NYS Music 20​15

Category: Reviews

  • Winter Carnival 2015: Formula 5 at the Waterhole

    It was a flying groove rather than a race, with Formula 5 performing at the Waterhole for Winter Carnival in Saranac Lake. The music flowed, the jams extended, the people danced. This band is composed of four talented young musicians from the Albany Area;  Joe Davis on Guitar, Mike McDonald on Keyboard, James Woods on Bass and Greg Mark on Drums.

    formula 5 winter carnivalThey have funk, improvisation jams and sound larger with a higher level of groove reminiscent of bands like Phish.  Their songs are original with instrumental breaks and an underlying trance/dance rhythm. Nominated for ’s 2014 Bands on the Rise as well as Upstate Album of the year with“Edging on Catastrophe.”  Formula 5 is a band that is accelerating fast, sure to be on the festival stages this summer and definitely not to be missed.

  • Fred Gillen Jr. Debuts New CD ‘Wage Love’ in a Homestyle Fashion

    It seemed as though a town meeting was mustering at EMBARK@EMC as the locals, family, and friends poured in from the clammy cold street to help Fred Gillen Jr. celebrate the release of his ninth studio album Wage Love on Feb. 8. From the outside, EMBARK’s space at the Energy Movement Center is just like any other small-town storefront, that evening decked out with posters and artwork for the show and a well-placed portrait of Pete Seeger to greet folks as they came in.

    The show started off with a few songs from Philadelphia based street performer, Laura Bowman, who contributed vocals to the album and joined Fred and his band (also composed of contributors to the recording) later in the evening. It was the first time for many at the show to hear Bowman but its a name they’ll remember for years to come – her beautiful dynamic singing and accompanying guitar work fueled by an engaged audience is something to not be taken for granted.

    A performance like this made for an exciting and enjoyable first listen to the album through a live re-enactment of it. The CD itself is skillfully composed, and hearing it first through a live performance adds a connection with the spontaneity of Fred’s style and jest – something liner notes cannot do. The first impression of Wage Love is much more vivid than that of listening at home. Fueled by a potluck-spread of snacks and goodies, the audience fed a communal energy into the room – singing along with and becoming engaged in the music – in feedback to the lyrics, soul, and music generated from the auspices of the American flag hung on the curtains behind the band.

    Joining Fred was the same crew that backed him up on the album – Laura Bowman on vocals, Paul Magliarli on drums, Matt Turk on guitar and mandolin, and Jeff Eyrich on bass.

    The album itself is political yet not dreary. Fred’s style, which throughout his compositions brings a fresh sound to the traditional folk and Americana music setting, lends a net of optimism to topics (worker’s rights, war, government) that tend to sometimes stir a sense of gloom. As a token to the lesser-sung songs of the working American and undermined heroes the album starts off with “Walking Down That Freedom Highway” – written to the tune of Woodie Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” – and ends with “I Dreamed I Saw Pete Seeger” – a hymn to the unparalleled spirit we lost in 2014 sung to the air on part of “We Shall Overcome,” a staple of Seeger’s songbook.

    The setlist included Wage Love from start to finish and an encore of two songs from previous albums – “This Old Car” and “Devil’s Bluff.”

    Key Tracks: Killing Machine, We The People, I Dreamed I Saw Pete Seeger

  • Winter Carnival 2015: The Blind Owl Band at The Waterhole

    The Blind Owl Band is Adirondack Grass music. Five bearded dudes with strings and electricity, howling down the mountains to put the final finis on Winter Carnival at the Waterhole in Saranac Lake NY. This band is composed of Eric Munley, picker of mandolin, Arthur Buezo sliding on guitar, James Ford rolling on banjo, and Christian Cardiello playing at breakneck speed on bass. And their performance at Winter Carnival 2015 was quite the treat.

    Winter Carnival The Blind Owl BandAll transplants to the area, they now define progressive bluegrass in the Adirondacks. But with two album’s, Rabble Rousing and This Train is Made of Wood and Steel, they have been spreading their blind owl wings to festivals and towns throughout the Northeast. Their musical style is blue-streak fast and furious tempos with impressive instrumental dexterity, then fall back into old-time string band  stanzas.   Experienced live, they move, twist and turn, fingers a flying, bass a spinning and the audience pressing closer to the stage, dancing and feeling the joy of what is The Blind Owl Band. Hoot!

  • Winter Carnival 2015: Moon Hooch

    Two saxophonists, Mike Wilbur and Wenzl McGovern with a drummer James Muschler make up the phenomenal band Moon Hooch, who performed at Winter Carnival 2015. They call it “Cave Music” I call it the best new jazz out there, aka Rashim Roland Kirk.  Hold on to your drum hat and start your cyclic breathing,  this band will make you dance.

    Winter Carnival 2015 Moon HoochFunky, wild, free yet so organic is the groove that the only primal thing you can do is move. Let other bands do covers, this band has captured a unique sound that has propelled it from busking on subways to hitting the top numbers on Billboards jazz charts and packing dance halls around the country. Picked up by Mike Doughty (formerly of Soul Coughing) when he saw  them play in the subway and liked them so much that he had them open for him on a national tour. The Moon Hooch phenomena has just grown from festivals, to pastures, to museums, to cooking vegan in the van, to inducing alpha brain waves in the audience.  They just released their second Album, This is Cave Music, and they are an act not to be missed. Photos from their show at The Waterhole at the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival as well as prior to the show,with a giraffe.

    And yes, they tore the house down and all were dancing to…..jazz.

  • Hearing Aide: Armageddon ‘Captivity and Devourment’

    captivityIt’s no secret that ‘Armageddon’ is one of the most overused metal band names in history, with over 800 entries on Metal Archives alone. That being said, too many metal heads that shouldn’t be overlooking this particular ‘Armageddon’, have been for far too long. Formed in Sweden in 1997 by Chris Amott (ex- Arch Enemy), Armageddon has been home to a revolving door of session musicians, who have all happily catered to Amott’s array of metal writing concepts. Captivity & Devourment is the band’s first release since 2003’s Three. 

    The album features ten beautifully composed songs, all of which flawlessly pay homage to Sweden’s original melodic death metal sound. It kicks off with the title track, “Captivity & Devourment”, which has a more traditional death metal feel. This tune gives us our first opportunity to hear Matt Hallquist (Under A Serpent Sun) expertly deliver his signature punchy death metal vocals over Amott’s guitar work, and although Hallquist’s screams (traditional highs and lows) are nothing out of the ordinary, they compliment the music perfectly.

    The album continues with the tracks “Locked In” and “Rendition”. These two tracks are instantly memorable and pack more of Amott’s signature melodic hooks and anthem like solos. However, the riffs are just as heavy and driving as they are insanely catchy. We even get a chance to hear Amott’s fantastic clean vocals by this point in the album, on “Rendition”. 

    The album’s fourth track, “Fugitive Dust”, was in my opinion, a perfect choice for a single. It kicks off with an ’80s sci-fi style intro, reminiscent of the soundtrack to the movie, “Blade Runner”. It then instantly kicks in to the main riff, a classic choppy melodeath riff, with quick pick scrapes and three note harmonic sweeps, adding even more to the mechanical sci-fi feel of the entire track. Hardly surprising, since their first album, Crossing the Rubicon (1997), was entirely science fiction themed. (Scroll down for the “Fugitive Dust” video)

    Other songs like, “Conquer,” “Thanatron” and “The Watcher” really bring the initial ideas behind this album to fruition. We even get to hear more of Amott’s clean vocals on the track, “Equalizer”. As a whole, Captivity & Devourment is destructive, beautiful, masterfully layered, sinister, sludgy and downright metal. Fans of this genre shouldn’t be able to ignore this one.

    Armageddon is now based in New York City and are currently taking the upper east coast by storm on their No Dead Weight tour with Framework. All the details for this tour are on Armageddon’s Facebook page. If you have the opportunity to check out one of these shows, I’d advise you to do so!

    Key Tracks: Locked In, Rendition, Fugitive Dust

    www.facebook.com/armageddonbandofficial

    www.facebook.com/christopheramottofficial

  • Photo Gallery: Railroad Earth Visits a Frozen Niagara Falls

    Railroad Earth played to a solid crowd during a very cold Sunday night at Rapids Theatre in Niagara Falls.

    The band played through a number of songs stretching through their growing catalog. The band seemed to hit on all strides providing some great jams and hearty Americana rock. The New Jersey band continues to give New York state some love as they make it out this way whenever they can and will be continuing their tour with a stop in New York City with three dates this weekend at Brooklyn Bowl.

  • Photo Gallery: Moon Hooch and Ampevene at The Hollow

    Moon Hooch is an interesting concept – two saxophones (Mike Wilbur and Wenzi McGowen) and one drummer (James Muschler) combine energies to create a fusion of jazz and EDM with intensely high energy. Focused and committed to their craft, Moon Hooch are dialed in when they perform, driven by Muschler’s powerful drumming and phenomenal interplay between Wilbur and McGowan, leading to gyrating crowds pumping fists to the beat. “Number 9”, the first track off their eponymous debut album garnered an intense response from the audience, along with many other choice compositions.

    It will be interesting to see how their live performance translates at music festivals this summer. In the meantime, go see Moon Hooch on tour this winter. Opening the night was Ampevene, a new local act from Albany who are slowly gaining ground with their progressive rock with a hint of open ended jamming. The young band are not to be missed and will be back at The Hollow next month.

  • Winter Carnival 2015: Swampcandy has a Delta Groove

    Swampcandy hit the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival and turned the Waterhole into a deep Delta Juke joint.  Composed of Ruben Dobbs on vocals and guitar and Joey Mitchell on stand up bass and kick drum, this duo brings raw, stomping, highly rhythmic post modern blues from the Mississippi Hill Country and mixes it with an infusion of punk energy.  One, two, three, BAM they start off full tilt with inescapable rhythmic boogie riffs and physically take off with a continuous motion of hands slapping bass, guitar shuffle, bare foot on the kick-drum and hair a-flying.

    SwampcandyOne can see why they have been welcomed with such great acceptance in blues-aware England and played with T-Model Ford in the Delta.  They have been awarded first place in the On The Rise competition at the 2014 Floydfest and are currently number one across the board on ReverbNation. They continue to tour throughout the US, with their second album being released in the spring. Get down and swamp boogie with this band.

  • Hearing Aide: A Troop of Echoes ‘The Longest Year on Record’

    Heavily influenced by The Slip and Bela Fleck, A Troop of Echoes is aptly named for their style. Inherently emotional, pensive, and sometimes haunting, this album sounds like a melancholy rendition of a faraway memory. Recorded in a former brewery in Providence, RI and mixed by a producer specializing in metal bands, and mastered in Chicago, this album has passed through many hands to form a unique sound. The Longest Year on Record is all instrumental, and with nine songs that are mostly over six minutes long, it’s experimental rock fusion that still retains a composed sensibility.

    The first song, “Manifest and Legion” sets the tone for the rest of the album. It starts off slow and a little introspective, then unexpectedly delves into rock. Simultaneously intense and sweet like eating a Sour Patch Kid, this song holds a certain charm ending with a slightly militaristic sounding drum roll.

    Next is “Small Fires” where the opening notes sound like they could be from The Pixies. The song begins with a psychedelic sounding saxophone which carries throughout. The saxophone is especially prevalent in this song and adds an upbeat, even triumphant sentiment. “Small Fires” has the kind of melody that you could easily find yourself humming along to.

    In the beginning of “Acrecibo” the drums retain a bit of a militaristic sound, following in line with “Manifest and Legion”. The beginning of this song in particular sounds very methodic like a nostalgic slow dance. It unfurls itself into something quite pretty, the bass line leading the way.

    “Kerosene”, the halfway point of The Longest Year on Record is the first song on the album that features string instruments. The glockenspiel really shines on this track in its mixture with the strings. “Kerosene” is a song that is rife with its own personality. It holds an intrinsic curiosity, and sounds like it could be lifted from a movie soundtrack.

    “Constellation” and “The Longest Year on Record” are two of the strongest tracks on this record. Both are skillfully composed, delicate, and slightly wistful. “Constellation” resembles its title, both contemplative and poignant. Perfect for stargazing, its smooth amalgamation of sounds. This song has great transitions, each instrument coalescing together to create something larger. “The Longest Year on Record”, is the title track and represents what the crux of this album is all about. The softness of this song is highlighted by the saxophone’s trilling notes. The subtle bass line and the complex layering of sounds gives this song a slightly redemptive feel. It features a great buildup into a slightly angelic ending.

    The pinnacle of instrumental music is that it’s so conducive to different interpretations. That is what is so great about this album. Musically, it’s dynamic and the production value is evident in the fact that it just sounds good. The Longest Year on Record seems like it could even be one continuous song that just happened to be broken into parts. This is A Troop of Echoes second record, and after listening to this, I’m looking forward to their next release.

    Key Tracks: Small Fires, Kerosene, Constellation

    [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/148317394″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

  • Winter Carnival 2015: Donna the Buffalo with Driftwood at the Waterhole

    Donna the Buffalo kicked Saranac Lake Winter Carnival up a notch Thursday night with a show that packed the Waterhole.

    Americana string act Driftwood opened the show with an energetic set that got the audience moving. Then Donna the Buffalo took the stage and turned up the heat with their zydeco-laced dance music. The band and the audience worked up a sweat despite the freezing temperatures outside as everyone partied late into the night. Driftwood joined DTB on stage for a group encore.

    Donna the Buffalo is Jeb Puryear on guitar; Tara Nevins on guitar, accordion and violin; Dave McCracken on Hammond organ, Honer clavinet and piano; Kyle Spark on bass; and drummer Mark Raudabaugh.