It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and no, we aren’t talking ’bout Xmas or even Festivus. We mean The Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival when jazz artists as well as musicians of all stripes descend upon our fair city for nine days in the summer. Well, the bigwigs at the XRIJF have just […]
Frank De Blase
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Album review: ‘Sit & Smile’
Willow Bay “Sit & Smile” Self-released willowbay.bandcamp.com Let’s see now: thickly chopped power chords; snotty vocals; clever songs; little or no excessive guitar noodling; accelerated tempo. Lemme guess, it’s the new Green Day. No? Then it’s the Foxboro Hot Tubs? No? This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but Rochester punkers Willow Bay’s “Sit & Smile” […]
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ROCK ‘N’ ROLL | The Regrettes
The Regrettes’s video for its song “Seashore” features singer Lydia Night being burned at the stake like Joan of Arc while suggesting I go fuck myself. And that’s all it took, really — I’m in love with this band from Los Angeles. It’s straight-out-of-the-garage pop with a bite from punk rock teeth. It’s The Ramones […]
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Album review: ‘Algorithmic Soul’
Red Sky Lullaby “Algorithmic Soul” Self-released redskylullaby.com Red Sky Lullaby’s new “Algorithmic Soul” is the soundtrack to lunar-bound, waking dreams in all of its narcotic splendor and ambience. Red Sky Lullaby is the one-man-mission of producer Stuart Kilbride, who paints an infinite expanse of colorful wonderment. It’s chill and mellow to the max. But before […]
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ROOTS | Daddy Longleg’s Homegrown Revival
Thanks to Daddy Longleg’s Homegrown Revival, Cleveland is now the center of the world. These cats are rustbelt gumbo with every spice imaginable tossed in the pot, along with some gunpowder for added bang in the boogie. Just dig the band’s version of The Beatles’ “Come Together.” Daddy Longleg’s Homegrown Revival plays happy hour on […]
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The Crooked North digs the dark dichotomy in bluegrass
The Crooked North blends bluegrass and old-time folk with a diesel kick that is both sharp and clean. It’s yesterday played today, and it comes on like a veritable freight train. But The Crooked North is playing with you. It candy coats its lyrical darkness in the light of its exuberant bluegrass. Bluegrass by its […]
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AMERICANA | King Cardinal
What started out as a solo recording project, King Cardinal founder Brennan Mackey has since fleshed out into a deluxe, five-piece band. The changes came once he pulled a Hail Mary and moved from Chicago and into Denver. King Cardinal calls to mind early Ryan Adams, and flirts with a profane sadness that’ll make you […]
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METAL | Children of Bodom
Amidst the helicopter kick drum and the requisite heavy guitar chug and squeal, Finland extremists Children of Bodom manage to bring some melodic mania to its metal. And it’s been at it — along with confounding adjective-seeking journalists — for 20 years in its native land (where the band has sold 250,000 records) and around […]
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REGGAE | The Medicinals
This will be The Medicinals’ last show before the regional reggae favorites head into the studio to carve out a new record for 2018. This year proved to be a busy one for the band, with shared shows with The Wailers and The Majestics. The Medicinals is an all-star band really, featuring artists from Giant […]
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BLUEGRASS | Evie Ladin & Keith Terry
This ain’t your daddy’s folk outfit. Evie Ladin and Keith Terry play a very percussive style of old time music that incorporates a mixture of Appalachian clogging and hambone to accent the duo’s otherwise traditional approach to traditional music. It’s fresh and clean and original while somehow remaining classic. It’s infectious. Evie Ladin & Keith […]
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METAL | Survival of the Fittest Fest
It’ll be a hellaciously hard and heavy night of music with this year’s Survival of the Fittest Fest. The show features local mavens like Diluted, Rip Open The Sky — don’t get it confused with the Christian rock album by Remedy Drive — one of my favorite hardcore bands, A Fitting Revenge, Undead Messengers, Plagues […]
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SINGER-SONGWRITER | Joni Mitchell birthday party
Joni Mitchell’s impact is two-fold in that her message of peace and love is carried further by the legions of artists she has influenced over the years, like Rochester belter Lauren Faggiano. Faggiano and her band will be the hosts to an army of Mitchellites, including Connie Demming, Maria Gillard, Scott Regan, Sara Rogers, and […]
