screams, whispers and songs from planet earth

Category: Reviews Page 8 of 11

Review: The Happy Hollows ~ “Spells”

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What I had in mind was a review of The Happy Hollows’ NEW release Spells, rather than an article of historic interest. Before we’re into a new year, let me just do this. The Happy Hollows – Sarah Negahdari, Chris Hernandez, and Charles Mahoney – are quite incredible live, but to truly appreciate the range of Sarah’s expressive vocals, the cornucopia of moods and styles, and fun/ferocious experimentation, you have to sit down at leisure with their amazing debut album, Spells. Which I finally did, jotting down my initial impressions upon hearing it, uninterrupted and at the forefront of my spinning but focused mind. I’m not promising that any of this will make any sense whatsoever, so I’ll summarize: they’re wonderful, it’s hard to believe this is just their first full-length release, and you should buy one. You should also see them, when they come back around. I felt privileged to be at T.T. The Bear’s that night.

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Sometimes You’re Just Doomed – The xx @ Newbury Comics and with Friendly Fires @ The Paradise, 12/4/09

The xx at their in-store appearance at Newbury Comics, Newbury Street, Boston

The xx at their in-store appearance at Newbury Comics, Newbury Street, Boston

The day started out innocently enough. Well, apart from only just having breakfast at noon, but that’s become standard operating procedure with my middle of the night paying job. I went into town to see my friend Mary who had come in from Washington, D.C. to see The xx at a Newbury Comics in-store, and to cover their show with Friendly Fires at the Paradise for There Goes the Fear and PopWreckoning.

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The Deli Magazine New England’s Launch Party @ The Middle East Upstairs – 11/28/09

Meghan Chiampa, Associate Editor of Deli Magazine New England

Meghan Chiampa, Associate Editor of Deli Magazine New England

It was a lovely evening of New England bands, hand-picked by Deli Magazine New England‘s Associate Editor, Meghan Chiampa, and as diverse as the website’s eclectic musical focus. This was to celebrate The Deli officially making its welcome foray into the New England states. Now based in Boston, she started writing for them in Burlington Vermont. This excellent online magazine covers the indie music scenes in NYC, L.A., San Francisco, Chicago, Nashville, and elsewhere.

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Review: Rademacher – “Bellyflop” EP (JAXART)

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“I’ve got 3,000 MySpace friends
and sofas to crash on
from here to New York
and the adventures just continue..”
– Car Wash Donations

This current assessment by Malcolm Sosa a.k.a. Mike Mancillas of Rademacher would suggest that life is good, though looking back at this past year, I’m thinking it must have been a rough ride. In February, their new drummer Eden had just joined he and bassist Greer McGettrick in time for a 6-week West Coast tour that would include 12 shows with The Airborne Toxic Event and The Henry Clay People. For Rademacher (judging by their tour diary) things got off to a shaky start, and then four of the dates ended up being rescheduled. Initial plans to be at SXSW were scrapped, but then they rejoined Airborne’s shows for Las Vegas, Pomona, and Sacramento. More big changes followed, with Eden leaving and then Malcolm and Greer parting ways. A brand new line-up, from what I can tell, was first unveiled back on April 21 at The Echo, and I’m guessing it’s this same line-up that’s featured on their new EP, Bellyflop, released last month by JAXART Records. Mind you, I could be totally wrong about some or all of this; if anyone has better information, please let me know! I’m not exactly sure who’s in the band, except for drummer Eli Reyes, who also plays in Fresno-based The Fay Wrays.

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The Scissormen, Peter Parcek, and The Ten Foot Pole Cats at Lizard Lounge in Cambridge 11/14/09

The Scissormen - Matt Snow, Larry Dersch, Ted Drozdowski

The Scissormen - Matt Snow, Larry Dersch, Ted Drozdowski

If you’re a guitar aficionado and lover of the mind-blowing riff, a connoisseur of brain-bending slide guitar sorcery, were anywhere in the vague vicinity of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and you weren’t at the Lizard Lounge to witness Peter Parcek and then Ted Drozdowski and his Scissormen, I feel really, really sorry for you. When I say it was an evening of guitar showmanship, I don’t mean that in a pretentious, self-satisfied rock-god poseur sort of way. I mean whiskey-soaked, venerable bluesmen blasting cobwebs out of dusty, unkempt corners of smokey Southern barrooms. Something timeless, and soul-satisfying.

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Silversun Pickups, Cage The Elephant, & An Horse at The Webster, Hartford CT 10/20/09

The final show of my ‘seven shows in eleven days’ odyssey, and what a marvelous evening it was! Silversun Pickups is one band I’ve been enjoying for a little while now and never had the opportunity to see live. Cage The Elephant were a surprising and delightful wallop over the head at last summer’s WBRU Block Party in Providence, so I knew I had to see them again, if at all possible. An Horse I had vaguely heard about, so the three of them together was definitely worth the drive down to Hartford.

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Happy Hollows at T.T. The Bear’s Place, Cambridge MA, Oct. 18, 2009

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Sarah Negahdari, Chris Hernandez, and Charles Mahoney of The Happy Hollows

Toward the end of my ‘Silverlake East Coast Revue’, there was this marvelous miracle of an appearance by highly regarded (and rightly justified!) eastside L.A. band, The Happy Hollows, at our lovely little dive, T.T. The Bear’s Place in Central Square. I don’t know how on earth they got plunked onto a bill that sandwiched them between two swampy Southern rock bands, but bless all the pagan gods that they did. [as Sarah said to me afterward, “we were the odd ducks in the middle”. Odd and immensely talented ducks, I’d say!]

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Built To Spill at The Middle East Downstairs, Cambridge, MA – 10/11/09

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It feels like I went to see this show years ago, though in reality, it’s only been two weeks. One hell of a two weeks, but two weeks all the same. So I approached the chore of writing this review with some trepidation. For one, while I really, really like this band and have great respect for their place in indie rock history, I can’t say I’m completely familiar with their entire catalog, even enough to reconstruct a set list of what they played. Secondly, my notes, while amusing, are pretty fucking useless. I labeled the night’s proceedings as “Hipster Heaven”, and indeed it was. But I still had only (probably incorrect) fragments of lyrics to try to identify to tell you what was performed, and with four other reviews breathing down my neck, little time.

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It’s Good To Be Back Home: The Airborne Toxic Event in Boston

The Airborne Toxic Event, The Henry Clay People, and Red Cortez at the House of Blues, Boston, MA, October 13, 2009

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On a chilly autumn night in the rather impersonal caverns of the new Landsdown Street House of Blues, this show had the feeling of a family barbecue on a lazy, warm summer afternoon. Anna’s hometown and the rest of the band’s adopted one, it’s clearly a special place for them, and while it’s not like being back home in L.A. with family and friends, I like to think it a reasonable facsimile. A comforting respite from the long and weary road.

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Twilight Sad, We Were Promised Jetpacks and Brakesbrakesbrakes at Great Scott in Allston, October 7, 2009

A lovely evening for Anglophiles. And for Scotsmen – or Irishmen, as the case would be here in Boston. Apart from the apt choice of venue, a particularly boisterous and no doubt ale-fueled Irish fellow up front repeatedly – and loudly – professed his kinship with the two Scottish bands. Irish, Scottish – ah hell, close enough. Which only added to the celebratory, over-the-top enthusiasm of the nicely packed-in crowd.

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