Matthew Carefully Photo: Sébastien Barré

BLOWING UP Sometimes you sign up for the e-mail list at a band’s show and all you get is spam. But if you’ve been on the receiving end of communications from Matthew Loiacono—now performing under the name Matthew Carefully—you might have noticed a “call for ideas” that went out last fall. Fans submitted lyrics, sounds, ideas, and photographs, from which Matthew crafted a series of 10 recordings that range from experimental soundscapes (“Risky Yellow Fly”) to (slightly) more conventional voice-and-mandolin exercises (“All Day Long”). These 10 tracks, originally released directly to members of the e-mail list, have now been fashioned into an album, titled Community Balloon. The disc was mixed and mastered by Matthew’s former Kamikaze Hearts bandmate Troy Pohl, and features a beautiful cover image from another Matthew fan, photographer Bennett V. Campbell. Though it’s not technically out until June 1, you can grab your copy early, along with some other pre-order goodies, at matthew.band camp.com—or by checking out the CD-release show at Caffe Lena this Sunday; the show will also feature the debut of Rosary Beard, Matthew’s collaboration with Alta Mira guitarist Hunter Sagehorn.

LIVE BULLET Still riding high on their early 2009 release Love, Albany R&B outfit Mirk and the New Familiars are currently working up material for a new album, expected late this year. But first, there’s another new Mirk CD: Love/Live is a revamped version of Love, recorded by the band live at Warming Room Studios in Albany. The disc is scheduled for release on Tuesday, but you can grab it early at Red Square this Friday; the band is also promising free T-shirts for the first 100 in the club Friday night.

POWERFUL POP Though the Charlie Watts Riots are comprised of veterans of such beloved Albany bands as the Vodkasonics, the Wait, and Bloom, calling them a “supergroup” would be a setup for unwarranted wisecracks. They’d rather just be known for what they do best: great power-pop. That classic sound is on display, at last, on their debut album, Long Story Short. The product of two years in the studio with coproducer Dominick Campana, the 12-track disc ranges in style “from power pop to power pop,” and features the melodic smarts of co-frontmen Seth Powell and Brendan Pendergast with the crackling rhythm section of bassist Mike Pauley and drummer (and Metroland contributing photographer) Joe Putrock. Fans of the genre’s definitive acts—Big Star, Cheap Trick, etc.—will want to make their way to Tulip Fest in Washington Park this Saturday, where the Riots will celebrate their new release with a performance on the Amphitheatre stage at 2:15 PM.

YOU AIN’T GOT NO ALIBI Rock duo Flakjacket are the flagship artists for new Capital Region record label and media company Ugly Media. This isn’t technically new news—the deal was signed about a year ago—but now fans can finally enjoy the fruits of their joined labor. Almost Always Never is the band’s second CD, first for Ugly Media, and was produced by Marc Fuller at his Edie Road Studio (formerly Sweetfish) in Argyle. Get your hands on the rock at the CD release party at Bayou Cafe in Albany on May 22; visit flakjacket.info for more on the band.

PLANTED IN TROY Just when you think the entire stash of upcoming new releases has been exhausted, we have the latest from Sumac. The Troy-based roots-rockers have announced the release of a new, self-titled EP, featuring five new country-flavored songs engineered by Seamus McNulty at Collar City Sound. Sumac will celebrate Sumac next Saturday (May 15) with a show at River Street Stage in Troy. Hear more from the band at myspace.com/sumaccollective.

—John Brodeur

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