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ROUGH
MIX
FABLES
OF THE DEACON STRUCTION: The loud and intense rock trio
Struction recently finished recording a six-song EP,
and they’ll hold a three-way release party with Complicated
Shirt and Glitter of Cohoes sometime in the near
future. Their prior five-song EP has garnered some attention,
with Oregon-based sincerebrutality.com claiming, “I sure hope
that this three piece from Albany, NY, deliver the goods live,
because this surprisingly well-recorded five-song EP suggests
that they have an incredible live presence”; noreaserzine.com
states, “Struction is on a course that is clearly to explore
their own sense of musical interpretation. Their songs have
influences, but the execution and structure of their music
is colored with interesting guitar tones and interplay with
the bass”; and scenesteronline.com asserts, “This music really
ROCKS.” Head to their Web site, www.structionnoise.com,
for further band information.
LOOP
PURSUIT: Alt-country posse knotworking are in
the studio again, traveling down to Woodstock’s Nevessa studio
and visiting other various recording crevices (basements,
kitchens, what-have-you) in an effort to bring their loving
fans another recording. Their third album, The Garden Below,
is expected to be finished in March, and will be celebrated
in typical CD-release fashion thereabouts—so we probably won’t
see them live before then. While you’re waiting, check out
their nifty new Web site design, www.knotworking.net.
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| Plaid
love: Amazing Plaid. |
KNAPSACK
TIME: Noise-rockers Amazing Plaid have returned
from what they call the “Backpack Mystery” winter tour—which
took them, via minivan, to Manhattan, Long Island, Chester,
Buffalo, Ithaca, Plattsburgh, Rochester, Montclair, N.J.,
Boston and Providence. The band unleashed copies of their
new split (with themselves) EP, Captain Womb/Mister Sunlight
Blackeyes, upon an unsuspecting public during the Backpack
tour, and they’re planning a couple of area come-down shows
in the next few weeks—St. Rose’s St. Joseph’s Hall (Jan. 31),
and Valentine’s (Feb. 14) with Kitty Little and
Complicated Shirt.
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| Fortune
hunter: Albie Von Schaaf. |
WINTER
FERTILITY: During this winter nadir, when the rest of
us can’t seem to get off the couch, Albie Von Schaaf—formerly
of Secret Guy, way formerly of Can’t Say, and
presently of Lowthief and Wood—is quite the
productive fella. He’s in regular attendance at MotherJudge’s
Fuze Box open mike, playing solo, performing his songs with
other musicians, and sitting in with many various groupings—“It’s
totally responsible for my having fallen back in love with
local music, and its beautifully insane cast of characters,”
he says of the open-mike scene—and has been gathering steam
as the weeks progress.
The lineup of Lowthief—“stuff that anyone who likes
rock & roll, celebration, sex, booze or being alive could
relate to in some basic way,” as he puts it—includes drummer
Pete Sheehan, bassist Shawn McCann, and Wiley
on the harmonica (“Wait till you hear THIS guy!,” Albie
proclaims). Lowthief are about ready to record their debut
album, and they’re booked well until late spring.
Albie’s also got a solo disc, Bedroom, recorded exactly
there (aka the knothouse attic)—“Flawed, intimate, but pretty
real, I think,” he says—that he gives out at his gigs. So,
if you see him, ask for one. (Speaking of gigs, Lowthief will
play the Fuze Box tomorrow, Friday; see Noteworthy, page 38).
When he’s not working on his own stuff, Albie provides his
vocal, bass and guitar prowess to Mitch Elrod, MotherJudge’s
Urban Holiness Society and Wood—who are nearly
ready to share their recorded tunes with the world.
SITE
CLUB: Of the Web sites that I visit again and again when
I’m in need of local-band information—in addition to the sites
with extensive links, such as the hiddencity.com and
bryanthomas.com, which I look at daily—a new contender
is albanyjazz.com, managed by area jazz saxophonist
Brian Patneaude (who, by the way, will play his last
show with the Refrigerators at Valenti’s on Saturday,
so he can focus on his own pursuits). “My thinking was, let
me create a site online that will serve as a listing of as
many of the local jazz musicians as possible,” he says. “So
that the general public could learn more about them and hopefully
go out to hear them live.” The site, which Patneaude began
last spring, contains musician-info pages, special features
such as interviews with area jazz artists, event calendars
and the like. He’s created a pretty big list of area jazz
performers, but there’s always room for expansion—so, head
to the Web site if you’d like to be included.
—Kate
Sipher
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Columns
& Opinions
