Keep Safe Boston compilation offers many gems and pearls, while supporting a great cause
A community organization calling itself Keep Safe Boston compiled these fifty gems and pearls onto one disc to raise funds for Planned Parenthood. Spearheaded by local on air personality Anngelle Wood, this compilation pretty much compiled itself when many notable Boston music acts responded to a mass e-mail she went out requesting song contributions. For a little as a dollar, music fans can support this cause while checking out some incredible good local music.
D-Tension keeps it real on Secret Project album; benefits from leaving his comfort zone
Boston‘s 20 year veteran of the hip hop recording studio D-Tension has briefly put aside his penchant for rap. Here, on his Secret Project album, he picks up a keytar, a bass, a guitar, plays some drums, and brings in a bunch of locally and nationally known lead singers to flesh his compositions. On this album, D-Tension dives headlong and headstrong into alternative indie rock synth pop idioms and swims back to the surface with something very successful in his new found genre love.
Red Line Roots produced compilation Locals Covering Locals offers much to Boston’s music scene
Locals Covering Locals is a CD released by Red Line Roots, a Boston-based blog that produces live music shows and recordings. Like the title suggests, the album compiles songs written by local artist in the Boston music scene covered by other local artists in the Boston scene. Having a local artist’s song covered by another local artist gives us a chance to hear a lot of local talent in one album. It also allows for a new interpretation of a favorite song, breathing new life into something already revered. In fact, this album is everything that local music is about. The roots community has much to be proud of, and this album boasts the prodigious talents that write and record this material.
Rose Clancy dazzles on her new fiddle album
Cape Cod fiddler Rose Clancy has released an album of vigorous and joyful Celtic music. Inspired by the music of Ireland, Scotland, Cape Breton, and Cape Code, Clancy leads her combo of Brendan Dolan on piano, flute, and whistle, Jon Evans on double bass, and Bob Jennings on cello with a bracing, exciting batch of bowing techniques.
Dave Bailin & The Bailouts shine on debut studio album
Dave Bailin And The Bailouts have documented their musical and vocal prowess on their self-titled debut studio CD. This is tight, disciplined rock and roll and free wheeling soul music all in one album. Bailin and lead guitarist Eric Reardon play bristling electric guitars while Bailin blows feisty harmonica lines. Drummer Steve Peabody keeps a beat like nobody’s business while adding the hippest smacks in the most unlikely of places. Tight ensemble work is the order of the day. This is a unit that shines as much during their ensemble portions as they do during guitar and harmonica phrases and hip grooving.
The Duke Robillard Band respect the genre on Calling All Blues album
The Duke Robillard Band’s latest CD is another set of fine blues music from the mind of a guitarist-singer-songwriter who knows how to mine the depths of the genre to come up with a fresh batch of fine, fun music. Calling All Blues is a very appropriate album title as this recording documents Robillard delving headlong into many different shades of this genre and respects its power as the progenitor of all modern American music.
Porch Party Mamas offer much artistic beauty on new debut album
Porch Party Mamas have released their roots-folk debut album, and it’s loaded with the organic instrumentation and pristine vocals the band has made their mark with. Acoustic guitars, banjo, fiddle, ukelele, and exotic percussion instruments pepper and punctuate dreamy, floating vocal melodies in the best possible way. These mamas borrow from folk, Celtic, rock and […]
Shanta Paloma intrigues with unusual talent on debut album
Shanta Paloma’s debut full length CD offers a lot of accessible modern radio rock graced by her gutsy, raspy vocal delivery. Paloma’s songs are well crafted pop rockers whose influences range from Pat Benatar to Ani DiFranco to just about any interesting female songwriter with an intriguing vocal. Self-titled, her album never runs out of steam but continuously delivers high energy material. Paloma spices her songs well with intricate acoustic guitar passages, arcing lead guitar accompaniment, and alluring grooves that are as influenced by gypsy jazz as they are classic rock.
Marina Evans reaches high level of artistic expression on Unbound album
Marina Evans first full length album Unbound reflects the high level of quality and self-assurance that comes with experience in music and in life. Many of her songs have a haunting quality, as if there is an underlying spirit driving them on beneath the voice and music. Evans also composes her songs so they have interesting, engaging rhythmic twists. No matter, though, which technique she employs, genre she borrows from, or inflection she sings in, Evans has come up with a complete artistic expression of where she is today.
Erin Harpe & The Delta Swingers keep it real on debut album Love Whip Blues
Erin Harpe & The Delta Swingers have finally released their debut album, Love Whip Blues. It has been worth the wait. These four local musicians have put their Boston delta sound down well on record. These tracks are brimming with something special, something that hearkens back to the original Mississippi Delta blues, back to when this music was new, fresh, exciting. With selective covers and startling originals, EH&TDS have succeeded in bringing that real down and dirty Delta sound home to their fans in New England.
