“James Mercer assembled a revolving cast of supporting performers that included Modest Mouse’s Joe Plummer, Crystal Skulls’ Yuuki Matthews, drummer-at-large Janet Weiss, and producer Greg Kurstin, who gives the album a big, radio-friendly sound. There’s no pretense of democracy nor of being “indie” here, things that might be easier to decry if these weren’t some [...]
Monthly Archive for April, 2012
“Following the success of JLS and the Wanted, X-Factor contestants One Direction were the next group of heartthrobs to help revive the previously dying concept of the boy band. They released their first single, “What Makes You Beautiful,” in late 2011. The full-length album, Up All Night, followed soon after. In 2012, One Direction became [...]
“Most pop stars reach a point where they accept the slow march of time, but not Madonna. Time is Madonna’s enemy — an enemy to be battled or, better still, one to be ignored. She soldiers on, turning tougher, harder, colder with each passing album, winding up with a record as flinty as MDNA. There’s [...]
“[Swedish] sisters Johanna and Klara Soderberg, aka First Aid Kit, blend autumnal folk and wistful ’60s Americana and have gathered a pretty illustrious following since their cover version of Fleet Foxes’ “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song” became a YouTube hit back in 2008. The Lion’s Roar is a mesmerizing listen that — alongside recent releases from [...]
“Hungtai is still charting the triple point where punk, rockabilly, and lo-fi industrial meet, and Badlands calls to mind a parallel universe where Eddie Cochran recorded in a grimy New York loft in the ‘70s, or if Suicide’s Martin Rev and Alan Vega were able to break into Sun Records and lay down some clandestine [...]
Peter Bloom & Mark Leighton in Concert at the Crane (DVD)
Posted in Chamber, Classical, Jazz, Performed at the Crane on Apr 23rd, 2012
Guitarist Mark Leighton and flutist Peter H. Bloom perform Suites, Sonatas & Standards, an eclectic concert of chamber music from diverse lands and eras, and favorite jazz standards from the Great American Songbook. Recorded live at the Thomas Crane Public Library on February 13, 2010 by Quincy Access Television. Check Our Catalog
Kevin Hubbard in Concert at the Crane (DVD)
Posted in Classical, Jazz, Performed at the Crane, Solo Guitar on Apr 23rd, 2012
Guitarist Kevin Hubbard presents a program of Classical Guitar with a Taste of Jazz, including classical pieces from all eras, jazz standards, folk songs from around the globe, and classical & jazz originals. Recorded live at the Thomas Crane Public Library on February 21, 2010 by Quincy Access Television. Check Our Catalog
Paul Cienniwa in Concert at the Crane Library (DVD)
Posted in Classical, Performed at the Crane, Solo Harpsichord on Apr 23rd, 2012
Enjoy a harpsichord recital of works from the French Baroque period, including pieces by Francois Couperin, Domenico Scarlatti and Johann Sebastian Bach. Recorded live at the Thomas Crane Public Library on January 24, 2010 by Quincy Access Television. Check Our Catalog
“The product of an older and wiser trio than Buffalo Tom were in their salad days, but it’s unmistakably the same band, and if their attack and their concerns have changed a bit with the passage of time, that’s a reflection of their innate honesty as much as anything else; they simply are who they [...]
Bobbi Carrey & Tomi Hayashi: Between the Wars: Music From 1918 to 1941
Posted in Broadway Musicals, Performed at the Crane, Vocal Pop on Apr 23rd, 2012
Between the World Wars, America was on a wild roller coaster ride. After peace was declared in 1918, the country soared to giddy heights in the Roaring ’20s, crashed deep into the Depression, climbed the long hill back to prosperity—and then found itself once again at war. The stresses created a new and altered nation, [...]
The Chieftains: Voice of Ages
Posted in Celtic, World Music on Apr 9th, 2012
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Balam Acab: Wander/Wonder
Posted in Alt Rock, Electronica on Apr 7th, 2012
“Wander/Wonder is an exercise in depth, a flowing suite of mermaid’s lullabies that turn seductive.” –All Music Guide Check Our Catalog
Steve Reich: WTC 9/11
Posted in Classical, Experimental, Rock/Pop on Apr 7th, 2012
“The piece’s concept is deceptively simple: recounting the tragedy through sampled voices, taken from those who responded to the attack in real time (air traffic controllers, FDNY officers), neighborhood residents, and those who cared for the victims afterward, reciting psalms while keeping watch over the bodies of the dead…Reich generates the musical material directly from [...]
Lindsey Buckingham: Seeds We Sow
Posted in Rock/Pop on Apr 7th, 2012
“This new solo album, Seeds We Sow, has moments of considerable beauty.” — The Boston Globe Check Our Catalog
Bjork: Biophilia
Posted in Alt Rock, Electronica, Experimental on Apr 7th, 2012
“Biophilia sometimes feels like a soundtrack; songs such as the album-opening “Moon” — which features gravity harps built especially for this project — are so soft and delicate that they take a while to reveal themselves without their corresponding visuals. But just because the music is only one part of the Biophilia experience doesn’t mean [...]
Sissoko-Segal: Chamber Music
Posted in African, World Music on Apr 3rd, 2012
“Upon seeing the title Chamber Music, some people might assume that this 55-minute CD contains European classical music performed by a chamber group. But Chamber Music is actually an album of traditional African music, albeit traditional African music with Euro-classical overtones at times. [Ballake] Sissoko and [Vincent] Segal’s collaboration yields consistently absorbing results on the [...]