Josh Ritter on Storytelling, Fiction Writing and Autobiography
Although Josh Ritter has spent nearly 15 years telling stories in song, he’s never been particularly interested in telling his story. That changed on Ritter’s latest release, “The Beast in Its Tracks,” a collection of songs more autobiographical than any he…
Modern Merchant Creates Layers of Harmony on ‘For the Fields’ EP
You don’t hear a lot of clarinet in rock ‘n’ roll, but there it is, winding its way through “Marry Me Annie” on Modern Merchant’s new EP, “For the Fields.” Although part of the Brooklyn indie band released a three-song…
Secret Colours Tease New Album With Pair of Hazy Songs
Apparently Chicago has something called a “pyschedelic-newgaze” scene, and though the size or scope of that scene isn’t really clear, the term is certainly an apt description of Secret Colours, a band that would have to be a primary anchor…
John Murry Sings of Ghosts and Ashes on ‘The Graceless Age’
If rock ’n’ roll tends to exist in the present tense, John Murry’s songs live in the aftermath. The Mississippi-born California transplant sifts through shards and fragments on “The Graceless Age” (Evangeline Recording Co.), a powerful solo debut anchored by…
Dirty Projectors Play Precise, Chaotic Show at Pearl Street
The Dirty Projectors play with a chaotic precision that’s somehow almost menacing. At Pearl Street Monday for their first Northampton show since 2007, the band turned rock ‘n’ roll abandon upside down
Nick Jaina previews sixth LP with ‘Don’t Come to Me’ mp3
When Nick Jaina isn’t busy composing ballets — three of them so far — or writing music for film and the dramatic stage, he’s making deft albums full of smart, catchy chamber-pop songs like “Don’t Come to Me.” It’s from…
Todd Snider Tells Stories, Sometimes With Music, at Iron Horse Show
Whether he’s talking or singing, Todd Snider is mostly likely in the middle of telling a story. That’s what he did for close to two hours Wednesday night at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton,
Titles Bow Out With Charming Finale, ‘Modern Sounds in Science Fiction’
The coming and going of bands is an inevitable part of music — sunrise, sunset and all — but the Connecticut music scene has been hit with some lamentable goings, from New London punk veterans the Reducers to Hartford chamber…
You Scream I Scream book dates with Presidents of the United States of America
Garage-electronica band You Scream I Scream has signed on to open a string of shows for Seattle alt-rockers Presidents of the United States of America and Eternal Summers.
Daphne Lee Martin takes sultry turn in video for ‘Belly’
Is it getting hot in here, or is it just Daphne Lee Martin’s sultry new video for her song “Belly?”
