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 […]
Frank De Blase
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Ron Gallo finds the change within
Everything about Nashville’s Ron Gallo is “utter”: utterly chaotic; utterly fractured; and his bio describes a man who is not afraid to call utter bullshit on the most disappointing human norms. He shines bright despite being a sort of anti-rockstar. Musically, Gallo — who fronted Philadelphia’s Toy Soldiers before the band parted ways in 2014 […]
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Album review: ‘Baby Brother’
Jon Lewis Band “Baby Brother” Self-released jonlewis.bandcamp.com The way the Jon Lewis Band puts the pedal to the metal on “Let Me Go,” the opening track to “Baby Brother,” its new release, doesn’t give you much time to get out of the way of the rest of the album, laying there coiled and waiting. There’s […]
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Album review: ‘Stubborn Comfort’
Anamon “Stubborn Comfort” Self-released anamon.bandcamp.com It used to take a minimum of two notes to make a minor chord. It’s just simple theory; it’s the rules: a single note is neutral. That is, until it’s part of a scale or chord pattern — or until Anamon came along with “Stubborn Comfort,” its brand new, 12-song […]
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Margaret Explosion has a Marshall plan
The neon flashed “Vacancy” after guitarist Bob Martin packed a grip and skedaddled west to Chicago, leaving a hole in the Margaret Explosion the size of space. The Margaret Explosion is known for its atmospheric, borderless seek and find, and Martin was an integral component. It is the perfect music, really; a narcotic moment in […]
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ROCK | The Big Drops
Goddammit, I’ve apparently been wasting precious time listening to bands that have been trying to sound like New Jersey whiz kids The Big Drops. The band cuts a big swath of atmosphere that reverberates off of itself as it swirls and whirls approaching a controlled infinity. The band’s new album, “Time, Color,” is sweetly psychedelic, […]
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SPECIAL EVENT | South Wedge Record Fair
Collectors, audiophiles, lightweight fans, and heavy weight collectors will all gather for the fall edition of the South Wedge Record Fair. It’s swap meets, conventions, and fairs that fill the need in music to have something tangible to touch and to hold. As CD sales slide into the digital and download realm and toward pending […]
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Album review: ‘Wildfire’
Madeleine McQueen “Wildfire” Self-released madeleinemcqueen.com Singer-songwriter Madeleine McQueen packs quite a wonderful wallop on her newest EP release, “Wildfire.” You can hear her strength and resolve over the disc’s entirety. McQueen has a heartbreaking belt and sustain, and here she sings spot-on and flexibly gentle with a voice that first caught me completely off guard […]
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Album review: ‘Around Your Neck’
Pink Elephant “Around Your Neck” Self-released pinkelephant.bandcamp.com Do you remember when the word “indie” meant independent of limits and associations and not a shortcut for calling something “weird”? If you don’t, then please let Rochester’s Pink Elephant explain by way of its new album, “Around Your Neck.” With just the right amount of chaos and […]
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ROCK | Hedersleben
I hated this band the minute I first heard it. Yup, hated it. Hedersleben was all prog-rock, opaque confusion; thinking man’s rock. It was worse than Emerson, Lake and Palmer. But I kept listening and was pleasantly surprised as the band ramped up the energy into Edgar Winter territory. It was then that I went […]
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Forty years on, The Dead Boys still loud and snotty
The late-1970’s was huge for punk as it raged against corporate rock and its own conception, and was blasted into the mainstream. Bands like Iggy and the Stooges, the New York Dolls, and the Ramones were getting picked up by major record labels, and the media began to notice. Amid a year of seminal album […]
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Album review: ‘Wasting Time’
The Tragedy Brothers “Wasting Time” Self-released tragedybrothers.com The Tragedy Brothers open up its second album, “Wasting Time,” with a casual lope that’s more on the roll side of the rock ‘n’ roll idiom. The rock isn’t necessarily neglected, but it’s used sort of as an afterburner to add push and punch when required. Overall, “Wasting […]
