NYS Music 20​18

Author: Alyssa Ladzinski

  • Hearing Aide: Big Something ‘The Otherside’

    While April 20 tends to be a day known for celebrating greener lifestyles and festivities, for Big Something, it will notch the release and celebration of their latest studio album, The Otherside.

    big something the othersideTucking away their fifth studio effort, the North Carolina 6-piece offers Big Something fanatics a piggy-back off of last year’s Tumbleweed. Thumbing listeners through an encyclopedia of genres, the 2018 release continues the haunting narrative of wandering through the depths of a post-apocalyptic desert while undergoing some serious soul searching, hoping to come out of the clutches of a bad peyote trip. Unable to place the album’s pulse on one particular sound, the sonic exploration allows focus to be placed on the group’s unfolding concept instead.

    The first few notes of “Sundown Nomad” welcome Big Something fans to their familiar, glitchy EWI sounds before diving into a land of spoken word trip-hop. As the eight-track album continues, “Wildfire” follows as a feel-good tune paired with less than hopeful lyrics, repeatedly exclaiming “woe is me.” The tight-knit ensemble of Nick MacDaniels (guitar, vocals), Doug Marshall (bass), Josh Kagel (keys, trumpet), Casey Cranford (sax, EWI), Jesse Hensley (lead guitar), and Ben Vinograd (drums) play with poetic juxtaposition on this track, while the uplifting riffs seem blissful, the lyrics divergently describe one thousand acres burning to the ground and the world going up in a wildfire.

    “We wanted to pay homage to the original concept of ‘an album’ with this release where sitting down and listening to the whole thing is an experience – 20 minutes per side with a break between. Side A complements Side B. This is the first time we’ve setup an album to fit perfectly on a vinyl record like that,” vocalist Nick MacDaniels shared.

    “The Cave” offers a more emotional outlet through Daniels’ heart-rendering vocals and slower time signatures while the album’s title track, “The Otherside,” takes shape of a fleeting 1:47 ambient break in the midst of the album. “Smoke Signal,” a track specifically written for the album and yet to receive the live debut treatment, holds it’s own as a silky smooth jazz track, with a combination of velvety vocals and saxophone. Most tracks are given a new life through Big Something live performances. It’s a wonder what they’ll do with “Smoke Signal” for its first time in front of a live audience.

    Cranford’s EWI majesty helps “Cosmic Dust” tap into 80s synth- Stranger Things theme song elements before the last two tracks showcase the groups funk and hard rock in its finest form. With the help of groovy trumpets and top-notch shredding on guitar, the album finds its fastest and strongest notes at a pinnacle of high-energy upon its conclusion.

    The powerhouse rockers found their voices through storytelling and fusing unique elements together to wrap up the story they’ve been telling since their 2017 predecessor album. Creating another layer of emotion folded into the album, it’s dedicated to the memory of Paul Interdonato, the band’s late lyricist and friend who tragically passed away on December 3, 2017 – the same exact day the band was gearing up to record in studio.

    The Otherside takes on thematics of musical journeys in more ways than one– the story of the album’s troubled, vagabond protagonist as well as a touching tribute of inspiration from a lifelong friend.

    Key Tracks: Smoke Signal, Cosmic Dust, Hole

  • Mike Doughty Kicks off Northeast Tour

    After placing the focus on his own work over the last 18 years, former Soul Coughing frontman and solo wordsmith, Mike Doughty is making a quick trip around the Northeast to turn back the clocks and perform the alternative rock group’s ‘Irresistible Bliss’ for a total of seven dates.

    You’d figure by the time he notched The Heart Watches While the Brain Burns, his ninth solo album since 2000, Doughty would settle into his ways and follow a musical pattern. Simply, that’s just not the way he operates. Always diving into and exploring new sounds, the ever-growing artist and former front man is constantly taking chances on new styles and setting personal deadlines of crafting and recording original music as often as possible.

    mike doughty

    From country crooning to hard hitting beats and even a 2015 rock opera by the name Revelation, it’s clear Doughty doesn’t rely on one-track mind of creativity. Instead, he chooses from a bank of ideas in his head and decides how he wants it to translate to the public. Appealing to his roots, An Evening with Mike Doughty performing Soul Coughing’s Irresistible Bliss with Andrew “Scrap” Livingston launched on March 22 in Portland, ME before heading to a sold out gig in Boston. Having just made his way through NJ and MD, Doughty finds himself in NY from March 28 to 30, playing for crowds each night in Pawling’s Daryl’s House, Homer Center for the Arts and Albany’s the Linda, respectively.

    Visit MikeDoughty’s website for tickets.

  • Arctic Monkeys Detail North American Dates

    A total of five years have come and gone without fresh Arctic Monkeys material, leaving fans with AM to hold them over until the English rockers’ latest musical venture. Promising fans fresh content in the near future, it seems the seasoned performers will stay true to their convictions with newly announced North American tour dates for Arctic Monkeys as the warmer weather rolls in.

    One gig at LA’s Hollywood Forever Cemetery kicks things off in May, before hopping to the other side of the states for three-show runs in Raleigh, Nashville and Atlanta. The foursome will take on the East Coast on July 24 at Queens, NY Forest Hills Stadium before moving onto Boston and DC as well as Midwestern territories in Pittsburgh, Detroit and Toronto.

    Pre sale tickets went on sale March 13 at 10 a.m., while tickets go on sale to the general public on March 16. In tandem with the freshly announced European gigs, this will be the first tour since 2014.

    Check out their tour dates on their site and below:

    May 5 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Forever Cemetery
    June 14-17 – Dover, DE – Firefly Festival
    June 16 – Raleigh, NC – Red Hat Amphitheater
    June 18 – Nashville, TN – Ascend Amphitheater
    June 19 – Atlanta, GA – Coca Cola Roxy Theatre
    July 24 – Queens, NY – Forest Hills Stadium
    July 27 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
    July 28 – Washington, DC – The Anthem
    July 31 – Pittsburgh, PA – Petersen Events center
    August 1 – Detroit, MI – Masonic Temple Theatre
    August 5 – Toronto, ON – Air Canada Centre

  • Andrew Bird Monday Performance Soars Above The Egg

    With ten years in the rear view mirror since his last visit, Andrew Bird finally returned to The Egg Performing Arts Center in Albany for a nearly sold out, intimate performance for an all-ages crowd. Making a comeback to the acoustically enchanting venue, the violin-wielder set up a cozy shop on stage for an uninterrupted show, complete with ample finger plucking and whimsical whistling for an evening of nature-inspired bliss.

    A dapper Bird took the stage solo to unleash an eclectic mix of live music and cinematic visuals to “River” and “Canyon” from his 2015 and 2017 albums, Echolocations. Combining the delicate sounds of nature, alluring violin compositions and “visuals generated from USGS Topographic Imagery of Los Angeles River and Coyote Gulch, Utah,” the ethereal musician was able to bring the great outdoors to a chillingly quiet audience, ready to absorb the emotion ahead. With previously captured video of Bird strumming along to the rhythmic flowing of canyon water while barefoot, the audience felt like they too were ankle-deep in the same stream Bird splashed around in.

    Showcasing his talent and vulnerability as a solo artist, the Chicago native proved that one instrument and a few foot pedals can provide endless looping and musical possibilities. With a main backdrop and two smaller screens off to the side of stage left and right, visuals of vast canyons of wonder and trickling rivers worked in tandem with Bird’s musically replicated sounds of nature, creating a sensory highway for the masses. The film footage, captured by Tyler Manson, allowed Bird to duet with himself for a harmonious delivery and even seemed stunted to the larger scope of the musician playing on screen behind him.

    As the visuals subsided, the tranquil music was paused for three bandmates, a drummer, bassist/guitarist and pianist/guitarist/bassist to hop on stage. While the fans remained glued to their chairs with wide eyes, Bird didn’t refrain from rocking out in front of an illuminated, color-changing backdrop. The whistling wizard and his band began with a mini throwback off the 2005 album Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs (fitting for the venue), “A Nervous Tic Motion Of the Head to the Left,” which brought exuberant energy to the spherical theater. While maintaining the up-beat tempo the band supplemented on stage, Bird partook in some witty banter with the crowd admitting he was “… shredding so hard” as he ripped loose hairs off his shedding bow.

    After “working out some frustrations” to the song “Are You Serious,” he and the band scaled back to play acoustic tunes with all four musicians circled around one booming mic. The 44-year-old musician collected a group of fantastic artists to play alongside him, as they were able to swap instruments to perfectly compliment each song’s energy. Among xylophone solos and a spinning double horn speaker, a fan-favorite treat of the night came in a flawless cover of Neil Young’s “Harvest” during a three-song encore.

    With acoustics bouncing off the wall and striking internal emotional chords, Monday night’s story was illustrated through a perfect amount of sensory creativity and topographical genius for the audience to talk about for the foreseeable future.

    Andrew Bird was set to wrap the tour on March 7 at Kingston NY’s Ulster Performing Arts Center, but due to an impending storm, it’s been rescheduled for Friday, June 22.

    Setlist: Intro, Down Under the Hyperion Bridge, Gypsy Moth, Sweep the Field, Nervous Tick Motion of the Head to the, Left, Capsized, Bloodless, Why?, Truth Lies Low, Are You Serious, Roma Fade, My Sisters Tiny hands (Handsome Family Cover), Orpheo Looks Back, Give it Away, By any Means, Three White Horses, Archipelago, Pulaski at Night, Danse Caribe

    Encore: Harvest (Neil Young cover), Sisyphus, Weather Systems

  • Hearing Aide: Ampevene’s ‘Ephemagoria’

    Complex isn’t always good, but in Ampevene’s case, it’s raw, emotive and highly expressive. The Albany-based quartet will unveil their latest live album, Ephemagoria at The Hollow Bar + Kitchen on Feb. 9 with the helping hands of their friends in Cousin Earth. Having teased fans along the way with the releases of “Valencia” and “Rometheu,”  the complete live effort commands attention from its earliest, distorted notes. Over a 10-track sonic highway, the prog rockers take listeners for a noisy ride as they blend blatant psychedelic rock influences with their own gritty flair and unique cocktail of spellbinding genres. 

    Branching off of Gabe Stallman’s solo project as a guitarist, Ampevene is completed by Stallman on guitar and vocals, Mack Hogan on bass, Brian Fahey on drums and Ava Smith on keys. Seeing a minor lineup change, Fahey is the current drummer who took over for Darryl Kniffen, the recorded drummer on the album. The first few tracks come as an attack on your senses, kicking off with a myriad of sound and distortion as an 8-minute journey unfolds within “Florida.” While the group is undoubtedly influenced by psychedelic rock before its time, (think Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett era) Ampevene channels those visceral tendencies and matches them with the gripping mood and scaling of metal progressions and often hard to compute math-rock.

    Just when you get settled into a groove, it doesn’t last for long before you’re tossed into new kaleidoscopic arrangements and time signatures. The first half of the album relies solely on storytelling through music before a 12-minute “Rometheu” introduces the first glimpse of vocals on the album, although that’s not the pinnacle of the track. While fleeting, Stallman’s vocals are comparable to the tone and echoing of groups like Circa Survive and the Mars Volta, with the latter covered later on the album. With the first and fourth beats emphasized in each measure, the song picks up speed with compositional mastery as the foursome jerk the steering wheel into fresh segments, a common thread throughout Ephemagoria.

    “Hill” comes as a hard-hitter with all the focus placed on tight drumming at the album’s peak with an explosion of sound before introducing the first cover in a somber, slowed down version of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” With a new age take on a beloved classic, the warped arrangement and unique style almost makes the song unrecognizable at times, if not for the lyrics. A second cover comes as a crisp version of the Mars Volta’s “Goliath,” mimicking the song’s natural sound and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez’ distinct vocal inflections.

    The live album as a whole features classic and never before recorded Ampevene songs as well as covers, capturing the feel of a live performance at The Recording Company in Esperance, NY, and mixed by Tim Lynch with mastering by Alan Douches of West West Side Music. Ampevene has the raw talent of making their multi-segmented tracks seem like effortless jams spliced together at all the right, unexpected times. With the ability to entice fans to try to follow along and eventually surrender to the flow, the quartet seems to have mastered their live presence and execution while diving deep into guitar solos, exploratory jazz segments and thrash metal elements.

    Catch the high-energy release Friday night when Ampevene takes The Hollow stage at 9:30 PM!

    Key tracks- Rometheu, Hill, Tumultuous

  • BoomBox Helps Reopen the Den as Putnam Place

    Upstate NY has been lucky enough to have a musical haven in the heart of Saratoga Springs, just 30 miles north of Albany and a straight shot up the highway. Always counting on Putnam Den for an eclectic lineup of jam shows, rap artists and electronic music, lovers of live music confidently had a venue to call home. Having witnessed the Den’s transformation over the last few months, Putnam Place is ready to take shape as an updated music hall with an already stacked roster of musical acts listed for the coming months. BoomBox, a disco house/vintage psychedelic outfit will help kick off the re-opening with a gig tonight, Jan. 24.

    With Putnam Place‘s schedule still filling out, dates are already notched for ChowderFest and Super Bowl parties among anticipated gigs like Formula 5 with Strange Machines, Richard James’ Krewe Orleans: A Mardi Gras Experience (featuring members of Pink Talking Fish, Trey Anastasio Band, Turkuaz and more) in February, as well as spring performances by Wyclef Jean, Grammy Award-winning Rebirth Brass Band, Start Making Sense, Enter the Haggis, Perpetual Groove, Pink Talking Fish and more.

    Since first jumping into the scene in 2004, the duo of multi-instrumentalist Zion Rock Godchaux and DJ Harry have been quietly seasoning this simmering recipe to perfection. However, it reaches a boiling point on BoomBox‘s forthcoming album, Western Voodoo and its impending string of east coast Winter tour dates, including tonight’s 9 p.m. party at Putnam Place.

    “I remain open to anything you would hear coming out of a boombox,” Godchaux, son of Grateful Dead’s Donna Jean explains. “There are a lot of different vibes and angles, but it still adheres to a universal rhythm. This new record is the most musical and varied, yet it’s tightly wound in respect to that syncopation. There are only a few rules. It should be heavy groove. It should make you want to move. Overall, I’ve further developed the sound people are used to.”

    Putnam Place’s face lift includes a giant new LED video wall and high-quality sound system, new technicolor lighting advances and a fresh coat of paint paired with interior design remodeling. The bathrooms that were once adorned with every square inch of band stickers are now a pale pink, at least in the ladies room, and come complete with bathroom attendants making the flow of traffic effortless. Events have taken place in the midst of the renovations, including a New Year’s party fully-equipped with an ice luge and soft seating.

    While it may be the new Place to be, for some, it’ll always be the Den.

    Jan. 24 – Putnam Place – Saratoga Springs, NY
    Jan. 25 – Aura – Portland, ME
    Jan. 26 – White Eagle Hall – Jersey City, NJ
    Jan. 27 – Paradise Rock Club – Boston, MA
    Jan. 28 – Higher Ground – Burlington, VT
    Jan. 31 – Rex Theatre – Pittsburgh, PA
    Feb. 1 – Beachland Ballroom – Cleveland, OH
    Feb. 2 – Saint Andrews Hall – Detroit, MI
    Feb. 3 – 20th Century Theatre – Cincinnati, OH
    March 17 – Pot Of Gold Music Festival – Chandler, AZ