Roots Of Creation have brilliant fun with Grateful Dub tribute album; Grateful Dead reimagined as reggae
Leave it to Maine’s reggae band Roots Of Creation to make a dub tribute album to the music of The Grateful Dead. Capturing the spirit and the talent of the Dead while placing it in the context of reggae music was no mean feat. Roots Of Creation, with some exciting guest stars in tow, have […]
Laura Cortese & The Dance Cards are an acoustic band on the rise with California Calling
After a few years of touring nationally and internationally, building their following one brick at a time, Laura Cortese & The Dance Clubs have released their debut album California Calling. Cortese and her Dance Cards take musical forms like folk and Celtic and reinvent them into something fresh, original while occasionally grafting them onto pop […]
The Complaints conjure wide, sweeping soundscapes on Talk To Me
The Complaints latest CD Talk To Me is loaded with fun, pop-rock ditties. This Providence, Rhode Island-based band plays a kind of 1990s influenced indie rock that makes the most of large acoustic guitar sweeps, emotive keyboard work, and a groove that can smack or simmer underneath a large tuft of upper register magic. “The […]
Matthew Stubbs And The Antiguas make a strong and fiery impression with eponymous debut album
Matthew Stubs And The Antiguas have finally released a recorded document of their popular live band. Aside from their Monday night residency at The Sinclair in Cambridge, Massachusetts, MSATA have been dazzling audiences all over New England with their frenzied mix of rock and roll, acid blues, and explosive improvisation. Their eponymous CD finds the […]
GrandEvolution reach higher artistic level with Tell Me Why album
GrandEvolution’s latest full length in a series of several releases shows their tremendous growth as musicians and songwriters. There is a lifted, lofty, and wide open feeling to all nine tracks on this Tell Me Why album. Vocals and instruments all travel gloriously forward with ease and momentum. Its greatest strength is its fine balance […]
Bees Deluxe strike musical gold once again with Voice Of Dog album
Bees Deluxe are at it again. They’ve released yet another of their “acid blues” CDs. Voice Of Dog offers a heaping bowl of more of the finely crafted, driven, explorative blues music this band has become known for. Icy cool lead guitar phrasing, elegantly rich keyboards, and a bulbous but flexible sounding rhythm section are the […]
Sugarcones inspire with sweet debut
A Rhode Island pop rock band fronted by the ubiquitous Malyssa Bellarosa, Sugarcones slap out eight fun tracks and a couple of radio edits on their eponymous debut CD. Leading on guitar as well as vocals, Bellarosa remains an enigmatic centerpiece in these songs that rock out with a unique sound and a tight crispness. […]
The Greg Silva Trio + 1 offer exceptionally good jazz on Her Autumn Sky
The Greg Silva Trio + 1 offers a particularly fine jazz album on their new Her Autumn Sky. Silva’s upright bass continues to drive things along with smooth sensation and understated grace. His tender, plaintive vocal moves through a few numbers with its own je ne sais quoi. Drummer Randy Cloutier gives everything his own […]
The Joshua Incident reaches higher artistic level with Ghosts In The Company Barn
The Joshua Incident’s latest album Ghosts In The Company Barn is even mellower, quieter than their previous release, Red. Yet, this Portsmouth, New Hampshire band has reached even higher artistic levels, writing and recording songs that reach the true sublime quality of genuine American folk music. Within these gentle woven musical statements and warmly crooned songs, are […]
Matt York successfully mines darker territory on Between The Bars
The online version of south shore-based Matt York’s new Between The Bars CD features nine very allluring and very mysterious tracks. The songwriter in York mines the darker territory of the human heart while pulling something more meaningful back up for the listener. His vocal delivery is always keenly aware of the song’s setting, and […]
