Posts by Shawn Donohue

Michael Fitzpatrick and Noelle Scaggs front a dynamite collection of musicians who are crafting slick pop/soul for the masses and performing their hearts out on stage during shows like this, making catching them a must.     

Starting with what sounds like a dying siren, Rat City’s title track brings forth the garage rock jangle that Jack Oblivian has become revered for in some circles. Co-founder of The Compulsive Gamblers and The Oblivians, Jack Oblivian (aka Jack Yarber) has been an elder statesman in these lo-fi parts for some time, but he may have hit a high point as far as his solo efforts go with his newest release.

The tone and feel draw you in but the final product doesn’t do much to stick around when the disk ends; unfortunately West is more numbing instead of expanding. 

Just last year Trombone Shorty introduced himself to the world with Backatown, a blistering effort which had his beloved New Orleans flowing via it’s hot instrumentals and hip soul get downs.  A year later we get For True which continues the same blueprint but expands the guest list to a wider range of non-NOLA based contributors without sacrificing the southern spice.  The albums are similar in style and substance and could almost be viewed as a double album. 

This is one spark-plug of a new artist we got right here.  Lydia Loveless Bloodshot Records debut Indestructible Machine kicks ass, leaving a a scattered wake of creepy stalkers, shot glasses and bibles as it blows by.  Loveless was reared on country twang, but came of age in the adolescent rage of punk rock and both can be felt wrestling with the singer/songwriter throughout the release.

Concert Confidential and EventbriteNYC got together last week and announced with the quickness a series of 5 simultaneous concerts across the country with proceeds and donations going to charity.  New York City were blessed with hometown heroes The Hold Steady who were announced as the headliners for Saturday Night’s shindig in downtown Manhattan.  It was short notice, and a quick turnaround but the Unified Scene was on hand to party with the boys for a worthy cause down by the South Street Seaport. 

The whole production envelops, from the layers of perfectly produced instrumentation to the quiet, emotional vocal performances, Father, Son, Holy Ghost has it all. 

Well the pretty boy brothers in Kings of Leon were too tired to keep on touring, but their tour openers Band of Horses had energy to spare, so they booked the picturesque venue in central Manhattan to play a blowout show for their fans

he line for Friday Nights free show in Greenpoint, Brooklyn stretched far into the steamy night as rain fell in buckets before things got started.  It was a drenching evening in all aspects as the hardcore and punk rock washed over the crowd mixing with the sweltering venue, developing a cauldron of sound and some unfortunate smells.  Ahh puke, sweat and spilled beers…METAL!

The Village Voice has annually crafted one of New York City’s premier summer concerts with their Siren Festival.  Last year marked the 10th and final installment of that gathering though as the downtown free paper turned over a new leaf and started advertising their new 4 Knots Festival this summer.  The obvious change was that no longer would the show take place out in Coney Island but downtown in the South Street Seaport. 

The Brooklyn three piece Grooms sophomore release, Prom, is an entanglement of twists, off kilter timings and hot pop injections.

The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art played host to a crowd of elder fans and families who gathered for a pleasant weekend artistic experiences in the Berkshires. The title of the festival itself, “Solid Sound”, hinted at a range of music and noise and that was certainly delivered upon, even going the extra mile to showcase natures wet splashing of spastic downpours.  The first night was almost a complete washout with massive delays in host and headliner Wilco’s set as the gathering waited for Mother Nature to lend a hand. 

The Arctic Monkeys fourth proper release is unlike any of their past work which keeps things fresh and adds to their growing catalog of enchanting songs.  This time around the group focuses their talents on 60’s pop, crafting ditties that can jangle a tambourine or trip out a touch in front of Alex Turner’s ear catching lyrics.

Steve Earle is all over the place lately as actor, writer, activist, and maintaining his first love, music.  The tunes get their proper due on this fantastic new release, I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive.  The title is taken from Hank Williams final single; Earle has a strong affinity for Williams (titling his first novel the same thing) and as someone who never shy’s away from his idols (see the album Townes) there is history seeping from these tracks, a lot of personality too. 

Delayed by drummer Mike Andrepont’s uptown gig, The Rough Seven didn’t get started until well into Sunday morning, but no matter as the garage gospel band brought all that was holy into the night’s darkest hours.  These 7 had the exuberant crowd eating out of its hands from the get go with sing-a-long favorites “Sugar Daddy” and “Give Up Your Dreams” echoing out into the nearby Mississippi.

Thurston Moore took a lot less time between solo albums (4 years instead of 12) and brought in a high profile producer to help things along this time around.  Instead of mining his art/noise rock tendencies Demolished Thoughts plays totally acoustic without a crashing crescendo or drum fill anywhere to be found.

Warren Haynes picked the friendliest confines he could think of to kick start his Man in Motion Tour, New York Cities Beacon Theater.  He may have played this venue more then any other artist over recent years and was clearly in a good mood as he showed off his new six piece band complete with Saxophone and backup singer. 

The Dirtbombs have always loved their covers and with 2001’s excellent soul and R&B rethinking, Ultraglide In Black the group showed their prowess in this realm.  2011 is apparently now the time to tackle songs from the Detroit Techno scene of the 1980’s.   While there was a direct line drawn between The Dirtbombs retro garage shake and the soul of their cities 60’s and 70’s this techno connection is a bit more tedious causing the efforts here to vary in quality. 

It is always exciting when a band steps out of the recording studio to showcase some new tunes live and Alberta Cross did just that on Wednesday night in the middle of Manhattan.

There is a Southern California underwater dreaminess to By The Hedge so it may be surprising that Minks are a Boston band, but cold winters are far from the brain on the groups debut LP