MASS MoCA, in general, is a playground.

It was built with the intent to become a “center that would both present and catalyze the creation of works that chart new creative territory“.

Since its inception in 1999, MASS MoCA has embodied just that; a hub of curiosity and wonder, set in a delightful, welcoming space.

This weekend’s SOLID SOUND FESTIVAL, held on MASS MoCA’s grounds, was an ideal setting for people to learn, discover and enjoy great weather, food and of course, great music.

From a spectator’s standpoint, this festival couldn’t have been set up any better. Short walks between stage areas, bounties of shade from the sun, $1 bottles of water, Intelligentsia coffee / espresso and tons of eye candy in-between. Most notably, the MASS MoCA galleries themselves acted as a palate cleanser if the music or outdoor activities ever became overwhelming.

Simply delightful.

One couldn’t discern whether it was the hunger of MASS MoCA fans to put on such an event or whether it was headlining/curating band Wilco’s fans who made this event a pleasure to be at. (OK, not everyone was a prince/princess). But seriously, despite the presence of copious amounts of beer, there was nary a bad / muscle-y / jerky / imposing vibe in sight.

MUSIC HIGHLIGHTS : (this human only caught Day 1 and most of Day 2; hardly comprehensive)

* Vetiver :: built a perfect set that moseyed slow at the top and ramped up feverishly through the end. It was ideal for folks such as myself who were having a difficult time easing into the day.

* Vetiver’s guitar player (who does not resemble Kevin Barker, who plays on some of the Vetiver albums) :: nimble, conscious, tasteful.

* The Books :: although I could complain that their set should have most definitely been outdoors and unencumbered by the trappings of the Hunter Theater, I am going to simply revel in the fact that we were able to hear songs such as “Be Good to Them Always“, “Take Time” and “That Right Ain’t Shit” were a real treat, if even from the hallway.

* Mountain Man :: spun circles around the late afternoon crowd gathered to hear the three lovely ladies sing. Despite sadness over Molly Sarle’s broken guitar, Andy from Vetiver kindly shared his Martin acoustic to play the spare parts that underpinned a few of the songs. Otherwise, it was otherworldly vocals only. A wonder, considering their rigorous UK / EU tour schedule and most recently, a week-long jaunt with Deer Tick which would leave anyone hoarse.

Here’s a video of their set closer, an un-named folk traditional:

Photo by Flickr user one_schism of Cynic live in Europe.

Fifteen years ago, my pal Scott Gleason (I really miss this guy, anyone know where he is? Scott, you out there?) foisted this record on me. He said, “It’s death metal, but with New Age lyrics… you’ll love it!” The high schooler in me was skeptical. Really? “No, no! Check it out… there’s a synth voice, a growler voice and an opera voice! And there’s these jazzy breakdowns… and you’re going to love the drummer!”

Thus began my slight love affair with a “death metal” record.

I mean is it really “death” when divine sentiments like the following (from “How Could I?”) are spread throughout the album?

How could I forget such a revelation
To love without fear and learn without question
How could I regret the meant occasions
I must begin this day again

Yeah, yeah, maybe a wee bit pretentious, but I think we all need a little of this in our lives. Especially set to some extremely technical, highly rhythmic, and headbang-worthy music!

Fast forward to 2007.

My pal John Longstreth have always had a little Cynic fanboy party every time we talk about music. Two years ago he mentioned that the death metal rumor mill delivered the news that the band would be reuniting for some European festivals and touring. Then came the news that Cynic was recording again and would release Traced in Air in the fall of 2008. I found the album, released fifteen years after their first to be excellent. Very thick sounding, expressive and balancing on a clear-cut line on the same path as Focus.

The U.S. tour announcement came with the band to be supporting Meshuggah across the country throughout February. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it to the NYC appearance, however it was revealed that the band would be embarking on another short tour opening for Dragonforce which was stopping in my own backyard at Northern Lights!

It was quite a shock to walk through the doors of Northern Lights for the first time in at least five years. Gone were the giant TV screens and sports flags mounted to the walls. The space felt emptier — a little more “warehouse” than “venue”, but I expect that since Ted Etoll recently purchased the business with another partner that this strip-mall haven will eventually see some aesthetic improvement. Already the bookings there have become more interesting and although I can’t say I’m totally interested in seeing the likes of Bret Michaels or Gavin Rossdale, it’s shows like these that could increase the support of live music in the area – a notion that is more than fine by me. Kudos to Ted and Stan for trying to do something.

I caught the end of Daath, the opener. Their energy was certainly up, and their attempts to rile the stolid crowd proved to have mixed results. Something was off-putting about their way-too-bright light show which was continually foiled by the half-left daylight streaming in through the back of the club.

Between band changeovers, I wandered to the front to see if I could secure a spot to geek out to the technical wizardry of the band up close. It was unknown at that point whether Cynic would be a “big pit” band where I would easily get squashed by anyone with any momentum. Luckily, the four members united to conjure an odd sense of calming among the crowd and no fist was thrown, no shoulder flung. I could see mouths dropped, some older folks mouthing the words, and people generally transfixed on what they were witnessing. To me it meant a lot to close the circle by seeing a performance of this material, despite only offering one song from that seminal Focus album (“Veil of Maya”) in their 40 minute set.

The sound was excellent throughout, even though I was thrown off by the lack of amplifiers on stage. Turns out both electric guitars and the electric bass were run direct through heavy processing and piped through the PA straight through the board. Kind of a physical weirdness to get used to, but I suppose the sound would have been much more difficult to control if amps were entered into the equation. Paul Masvidal’s heavily effected vocals even sounded natural in this case, blending seamlessly with the interlocking guitars. Drummer Sean Reinert IS one to be loved, as Scott so predicted in his Cynic pitch to me. Crisp, yet fluid fills were the mainstay, along with a patient use of double bass drum passages and energy guiding control of the musical helm.

There was an obvious contingent of real Cynic fans there, judging by the “THANK YOU FOR PLAYING TOGETHER AGAIN” calls between songs. A true reverence between performer and audience was apparent, but nothing could bring the band back for an encore. We would have to settle for that brief set of whirling beauty. Here’s to hoping they will come back around for a headlining tour and get to stretch out to combine songs from their whole catalog.

There was nothing that could have prepared me for DRAGONFORCE to follow Cynic. I stuck around due to the urging of some friends, despite feeling like I should just grab the $60 Cynic hoodie and bail to home. I’m glad I waited — these six dudes from the UK really delivered quite a performance. What with overhand guitar tapping, copious amounts of hair (their shampoo and conditioner contingent must take up a trailer of its own on tour!), synchronous stage moves, Keytar wrangling, guitar LICKING, giant fan for hair-blowing, and constant crowd-chiding — this band is truly full of all the components to put on a rock show you will never forget.

“Sound of Lies” sung by the everybodyfields

Visit the Live Music Archive for more live everybodyfields. It’s really quite an excellent resource for high quality live music from the band.

Photo by Flickr user Curiosita, used under a Creative Commons license.

After hemming and hawing over our dinner options we landed at Harry’s Steakhouse; a downtown mainstay for stock brokers and business types alike. Our waiter killed with NYC sass, and we were glad to take his recommendation for the “Wellington Wednesday” special which has been on the menu for over 40 years. How can a carnivore turn down an 8oz. filet topped with fried paté and chanterelle mushrooms wrapped in puff pastry then baked? It was truly an experience to be had… Starting off with a special arugula salad with asparagus, prosciutto, shaved pecorino and a lemon-thyme vinaigrette, this meal was an excellent way to kickoff the adventure.

The main event for that Wednesday evening was to witness the final installment of the Happy Ending reading series at, you guessed it, Happy Ending Lounge on the lower east side. This monthly series run by Amanda Stern happens on the first Wednesday of each month and will debut in a new location next month at Joe’s Pub. I was there to catch the Wingdale Community Singers supply the musical portion of the night sandwiched between a few different readers.

Although missing a few members, the Wingdales were as harmonious and witty as ever, bringing us an excellent updated reading of Simon and Garfunkel’s “7 O’Clock News” version of “Silent Night”. The band complied with the “rules” of the series by performing the aforementioned cover AND taking a risk by debuting two new songs that were completed the night before. We were glad to soak up every word and we were equally eager to help sing the poignant refrain of the last song, “let this story have a happy ending” to end their set.

Work and travel left me tired but satisfied so we headed back to Brooklyn for a night’s rest.

Friday night saw the close of the Albany Public Library’s “Garage Band” series with Swamp Baby and Sgt. Dunbar & the Hobo Banned taking over the library garage for a spell. Swamp Baby took their set time to get their Zaireeka on with each of the four band members setting up in each corner of the garage. The harsh acoustics of the opposing concrete surfaces were rendered useful, finally with their amplified guitars, violins and affected Casio keyboards filling the room equally and beautifully. Our “hike guide” for the evening, Nick Matulis, lead us through some careening forests and scary stories (see Bryan Thomas’ excellent pics of the event over at The Hidden City) with some gorgeous free improv percolating below and above throughout. I won’t spoil the magic ending, but let’s just say it was quite magical indeed. Sgt. Dunbar impressed quite a few people with a few new/rarer songs including a Tim Koch original to kick off the night, and the “bluegrass version” of their song “The Weight” (the original version is available for free download here).

Saturday began with a long-overdue trip to the Troy Farmers’ Market, picking up some local buckwheat honey and some breakfast treats from the Mrs. London’s booth. From there, we attempted to catch some of LarkFest which seemed to have the largest attendance I’ve ever seen due to the absurdly beautiful weather. Our music consumption was a bit stunted, missing all but two victorious final notes from Aficionado and taking forever to get back to the “Hometown Stage”, missing the end of MotherJudge & Mitchy, but catching much of (now 8 year old)Christo Lewis winning hearts left and right.

After a monumental late day nap, it was off to see Dinosaur Jr. and Wounded Knees at Revolution Hall. I’ll never forget hearing Dinosaur for the first time covering the Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” as the background to Rudy Johnson’s part in Blind’sVideo Days skate video. Certainly in my “heavily impressionable” stage in 1991 at age 14, this music stayed with me for years. J’s moody drawl mixed so well with the unique chord changes and highly melodic guitar parts. It was heavy without being overbearing, it was memorable without being overly poppy, it was perfect to me. At the time, their album Green Mind was the only readily available cassette (!) to me (as a shopper at Tape World. While initially sounding different from the song in the skate video, the album grew on me and I was eventually able to fill in the gaps in their discography with their earlier albums. Apparently I was a magnet for rare vinyl in high school as some of my favorite gifts I’ve ever recevied were a copy of “The Wagon” 7″ from my pal Jennifer Sullivan and an etched one-sided 12″ of “Just Like Heaven” from my long lost buddy Darren.

These moments of youth came barreling back as the newly-reformed (as of 2005 – I’m late to the game getting to see them) original trio of J, Murph and Lou kicked into “Tarpit” from You’re Living All Over Me, a clear favorite that I’d never expected to hear live ever. It was hard to believe that a song written and recorded nearly 22 years ago could sound that fresh and elicit such a crowd reaction. Even though I’d caught J live solo a few times and with the Fog, it was nothing compared to witnessing Lou bang out those bass chords and Murph hitting those precise fills so flawlessly. The setlist leaned a bit heavily on songs from the reunion album, Beyond for my taste, but once those songs were out of the way, there was no stopping the onslaught of sounds from every era of the band. From Dinosaur to Without a Sound we were treated to the best of the best. Even a song like “Feel the Pain” from the latter sounded re-energized with Lou’s bass playing and Murph’s adept handling of the peculiar tempo changes throughout.

A most excellent weekend capped off today with some eggplant, beets and garlic from the farm.

There were whispers for the past year or two about this mysterious man from Sweden who had moments of Dylan, Nick Drake and some old-school blues in him. A five-song EP came in 2006, while this year saw the release and subsequent big praise for his “Shallow Grave” album.

Luckily, the folks at Tech Valley Times were a bit ahead of the curve on this one and helped The Tallest Man on Earth (AKA Kristian Matsson) and helped him launch his first U.S. tour before all the big hype hit. With brief stops in Nashville, Philly, Baltimore, NYC and yes, even in upstate NY last night, our area was blessed to witness the beginning of what could be a very bright future for this excellent troubador.

There’s no use commenting on the substance and make-up of Kristian’s music as it’s been covered across all kinds of websites. I’d rather talk about the live experience; the true talent and energy this guy gives off. It’s an undeniable, palpable and infectious energy that started from note one as he sat on knotworking’s bass drum and launched into some of that nasty, fast and precise fingerpicking that lives throughout his music. Then came song after song, roll after roll, lyric after lyric that simply demanded attention. It didn’t matter what he was singing about, I found myself hanging on every word. As the Pitchfork review states, “Matsson’s lyrics don’t stand up as well on paper as they do in song,” I found myself wondering whether or not he did really just say “LET’S CARAMELIZE”?? No matter, as every single movement, every perplexing body motion, every potent stare into the audience proved the point that he was born to perform and be heard.

There are three dates left on this mini-tour:
6/08/08: Baltimore, MD
6/09/08: Living Room – NYC, NY
6/10/08: Union Pool – Brooklyn, NY

One of the benefits of being in a (slightly traveled) touring band is that eventually you will meet and share some shows with a band you simply fall in love with…

In 2005, our little band was placed on a bill with the everybodyfields at the Stone Church in Newmarket, NH. I seem to remember that our (now) pal Jon Nolan made the show possible, so much praise is deserved for the foresight in connecting our upstate NY freakshow with this group from Johnson City, TN.

Since that night, we’ve shared over a dozen nights of music with the everbodyfields and enough quality time “off stage” to consider them good friends. It’s been inspiring to witness their evolution from bluegrass-inspired trio to a fuller, wilder, more agressive roots-machine. Their most recent album Nothing is Okay is the album I’ve always believed they could make, with fully realized drum and string arrangements that weren’t featured on their previous recordings. (Note: both “halfway there: electricity and the south” and “plague of dreams” are worthy of praise and purchase, I simply prefer the sound and direction of “Nothing is Okay”.)

Upon their visits to the northeast, I make it a point to see a show or two. In late April, my options were a pair of NYC shows and a stop at the Iron Horse (w/Sometymes Why no less!). While I would have preferred to see the ‘fields at perhaps my favorite music venue in the US, alas there was a Future of Music presentation in Albany that I couldn’t miss on the same night. (When the future comes to Albany, you simply cannot miss it, right?). So, it was off to one of my other favorite venues which happens to be located in NYC to see my pals from the south!

The Living Room is located on Stanton in the lower east side of Manhattan. It shares the same locale as other NYC mainstay clubs Piano’s and Arlene’s Grocery, but differs in that it focuses mostly on quieter fare and instead of a $10 cover (and a “WHO ARE YOU HERE TO SEE?” poll at the door), most shows at the Living Room are free (tip bucket passed) with a one drink minimum. Of the three or four times I’ve been there, the schedule runs on time and there’s usually a lot of turnover between the 45 minute sets, suggesting that fans in the know get there to see who they are there to see and there’s not much cross-pollinating between bands on the same night going on. As a concertgoer, I prefer this in most cases to multi-band bills (unless they are well-crafted and executed) since there’s no confusion as to who is going to be doing what when. I would think in a busy such as NYC you’d kind of have to run your ship like this in order to have any chance of competing with the zillions of shows and events going on on any given night.

On Tuesday, June 29th at 9PM, my friends and I decended upon Stanton and swooped up front to nab front and center seating for this sublime everybodyfields experience. We were treated to a night of no less than three new (amazing!) songs – “Strange Wave“, a new Sam Quinn led lament kicked off the evening and sped right into one of my favorites from “Nothing is Okay” – “Be Miner“. Their standard “two songs and pass the guitar to the other songwriter” bit continued as Jill Andrews took the reins to drive the band through “Can’t Have It” from “plague of dreams” and a gorgeous as-yet-untitled new song. Throughout the set both pedal-steel player Tom Pryor and pianist/guitarist Josh Oliver played excellent, noteworthy solos and fills. These guys have seen the longest running tenure in the band backing up Sam & Jill since their original dobro player David Richey and it feels like the band is gelling on a powerful new level.

My favorite moment of the night was a new Jill song entitled “A Way Out“. Fan Martin R. captured a slew of songs from the Living Room show and has been gracious enough to share them on Vimeo. Here’s “A Way Out”! (please ignore my gigantic dome in the way of Jill’s sightline)…

The Everybodyfields – A Way Out from Martin R. on Vimeo.

There are more videos where that came from! (Note: these are High Definition recordings so they may play a bit choppily if you try and play them while they are loading. Best bet would be to click “play” and then immediately “pause” it while the gray bar grows bigger across the status bar until it has reached the far right side.)Another excellent development is the fan-run Live everybodyfields Archive. There are some excellent live recordings of the band throughout its existence (including some stuff from 2004! wild..) in FLAC format. Band no more, archive no more.

Check out at least two of the everybodyfields’ albums by clicking on this link to eMusic to take advantage of their free 25 mp3s offer!

Having first seen Chatham County Line last August at Pickathon, I was a little concerned that the magic of that amazing weekend may have left a little “spiked memory”. However that fear was unsubstantiated as their wonderful humor, excellent songwriting, and virtuostic playing brought us right back to that beautiful weekend in Oregon.

The band is currently touring behind their new album, “IV“. Over the two sets of music at Helsinki, they performed most of the album – most notably “Birmingham Jail“, “Chip of a Star“, and the solo mandolin piece “Paige“. My favorite moment was opener “Down By the Riverside” (from their album Speed of the Whippoorwil) which I remember vividly from Pickathon. Something about that three-part harmony chorus that leads into the very special resolving chord on the lyrics “as I lay by the riverside“. Nice.

Chatham County Line will be back in the area for Grey Fox and Middlebury, VTs Festival on the Green in July and we will be seeing them out at Pickathon X in August.

Head over to eMusic to download some songs from each of their four albums with their 25 FREE mp3 offer.

( Note: at least four other acts performed at this show, but since I was splitting my time upstairs while also getting ready to play with Ben Karis-Nix downstairs, Cuddle Magic was the only full set I was able to witness, hence the singular review… )

It’s not often that I am captivated from the first note of a set of music. Cuddle Magic (Jamaica Plain, MA) had me before they started. Arriving at the top of that staircase at Valentine’s I witnessed quite a miraculous band set-up taking place.

The troupe of seven (I think…) folks brought at least four floor lamps and table lights to join their stage set up. After seeing years of shows upstairs at this Albany, NY mainstay it set the tone for a completely different world – appropriate for the music that was about to take place. Joining the lamps was an old-school gumball machine bottom anchoring the rest of the stage where instruments and chairs were splayed around, young musicians tuning and warming up. Seeing the Rhodes electric piano, the bass clarinet, the vibraphone and more than one banjo on stage, I could tell we were in for something special very soon.

And there it was, the opening notes of Cuddle Magic’s set. A few sparse close-clustered notes paced from the Rhodes as the drummer joined in with a few “free “ moments before teaming up with the acoustic guitar and eventually the rest of the band. Those brief moments of “free” in the songs is what set this ensemble apart from many of the large-band “folkestras” that seem to be cropping up everywhere. What’s different with ‘Magic is that it’s truly informed free-playing, as it is plain to note that these musicians are learned and studied at their instruments.

Each song featured some severely forward-thinking complex part-writing; whether it be in the syncing of the violin to the trumpet or a complementary flute flourish or some cyclical polymeters / rhythms – it was hypnotic and engaging to say the least. I want to sit here and single out any one player for their heroism, but I can’t — each one had moments of brilliance. There were some harmonies laid by the female vocalist (Kristin Slipp, I’m guessing from the website?) that were just so, so, so well-placed and clear. Much bowing is due to the drummer (Paul Flaherty?) for powerful, yet quiet rhythm cages – in such tandem with upright bassist Bridget that I was hanging on every beat.

From listening to their recently released self-titled album (an immediate merch table purchase!), it seems that they’ve got a wealth of new material since I didn’t recognize much on the disc from last night’s show. Perhaps one or two? I dig the disc enough, but if what we heard was new material — this band is simply getting better and better….

( Thanks to The Hobo Banned crew for continuing to bring excellent bands through town and giving them an audience of welcoming ears. looking forward to 5/3 when they bring Wye Oak to Valentine’s. Rad. )

It has been five years since I last witnessed any incarnation of the Brad Mehldau experience. Thinking back now to catching him solo at the Iron Horse in 2000, the trio at Freihofer’s Jazz Festival in 2003 and the trio again at Skidmore that fall. These moments with Brad’s music provided some unfortunate expectations for a recent appearance at Skidmore’s Filene Hall.

The classic (1994/5-2005) Brad Mehldau Trio featured Brad on piano, Larry Grenadier on upright bass and Jorge Rossy on the drum set. I always felt there was something special happening in that version of the trio’s musical and personal connection. It’s a very specific, yet open sound that hung with them throughout the course of the many albums that they recorded together. There was always enough room for each member to improvise within the expressionistic, gauzy framework. Whether it was an odd-meter reinvention of a jazz standard, an original, or an interpretation of a contemporary artist such as Radiohead, Soundgarden, or Elliott Smith the sound was forward-thinking and unique.

The “new” version of the Brad Mehldau Trio which now includes drummer Jeff Ballard (who replaced Rossy in 2005) kicked their Sunday, April 6th concert at Skidmore College with “Work”, a Thelonius Monk tune. While opening numbers often serve as a loosening up or a “getting used to the sound of the room” situation, I felt that “Work” displayed some inconsistent and unsupportive improvisation from the group which happened to set the tone for most of the rest of the evening. Perhaps it was where we were sitting that there was a dead spot in terms of piano volume and the drums seemed to overpower just a bit. Or maybe Ballard was simply overbearing in his rhythmic ideas, clouding the magic that Mehldau was attempting to create. Whatever it was, I felt distracted by the music – especially by a few mid-piano solo ride cymbal switches that didn’t seem to relate to what was happening with the lead instrument.

The band continued on to play three or four new, untitled original tunes that seemed like sketches on blank paper. All had “Mehldau-isms” attached – seamless polymeters, picturesque evocations and brooding melodies but like “Work”, I never felt that gel between the three members that used to eminate from the original trio. While Ballard’s ride cymbal beat swung harder than Rossy’s, I continued to find myself kicked out of the improvisational bubble that jazz usually conjures for me. The music felt like an exercise, not an experience.

Despite the group’s overall disjointedness, there were some individual triumphs and notable moments. As J Hunter noted in his AlbanyJazz.com review, during the encore (Nick Drake’s “River Man“) Mehldau “switched Nick Drake’s lyric from right hand to left on the last chorus, darkening the melody without changing the overall tone“. From our vantage point, I heard and witness him employ this technique at least one other time to great affect. The second or third original number featured the same kind of hand / melody switch during the outro while Ballard offered his most supportive drumming of the night holding down straight 8ths on a foot-manipulated tamborine. That and Brad’s extended cadenza on the Weill / Gershwin tune “My Ship” were my favorite moments of the evening.

Perhaps it was the Sunday evening-ness of it all. Perhaps it was all of my expectations from previous experiences (admittedly, not a great thing…). I left the concert feeling that it was good to have witnessed it, but not particularly moved or enriched. My next move is to check out the Live record they just released to see if my observations are the norm, or a rare off-night.