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New England Music News

Ten years haunting

Doctor Gasp

• For many, Halloween's a chance to dress as a slasher or a zombie or a slutty Harry Potter or something. And no shame in that! To DAN BLAKESLEE, however, it's another occasion to step into the skin of his diabolical alter-ego Doctor Gasp. Blakeslee's been donning the Doctor's cloak and mask every Halloween since 2003, and his repertoire — emotional, broad-paletted folk tales — is replaced by a batch of darkly adventurous songs about vampire fish and cursed swamps. Celebrating Gasp's tenth anniversary, Blakeslee takes him on a 31-date Northeastern tour that outlines the face of a Jack-O-Lantern (spookily accurate! — see it at drgasp.com), bringing him to our environs October 28 at Bubba's Sulky Lounge. Blakeslee's a champ and his alter ego's a good hoot; what he pulls off every Halloween seems like it must be a decent exorcism, at least as good as the default celebration of mass and various consumption of dubious candies.

• Various attributes of JEFF BEAM: 1) He rules. 2) Does #1 under his own name while playing full-time in another band (The Milkman's Union). 3) Does so while being deceptively young. 4) Has released a new record. You'll Find That It's Stranger Than Known is a collection of B-sides, live tracks, and covers (the Kinks, Spoon, and Olivia Tremor Control) the psych-pop songwriter whipped up in the aftermath of his beastly April release, Be Your Own Mirror. Fiercely creative stuff by a relentless and fast-growing Portland songwriter, available for download at jeffbeam.bandcamp.com.