, 16 May 2007 |
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Kristy Kruger’s (www.kristykruger.com) latest album, “Songs From a Dead
Man’s Couch,” draws from a variety of American musical
styles—traditional country (“Gold Rush” and “Talk Radio”), New Orleans
Jazz (“Little Polyanna”), alt-folk (“Blackhole”) and something she
calls Ameritronica (“Dark Stranger” and “The Peddler”). Most of this
territory she’s covered in her previous albums, but, with “Dead Man’s
Couch,” she seems to have come into her own, transcending the forms she
employs, creating a quirky, haunting, sexy and original work.
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Written by Keith Sabella
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Wednesday, 11 April 2007 |
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When you think of African-based, rock-influenced music, you might not
immediately think of Asheville, N.C. Unless, that is, you have heard
the music of Toubab Krewe (www.toubabkrewe.com). When listening to this
quintet, it’s easy to believe you are hearing an authentic West African
band, complete with kora, djembe and other exotic instruments. And in a
sense, you are. They just happen to be American.
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Written by Keith Sabella
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Wednesday, 21 March 2007 |
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The
story of how The Weepies (www.theweepies.com) came together reads like a movie
script. He (Steve Tannen) is playing a gig at Club Passim in Boston. She (Deb
Talan) has played there many times before, but tonight has come to hear him
perform. Smitten by his debut album, she has been obsessing over it for about a
month. He gets a bit nervous when, looking out into the audience, he notices
that she is there. He has been smitten by her debut album and has been
obsessing over it for about a month. After the gig they get together, both a
bit nervous now, sensing the electricity between them, and trade songs until
the wee hours. They’ve been together as The Weepies ever since, and listening
to their music is like attending a singer/songwriter master class.
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Written by Keith Sabella
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Thursday, 11 January 2007 |
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“Hey, how come I don’t know this band?” That’s what your friends will
be wondering when you spin some tracks for them from “Ghostly Life” by
Pedestrian (www.pedestrian.org). Pedestrian is the creation of Joel
Shearer. In fact, you might say that Pedestrian is Joel Shearer. He
doesn’t seem to have a steady band roster, and he’s the driving
creative force, as well as the guy who writes the songs—very good songs.
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Written by Jon Nolan
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Wednesday, 03 January 2007 |
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The Twitch plays meat and potatoes rock ’n’ roll. Beefy riffs, 4/4
rhythms and even the occasional rock screech are the modus operandi on
their self-titled EP, and they slug it out with two guitars, bass,
drums and vocals—old-school style. Aaron Katz, best known as a
songwriter and drummer for Percy Hill, produced the four-song set.
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Written by Keith Sabella
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Wednesday, 13 December 2006 |
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It’s that time of year again when people start writing about that time
of year, that is to say, the holidays, family, traditions and the
passing of another year. It is a time ripe with nostalgia for times
that seemed simpler, more honest and, in a word, innocent. In a cynical
age, it’s easy to believe that innocence is just another word for
denial of reality, but sometimes something so pure comes along that it
chases away our inner Scrooge and makes us believe again.
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Written by Keith Sabella
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Wednesday, 01 November 2006 |
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“Hymn Noire” might be one way to describe Jolie Holland’s song
“Old Fashion Morphine” from her second album, “Escondida.” It’s a dark
transformation of the traditional hymn, “Old Time Religion,” sung by
someone who is familiar with the church down the lane, but took a left
at the crossroads and ended up on Beale Street hanging out with William
Burroughs instead.
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Written by Keith Sabella
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Wednesday, 04 October 2006 |
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The title track from Catherine Feeny’s second album, “Hurricane
Glass,” feels like driving down a long, straight stretch of highway in
an old Chevy. Windows down, music blaring, Lucinda Williams in the
passenger seat and Bob Dylan grinning like the Cheshire Cat in the back
as she sings, “It’s not what I wanted, it’s not what I planned, it’s
not where I thought I’d be.”
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Written by Keith Sabella
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Wednesday, 09 August 2006 |
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Brushes on snare drum in three-quarter time set the pace—a slow,
spacious dance. Enter bass and guitar, weaving a cyclical pattern.
Spare notes on a piano are struck, sustained, released, repeated. A
tenor sax whispers, soft, luscious and cool. A vibraphone adds
punctuation. Everything flows together now, moving the music forward in
a perfect symbiosis of folk and jazz sensibility, rising, shifting.
Then, more than two minutes into the song, surprising, yet somehow
expected, a clear, high, voice descends on strings into this musical
tapestry. Three concentrated, poetic verses on the themes of time,
light, beauty, love and loss arrive and then pass. Back to the flow of
the instruments and the eventual end.
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Written by Keith Sabella
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Wednesday, 05 July 2006 |
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If you love singer-songwriters in the tradition of Nick Drake, Joni Mitchell, Elliot Smith, Shawn Colvin, Jeff Buckley, etc., you will love what’s happening in Scandinavia these days, especially in Sweden. Here you will find many bright, shimmering musical lights—a kind of “aurora musicalis,” to coin a phrase. (I’ve always wanted to coin a phrase.) So much talent, in fact, a follow-up column may be in order at some point. For now, let’s focus on three musicians who, already well known in Europe, are poised to make some noise here in the United States. |
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Written by Keith Sabella
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Wednesday, 31 May 2006 |
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I love hearing music I’ve never heard before. But as a single parent of two kids, I don’t get out much and most of the music I’m exposed to on a daily basis is of the “yo’ bootie, my grille” genre. That’s great for bustin’ a move, but most of my moves are in the closet collecting dust with my platform shoes and polyester shirts, as they should be. |
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