The concept of “home” has been a recurring theme in song, literature and art. It conjures up the literal, physical structure, the metaphorical and one’s history. Resident singer/songwriter Lila Nelson uses the various forms of “home,” telling an eclectic assortment of stories in song, for her excellent new record, Letter Home. Nelson displays her gift […]
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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I Think My Older Brother Used to Listen to Lagwagon
When I first heard the album Trashed in high school, there was something so familiar, so honest, so inspired about Lagwagon’s music that they instantly became my favorite band. It’s surprising to say, but almost 15 years (and five albums) later, they still are. As the title suggests, their newest (half) album, I Think My […]
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Brothers
It was one of our first dates, a night at the Old Town Bar and Grill where we danced to music by a band of Mardi Gras Indians. The Wild Tchoupitoulas, led by Big Chief Jolly, aka George Landry, sang the battle songs of his New Orleans “tribe,” backed by a band of brothers, his […]
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Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails
The merger of Scott McCaughey from Minus 5 and Steve Wynn, former leader of the LA-based ’80s band the Dream Syndicate, makes for a perfect doubleheader. Together, the songwriters have culled baseball folklore, stories and forgotten personalities to inspire a new album that, to borrow baseball verbiage, goes the distance. With the contributions of REM/Minus […]
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Afro Blue
As any musicologist will tell you, the blues comes from Africa. Nowhere is this more evident than in the bluesy music that comes out of Mali, particularly as played by the late great guitarist Ali Farka Touré, whose sound was famously described by Martin Scorsese as "the DNA of the blues." Before he died in […]
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Heavy Psych
Along with the likes of Kyuss, Monster Magnet and Fu Manchu, Nebula helped shape the direction of the ’90s desert/stoner rock movement. They didn’t necessarily enjoy the high profile fanfare and commercial success of their peers, but thanks to impressively consistent recordings and Eddie Glass’ signature guitar style, Nebula quickly established themselves as one of […]
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Mind-Altering Music
Psychedelic: It’s a word that conjures images of stoned ’60s-style hippies with flowers in their hair noodle dancing to endless guitar solos. My New Oxford American Dictionary tells me it’s an adjective "relating to or denoting drugs that produce hallucinations and apparent expansion of consciousness" and also "a style of rock music originating in the […]
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Indigo Shoes
If you’ve been lucky enough to see the local band Absynth Quintet play live, you know they’re amazing. Sometimes the improvisational jams may go on just a tiny bit too long, but the individual band members’ undeniable talent quashes any negative aspects on that front. The collective picking styles presented by Ian Davidson on banjo, […]
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Parc Avenue
I’m sick of Canada. I’m tired of hearing about their state-funded schools, National Health, and their music. Canada has the nerve to fund the arts in their country, including partial support of a large number of bands — Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade, Broken Social Scene, The Stars, The New Pornographers, Destroyer, to name a few […]
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The Outlaw
What do you say about Willie Nelson? He’s an icon, an American treasure, a songwriter with a beat-up guitar who transcended the world of country music he came from, and transformed it in the process. Willie was a Texas boy who made the leap to songwriter-central, the country music capital, Nashville, in 1960. His song […]
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Friendship Nation
It’s okay to want to get naked. In fact, I would encourage every one of you to give in to that urge, that natural instinct that Foot Village evokes through their latest release Friendship Nation, in what may be the very nexus of acoustic hardcore and scum-folk, if there has indeed ever been one. There […]
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My Blueberry Nights
Timing. In an interview concerning his latest film, My Blueberry Nights, Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai explained that his film is about relationships and timing. Then again, nearly all of his films revolve around human relationships and timing. Sometimes he draws a winning hand; sometimes he comes up snake eyes. From his first film […]