Archive for category Music
Fall Tour: 90s shoegazers Ride
Posted by Amy Steele in Music on September 1, 2015
Ride now
Ride then
The band formed when the members were teenagers in Oxford, England in 1988. The band released several influential albums including 1990’s Nowhere and 1992’s Going Blank Again. They broke up in 1996, following the release of Tarantula.
Ride is:
guitarist Andy Bell
singer Mark Gardener
drummer Laurence “Loz” Colbert
bassist Steve Queralt
Tour Dates:
9/17 – 9:30 Club, Washington DC
9/18 – College Street Music Hall, New Haven
9/19- Theatre of Living Arts, Philadelphia
9/21 – Irving Plaza, New York
9/22 – Irving Plaza, New York
9/23 – The Stone Pony, Asbury Park
9/25 – The Riviera Theater, Chicago
9/26 – MidPoint Festival, Cincinnati
9/27 – Pygmalion Festival, Champaign
9/29 – Mill City, Minneapolis
10/01 – St Andrews Hall, Detroit
10/02- House of Blues, Cleveland
10/03- Paradise Rock Club, Boston
11/06 – Saturn – Birmingham, AL
11/07 – Fun Fun Fun Festival – Austin, TX
11/09 – Crescent Ballroom – Phoenix, AZ
11/10 – House of Blues – Las Vegas, NV
11/12 – The Wiltern – Los Angeles, CA
11/14 – The Catalyst – Santa Cruz, CA
11/15 – Crystal Ballroom – Portland, OR
11/16 – Neptune – Seattle, WA
11/17 – Commodore Ballroom – Vancouver, BC
11/19 – The Republik – Honolulu, HI
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music review: The Blue Dolphins
Posted by Amy Steele in Music on September 1, 2015
Summer isn’t quite over. Sure, once Labor Day rolls around, it’s the unofficial end and you’re thinking about cardigans and changing leaves. Listen to this sunny, uplifting pop duo– perfect for driving around with your windows rolled down or dancing barefoot in wet grass. The Blue Dolphins is two-time Grammy Award winner engineer Alfonso Rodenas and Victoria Scott. The two met at rock pit The Cat Club on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles and started playing and recording together in 2010. Scott grew up outside of London where she learned to play the recorder, piano, and guitar and taught herself to sing by age 12 emulating the varied styles of Carole King, Nina Simone, N’Dea Davenport and Aretha Franklin. From Spain, Rodenas played bass in indie pop-rock band Vitamin Vil, and has since worked as a freelance producer, recording, and mixing engineer in Los Angeles, California.
Singer Victoria Scott exudes genuine emotions in a deep earthy manner. The songs combine a 70s rootsy vibe with international world music influences and flair. Superb guitar and intriguing melodies throughout this seemingly effortless album. “Walking in the Sun” features a cool surf guitar riff and carefree lyrics. “Wide and Blue Horizons” also churns with surf guitar and sounds a bit dangerous until Scott’s vocals anchors everything. Scott and Rodenas duet in lovely harmony on the optimistic and comforting “Peace in the World.” Things slow down a bit on the gorgeous “Stars” and twangy and bluesy “Breaking for the Blue” If the marvelous, dynamic “Sail Away” doesn’t make you long for surf and sand and holding hands then you’ve lost your ability to feel.
The Blue Dolphins
Come On! [TRIBE ALIVE RECORDS]
release date: September 18
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music preview: DAEM and NONIE at The Middle East on Sunday, August 30
Posted by Amy Steele in Music on August 29, 2015
I’m both a proponent for female musicians and for introspective music that combines darkness and light. I adore Chelsea Wolfe, Lykke Li, Chvurches, Dum Dum Girls, Lush, Curve and Lana Del Rey. Finding a release about DAEM and NONIE in my inbox one day thrilled me. Moody alternative. Moody pop. Moodindie. I need to think of a term.
Nashville-based DAEM is Callie Benjamin and Jonathan Reed. Callie was working at a restaurant near one of the blasts during the Boston marathon bombing. She’s incorporated that devastating day into her songs. Callie graduated from Berklee College of Music. DAEM is deep, sweet spellbinding vocals with atmospheric and fierce melodies.
Australian singer/songwriter NONIE creates dark synth pop melodies. Born into a family of film/TV engineers and producers, NONIE played piano and then became the drummer in an all-girl band at age 17. NONIE also graduated from Berklee College of Music. Her piercing vocals soar amidst churning electro-pop melodies. Her debut EP Sirens is currently available.
DAEM and NONIE will play The Middle East Upstairs on Sunday, August 30 along with Florio and Telectrix.
venue:
MIDDLE EAST
480 MASSACHUSETTS AVE
CAMBRIDGE, MA
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music review: Science and the Beat
Posted by Amy Steele in Music on August 27, 2015
You know how some days you feel cool and smart and pretty and two days later you want to stay in bed and feel like you’ve made too many mistakes in your life? You know how you feel moody and run with that moodiness into danger and other times into fun? Other times you’re skeptical and feel like you give everything and are honest and open and can’t trust anyone. This is the album for your every emotion. It’s what author Julie Holland, M.D. discusses in her book Moody Bitches. And let’s face it, we all get called bitches when we express ourselves in a way that someone disagrees with. It’s being simultaneously strong and vulnerable. The strong independent spirited woman who’s been fucked over and beats herself up and question herself at times self-assured and other times insecure. This is that album. This is the perfect catharsis for every bad date, every bad relationship and every love EVER.
Science and the Beat infuses varied sounds and energies. It’s the skilled duo of multi-instrumentalists Tasha Katrine and Rob Zilla that create the cool sounds and eclectic arrangements. Part of the goth industrial scene, the pair relocated to Boston from Seattle. Dark beauty always wins my dark heart over. Katrine sometimes snarls, sometimes exudes gentle regrets and always mesmerizes. Some songs are up “Falling Out” and some veer toward the mellow “Mean Streak.” On a song like “Sorry,” Katrine sings what all feel at times being headstrong and should we apologize for being outspoken? There’s the super entrancing, grooving “Never Letting Go” with its retro beats. On “Take It Back,” [“why should I take it back when you couldn’t keep your promises/ you couldn’t take the sting away/ never sleep at night without you” the mood gets reflective and the melody suitably dance-trance. On “Last Call,” it’s completely bold beats and intense, don’t mess with me vox. Great breakup/ workout/ stoner/ party/ female empowerment album.
Science and the Beat
Future Blue
Release date: August 21, 2015
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on tour: HANA to support Purity Ring on North American dates
Posted by Amy Steele in Music on August 26, 2015
electro-pop singer/songwriter HANA will commence her North American tour with a headlining gig on August 27 in Los Angeles. She’ll support Purity Ring at House of Blues in Boston on September 22.
Her music shimmers and shines with strong vocals and gentle, dreamy beauty.
https://soundcloud.com/hanamusic-1/clay
NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES:
08/27 – The Lyric Theatre – Los Angeles – CA^
09/02 – Rialto Theatre – Tuscon, AZ*
09/03 – Tricky Falls – El Paso, TX
09/04 – El Rey Theatre – Albuquerque, NM*
09/05 – Austin Music Hall – Austin, TX*
09/07 – Minglewood Hall – Memphis, TN*
09/08 – Marathon, Music Works – Nashville, TN*
09/10 – The Ritz Ybor – Tampa, FL
09/11 – The Fillmore Miami Beach – Miami Beach, FL*
09/12 – House of Blues – Lake Buena Vista, FL*
09/14 – Georgia Theatre – Anthens, GA*
09/15 – Orange Peel – Asheville, NC*
09/16 – The Ritz – Raleigh, NC*
09/20 – The National – Richmond, VA*
09/21 – Rams Head Live! – Baltimore, MD*
09/22 – House of Blues – Boston, MA*
09/23 – Upstate Concert Hall – Clifton Park, NY*
09/24 – Stage AE – Pittsburgh, PA*
09/25 – Midpoint Music Festival – Cincinnati, OH
09/26 – The Pygmalion Festival – Champaign, IL
09/29 – Boulder Theater – Boulder, CO*
09/30 – Boulder Theater – Boulder, CO*
10/02 – Knitting Factory – Boise, ID*
10/03 – Knitting Factory – Spokane, WA*
10/04 – McDonald Theatre*
^ Headline
* Supporting Purity Ring
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new music: Birch
Posted by Amy Steele in Music on August 25, 2015
Birch, “Halfway”
electropop/folky/indie pop in the vein of Metric and Chvrches with 60s girl-band vocals. invigorating, infectious and catchy. Michelle Birsky graduated from college with a music composition degree and moved to Brooklyn. She worked at a commercial music house, music supervising an indie film and interned with film composer Elliot Goldenthal. In August of 2014, Birsky went on a two-week solo, silent retreat to her parent’s house in Vermont where she began working on songs for Birch’s debut.
who:
singer/songwriter Michelle Birsky
bassist Mat Towles on bass
guitarist Emma Munger
The Halfway EP is available for download on August 28.
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show preview: Dick Dale at Middle East Down on Saturday August 15
Posted by Amy Steele in Music on August 12, 2015
Summer is the perfect time to kick back and listen to some surf instrumental and “king of surf guitar” Dick Dale is the best of the genre. Born in Boston in 1937, Dick Dale grew up in Quincy. His Beirut-born father and Lebanese background influenced his music choices—drawn to Middle Eastern music and later surf instrumental. He learned to play piano at age nine and then guitar. His family then moved to California for Dale’s senior year of high school. He learned to surf and invented surf music in the 1950s– fast-paced, laid-back grooving guitar –that reflects the surfing experience. 78-year-old Dick Dale still tours because despite healthcare, he cannot cover all the medical expenses for damaged vertebrae, diabetes, renal failure and rectal cancer for which he wears a colostomy bag. Dale told the Pittsburgh City Paper: “I have to raise $3,000 every month to pay for the medical supplies I need to stay alive, and that’s on top of the insurance that I pay for,” Dale explains. “The hospital says change your patch once a week. No! If you don’t change that patch two times a day, the fecal matter eats through your flesh and causes the nerves to rot and they turn black, and the pain is so excruciating that you can’t let anything touch it. That has happened to me because I was following the orders of the hospital.”Currently for sale on his site: his 62’ yacht.
Dick Dale is a fascinating guy. He’s an accomplished equestrian, an exotic animal trainer, martial arts expert, pilot and of course surfer.
discography:
• Surfers’ Choice (Deltone 1962)
• King of the Surf Guitar (Capitol 1963)
• Checkered Flag (Capitol 1963)
• Mr. Eliminator (Capitol 1964)
• Summer Surf (Capitol 1964)
• Rock out with Dick Dale and his Del-Tones: Live at Ciro’s (Capitol 1965)
• Greatest Hits (GNP Crescendo 1975)
• The Tigers Loose (Balboa 1983) [live album]
• Tribal Thunder (HighTone 1993)
• Unknown Territory (HighTone 1994)
• Calling Up Spirits (Beggars Banquet 1996)
• Spacial Disorientation (Dick Dale Records / The Orchard 2001)
GUITAR LEGEND DICK DALE on Saturday, August 15. EARLY SHOW at 5:00
The Middle East Presents: Surf Guitar Legend Dick Dale with Three Day Threshold, Daniel Miller & The High Life at Middle East Downstairs on Saturday, August 15
venue info:
MIDDLE EAST DOWNSTAIRS
480 MASSACHUSETTS AVE
CAMBRIDGE, MA
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new music: Mophono; Positive No
Posted by Amy Steele in Music on August 10, 2015
Mophono, “VL Mono”
do you want to feel like you’re in a video game? distorted beats and persistent blips and beats mesmerize and pulsate on this simultaneously futuristic and retro release from Bay Area native Mophono. His Facebook page lists these genres: Dirt Wave, Thug Jazz, Riot Funk, Psyche Madness, Musique Concrète. I prefer the latter two.
https://soundcloud.com/liquidambermusic/mophono-vl-mono?in=liquidambermusic/sets/mophono-mo3-ep-1
Mophono’s EP M.O.3 is out on DJ Shadow’s Liquid Amber imprint.
Positive No, “Pedal Through”
indie rock. very 90s. sweet, wistful vocals and blurred guitar. Positive No is: songwriter/guitarist Kenny Powers; singer Tracy Wilson [90s post hardcore band Dahlia Seed]; bassist Sadie Powers [Richmond’s synth-pop group Dead Fame] and drummer James O’Neill [Snowy Owls, Plain Scrap]. debut album Glossa [Negative Fun / Little Black Cloud] out September 18th.
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music preview: Wolf Alice at The Middle East Wednesday August 5, 2015
Posted by Amy Steele in Music on August 4, 2015
I adore this band so much right now. Along the lines of Curve and Throwing Muses, this is gorgeous indie guitar rock with dark swirling melodies and a female vocalist. Simultaneously haunting and brazen with spidery guitar and hard bass, Wolf Alice cuts all angles. I found out about Wolf Alice from DJ Dan O’Connell on XFM London—the benefits of listening to a London radio station at the gym etal. In June, the North London band released its debut album, My Love Is Cool [Dirty Hit/RCA Records].
The fourpiece is currently on tour in the states and will be playing my birthday [happy birthday to me!]– Wednesday August 5 2015– at The Middle East Restaurant and Nightclub in Cambridge, Mass.
who:
Ellie Rowsell (vocals, guitar)
Joff Oddie (guitars, vocals)
Theo Ellis (bass)
Joel Amey (drums)
TOUR DATES:
Wednesday August 5
Middle East (Downstairs)
Cambridge, Mass.
Thursday, August 6
The Hollow
Albany, NY
Saturday, August 8
Santa Monica Pier
Santa Monica, Calif.
Tuesday, August 11
Hawthorne Theatre
Portland, Ore.
Wednesday, August 12
Neumo’s
Seattle, Wash.
for more on Wolf Alice
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music review: Lauryn Peacock
Posted by Amy Steele in Music on August 1, 2015
Nashville-based musician Lauryn Peacock’s sophomore album Euphonia combines piano with lush arrangements for memorable, moving melodies. The vocals shimmy and simmer. Soft and gentle and soothing on “All My Mind” and “February Song.” Just this gorgeous high and sweet octave range. The songs provide a dance-trance groove with depth in the lyrics. The lushly arranged and gorgeous seven-minute track “Weighted” sounds like the film soundtrack for a bittersweet love story. The unusual instrumentation provides the weird circus feel and staccato beat of “Wounds Grow Grass.” With vocals and swirly mesmerizing songs reminiscent of Lush, Curve and Chvrches, this is a collection of exquisitely dark indie folk songs with ambitious orchestration and instrumentation.
Peacock earned a Master of Liberal Arts degree from University of Pennsylvania where she focused on the pedagogical nature of Bob Dylan’s work to the 60s Civil Rights movement and the pedagogical nature of arts to our cultural zeitgeist. Peacock started playing piano at a young age as her mom taught Suzuki piano. She later played house shows in Chicago with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and toured with mewithoutyou.
Tour Dates [no Boston date!]
08.07 McGuinness Pub, Appleton, WI
08.07 Dr. Jekyll’s , Appleton, WI
08.08 Copper Rock, Appleton, WI
08.08 Jim’s Place, Appleton, WI
08.09 High Noon Saloon, Madison, WI
08.12 Uncommon Ground, Chicago, IL
08.14 The Living Room, New York, NY
08.16 PhilaMoca, Philadelphia, PA
08.19 The Purple Fiddle, Thomas, WV
08.20 Blue Moon Diner, Charlottesville, VA
08.21 Caffe Driade, Chapel Hill, NC
08.22 Common Grounds, Greensboro, NC
08.23 Muddy Creek Music Hall, Winston-Salem, NC
08.25 The High Watt, Nashville, TN
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About Me
covering mostly music and books. focus on alternative/indie and women in music, literature and the arts. feminist. vegan. mostly alternative, a bit bohemian. Masters in journalism from Boston University. BA from Simmons College.
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