Review: The Acre - "Cerca Trova" + CD Release Show TONIGHT

The Acre's latest, Cerca Trova, starts with a single, jarring piano chord, a clearing of the throat that ensures that listeners are paying full attention; and this is an album that deserves listeners full attention.  Opening track "Stereo" is propelled by rich piano and a thumping bass drum, a perfect opening track that highlights the strengths of the band.  They paint sonic landscapes that envelope the listener with subtleties and nuances.  That vision manifests itself in the songwriting, arrangements and the record as a whole.

These ten songs inhabit the well worn path between folk and rock traditions.  "The Singer" is a soft ballad that features Nick Murphy and Courtney Cavanaugh's dual male/female vocals that pop up throughout the album.  At the other end of the spectrum is "A Dagger & The Cane" which trades acoustic guitars for crunchy distortion.  One highlight, "Guilty Soul" finds a soulful middle ground with shared vocals, singalong chorus and a bouncy rhythm.

The Acre - Guilty Soul

Another standout is "Build", a moody burner that features evocative piano fills and shimmering atmospherics before building to a crescendo and devolving into swirling, effects-laden guitar noise.  The band is at their best when they let themselves experiment and explore sonic textures, and they close the album in just that way with the sprawling "Hemingway".  The epic, eight minute track starts fairly simply - open-chord electric strums over subtle noise and confessional lyrics.  At the two-minute mark the song ebbs and begins to reform.  Simple bass, guitar arpeggios build and explode in a wall of guitar and feedback before fading again.  It's stunning.

Get Cerca Trova from the band's bandcamp page, or come out to their CD release show TONIGHT at TTs in Cambridge.  Tickets here.  Tonight's show is fully VV-endorsed and is guaranteed to to be an amazing time.  The Acre will share the bill with the fantastic Pearl and the Beard and hometown favorites Kingsley Flood.  Speaking of which, watch this amazing video of Kingsley Flood playing a new track "Mannequin Man"

Preview: Boston Music Awards 2010

It's been a big year in Boston music.  The rise explosion of Passion Pit continued as they conquered huge crowds around the world, and Dom burst onto the scene as the next Pitchfork-endorsed buzz band to emerge from the Boston area.  On the Americana side, 2010 saw David Wax Museum triumph at Newport Folk Festival, Kingsley Flood emerge as a country-punk tour de force and Josh Ritter release another masterpiece of an album.  The legendary Harper's Ferry closed its doors for good (kinda) and the Paradise closed temporarily, only to reopen with a new, larger floorplan.  Royale took over the old Roxy space and added another world class venue to the Boston scene, booking a consistently great lineup of artists.  And that's just the beginning. [Ed's note:  oh yeah, and visible voice launched]

The 23rd annual Boston Music Awards will celebrate all of this and more on December 5 at the Liberty Hotel.  With a killer lineup of musical acts that includes Jenny Dee And The Deelinquents, Kingsley Flood, Dom and The Remains(!).  And of course, it wouldn't be an awards show without the awards.  Nominees across 30 categories include Peter Wolf, Amanda Palmer, Josh Ritter, Eli "Paperboy" Reed, Dropkick Murphys, John McCauley (of Deer Tick), The Low Anthem, David Wax Museum, Mean Creek, Bodega Girls and lots more.  Get in on the act and vote for your favorite artists here.

Standard tickets are available for $20 - a great deal for a night full of great music.  VIP tickets, which include access to an exclusive cocktail hour with artists and industry insiders, are $99.  Get tickets here.  Check Visible Voice for full post-event coverage.

Check out free tracks by some of our favorite BMA-nominated artists below:

Viva Viva - Valentine
Dom - Living In America
Josh Ritter - Change Of Time
David Wax Museum - Born With A Broken Heart (Live at the Paradise)
Kingsley Flood - Roll Of The Dice
Mean Creek - The Comedian
 

New music: Kingsley Flood "Quiet, Quiet Ground"

Boston's Kingsley Flood has been busy since their excellent debut Dust Windows was released earlier this year.  Over the past few months the band has maintained a healthy tour schedule, bringing their brand of urban-roots music up and down the eastern seaboard, and was recently featured on NPR.  Apparently the band has also had a chance to work on some new songs as well - check out the video below for a brand new track "Quiet, Quiet Ground"

Kingsley Flood will play the Beast of the Northeast CMJ showcase on October 22, and return to Boston for a big show at the Paradise on October 26 (opening for Angus and Julia Stone).  If you haven't seen these guys live yet (or even if you have), do yourself a favor and make it to the Paradise, should be a great night!

First half recap: my favorite albums of 2010, so far

It's already June, and that means it's time to take step back and take stock of the new music that has come out so far this year.  Force ranking art is completely arbitrary - records impact me differently each time I listen to them, so how can I fairly rank one against another?  Therefore, I've decided not to do that.  Instead, consider this a list of records that are well worth checking out, in no particular order.

Wooden Dinosaur - Nearly Lost Stars

Nearly Lost Stars from Vermont's Wooden Dinosaur is hands down my favorite discovery of 2010 (so far).  These are rustic, plain-spoken and often heartbreaking songs of love and loss.  Roberts' fingerpicked acoustic guitar and weathered vocals are the constants, but shuffling percussion, banjo, fiddle, lap steel, horns and the occasional electric guitar add layers of sound.  The result is an absolutely beautiful record that deserves to be heard by the masses.  Buy it here, and tell your friends.

Wooden Dinosaur - Can't Be Me

Dr. Dog - Shame, Shame

Dr. Dog continue to put out consistently great records, and Shame, Shame is no exception.  Like Fate before it, Shame, Shame shows the polish of a maturing band, and features a steady dose of bouncy folk-pop grooves.  Shadow People, Jackie Wants A Black Eye, Mirror Mirror and Stranger are standouts, but the entire record is fantastic - this has rarely left my car CD player since I got it.  Get it here.

Dr. Dog - Shadow People

Full soundboard recording of Dr. Dog's recent show at the Paradise in Boston available for stream/download here (newly remastered).

 Spoon - Transference

I love it when a band follows up a commercially successful record with a bit of a curveball - a challenge to the new fans.  Don't get me wrong, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is a fantastic record from start to finish - but Transference trades in the sugar-sweet Stax hooks and Spector-ish production for decidedly less-accessible influences; twisted rythms and wiry Tom Verlaine-esque guitar leads.  Still, it's unmistakably a Spoon record - driving percussion, gritty guitars and devestating grooves.  Get it here.

Spoon - I Saw The Light

Josh Ritter - So Runs The World Away

I consider Josh Ritter one of the most important songwriters of our generation - one of few worthy of carrying on the tradition of Dylan, Springsteen, et al.  2007's The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, probably the most "fun" and upbeat record in the Ritter catalogue, seemed a bit like a bit of a breather after the epic Animal Years.  So Runs The World Away is a return to the cinematic storytelling and intricate compositions that made the Animal Years an incredible and moving record.  Buy it here.

Josh Ritter - Southern Pacifica

Titus Andronicus - The Monitor

The Monitor has been positioned as a loose concept album based around the Civil War, complete with marching drums and readings of period-era speeches.  However, the Civil War pretense seems to only shift focus from the real story - this is a deeply personal account of a defeated man returning to the home he once wanted to escape.  Less than a minute in Patrick Stickles sets the tone for the record, subverting the Springsteen anthem of optimism and escape, screaming "baby we were born to die!".  The result though, through fist-pumping choruses and cathartic singalongs, is rewarding and satisfying.  Get it here.

Titus Andronicus - Theme From "Cheers"

Not to be forgotten:

The National - High Violet
Kingsley Flood - Dust Windows
Joe Pug - Messenger
Crusaders of Love - Never Grow Up
The Morning Benders - Big Echo

New music: Kingsley Flood - Dust Windows

   

Kingsley Flood's fantastic debut Dust Windows was officially released today - this is a release to take note of.  Dust Windows is a cohesive, consistent album of folk pop gems -- smart songwriting and brilliant execution.  Appalachain and country instrumentation pops up throughout - banjo, mandolin, fiddle, pedal steel - and at their heart these are true folk songs.  But the songs also reflect a pop immediacy that makes this album incredibly easy to listen to - elements of 60s pop, 80s college rock and modern indie rock round out those folk and country melodies, making this the type of album that will appeal to a broad audience.  The nearest songwriting touchstone I can make is Josh Ritter or Being There-era Wilco - but I also hear The Avett Brothers, The Band, Nebraska-era Springsteen, Townes Van Zandt, the list goes on and on.  Finally, the album sounds fantastic - nice production, sounds like the band is in your living room.

If it wasn't obvious, I LOVE this album.  You need to buy it - I'll even provide a link to make it easy:  Amazon

The band has graciously made a few tracks available for free download:

Cul de Sac
Roll of the Dice
Cathedral Walls

The entire album is streaming on the Kingsley Flood website