Seth Faergolzia’s Multibird is a magnificent, multi-genre-defying, multi-genre-defining operation. It is odd and it is contrarian. Faergolzia, who wields the baton at the heart of this oddball parade, is a boisterous, gentle giant who does a bit of everything.
Frank De Blase
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ROCK | The Ginger Faye Bakers
They released a coupla albums, played a bunch of crash-and-burners, and then just kind of vanished. The band has since contributed several songs to the hit Showtime series “Shameless,” but for guys who rock as relentlessly as The Ginger Faye Bakers, they haven’t performed much lately. With a simple format of three and the rawness […]
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HOLIDAY ACOUSTIC | Watkins & the Rapiers
Watkins & the Rapiers’ annual “Holiday Storybook” is a study in wiseass Christmas cheer. Formed in 1997, the band will play a fresh new batch of Christmas tunes, which fly in the face of our country’s annoying obsession with silent nights, mangers, and red-nosed anything. The songs are about such topics as unionizing elves and […]
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Album review: ‘Engine Core Phenomenal’
Treasure Plate ‘Engine Core Phenomenal’ Self-released treasureplate.com If you like “Mystery Science Theatre 3000,” you’ll dig this. “Engine Core Phenomenal” is some wacky shit, both visually and audio-wise. And thankfully, it’s a lotta fun. The brilliance behind Rochester’s sci-fi rock band Treasure Plate is that both halves need each other to make any sense. You […]
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Album review: ‘The Gift’
Karl LaPorta ‘The Gift’ Self-released store.cdbaby.com/karllaporta Looking back at Karl LaPorta’s 2012 album, “The Gift,” his piano-playing leads velvety and valiant, providing a pleasant shag in which listeners can wiggle their toes. The album is concise in its various platforms and plateaus, with shining highlights throughout. In particular: Dig the tasteful guitar that shows up […]
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The F Word: Ka-ching
For the swingin’ side of things, I caught Big Bad Voodoo Daddy playing its holiday show at Kodak Center on the Ridge Sunday night. Though small in number, the audience ate up all the big bad voodoo the band could throw at it.
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The F Word: Deafening silence
Tommy Stinson was a quiet storm as he vacillated between righteous anger, subtle inebriation, and sheer showmanship this past Wednesday night at Bop Shop Records.
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Album review: ‘Sensorama’
Haewa ‘Sensorama’ Self-released haewamusic.bandcamp.com On this, Haewa’s seventh release, Rochester’s psychedelic darlings have opened up their creative space again. The album “Sensorama” is a study in infinite time and space. But there are finite, synthesized layers that swirl and converge upon the listener, serving as a safe place to go before diving back into the […]
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The F Word: Blood and bar-b-que
It’s a matter of priorities, I guess, but I’d be hard-pressed to choose between bar-b-que and rock ‘n’ roll. I’ve always felt that rock ‘n’ roll is what bar-b-que sounds like; and both are equally messy.
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Album review: ‘Ram-A Lam-A’
Televisionaries ‘Ram-A Lam-A’ Hi-Tide Records televisionaries.bandcamp.com Don’t call it a throwback. Televisionaries’ new seven-inch record, featuring the three Lake brothers, is a flat-out gas and is as much ado about now as it is about then. It’s a future classic. It’s four rockin’ ditties from yestermorrow. It’s splendiferous. “Ram-A Lam-A” takes a page from the […]
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Album review: ‘Lugaroo’
Yarms ‘Lugaroo’ Self-released yarms.bandcamp.com Good lyrics seem to work best in clusters of cohesive thoughts or themes. They add up to create impact. Rarely does it come down to just a line or two, until now. Ryan Yarmel — or Yarms as the kids call him — has released a new EP of self-aware acoustic […]
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BRASS BAND | White Hot Brass Band
The White Hot Brass Band is New Orleans-style jazz, done funky. Now it isn’t that this Western New York band is big (there are only six pieces), but The Spirit Room’s stage fills up fast. It’s gonna feel like that famous “crowded cabin” scene from The Marx Brothers’ “A Night at the Opera.” There’ll be […]
