Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Listening Post - April 2009

This will kind of serve as an updated listening post/live music review section of the month. Some interesting new releases so let's get them out of the way:

The Felice Brothers - Yonder is the Clock
Bonnie Prince Billy - Beware
Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels
Gomez - A New Tide
Woods - Songs of Shame

Even with the demise of Binghamton's only major music venue, The Magic City Music Hall, there has still been a surprising amount of good shows in the vicinity in the past few months. One of the highlights of the past month was the Gomez/Josh Ritter show in Ithaca. This may be biased since I'm a big Josh Ritter fan, but his set was one of the most enjoyable live music experiences I've had in a while. The show was switched to a smaller venue in Ithaca, The Haunt, and all I can say is thank you Upstate New York for the lack of general interest. All that resulted was an enthusiastic crowd in an intimate venue that made the night. Gomez, while formidable, really lacked in punch compared to the enthusiastic Ritter. Here's hoping Josh makes a stop in Ithaca or someplace nearby sometime soon.

The next week or so brings a slew of interesting shows to the area back to back to back. April 20 has Neko Case in Ithaca, the 21st has the Felice Brothers in Ithaca, and the 22nd has the Dead bringing it to Wilkes-Barre. Probably won't be heading to Ithaca but early word and listening on the Dead tour shows some promise. More on that later...

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