Music

Colin Stetson, Tyshawn Sorey, Sarah Neufeld

by Raurri Jennings April 12, 2012

The black-box theater at EMPAC was dark except for the track lights running up either side of the room. A fugue of sampled drum fills, cut-and-paste chords, and disembodied voices panned in the house speakers. ...

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From Boom Boom to Bust

by Al Quaglieri April 12, 2012

If you live long enough, eventually you’ll see touchstones of your past vanish, one at a time. You’ll drive by an empty lot where your old home, or shop, or teenage hangout, or dive bar ...

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Follies: 2011 Broadway Revival

by B.A. Nilsson April 4, 2012

This may be the best cast album I’ve ever heard, and the only reason I equivocate is that I’m unduly fond of the show itself and thus tend to be enthusiastic from the get-go. Having missed ...

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John Fahey

by B.A. Nilsson April 4, 2012

Beginning in 1958, and for seven years, guitarist John Fahey recorded for the quirky Fonotone label, which issued hand-cut records on demand. At first he recorded in Joe Bussard’s Fonotone studio; at a later point ...

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A Barrel of Fun

by Elyse Beaudoin April 4, 2012

Two musical monsters, That 1 Guy and Buckethead, combined their power to make crowds come alive at Northern Lights last week. They first teamed up as the Frankenstein Brothers in 2008 when they released the ...

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S(around)OUND

by Jeff Nania March 29, 2012

The Troy Gasholder building was transformed into an apocalyptic edge of the world on Saturday and Sunday nights. Artist and RPI professor Michael Oatman was captain of the team that brought this large-scale interactive multimedia ...

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Keith Pray

by Jeff Nania March 29, 2012

Keith Pray’s most recent release, Confluence, is a serious work of heavy jazz. The saxophonist features world-class talent including Peter Tomlinson on piano, Lou Pappas on bass, Jeff “Siege” Siegel on drums and guitarist Chuck ...

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Arthur Rubinstein

by B.A. Nilsson March 29, 2012

Back in 1999, the $1,600, 94-CD box of pianist Arthur Rubinstein’s complete recordings nearly bankrupted BMG’s classical division. BMG had absorbed the RCA Red Seal catalogue and produced big box sets of Heifetz and Toscanini ...

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Rough Mix

by Josh Potter March 29, 2012

Swing Low Sweet Chariot It was with great sadness that the Capital Region music community learned of the death of bluesman Ernie Williams last Wednesday (March 21). The 87-year-old suffered a heart attack only days after ...

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Sleigh Bells

by David King March 22, 2012

Sleigh Bells’ second disc is sophomoric. The vibrant production that combined crunchy guitar work and big dropping hip-hop beats on the band’s debut Treats is nowhere to be found on Reign of Terror. Instead the ...

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Men of the Flannel Cloth

by Josh Potter March 22, 2012

It’s Friday night, and on one end of Pearl Street, megachurch televangelist Joel Osteen is saving souls at a packed Times Union Center; on the other end, Eastbound Jesus are drinking beer, smoking cigarettes and ...

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Brian Patneaude

by Jeff Nania March 22, 2012

All Around Us is Brian Patneaude’s ode to everyday inspiration. His tunes tell stories of experiences as diverse as his recent engagement, childhood memories, and even a brush with dental surgery. Of the eight compositions ...

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Skinny Puppy

by David King March 22, 2012

Skinny Puppy reunited some years ago thanks to lucrative German industrial festival cash. Well, it turns out that Germany’s love of industrial wasn’t enough to keep the band fat and paid. And, hey, when a ...

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Beauty School Dropouts

by Josh Potter March 15, 2012

“Recording scenarios are like bicycles,” waxes audio engineer Frank Moscowitz. If the analogy were taken one step further, it would make he and longtime collaborator Seamus McNulty some cross between Lance Armstrong and those guys ...

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Lower Dens

by Josh Potter March 15, 2012

When Jana Hunter told the crowd at Valentine’s that they were “the most fun we’ve had this trip,” it might have come off as the cursory flattery a band will build into their stagecraft to ...

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David Grisman Folk Jazz Trio

by Jeremy D. Goodwin March 15, 2012

At some point you stop trying to put your finger on exactly which genres David Grisman is synthesizing at a given moment. His prodigious list of albums and band projects includes some straight-up bluegrass, newgrass, ...

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Mindless Self Indulgence

by Elyse Beaudoin March 15, 2012

The crowd at Northern Lights was dotted with spiky dyed hair and piercings on Friday. Some were dressed as teddy bears or a cross between Cookie Monster and Sully from Monsters Inc. One man even ...

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Jane’s Addiction

by Jeremy D. Goodwin March 8, 2012

Fuckin’ A. Midway through a thoroughly gripping, third-tune “Mountain Song,” it occurred to me very clearly: In a more just musical world, Jane’s Addiction would be U2. Or vice versa. In a sold-out, Friday night concert at ...

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WCDB 34th Anniversary Music Festival

by Raurri Jennings March 8, 2012

The crowd for the the WCDB 34th Anniversary Music Festival at Valentine’s was a mix of rowdy students, veteran DJs and rock-show enthusiasts, with some in attendance donning paper-happy birthday hats and balloons. Stretched over ...

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Randy Brecker Quintet featuring Ada Rovatti

by Jeff Nania March 8, 2012

Trumpeter Randy Brecker and saxophonist Ada Rovatti came through town Saturday night to play a mix of originals and standards with some of the local heavyweights. Drummer Dave Calarco, bassist John Menegon and guitarist Matt ...

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Rough Mix

by The Staff March 1, 2012

Two-Track Troy The four members of Girls of Porn—an all-male, acid-punk-experimental band from Albany with no discernable connection to the porn industry—are sitting around the brick-walled lounge of producer Don Fury’s Troy recording studio, showing off ...

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In the Name of Prog

by Raurri Jennings February 23, 2012

In I Heart Huckabees, Dustin Hoffman’s existential detective character is explaining the interconnectedness of all the matter and energy in the universe to Jason Schwartzman using a blanket. He juts his hand through the cloth ...

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Lucky Dragons

by The Staff February 23, 2012

Google the term “actual reality” and you’ll find a Hollywood production company, a web design firm, a profile on the MIT admissions site, the Wikipedia entry for “reality,” a messageboard for fans of the musical ...

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David Guetta

by The Staff February 16, 2012

Over the past couple years, the Washington Avenue Armory has established itself as an international tour stop for some of the biggest names in electronic dance music. On Feb. 2, French DJ David Guetta filled ...

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Peter Wolf

by The Staff February 16, 2012

Peter Wolf put on a clinic of cool Saturday night at the the Egg’s Swyer Theater, making up for an earlier canceled date. When leaving the show, a rock & roll drummer/lawyer exclaimed, “I absolutely ...

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