One of the best concerts I ever attended was a show at the Van Duzer about 10 years ago with a stellar collection of Cuban masters on tour under the Buena Vista Social Club banner. When I mentioned how much I liked the band in a recent conversation with bandleader Juan de Marcos González, he […]
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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Love and Luck
As you are undoubtedly aware, Saturday, Feb. 14 is Valentine’s Day. It’s not totally clear why the saint’s days for a couple of obscure Christian martyrs morphed into an international celebration of romance and love — and an excuse for the marketing of candy, flowers and greeting cards — but that’s what happened. Since the […]
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Get Guilty
It’s a little difficult to differentiate Allan Carl Newman’s solo work from his band’s output, with The New Pornographers. Newman’s influence over his Canadian band has grown, most evident in their 2007 release, Challengers. In fact, Newman has returned to Brooklyn’s Seaside Lounge Studios (with producer Phil Palazzolo and engineer/percussionist Charles Burst in tow) to […]
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Merriweather Post Pavilion
Seeing how much Animal Collective’s last album, Strawberry Jam, blew, I have to admit I was nervous. There was a lot of discussion, as there always is about an upcoming release. Will it take the next step? Will it be in the right direction? If so there’s a sigh of relief, but if not we […]
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Unstable Table
What would you get if you mixed The Bump Foundation’s funk, The Absynth Quintet’s jazz and the jam-based sounds of Likwefi? Not what you might think, at least based on Unstable Table’s debut eponymous CD. The band consists of Ryan Roberts (The AQ, Likwefi), Tim Lane (Likwefi, The Bump Foundation), Tommy FitzMaurice (Spank, The Bump […]
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Clear As a Mountain Stream
The first heard time I heard Tristan Clarridge and his big sister Tashina play music, they were pre-teen fiddle prodigies wowing a crowd at the Humboldt Folklife Festival. At the time, the kids were living with their mom in a teepee out in Burnt Ranch; she was home-schooling them, basically allowing them to pursue fiddling […]
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Blood Bank/More of the Past
Blood Bank (EP). By Bon Iver. Jagjaguwar. More of the Past (EP). By Vetiver. Gnomonsong. Back in the day "Extended Play" records — aka EPs — were released on both in 12" and 7" vinyl formats to distribute yet-unreleased material, perhaps by an artist whose popularity was on an upswing, or for those with a […]
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Truth with Melody
Formerly local bluesman/songwriter Thad Beckman is one of many who made the move from Humboldt to Portland. In Thad’s case, it was via Austin, Texas, and since he was born and raised in Portland it was a homecoming. Thad’s back in Arcata for a Friday night show at a club he knows well, the Jambalaya, […]
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Magnum/Side Iron
Would someone unfamiliar with the guys in the band find Magnum entertaining? Laugh at Terrence’s antics, express amazement over his falsetto? Would he or she notice how seriously Bohner takes his drumming, note the fun Steve S. has on bass? Would someone who doesn’t know Deric Mendes recognize the irony in his guitar playing? Or […]
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Is It The Sea?
Kentucky-based singer/songwriter (and part-time actor) Will Oldham has had a number of noms de plume or personas that can be a bit confusing, especially when going through, and sorting out, his musical history. He has recorded as "The Palace Brothers," under his own "real" name, Will Oldham, and, since the 1999 release of I See […]
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808s and Heartbreak
Kanye West has come a long way since The College Dropout, way back in the distant, innocent year of 2004, when he was idealistic and almost naïve (if a record full of raps about how awesome he is and how he deserves to be a best-selling rapper can be deemed naïve). 808s and Heartbreak would […]
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Collective Consciousness
Is there such a thing as the Humboldt sound? Maybe, but then again, maybe not. There are a lot of distinct music scenes in the county, some of them intersecting, some discrete. Identifying a common thread is well nigh impossible. There is, however, something of a Humboldt groove that ties together one big slice of […]