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SAM PFEIFLE
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Give it up to Ghost
If there's one thing rapper Ghost/Ryan Augustus/Ryan Doughty can now safely say, it's this: He's prolific.
Reimagining the trio
For too long has dance pop been solely occupied by commercial beat-makers like Dr. Luke.
Nothing hurts like tenderness
Last weekend, visitors to Record Store Day at Bull Moose's Windham location found themselves face-to-face with enough amp firepower to rattle the fillings right out of their back molars, especially given the placement between two head-high shelves of DVDs that promised to focus sound like a shotgun barrel.
Case of the Mondays
It's testament to the depth of our local hip-hop scene that a side project like the new Manic Mondays can be so consistently strong throughout 17 proper tracks.
Safe at home with Maine's first all-mascot band
Watching the Kastaways practice, it quickly becomes clear that this band is all about the Clam. Sir Nigel the Rat might be the frontman and attention hog. Herman might be the lead-singer and actual hog. Spike Porcupine and Pete Puffin might even provide the band's true musicality.
Another band running themselves ragged
If the limited-edition Wilco vinyl isn't enough to get you to Record Store Day this weekend, on April 21, how about some local releases?
New duo capture a moment in time
Chris Teret and Chriss Sutherland's new collaboration, Snaex (say it as "snakes"), is just about everything I'd have hoped the two would put together, going by their past history with indie folk/rock (Teret's solo work and Company) and innovative multi-genre, multi-ethnic explorations (Sutherland's Cerberus Shoal, Fire on Fire, and Olas).
Preposterously Spose
Spose hears all of it. Aren't you and Seacrest supposed be sharing chicks by now? Where's your Escalade, dude? Or, as he puts it on "Gee Willikers," off his brand-new full-length The Audacity! , "Fuck that shit/I bet he doesn't know any black kids . . . I know I hated Spose from the get go."
The man who fell
You definitely can't accuse of Elijah Ocean of just doing the same old thing.
Diffraction and reflection
Do not, under any circumstances, listen to Jeff Beam's new Be Your Own Mirror in a pissy mood.
A pair of hands at work
There's very little we writers like to do more than gnash our teeth about the future of our profession.
Down with the upside
It's been a while since a local band evoked the likes of Killing Joke, but with the way that Falling Skyward mesh pop dance synths and beats with double-kick-drum metal, it's hard not to recall the 1980 debut Killing Joke, and the swirling dance synths of "Bloodsport" accompanied by a thumping rock bass line and crunching guitar lines.
Fire away
If anyone has grown up right in front of his fans, it's Pete Kilpatrick.
Ch-ch-changes
Vanessa Torres has named her third album Without Sight , and if that title weren't intentionally a polar opposite to her last effort, Witness , the music contained therein is evidence enough she's chosen a new direction.
Drink up, Betty
Diesel Doug hung 'em up a while ago, and King Memphis don't play out much anymore, so Whiskey Kill are clearly filling a bit of a void.
Bombs away!
There's been a bit of two-man trend going on locally, with Class Machine, the Watchers, Hobgoblin, Arcane Lore, and now Lord Earth, who drop their debut full-length, Napalm, Baby! , this week at Geno's.
Strike up the dance beats
Dean Ford's new EP, Ctrl , is six songs, just under 20 minutes. Dean Ford's last EP, Deaf. Dumb. In Love. , was six songs, right around 20 minutes. That's pretty much where the similarities end.
Take a hike, Jerk
If you pay attention to the local music scene at all, you probably know bluegrass band Jerks of Grass have been playing every Thursday night — first at the now-defunct Bramhall Pub, then at Gritty's, and now at Bayside Bowl — since sometime in 1998.
Like two thieves in the night
Crunk Witch's new Faith in the Thief is the most truly unique album to come out locally since, well, Crunk Witch's debut full-length, Legends of Manicorn, released on Milled Pavement in 2010.
Back to the classics
This August will mark the 20th anniversary of the Brand New Heavies' Heavy Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1 (there was no volume 2).
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