Athens, Georgia-based singer/songwriter Vic Chesnutt died on Christmas Day after ingesting an overdose of muscle relaxants. He and his touring band had just completed a brief West Coast tour less than a month earlier in support of his powerful new release, At the Cut. Chesnutt was 45 years old. He had been involved in a […]
Music
Coverage of the music scene in Humboldt County with upcoming shows from locals and out-of-town acts, reviews, interviews and more.
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Young Old Timer
Adam Pokorski and Matt Jackson, proprietors of Missing Link Records, are passionate about music, and not just records, live music too. When I asked them for a list of their favorite records of 2009, they chose their "favorite 24-year-old purveyor of old time feelings," Frank Fairfield, for the top of the list. That was in […]
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Month of Sundays
Singer/songwriter/bandleader Mark Harrison has swung back and forth between Memphis and Nashville without breaking ties with the musical influences that come from both sides of Tennessee. Starting in 1993, Harrison led his Memphis-based band, Snakehips, with their debut full-length, Lit, a solid recording that wore its T.Rex/Replacements/Big Star/Stones influences proudly, accompanied with that Memphis soul-based […]
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Then & Now
That’s it. The year’s over, along with the Aughts (or whatever you want to call the last decade). It’s not as dramatic as the end of the millennium, but it’s another turning point. Do you remember what was happening on the local music scene 10 years ago? Looking back you’ll see that much has changed, […]
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A Book Clerk’s Top 10
Love In Infant Monkeys — Lydia Millet (Soft Skull) Millet uses the lives of real historical characters and their interactions with animals to create short stories displaying a rare mix of intelligence, humor and emotional resonance, some heartbreaking, some funny, some just weird. Madonna shoots a pheasant on her English estate and muses on the […]
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Jingle Bells and Disco Balls
Well, Christmastime is here and a new year is just around the corner. Time for hanging with friends and family, preferably in a warm home sitting around a glowing Christmas tree with a cup of eggnog or a hot toddy or some other festive beverage. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are not typically a time […]
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Uma Shikuma’s Selections
Continuation — Alex Cline (Cryptogramophone) Percussionist and composer Alex Cline, guitarist Nels’ twin brother, performs with a dynamic quintet including pianist Myra Melford, to execute a challenging and dazzling sum, often unpredictable and wonderfully surprising. The Sun Came Out — 7 Worlds Collide (Sony) This collaborative effort led by singer/songwriter Neil Finn includes members of […]
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Redwood Jazz Alliance’s Top Jazz Sides
Spirit Moves — Dave Douglas (Greenleaf Music) A sublime homage to the all-embracing, pop-inspired spirit of Lester Bowie. This is brass band jazz that inherits and ennobles several different traditions at once. Infernal Machines — Darcy James Argue (New Amsterdam) With his "steampunk" big band Secret Society, Darcy James Argue seamlessly blends post-rock guitar, electronica-inspired […]
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Top 10 Missing Link Records
S/T — Frank Fairfield (Tompkins Square) First release from our favorite 24-year-old purveyor of old time feelings. Startling arrangements of classic songs, sometimes haunting, sometimes jolly. River Boat Soul — Pokey Lafarge and The South City Three (Big Muddy Records) Ragtime meets Appalachia meets Delta cotton country blues, but entirely new and all its own. […]
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10 Records You Probably Haven’t Heard
Lumen Tähden — Kuupuu (Time Lag) First proper full-length release from Finland’s Jonna Karanka, mixing muffled sing-song folk, bubbling electronics and jumbled avant-improv in a lo-fi haze. Beautiful and haunting. Flaming Tunes — Gareth Williams and Mary Currie (Life and Living) A reissue (!) of a small-run cassette from the mid-’80s. Williams was the "non-musician" […]
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The Beltane Sessions
The human voice is a most spiritual and mysterious force. The first instrument of expression in the history of our species has always been the means of our deepest forms of communication; be it with each other, between a human and the Earth, or through a song which is sung as a message to the […]
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Musical Locavore
It’s cold and wet out. The days are getting shorter, the nights longer, as we head toward the solstice on Monday (Dec. 21, at 5:47 p.m.), and with it, the official beginning of winter. Hanukkah’s almost over. Christmas is closing in; same with Kwanza (Dec. 26) and the New Year is not far behind. The […]