Concert Review: Ivan & Alyosha/The Lone Bellow at Brighton Music Hall in Allston, MA

Ivan & Alyosha
The Lone Bellow
April 20, 2013
Brighton Music Hall
Allston, MA
Reviewed by: Dorise Gruber

It was an emotional night to see a show in Boston on Saturday.  With the Marathon bombing on Monday, a lockdown the day before and the cancellation of all shows in the area, it was questionable as to whether or not this concert would even take place.  Lone Bellow female vocalist Kanene Doheney Pipkin even commented on the extreme energy of the crowd, “did somebody just let you all out of your houses?”  The bands were sweet to us and present with the high-running emotions of the night’s audience.  Opener Twin Forks even began the night with a short Augustana cover of “I Think I’ll Go To Boston” to pay respect to the crazy week we’d all just endured. Read more

Concert Review: Jamie Lidell at Brighton Music Hall in Allston, MA

Jamie Lidell
April 11, 2013
Brighton Music Hall
Allston, MA
Reviewed by: Dorise Gruber

Jamie Lidell’s 2013 S/T album Jamie Lidell combines the Motown soul of early albums Jim/Multiply and the technologic fanciness of Compass, though a little dancier than the former and a little less aggressive than the last.  In either case, I was expecting a somewhat more mellowed album would likely mean that his performance may have mellowed over time, too.  Sorely mistaken but solidly thrilled, Lidell prevailed as a true neofunk mogul at Brighton Music Hall, rocking a floor-length raincoat and drenching it from the inside with the hot-blooded steam of vitality. Read more

Concert Review: Kishi Bashi at the Sinclair in Cambridge, MA

Kishi Bashi
March 26, 2013
The Sinclair
Cambridge, MA
Reviewed by: Dorise Gruber

In the same way that I’m a sucker for a man with a beard, every music lover has a trigger that makes them far more likely to fall for a song.  For some people it’s handclaps, for some it’s beachy oohs and aahs, for some it’s a heavy-dropped bass, take your pick.  For me, though – it’s looping.  If a musician knows how to live-loop a song with skill, it’s the umami of the concert-going experience.  For those who aren’t familiar with the concept, a performer will break songs into segments, and will utilize fancy shmancy gear (this is a technical term) to record these parceled phrases one piece at a time.  Ideally without breaking flow of the song, the performer will play back the piece they’ve just recorded and harmonize with it, add in bass/drums/other instruments, and continually forge together each sector of the song until it hits its saturation point.  It adds an entirely separate sense of construction and dynamism to the songs at hand, and transforms otherwise pleasant songs into an extraordinary art form. Read more

Concert Review: Caveman at The Sinclair in Cambridge, MA

Caveman
February 27, 2013
The Sinclair
Cambridge, MA
Reviewed by: Dorise Gruber

The 25th Annual Boston Music Awards – Show in Review

The 25th Annual Boston Music Awards

The scene was rife with sequins and faux leather at the 25th annual Boston Music Awards, held festival-style in the Liberty Hotel, all proceeds from the show benefitting the non-profit local organization MusicDrivesUs.Org.  While trying to navigate to the different concert rooms in this prison-turned-hotel sometimes felt like weaving through an Escher painting, the acts ran the gamut and made the foot traffic well-worth enduring.
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CD Review: Left Hand Does/Encounter Safety

Left Hand Does
Encounter Safety
Reviewed by: Dorise Gruber

Luke Sullivan has had his hands in a lot of creative pots.  He’s mastered the albums of many artists/bands that we’ve featured here on TWRY in the last year: Daniel Harris, The Doctors Fox, School for Robots, and has also worked with Bryan Murphy of The Shills.  He’d been playing as drummer for the locally lauded band Night Fruit, but has now turned his attentions toward Left Hand Does, where he and his pint-sized sister Jean Sullivan are the project’s top brass.  Read more

Concert Review: Now, Now at the Paradise in Boston, MA

Now, Now
November 9, 2012
The Paradise – Boston, MA
Reviewed by: Dorise Gruber

When I comb the lists of bands coming to town, I scour not only for headliners, but always try to peep the openers, just in case.  An all-ages Motion City Soundtrack show would not normally be the first thing to catch my eye, but when I scoped Now, Now tucked away on the bill, I immediately jumped at the chance to see these Minnesota wunderkinds. Read more

Concert Review: Admiral Fallow at Berklee Cafe 939 in Boston, MA

Admiral Fallow
October 17, 2012
Berklee Cafe 939
Boston, MA
Reviewed by: Dorise Gruber

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CD Review: School For Robots / No Prancing Required

School For Robots
No Prancing Required

Reviewed by: Dorise Gruber

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Concert Review: Nemes at Brighton Music Hall in Allston, MA

Nemes
June 13, 2012
Brighton Music Hall – Allston, MA
Reviewed By: Dorise Gruber

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