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Brian Dunne is direct and unflinching on Loser on the Ropes, my favorite album of 2023. Photo by Lukasz Palka.
The albums I kept coming back to in 2023 were often the quieter ones that placed a premium on storytelling and great hooks.
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Outro is, from left, Josh Levy, Adam Zucker, Noam Schatz and Peter Sax.
Post-punk and shoegaze are clear reference points for Northampton band Outro, whose members found time to make an album amid the obligations of day jobs and family.
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María José Llergo stands with the underdog on Ultrabelleza, her first full-length album.
María José Llergo draws on the sound of flamenco on Ultrabelleza, her first full-length album, and also on the cultural roots of a music made by people who were often marginalized.
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Bowery Presents and Higher Ground are in talks to buy the Calvin Theatre from Eric Suher. Photo by Chris1982.
What will new ownership for the Calvin Theatre and the Iron Horse Music Hall mean for Northampton and the Western Massachusetts music scene?
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Jake Manzi plays an album release show Friday, Sept. 8, at the Drake in Amherst. Photo by Colby Daboul.
Western Massachusetts singer Jake Manzi is back with a new album of smart, catchy pop songs exploring love in its various forms.
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Al Olender is both wrenching and wry on her first album, “Easy Crier.” Photo by Wyndham Garnett.
If there was a theme connecting my favorite albums of 2022, it was that each seemed to convey a sense of honesty. Plus, you know, all the killer songs.
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After spending years playing as a sideman and avoiding the spotlight, the Northampton musician has released his second solo album since 2021..
Read moreSometimes sad holiday songs resonate the loudest, and Phoebe Bridgers and Elizabeth Moen offer up a pair of corkers this year.
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Son Rompe Pera performs May 27 at Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity in Florence, part of a changing concert scene in Western Massachusetts. Photo by Julian Parker-Burns.
Three venerable concert venues in Northampton seem to have run their course, while new rooms have sprung up to fill the void in a changing live-music scene in Western Massachusetts. I wrote about what’s happening in a story for The Boston Globe.
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Matthew Sweet, looking appropriately spooky.
The power-pop veteran offers up a robust version of the song that made Kate Bush a star when she was 19.
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Silvana Estrada performs onstage Tuesday, Aug. 2, at Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity in Northampton.
The Mexican singer and songwriter showcased her dazzling voice with an hour-long set of songs from her album “Marchita.”
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Al Olender turns in a magnetic collection of songs on “Easy Crier,” her first LP. Photo by C.J. Harvey
The Kingston, N.Y., singer and songwriter strikes a taut balance between love and grief on a collection of songs she wrote after deciding she would be completely honest with herself.
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Photo by Matthew Murphy
With too many characters and a storyline that never really knits together, the Bob Dylan jukebox Broadway musical is more baffling than anything else.
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Jess Wolfe, left, and Holly Laessig of Lucius sing onstage at Mass MoCA on the first date of their 2022 tour. Photo by Eric R. Danton
Lucius returned to the road for the first time in three years with a vibrant concert April 28 at Mass MoCA in North Adams, Mass., on the first night of their tour.
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The Hartford-area singer’s new album is his first in 15 years, following a long break from making music.
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Photo by Sherry Rayne Barnett.
With songs ranging from the early ’70s to 2021, the veteran rocker’s latest is her first solo album since 1988.
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Cassandra Jenkins’ album “An Overview on Phenomenal Nature” is subtle, tuneful and riveting.
In a year full of wide-ranging sounds and styles, there was one album that stood well apart from the pack for me.
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The Texas-born singer and songwriter died Aug. 13 at 68. Her career encompassed 18 studio albums and collaborations with a wealth of musical talent.
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Spanish for Hitchhiking’s new album “Wild Love” is the group’s first since 2015. Photo by Dennis Crommett.
The Northampton band is back after six years with its most cohesive album so far on a dozen new songs that sound as if the musicians have been playing them together for years.
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The Reducers (from left, Hugh Birdsall, Peter Detmold, Steve Kaika and Tom Trombley) perform June 4, 2005, at Arlene’s Grocery in New York. Photo courtesy of Rave On Records.
A 16-song live set recorded in 2005 is a reminder of just how great The Reducers were.
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