Thursday, April 30, 2009

Austism Benefit Show May 4


The Barely Scene - May 2nd @ Heirloom Arts Theatre and May 4 they play a benefit show for the Giant Steps School @ FTC.

This benefit show on May 4th will be held at StageOne. 3 Bands join forces to raise money for Giant Steps, a private school for students diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and/or other neurological impairments. Come hear The Barely Scene, Charles Street and the Jim Royle Steel Band Ensemble play for a great cause.

Monday, May 04, 7:30 PM
Tickets: $20, $15 for FTC Members; Please call Kelly at (203) 221-8881 to purchase tickets.
FTC Members: $5 Discount
Doors Open at 7:00 PM
JD

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

May 9th @ Artspace Underground

Tweefort will be taking over New Haven's Artspace Underground art parties once a month! The first bill includes headlining L.A. indie poppers The Tartans and the local indie band Panda and Child. In June, they'll be bringing Boston's powerful indie pop troupe The Hush Now to town.

The Tartans are in the area for the New York City Popfest May 14-17, and we're lucky enough to have them show up for a show at the Artspace Underground! The Tartans play janglepop with swirling organs, blaring horns, jazzy chords and plenty of handclaps. Their mellow, infectious melodies remind me a lot of a fusion between Belle & Sebastian and The Sea and Cake.

Hometown heroes Panda and Child will also be on the bill. If you're unfamilar with Panda and Child, they're a diverse, unique indie band that's been on the circuit for quite some time now. Their music ranges from soft horn-driven instrumental arrangements to blaring, noisy post-punk. There's enough wild flute lines and offbeat songs to satisfy even the weirdest weirdo. They hail from Manchester, CT; home of the infamous Grady Tavern. They've played just about everywhere in CT, the Midwest, and the Southern US.

Don't miss what's sure to be a great show!

The Artspace Underground is at the gallery at 50 Orange St., New Haven.
$5 at the door
$6 drinks provided by 116 Crown

The party is 8 p.m.-11 p.m. Don't be late...

JH

King Khan and The Shrines w/ BBQ



King Khan and The Shrines w/ BBQ
Wednesday May 6th
Cafe 9
New Haven
$6


If you're a fan of pure rock and getting your ass kicked in, this might be the show of the year for you. You may know the lead singer from other bands such as Les Sexareenoos , The Spaceshits or his work with BBQ in The King Khan and BBQ show. King Khan (voted best performer of the 2008 by Impose Magazine) and The Shrines will violate your eyes and ears with skimpy dresses,cheerleaders and their booming sound.



BBQ, aka Mark Sultan, is a one man band with a sound just as loud as King Khans. A guitar and a kick drum is all that is needed by him to get you dancing. His sound resembles more of an swing era than a specific group. If you're into King Khan and The Shrines ,I would recommend you don't miss him open.


Tuesday, April 28, 2009

A Big Hell Yeah to Rob DeRosa!

Grabbed this article for a bunch of reasons. Read on:

The Main Stem By Christopher Arnott & Brian LaRue from The Hartford Advocate.

A burden is lifted, and the Meriden Daffodil Festival grows despite a dip in donations

When some festivals are forced to downsize due to economic downturns or rising behind-the-scenes expenses, the loss is painfully obvious. This year’s Meriden Daffodil Festival, despite less money from the city and a serious decrease in donations from now-beleaguered local businesses, seems stronger than ever. The food tent and artisans’ craft fair are both packed, the carnival attractions will be the same, and the number of musical acts has increased, from 31 last year to a robust 34. The pre-fest fireworks have been cut but the main fireworks display Saturday night, “visible for 25 miles,” is assured.


What the festival doesn’t have this year is a onetime chart-topping act from the baby boomer generation playing their long-ago hits and prancing around like they were still major stars. Even if a proactive desire to decrease the Daffodil Festival’s budget hadn’t forced the issue, the fest’s musical coordinator, Rob DeRosa, doesn’t appear to miss the all-too-frequent headaches associated with what he calls “people who once had hits.” DeRosa says he was “extremely disappointed” in last year’s star attraction, Eric Burdon, whose allegedly petulant and abusive behavior wasn’t confined to backstage — the erstwhile vocalist for The Animals and War kept a field full of fans waiting for more than an hour for no good reason.


Burdon appears to be an extreme exception — DeRosa has many anecdotes about generous and down-to-earth celebrities who’ve done the Daffodil. But with such wall-to-wall quality original music, a nationally known headliner always seemed an unnecessary bonus. And this is an era in which people don’t always feel right about unnecessary bonuses. Cutting that one act is saving the festival around $23,000.


In any case, hobnobbing with has-been ’60s stars means little to DeRosa. The music he lives and breathes is locally produced. Besides using the festival to showcase dozens of Connecticut-based acts every year, he also has a weekly locals-only radio show, “Homegrown,” on WESU-FM and runs his own label. Thin Man Music has released cherished recordings by Frank Critelli, The Manchurians (whom DeRosa also manages) and The Furors (who were also feted on Thin Man with a 2-CD tribute) and The Sawtelles, and is now working on getting the estimable Tom Hearn’s Big Fat Combo to finally release a CD.


Downplay the locals at your peril, DeRosa insists. A few years ago, he gave a scruffy band from Wesleyan their first paid off-campus gig. That band, MGMT, was soon getting press in national magazines, signed with Columbia Records, and released Oracular Spectacular, which Britain’s NME decreed Album of the Year for 2008.


Among this year’s Daffodil bookings are two other Wesleyan bands already going places — Bottle Up & Go and Bear Hands. There’s also the Bridgeport-rooted pop band The Alternate Routes, who’ve released two albums on the legendary Vanguard label. Style-wise, sounds veer from the gentle acoustic guitar of Glenn Roth to the authoritative punk pop of New London’s long-lived The Reducers to the straight-ahead rock of Article 19 to a 14-piece salsa band (Jesus Pagan y su Orquesta) to folk, zydeco and even Meriden’s Maloney High School Jazz Band. In a single band, Swing 39, you can find musicians who range in age from their 30s to their 80s. Straddledaddy features a turntablist fronting a party band, and won “Best Rock Band” in the Hartford Advocate’s 2008 Grand Band Slam.


As ever, DeRosa’s put the jaunty, background-music bands in the Food Tent (busier than ever this year, he says, because the nonprofit groups that run the booths need to fund-raise more than ever), the quirkier and more intimate acts on the Welcome Stage (this year that means a lot of duos) and the showiest acts in the Band Shell.


“If I had another stage I could easily fill it,” DeRosa says. His enthusiastic support of local bands — which includes the realistic pay scale, better than most of these acts are ever likely to get in clubs — has been vindicated. This year, Connecticut bands are carrying the Daffodil, and the future is flowery.


JD

Chris Barron and The Time Bandits

Hey, do you guys remember the early 90s? This might make me sound really young (or really old), but my music intake the early 90s was listening to the radio on the school bus. The Spin Doctors were huge back then, and everyone (myself included) loved every hit after glorious hit. I think everyone I knew at the time had Pocket Full of Kryptonite. At least two copies. I knew every word to "Two Princes" and "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" and I was damn proud of it. They were huge at the time, I can't really think back to the early 90s and not think about bands like the Spin Doctors.

Anyway, since then, lead singer Chris Barron has branched out from The Spin Doctors and recently has been touring with his band The Time Bandits. He'll be coming out with a new album May 18th called Pancho and the Kid, and you can see him at The Space on Friday, May 8th!

The Space is at 295 Treadwell St., Hamden, CT.

Doors at 7 PM
$12 - All Ages

This show will probably be packed, so I recommend you purchase tickets ahead of time by clicking here.

JH


Tomorrow Night @ The Space

A Great Big Pile of Leaves will be in at The Space on Wednesday. They're from Brooklyn and play jazz-infused rock. Check out their myspace, I'm digging their stuff quite a bit. It's a lot like The Sea and Cake or Karate, with that super-clean guitar sound. The drumming is also top-notch.

Also on the bill are CT-based pop punk bands Signal the Escape, Yes Please both from New Haven, and The Tried and True, from Hamden.


Doors open at 7 PM
$10 - All Ages
The Space, 295 Treadwell St., Hamden, CT

JH

Monday, April 27, 2009

Kath Bloom @ Cafe 9

Kath Bloom
The Shellye Valauskas Experience
May 2 @ Cafe 9
$5 Cover
21+

Kath Bloom is a folk, country, and avant-garde legend. She has been making records since the late 70s, and has had her music featured in the movie Before Sunrise by Richard Linklater. Mark Kozelek and Devendra Banhart have covered her songs. She's released tons of well-written songs for so many years it's really too much to even name. She has over 15 albums released, and there's an upcoming tribute album to her to be released later this month. This is guaranteed to be a great show. You can catch Kath live on June 21st as well, at the Haight Vineyard in Litchfield.

Supporting Kath is The Shellye Valauskas Experience, a female-fronted indie pop band from New Haven. They have some really sweet, catchy tunes and are currently playing a lot of shows this month! You can also see them on Wednesday at Daniel Street, outdoors at the Westville Artwalk in New Haven on May 8th, and on June 20th at Neverending Books. Check out their myspace for more upcoming dates.

JH

Friday at The Space

Aeroplane, 1929
The Smyrk
The Lows
Josh Mease
Mike Falzone

May 1st @ The Space

This Friday at The Space is a unique show with a really diverse mix of bands. From quiet and reserved to unabashedly loud and raucous.

Aeroplane, 1929 is a great band that has members in both New Haven and Springfield, Mass. They play indie folk with a hint of rock and alt-country. Weepy, whiskey-soaked and haunting, their newest release The Holy Ghost has been making a lot of waves in the CT area. If you're as big a Wilco fan as I am, you'll think they're awesome.

The Smyrk is an offbeat rock band from New Haven. Their influences range from Prince to The Beatles and everything in between; they've got some interesting music. It's almost R&B infused rock, and they've got some amazing things going on vocally. Definitely check them out.

The Lows are an experimental prog rock band from CT for fans of The Mars Volta, Circa Survive, etc.

Josh Mease is a singer/songwriter from Brooklyn, New York for fans of Death Cab For Cutie, Via Audio and Pomegranates.

Mike Falzone is a indie pop/rock singer/song writer from Stratford, CT.

The Space is at 295 Treadwell St., Hamden, CT. Doors open at 7 PM. The show is $10 at the door. This is an all ages show.

JH

El Ten Eleven @ Cafe 9-April 30th




El Ten Eleven w/ My Oxygenstar

Thursday April 30th
Cafe 9
New Haven
$6

DIRECTIONS:
Click here

With a drum set, sea of pedals and a double neck guitar, this two piece band will teach the audience the art of layering. El Ten Eleven are a math/post rock band whose music doesn't rely on showy signatures and unwarranted solos. The songs on their myspace sounds like a mix Godspeed! You Black Emperor and Sigur Ros.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Conversion Party @ Rudy's




Conversion Party
Saturday, May 9th
9:00 PM
Rudy’s, New Haven
Cost: $3

Here's the band's self-description:
Conversion Party features a mishmash of rock and roll. From deranged Motown numbers to balls to the wall punk to tender ballads, we're basically a mess. Anyway, we're made up of members of Fatal Film, Ringers and the now-defunct and very short-lived Megalomaniac. So who is Conversion Party? Who else but guitar mad man (who plays just about every instrument at some point in this band) Matt Potter from Fatal Film; Ben Johnson, (who now lives in Brooklyn, NY), Matt Clarke & Matt Allen - members of the long time NL band, Ringers. Rounding out the band is Alex Waxman, who also resides in Brookyn, NY.

That's probably as close of a description as you can get! From what I've heard listening to their myspace, they're a mix of danceable indie pop with walls of crazy garage sound. They sound really similar to early Strokes or Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! That's a great thing to sound like.

The cost of this show is $3 at the door.
Rudy's is at 372 Elm St, New Haven, Connecticut 06511

JH

Friday, April 24, 2009

The Space 5th Annual Battle of the Bands


BATLLE OF THE BANDS
@ The Space
April 24th & 25th
6:30PM

Tonight and tomorrow The Space is holding their 5th annual Battle of the Bands event. Stop by and see some great local talent competing for the title of most rockin band!

Mike from Like Trains & Taxis sent in a nice email informing us of this event. They're an indie soul from New Jersey and will be making a guest appearance at the Space for their 5th annual battle of the bands. They'll be acting as house band in between sets. After spending the last few months on the road from San Antonio to Chicago in support of their debut EP, they're now working on a full-length album in May with Grammy nominated producer Derrick "Drop" Braxton (Lupe Fiasco's The Cool).

In just over a year, Like Trains & Taxis has built a reputation as one of the most promising bands on the east coast with their thoughtful and original blend of soul, jazz, and rock. Called "transportation for your musical soul" by the Aquarian Press, the trio's self-titled EP (available on iTunes and Amazon) captures the hypnotic energy and fierce sincerity of their live show in 6 radio-ready tracks. The band has been touring in support of this debut release for the past 3 months, gaining fans in cities as far away as San Antonio and Chicago.
- Ibra Ake

Check out their myspace, they're phenomenal! They're a really unique sounding band that's really starting to grow on me. It's guaranteed to be a really cool show, and definitely worth stopping in, to catch some local talent as well as some great out-of-towners.

The Space is located at 295 Treadwell St. (Building H) in Hamden, CT. Tickets are $10.

JH

The Daffodil Festival


So this weekend is the Meriden Daffodil Festival. It's a huge event in Hubbard Park. Food, art, a parade, and all kinds of outdoor fun are guaranteed to take place. It's also going to be about 80 degrees, so it's totally worth going just for some good ol' sunshine.

Anyway, the best part about the whole thing is that there's going to be music playing continuously throughout Saturday and Sunday on 3 stages around the park!!! So stop by and check out some tunes! For a full schedule and a short synopsis about each band, click here. There's some big names on here - Bear Hands, The Mountain Movers, MT Bearington, titles and Lo-Fi Radio Stars to name a few! Needless to say it's going to be excellent outdoor fun.

Here's a list of all the great bands you can see:
Bear Hands
Big Fat Combo
Bird 'n Boys
Bottle Up & Go
Chico & Roy
Glen Roth
Gonkus Brothers
Kelly, Sean & Wayne
Lo Fi Radio Stars
MT Bearington
Noah Fresh & Co.
River City Slim & the Zydeco Hogs
River Street
St Bernadette
Straddledaddy
Swing 39
The Alternate Routes
The And Band
The Bad Reps
The Can Kickers
The Frank Critelli Band
The Furors
The Langley Project
The Maloney High School Jazz band
The Manchurians
The Monthei Brothers
The Mountain Movers
The Reducers
The Sawtelles
Titles

Hubbard Park is right off of I-691 in Meriden. If you haven't been there before, it's a really cool park, and there's a really awesome castle tower on premises. Sadly, it looks like Mark Mulcahy won't be making an appearance this year... If you happen to read this, I hope everything's ok, Mark!

JH

Eilen Jewell @ Cafe 9



Eilen Jewell
w/ Mercy Meadows


at Cafe Nine
Friday, May 1st
Show: 10 PM
Tickets: $8

Eilen Jewell is a folk/country artist from Cambridge, Mass. She plays a blend of country, folk, jazz, rock and blues. Her latest album Sea of Tears was released this year, and is getting a lot of praise. It's got some great original songs, and some really interesting covers on it. It's raw, and completely authentic. Come see her play, and pick up a signed copy of the album while you're at it!

Mercy Meadows is a great little group from New Haven. They're a female-fronted band that plays alt-country. I don't know much about them, other than what's on their myspace page - but there's some videos to check out so you can get a small taste of their tunes.

JH

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Tomorrow, Friday, April 24 2009

The pains of being squished together for a photo shoot.




Wallingford American Legion
190 Ward Street
Wallingford CT

$8 - 7:00PM - All Ages

DIRECTIONS:
Click here

BUY TICKETS NOW:
Click here

LAST REMINDER ABOUT THE POBPAH SHOW ON FRIDAY

Manic Productions brings us The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Joining them are Stephen Broadsky, formerly of Cave In, but who is now a solo artist on Hydra Head Records. Supporting are local indie poppers The Inclined Plane.

Rumor has it that every single human being, pet, and all wild animals in the state are going. Yes, every last one of them. In fact, the excitement has been so intense that a zombie outbreak resulted among the dead. Remember, even though they were people like you and me once, beat 'em or burn 'em, they go up pretty easy.

As always, all tickets for Manic shows are also available at Redscroll Records 24 North Colony Road Wallingford, CT 06492 (203)-265-7013 redscroll@gmail.com STORE HOURS Mon - CLOSED Tue - Noon - 9PM Wed - Noon - 9PM Thu - Noon - 9PM Fri - Noon - 9PM Sat - Noon - 9PM Sun - Noon - 9PM NEW ONLINE STORE!! They're on MySpace too.
JD

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

May Heads-up


There are a bunch of posts queued for May shows. In between the chaos they will go up, so hang tight. And now that the calendar is fixed we'll be updating it. Thanks to Manic Mark for the megalist of local action.
JD

F.A.D.G.E. Fest



Besides Record Store Day which was this past Saturday, April 18th, I also neglected to post about F.A.D.G.E. Fest. Here's what went down:

F.A.D.G.E. Fest (Feminism, Autonomy, Diversity, and Gender Expression!)

A female-positive day of workshops, discussion, live music, knowledge, art, sharing, food, F.A.D.G.E., and more F.A.D.G.E.

Saturday, April 18, 2009
11:00 AM
Charter Oak Cultural Center
21 Charter Oak Avenue in Hartford, CT

Childcare will be provided.
F.A.D.G.E. Schedule-
There are two workshops to choose from at each time slot unless only one is listed.
Workshops last for 50 minutes.


10:30 Doors Open
11am Consent
12pm Immigrants and Abuse/Bike Repair
1pm Experiences of the Sex Industrial Industry/ Art and Body Image
2pm music: Electric Dawn/The Sawtelles
3pm Violence Against Women and Support/Crafting as Social Movement
4pm Abortion Discussion/ Art Therapy
5pm music: Laura Meyer/Rapture Scum
6pm Rad Parenting/TBA
7pm Dinner
8pm Show: Joanie Loves Tchotchkes/Half-Eaten Children/Brazen Hussy/Welcome/Electric Bucket


Of everything here, I'm especially bummed to have missed Half-Eaten Children. I didn't even think the project was still alive. Do yourself a favor and check out I'm Gonna Be a Diamond Someday on Naitha's Half-Eaten Children MySpace page.
JD

The Hartford Party Starters Union



The following article is from CCSU's The Recorder by Charles Desrochers / Asst. Lifestyles Editor.

Hartford has never been accused of having nightlife. What little bars there are cater to a crowd that enjoys Bud Light

But for the kind of people who think Nickelback suck, a good concert normally means driving to New Haven.

Out of this frustration and a love for their city, Neil Brewer, Ben Grippo and Patrick Kennedy, a.k.a. DJ Party Time, established The Hartford Party Starters Union.

The HPSU is a nonprofit group that organizes and promotes concerts for a niche that isn’t being catered to in the state’s capitol.

“The whole thing and the whole interest in this is a reaction to what I see as a tremendous amount of shitty stuff,” Brewer said.

This calling didn’t come overnight to the three friends. Brewer, a CCSU ’08 graduate who works for the Mayor of Hartford, explained that it all started a year ago when he had a surplus of “I Love Hartford” buttons that were normally given to legislators to sway municipal funding.

So with nearly 200 extra buttons, he started handing them out to people he would see when he, Kennedy and Grippo would go out.

“People were really hot for these pins,” said Brewer. “People were like, ‘Where are those pins? I need those pins. My mom wants those pins!’”

From this, they were surprised to find that a lot of people were interested in Hartford. So they made more T-shirts and buttons as well as a logo that resembles Hartford’s seal for their official group.

At a New Years Eve party the trio threw their first official party as the HPSU.

Since then the HPSU has been gaining popularity and snow balling.

“We specialize in Guerilla house parties,” said Grippo, whose tattoos wrap his arms and lay under his collar like a necklace made of red stars.

Grippo and Brewer spoke about one house party in particular when the second floor apartment was packed from wall to wall. They easily credited Internet promotion for the outstanding attendance and said that people arrived from as far away as Willimantic, Conn.

“It was scary, you could feel the floor moving and the people were shoulder to shoulder. I was staying out of the room because I thought we were going to end up downstairs. But it was a great time,” said Grippo.

The Hartford Party Starters Union isn’t in it for the money. After making an initial investment of about $200 each, the three haven’t seen one dime in return. Every dollar made by The HPSU goes towards planning and executing the next show.

Each one is meant to be bigger than the next. Always attempting to outdo themselves, they have moved from basements to apartments to actual venues. Their next planned show is April 25, featuring The Death Set and Ninjasonik at The Warehouse in Hartford.

“We had picked them because we saw them in New York and just thought that they were awesome. They just rocked the party,” Brewer said of The Death Set.

Some of the highly stylized flyers can be seen on campus cosrkboards. Emphasis was put on the design in response to the perceived lack of effort put into flyers that are routinely stuck under windshield wipers.

Grippo remembered when he was young that bands’ flyers were more of an art than the usual promotions seen on car windows today. He remembers lining his wall from floor to ceiling with all his favorite bands. That added focus on design, he said, is something that he thinks will attract more people to the HPSU flyers.

Despite wanting to plan bigger shows, they say they don’t choose bands on popularity. The bands are chosen on how much fun the audience is in for and the performance value.

They expressed they want the HPSU to be a name someone can trust when they can blindly go into the night knowing they will have a good time.

For the most part the trio is having fun in their new hobby. They could care less whether or not the “brand” of the Hartford Party Starter Union survives. What they want to last is the idea the HPSU represents – that Hartford can be fun again.
JD

Tonight at Cousin Larry's

Wednesday, April 22nd 2009 - SUB ROSA PARTY Presents:
Karma to Burn w/Dogs of Winter & Creepdust




LOCATION:
Cousin Larry's
1 Elm Street
Danbury CT

$10 - 9:00PM - 21+

DIRECTIONS:
Click HERE




Karma to Burn are a stoner metal trio from West Virginia that sound somewhere between Black Sabbath and Monster Magnet, and they've been bleeding ears since the late 90's. They begin their European tour on June 1st.




Dogs of Winter are a stoner metal trio from Brooklyn who might have rode in on the short bus. They will be releasing their debut full-length album "From Soil To Shale" on 5/12/09 through the Lapdance Academy imprint as a FREE download. Dogs of Winter will also be returning to Sub Rosa Party on Friday May 1, 2009 with Mantyhose and Dropshift. That show will have a $5 cover charge.



CreepDust are from Danbury, CT, featuring vocalist Anthony Yacobellis, the founder of Sub Rosa Party.
JD

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Ian Svenonius & Calvin Johnson


Chain and the Gang, The Hive Dwellers and Toby Goodshank at Heirloom Arts, Tuesday, April 21, 2009.

~photo by Sarah Cass

LOCATION:
Heirloom Arts Theatre
155 Main St
Danbury CT
$10 (door) $8 (advanced) - 8:00PM - all ages

Ian Svenonius & Calvin Johnson are on tour with their respective new bands Chain and the Gang and The Hive Dwellers (no page online for this new Calvin Johnson project yet), and they're hitting Heirloom. Toby Goodshank shares the bill. Get the skinny on Goodshank here (from when he played Heirloom Arts Sept. of '08).

RCRD LBL has debuted a track off Down With Liberty … Up With Chains that you can stream or download here: CLICK. The song “Interview With The Chain Gang” is “... sleazy skuzz funk undercurrent that kicks, stomps and struts its way right into the well-read side of your brain before traveling down to the hips … Sounds like funk 45s so rare, they don’t exist.”

For Svenonius, this is another step in a life clearly spent trying to do as little as possible. He's only been seen on stage as a lecturer, promoting his essays in the book The Psychic Soviet, sung in the groups Make Up, Weird War, and Nation of Ulysses, and also been the interviewer of interesting people on the Vice TV internet chat show “Soft Focus.” Pssh.

Rounding out Chain and The Gang is Fred Thomas (Saturday Looks Good to Me, City Center), Brett Lyman (Bad Thoughts, His Name is Alive), Brian Weber (Dub Narcotic Sound System) and Sarah Pedal.


Calvin Johnson will be using the same backup band for The Hive Dwellers. Johnson has been recording new songs and will see a release later in the year, or early next. The live show will showcase their respective iconic idiosyncrasies as completely individual frontmen, whose presence alters the sound of a band.

Check out this Soft Focus with Ian Mackaye; one of my favorites. Find out if Mackaye's negative thought waves are the reason why everything is such a mess in the world.



JD

Three Days of Saint Bernadette


Friday, April 24, 2009

Saint Bernadette CD Release w/ Sarianna & The Swell and Joe Roberto

LOCATION:
Cousin Larry's
1 Elm Street
Danbury CT
$5 9pm 21+

-Special note about this show: Word to the Lourdes CD Release Show To Aid Victims Of L'Aquila, Italy Earthquake



Saturday, April 25, 2009

Saint Bernadette play the Space Battle of the Bands Semi Finals

LOCATION:
The Space
295 Treadwell Street
Hamden CT
$10 9pm (6:30 Doors) All Ages



Sunday, April 26, 2009

Saint Bernadette play the Daffodil Festival

LOCATION:
Daffodil Festival
Hubbard Park
State Street
The Jeff Crooms Welcome Stage
Meriden CT
FREE 2pm All Ages


I'm going to let allmusic.com do all the work here in describing Saint Bernadette because allmusic's review of Saint Bernadette's 2007 release In the Ballroom hits the nail on the head in explaining what these guys are all about:

Recorded in the titular space (the ballroom of the Bijou Theater in Bridgeport, CT) in only three days, with no overdubs, Saint Bernadette's debut is a shimmering set of torchy, if not necessarily romantic jazz blues that reveals additional layers the more it's played. Although horns and guitar add to the atmosphere, it's Meredith DiMenna's supple, velvety voice -- somewhat like a combination of Norah Jones, Toni Price, Peggy Lee, and Billie Holiday -- that drives the project. Led by DiMenna, whose vocals are heard in an entirely different setting as MTV's trashy Chunky Pam, along with fellow songwriter Keith Saunders, these 11 originals hint at retro '60s styled mood with contemporary touches. But it's the subtle dynamics that elevate the material; lap steel guitar brings a somewhat ghostly approach to the songs as DiMenna's husky, sexy singing weaves through the spaces in the sound. A few tracks like "Such Ease" benefit from a harder edge yet the album typically stays in a mid-tempo, not quite ballad mode that lets the songs breathe and allows DiMenna the leeway to smother her smoky voice over the proceedings. The project exudes a sensuous sheen over its 40-minute playing time, and the album works due to a greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts dynamic. Imagine a set influenced by Santo & Johnny's nocturnal instrumental "Sleepwalk" and you're close to the hazy vibe evoked here. DiMenna occasionally radiates Grace Slick-styled phrasing, especially on the dramatic "Lay Me Down." Although the material is strong, it isn't particularly hooky. That's not a detriment, though, because it adds to the mystery and sense of ambiguity that the songs simmer in. When the guitars do crank up on "No Dreams," it's a sonic shock to the system. Turn the lights down low, burn some incense, and lose yourself in Saint Bernadette's intense yet lithe charms. allmusic.com
JD

Monday, April 13, 2009

Zine-tastic



Click on over to inkwellpress.blogspot.com for Inkwell Press, Elise Granata's "DIY music and arts zine serving the loco locale of Connecticut." Elise is the kinda girl that digs a good old fashioned peanut butter and jelly sandwich over those bullshit Uncrustables in the frozen food aisle. Her zine embraces the ethos of simplicity and every little bit of effort needed to achieve it.


In other news, another Connecticut music blog has come around. Check it out: http://steadyhabits.tumblr.com/.

JD

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Holiday

Whatever crazy stuff you believe in, have fun celebrating it this holiday. Be sure to peek at the calender on this page for goings-on. Over and out until next week.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Surf Nite

April 11, 2009


Two Boots
281 Fairfield Ave.
Bridgeport, CT 06604
(203) 331-1377

$5 cover after 9 PM.

If your inner tentacled sea beast is grumbling for a taste of buxom bikini clad blondes, I can't help you. And no, this has nothing to do with Cthulhu or a Dungeons & Dragons session. What's actually going on is way cooler - Surf Nite's 2nd Anniversary Party at Two Boots!

Things kick off early with a FREE matinee set by The Crustaceans at 4 pm.

Then at 7 pm there will be a screening of the 60's surf doc Endless Summer.

On the stage starting after 9 pm will be 9th Wave, TarantinosNYC, and The Octomen!
JD

ARTSPACE UNDERGROUND on April 11th


Artspace's Underground series returns in April with two bands and a premiere art performance. Playing on Saturday, April 11th, from 8-11pm is hip-hop artist and scratch DJ Kid Ginseng with Connecticut natives Eula. “Steampunk” artist Silas Finch will create a one time “happening.” As always, 116 Crown provides drinks, resident-DJ Peter Kuhn spins, and specially priced “Art-2-Go!” will be available for purchase. $5 admission includes one free drink ticket to redeem at 116 Crown after the event; $6 dollar drinks.

ARTSPACE UNDERGROUND
50 Orange Street • New Haven CT 06510
t 203.772.2709 • f 203.772.0850
www.artspacenh.org
JD